Librarians serving family and local historians are concerned about a number of issues. Many want to learn more about the research process so they can better respond to patron…
Abstract
Librarians serving family and local historians are concerned about a number of issues. Many want to learn more about the research process so they can better respond to patron needs. Some are interested in developing better genealogy and local history collections. Bibliographic control is another problem. How can librarians and researchers keep track of the flood tide of family and local history publications that appear each year? A related question is how one learns of the many indexes that exist or are being prepared throughout the country. There are literally millions of people involved in family and local history research. How does the researcher contact those who are researching the same family or community, or find out what others have done in the past? Many of those coming to libraries are seeking books or records that are not found in the local community. How does one locate these materials and gain access to them? Anyone wishing to share information about these or related topics should feel free to write the editor with his or her ideas.
In recent years, many Americans have become curious about the identities and histories of their progenitors. Here, RSR's expert on genealogical research describes materials and…
Abstract
In recent years, many Americans have become curious about the identities and histories of their progenitors. Here, RSR's expert on genealogical research describes materials and agencies that will aid persons of German ancestry in their investigations.
This index accompanies the index that appeared in Reference Services Review 16:4 (1988). As noted in the introduction to that index, the articles in RSR that deal with specific…
Abstract
This index accompanies the index that appeared in Reference Services Review 16:4 (1988). As noted in the introduction to that index, the articles in RSR that deal with specific reference titles can be grouped into two categories: those that review specific titles (to a maximum of three) and those that review titles pertinent to a specific subject or discipline. The index in RSR 16:4 covered the first category; it indexed, by title, all titles that had been reviewed in the “Reference Serials” and the “Landmarks of Reference” columns, as well as selected titles from the “Indexes and Indexers,” “Government Publications,” and “Special Feature” columns of the journal.
When the first edition of Poems by Emily Dickinson was published in 1890, Samuel G. Ward, a writer for the Dial, commented, “I am with all the world intensely interested in Emily…
Abstract
When the first edition of Poems by Emily Dickinson was published in 1890, Samuel G. Ward, a writer for the Dial, commented, “I am with all the world intensely interested in Emily Dickinson. She may become world famous or she may never get out of New England” (Sewall 1974, 26). A century after Emily Dickinson's death, all the world is intensely interested in the full nature of her poetic genius and her commanding presence in American literature. Indeed, if fame belonged to her she could not escape it (JL 265). She was concerned about becoming “great.” Fame intrigued her, but it did not consume her. She preferred “To earn it by disdaining it—”(JP 1427). Critics say that she sensed her genius but could never have envisioned the extent to which others would recognize it. She wrote, “Fame is a bee./It has a song—/It has a sting—/Ah, too, it has a wing” (JP 1763). On 7 May 1984 the names of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were inscribed on stone tablets and set into the floor of the newly founded United States Poets' Corner of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, “the first poets elected to this pantheon of American writers” (New York Times 1985). Celebrations in her honor draw a distinguished assemblage of international scholars, renowned authors and poets, biographers, critics, literary historians, and admirers‐at‐large. In May 1986 devoted followers came from places as distant as Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, and Japan to Washington, DC, to participate in the Folger Shakespeare Library's conference, “Emily Dickinson, Letter to the World.”
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has published several books that can be used by the genealogist to locate additional research material. This bibliography…
Abstract
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has published several books that can be used by the genealogist to locate additional research material. This bibliography does not include the pamphlets or brochures that NARA produces and gives to beginning genealogists. It does include all the major NARA publications. It is divided into three sections: a review of the general guide (the basic source guide to NARA holdings, published in 1983); a discussion of catalogs of microfilmed records, which contain descriptions and roll lists of microfilmed publications by subject, and a review of NARA's two ethnic subject guides (a comprehensive guide to records relating to Native Americans and a guide to civilian records relating to Afro‐Americans).
François L’Écuyer and Louis Raymond
This study aims to explore the relationship between IT and HRM in the context of manufacturing SMEs, more specifically the relationship between strategic HRM and e-HRM as well as…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the relationship between IT and HRM in the context of manufacturing SMEs, more specifically the relationship between strategic HRM and e-HRM as well as the performance effects of this relationship. The conceptual framework is founded upon the resource-based view (RBV), specifically upon the strategic HRM and e-HRM capabilities of SMEs and upon the strategic alignment of these capabilities in the form of capability configurations or “gestalts.”
Methodology/approach
To answer the research questions, a questionnaire was constructed and mailed to 1854 manufacturing SMEs in the province of Quebec, Canada, producing 216 valid responses that were used for statistical analysis purposes. Capability configurations were identified through a cluster analysis of the e-HRM and strategic HRM capabilities developed by these firms.
Findings
Using structural equation modeling to validate the research model, a causal analysis confirmed a positive influence of the sampled SMEs’ strategic orientation upon their development of strategic HRM capabilities. More importantly, a higher level of alignment between the SMEs’ strategic HRM and e-HRM capabilities was associated to a higher level of strategic HRM performance.
