Patricia M. Redman, Anthony R. Aguirre, Doreen R. Bradley and Darin C. Savage
Librarians at the University of Michigan have been involved in HealthWeb since its origin in late 1993. The challenges and opportunities presented by the Internet environment led…
Abstract
Librarians at the University of Michigan have been involved in HealthWeb since its origin in late 1993. The challenges and opportunities presented by the Internet environment led to the intellectual development of this grassroots project. As the primary goal developing HealthWeb nears completion, the more than 100 librarians involved are planning enhancements for the project to build on their successful collaborative effort. This article focuses on the challenges and lessons of developing a model Internet project.
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María Ángeles García-Fortes, Isabel Banos-González and Patricia Esteve-Guirao
This study aims to analyse the self-perception of future secondary school teachers (FTs) of biology about their education for sustainable development (ESD) competencies and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse the self-perception of future secondary school teachers (FTs) of biology about their education for sustainable development (ESD) competencies and evaluate the competence profile they develop in their educational proposals.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed methodological approach was used to analyse 162 FTs’ ESD action competencies as proposed by UNECE. Firstly, a six-point Likert-type scale questionnaire is used to explore their self-perception of the level of acquisition of these competencies. Then, a rubric is applied to analyse the competence profile when designing educational proposals to address socio-environmental issues related to consumption and waste generation. Besides descriptive analysis, inferential statistics were used to assess the significance of the differences detected between the competencies.
Findings
FTs self-perceive a partial acquisition of ESD action competencies, in line with their competence profile. Where they recognise and show significant difficulties is in assessing learning outcomes in terms of changes and achievements. Similarly, their best perception and competence profile is achieved in the approach to contextualised situations in the students’ lives. There are also some discrepancies between their perception and their profile. In particular, FTs regard themselves as very competent in considering different dimensions and perspectives of the issues, but this is precisely where they reveal a lower competence profile.
Originality/value
This study applies a fully replicable rubric for the assessment of teachers’ ESD competencies when designing proposals to address socio-environmental issues. This assessment allows one to approach the sustainability competencies that they will promote in their classrooms.
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Peter McGhee and Patricia Grant
In a recent article, Schaefer et al. (2015) argue that cultivating appropriate beliefs and values, cultivating systems thinking and encouraging responsibility are the stages to be…
Abstract
Purpose
In a recent article, Schaefer et al. (2015) argue that cultivating appropriate beliefs and values, cultivating systems thinking and encouraging responsibility are the stages to be followed to achieve sustainability-as-flourishing from an organizational perspective. This analysis forms the basis for the development and discussion of a conceptual model to educate undergraduate business students at a New Zealand University into responsible leaders who strive to enact sustainability-as-flourishing in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper critiques current approaches to sustainability which often reflect a narrow understanding of human needs and do not demand necessary transformation in the way we interact with the world around us. It then provides an overview of sustainability-as-flourishing, and its various stages, with relevant examples from business. This is followed by a discussion of the conceptual model, the pedagogical philosophies underpinning it and the teaching methods required for shifting business students’ mindsets towards this end.
Findings
This is a conceptual paper that offers a new teaching model for sustainability-as-flourishing. The paper concludes with suggestions for sustainability educators in business.
Originality/value
To date, sustainability-as-flourishing is underdeveloped in the business literature. This conceptual paper unpacks this notion further. Additionally, it provides a model for business educators to teach sustainability-as-flourishing. While some of these ideas and features have been described in the literature previously, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time they have been brought as a coherent whole under this broader and unique approach of sustainability-as-flourishing.
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In this paper, I demonstrate an alternative explanation to the development of the American electricity industry. I propose a social embeddedness approach (Granovetter, 1985, 1992…
Abstract
In this paper, I demonstrate an alternative explanation to the development of the American electricity industry. I propose a social embeddedness approach (Granovetter, 1985, 1992) to interpret why the American electricity industry appears the way it does today, and start by addressing the following questions: Why is the generating dynamo located in well‐connected central stations rather than in isolated stations? Why does not every manufacturing firm, hospital, school, or even household operate its own generating equipment? Why do we use incandescent lamps rather than arc lamps or gas lamps for lighting? At the end of the nineteenth century, the first era of the electricity industry, all these technical as well as organizational forms were indeed possible alternatives. The centralized systems we see today comprise integrated, urban, central station firms which produce and sell electricity to users within a monopolized territory. Yet there were visions of a more decentralized electricity industry. For instance, a geographically decentralized system might have dispersed small systems based around an isolated or neighborhood generating dynamo; or a functionally decentralized system which included firms solely generating and transmitting the power, and selling the power to locally‐owned distribution firms (McGuire, Granovetter, and Schwartz, forthcoming). Similarly, the incandescent lamp was not the only illuminating device available at that time. The arc lamp was more suitable for large‐space lighting than incandescent lamps; and the second‐generation gas lamp ‐ Welsbach mantle lamp ‐ was much cheaper than the incandescent electric light and nearly as good in quality (Passer, 1953:196–197).
Norman Mooradian, Patricia C. Franks and Amitabh Srivastav
The purpose of this paper is to increase the artificial intelligence (AI) ethical literacy of information governance professionals by explaining how AI intensifies familiar data…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to increase the artificial intelligence (AI) ethical literacy of information governance professionals by explaining how AI intensifies familiar data privacy issues by virtue of its dependency on data and ability to create new personal information, to explicate emerging privacy enhancing methods and to show their continuity with existing privacy and information governance principles.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses an interdisciplinary design research methodology that extends current governance frameworks by combining information science, information governance and applied ethics concepts. Three information sources were referenced: 1) academic papers; 2) standards and best practices published by governmental and nongovernmental organizations and professional associations; and 3) white papers, market research and vendor reports. The literature review was informed by real-world implementation knowledge and anecdotal evidence to identify privacy risks when using AI. Useful tools, techniques and governance approaches to manage and mitigate the risks associated with digital privacy and ethics when using AI are identified and discussed.
