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Article
Publication date: 19 October 2012

Silas Marques de Oliveira

This study aims at identifying Andrews University's students' perceptions, behavior, use, and attitudes towards e‐textbook and e‐books in general.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims at identifying Andrews University's students' perceptions, behavior, use, and attitudes towards e‐textbook and e‐books in general.

Design/methodology/approach

In the Fall semester of 2001‐2012, Andrews University's bookstore offered 74 e‐textbooks for purchase. The teachers who had the opportunity of using these e‐textbooks for their classes were asked to distribute two questionnaires to their students: one to those who chose to buy and use the e‐textbook and a slightly different one to those who chose the traditional print textbook. The results were tabulated and compared to the results of similar studies since 2001.

Findings

A 65 percent return rate was obtained. Several findings closely replicate results of many studies on this area. For more than a decade, studies show that students prefer the hardcover book over the e‐book for their studies. Lack of awareness, not knowing how to get it, eyestrain, and difficulty of reading are the main culprits for students not using e‐books more often. However, those who use e‐books report they are generally satisfied. Students would like to enjoy fewer restrictions on printing and copying, PDA accessibility, more titles in their area of studies and better e‐book readers. They do not usually read e‐books cover to cover. The library is not their main point of entry or search for e‐books. Students value portability, instant access, light weight and ability to store large amounts of materials.

Research limitations/implications

The sample population was limited to the classes which had access to an e‐textbook. A broader and more complete understanding could have been obtained if the study included all of the student population. It is not possible to generalize the findings due to the fact that the study was done in a specific academic setting.

Practical implications

Universities and libraries are highly engaged in this topic at the present moment. Results of studies like this one will provide data useful for collection development policies and the pedagogy adopted by faculty in the classroom.

Social implications

This is a topic that is of increasing importance in all parts of the world, and is affecting how people and, more specifically, students read and learn. It has the potential of changing reading habits and how students absorb information and knowledge, as well as how they use libraries.

Originality/value

E‐books will have a definitive impact in new models of acquiring, accessing, and distributing information materials for and to the academic community. The paper will help the library better understand students' preferences and study habits which will have an impact on decisions regarding types of services it should provide and collection building decisions.

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Article
Publication date: 17 June 2022

Osvaldo de Souza, Marcio C. Machado, Victor Silva Correa and Renato Telles

This paper aims to explore the formal (i.e. contracts, standards, processes, and structure) and informal (i.e. social structure, norms, information sharing, and value system and…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the formal (i.e. contracts, standards, processes, and structure) and informal (i.e. social structure, norms, information sharing, and value system and culture) governance instruments used in supply networks and their influence on quality.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is qualitative-exploratory in nature, involving semi-structured interviews with 20 managers from three essential layers in the dairy industry's supply chain: companies that supply essential inputs to milk producers; milk producers; and milk cooperatives.

Findings

Analysis of the generated data show that formal governance instruments have a strong and/or weak influence on products' and operations' quality in the dairy industry context; informal instruments have a strong and/or weak influence on quality, as a counterpart to formal instruments; and the integration of verified governance instruments positively influences the quality of products and operations.

Practical implications

This paper offers several managerial and practical implications. The first is to encourage suppliers of primary inputs and milk producers to invest in the formal structure, primarily in formal contracts with each other. The second implication suggests the relevance of creating different training and qualification courses with members from all organizational levels. Third, there is a need for cooperatives, encompassing all industries, to consider several informal instruments, complementary to contracts and standards currently used for processes.

Originality/value

Governance instruments can lead to desired supply chain outcomes, including those related to quality. Although previous supply chain studies have investigated the relationship between governance instruments and the supply chain, and quality management and the supply chain, studies on governance instruments' influence on supply chain quality are limited.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 30 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 11 November 2021

Joan Carlos Alves Pereira, Wilton Pereira da Silva, Renato Costa da Silva, Cleide Maria Diniz P.S. e Silva and Josivanda Palmeira Gomes

To describe water absorption by the rice grains over time, diffusion and empirical models were used. Also, an optimization software was developed in this study to determine…

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Abstract

Purpose

To describe water absorption by the rice grains over time, diffusion and empirical models were used. Also, an optimization software was developed in this study to determine parameters and their uncertainties for the diffusion models (LS Optimizer, for partial differential equations). Parameters (and their uncertainties) for empirical models were determined by LAB Fit Curve Fitting Software.

Design/methodology/approach

Heat and mass diffusion phenomena are found in various processes of technological interest, including pasteurization, drying and water immersion of agricultural products, among others. The objective of this work was to study the process of water absorption by rice grains with and without husk, using diffusion and empirical models to describe the absorption kinetics. Rice grains were immersed (approximately 10 g for each experiment) in drinking water maintained at constant temperatures of 28, 40 and 50 C. In the experiments, the water contents absorbed by rice grains over time were obtained by the gravimetric method.

Findings

Among empirical models, Peleg was the most satisfactory to describe the kinetics of water absorption by rice without husk, while the Silva et alii model had the best statistical indicators for rice with husk. It was also verified that a diffusion model with boundary condition of the first kind showed the best (or equivalent) results in the description of all processes of kinetics of water absorption by rice grains, with and without husk. For grains without husk, the effective mass diffusivities were (1.186 ± 0.045) × 10−9, (1.312 ± 0.024) × 10−9 and (2.133 ± 0.028) × 10−9 m2 min−1, for the immersion temperatures of 28, 40 and 50C, respectively. For grains with husk, diffusivities were (0.675 ± 0.011) × 10−9 and (1.269 ± 0.017) × 10−9 m2 min−1, for temperatures of 28 and 50 C, respectively.

Originality/value

This work developed a solver for the diffusion equation in cylindrical geometry and presented the LS Optimizer software developed to determine differential equation parameters through experimental data sets.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 39 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

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