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1 – 10 of 40
Article
Publication date: 7 June 2013

Joel B. Thornton and Elaine Thornton

This study aims to examine the content of, and the extent to which, the 50 state governments make online spending data available to citizens. Additionally, it seeks to analyze the…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the content of, and the extent to which, the 50 state governments make online spending data available to citizens. Additionally, it seeks to analyze the typical access points available for searching financial transparency websites and to evaluate each for the presence of learning aids to assist average citizens in deciphering the data provided.

Design/methodology/approach

A content analysis of 50 state government financial transparency websites was conducted to determine access points available for searching and the presence of learning aids and explanatory materials to facilitate citizen understanding of government spending.

Findings

The study results revealed that, despite state government's efforts to provide increased access to financial information, little has been done to assist in improving citizens' skill in using the information and making it more understandable.

Practical implications

Librarians can play an integral role in assisting average citizens in navigating and understanding state government financial transparency websites.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates the importance of including learning aids on state government financial transparency websites and highlights the role that information professionals can play in assisting citizens with website navigation and data interpretation.

Article
Publication date: 18 January 2011

Elaine Thornton

This paper sets out to examine the use of an automatic acquisition plan to acquire international children's award book winners in academic libraries and to offer suggestions for…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper sets out to examine the use of an automatic acquisition plan to acquire international children's award book winners in academic libraries and to offer suggestions for promoting these resources.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examined the vendor's website, vendor‐created spreadsheets detailing award‐winning children's books from 2007‐2009, and book award websites.

Findings

The findings show that acquiring international children's award book winners using an automatic acquisition plan is an excellent starting‐point for developing international children's award collections. Featured awards favor works in English. Award books from all continents and regions are not available, but award winners chosen by ethnic and international organizations can be selected to broaden the ethnic and cultural diversity of the resources.

Originality/value

This paper details a beginning point for acquiring and promoting international children's award book winners for academic libraries in order to support multiculturalism and globalism by diversifying curriculum materials collection and providing vital resources for future educators and the larger campus community.

Details

Collection Building, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0160-4953

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 May 2013

Victoria L. Rodner and Elaine Thomson

This paper aims to deconstruct the validation process for contemporary art with a fresh take on the components and terminology of this process, here referred to as the art machine.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to deconstruct the validation process for contemporary art with a fresh take on the components and terminology of this process, here referred to as the art machine.

Design/methodology/approach

Existing literature is analysed and key theoretical aspects combined to support the theory that an art machine exists that may process contemporary art for legitimation, sustainability and market success.

Findings

Roles played by art professionals and institutions within what is pioneered in this paper as the art machine frequently overlap. Opportunities for success are maximised when and if artists, art schools, galleries, critics, auction houses, museums and collectors manage to work in unison towards the common goal of optimal symbolic and financial value for the contemporary art market.

Research limitations/implications

A clear and intelligible deconstruction of the art machine's interacting components should enable interested agents in both established and emerging art markets to better operate mechanisms towards short‐term marketing objectives and long‐term sustainability within the highly competitive and fluid art environment.

Originality/value

Existing literature recognises layered spheres of activity that may combine for success in an art market seeking increasing symbolic and financial value and sustainability. This article innovatively pictures the dynamic, interlocking mechanisms in this on‐going, one‐way process of turning inconspicuous raw materials into a valued end‐product: this is the art machine.

Details

Arts Marketing: An International Journal, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-2084

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 December 2020

Mari Louise Mallasvik and Jorge Tiago Martins

In a context of growing policy pressures to increase the societal impact of Higher Education Institutions (HEI), open access to research data has gained increased significance, in…

Abstract

Purpose

In a context of growing policy pressures to increase the societal impact of Higher Education Institutions (HEI), open access to research data has gained increased significance, in spite of the limited availability of standard procedures and protocols, particularly in the engineering disciplines. In this article, we explore how engineering researchers' engagement with such external environment pressures impacts the conventional dimensions of engineering research work, and how engineering researchers within engineering HEI resolve potential tensions and make sense of their research data sharing practices.

Design/methodology/approach

We use an institutional logics theoretical perspective to qualitatively examine research data sharing behaviours of researchers in Norway and the UK as leading engineering research centres, through the use of policy analysis and narrative interviews.

Findings

The findings indicate that research data sharing behaviours are heavily mediated by institutional rules and rationalities that inform researchers' attitudes, but the logics that prize openness and sharing co-exist with logics that favour control and self-interest.

Originality/value

Our findings suggest that logics-specific variations in engineering researchers' identities and goals are of paramount importance to policymakers, research funders and academic leaders striving to support HEI in their efforts to augment the societal impact of research.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 77 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 December 2023

Qian Chen

The purpose of this study was to explore how my gradually growing teacher knowledge has changed and shaped a new interpretation of the same interview data through those years of…

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how my gradually growing teacher knowledge has changed and shaped a new interpretation of the same interview data through those years of learning and teaching in different cultural contexts, and furthermore, to deeply understand how the shift of teacher identity impacts the comprehension of Schwab's (1973) commonplaces theories. Through the interview data, I shared students' and teachers' experiences in a new culture and lay alongside my own stories as an international student, a teacher, and a researcher. This research reveals the perceived future needs consist of teachers' higher English proficiency, more classes on professional communication skills courses, more opportunities for professional instructors' professional development, more ESL teacher assistance, scaffolded instruction within mainstream classes, and a better educational atmosphere. The investigation process itself was important but more important was whether or not the discussions and results provided useful information to the community. Having an overall outlook of commonplaces is as essential as the curriculum design. This dialectical shift caused me to investigate the balance among Schwab's commonplaces and the findings will contribute to the future developments in curriculum design as a researcher. Upon reflection, I utilized this research by investigating the equilibrium between the four common places and the current curriculum as well as comparing all the stakeholders' perspectives to the common places identified within the target curriculum.

