Shaun Adamson and Sandra Weingart
Describes the development of a Web‐based reference collection for an academic community. Includes such topics as collection development policies, tailoring the site to a specific…
Abstract
Describes the development of a Web‐based reference collection for an academic community. Includes such topics as collection development policies, tailoring the site to a specific audience, staff motivation, and site design. Discusses successes, failures and modifications during the first two years of the project.
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Ann Goebel Brown, Sandra Weingart, Judith R.J. Johnson and Betty Dance
Evaluates the effect of the library component of a freshman orientation program on student attitudes and library anxiety. A modified version of Bostick's Library Anxiety Scale was…
Abstract
Evaluates the effect of the library component of a freshman orientation program on student attitudes and library anxiety. A modified version of Bostick's Library Anxiety Scale was administered to 1,027 true freshmen enrolled in the Connections First‐Year Experience program at Utah State University in the fall of 2003. First year students showed a moderate level of library anxiety prior to their library orientation sessions. This anxiety was significantly decreased after the orientation sessions. A control group reported similar anxiety levels on the pre‐test and a much smaller degree of improvement on the post‐test. Proposes that academic libraries should participate in the First‐Year Experience programs on their campuses. These activities reduce the levels of library anxiety felt by first‐year students and reduce possible barriers to academic achievement. Concludes that this paper will be of use to librarians seeking administrative and campus‐wide support for inclusion of a library component in First‐Year Experience programs. The survey can be used to assess efficacy of activities for those libraries already participating in such programs.
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Examines several interim managerial appointments at Utah State University Libraries during the period 2000‐2002. Standard practices as illustrated in the literature of…
Abstract
Examines several interim managerial appointments at Utah State University Libraries during the period 2000‐2002. Standard practices as illustrated in the literature of librarianship, education and business are compared with the actual experiences of nine individuals at the Utah State University. Costs and benefits to the organisation and to the employee are delineated.
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Britt Anna Fagerheim and Sandra J. Weingart
Reports methodology and findings of focus groups conducted at Utah state university to assess students’ needs in the library’s new information commons.
Abstract
Purpose
Reports methodology and findings of focus groups conducted at Utah state university to assess students’ needs in the library’s new information commons.
Design/methodology/approach
A joint committee of computer services personnel and librarians, with assistance from undergraduate library peer mentors, undertook a series of focus groups with participants from the Utah state university student population. The goals were to assess the undiscovered needs of students and students’ preferences in a new library.
Findings
After the focus group responses were organized into eleven categories, we recorded several key traits and sets of comments from our user population; our users spend a good deal of their study time in the library either working individually or as a group, participants differ in their preferences for seeking help in the library, and participants consider noise levels and adequate space to study important concerns.
Practical implications
By following a few standard procedures, focus groups can be a useful format for collecting data regarding patrons’ needs and interests in the library. Focus groups can help library staff plan for and design new intellectual and physical spaces in the library.
Originality/value
This paper will be useful to academic librarians planning an Information Commons or other services in the library, or librarians interested in assessing their users’ needs through focus groups.
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Petru Lucian Curșeu and Sandra G.L. Schruijer
This study aims to investigate the role of minority dissent (MD) as an antecedent for task (TC) and relationship conflict (RC) in groups engaged in multiparty collaboration. The…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the role of minority dissent (MD) as an antecedent for task (TC) and relationship conflict (RC) in groups engaged in multiparty collaboration. The authors hypothesized that MD triggers both TC and RC and that the association between MD and RC is mediated by TC. Moreover, the authors hypothesized that the positive association between MD and RC is attenuated by social acceptance, while the positive association between TC and RC is attenuated by trust.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have tested the hypotheses in 36 groups comprising in total 145 professionals that attended a two-day workshop on working across organizational boundaries and who filled in three surveys during a multiparty simulation. The authors used multilevel mediation analyses to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results generally supported the role of MD as an antecedent for both TC and RC as well as the mediating role of TC in the relationship between MD and RC. The attenuating role of social acceptance in the relationship between MD and RC was fully supported, while the attenuating role of trust in the relationship between TC and RC was not supported.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on a rather small sample and used a cross-lagged data collection design, and no causal claims can be derived from the findings. Behavioral multiparty simulations create a realistic context in which the authors investigate the dynamics of conflict transformation and explore the interplay of MD, TC and RC.
Social implications
As nowadays, multiparty systems are engaged in dealing with important societal challenges and because RC is detrimental for collaborative effectiveness, the results have important implications for facilitating effective collaboration in such complex systems.
Originality/value
This study makes an important contribution to the literature on conflict in multiparty systems by showing that as an antecedent of intragroup conflict, MD can have both a beneficial as well as a detrimental impact on the conflict dynamics of multiparty systems. It points out the importance of social acceptance as a buffer against the detrimental role of MD.
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Sandra Verelst, Jessica Jacques, Koen Van den Heede, Pierre Gillet, Philippe Kolh, Arthur Vleugels and Walter Sermeus
The purpose of this article is to assess the reliability of an in‐depth analysis on causation, preventability, and disability by two separate review teams on five selected adverse…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to assess the reliability of an in‐depth analysis on causation, preventability, and disability by two separate review teams on five selected adverse events in acute hospitals: pressure ulcer, postoperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, postoperative sepsis, ventilator‐associated pneumonia and postoperative wound infection.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis uses a retrospective medical record review of 1,515 patient records by two independent teams in eight acute Belgian hospitals for the year 2005. The Mann‐Whitney U‐test is used to identify significant differences between the two review teams regarding occurrence of adverse events as well as regarding the degree of causation, preventability, and disability of found adverse events.
