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1 – 10 of 17This paper describes and explores an emerging integrated measure of effectiveness for human resource management functions. The emerging measure basically incorporates both the…
Abstract
This paper describes and explores an emerging integrated measure of effectiveness for human resource management functions. The emerging measure basically incorporates both the mission support and employee support goals as two criteria of effectiveness. The paper next analyzes the measures of effectiveness that an agency uses for its performance appraisal function. A questionnaire was sent to 298 members of the professional staff of a large state agency in the mid‐west. The objectives were to assess the need and feasibility for the application of this emerging measure of effectiveness. The study found that even though performance appraisal was widely practiced as a mission support function, there was strong support for the use of this integrated measure of effectiveness. The paper concludes with offering a design for a management development workshop session which focuses on developing a complementary relationship among different personnel functions.
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Aims to focus on non‐profit leadership and use information from advertised job announcements, in the USA, of non‐profit CEO positions to identify required competencies and job…
Abstract
Purpose
Aims to focus on non‐profit leadership and use information from advertised job announcements, in the USA, of non‐profit CEO positions to identify required competencies and job duties. The objective is to assess their relevancy and adequacy in dealing with the current challenges of the sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Uses content analysis to analyze CEO job advertisements that were posted in The Nonprofit Times during the 1999‐2004‐time period.
Findings
Among those who list educational requirement, a predominant majority requires degree in academic areas related to the non‐profit sector. The bias to emulate the private sector's competencies, a source of the identity crisis of this sector, is not found in the educational requirement. Fundraising experience is the most common area of requirement under experiences. Fundraising is also listed as the major job duty.
Research limitations/implications
The sizes and life cycle stages of the non‐profit agencies are not incorporated. Future research could incorporate the above variables.
Practical implications
Design training using the findings to prepare future leaders. One of the findings suggests that non‐profits are not emphasizing the value of ethics in their search for executives. Considering the importance of this value in maintaining accountability, academicians could emphasize more of this as they design different non‐profit courses.
Originality/value
Assesses the adequacy of the currently emphasized competencies in leadership to deal with the current challenges of the sector (accountability, fiscal, competition, identity crisis etc.) and their implications.
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Ada T. Cenkci, Megan S. Downing, Tuba Bircan and Karen Perham-Lippman
Shamima Yesmin and S.M. Zabed Ahmed
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the understanding of library terminologies by early career faculty members in a newly established rural university setting at…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the understanding of library terminologies by early career faculty members in a newly established rural university setting at the south coast of Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
A campus-wide survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire consisted of demographic questions and 35 multiple-choice questions on library terminologies. The multiple-choice questions asked faculty members to select the correct answer from a set of five answers.
Findings
The findings indicate that early career university teachers lack adequate understanding of library terms; in fact, many of them either gave incorrect answers or was unsure about the term. It was found that faculty members had relatively better understandings of commonly used library terminologies, but they had real difficulties comprehending computer and technology-related terms. Significant differences were observed for some of the terms in case of their age, designation and teaching experience.
Originality/value
This current study is unique in two ways: first, this is the first time an effort has been made to empirically examine the understanding of library terminologies by early career faculty members; and second, this study was conducted at a university in Bangladesh where the first language is not English.
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Shamima Yesmin and S.M. Zabed Ahmed
The purpose of this paper is to investigate Library and Information Science (LIS) students’ understanding of infodemic and related terminologies and their ability to categorize…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate Library and Information Science (LIS) students’ understanding of infodemic and related terminologies and their ability to categorize COVID-19-related problematic information types using examples from social media platforms.
Design/methodology/approach
The participants of this study were LIS students from a public-funded university located at the south coast of Bangladesh. An online survey was conducted which, in addition to demographic and study information, asked students to identify the correct definition of infodemic and related terminologies and to categorize the COVID-related problematic social media posts based on their inherent problem characteristics. The correct answer for each definition and task question was assigned a score of “1”, whereas the wrong answer was coded as “0”. The percentages of correctness score for total and each category of definition and task-specific questions were computed. The independent sample t-test and ANOVA were run to examine the differences in total and category-specific scores between student groups.
Findings
The findings revealed that students’ knowledge concerning the definition of infodemic and related terminologies and the categorization of COVID-19-related problematic social media posts was poor. There was no significant difference in correctness scores between student groups in terms of gender, age and study levels.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time an effort was made to understand LIS students’ recognition and classification of problematic information. The findings can assist LIS departments in revising and improving the existing information literacy curriculum for students.
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Shamima Yesmin and S.M. Zabed Ahmed
The aim of this paper was to compare university students’ preferences for searching the library catalogue via the library’s Koha online public access catalogue (OPAC) or its…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper was to compare university students’ preferences for searching the library catalogue via the library’s Koha online public access catalogue (OPAC) or its discovery tool VuFind.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 175 students responded to a questionnaire-based survey through which their demographic data, duration (years) of computer use and their self-reported levels of computer skills were obtained. Students were asked what interfaces they use for catalogue searching and to rate their opinion on the relevant interfaces on a seven-point Likert scale. Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests were conducted to statistically compare the differences between students’ demographic/individual characteristics and their ratings on the respective interfaces. For those students who used both systems, differences between their Likert ratings were assessed using a one-tailed Wilcoxon signed rank test.
Findings
The results showed that there were no significant differences among students in terms of their ratings on either the OPAC or VuFind interfaces. Wilcoxon signed ranks test indicated that significantly more students thought that VuFind was more usable than the Koha OPAC.
