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1 – 10 of 56In early 1993 Binghamton University Libraries began discussing methodsto supplement our collection of electronic journal indexes available onmainframe tapes or CD‐ROM. FirstSearch…
Abstract
In early 1993 Binghamton University Libraries began discussing methods to supplement our collection of electronic journal indexes available on mainframe tapes or CD‐ROM. FirstSearch files were chosen because of the selection available, the advantages of remote storage over local data storage and maintenance, and the ease with which we could provide access through our newly‐developed public Internet interface. This article summarizes our access to electronic indexes, present statistical data on FirstSearch usage for the 1993/94 academic year, and provides possible explanations for the resulting searching activity patterns. Such information may be helpful to other libraries as they implement FirstSearch access.
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The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources, research, and computer skills related…
Abstract
The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources, research, and computer skills related to retrieving, using, and evaluating information. This review, the twenty‐second to be published in Reference Services Review, includes items in English published in 1995. After 21 years, the title of this review of the literature has been changed from “Library Orientation and Instruction” to “Library Instruction and Information Literacy,” to indicate the growing trend of moving to information skills instruction.
The chapter discusses the uniqueness of qualitative research that does not allow meeting the terms of consent as they are applied in traditional, positivist research with…
Abstract
The chapter discusses the uniqueness of qualitative research that does not allow meeting the terms of consent as they are applied in traditional, positivist research with pre-defined goals that aim to validate hypotheses.
It is proposed adopting an ethics that promotes trust-based, reflective and dynamic relations between researchers and participants, centering on caring, humanity and concern. The suggested alternative approach views consent as an ongoing process that takes place throughout the entire course of the study; responsibility for protection of participants is expected of participants too, and is not the duty of researchers alone; mutuality must take place in the form of an ongoing, continuous dialogue; it is in order to consider fair recompense for participants too, thus reducing the one-sidedness of the research interest, and the chances that participants will decide to withdraw before completion of the study.
Debby Cotton, Jennie Winter, Joseph A. Allison and Rachel Mullee
Perceptions of climate change are strongly influenced by visual cues and images. Many universities have made significant steps towards decarbonisation, yet these often remain…
Abstract
Purpose
Perceptions of climate change are strongly influenced by visual cues and images. Many universities have made significant steps towards decarbonisation, yet these often remain hidden from the campus community. This study aims to explore the hidden curriculum of climate change on campus and compare participants’ images of sustainability on campus with those on university websites.
Design/methodology/approach
This research was underpinned by a critical realist perspective using innovative visual research methods including auto-photography and photo-elicitation to enable deep understanding of perceptions of sustainability and climate change on campus. Grounded visual pattern analysis (GVPA) was used to analyse campus photos and compare them to images used on university websites.
Findings
Findings suggest that staff and student images more strongly encapsulated tensions between humans and nature than website photos, but that the latter included more evidence of social sustainability. Neither image set expressed climate change issues effectively; the invisibility of university decarbonisation activities represents a lost opportunity for learning.
Originality/value
This research uses novel visual methodologies and analysis (GVPA) with potential for wider use in sustainability research. This study offers new insights into the importance of the hidden curriculum of sustainability in higher education and the difficulties of making climate change visible on campus.
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Belinda Rachael Williams and Gary O'Donovan
This paper aims to explore the accountants’ perspective towards their role and function as business advisors in assisting with the adoption of sustainable business practices…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the accountants’ perspective towards their role and function as business advisors in assisting with the adoption of sustainable business practices (SBPs) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire-based study was conducted on members from one of Australia’s leading professional accounting organizations.
Findings
Key findings from this research highlighted deficiencies in the effectiveness of the accounting profession in assisting SMEs in implementing SBPs despite a desire from clients for accountants to provide this advice and a belief that accountants are best placed to do so. Further, an expectations gap is evident between the level of involvement accountants believe they should be having in assisting SMEs and the level of involvement that is currently occurring.
Research limitations/implications
This finding has implications for the accounting profession, with accountants needing to examine their current business approaches in an effort to close this gap. If this does not occur, SMEs will most likely seek this much-needed advice and support from outside the profession.
Originality/value
Little attention has been given to the accountant’s role in respect of sustainability from an accountant’s perspective. The findings contribute to understanding the accountant’s importance in advancing their involvement in assisting SMEs in the uptake of SBPs.
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Kiran Trehan, Rachel Hu and Alex Kevill
This chapter investigates the ways in which transnational practices of Chinese migrants can contribute to our understanding of how migration and entrepreneurship operate in…
Abstract
This chapter investigates the ways in which transnational practices of Chinese migrants can contribute to our understanding of how migration and entrepreneurship operate in superdiverse urban settings. ‘Superdiversity’, as outlined by Vertovec (2007), draws attention to the new and complex social formations, characterised by a dynamic integration of variables (e.g. race, ethnicity and social class) in European cosmopolitan cities. Increased diversity has created a complex range of under-explored challenges to immigrant entrepreneurs, who work within and, most importantly, for such communities. Importantly, for migrant groups in the current climate of austerity, enterprise may be a way of promoting employment and local development, while also kick-starting broader business regeneration. The focus of the chapter is based on the transnational practices of immigrant enterprises through the intersectionality of gender and ethnicity. The study focusses on Chinese entrepreneurial owners of small transnational enterprises (STEs) living in Birmingham, UK. Despite the fact that the Chinese STEs have been documented elsewhere including Canada (e.g. Wong & Ng, 2002), the USA (e.g. Sequeira, Carr, & Rasheed, 2009; You & Zhou, 2018), Australia (Wang & Warn, 2018) and some South-east Asian countries including China (Tan, 2006; Weng, 2014), very little empirical research has been conducted in the UK to document and explore the existence and characteristics of the Chinese STEs. Timely empirical studies are called for which illuminate the contemporary development and dynamics of the businesses run by the new Chinese immigrants in the west Midlands UK.
