This article defines sustainability to include community, economy, and the buildings made in service to those considerations. As gateways for knowledge, libraries are particularly…
Abstract
This article defines sustainability to include community, economy, and the buildings made in service to those considerations. As gateways for knowledge, libraries are particularly well‐suited as demonstration vehicles. Beneficiaries are determined so that potential sources of funding can be identified. The case study (Oak Park Library, Ventura, California) integrates state‐of‐the‐art energy‐conserving design into a new joint‐use public and high school library. Client review, public presentations, computer modeling, and environmental specifications research led to a design that was awarded nearly $250,000 in construction funding and “buydowns”. Computer‐modeled analyses of the energy‐conserving elements of the Oak Park Library showed reductions in heating, cooling, and electricity consumption when those strategies were implemented. The strategies illustrated include techniques in lighting design, cooling/heating, and construction that can be replicated in new and existing projects to maximize efficiency in high‐visibility community demonstration projects. A listing of additional resources is also included.
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This qualitative study examined urban school personnel’s opinions, perceptions, and strategies in implementing the following: (a) locally mandated Zero Tolerance Discipline…
Abstract
This qualitative study examined urban school personnel’s opinions, perceptions, and strategies in implementing the following: (a) locally mandated Zero Tolerance Discipline Policies, (b) nationally mandated standardized high-stakes testing laws, and (c) how the two combined can be counterproductive to one another. Three themes emerged from the research. The first and predominate theme that emerged and discussed was “perspectives that described the potential impact standardized high-stakes assessments have on African American male students that violate the Zero Tolerance Discipline Policy.” The research and its recommendations are valuable to policymakers, education advocates, stakeholders, superintendents, boards of education, administrators, teachers, and parents.
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of green building technologies and practices and illustrate how public libraries can use them as tools to teach their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of green building technologies and practices and illustrate how public libraries can use them as tools to teach their communities about sustainability and foster behavior change.
Design/methodology/approach
Through literature searches, case studies analysis, and individual phone and e‐mail interviews, the author identified ways that public libraries can use their buildings to demonstrate green technologies and practices and show their patrons how to apply them at home, at work, and in the community.
Findings
Education is a component of LEED certification. Many LEED certified libraries publicize a list of the green technologies used in their building projects. Some sponsor programs related to the green building and include permanent displays in the library to explain how the technology works. The Fayetteville Public Library went beyond these basic techniques to not only improve the sustainability of their operations but also become a community test bed for a renewable energy project.
Originality/value
This paper sheds light on how building projects can be used not only to educate the public about green technologies and practices, but also inspire others to begin using similar techniques at home, at work, and in the community.
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This article seeks to augment understanding of the rise of psychological interpretations of the child in New Zealand, and suggest refinements to McDonald’s typology, with…
Abstract
This article seeks to augment understanding of the rise of psychological interpretations of the child in New Zealand, and suggest refinements to McDonald’s typology, with reference to changing religious values and priorities in the years before World War II. In particular, it considers patterns of religious education, with special reference to changing representations of Jesus for children during this time. Consideration of this material indicates that psychological approaches to childhood played an important role in shaping religious education throughout these years. Though noteworthy in itself, this influence highlights the extent to which interest in scientific and psychological understandings of the child had been growing more generally since the beginning of the twentieth century. Indeed, it provides a broader context for understanding the post‐war expansion of psychological approaches to children. Insofar as psychological interpretations of childhood were paradigmatic after 1945, this occurred because such approaches had been disseminated and acquired sufficient legitimacy in preceding years.
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Bringing together anthropological and sociological conceptions of “the everyday” with the new social studies of childhood, this paper seeks to challenge the predominance of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Bringing together anthropological and sociological conceptions of “the everyday” with the new social studies of childhood, this paper seeks to challenge the predominance of the trauma paradigm in understanding the impact of the 1994 Rwandan genocide upon children and youth.
Design/methodology/approach
In focus group and ethnographic research conducted with Rwandan children and young people aged between 12 and 25, the challenges identified were primarily within their everyday lives, relationships and environments.
Findings
Building on the assertion that “we have great resilience to keep going” the resiliency and agency of children and young people in negotiating an ongoing nexus between violence and peace is emphasized.
Research limitations/implications
This is not to deny the horrendous nature of the genocide, or that there are some children with enduring severe psychological problems. However, the trauma paradigm is only one way of capturing the legacies of the genocide and can give rise to a misplaced emphasis on passivity and vulnerability. The framework of the everyday provides a holistic paradigm for policies and programmes addressing the situation of children and young people post‐conflict and builds upon their resources and competencies.
Originality/value
This paper offers a more complex and nuanced understanding of trauma, resilience and the legacies of genocide for children and young people.
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Brenda Dervin, CarrieLynn D. Reinhard and Zack Y. Kerr
The idea of adapting and designing services and products to serve “special” needs either for the public good or for commercial purposes is fundamentally an idea anchored in US…
Abstract
The idea of adapting and designing services and products to serve “special” needs either for the public good or for commercial purposes is fundamentally an idea anchored in US history. At root, it is a simple idea, albeit expressed in widely varying vocabularies across disciplines and professions. In the parlance of social work, public education, and public librarianship, for example, the idea has been repeatedly advanced over the years as a well-meaning reaching out to meet the needs of subpopulations not readily addressed by available service designs. In the parlance of the commercial sector, the idea has focused on market segmentation, dividing the population into finer and finer subgroups for the purposes of marketing products and services. One of the most recent labels for these activities has been marketing to audience “niches” in which the audience is identified “… as a certain definable market segment with demographic characteristics that make it attractive to advertisers.” (Fejes and Lennon, 2000, p. 37).
Mohmaed Almazrouei, Khalizani Khalid and Ross Davidson
The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a safety climate scale for measuring the safety climate in the oil and gas industry.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a safety climate scale for measuring the safety climate in the oil and gas industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The scale developed through conducting a literature review about the safety climate and constructing a question pool. The number of items was reduced to 51 after performing a screening process. Explanatory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed to examine the scale’s construct validity.
Findings
CFA loadings were statistically significant. All Cronbach’s alpha (a) and composite reliability values support the construct reliability. The outcomes showed acceptable convergent and discriminant validity: AVEs showed acceptable values, and the square roots of AVE values showed higher values than the construct correlation values. Furthermore, all factor loadings exceeded 0.50, and the t-values were statistically significant. CFA loadings were statistically significant.
Originality/value
The safety climate measuring scale of 43-instrument items produced in this study is reliable and valid for the oil and gas industry.