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The purpose of this paper is to review the development of quality assurance (QA) processes in higher education in Afghanistan and chart and assess the current achievements and challenges. Drawing on fieldwork, documentary research and secondary sources, the analysis seeks to integrate these elements into an integrated overall analysis of the phenomenon of QA in Afghan higher education, including its evolution over time, with some attention given to the implications for future development.

The methodology is based on field study, conducted by one of the authors, interviews with the Ministry of Higher Education officials by the second author, collection and analysis of policy documents and review of relevant literature.

Key findings reveal some tensions between stated policies regarding QA in Afghan higher education: limited finance, growing levels of insecurity and limited capacity within the Ministry of Higher Education, including staff training. Some barriers within higher education institutions are also pointed out in both public and private higher educational institutions.

Implications of the research are that although further funding is needed to institute QA in higher education institutions, both public and private, this is unlikely in the current circumstances, with donor funds limited and commitments not always fulfilled. Anti-corruption measures will continue to be important, and declining security, in some provinces more than others, will likely limit the effective implementation of QA measures.

Given current conditions in Afghanistan, there are clear practical limits to what can be achieved in strengthening QA in higher education. The undoubted enthusiasm of the people, however, means that the situation must be addressed as far as possible. Greater engagement with regional QA networks, more training for QA assessors and greater regulation of the burgeoning private sector would go a long way to bring about improvement, as would ongoing efforts to rein in corruption.

An important move regarding direct social implications would be to maintain and strengthen moves to engage more women in higher education, including higher proportions of (senior) female administrative and academic staff. Although barriers to women’s empowerment are by no means restricted to the higher education sector, it should show the lead in both enrolment and employment.

While QA in higher education is a major focus of higher education literature, there are less research studies on QA measures in developing country contexts and even less on fragile states such as Afghanistan. But for the country to prosper, good quality higher education is vital, and a study of the implementation of QA measures is an important contribution.

Outlines arguments in favour of resource sharing among libraries in Pakistan. Considers the present state of resource sharing in the country and proposes a new mechanism and framework.

Computer technology in libraries has revolutionised the concept of rapid and accurate information services. In Pakistan, though, computer technology is new and is being successfully introduced in all types of libraries and information centres. This article reviews the literature on the use of computers in Pakistan’s libraries. The literature includes monographs, journal articles, reports, etc. published inside and outside Pakistan, discussing information technology, specific library applications, the activities of individual libraries and automation education. The need for library automation and the problems faced by Pakistani professionals in this respect are also discussed.

Co‐operation and networking in library and information systems provide a wider access to collections, improve public and technical services and enhance operations by sharing resources, reducing duplication and offering more cost‐effective services. These systems are frequently applied in developed countries. These countries are getting maximum benefits from these systems, for example, expanding their services, providing better user satisfaction and solving their problems. These systems are less used in LIS of developing countries. The need for the establishment of such systems is evidenced. The experience of countries with developed systems can be instructive in social, professional, technological and economic terms. Raising awareness for the potential use of these systems, giving broader roles to organisations, developing communication infrastructure and maximising the use of technologies are key components for the establishment of co‐operation and networking in library and information systems of developing countries.

The study aims to describe the impact of supervisor’s and co-worker’s ostracism on the employee's responses (emotional, psychological and behavioral) through the mediation of employees' efficacy needs and relational needs. Moreover, psychological capital is treated as a moderator to handle the adverse responses of ostracized employees.

The study employed a three-wave quantitative research design to gather data from employees and their respective supervisors who belonged to various healthcare units (N = 510) using self-administered close-ended questionnaires. After that, SmartPLS software was used to analyze the data through a structured equation modeling (SEM) technique.

The empirical results of the study endorsed that ostracism adversely (negatively) affects employees' responses (comprised of emotional, behavioral and psychological). Moreover, the results revealed that employees' needs (efficacy and relational) mediate the relationship between ostracism experienced by employees (supervisor’ and co-workers’ ostracism) and their emotional, behavioral and psychological responses. In addition, it is also evidenced that employees' psychological capital improves the negative association between employees' needs and responses.