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Heather Schoenfeld, Rachel M. Durso and Kat Albrecht
Criminal law has dramatically expanded since the 1970s. Despite popular and academic attention to overcriminalization in the United States, empirical research on how court actors…
Abstract
Criminal law has dramatically expanded since the 1970s. Despite popular and academic attention to overcriminalization in the United States, empirical research on how court actors and, in particular, prosecutors, use the legal tools associated with overcriminalization is scarce. In this chapter, we describe three forms of overcriminalization that, in theory, have created new tools for prosecutors: the criminalization of new behaviors, mandatory minimum sentencing statutes, and the internal expansion of criminal laws. We then use a unique dataset of felony filings and dispositions in Florida from 1995 to 2015 to test a series of hypotheses examining how overcriminalization influences prosecutorial practices given three changes to the political economy during this time: the decline in violent and property crime, the Great Recession, and a growing call for criminal justice reform. We find that prosecutors have been unconstrained by declining crime rates. Yet, rather than rely on new criminal statutes or mandatory minimum sentence laws, they maintained their caseloads by increasing their filing rates for traditional violent, property and drug offenses. At the same time, the data demonstrate nonviolent other offenses are the top charge in almost 20% of the felony caseload between 2005 and 2015. Our findings also suggest that, despite reform rhetoric, filing and conviction rates decreased due to the Recession, not changes in the law. We discuss the implications of these findings for criminal justice reform.
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Psychodynamic observation and emotional mapping (POEM) is a professional development (CPD), supervisory and research process, which works from the ‘inside out’. It aims to ensure…
Abstract
Psychodynamic observation and emotional mapping (POEM) is a professional development (CPD), supervisory and research process, which works from the ‘inside out’. It aims to ensure that staff experience is placed at the heart of understanding meaningful, relationship‐centred care in the workplace. Central to this process is the assumption that feelings occurring ‘under the surface’ in both staff and patients are important channels of communication impacting on staff, care practice and the service setting. In terms of good psychological health for staff and patient, the POEM approach facilitates the digestion and understanding of both conscious and unconscious processes in the workplace. It also contributes towards a healthier, more open workplace in which staff teams are supported in their capacity to think and respond effectively and honestly to everyday clinical and organisational pressures.
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Jannifer Gregory David, Rachel Groth and Taylor Alto
To facilitate a goal of hiring more employees with work passion, this research investigates the content job seekers include in recruiting messages to determine if this content…
Abstract
Purpose
To facilitate a goal of hiring more employees with work passion, this research investigates the content job seekers include in recruiting messages to determine if this content changes with job seekers’ work passion.
Design/methodology/approach
Study participants were full-time professionals who wrote recruiting messages for their current jobs and answered questions about their work passion and work histories. These recruiting messages were content analyzed for themes. The percentages of recruiting message content for each theme were entered as endogenous variables in a structural equation model with harmonious and obsessive work passion are exogenous variables.
Findings
A significantly positive relationship was found between participants’ harmonious work passion and the amount of passion-related content in their recruiting messages.
Practical implications
Findings suggest that organizations may consider including more passion-related content in recruiting messages, if their recruiting strategy aims to attract more high-work-passion job applicants.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies on the role of work passion in recruiting messages. This study also uses a unique combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses.
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Layla Jayne Branicki, Bridgette Sullivan-Taylor and Sarah Rachael Livschitz
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how entrepreneurial behaviors support small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) resilience, refine the concept of entrepreneurial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how entrepreneurial behaviors support small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) resilience, refine the concept of entrepreneurial resilience, and identify how SME resilience might be promoted.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative data were collected in the UK via 11 focus groups which provided a sub-sample of 19 SME participants.
Findings
Because of their experience operating in uncertain environments, their direct experience of adversity, and the informal organizational settings they inhabit, entrepreneurs are often highly resilient and possess capabilities that enable SMEs to be resilient. Entrepreneurial resilience provides a basis for SME resilience that differs significantly from best practices as understood in larger firms.
Research limitations/implications
Exploratory qualitative research on a small sample (n=19) limits the generalizability of this work. Further research could quantitatively test the paper’s findings and/or examine the link between entrepreneurial resilience and the resilience of larger firms.
Practical implications
Rather than encouraging formal planning and redundancy, policy and practice designed to promote the resilience of SMEs should pay greater attention to building capacities to cope with uncertainty, generating and leveraging personal relationships, and activating the ability to experiment and think creatively in response to crises.
Originality/value
This paper draws on organizational psychology research to refine understanding of entrepreneurial resilience and to empirically examine and inductively theorize the multi-level relationships between entrepreneurial resilience and SME resilience.
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