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Governments all over the world have implemented citizensourcing initiatives to integrate citizens into decision-making processes. A more participative decision-making process is associated with an open government and assumed to benefit public service quality and interactive value creation. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the outcomes of open government initiatives and ask to what extent open government participation is related to perceived outcomes of open government.

Data conducted from a survey among users of a citizensourcing platform and platform data are used to perform non-parametric analyses and examine the relationship between platform participation and perceived outcomes of open government.

The findings of this paper suggest that active platform usage positively relates to several outcomes perceived by citizens, such as improved information flow, increased trust in and satisfaction with local government. In contrast, repetitive participation does not significantly relate to users’ outcome evaluation.

This study suggests public managers to provide possibilities for citizen participation and interaction with government such as citizensourcing initiatives. In particular, it recommends promoting participants’ platform activity, as proactive platform participation has positive effects on perceived outcomes of open government.

Previous literature discussed what it needs to realize a transparent and participatory government. First empirical studies deal with government institutions’ reasons to promote exchange with citizens, and investigate citizens’ motivation to participate in citizensourcing activities, but have disregarded the consequences of open government so far. This study thus provides first insights into the outcomes of open government, as perceived by the users.

In the March 1983 issue of the Moral Majority Report, Jerry Falwell, one of the leaders of the new right movement, leveled a very serious charge at librarians: they are failing to include “conservative” materials in their collections. According to him,

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the influence of a mixture of nutrient solution, bacteria and biofilm on the consolidation, unconfined compression and desiccation characteristics of two soils that could be used in waste containment applications.

Experimental work was conducted to investigate the influence of biofilm on the desiccation, strength and consolidation characteristics of two barrier soils. The soils were evaluated with water alone and with a biofilm solution composed of nutrients, bacteria and exopolymeric substances (EPS). These solutions were mixed with a locally available clay (“red bull tallow” (RBT)) as well as a mix of 65 percent sand and 35 percent bentonite (65‐35 Mix).

Reductions in strength and increases in ductility are observed with biofilm amendment for two soil types. The shear strength was reduced from 413 to 313 kPa and from 198 to 179 kPa for RBT and 65‐35 Mix, respectively. Desiccation tests reveal an increase in moisture retention for early time increments in amended specimens, while both increases and decreases are noted after extended drying. Increases in the rate of consolidation and modest decreases in the compression and swell index were observed. In particular, the consolidation coefficient was increased from 0.036 to 0.064 cm²/min and from 0.060 to 0.093 cm²/min for RBT and 65‐35 Mix, respectively.

These results are useful in establishing the broader impacts of using biofilm as an additive to increase the performance (e.g. reduce hydraulic conductivity and increase resistance to crack formation) of barrier materials in waste containment applications. Moreover, the data provide insight into the geotechnical implications of biofilm‐producing methanotrophic activity that occurs naturally in the covers of municipal solid waste landfills.

Very little research has been published on the influence of biofilm on the behavior of barrier materials in general, and on geotechnical properties in particular. This paper is unique in making the connection between methanotrophic activity, soil modification and barrier material performance.

At a recent inquest upon the body of a woman who was alleged to have died as the result of taking certain drugs for an improper purpose, one of the witnesses described himself as “an analyst and manufacturing chemist,” but when asked by the coroner what qualifications he had, he replied : “I have no qualifications whatever. What I know I learned from my father, who was a well‐known ‘F.C.S.’” Comment on the “F.C.S.” is needless.