The literature in this domain is scarce, and the theoretical stance is weak due to the traditional approaches that are more concerned with the outcomes rather than analyzing the employee's conditional what they are going through. The present study enhances the knowledge of the transactional mode of coping and its application to ostracism in the workplace. The results of the current study may also support the practitioners in formulating interventions to foster a favorable workplace environment.

Breast cancer (BC) presents a major public health challenge world-over including India. While several risk-factors, early signs and symptoms of BC are known, the knowledge and awareness of this disease remains poor among the population. The present study aimed to determine the extent of knowledge and awareness of BC, its risk factors, early signs and symptoms and breast self-examination (BSE) practice as an early detection method among Indian college-going female students.

The authors conducted a cross-sectional survey at a University in Delhi-NCR. Data on socio-demographic, knowledge and awareness of BC including BSE was collected using a pretested questionnaire. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis was performed. All tests were two-sided and significance was set at p < 0.05.

A total of 866 female students participated in the study with mean age of 22.32 (±0.146) years having mean body mass index (BMI) of 21.22 (±3.52). As high as 82.1% of the participants had heard of BC but while 74.8% thought early detection is possible, 70.7% believed BC cannot be prevented. Gene mutations (60.2%) were identified as a significant risk factor, while breast pain (61.4%) was commonly recognized as a sign of BC. Only 29.8% of students ever performed BSE. Increased odds of performing BSE (OR = 3.4) was found among students who recognized gene mutations as an important BC risk factor.

Knowledge and awareness of BC including BSE among female college students were found to be below average. It is suggested that there is an urgent need for increasing BC awareness among young girls through workshops and mobile-health interventions.

This study provides new information on the level of knowledge and awareness of BC risk factors, sign and symptoms and self-examination practice among young college girls. Moreover, this study advocates the need for design and implementation of a sustainable digital health model for active population BC screening, which is not being done currently.

BC is a highly aggressive disease, which is now one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in India and world over. Although the knowledge of BC risk factors and its signs and symptoms have increased, the awareness of these elements among the general population at large is low and/or missing, especially in India. Furthermore, as a consequence of unorganized screening programs in the country, majority of women are presenting young with locally advanced disease. Understanding the existing level of knowledge and educating school, college and University students of the pertinent factors and screening practices such as BSE could drastically help in improving the self-screening and/or clinical examination rates. This could potentially lead to early detection and improved prognosis, thus ameliorating disease burden.

This study is one of the few studies conducted in India among young female college students belonging to non-medical backgrounds, delineating the level of knowledge and awareness of BC risk factors and signs and symptoms along with practice of early detection method such as BSE. The study has a considerable sample size and provides valuable evidence for a need to implement programs incorporating digital health models for accelerating awareness and screening of young girls in both rural and urban settings.

Describes a number of experiments with electronic document delivery, and the copyright problems that are affecting its use. Considers the inadequacies of interlending for the user, the interlending in Eastern Europe and Australia. Outlines the impact of CD‐ROM on document supply and suggests that interlending can be a social, cultural and economic measure.

Training improves workers’ competencies by eliminating or reducing mismatch between the levels of acquired and required skills. However, the question of who needs the training can be pertinently managed by training needs analysis (TNA). Thus, the purpose of this paper was to explore the training needs of Pakistani university librarians on collection management skills.

The study was conducted on a randomly selected sample of Pakistani university librarians. Using survey questionnaire method, a five-point Likert scale was utilized to measure the acquired and required levels of collection management skills (CMS). A paired sample t-test was used to ascertain the significance of difference between the acquired and required skills. Further, descriptive statistics were used to perform TNA.

Results of the paired sample t-test showed a significant difference among all indicators of CMS. Further, findings of TNA specified more than 50 per cent of deficit (over-utilization), less than 50 per cent of surplus (under-utilization) and 20 per cent of job best-fit in terms of CMS. Based on these results, training and top-down allocation of tasks are suggested to the higher authorities to manage over and under-utilization of CMS and to produce more job best-fits.

These findings are significant to design training programs on CMS, to revise courses on collection management, to evaluate performance of collection managers and understand the causes of under and over utilization of CMS. Moreover, findings inform librarians to eliminate mismatch in the levels of acquired and required CMS through training programs that may further enhance job best-fits.