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Open government data and access to public sector information is commonplace, yet little attention has focussed on the essential roles and responsibilities in practice of the information and records management professionals, who enable public authorities to deliver open data to citizens. This paper aims to consider the perspectives of open government and information practitioners in England on the procedural and policy implications of open data across local public authorities.

Using four case studies from different parts of the public sector in England (local government, higher education, National Health Service and hospital trust), the research involved master’s level students in the data collection and analysis, alongside academics, thus enhancing the learning experience of students.

There was little consistency in the location of responsibility for open government data policy, the range of job roles involved or the organisational structures, policy and guidance in place to deliver this function. While this may reflect the organisational differences and professional concerns, it makes it difficult to share best practice. Central government policy encourages public bodies to make their data available for re-use. However, local practice is very variable and perhaps understandably responds more to local organisational strategic and resource priorities. The research found a lack of common metadata standards for open data, different choices about which data to open, problems of data redundancy, inconsistency and data integrity and a wide variety of views on the corporate and public benefits of open data.

The research is limited to England and to non-national public bodies and only draws data from a small number of case studies.

The research contributes to the debate about emerging issues around the complexities of open government data and its public benefits, contributing to the discussions around technology-enabled approaches to citizen engagement and governance. It offers new insights into the interaction between open data and public policy objectives, drawing on the experience of local public sectors in England.

The purpose of this paper is to describe, analyze and understand international users' library experience in the Digital Age in order to inform library service design and ensure it provides an inclusive environment. In this study, the behavioral and experiential aspects of user library experience are merged to develop essential interconnections between information behavior (IB) and user experience (UX) in the context of the academic library with the goal of constructing a more holistic understanding of ‘library experience.

The study was built on the concept “library experience” through analyzing its essential components of IB and UX. It was developed through findings from mixed methods research, consisting of the quantitative investigation from a library log analysis, and qualitative investigations via cognitive mapping exercises and semi-structured interviews, both targeted on the largest single group of international students in United Kingdom – international Chinese students.

The findings demonstrated the complexity and multilayered characteristics of international Chinese students' library context, and three unique contexts emerged from the data shaping their library experience. Building on the previous findings on the connections between IB and UX, the work attempted to redefine “library experience” by joining both behavioral and experiential aspects. It is found that the key components of cultural library experience are the multilayered context, cultural group's perception needs, sense-making process and subjective evaluations.

This study joins the behavioral and experiential perspectives together to explore library experience in a more holistic way and proposes a systematic structure to understand and analyze library experience, especially that of international users in a cross-cultural context, which, in turn, will better serve their information needs and inform the design of a more equal and inclusive library system.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce this dedicated research issue of the Records Management Journal

This paper provides a brief viewpoint on records management research.

This issue should clearly demonstrate why research is so critical.

This paper provides a brief viewpoint on records management research.

Focuses on achievement motivation in part‐time students. Although the research has focused on teachers, it is felt that findings have a general application. Increasingly, employers in all fields are expecting staff to undergo periods of part‐time training. Obviously, it is extremely advantageous to both employer and employee if a high achievement drive is maintained. Special coping strategies are needed. Considers many different issues involved, and highlights ways in which an achievement culture may be fostered.