Findings
The paper analyzes the relationship between different approaches to AI (e.g. symbolic-deductive, machine learning and deep learning) and levels of privacy risks. It identifies risk reduction methods (e.g. differential privacy) and relates these to extant privacy principles such as data minimization. Finally, the paper shows the continuity between information governance practices and newly emerging AI governance and risk frameworks.
Originality/value
The authors present useful tools and techniques and discuss them from a business perspective, using the lens of information governance to mitigate AI-related privacy risks. The authors also discuss how design techniques and technologies can help minimize data collection of sensitive information and can be used to anonymize sensitive data when training AI models.
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This chapter will examine ideological debates currently taking place in academics. Anthropologists – and all academic workers – are at a crossroads. They must determine what it…
Abstract
This chapter will examine ideological debates currently taking place in academics. Anthropologists – and all academic workers – are at a crossroads. They must determine what it means to “green the academy” in an era of permanent war, “green capitalism,” and the neoliberal university (Sullivan, 2010). As Victor Wallis makes clear, “no serious observer now denies the severity of the environmental crisis, but it is still not widely recognized as a capitalist crisis, that is, as a crisis arising from and perpetuated by the rule of capital, and hence incapable of resolution within the capitalist framework.”
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Ashley Wilkinson, Khater Muhajir, Patricia Bailey-Brown, Alana Jones and Rebecca Schiff
Due to ongoing inequities in the social determinants of health and systemic barriers, homelessness continues to be a significant concern that disproportionately impacts racialized…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to ongoing inequities in the social determinants of health and systemic barriers, homelessness continues to be a significant concern that disproportionately impacts racialized communities. Despite constituting a small proportion of the population, Black individuals are over-represented among people experiencing homelessness in many Canadian cities. However, although Black homelessness in Canada is a pressing issue, it has received limited attention in the academic literature. The purpose of this paper is to examine the reported prevalence of Black homelessness across Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
By consulting enumerations from 61 designated communities that participated in the 2018 Nationally Coordinated Point-in-Time Count and two regional repositories – one for homeless counts supported by the government of British Columbia and another from the Rural Development Network – this paper reports on the scale and scope of Black homelessness across Canada.
Findings
Significantly, these reports demonstrate that Black people are over-represented among those experiencing homelessness compared to local and national populations. These enumerations also demonstrate significant gaps in the reporting of Black homelessness and inadequate nuance in data collection methods, which limit the ability of respondents to describe their identity beyond “Black.”
Originality/value
This research provides an unprecedented examination of Black homelessness across Canada and concludes with recommendations to expand knowledge on this important and under-researched issue, provide suggestions for future iterations of homeless enumerations and facilitate the development of inclusive housing policy.
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The study explored the views of leading human resource development (HRD) academics regarding five main issues: the disciplinary bases of HRD, the historical milestones in HRD, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explored the views of leading human resource development (HRD) academics regarding five main issues: the disciplinary bases of HRD, the historical milestones in HRD, the constituent components of HRD, the leading contributions in terms of journal articles and books to the development of HRD and the future of HRD.
Design/methodology/approach
A Delphi methodology was adopted. The views of editorial board members of the four main HRD journals (Human Resource Development Quarterly, Human Resource Development International, Advances in Developing Human Resources, Human Resource Development Review) and of the Board of Directors of the Academy of Human Resource Development were sought.
Findings
Adult learning, systems theory and psychology were identified as the disciplinary bases of HRD. Works by Knowles, Nadler and McLagan were viewed as the leading contributions to the field. Adjusting to changes in work patterns and how work is organized was identified as a key trend influencing the field. Issues of professionalisation and balancing the needs of employees, organizations and society were identified as the key challenges facing the field.
Originality/value
Examines key trends and challenges facing HRD.
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THE Newcastle school, like most others, was established after the second world war to provide full‐time education in librarianship as an alternative to the part‐time system which…
Abstract
THE Newcastle school, like most others, was established after the second world war to provide full‐time education in librarianship as an alternative to the part‐time system which until 1946 was the only one available to the majority of librarians. At first most of the students were returning servicemen whose library careers had been interrupted by the war and they were followed by students direct from libraries, universities and schools. From a handful of students and one full‐time member of staff in the first year the school has grown steadily until there were 53 students and five staff during the session 1962–3 which was the last course held for the Registration Examination.
Yunzheng Zheng, Jianping Shen and Patricia Reeves
In this manuscript, we aimed to (1) illustrate the differences in school–university partnership under the school reform and renewal models and (2) describe the practice of and…
Abstract
Purpose
In this manuscript, we aimed to (1) illustrate the differences in school–university partnership under the school reform and renewal models and (2) describe the practice of and learning about school–university partnership by reflecting on the three large, federally funded projects, all conducted under the school renewal model.
Design/methodology/approach
We used archival data from the three large, federally funded projects, synthesized our research related to school–university partnerships and developed themes for actions and learnings related to the topic of school–university partnerships.
Findings
The school–university partnerships under the school renewal model are different from that under the school reform model. School–university partnership under the school renewal model is associated with positive results for schools and the university. There are clear themes for the actions and learning in the school–university partnership under the school renewal model.
Originality/value
It is original to study school–university partnerships in the context of the school renewal model.