Search results

This paper argues that staff in the caring professions wishing to use research evidence to inform their practice cannot afford to ignore the Internet, since it is far and away the best means of access to evidence there is. It also provides a description of and rationale for evidence‐based practice, and highlights the benefits of the Internet using examples of currently available research resources. However, the existing evidence from the social care field indicates poor levels of access to the Internet and other electronic research resources. The implications of this are discussed. It is suggested that appropriate training and support must be provided alongside better Internet access. The paper is set in the context of government initiatives encouraging e‐government.

In the classic Introduction to Work Study, which is published by the International Labour Office, there is a list of the resources which collectively determine the productivity of a firm. They are set out as lands and buildings, materials, machines and manpower.

We recall Sidney Greenstreet's profile of Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon: ‘Upon my soul sir, you are a character, you really are.’ The same might be said of Gorby, the leader of the second most powerful country in the world, whose stated philosophy over seventy years has been: profit is a moral evil.

It has often been said that a great part of the strength of Aslib lies in the fact that it brings together those whose experience has been gained in many widely differing fields but who have a common interest in the means by which information may be collected and disseminated to the greatest advantage. Lists of its members have, therefore, a more than ordinary value since they present, in miniature, a cross‐section of institutions and individuals who share this special interest.

Presents the scientific methodology from the enlarged cybernetical perspective that recognizes the anisotropy of time, the probabilistic character of natural laws, and the entry that the incomplete determinism in Nature opens to the occurrence of innovation, growth, organization, teleology communication, control, contest and freedom. The new tier to the methodological edifice that cybernetics provides stands on the earlier tiers, which go back to the Ionians (c. 500 BC). However, the new insights reveal flaws in the earlier tiers, and their removal strengthens the entire edifice. The new concepts of teleological activity and contest allow the clear demarcation of the military sciences as those whose subject matter is teleological activity involving contest. The paramount question “what ought to be done”, outside the empirical realm, is embraced by the scientific methodology. It also embraces the cognitive sciences that ask how the human mind is able to discover, and how the sequence of discoveries might converge to a true description of reality.

WHILE there is no doubt that the system of issuing books at “net” prices is of great benefit to booksellers, there is also no doubt that, unless care is taken, it is a serious drain upon a limited book‐purchasing income. A few years ago the position had become so serious that conferences were held with a view to securing the exemption of Public Libraries from the “net” price. The attempt, as was perhaps to be expected, failed. Since that time, the system has been growing until, at the present time, practically every non‐fictional book worth buying is issued at a “net price.”

When eating abroad, and conducting those operations necessary and incidental to the intake and mastication, and, one may hope, to the pleasurable enjoyment of such flesh, fish, fowl or other nutriment needed to sustain our strength, maintain our bodily vigour, or to pander to our base appetites, so difficult to resist, it is quite customary, and indeed, unfortunately often unavoidable, to perform these alimentary exercises to the accompaniment of some form of music, usually not too good of its kind, and often even worse than that. The connections between food (and drink) and music are many and various, continually appearing in history and in our literature; “ music … the food of love,” and again, “ There's sure no passion in the human soul but finds its food in music.”

The Conference to be held in London from 20th to 23rd September, 1960, to celebrate the centenary of the “Act for preventing the Adulteration of Articles of Food and Drink” promises to be an auspicious occasion. The celebrations are being sponsored by appropriate Government departments of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and by the various professional bodies concerned. The fullest support of the Food Manufacturers' Federation is also being given to it. The proceedings are to open with a reception given by Her Majesty's Government at Lancaster House on 20th September and during the conference, which will be held at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, meetings, lectures, an exhibition and laboratory visits will demonstrate the progress made in the past 100 years and “show the part which the food chemist plays in improving the quality of food and providing better nutrition and better health.” We trust, however, that the part played by the food chemist will not be allowed to completely overshadow what others have done towards providing a pure food supply for the people. Not all of the chemists' activities have been to this end; the chemical “sophistication” of food in fact constitutes a serious problem.

Gamification is the application of game features, mainly video game elements, into non-game context for the purpose of promoting motivation and engagement in learning. The application of gamification in a pedagogical context provides some remedy for many students who find themselves alienated by traditional methods of instruction. The use of gamification could provide a partial solution to the decline in learners’ motivation and engagement the schooling system is facing today. Specifically, the college environment could benefit a lot from gamifying not only their graduate recruitment strategies, but also the college course content and curricula. This critical analysis of literature on gamification is intended to be part of a sequence on the effect of gamification on motivation and engagement. A proposed methodology in the study of gamification effect on motivation and engagement in addition to an empirical study on three college courses are being finalized to complete this trilogy. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Themes covered in the literature review include: conceptualizing gamification, advantages of gamification over game-based learning, theoretical connections to gamification, motivation and engagement, connecting gamification to motivation and engagement, emotions and fun in gamification, player types and gamification features, gamification in action, and implementation guidelines.

The literature on the effect of gamification on motivation and gamification is still limited on multiple levels. There is a gap between theory and practice in the study of gamification. There is limited literature on the implementation guidelines of the gamified designs.

This critical analysis of literature is followed by connecting it to future research by the same author as part of a sequence on the effect of gamification on motivation and engagement. The second project, will be proposing a methodology for any successful design to provide a holistic understanding of the topic of gamification. Finally, an empirical study on the effect of gamification on students’ motivation and engagement in three college courses will be submitted to complete the trilogy.

This paper is a literature review, so there is a strong connection to literature on this topic. However, the synthesis of the themes and ideas are original. The literature review is extensive and covers the different aspects of the topic of gamification and its relationship to motivation and engagement.