Matthew Weirick Johnson, Estéfani Bowline, Diana Leigh King, Antonia Osuna-Garcia, Sylvia Page, Alohie Tadesse, Maggie Tarmey and Matthew Vest
Prior to 2020, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Library's research services spanned multiple service points. Multiple locations were staffed by Library Student…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior to 2020, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Library's research services spanned multiple service points. Multiple locations were staffed by Library Student Research Assistants (LSRAs) and each location was supervised independently. While efforts to increase collaboration had been underway, much of the work and services remained siloed and often duplicated training and service hours.
Design/methodology/approach
With the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), UCLA Library rapidly transitioned from entirely in-person to entirely online services. With multiple service points pivoting, UCLA was redundant to have multiple online desks providing Zoom appointments and that quickly became apparent. Moreover, transitioning in-person student work to remote work was paramount to providing both normal services to users and allowing LSRAs to keep jobs during a time of uncertainty and insecurity.
Findings
While the authors' original consolidation of services and implementation of shared supervision was a result of the pandemic and primarily involved online services, the authors have maintained this shared approach and collaborative vision in returning to in-person services. For the past year, the authors have offered shared in-person (at two library locations) and online services. As subject-specific library locations begin to reopen their desks, the authors continue to identify ways to leverage shared supervision and a robust referral model for those on-site services while negotiating student staffing and the need for both general and subject-specific services.
Originality/value
The authors present a novel approach to peer-to-peer teaching and learning and research services and shared student worker supervision with services coordinated across multiple locations and disciplines within a large academic library serving a large student population.
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This paper aims to provide a selection of poetry titles from the Poets House Showcase of 2005.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide a selection of poetry titles from the Poets House Showcase of 2005.
Design/methodology/approach
This article gives a review of the 2005 Poetry Publication Showcase.
Findings
This review represents a wide‐ranging selection of contemporary poetry collections and anthologies.
Originality/value
This list documents the tremendous range of poetry publishing from commercial, independent and university presses as well as letterpress chapbooks, art books and CDs in 2004 and early 2005.
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Abstract
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Loliya Agbani Akobo and Jim Stewart
The existing gender gap in the workplace, that affects job satisfaction and career advancement of women, creates a need to understand further the causes and effects of the gender…
Abstract
Purpose
The existing gender gap in the workplace, that affects job satisfaction and career advancement of women, creates a need to understand further the causes and effects of the gender gap phenomenon. Although, there are many challenges that affect women’s job satisfaction and advancement in the workplace, this paper aims to investigate work–life balance using multiple theoretical lenses.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with women from Nigeria and Ghana residing in the UK, they were selected using a purposive sampling method.
Findings
The findings show four main factors that explain the choices these women make in relation to work–family. These are cultural sensitivities, current phase in family and work–life, personality types and other influences such as policies and financial commitment. Results also show how these women make these work–family choices using networks and services.
Practical implications
The paper postulates the need for organisation’s to pay attention to the acculturation and enculturation of these women, which would indicate observing their cultural behaviour’s, values, knowledge and identities to understand how they integrate, assimilate and to also prevent separation and marginalisation. In addition, the use of (internal and external) networks as support systems for these women can create the opportunity for informal learning. Finally, organisation’s should create structure that support workplace learning and should include activities such as decision-making, communication, career advancement planning and flexible work patterns.
Originality/value
This study contributes to theory using multiple theories (work-family, gender inequality and Theories X and Y in explaining the work–family construct of women of African origin in the UK.
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This chapter reflects on a media studies project exploring Sylvia Plath poetry on Tumblr. The project ultimately resulted in excess digital data, with no conventional publications…
Abstract
This chapter reflects on a media studies project exploring Sylvia Plath poetry on Tumblr. The project ultimately resulted in excess digital data, with no conventional publications or research outputs. Now writing 10 years after data collection, I take a storying approach to explore the original research concerns and the research process, thereby locating a reconfigured ‘research event’ that draws together various biographical, social, political and historical factors. I reflect on my evolving understanding of ‘research’, discussing early teaching experiences and postgraduate pathways that partly structured a particular relationship to research. This serves to bridge a discussion about the challenges of the initial process over a decade ago, including the uncomfortable pairing of inexperience among aspiring researchers and institutional pressures to publish. I then discuss the theoretical perspectives that inspire and, in retrospect, offer clarity for the project, given the amount of time passed since data collection and the synergistic relationship between the storying approach, poststructuralist thought and story-focused methodologies. I argue that Tumblr provides unique opportunities for identity negotiation, aesthetic appreciation, data extraction and commodification, which highlights both the creative agency of digital aesthetic curation and self-work, as well as the importance of algorithmic transparency. I also contend that engaging with excess data led to methodologically and theoretically useful insights, challenging assumptions about the temporality of usable data and the ever-changing relationship between art, technology and freedom.
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Sylvia Trendafilova, Jamee Pelcher, Jeffrey Graham and Vassilios Ziakas
The purpose of this study was to examine the structure and scope of environmental sustainability efforts of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments as communicated via their…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the structure and scope of environmental sustainability efforts of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments as communicated via their websites.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative content analysis methodology guided the study. To accomplish the goal of the study, the researchers analyzed each tournament's website and each venue's website to document the environmental initiatives outlined on these pages.
Findings
Results indicated Grand Slam events focus primarily on energy and water conservation initiatives, increasing sustainable food choices and improving spectators' knowledge about environmental sustainability. Most sustainability programs fell into the first wave of sustainability efforts indicating that formalized strategic planning is largely missing.
Practical implications
By examining how Grand Slam events utilize their webpages to promote environmental sustainability, implications are drawn for not only website content but also actual event initiatives and activities. Pertinent efforts should move from a mere focus on communication to finding actionable solutions built upon the interconnectivity of events with allied sectors and the subsequent forging of cross-industry partnerships.
Originality/value
The findings suggest that Grand Slam tennis events pursue different trajectories in engaging with sustainability. This makes it important to understand in tandem their organizational conduct, strategies and communication practices. To move forward, there is a need to approach sustainability in a more holistic manner. A holistic view of how sport events engage with the environment can reveal causal patterns and points of leverage to use for initiating a change of practice toward adopting environmentally friendly behaviors.
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IT IS A HUNDRED YEARS AGO on November 12th since Elizabeth Gaskell died suddenly at the age of fifty‐five. She had not begun to write seriously until she was nearly forty, but…
Abstract
IT IS A HUNDRED YEARS AGO on November 12th since Elizabeth Gaskell died suddenly at the age of fifty‐five. She had not begun to write seriously until she was nearly forty, but during those fifteen years wrote seven major novels, a biography and many short stories. Her premature death was a deprivation to English literature and innumerable characters with whom her mind teemed were never brought to life to add to the host of friends that readers of her books find in her pages.