The Board of Agriculture, by virtue of the powers conferred upon them by the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1899, have made regulations whereby it may be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that milk containing less than 8·5 per cent. of solids‐not‐fat, or less than 3 per cent of fat, is adulterated within the meaning of the Act. The suggested limit for fat in milk recommended by the special committee appointed by the Board of Agriculture was 3·per cent., and it will therefore be observed that the new regulations have fixed a standard for milk‐fat which is even lower than the low limit recommended by the committee. There are even rumours that a further lowering of this standard is to bo urged upon the authorities. Although from the point of view of Public Analysts and the officials responsible for the enforcement of the Food and Drugs Acts it is satisfactory that an official standard for the composition of milk has at last been set up, it is idle to suppose that the fixing of such a limit will materially improve the character of the milk‐supply as a whole. It should be remembered that milk which contains only 3 per cent of fat, although under the new regulations legally “genuine,” is, as a matter of fact, of the poorest quality, and is only produced by a cow when in bad condition, or by a particular breed of cow which is remarkable more for the quantity than for the quality of the fluid yielded. Producers and vendors of milk of good quality have been placed in a very unfortunate position by the new regulations, as the tendency of the trade will be to lower all milk to the official limits, with the result that those dealers who are still desirous of maintaining a high standard of quality will have to compete in the matter of price with less conscientious traders, who, taking advantage of the protection afforded by the regulations, will be enabled to sell to the public “genuine” milk, from which all “superfluous” fat has been removed. Gradation of quality in an article of food cannot, of course, be provided for by official regulation, and for the purpose of legal classification it is only possible to differentiate between legally “genuine” and adulterated articles. Therefore, in a legal sense, and also in a popular sense, a milk containing 4 per cent. of fat is no more “ genuine ” than one containing 3 per cent., although the former is, of course, a superior article. Competition in the dairy trade, which has of late years become very keen, will, as the result of the fixing of this standard, become more acute than before, and to keep their position it will be necessary for those milk‐vendors who are desirous of maintaining their reputation as vendors of milk of good quality to give to their customers some guarantee that their product is indeed superior to the legalised article. Any statements of the traders themselves upon this point will naturally be received by customers with reserve, as proceeding from an interested source, and the guarantee, to be effective, must therefore be given by an authority whose statements are above suspicion. It is hero that the system of Control will be found to be a necessity both to the milk dealer and milk consumer.

The Departmental Committee appointed to inquire into the use of preservatives and colouring matters in the preservation and colouring of food, have now issued their report, and the large amount of evidence which is recorded therein will be found to be of the greatest interest to those concerned in striving to obtain a pure and unsophisticated food‐supply. It is of course much to be regretted that the Committee could not see their way to recommend the prohibition of all chemical preservatives in articles of food and drink; but, apart from this want of strength, they have made certain recommendations which, if they become law, will greatly improve the character of certain classes of food. It is satisfactory to note that formaldehyde and its preparations may be absolutely prohibited in foods and drinks; but, on the other hand, it is suggested that salicylic acid may be allowed in certain proportions in food, although in all cases its presence is to be declared. The entire prohibition of preservatives in milk would be a step in the right direction, although it is difficult to see why, in view of this recommendation, boric acid should be allowed to the extent of 0·25 per cent. in cream, more especially as by another recommendation all dietetic preparations intended for the use of invalids or infants are to be entirely free from preservative chemicals; but it will be a severe shock to tho3e traders who are in the habit of using these substances to be informed that they must declare the fact of the admixture by a label attached to the containing vessel. The use of boric acid and borax only is to be permitted in butter and margarine, in proportions not exceeding 0·5 per cent. expressed as boric acid, without notification. It is suggested that the use of salts of copper in the so‐called greening of vegetables should not be allowed, but upon this recommendation the members of the Committee were not unanimous, as in a note attached to the report one member states that he does not agree with the entire exclusion of added copper to food, for the strange reason that certain foods may naturally contain traces of copper. With equal truth it can be said that certain foods may naturally contain traces of arsenic. Is the addition of arsenic therefore to be permitted? The Committee are to be congratulated upon the result of their labours, and when these recommendations become law Great Britain may be regarded as having come a little more into line— although with some apparent reluctance—with those countries who regard the purity of their food‐supplies as a matter of national importance.

The Corporation of the City of London are about to appoint a Public Analyst, and by advertisement have invited applications for the post. It is obviously desirable that the person appointed to this office should not only possess the usual professional qualifications, but that he should be a scientific man of high standing and of good repute, whose name would afford a guarantee of thoroughness and reliability in regard to the work entrusted to him, and whose opinion would carry weight and command respect. Far from being of a nature to attract a man of this stamp, the terms and conditions attaching to the office as set forth in the advertisement above referred to are such that no self‐respecting member of the analytical profession, and most certainly no leading member of it, could possibly accept them. It is simply pitiable that the Corporation of the City of London should offer terms, and make conditions in connection with them, which no scientific analyst could agree to without disgracing himself and degrading his profession. The offer of such terms, in fact, amounts to a gross insult to the whole body of members of that profession, and is excusable only—if excusable at all—on the score of utter ignorance as to the character of the work required to be done, and as to the nature of the qualifications and attainments of the scientific experts who are called upon to do it. In the analytical profession, as in every other profession, there are men who, under the pressure of necessity, are compelled to accept almost any remuneration that they can get, and several of these poorer, and therefore weaker, brethren will, of course, become candidates for the City appointment.

