Wilfred Ashworth, Richard Hemmings, Bob McKee and Paul Sturges
I suppose most librarians carry around something to read in case they have a spare moment, for example on a train journey or while waiting for the One Really Interesting Bit on…
Abstract
I suppose most librarians carry around something to read in case they have a spare moment, for example on a train journey or while waiting for the One Really Interesting Bit on the usual dull agenda paper. It is not always assumed that librarians read, of course. Was once stopped walking home in what we used to call the wee small hours by the motorised Law who wanted to know what I was carrying in that large army pack — an enquiry with the heavy and well‐seasoned implication that “we're not taking at face value anything you say, so you might as well show us”. On seeing the load of books they asked, “What are you, then, a student?” Revealing myself as a librarian was obviously insufficient evidence and I was further quizzed as to what I was doing with the books.
The long controversy that has waxed furiously around the implementation of the EEC Directives on the inspection of poultry meat and hygiene standards to be observed in poultry…
Abstract
The long controversy that has waxed furiously around the implementation of the EEC Directives on the inspection of poultry meat and hygiene standards to be observed in poultry slaughterhouses, cutting‐up premises, &c, appears to be resolved at last. (The Prayer lodged against the Regulations when they were formally laid before Parliament just before the summer recess, which meant they would have to be debated when the House reassembled, could have resulted in some delay to the early operative dates, but little chance of the main proposals being changed.) The controversy began as soon as the EEC draft directive was published and has continued from the Directive of 1971 with 1975 amendments. There has been long and painstaking study of problems by the Ministry with all interested parties; enforcement was not the least of these. The expansion and growth of the poultry meat industry in the past decade has been tremendous and the constitution of what is virtually a new service, within the framework of general food inspection, was inevitable. None will question the need for efficient inspection or improved and higher standards of hygiene, but the extent of the
Since its origins during the Second World War, the computer industry has grown more rapidly than any other technology in history, and this growth has spawned a wealth of new terms…
Abstract
Since its origins during the Second World War, the computer industry has grown more rapidly than any other technology in history, and this growth has spawned a wealth of new terms and manners‐of‐speaking to describe computers and the uses to which they can be put. Such terms are often referred to collectively as computerese. The thesis of Barry's entertaining book is that the use of computerese is increasingly being extended to a wealth of other subjects that are often totally unrelated to computing. Barry refers to this use (or abuse) of language as technobabble: the subject matter and the pleasingly tongue‐in‐cheek style can be judged from the introduction, which starts as follows: ‘This paper‐based, productized bookware module is designed to support the robust implementation of a friendly, context‐driven interface between the developer and the end‐user. Did you understand this sentence? If so, you are fluent in technobabble’.
Sinyati Ndiango, Neema P. Kumburu and Richard Jaffu
This study aims to examine the influence of research self-efficacy (RSE) on academics' research productivity (RPR) in public higher education institutions in Tanzania.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the influence of research self-efficacy (RSE) on academics' research productivity (RPR) in public higher education institutions in Tanzania.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional design was utilized to collect and analyze data from 247 academics in four public higher education institutions in Tanzania.
Findings
The findings show that RSE has a positive and significant influence on academics' RPR in higher education (ß = 0.657 and p < 0.001).
Practical implications
Higher education institutions should focus on creating a favorable work environment that fosters academics' RSE so as to enhance more productivity in terms of research.
Originality/value
The results of this study expand the aspects in which social cognitive theory can be applied in Tanzania's higher education institutions. On the other hand, by conducting empirical-based research on the influence of RSE on RPR in developing nations like Tanzania, the findings contribute to the literature on RSE and RPR.
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Peter R. Whipp and Richard Pengelley
The “Colleague Review of Teaching” programme (CRT) aimed to enhance reviewees’ confidence to teach. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Abstract
Purpose
The “Colleague Review of Teaching” programme (CRT) aimed to enhance reviewees’ confidence to teach. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Case studies using mixed-method, interview and questionnaire, repeated measures intervention were employed whereby academics in an Australian university science faculty volunteered to participate in a multi-faceted teaching review programme. Underpinned by confidence and self-determination theory, the CRT included peer coach training, reviewee choice, and a strengths-based approach to peer reviewing and coaching colleagues.
Findings
The reviewees declared an enhanced confidence to teach, teaching skills and unit design knowledge in an environment that was supportive of psychological needs. The peer coaches reported the CRT to be a positive experience that should continue. The strengths-based approach to peer observation of teaching and peer coaching facilitated department collegiality and was positively received by all participants who completed the programme.
Research limitations/implications
The indifferent response to the CRT protocol completion reconfirms that peer review is a complex science and needs careful negotiation.
