Search results

As fake news and other disinformation are spread primarily online and erode trust in experts and institutions, they challenge the role of librarians as information gatekeepers. Experts have advocated for libraries to educate the public to resist misinformation, yet libraries cannot assume sole responsibility for information literacy work. In this chapter, the authors explore several successful information literacy programs in Ukraine, whose fake news problems made global headlines in 2014, when the Russian annexation of Crimea was accompanied by a flood of crude but effective disinformation. The authors look particularly at the Learn to Discern programs established by the international non-profit organization IREX to foster information literacy using techniques grounded in interdisciplinary expertise and carefully evaluated through pilot studies and follow-up evaluations. These programs train instructors through workshops and provide them with materials. In the first program, aimed at the general public, many of the instructors were librarians, and library facilities were heavily used to deliver the public training. In the second program, information literacy was integrated into the public school curriculum and thousands of teachers were trained to deliver expertly designed materials for particular grade levels and subjects. The authors also consider the special challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, both as a source for new forms of misinformation and as a disruptor of training previously delivered in tightly packed libraries and classrooms. These Ukrainian programs demonstrate the potential for fighting fake news and other misinformation on a scale far beyond what could be accomplished by individual libraries acting alone.

This paper aims to describe a method of training for practitioners in democratic Therapeutic Communities (TCs) which has been used in several settings across the world over the past 25 years: the “Living-Learning Experience” (LLE) workshop. It goes on to consider the cross-cultural implications of the work.

Drawing on the experience of running exactly the same programme in different countries and cultures, the paper examines the cross-cultural adaptability and describes necessary adaptations for local circumstances. It also contains original ethnographic research in UK and Italy; further study is planned for other countries.

The workshops are readily transferable to different cultures and are appreciated for their democratic and relational way of working.

The ethnographic study examines the workshops in some depth, in UK and Italy, and could usefully be replicated in other countries. No quantitative, outcome or follow-up studies have yet been done, and this paper could contribute to the design of useful quantitative studies.

The paper demonstrates that the LLE is a useful experiential learning tool in widely different settings. It could be developed in different ways, such as for developing relational practice or establishing therapeutic environments in different settings.

The workshops' acceptance in widely different cultures indicates that the open and non-didactic format addresses essential and fundamental qualities required for therapeutic engagement and human relatedness.

This is the first description of the principles of democratic TCs being applied across different international settings. Its value extends beyond the TC field, to the use of democratic and relational principles' applicability in therapeutic pedagogy and training.

The purpose of this paper is to (n=472) examine how negative, user-generated content on Facebook impacts stakeholders’ perceptions of the organization.

At Phase 1, stakeholders’ perceptions about the organization – public relationship, corporate social responsibility, attitude toward the organization, and reputation of the organization were assessed. A week later, at Phase 2, participants were exposed to negative Facebook comments. This study employed the theory of inoculation as a way to bolster stakeholders’ attitudes to protect against attitude shift following exposure to negative, user-generated comments.

Paired sample t-tests indicate stakeholders’ perceptions of the organization – public relationship and corporate social responsibility significantly decrease after stakeholders read negative, user-generated content. The pattern of means supports the idea inoculation can prevent against attitude shift.

Strategic communication professionals should be aware of the impact negative posts can have and develop a strategy to respond to negative comments on Facebook.

There is limited experimental research examining the impact of negative Facebook posts on stakeholders. It extends current literature and provides practitioners with some guidance on the impact of negative, user-generated content.

This study aims to describe Italian and UK therapeutic community developments during 1960–2021.

Historical review and personal experience.

After significant divergence in the nature of “therapeutic communities”, mostly based on the different sociopolitical contexts in the two countries, areas of formal rapprochement have been emerging in the past 20 years.

The details of how therapeutic communities developed in Italy, particularly in the wake of Law 180, deserves investigation and comparison to the UK and other countries.

The recent collaborative work in quality, training and research could support the future use of therapeutic communities and enabling environments.

The underlying principle of “relational practice”, which underlies the therapeutic community approach, could have wider implication in public services beyond mental health.

Much has been written about the progressive intentions of Italian mental health with Law 180, but not with a specific focus on therapeutic communities – which were an important initial impetus for Basaglia and his equipé.

The purpose of this paper is to describe transient therapeutic communities (TCs) and their value for training.

This is a descriptive account which includes the findings of two field study evaluations, and direct participant feedback. It is an exploration of the application of TC and group analytic theory to transient TCs.

The transient TC format is an excellent training format for creating a powerful and effective environment for learning and personal development in the very short time frame of three days.

These courses are a very efficient and effective way of promoting reflective practice, enabling environments, and emotionally safe working practices. The trainings are useful for a wide range of people from mental health professions, those working in human resources, and those in senior positions in industrial, commercial and public sector fields.

This paper will raise awareness that target-driven training is insufficient to improve quality of services beyond a certain point. A relational focus of training is needed to deal with issues of complexity which cannot be resolved by simple managerial methods. This experiential training can help to meet the need for inculcating compassion, kindness, and empathy in its participants.

Although other psychotherapy and group relations courses exist, and are used beyond the mental health field, the focus on generating an experience of belonging, emotional safety and democratic empowerment in the relational field of the course itself – by use of TC methodology – is novel, and could be of considerable value more widely.

