Search results

The purpose of this study is to characterise types of practices – or “routings” as they are denoted in this paper – that have been developed to incorporate non-financial inscriptions, representing value-in-kind (VIK) sponsorship resources, into accounting systems.

This study adopts field-based research, utilising Latour's (1999) concept of “circulating reference”, to illustrate how VIK (non-cash) resources were managed in an Australian sporting organization.

This paper contributes to our understanding of: first, how accounting infrastructure is constituted and stabilised by a network of multiple and overlapping accounting practices; second, how VIK resources are allocated and managed via local practices; and third, the importance of “budget relief” as a method of valuation in accounting practice.

Our paper has implications for understanding how financial and non-financial accounting inscriptions are related in practice, requiring both integration and separation within networks of multiple and overlapping routings of accounting practices.

Our work highlights previously unexplored accounting practices, which assist in the process of utilizing VIK resources in the context of a sporting organization.

Examines early time‐based ornamental plasterwork in the United Kingdom. Discusses the origins, methods, supporting structures, original finish and repairs and problems of this plasterwork. Concludes that plasterwork can be maintained no matter what condition it is in, so \ill\ action should be centred on helping later conservation by, for example, propping and padding vulnerable plasterwork.

The current policy context demands that health service providers demonstrate that services are effective, efficient, value for money and of good quality. Recent Government interest in intermediate care has increased pressure on day hospitals in particular to supply such evidence, because they face competition for their core services (such as rehabilitation care) from other community‐based providers. This review was conducted as part of a small study to evaluate a day hospital service in North London. Findings suggest that the outcomes of day hospital care are especially difficult to appraise because of the highly variable nature of both individual facilities and the needs and capabilities of patients attending. Traditional quantitative methods, such as randomised controlled trials or the use of standardised tools to assess treatment outcomes, face severe methodological problems owing to this variability. Three problems in particular would appear to hamper such research: comparability difficulties, owing to great variations in facilities and patient profiles; defining outcomes, because varying need may result in very different intended treatment outcomes, and determining complete costs, because patients rarely receive day hospital treatment in isolation from other health and social care services. The review suggests therefore that future researchers take a more user‐focused and qualitative research approach to the evaluation of day hospital care, such as by evaluating joint care plans with patients and staff, by assessing costs, by following small numbers of users through treatment and by studying users' and carers' views of (and preferences for) care.

WE begin a New Year in circumstances far removed from those in which any former year began. We were at war last January, it is true, but the actuality of it had not advanced over our own threshold as it has since done. The history of 1940 from our library viewpoint must await the assessment of more tranquil times, but in the cardinal tests to which libraries have been subjected we are convinced that they have been proven good. Fortunes have varied from the total destruction—except for 20,000 salvaged reference books—of the Gulson Library at Coventry to the loss of some glass or ceilings in other towns, but everywhere there has been remarkable resilience and an attempt, nearly always successful to restart the library service with little or no interruption. And the public has been most appreciative as letters we have seen prove: Richmond even received a congratulatory telegram from a reader. The contrast in this war between the desire for libraries and the continuous spurious economy “council” and “press” attacks upon them in the last one has been a significant social phenomenon.

ONCE upon a time, in the true spirit of fairy stories, it was our job to get fewer people to produce more of whatever they were making. It certainly did not make us popular. There were times when the appearance of a work study engineer in any factory was enough to start off a strike. Even the best regulated workers were known to slow down deliberately if only to give them and their mates some leeway when the “rate for the job” (whether the pay rate or production rate) was under consideration.

What is the Purpose of the Library? The question is exercising not only the English librarian but his American colleague, and we notice that one of our contemporaries there has given some space to this fundamental question. The simple reply to the question would seem to be “To provide the community with the books it needs.” Such a reply, however, is likely to be regarded as an over‐simplification. Nevertheless, we may adhere to it because the operative word in our definition is “needs” and not “wants.” To discover the needs of a community, which are as manifold as there are people in it, is in itself a formidable task; to supply the books which are likely to satisfy them is a life‐work worthy of the ablest of men. These considerations should never be lost sight of in the attempts which occur from time to time to define a programme of library work. We are the last to believe that our province should be a limited one and we deprecate any attempt to thwart the enthusiasm of any librarian, young or old, who has something constructive to contribute. Our definition, however, is indisputable. The addition to it that the librarian makes was defined years ago in Brown's Manual, which declared his work to be the exploiting of books. A programme then, if there is to be one, is merely of the best methods of exploitation by good technique, tactful advertisement, and a personal service which radiates willingness. The librarian must always beware of the many attempts that are made to harness the library to particular movements, shibboleths or partisan‐ships: the so‐called programmes which endeavour to define a purpose for the library will often be found to be influenced by one of these three evils. The matter thus stated seems trite enough, but it would seem that there is necessity for its fequent re‐statement.

Using data from the Survey of Consumers, this study focuses on consumer’s resolution efforts with credit card problems and the likelihood of “exiting” – that is, discontinuing the use of a given credit card or of the financial institution associated with the card. Among all households with a problem, nearly two‐thirds (63 percent) were able to resolve their problem, while over half (55 percent) exited. Exit was associated with marital status, race, how dissatisfied the consumer was, number of problems related to credit cards, and attribution. Holding all else constant, consumers who were likely to resolve their problem were only half as likely to exit. Thus, credit card companies need to carefully and quickly address their customers’ problems and resolve their complaints.

In a 31‐month period, 1,184 questions addressed to the Internet Public Library's (IPL) reference service remained unanswered on the grounds that they were “out of scope”. This paper aims to analyze the questions as artifacts of users' expectations to better chart the distinction between user and librarian views of reference service.

Each question is examined to identify two user expectations, i.e. what kinds of information librarians could provide and what kinds of needs librarians could help meet. Emergent coding with a code‐recode rate of 97 per cent identifies 23 types of expected librarian assistance and 28 characteristics of expected applications of that assistance.

Users expect IPL librarians to provide personal advice, analysis, facts, procedures, instruction, technology guidance and evaluation. IPL librarians are expected to help users in making decisions, solving problems, completing processes and developing understanding.

Limitations include the use of a single coder and the use of single institution's data set. Mapping these user expectations suggests a need for librarians to consider further development of reference service in terms of its judgment, form, and involvement parameters.

Reference service policies and training should be examined to enhance librarians' abilities to consider judgment, form, and involvement parameters primarily from the user's perspective.

This paper analyzes that which is rarely seen, i.e. e‐mail reference questions which are considered beyond the scope of service. Additionally, the IPL question pool provides a broader range of user mental models than would be found in any geographically bound institution.

The topic of transportation incorporates a vast amount of divergent information. The subject matter varies greatly, and includes titles ranging from Camels of the Outback to The Great American Motion Sickness; or Why You Can't Get There from Here. To establish boundaries for this resource guide, the present authors referred to Public Law 87–449, 14 May 1962, which authorized the president to proclaim an annual National Transportation Week. Using this as a basis, they defined transportation As the movement of people or goods from one place to another, and included a little tourism to break up the concrete and steel. While some historical materials are included, this resource guide emphasizes modes of transportation currently used in the United States.

A subject that often causes trouble for reference librarians is federal income tax research and the use of tax services. This article describes the sources of federal income tax law, sources used to interpret the tax laws, and the services that pull all of this information together for the researcher.