Originality/value
This is a pioneering study of the current use of the OPAC and discovery tools by university students and their preferences for searching catalogue information through these systems. It is hoped that the findings of this study will encourage researchers to conduct task-based usability studies with various cataloguing tools and this could yield new and improved interaction designs for library catalogue searching.
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Ping Zhang, Wenju Zhu, Md. Yousuf Hossain, Shamima Sarker, Md. Nahid Pervez, Md. Ibrahim H. Mondal, Chao Yan, Yingjie Cai and Vincenzo Naddeo
The conventional textile dyeing process requires various operational characteristics, and determining the most reliable factor in dyeing performance has always been a challenge…
Abstract
Purpose
The conventional textile dyeing process requires various operational characteristics, and determining the most reliable factor in dyeing performance has always been a challenge for the textile industry. Thus, the present paper aimed to evaluate the process sensitivity of C. I. Reactive Blue 194 dyeing of cotton fabric using a statistical technique.
Design/methodology/approach
An L27 orthogonal array-based Taguchi's methodology was used with six parameters and three levels of each parameter. The signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and analysis of variance were studied using total fixation efficiency (T%) as the response of the process sensitivity.
Findings
Results showed that dyebath pH was the most influential factor on the process and total fixation efficiency (p-value = 0.00 and contribution percentage 45.03%), followed by dye-fixing temperature, dye mass, electrolyte concentration, dye-fixing time and material to liquor ratio.
Originality/value
Overall this study provides a foundation for the determination of dyeing process sensitivity that will be useful in textile industries toward further development.
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Shamima Yesmin and Md. Atikuzzaman
This study aims to investigate the usability of a public university website for measuring its efficiency, users’ satisfaction or anxiety while searching for and retrieving…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the usability of a public university website for measuring its efficiency, users’ satisfaction or anxiety while searching for and retrieving information through different devices.
Design/methodology/approach
A task-based approach was adopted for the study. Twenty-eight participants were asked to complete 11 information-searching tasks on the website. The participants were divided into two groups. The tasks were carried out by members of each group, using desktop and mobile devices in a rotating fashion. Volunteers observed the participants' actions and recorded information regarding their productivity, time usage (using a timer), satisfaction or annoyance while performing each task. Finally, based on the use of the devices, a comparison was established between the participants' performance accuracy, efficiency and anxiety.
Findings
The study provides an overview of a task-based user experience carried out on the university website using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. According to the results, participants' satisfaction levels were generally high, and their anxiety levels were low while completing the tasks on a mobile device. In comparison to the desktop, it took less time overall to complete all tasks. On the other hand, using a desktop computer (97.1%) resulted in better task completion success rates for participants than using a mobile device (85.7%).
Originality/value
No previous task-based evaluation study of this kind has been conducted to assess the usability of any university website in Bangladesh.
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Shamima Yesmin and Ayesha Akhter
A shared set of moral standards, ethical principles and behavioral norms of social structure can be referred to as culture. Many health problems are strongly influenced by one’s…
Abstract
Purpose
A shared set of moral standards, ethical principles and behavioral norms of social structure can be referred to as culture. Many health problems are strongly influenced by one’s cultural background. The purpose of the paper is to examine the scientific explanation of indigenous norms and practice of health healing.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study considered in-person interviews to know the Tribals’ indigenous healing practice in Bangladesh. A focus group discussion with five tribal students was conducted to form a baseline on Tribals’ norms, rituals and information-sharing behavior. Around 35 tribal students were interviewed to find out their healing practices, norms and rituals on health issues. All these practicing indigenous knowledge were documented instantly. Peer-reviewed scientific papers from renowned databases were searched to have scientific evidence on each case. All the studies having negative or positive evidence were mentioned with each case.
Findings
The findings showed more indigenous knowledge with scientific disagreements on health aspects among the Tribals’ health practice in Bangladesh. However, the positive impact of such knowledge is not negligible. Therefore, showcasing the scientific tribals’ indigenous knowledge to a global audience is a strong recommendation.
Originality/value
Health and health care-seeking behavior among the tribal population in Bangladesh is not a new area of research, few studies have focused on the context, reasons and choices in patterns of health care-seeking behavior; obstacles and challenges faced in accessing health-care provision in the tribal areas in the country. However, research attempts to show the relationship between ecological knowledge and scientific indication is new in nature.
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Md. Atikuzzaman, Shamima Yesmin and Md. Abdul Karim
This study aims to assess tribal women’s health information literacy in their daily lives. The specific objectives are to determine the tribe’s interest and frequency of seeking…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess tribal women’s health information literacy in their daily lives. The specific objectives are to determine the tribe’s interest and frequency of seeking health-related information, to know their preferred health information sources and health-care methods for treatment and to find out the prospective barriers to searching for and finding health-related information.
Design/methodology/approach
A well-structured questionnaire was designed and surveyed among the tribal women of Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Mymensingh districts in Bangladesh. Stratified sampling was used, and 326 responses were retrieved. The collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 and Microsoft Excel.
Findings
Most of the tribal women are satisfied with their current health condition. Though they are highly interested in health-related information, they are very unusual in terms of searching for this kind of information. Vaccination information is their most desired information, and allopathic treatment is highly preferred by them. In this regard, they consult with doctors at nearby community clinics or government hospitals for different health issues. However, health information terminologies are often difficult for them to understand. High costs, lack of awareness and distance from health centers are significant barriers for tribal women seeking health-related information.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known effort in a developing country to study tribal women’s concerns regarding health-related issues.
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