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This paper aims to examine contracts in public jurisdictions to compare academic theories related to outsourcing risks and risk management strategies to current practice in order to extend and refine theory concerning what risk management strategies can, or should, be included in outsourcing contracts.

An automated content analysis tool is used to rigorously compare contract documents in two public jurisdictions to a comprehensive outsourcing risk framework from previous research.

The findings indicate that although IS outsourcing risk factors are widely acknowledged in the literature, they are not fully specified in the outsourcing contracts that are implemented in some public organizations. This research surfaces some of the differences in the techniques implemented through actual contracts to manage the risks inherent in IS outsourcing, including some strategies not previously identified in the literature. Also, not all risks need to be addressed in the contract to have a successful outsourcing engagement.

The improved framework for thinking about risk management strategies in the contracting process shown within the paper can provide important ideas and insights for managers contemplating or renewing outsourcing engagements.

This paper uses content analysis to rigorously compare academic theory to actual practice to extend theory. Specifically, it discovers several risk management strategies that have not been presented in previous research.

Information systems (IS) outsourcing has been viewed as an attractive option by many senior managers generally because of the belief that IS outsourcing vendors can achieve economies of scale and specialization because their only business is information processing. The challenge of implementing, operating and maintaining enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and the outsourcing service offered by ERP vendors have made ERP outsourcing an attractive option for some organizations. However, although IS outsourcing is now a major industry, the outsourcing of ERP applications is still in its infancy. This paper explores ERP outsourcing in terms of the application service provider (ASP) approach where a third‐party vendor hosts, manages and maintains various data and ERP applications on behalf of different clients. Critical to the management of the ERP outsourcing relationship is the outsourcing contract, which, if improperly or incompletely written, can have significant negative implications for the outsourcing firm. Contracts that encourage vendor performance and discourage under‐performance are therefore clearly of interest to managers. Although many articles have appeared on outsourcing, the issue of incentive contracts for ERP outsourcing has not been adequately addressed by researchers, partly because of the infancy of this area. In this paper, an approach to analyze incentive schemes and structuring ERP outsourcing contracts for the mutual gain of the parties is presented.

In this time of severe national budget deficit, all programs are reviewed for trimming/downsizing and effectiveness. Just as educational systems are evaluated for trimming, so are school and academic library services. This article will address why it is crucial to have close linkages between school and academic libraries through articulation programs to avoid duplication and waste of human resources, and explain how articulation can be initiated through precollege programs offered by colleges and universities. It will focus on why academic libraries participate in precollege access programs, highlight how collaboration between school and academic libraries helps the “town and gown” community relationship, and point out how precollege programs help minority students and university recruitment and retention efforts. As an example, it will describe the outreach program of the College Library at the University of Wisconsin‐Madi‐son. The article concludes by discussing the future goals of strengthening and broadening the participation of academic libraries in precollege access programs.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

Although the sabbatical leave is an integral part of academic life, there has been relatively little empirical, theory-driven research of the process. The purpose of this paper is to integrate the limited research on faculty sabbaticals with the careers literature to offer a new approach for the study of this important tool for faculty development.

A review of the empirical studies on faculty sabbaticals was performed and used in conjunction with the kaleidoscope career model (KCM) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to develop a model to guide future research.

The decision to take a sabbatical is complex and may have long-lasting implications for an individual's career. It is important to examine how factors that impact the perceived feasibility of the sabbatical (e.g. organization, country social norms) and desirability (e.g. need for authenticity, balance and challenge) influence the decisions, goals and outcomes of the sabbatical.

The use of the KCM, the TPB and the careers literature provides a theoretical foundation to study faculty sabbaticals as a distinct event in an individual's career development.

The proposed framework can be used by faculty members to determine the feasibility and desirability of taking a sabbatical as well as what factors which may encourage or limit sabbatical opportunities.

This conceptual paper uses a careers lens to provide a theory-driven framework which can be used to conduct much needed research on faculty sabbaticals.

The traditional role of business as essentially fulfilling a limited economic role has its articulate proponents (Milton Friedman, 1962; Theodore Levitt, 1958; Frederick Hayek, 1944). Friedman and others who see business as having a very central but limited role in society contend that the business of business is business — not social issues or politics.

Firms with extractive businesses abroad dread political instability and sudden government switches in business agreements in the countries in which they operate. The take‐over of copper firms in Chile during the Allende administration in 1971 and the recent decision by Venezuela to reduce Reynolds Metals' equity share in a smelting operation from 50 percent to 28 percent are two examples of hundreds of such events that have determined the profitability of extractive operations over the past decade. Both the risks and opportunities for international firms seeking to produce and market raw materials or firms dependent on raw materials are heavily affected by political conditions.

I SUPPOSE that anyone writing anything on Gilbert and Sullivan ought to begin by stating where he stands in regard to the works of this extraordinary pair. For ‘G. & S.’ is curious. It can perhaps be likened to cricket in that people tend either passionately to love it or as passionately to loathe it; neutrality is encountered relatively seldom. So let me say straight away that I come into the former category. H.M.S. Pinafore and all the other operas in the series have given me enormous pleasure for as long as I can remember, and I hope and believe they will continue to do so in the future.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.