Practical implications
Review, peer coach and mentor training, review practice, choice protocols and the multi-faceted approach (pre-observation meeting, observations, written report and post-observation meeting) were positively received.
Originality/value
This paper provides rich insight into the experiences of a teaching review process.
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Sinyati Ndiango, Neema P. Kumburu and Richard Jaffu
The major purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of openness to change on research publication in higher education institutions (HEI) in Tanzania.
Abstract
Purpose
The major purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of openness to change on research publication in higher education institutions (HEI) in Tanzania.
Design/methodology/approach
With a sample of 247 academics, a cross-sectional survey design was used and questionnaires were the primary data collection tool. The collected data were tested using mean and standard deviations, and the causal–effect relationship between the independent and dependent variables was tested using simple linear regression.
Findings
The findings of this study revealed that openness to change positively and significantly influence research publication in higher education (β = 0.598 and p < 0.001).
Practical implications
The study recommends that HEI should consider openness to change value as one among criteria for hiring academics as well as developing good programs that will help academics develop the academics' self-awareness with regard to what takes for one to be a productive researcher.
Originality/value
This is the first study to examine the influence of openness to change as a personal value on academics’ research publication in Tanzanian HEI. In this instance, the study contributes to the existing literature on the influence of academics' personal values in terms of openness to change on research publication.
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In this chapter, the author critically examines the deeply entrenched practices and theories within counselor education, revealing their roots in historically dominant…
Abstract
In this chapter, the author critically examines the deeply entrenched practices and theories within counselor education, revealing their roots in historically dominant, Eurocentric, and often racially oppressive assumptions. This study brings to light the pervasive impact of these traditional approaches, illuminating their role in perpetuating racial oppression and disparities in mental health care. The author presents a compelling argument for adopting Critical Race Theory (CRT) as an effective pedagogical and clinical practice framework in the counseling profession, a step toward its much-needed liberation. CRT's tenets are examined as a robust alternative, promoting socially just outcomes in counseling and psychotherapy. The article highlights CRT's capacity to address the well-established relationship between racism, white supremacy, and minority mental health. It proposes a groundbreaking model for praxis, predicated on CRT, which holds potential not only to challenge and disrupt oppressive structures but also to pave the way for the liberation of both the oppressed and the oppressor. This seminal work prompts a re-envisioning of counselor education, asserting a call for a transformative shift toward a liberation-based, social justice pedagogy.
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This chapter seeks to compare and contrast two compelling portrayals of the bisexual or ‘gender-blind’ vampire: The Hunger (1983) and American Horror Story: Hotel (2015). These…
Abstract
This chapter seeks to compare and contrast two compelling portrayals of the bisexual or ‘gender-blind’ vampire: The Hunger (1983) and American Horror Story: Hotel (2015). These texts present a number of notable differences. They were released over 30 years apart and they also diverge markedly in form: Hotel is a 12-episode television serial, whilst The Hunger is a tight 97-minute-feature film. Whilst these differences highlight shifts in the format of horror more broadly, they also facilitate the reflection on whether the portrayal of the bisexual vampire has dramatically shifted alongside these changes. Such a reflection is ripe with potential given that in addition to their differences, both texts also share significant aesthetic and narrative similarities. Both Hotel and The Hunger foreground performativity and feature female protagonists who defy heteronormative understandings of gender and sexuality. Undoubtedly, Hotel can be read as an aesthetic homage to The Hunger. However, whether Hotel also echoes some of the more conservative aspects of the earlier film’s politics is a more complex question. Focusing on the ways that these female vampire protagonists, as well as a selection of their lovers and victims, are gendered, this chapter will illuminate a number of developments and lingering issues in the ways that horror depicts (or circumvents) complex facets of the relationship between bisexuality and gender.
At a meeting of the Council of the Royal Borough of Kensington on February 12th, 1918, Councillor Dr. A. J. Rice‐Oxley, Chairman of the Public Health Committee, brought up a…
“Where HAS that book been reviewed?” This question seemed to arise daily during my work as Adult Services Consultant for an upstate New York library system. Since I was…
Abstract
“Where HAS that book been reviewed?” This question seemed to arise daily during my work as Adult Services Consultant for an upstate New York library system. Since I was responsible for the selection of new titles for the system pool collection as well as preparing buying lists for member libraries, I felt the need to have some way of “pulling together” all the reviews for new titles as they appeared in the book review media. It seemed to me that the book review indexes currently being published were inadequate in several ways, especially in the timely listing of current reviews and in the fact that you usually had to know the author's name in order to find citations to the reviews. How did I progress from perceiving a need for a more current listing of citations to book reviews and actually publishing my own index, Title Index of Current Reviews? Initially, several seemingly unrelated events led me in the direction I was eventually to take.