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Article
Publication date: 21 November 2016

Robert Froud

This paper aims to review the position of UnityUK and FABLibraries (Find a Book in Libraries) some five years after a review by the same author (with Elisabeth Robinson) was…

422

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to review the position of UnityUK and FABLibraries (Find a Book in Libraries) some five years after a review by the same author (with Elisabeth Robinson) was published in 2011.

Design/methodology/approach

The UnityUK service and its co-service FABLibraries is placed in the current service and political context: changing politics and reductions in public service. The conclusions of a survey conducted by the University of Sheffield are noted as current technical developments.

Findings

Subscriptions to UnityUK remain stable despite an overall decline in interlending. The FABLibraries service is well positioned to play a key role in the creation of a single digital presence for public libraries in England and in the UK.

Practical implications

The outcome of major recent political change in respect of public service is not yet known, but there is reason to be confident about the role of the two services in supporting resource discovery and supply.

Social implications

The FABLibraries service is well positioned to be the major building block in a national e-public library platform. This would provide a cost-effective means of making national resources accessible to everyone who can get online.

Originality/value

The author provides an up-to-date perspective of the impact of change, recent government reports and public sector austerity on interlending and the position of key resource discovery tools in that environment.

Details

Interlending & Document Supply, vol. 44 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-1615

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Article
Publication date: 15 November 2011

Robert Froud and Elisabeth Robinson

This paper aims to describe the initiative to establish a National Union Catalogue for UK Public Libraries.

510

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to describe the initiative to establish a National Union Catalogue for UK Public Libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the development of a web based national union catalogue accessible to the UK citizen.

Findings

It is found that the launch of a National Library Catalogue in the UK is timely and will be of benefit to libraries and the UK population alike.

Originality/value

The paper shares experiences of the UK market with the wider community.

Details

Interlending & Document Supply, vol. 39 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-1615

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 15 February 2013

119

Abstract

Details

Interlending & Document Supply, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-1615

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Book part
Publication date: 10 February 2015

Andrew Bowman, Julie Froud, Sukhdev Johal, Michael Moran and Karel Williams

This exploratory paper discusses the undemocratic agenda setting of elites in Britain and how it has changed politics within a form of capitalism where much is left undisclosed in…

Abstract

This exploratory paper discusses the undemocratic agenda setting of elites in Britain and how it has changed politics within a form of capitalism where much is left undisclosed in terms of mechanism and methods. It argues for a more radical exploratory strategy using C. Wright Mills’ understanding that what is left undisclosed is crucially important to elite existence and power, while recognising the limits on democratic accountability when debate, decision and action in complex capitalist societies can be frustrated or hijacked by small groups. Have British business elites, through their relation with political elites, used their power to constrain democratic citizenship? Our hypothesis is that the power of business elites is most likely conjuncturally specific and geographically bounded with distinct national differences. In the United Kingdom, the outcomes are often contingent and unstable as business elites try to manage democracy; moreover, the composition and organisation of business elites have changed through successive conjunctures.

Details

Elites on Trial
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-680-5

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Article
Publication date: 1 February 2005

Tony Tinker

The purpose of this paper is to explore the core meaning of critical research.

3707

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the core meaning of critical research.

Design/methodology/approach

It begins by noting the frequent divergence between “Real” history (which always marches to its own beat) and academic reflection that often fails to follow the beat of a progressive drum. Indeed, rather than facilitating a productive historical movement, scholarship may, at times, window‐dress brutality. These questions are examined by drawing on pertinent literature in social theory and cultural analysis. This work cautions that only continuous, unconditional, self‐reflective criticism provides a navigational path between barbarism and enlightenment. It proposes harnessing our full repository of critical scholarship to renew ever‐relevant forms of praxis (This is not the same notion of “practical” that involves berating workers in suits and white shirts.)

Findings

Unfortunately, an examination of contemporary progressive accounting literature exposes fundamental departures from these standards for criticism; that many fields have lapsed into a form relativism, enabling highly conservative political agendas. This degeneration is instigated at the outset of research, through an inappropriate choice of initial object for analysis (or “root metaphor”).

Research implications

To address the predicament, this paper proposes a greater self‐awareness in framing the initial starting point, using a procedure drawn from Hegel and Marx's dialectics. To “test’ this methodology, the paper examines four streams of progressive accounting research: professional (e.g. Brilovian) analysis, Foucauldian (culturalist) studies, ethnographic studies, and epistemic contributions.

Originality/value

Each review offers suggestions for a dialectical reconstruction of the original, including a revised initial starting point (object) for the analysis.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1999

Rob Froud

Foursite is a consortium of public library authorities in the south west of the UK which came together to identify their replacement computer requirements, and subsequently went…

453

Abstract

Foursite is a consortium of public library authorities in the south west of the UK which came together to identify their replacement computer requirements, and subsequently went on to share a single system operated by Somerset. The article describes the objectives of the consortium and describes the project in some detail. The roles of the participants are described, and the advantages of joint working are explored. A number of lessons emerged from the project which are described, as are models for contractual arrangements and terms of reference for various stages and groups.