Findings
Team 1 stated a high probability for health care management causation in 95.5 per cent of adverse events in contrast to 38.9 per cent by Team 2. Likewise, high preventability was considered in 83.1 per cent of cases by Team 1 versus 51.7 per cent by Team 2. Significant differences in degree of disability between the two teams were also found for pressure ulcers, postoperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis and postoperative wound infection, but not for postoperative sepsis and ventilator‐associated pneumonia.
Originality/value
New insight on the degree of and reasons for the huge differences in adverse event evaluation is provided.
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Sarah Singletary Walker, Enrica N. Ruggs, Whitney Botsford Morgan and Sandra W. DeGrassi
The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which racioethnicity influences perceptions of inclusion (i.e. information sharing, collective efficacy, satisfaction and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which racioethnicity influences perceptions of inclusion (i.e. information sharing, collective efficacy, satisfaction and relationship conflict) when working in racially heterogeneous groups.
Design/methodology/approach
Individuals were placed in groups in order to participate in ethical-decision making tasks.
Findings
Results reveal that individuals representing varied racioethnic groups are in general satisfied working in racially heterogeneous groups. However, reports of relationship conflict and information sharing varied as a function of racioethnicity.
Originality/value
The authors discuss possible rationales for differences in how racioethnic groups perceive and experience group processes over time as well as practical implications for social psychology and diversity in teams.
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Sandra Haggenmüller, Patricia Oehlschläger, Uta Herbst and Markus Voeth
This study aims to provide probable future developments in the form of holistic scenarios for business negotiations. In recent years, negotiation research did not put a lot of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to provide probable future developments in the form of holistic scenarios for business negotiations. In recent years, negotiation research did not put a lot of emphasis on external changes. Consequently, current challenges and trends are scarcely integrated, making it difficult to support negotiation practice perspectively.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies the structured, multi-method approach of scenario analysis. To examine the future space of negotiations, this combines qualitative and quantitative measures to base our analysis on negotiation experts’ assessments, estimations and visions of the negotiation future.
Findings
The results comprise an overview of five negotiation scenarios in the year 2030 and of their individual drivers. The five revealed scenarios are: digital intelligence, business as usual, powerful network – the route to collaboration, powerful network – the route to predominance and system crash.
Originality/value
The scenario analysis is a suitable approach that enables to relate various factors of the negotiation environment to negotiations themselves and allows an examination of future changes in buyer–seller negotiations and the creation of possible future scenarios. The identified scenarios provide an orientation for business decisions in the field of negotiation.
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Brian J. Collins, Timothy P. Munyon, Neal M. Ashkanasy, Erin Gallagher, Sandra A. Lawrence, Jennifer O'Connor and Stacey Kessler
Teams in extreme and disruptive contexts face unique challenges that can undermine coordination and decision-making. In this study, we evaluated how affective differences between…
Abstract
Purpose
Teams in extreme and disruptive contexts face unique challenges that can undermine coordination and decision-making. In this study, we evaluated how affective differences between team members and team process norms affected the team's decision-making effectiveness.
Approach
Teams were placed in a survival simulation where they evaluated how best to maximize the team's survival prospects given scarce resources. We incorporated multisource and multirater (i.e., team, observer, and archival) data to ascertain the impacts of affect asymmetry and team process norms on decision-making effectiveness.
Findings
Results suggest that teams with low positive affect asymmetry and low process norms generate the most effective decisions. The least effective team decision performance occurred in teams characterized by high variance in team positive affectivity (high positive affect asymmetry) and low process norms. We found no similar effect for teams with high process norms and no effect for negative affect asymmetry, however, irrespective of team process norms.
Originality
These findings support the affect infusion model and extend cognitive resource theory, by highlighting how affect infusion processes and situational constraints influence team decision-making in extreme and disruptive contexts.
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Sandra C. Buttigieg, Kevin Agius, Adriana Pace and Maria Cassar
The purpose of this paper is to identify the extent to which immigrant nurses have integrated within the Maltese healthcare system.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the extent to which immigrant nurses have integrated within the Maltese healthcare system.
Design/methodology/approach
This research consisted of a qualitative case study approach which was conducted within Malta’s four public entities in the secondary care sector. In this case study, data were collected through 34 semi-structured interviews with ten nursing managers, 12 Maltese nurses and 12 immigrant nurses. The data were analysed using content analysis. Data were collected between June 2015 and July 2015.
Findings
Four themes emerged from the data. These were: human resources management, language barrier, cultural differences and discrimination. The recruitment of nurses to Malta from other countries translated into several positive and favourable outcomes, such as the sharing of knowledge. However, a number of negative and unfavourable outcomes are also indicated in the data including language barrier and discrimination.
Research limitations/implications
This paper presents a discussion of the issues experienced within a healthcare system in relation to the mobility of nurses. Increasingly, the nursing workforce across the globe comprises of professionals from various nationality, origin, training, culture and professional ethos. The findings are presented in an effort to inform policy makers, management and administrative structures regarding the issues pertaining to the prevalent growing reality of mobility in nurse populations.
Originality/value
This research study provides a unique contribution to the literature regarding the phenomenon of nurse mobility because it embraces the integration of nurses as a two-way process. Since data was collected from immigrant nurses as well as from local nurses and nursing managers, this study hopes to offer a different point of view from previous studies which largely focused on the views of immigrant nurses only.