Chris Igwe, Bettina von Stamm and and Meltem Etcheberry
Stephanie Power and Peter Wynn
The purpose of this paper is to establish whether the guidance on the application of the UK Building Regulations in Approved Document J should have gone further by expecting that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish whether the guidance on the application of the UK Building Regulations in Approved Document J should have gone further by expecting that CO alarms should be provided in all new dwellings, irrespective of their heating source.
Design/methodology/approach
An attitudinal survey, using e‐mail questionnaire, was issued to selected professionals following review of current guidance.
Findings
All types of combustion appliance, fuelled by all fuel sources, are a potential risk of CO poisoning in both new and existing dwellings.
Research limitations/implications
The authors concentrate on the guidance given in the Approved Document only, not the reasons as to why the requirement was included in the Building Regulations for the first time.
Practical implications
It is recommended that the guidance in the Approved Document should be revised to include the provision of CO alarms in all new dwellings, irrespective of their heating source.
Social implications
The paper discusses an issue of potential public safety.
Originality/value
The paper challenges the extent of recent changes to Building Regulations Approved Document J.
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Lydia Makrides, Stephanie Heath, Jane Farquharson and Paula L. Veinot
Workplace health promotion initiatives are an effective way to reach adults, and provide safe and healthy working environments that support individual health. The purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Workplace health promotion initiatives are an effective way to reach adults, and provide safe and healthy working environments that support individual health. The purpose of this project was to: learn how organizations/businesses define workplace health; assess employer support and commitment for workplace health initiatives; assess facilitators and barriers to workplace wellness/health; and understand workplace needs around evaluation and outcome measures.
Design/methodology/approach
A community partnership, Wellness Initiatives Network (WIN), was established to provide a forum for organizations in Atlantic Canada to share knowledge and experience on workplace health. Focus groups were conducted with businesses/organizations in the four Atlantic Provinces. Tape‐recorded transcriptions were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Findings
Ingredients for successful workplace health initiatives include onsite programs, the provision of incentives and recognition for employees, and the need to build awareness, understanding and commitment among managers who can help to create a supportive culture, which supports employee health. Measuring outcomes related to workplace health is critical.
Practical implications
Workplace health promotion should encompass a comprehensive approach that acknowledges the important roles of personal, social and environmental factors.
Originality/value
There is both interest and readiness to implement workplace health in Atlantic Canada. Workplace health is a responsibility of all – individual employees, employers and workplaces, and government. All stakeholders must be involved to help employees, workplaces and the health system cope with an aging population and concomitant increasing stresses at work and home. Engaging leaders is a critical step in building an integrated, comprehensive and sustainable approach to workplace health.
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In their continuing quest for new product ideas, marketers are directed to the U.S. Census figures where they can identify shifting populations and newly emerging demographic…
Abstract
In their continuing quest for new product ideas, marketers are directed to the U.S. Census figures where they can identify shifting populations and newly emerging demographic entities. Rather than relying on old stereotypes for direction, marketers must study the changed values, attitudes, lifestyles and self‐image of these groups. Using qualitative research techniques, the author says will result in implications for new product development, production, sales and marketing. The author identifies three groups whose lifestyles she has studied and who fit the parameters described above: Working women, singles and the 50‐plus age group. Opportunities for marketers are suggested as she describes their changed lifestyles which create a need for new products and services.
Jenna Hartel and Reijo Savolainen
Arts-informed, visual research was conducted to document the pictorial metaphors that appear among original drawings of information. The purpose of this paper is to report the…
Abstract
Purpose
Arts-informed, visual research was conducted to document the pictorial metaphors that appear among original drawings of information. The purpose of this paper is to report the diversity of these pictorial metaphors, delineate their formal qualities as drawings, and provide a fresh perspective on the concept of information.
Design/methodology/approach
The project utilized pre-existing iSquare drawings of information that were produced by iSchool graduate students during a draw-and-write activity. From a data set of 417 images, 125 of the strongest pictorial metaphors were identified and subjected to cognitive metaphor theory.