The authors investigate the durability of international entrepreneurial cognitions. Specifically, they examine how advanced business education and the Covid-19 pandemic influence international entrepreneurial orientation disposition (IEOD), and subsequently entrepreneurial intentions (EIs), to better understand the psychological dynamics underpinning the drivers of international entrepreneurship.

Against the backdrop of emerging entrepreneurial cognition and international entrepreneurial orientation research, the authors theorize that both a planned business education intervention (voluntary) and an unforeseeable radical environmental (involuntary) change constitute cognitive shocks impacting the disposition and intention to engage in entrepreneurial efforts. The authors use pre- and post-Covid-19 panel data (n = 233) and uniquely identify the idiosyncratic cognitive effects of Covid-19 through changes in the OCEAN personality assessment.

Findings demonstrate that when individuals' perceived psychological impact of Covid-19 is low, business education increases IEOD. Conversely, the effects of a strongly perceived Covid-19 impact reduce the risk-taking and proactiveness components of the IEOD scale. The authors trace the same effects forward to EIs.

This paper contributes to a greater understanding of the resilience of entrepreneurial dispositions through an empirical test of the IEOD scale and shows its boundary conditions under planned intervention as well as unplanned externally induced shock.

The study offers a first benchmark to practitioners of the malleability of international entrepreneurial dispositions and discusses the potential to encourage international entrepreneurial behaviour and the individual-level dispositional risk posed by exogenous shocks.

The study uniquely employs a baseline measure of all our constructs pre-Covid-19 to discern and isolate the pandemic impact on entrepreneurial dispositions and intentions, responding to recent calls for more experimental designs in entrepreneurship research.

Aarhus Kommunes Biblioteker (Teknisk Bibliotek), Ingerslevs Plads 7, Aarhus, Denmark. Representative: V. NEDERGAARD PEDERSEN (Librarian).

Marketing and branding literature has provided important insights into the context, environment and individual factors that shape customer brand experience. However, a holistic view on context and environmental influence on enhancing brand experience, specifically in the online social media network context, has not been considered. In addition, main focus of the previous research is on antecedent and consequence of brand experience rather strategy for enhancing brand experience. This paper aims to propose a contingency model for enhancing brand experience to provide a more holistic framework in the uncertain and complex nature of online social media network.

The proposed framework is based on previous literature that is identified and integrated to propose effectiveness of the contingent determinants on brand experience in different interactional circumstances.

The proposed framework implies that brand characteristics and interactive complexities of online social media networks cause contingency to the marketers or brands’ strategic attempt in delivering superior brand experience in online social media network context. These forces are as follows: online social media network characteristic (interactivity); brands’ co-creation characteristics (consumers’ and stakeholders’ participation); brand’s technical and operational competency (brands’ knowledge, ease of interactive platform); internal human resource characteristics (employees’ behaviour, brands culture, brands reputation); and customer interactive characteristics (customer demographic characteristics, customer motivation, customer attitude). These identified forces can be optimized to formulate strategies in the interactive medium for enhancing brand experience.

This paper proposes a contingency model as well as research propositions that need to be validated and confirmed empirically. While narrowing down the current identified gap in brand experience literature by proposing a novel perspective to the concept, this research broadens and deepens understanding of the concept of brand experiences, how it is linked to the context and contextual factors. This contingency framework elucidates the resources that marketers, practitioners can use to enhance, limit or maintain all the dimensions within brand experience.

A holistic view on context and environmental influence on enhancing brand experience, specifically in the online social media network context, has not been considered so far. Although literature demonstrates the positive outcome of brand experience, little attention has been paid to enhancing customer brand experience, specifically in the context of online social media networks with various complex forces acting and influencing the way customers experience a brand.