Details

Program, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0033-0337

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Article
Publication date: 20 November 2007

Stephen Prowse

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of recent developments in remote document supply and related matters in the UK.

325

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of recent developments in remote document supply and related matters in the UK.

Design/methodology/approach

The article is based on a range of articles, reports, papers and web sites.

Findings

With the decline in remote document supply the future participation of a key institution is called into question. While there are few other realistic options, the two leading alternatives are engaged in a battle for the same market. Furthermore, the future of key standard underpinning transactions is also uncertain.

Originality/value

The article provides an overview of current developments in UK document supply by an experienced practitioner.

Details

Interlending & Document Supply, vol. 35 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-1615

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 25 January 2011

Robert Ball

The purpose of this paper is to identify key similarities and differences between the approach to employing public‐private partnerships (PPPs) for provision of infrastructure in…

4080

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify key similarities and differences between the approach to employing public‐private partnerships (PPPs) for provision of infrastructure in the UK and Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a comparison of published studies together with semi‐structured interviews with academics and state government representatives.

Findings

There are a number of issues on which similar debates are taking place in both countries and which are summarised in the paper. Such issues include the use of the public sector comparators, the process of initiating PPPs, choice of discount rate and differences in costs of capital between conventional procurement and PPPs. There are, however, also significant differences in that there tends to be fewer social projects in Australia which has a strong emphasis on transportation projects. Importantly there is much more discretion about whether to use PPPs in Australia than in the UK.

Research limitations/implications

There are considerably fewer schemes in Australia.

Practical implications

The main practical implications are that both countries need to at least reconsider their policies in a number of areas, but particularly the issue of the higher cost of borrowing in PPPs. UK government should consider the advantages of the more flexible approach towards adopting PPPs shown in Australia. This should also mean that the evaluation process will be taken more seriously.

Originality/value

There are a significant number of articles about PPPs in both the UK and Australia. The author has never come across a report of a comparative study. There are important insights that can be gained from such a comparative study.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 24 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

Available. Content available
Article
Publication date: 20 February 2017

444

Abstract

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

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Book part
Publication date: 16 December 2016

Peter V. Rajsingh

This chapter discusses salient factors pertaining to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), also called the Great Recession, which gave rise to contagion effects that continue to…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter discusses salient factors pertaining to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), also called the Great Recession, which gave rise to contagion effects that continue to reverberate across the global financial landscape. The GFC is linked to three primary negative themes: build-up of credit in a global credit super cycle, New Financial Architecture (NFA) and financialization under neoliberalism, and a distorted relationship between laissez-faire economics/finance and normative political imperatives. The conclusion is that we need to rethink understandings of key principles in economics and finance and reform governance mechanisms of the financial system.

Methodology/approach

The essay examines an empirical phenomenon – the GFC – and discusses themes based upon the author’s insights gained from the vantage point of working in asset management during the Crisis. In addition, the author draws upon material from the academic literature and financial press. He problematizes finance through the lens of the GFC and suggests that the three causal factors being highlighted are enduring sources of instability in the financial system.

Findings

The conclusion is that financial crises such as the GFC are not caused by unpredictable exogenous variables but instead pertain to identifiable recurring factors and human failures. Structural, epistemological, and behavioral issues are aggravated by neoliberalism. Finance is integral to economic activity. But under neoliberalism, the global financial economy rapidly assumed a particular form of financialization founded on market fundamentalism and political and regulatory capture. Neo-liberal coöptation of finance, economics, and politics needs to be reversed to place financial and economic activity within more robust frameworks that take into account credit cycles, flaws, and instabilities inherent in the system while applying appropriate regulatory mechanisms to prevent crises.

Research implications

Scholars and practitioners can draw upon claims made in this essay to propose more substantive reforms to the global financial system. These range from redesigning how finance and economics are understood and taught, to imposing circuit breakers to prevent credit cycles from becoming untenable bubbles.

Practical/social implication

Neoliberalism is a political project that has distorted understanding of empirical truths while also effecting a paralysis with regard to fixing problems. The market fundamentalism that neoliberalism prescribes and promulgates results, time and time again, in financial crises that have disastrous consequences including massive wealth destruction. It is crucial to reform the system and create more sustainable, less volatile paradigms of financial and economic life.

Originality/value

Arguments in this chapter are simple and straightforward but have significant implications for achieving more nuanced understandings of the financial system. Claims are presented as distillations of how the system actually works, especially the way in which it tends toward conditions of crisis and stress. Mainstream finance and economics are characterized as predicated upon certain erroneous propositions, particularly concerning efficient markets and rational agency, core tenets of the neo-liberal project.

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