James S. Chisholm, Jennifer Alford, Leah M. Halliday and Fannie M. Cox
This paper aims to examine ways in which English language arts (ELA) teachers have exercised agency in response to policy changes that have been shaped by neoliberal education…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine ways in which English language arts (ELA) teachers have exercised agency in response to policy changes that have been shaped by neoliberal education agendas that seek to further advance standardization and the primacy of measurability of teaching and learning.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors posed the following research questions of related literature: Under what conditions, in what ways and to what ends do teachers exercise agency within ELA classroom teaching? Through five stages of systematized analysis, this scoping review of 21 studies maps the evidence base.
Findings
Structural, material, interpersonal and pedagogical issues both constrained and supported agency. Teachers covertly exercised agency to be responsive to students’ needs; in some instances, teachers’ agentive practices reinforced institutionally sanctioned methods. Teachers’ agentive action aimed to combat the deprofessionalization of the field, foster innovative curriculum approaches and challenge stereotypes about students. The authors also found a range of definitions of agency in the research, some of which are more generative than others.
Originality/value
This paper addresses a gap in the research literature by illuminating contexts, consequences and conundrums of ELA teacher agency. The authors documented the range of structural, cultural and material conditions within which teachers exercise agency; the subversive, collective and small- and large-scale ways in which teachers realize agency; and the potentially favorable or unfavorable consequences to which these efforts are directed. In doing so, the authors also problematize the range of definitions of agency in the literature and call for greater attention to conceptual clarity around agency in research. As literacy researchers illuminate work that disrupts the marginalization of teachers’ agency, this scoping review maps the field’s knowledge base of agency in ELA teaching and sets up a future research agenda to promote the professionalization of teaching and advocacy for English teachers.
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This paper is about copyright and digitisation as distinct from copyright in electronic publications. It focuses on Higher Education (HE) in the UK. It discusses the development…
Abstract
This paper is about copyright and digitisation as distinct from copyright in electronic publications. It focuses on Higher Education (HE) in the UK. It discusses the development of digitised collections and the role of the trusted repository specifically with reference to the Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) electronic reserve (ER) projects and Higher Education ON demand (HERON), the current eLib national ER project. Licensing developments such as the establishment of the Copyright Licensing Agency's Digitisation Licensing Programme DLP, are also discussed.
Leah Halliday and Charles Oppenheim
Economic aspects of a national electronic reserve service (NERS) were explored using Ithink Analyst, a modelling software package. A model was developed and simulations were used…
Abstract
Economic aspects of a national electronic reserve service (NERS) were explored using Ithink Analyst, a modelling software package. A model was developed and simulations were used to monitor the effect of variations in the values of key model elements. The model was based on developments within the UK HE community and primarily on Higher Education ON demand (HERON), a national service which is part‐funded by the UK HE funding councils. The two principal activities of HERON are rights clearance and digitisation but the service is also building a repository of digitised texts which are stored for future use to avoid duplication of effort. Model elements were manipulated to compare the cost per student of providing reserve materials using this service with the cost per student of a traditional print service. The level of overlap in materials required by different universities using the service was varied as was the copyright fee paid to rights holders for use of their texts. The results suggest that this service is extremely expensive for a library when compared with an equivalent print service. Furthermore, if the service operated within the library budget for reserve materials, the income generated for publishers would be a fraction of that generated from selling print copies to libraries at the current rate. The authors conclude that as a whole this service is inefficient. Specific elements of the service, e.g. the copyright clearance function, may be efficient in a different context.
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Leah Halliday and Charles Oppenheim
Economic aspects of digital journal production and delivery were explored using Ithink Analyst, a modelling software package. Three models were developed and simulations were used…
Abstract
Economic aspects of digital journal production and delivery were explored using Ithink Analyst, a modelling software package. Three models were developed and simulations were used to monitor the effect of variations in the values of key model elements. The results suggest that scholarly journals can be produced and distributed for a modest fee as long as there are at least 500 subscribers. Alternative models such as author‐funded production are also viable. While a model that shares costs between authors and subscribers is viable, administration of two sets of fees would increase costs.
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Leah Halliday and Charles Oppenheim
Economic aspects of a resource discovery network (RDN) consisting of a centre and eight subject‐based hubs were explored using Ithink Analyst, a modelling software package. A…
Abstract
Economic aspects of a resource discovery network (RDN) consisting of a centre and eight subject‐based hubs were explored using Ithink Analyst, a modelling software package. A model was developed and simulations were used to monitor the effect of variations in the values of key model elements. The model was based on a recent report which suggested that a RDN could survive on a combination of grant funding and sponsorship. Model elements were manipulated to determine the level of sponsorship required for a RDN to be self sustaining within ten years if grant funding contributed 50% of required income. Additional simulations were used to explore the feasibility of subscription as an income source. The results suggest that with a combination of sponsorship and subscriptions income a RDN could succeed without grant funding within ten years of its launch.
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Leah Halliday and Charles Oppenheim
This article explores recent developments in the production and delivery of scholarly journal articles in digital form. It identifies the key stakeholders as authors, publishers…
Abstract
This article explores recent developments in the production and delivery of scholarly journal articles in digital form. It identifies the key stakeholders as authors, publishers, librarians and end users. It explores their concerns with regard to the digital journal production and delivery chain. It also explores the interrelationships of different stakeholder groups and considers how their concerns accord or conflict. The paper goes on to review cost and pricing developments. There appears to be no relationship between production costs and subscription prices of scholarly journals. Journals are priced according to what the market will bear, but, at the same time, the market is inelastic. As a result, prices have consistently increased annually at a rate well above the general inflation rate for the last two decades. Digital publishing by publishers has done nothing to relieve this problem. The ‘serials crisis’ has been the impetus for a number of developments that aim to use digital technology to reduce costs for the HE sector. These include alternative models of journal production such as that proposed by Harnad, and initiatives that aim to influence the structure of the market for scholarly journals with a view to driving prices down such as SPARC and HighWire Press. These developments are reviewed.
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Digitisation, as it will be explored in this issue of VINE, can be defined as the creation of an electronic version of an item such as a text, photograph, slide, illustration…
Abstract
Digitisation, as it will be explored in this issue of VINE, can be defined as the creation of an electronic version of an item such as a text, photograph, slide, illustration, microfilm or map. Combined with the forces of the Internet and CD‐ROM/DVD technology it offers the potential to allow previously inaccessible material to be viewed by fresh eyes and saved for posterity without risk of deterioration by handling or age.
Many libraries are facing the challenges to develop and manage an institutional repository. This paper addresses the issue of content in repositories, and suggests that librarians…
Abstract
Many libraries are facing the challenges to develop and manage an institutional repository. This paper addresses the issue of content in repositories, and suggests that librarians need to approach the task of content development by applying some of the procedures and skills associated with collection management within more traditional environments. It also considers the types of content that might be suitable for institutional repositories, and notes that several recent Australian reports have recommended the need for a more standardised and regulated approach to the content of institutional repositories. It is argued that this is inappropriate.