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The purpose of this paper is to describe an academic library’s successful implementation of a WordPress-based learning object repository (LOR) that facilitates widespread sharing of learning objects, allowing librarians to save prep time and to scale up the library instruction program. Both practical and technical implications of using WordPress software as a repository platform are discussed.

WordPress is free, open-source software that may be used as a platform for an LOR. By using WordPress software to create a public index of content hosted on a server, the library created an LOR that features a record for each learning object which contains metadata about the object’s format, content and accessibility. The WordPress platform/repository is also expandable, through additional free and paid plug-ins, to function as a simple learning management system that may also issue badges.

As a result of implementing an LOR, librarians save time prepping for classes by reusing or adapting their colleagues’ work, librarians are able to offer tutorials to online students and the repository also serves as a showcase for the library instruction program.

Many academic libraries are feeling increased pressure to scale up library instruction and serve more online students. This paper illustrates a case study of how one library uses an easy-to-implement and low-budget LOR to make progress toward these goals.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how the New Zealand Junior Pastry Team negotiated the rigours of international competition at the 2013 Junior Pastry World Cup in Rimini, Italy and how what was learnt from this experience holds relevance to creative hospitality practice and business application.

This paper uses an inductive qualitative enquiry to illuminate the narratives and subjective experiences of the competition team. Structured and semi-structured interview data responses were themed using an open coding system. This data were critically evaluated against both competition data, participant experience and relevant academic literature.

This paper shows how the team’s desire to highlight its national identity through food in the competition resulted in problematic experiences that were compounded by a tyranny of distance. However, these challenges were overcome through the creative dynamic the team developed and the networking benefits which the competition provided. These experiences added value not only to the team competitors but also the culinary and pastry practitioners in New Zealand’s hospitality community.

The research offers unique insights into how a representative pastry team from the “New World” negotiated international competition set in and heavily influenced by the “Old World” of culinary tradition. The paper’s findings could be of use to other novice competition teams. The work also links the importance of international culinary competition to wider constructs of hospitality, such as business advantage in commercial hospitality.

This study retrospectively investigates the parenting experiences of mothers of two-year-old children who expressed concerns that their child may have autism up to when they were 4.5 years old. This study aims to identify early parenting challenges and joys and explore whether certain challenges are associated with a subsequent autism diagnosis.

Using a longitudinal design, this study draws from a cohort of 6,853 children, focusing on 103 mothers who reported concerns that their child may have autism when they were between 2 and 4.5 years old, compared to a demographically matched control group. It also tracks whether children initially flagged for autism concerns at 2 to 4.5 years had received a formal diagnosis by age eight.

Mothers of autistic children were more likely to mention early challenges with their child’s psychosocial development and family cohesion. However, the nature of the challenges discussed within these categories were similar across the two groups, suggesting that these two challenges, while important, are not definitive indicators of autism on their own. Many mothers highlighted their love and joy in watching their child develop. By age eight, 56% of the children who were flagged with autism concerns at aged 4.5 had an autism diagnosis, underscoring the importance of early concerns.

This novel research leverages a large, diverse longitudinal cohort to retrospectively explore mothers’ views on raising two-year-old children who were subsequently recognised as being autistic. It uniquely balances the exploration of parenting challenges with the highlights, offering a more holistic view of parenting a child who may later be diagnosed with autism, and considers the link between early parental concerns and challenges and subsequent autism diagnosis.

Barriers to employment are a significant issue in the United States and abroad. As civil rights legislation continues to be enforced and as employers seek to diversify their workplaces, it is incumbent upon the management field to offer insights that address obstacles to work. Although barriers to employment have been addressed in various fields such as psychology and economics, management scholars have addressed this issue in a piecemeal fashion. As such, our review will offer a comprehensive, integrative model of barriers to employment that addresses both individual and organizational perspectives. We will also address societal-level concerns involving these barriers. An integrative perspective is necessary for research to progress in this area because many individuals with barriers to employment face multiple challenges that prevent them from obtaining and maintaining full employment. While the additive, or possibly multiplicative, effect of employment barriers have been acknowledged in related fields like rehabilitation counseling and vocational psychology, the Human Resource Management (HRM) literature has virtually ignored this issue. We discuss suggestions for the reduction or elimination of barriers to employment. We also provide an integrative model of employment barriers that addresses the mutable (amenable to change) nature of some barriers, while acknowledging the less mutable nature of others.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐17; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐17; Property Management Volumes 8‐17; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐17.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐17; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐17; Property Management Volumes 8‐17; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐17.