Details

Smudging Composition Lines of Identity and Teacher Knowledge
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83753-742-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2005

Abstract

Details

The British Journal of Forensic Practice, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-6646

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1983

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…

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Abstract

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 21 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 April 2021

Daniel F.O. Onah, Elaine L.L. Pang, Jane E. Sinclair and James Uhomoibhi

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have received wide publicity and many institutions have invested considerable effort in developing, promoting and delivering such courses…

Abstract

Purpose

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have received wide publicity and many institutions have invested considerable effort in developing, promoting and delivering such courses. However, there are still many unresolved questions relating to MOOCs and their effectiveness in a blended-learning context. One of the major recurring issues raised in both academic literature and in the press about MOOCs is the consistently high dropout rate of MOOC learners.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, we applied mixed methods as an exploratory case study, which prioritised the quantitative and qualitative approaches for the data collection processes. The data were collected using a MOOC Online Self-regulated Learning Questionnaire (MOSLQ) adapted and created from an existing measuring instrument. The quantitative data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Version 22) tool to conduct descriptive analysis. The qualitative results obtained from the transcribed focus group interviews in this study revealed the various behavioural patterns of how undergraduate students self-directed their learning. This focus group interview was conducted to reveal the various ways students organised and strategised their learning patterns in order to derive satisfaction in their distinctive learning behaviours and encourage motivation within their study approaches. Quantitative data collected online included a 30 items survey of which 17 respondents completed the survey items in the blended-learning study. The online course survey included 19 items of which data were gathered from 11 respondents.

Findings

Across the data, it is noticeable and clear that time management and goal setting were among the dimensions that are highly rated close to high level among SRL skills investigated in this study. We found that goal setting and task strategies predicted much better attainment of individuals controlling personal course goals, while help seeking was associated with lower goal attainment among majority of the participants.

Research limitations/implications

The study also identified several challenges. For example, there were some challenges in learners completing the survey questions even when several reminders were sent out forth nightly. At this preliminary stage, learners participated as lurkers without engaging fully with other non-academic and academic interactive activities such as surveys, in course quizzes and forums. Most of the participants in this course said they enrolled to know more about the new trend MOOC, to make friends, to have fun and so on. Although, these are some of their intentions for participating, some of the participants at some points contributed to discussion forums.

Practical implications

Our platform currently allows learners to direct their learning within the course and also allow the choice of content prerequisite in order to recommend resources necessary for their learning. This study indicates the necessity to support SRL skills and directing development of self-determination skills among the participants. This study when applied to a larger sample will demonstrate effective measurement on areas of reliability and validity as results from this small sample has indicated some high SRL skill levels for individual learners within the research.

Social implications

However, the success of any e-learning or MOOC platform should consider the following best practices and objectives: the learners' entire learning experience, the strategies used in developing the course content, the planning of the course delivery and the methods of delivery. Therefore, all e-learning platforms should be designed with a primary focus on the way students learn to improve their own learning skills and help them regulate their own independent learning habits. In another related study, the success of any e-learning course implementation should be carefully considered with regards to the course's underlying pedagogy and how learners engage with the content.

Originality/value

There are many e-learning platforms in existence globally, but little has been mentioned about the development of a MOOC platform in general that could allow independent learning and also adequately demonstrating the components and features used in these MOOC designs. This research's implication is to aid instructional designers to apply best practices in the development of an online course. The best approach in designing a good course is to consider the learners and how they could engage with the course resources independently and develop the ability to self-direct their learning. One of the main goals of e-learning platforms is primarily based on developing learning resources that would be suitable for linear course structure as directed by the course developer or instructor.

Details

The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, vol. 38 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4880

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1986

Stephen W. Rogers

Do these reference requests sound familiar? “I need to know what has happened on this day in history. Can you help me?” Or, “I'm doing a paper on Thornton Wilder. He was born on…

Abstract

Do these reference requests sound familiar? “I need to know what has happened on this day in history. Can you help me?” Or, “I'm doing a paper on Thornton Wilder. He was born on 17 April. Can you tell me who else was born on that day?” Or, “Are any national or regional anniversaries coming up next Friday?” These questions call for a special type of reference work—a book of days. A book of days (or day book) lists important events that have occurred on each day of the year throughout history, and is arranged by month and day. These works often include not only historical, cultural, and literary events, but also the dates of the births and deaths of notable people, commemorative days of saints, and special anniversaries. A book of days, for example, can reveal that historians Will and Ariel Durant were married in New York City Hall on Halloween in 1913, or that Hart Crane and Ernest Hemingway were born on the same day in 1899 (21 July). This article will review some of the more useful books of days that are often found in reference collections—works that are uniquely suited to answer questions about each day of the year.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Book part
Publication date: 16 April 2014

Jared L. Peifer

This article explores how social actors negotiate the competing logics they face as a result of their work in organizations subject to institutional complexity. In particular, I…

Abstract

This article explores how social actors negotiate the competing logics they face as a result of their work in organizations subject to institutional complexity. In particular, I theoretically focus on the unique characteristics associated with societal institutional logics, such as religion, family, and the state. Empirically, I analyze religious mutual funds (Catholic, Muslim, and Protestant) in the United States that dwell at the intersection of the competing logics of religion and finance. Through interviews with 31 people who work at religious mutual funds (or fund producers) and content analysis of religious mutual fund material, I focus on the symbolic boundary work that religious fund producers engage in. I find examples of boundary blurring and boundary building and suggest institutional complexity that involves at least one societal logic is especially likely to foster both modes of boundary work. This, I propose, leads to an increased likelihood of enduring institutional complexity.

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