Michael Cooke and William Alexander Gray
Since 1964 Newcastle University Computing Laboratory has had its own file handling systems for bibliographic records: two systems were developed in parallel for use on an ICL KDF9…
Abstract
Since 1964 Newcastle University Computing Laboratory has had its own file handling systems for bibliographic records: two systems were developed in parallel for use on an ICL KDF9 computer. In 1967 a third and more sophisticated system compatible with the two KDF9 systems was designed and implemented for use on the newly arrived IBM 360/67. This paper describes the record structure upon which the new system is based. Some of the utilities which make up the file handling system are briefly described, as are some of the projects, both ‘library’ and ‘non‐library’, which have made use of the new system.
The purpose of this paper is to reflect back over his career as a management and business historian so far as to consider opportunities for the future of management and business…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect back over his career as a management and business historian so far as to consider opportunities for the future of management and business history as a disciplinary area.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper consists of two segments – the first half is an auto-ethnographic personal reflection looking at the author’s research journey and how the discipline as experienced by the author has evolved over that time. The second half is a prescriptive look forward to consider how we should leverage the strengths as historians to progress the discipline forward.
Findings
The paper demonstrates opportunities for management and business history to encompass new agendas including the expansion of the topic into teaching, the possibility for the advancement of empirical contributions and opportunities for findings in new research areas, including the global south and public and project management history.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates that historians should be more confident in the disciplinary capabilities, particularly their understandings of historic context, continuity, change and chronologies when making empirical and theoretical contributions.
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Clive Bingley and Edwin Fleming
OF THREE senior staff who retired this summer from Strathclyde University's Department of Librarianship in Glasgow, one is going to Italy, one to Wales and one to work. The latter…
Abstract
OF THREE senior staff who retired this summer from Strathclyde University's Department of Librarianship in Glasgow, one is going to Italy, one to Wales and one to work. The latter is Dr W R Aitken, who admittedly is confining his ‘work’ to an external examinership at the Aberdeen school of librarianship and membership of the Library Cooperation Committee of the National Library of Scotland, but it is a pleasure to know that this most charming and scholarly librarian will continue to involve himself directly in professional affairs.
Gareth Huw Davies, Sian Roderick, Michael D. Williams and Roderick Thomas
The Technium initiative started in 2001 with an initial Business and Innovation Centre established in the Swansea docklands area. Early success of this first Technium building led…
Abstract
The Technium initiative started in 2001 with an initial Business and Innovation Centre established in the Swansea docklands area. Early success of this first Technium building led to the concept being rapidly proliferated into a pan-Wales network of primarily sector-focussed centres. Although the Welsh Government withdrew its support for the Technium network initiative in 2010, the individual centres continued under a range of ownerships and the historic initiative of continued interest, particularly with respect to regional policy.
A vibrant policy and practice debate subsequently emerged together with strident media comment. Lack of coherence between Technium Centres and weaknesses in monitoring systems meant this debate has been poorly informed. This case study helps address the evidence deficit within this debate by revisiting the initial Technium Swansea initiative and its subsequent development.
The case study provides an insight into what can realistically be expected of such initiatives in the short, medium and long terms, with realistic time-horizons for ‘success’ and the role of learning for knowledge-based development in similar initiatives and regions.
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Librarians have been urged to emphasize social justice and human rights issues in their library mission, but they may find themselves challenged to provide additional services…
Abstract
Librarians have been urged to emphasize social justice and human rights issues in their library mission, but they may find themselves challenged to provide additional services, such as access to legal information for those who cannot afford an attorney. Social justice services in libraries are seldom adequately funded and providing services in this area is labor intensive. In addition, there is an emotional intensity in library services for social justice that is often not considered in the initial enthusiasm of providing services in this area. Yet there seems to be no limit to the need. An interesting and useful perspective on how a public agency such as a library responds in circumstances of limited resources and unlimited demand can be found in the book Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Service, by Michael Lipsky. In this perspective, lower level civil servants who interact directly with members of the general public exercise a level of discretion in the amount of services provided and how those services are administered. This chapter explores how this can generate tensions between more traditional library bureaucracy and social justice services, such as providing public access to justice resources in law libraries. However, the “street-level” response is evolving into a sustainability perspective as librarians embrace a more social justice–oriented outlook in library service planning.
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Olena Connor, Harry Pedersen, Nancy J. Cooke and Heather Pringle
The great success of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in performing near-real time tactical, reconnaissance, intelligence, surveillance and other various missions has attracted…
Abstract
The great success of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in performing near-real time tactical, reconnaissance, intelligence, surveillance and other various missions has attracted broad attention from military and civilian communities. A critical contribution to the increase and extension of UAV applications, resides in the separation of pilot and vehicle allowing the operator to avoid dangerous and harmful situations. However, this apparent benefit has the potential to lead to problems when the role of humans in remotely operating “unmanned” vehicles is not considered. Although, UAVs do not carry humans onboard, they do require human control and maintenance. To control UAVs, skilled and coordinated work of operators on the ground is required.
Michael Nollert and Martin Gasser
The purpose of this paper is to focus first on the development of the segregation of tasks in family and housework in Switzerland and its linkage to the gender time-use gap in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus first on the development of the segregation of tasks in family and housework in Switzerland and its linkage to the gender time-use gap in unpaid work. In addition, the impact of dual-breadwinner support in policies and culture is examined.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical test refers to a comparison of Swiss cantons, and is based on data from the Swiss Labour Force Survey. The analysis traces both the gender gap and segregation from 2000 to 2013, compares them between 25 Swiss cantons, and links them to political and cultural dual-breadwinner support.
Findings
First, the results suggest that both the gender time-use gap and task segregation in unpaid work decrease in Switzerland. Moreover, the gender gap and segregation do not correlate in the sample of Swiss cantons. Second, both the gender gap and segregation correlate with dual-breadwinner support. However, the political dual-breadwinner support is linked to lower segregation, a smaller gender gap, more male and less female housework, the dual-breadwinner culture promotes female housework and both men’s and women’s family time spent on childcare, without affecting the gender gap and segregation.
Research limitations/implications
The results, on the one hand, suggest that both the gender time-use gap and the segregation are important but analytically different dimensions of gender equity. On the other hand, the cross-cantonal analysis highlights the socio-political structuration of gender inequality.
Originality/value
The paper contains the first comparative analysis of the gender time-use gap and task segregation in Switzerland. The results underline the analytical distinction between the gender time-use gap and the task segregation in family and housework. Moreover, the cross-cantonal analysis suggests that the political dual-breadwinner support is an important determinant of the gender divide in unpaid work.
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Jonathan Michael and Anne Richardson
The Independent Inquiry into Access to Healthcare for People with Learning Disabilities reported in July 2008. Based on a public consultation, a review of research and evidence…
Abstract
The Independent Inquiry into Access to Healthcare for People with Learning Disabilities reported in July 2008. Based on a public consultation, a review of research and evidence and the views of witnesses and stakeholders, the Michael Inquiry concluded that there are risks inherent in the care system for people with learning disabilities and that they are largely due to a failure to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to services, as required under the Disability Discrimination Act. The Inquiry found evidence of a significant level of avoidable suffering due to untreated ill‐health, and a high likelihood that avoidable deaths are occurring. Although the report highlights examples of good practice there are some appalling examples of discrimination, abuse and neglect. The article makes ten essential recommendations for urgent change across the whole health system and the Inquiry team report contains practical illustrations of how to implement them.