The purpose of this paper is to review quantitative research since 1999 evaluating the effectiveness of democratic therapeutic community (DTC) treatment for individuals with personality disorders (PD) with reference to interpersonal and offending risk outcomes.

A systematic search resulted in the review of ten studies. All of the studies investigated DTCs treating PD in community, inpatient residential and forensic settings. Only peer-reviewed, English-language articles employing a quantitative design were included.

The majority of studies were conducted poorly and of low methodological quality, with limitations located in the representativeness of participants, limited use of control and comparison groups, follow up periods and controls for confounders. Heterogeneity remained in use of measures and limited consideration was given to the validity of interpersonal measures used. While improved interpersonal outcomes post DTC treatment were noted in forensic and residential settings, results were mixed in day and mini TC settings. Inconsistent findings in offending risk outcomes were also indicated. A study with increased methodological rigour indicated residential treatment had limited effects on interpersonal outcomes, when compared to combination treatment (residential TC and step-down treatment).

The study provided an evaluation of the limitations of DTC research across a range of settings and highlighted a combination of residential TC and step-down treatment may achieve superior outcomes to residential TC treatment alone in a community inpatient population. Recommendations are made for future research to contribute to the treatment of PD.

Construction firms need to improve the way in which they manage their processes. Focusing on good practice and knowledge sharing within and across organisational boundaries, the purpose of this paper is to discuss recent developments on a structured process improvement model developed for construction enterprises (SPICE).

A multiple holistic case study approach was taken to develop and test the presented process improvement model at a firm's level. To compare and synthesise different perspectives, respondents were selected from across a vertical cross‐section of the case study organisations. A combination of several research techniques employed for triangulation.

Provides a set of key processes to establish an essential managerial infrastructure for achieving organisation‐wide process improvement. The results highlight the need to implement the key processes in an integrated and holistic manner.

Key limitations of the presented process improvement model are closely related to the concerns raised against “process thinking.” More case studies are required to confirm or refute generalisability of the findings.

Firms need to appreciate diverse perspectives and consider norms and values of people in order to understand and improve their process capabilities in a balanced manner. Continuous diagnosis and adaptation of organisational process capability to the changing environment are required to ensure achieving sustainable competitive advantage.

This paper contributes to the process and knowledge management/organisational learning literature. It also highlights several important issues to address wider aspects of organisational process improvement, as well as future research direction.

THE recruitment, training and payment of librarians are matters of import, not only to the youngest entrant into this work, but also to established librarians and to the public. Although training was initiated forty years ago by the then chief librarians of libraries, it has in recent years become a very intimate concern of library assistants and of parents and others in charge of young folk who are considering librarianship as their possible career. After thirty years of experiment, with minor changes, the Library Association syllabus has now been completely remodelled. We have also reached a stage when we can consider to some extent, although not adequately, the effect upon the profession of our whole‐time library school of university rank. The various phases of the work must therefore be of great interest to every reader of The Library World; and this is sufficient justification for the special attention which the subject receives in this number. The first question must always be the economic and human one. Is the profession sufficiently large, and of enough importance, to justify parents in allowing lads or girls, who have gone through a secondary or even university training, to devote themselves to the somewhat protracted study which is prescribed for the work? Then, again, is the training now placed before the would‐be aspirant to library work a wise training? Is it too special, too technical, too scholarly; indeed, is the library authority, whoever and wherever it may be, asking too much for what most people regard as the very simple work of managing and distributing and exploiting books?

Construction industry and the built environment professions play an important role in contributing to society’s improved resilience. It is therefore important to improve their knowledgebase to strengthen their capacities. This paper aims to identify gaps in the knowledgebase of construction professionals that are undermining their ability to contribute to the development of a more disaster resilient society. The paper also provides a series of recommendations to key actors in the built environment on how to more effectively mainstream disaster resilience in the construction process.

The paper reports the findings of 87 stakeholder interviews with: national and local government organisations; the community; non-governmental organisations, international non-governmental organisation and other international agencies; academia and research organisations; and the private sector, which were supplemented by a comprehensive analysis of key policies related to disaster resilience and management. The findings were validated using focus group discussions that were conducted as part of six organised stakeholder workshops.

The primary and secondary data generated a long list of needs and skills. Finally, the identified needs and skills were combined “like-for-like” to produce broader knowledge gaps. Some of the key knowledge gaps identified are: governance, legal frameworks and compliance; business continuity management; disaster response; contracts and procurement; resilience technologies, engineering and infrastructure; knowledge management; social and cultural awareness; sustainability and resilience; ethics and human rights; innovative financing mechanisms; multi stakeholder approach, inclusion and empowerment; post disaster project management; and multi hazard risk assessment. The study also identifies a series of recommendations to key actors in the built environment on how to more effectively mainstream disaster resilience in the construction process. The recommendations are set out in five key themes: education, policy, practice, research and cross-cutting.

This study is part of an EU funded research project that is seeking to develop innovative and timely professional education that will update the knowledge and skills of construction professionals in the industry and enable them to contribute more effectively to disaster resilience building efforts.

The paper provides an extensive analysis of the gaps in the knowledgebase of construction professionals that are undermining their ability to contribute to the development of a more disaster resilient society. Accordingly, the paper recommends major changes in construction education, research, policy and practice with respect to mainstreaming disaster resilience within the construction process.