Originality/value
To our knowledge, ours is the first study to show interest in the effect of the strategic alignment of HRM and IT capabilities upon HRM performance, by adopting a configurational perspective and considering organizational IT from a functional point of view. Given the specific context of SMEs, the focus was on e-HRM capabilities related to the IT infrastructure of these organizations and the IT competencies of individuals related to HRM.
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Keywords
François L’Écuyer and Claudia Pelletier
This study aims to explore social media capabilities for recruitment in the context of SMEs from the recruiters’ perspective. The conceptual framework is based on a perspective of…
Abstract
This study aims to explore social media capabilities for recruitment in the context of SMEs from the recruiters’ perspective. The conceptual framework is based on a perspective of the RBV that aims to concentrate specifically on the development of IT capabilities in the use of social media for recruitment purposes. In doing so, this study focuses on the following research questions: How do SMEs use social media for recruitment and what are their particularities? What are the capabilities needed to take advantage of social media for recruitment in SMEs? Have these social media capabilities been developed in SMEs? To answer these questions and build an emergent theory about these specific challenges of the digital era, we conducted an interpretive multiple case study in three Canadian SMEs using social media in their HR practices for at least three years.
It was found that there are four main patterns that explain the use of social media for recruitment in SMEs. First, social media is not the first choice when it comes to choosing a recruitment tool. Second, the use of social media for recruitment is not a structured activity. Third, recruiters use social media the same way they do in their own life. Finally, marketing people are often involved in recruitment practices on social media. These patterns stem from the fact that SMEs have shortcomings in their social media capabilities in general and more specifically in recruitment where gaps exist in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. To our knowledge, this study is the first to explore the use of social media for recruitment and to propose an integrated framework to evaluate social media capabilities. Through the identification and the discussion of a series of practices concerning e-HRM, our results are also helpful in a digital context where SMEs are struggling to keep up with the pace of adoption and use of IT in general.
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Thalia Anthony, Juanita Sherwood, Harry Blagg and Kieran Tranter
Nik. Brandal and Øivind Bratberg
In the 1990s, European social democrats coalesced around a set of principles often referred to as the third way – characterised by prudent economic governance, a slimmer public…
Abstract
In the 1990s, European social democrats coalesced around a set of principles often referred to as the third way – characterised by prudent economic governance, a slimmer public sector, ‘productive’ welfare services and attraction to inward investment. Third way proponents perceived fairness as supporting opportunity rather than redistributing welfare. On the way to the late 2000s, their sense of direction was lost. The final phase, one might argue, ended with the 2008–2009 financial crisis. Henceforth, the challenge for the Left concerned how to define a social democracy with less revenue and limited scope for expanding public services, while reaching out to the so-called left-behinds through better jobs and a renewed sense of common purpose.
Jeremy Corbyn and Emmanuel Macron represent two distinctly different attempts at forging a new way forward from the impasse. During Corbyn's tenure as a leader (2015–2020), Labour carved out space by moving leftwards on key economic policies while proffering communitarianism as the antidote to globalised capitalism. Across the English Channel, Macron's new party, La République En Marche, sought to generate a new form of politics that had clear similarities with the centrism of third way social democracy, supplemented by an emphasis on social dialogue and enhanced European integration as a strategy for harnessing globalisation.
Corbynism and Macronism represent two distinct attempts at centre-left renewal, both personalised yet evolving on the back of mass movements. This chapter summarises the trajectory of both in terms of ideological content and organisational change and asks what lessons they convey about the future of social democracy in the twenty-first century.
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Lisa Evans and Ian Fraser
The paper aims to explore the social origins of Scottish chartered accountants and the accounting stereotype as portrayed in popular fiction.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to explore the social origins of Scottish chartered accountants and the accounting stereotype as portrayed in popular fiction.
Design/methodology/approach
The detective novels of the Scottish chartered accountant Alexander Clark Smith are used as a lens through which to explore the social origins of accountants and the changing popular representations of the accountant.
Findings
The novels contribute to our understanding of the construction of accounting stereotypes and of the social origins of Scottish accountants. They suggest that, while working class access to the profession was a reality, so was class division within it. In addition, Smith was ahead of contemporary professional discourse in creating a protagonist who combines the positive aspects of the traditional stereotype with qualities of a private‐eye action‐hero, and who uses accounting skills to uncover corruption and address (social) wrongs. However, this unconventional portrayal may have been incongruent with the image the profession wished to portray. The public image (or stereotype) portrayed by its members would have been as important in signalling and maintaining the profession's collective status as the recruitment of its leadership from social elites.
Originality/value
Smith's portrayal of accountants in personal and societal settings at a time of profound social change, as well as his background in the Scottish profession, provide a rich source for the study of social origins of Scottish chartered accountancy during the first half of the twentieth century. Further, Smith's novels are of a popular genre, and innovative in the construction of their hero and of accounting itself; as such they merit attention because of their potential to influence the construction of the accounting stereotype(s) within the popular imagination.