This article traces global economic trends and sources of energy from the fossil fuel era of the Industrial Age to the Information and Solar Age. Keynesian economics as well as…
Abstract
This article traces global economic trends and sources of energy from the fossil fuel era of the Industrial Age to the Information and Solar Age. Keynesian economics as well as political, economic and military power, led to the industrialized countries’ petroleum addiction and the demonization of OPEC. The shift from the Old Economy to the New Economy will be accompanied by greater emphasis on energy efficiency and a shift towards renewable resources, “green” energy technologies and environmental protection and restoration. The globalization of economics, finance, markets and trade driven by technology and liberalization of capital flows have led to the dematerialization of OECD economies. This will necessitate recognition of, and investment in, people and social infrastructure with education and health care as key economic sectors and knowledge, intellectual, social and ecological capital as the key factors of production. Due to advances in the internet and e‐commerce and the increasing interchangeability of money with information there will be a continuing flight into pure information‐based electronic trading systems and the growth of a less costly and more efficient pure high‐tech barter system. The issues of unequal terms of trade, poverty and the need for development will continue. If OPEC is able to grasp the significance of the shift to the Solar Age, it has an opportunity to reassert its leadership role in development.
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Abstract
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Technological innovation is needed to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, recycling and redesigning industrial processes. More fundamental strategy levels need…
Abstract
Purpose
Technological innovation is needed to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, recycling and redesigning industrial processes. More fundamental strategy levels need re‐examining: policy models, assumptions, institutional inertia and cultural values fueling today's drive toward increasing unsustainability. This study seeks to examine this issue
Design/methodology/approach
Reviews the current scientific debate about the unwarranted predominance of economics in public and private decision making; whether economics is a science or a profession and the demands by mathematicians, physicists and other scientists that the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economics be de‐linked from the original Nobel prizes.
Findings
Conventional economic models still drive such unsustainability: the malfunctioning “source codes” replicating traditional industrialism world‐wide. Scientific research on the human brain and ecosystems now refutes most of economics' core tenets. Multi‐disciplinary policies and appropriate metrics beyond money coefficients are needed for steering societies toward sustainability and quality of life.
Originality/value
Strengthens the case for strategies for global sustainability to address current economic models that are driving today's unsustainable forms of globalization.
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To give some insight into how marketing techniques can be applied in the digital library context.
Abstract
Purpose
To give some insight into how marketing techniques can be applied in the digital library context.
Design/methodology/approach
A summary and description of an appropriate established marketing method, with examples of digital library applications as illustration of its relevance in the context of practice.
Findings
Relationship marketing offers specific benefits to libraries, and can be applied to particular effect in marketing digital library services.
Research limitations/implications
The fact that one marketing technique of particular relevance is examined should not deter the practitioner from investigating other forms, which will have other, different benefits to confer.
Practical implications
The application of the insights in this paper should improve the market reach and customer effectiveness of any library that employs them.
Originality/value
The author gives clear and practical insights into how practitioners may apply given marketing techniques in the arena of real‐life digital library work.
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Frances Schofield, David McMenemy and Kay Henderson
The people's network (PN) aims to ensure the provision of free and open access to Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) through public libraries. This paper compares the…
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The people's network (PN) aims to ensure the provision of free and open access to Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) through public libraries. This paper compares the usage of a PN converted library to an original learning centre. It was found that a wide range of people from different age groups and backgrounds use the ICT facilities. The results also indicated that both libraries had been successful in providing access to ICTs for people who would otherwise have had no access, although the age of the technology available in the more established learning centre had a negative impact on users, and the take‐up of online learning opportunities had not been as prominent as would be expected.
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To provide an overview of branding activity in the UK public library service.
Abstract
Purpose
To provide an overview of branding activity in the UK public library service.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of branding literature was undertaken. The primary research was conducted over a four‐week period and consisted of a questionnaire survey distributed to heads of services in order to gain data regarding branding of the service.
Findings
The research indicated that heads of service do give consideration to branding in their marketing plans. Branding properly planned and developed may be one way in which the public library service can raise its image and allow employees to take ownership of the service.
Research limitations/implications
Owing to the time element involved in the gathering of data responses were not as high as previously anticipated.
Practical implications
A good insight into the application of branding in the UK public library sector which would interest practitioners and academics alike.
Originality/value
Contributes to the domain of knowledge which is weak in the area of branding in libraries.
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The planners of Aslib's 46th. Annual Conference—to be held from 24th to 27th September in Ranmoor House, University of Sheffield—have chosen to be strictly practical this year…
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The planners of Aslib's 46th. Annual Conference—to be held from 24th to 27th September in Ranmoor House, University of Sheffield—have chosen to be strictly practical this year. Their theme—the role of external information services of all kinds (not only computer based systems) in relation to the work of the local information unit and library—is a problem of some urgency and the development of these services in a form that will best serve the information community is of concern to more and more people in the library and information world.
Clive Bingley, Allan Bunch and Edwin Fleming
I THOUGHT, shall I write a vigorously reproving letter to John Saunders, County Librarian of Surrey, or shall I fulminate in public instead? As you would expect, I chose the…
PETER BROPHY, PETER JACKAMAN, FT BELL, MIKE PEARCE, CN EASTCOTT and BRENDA WHITE
THE COMMENT by Don Revill in the August issue of NEW LIBRARY WORLD raises a number of interesting points. The allocation of library book funds between departments or between site…
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THE COMMENT by Don Revill in the August issue of NEW LIBRARY WORLD raises a number of interesting points. The allocation of library book funds between departments or between site libraries has always proved a sticky problem, and, as Revill points out, a variety of solutions have been advocated. Of course, the actual division of the funds presents no real problem (everyone is willing to spend the money!) once the bases on which this division is to be made have been decided. Thus the real decisions boil down to judgements of the relative value (to the university? to the state? to the librarian?) of such factors as:
Elizabeth H. Gorman and Fiona M. Kay
In elite professional firms, minorities are actively recruited but struggle to move upward. The authors argue that initiatives aimed at general skill development can have…
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In elite professional firms, minorities are actively recruited but struggle to move upward. The authors argue that initiatives aimed at general skill development can have unintended consequences for firm diversity. Specifically, the authors contend that approaches that win partner support through motivational significance and interpretive clarity provide a more effective avenue to skill development for minorities, who have less access than White peers to informal developmental opportunities. The authors also argue that a longer “partnership track,” which imposes a time limit on skill development, will benefit minority professionals. Using data on 601 offices of large US law firms in 1996 and 2005, the authors investigate the effects of five developmental initiatives and partnership track length on the representation of African-Americans, Latinxs, and Asian-Americans among partners. Observed effects are consistent with expectations, but patterns vary across racial-ethnic groups.