Findings
Overwhelmingly, the favored source domain for envisioning information was nature. The most common pictorial metaphors were: Earth, web, tree, light bulb, box, cloud, and fishing/mining, and each brings different qualities of information into focus. The drawings were often canonical versions of objects in the world, leading to arrays of pictorial metaphors marked by their similarity.
Research limitations/implications
Less than 30 percent of the data set qualified as pictorial metaphors, making them a minority strategy for representing information as an image. The process to identify and interpret pictorial metaphors was highly subjective. The arts-informed methodology generated tensions between artistic and social scientific paradigms.
Practical implications
The pictorial metaphors for information can enhance information science education and fortify professional identity among information professionals.
Originality/value
This is the first arts-informed, visual study of information that utilizes cognitive metaphor theory to explore the nature of information. It strengthens a sense of history, humanity, nature, and beauty in our understanding of information today, and contributes to metaphor research at large.
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Francis Bangou and Stephanie Arnott
This chapter is the actualization of an experimentation of two second language (L2) teacher educators (the authors) with(in) Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) ontology and the…
Abstract
This chapter is the actualization of an experimentation of two second language (L2) teacher educators (the authors) with(in) Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) ontology and the associated concepts of agencement, desire, rhizomes, becoming, and affect to contribute to the everchanging knowledge base associated with the work and experiences of teacher educators at a time when such contributions are urgently needed. More precisely, this chapter sought to illustrate what could happen when, as teacher educators and researchers, we become “intimate” with the various elements of a research–teaching–learning–writing agencement. To do so, the chapter presents research based on material collected as part of a study on a mentoring experience between the authors. The second author was preparing to teach an online graduate course in L2 education to in-service teachers for the first time, while the first author had more experience with online teaching. Through the rhizoanalysis of three vignettes, the authors engaged with(in) their experiences by considering how various elements of the research–teaching–learning–writing agencement – particularly the most intensively affective ones – impacted and were impacted by other elements. With(in) this process, desire emerged as a praxis and a force capable of generating new knowledge in part by encouraging teachers and teacher educators (1) to experiment with learning, teaching, and conducting research with(in) the productive energy of desire, and (2) to disrupt affective powers as well as the role played by the body in such a process.
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Interviews Stephanie Valentine, Education Director of the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), for an educator and nutritionist’s view on childhood obesity. Outlines the work of…
Abstract
Interviews Stephanie Valentine, Education Director of the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), for an educator and nutritionist’s view on childhood obesity. Outlines the work of the BNF: it is an independent scientific charity which is funded by food manufacturers and retailers as well as the government, and it focuses on the two large areas of school education and science. Presents Stephanie’s views on the power of education to change eating habits: children will naturally like some less‐than‐healthy foods, and in fact it is lack of exercise that is the greatest problem. Moves onto the role of the National Curriculum in England and Wales, and the problem that it does not include home economics. Concludes with an example of BNF’s work: the Lunchbox Project, which studies the packed lunches of schoolchildren in different social contexts.
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A change in leadership can often be stressful for an organization. Miriam, the Founding Executive Director of a supporting foundation for a rural hospital, was primarily a servant…
Abstract
A change in leadership can often be stressful for an organization. Miriam, the Founding Executive Director of a supporting foundation for a rural hospital, was primarily a servant leader, providing volunteers and staff with the tools needed for successful fundraising. As the initial Executive Director for this small nonprofit organization, she established an organizational culture that fit the needs of the community; volunteers became accustomed to that culture and the organization flourished. Upon Miriam’s retirement, her replacement brought a very different type of leadership rooted in hierarchical structures and authoritarianism. Accustomed to a more supportive organizational culture, many volunteers flatly refused to work with the new executive director. He exacerbated the problem by refusing to acknowledge any missteps he might have taken and was not receptive to any ideas not his own. He was not supportive of staff or even the organization’s own board members. The new executive director was accustomed to being in control and misunderstood managing the needs of multiple stakeholders. He moved too quickly to consolidate his own power without consideration of the organization’s needs. He tried to instill a “heroic” leadership style in a culture of shared leadership. The credibility of the organization suffered as a result, not only among volunteers and hospital staff, but, as they talked within the community, publically as well.