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This paper reports on the key lessons learned during the course of a randomised controlled trial of fruit tuck shops, in which 23 primary schools in the UK, in South Wales and the South‐West of England set up and operated a fruit tuck shop for one academic year. Fruit tuck shops were successfully introduced and sustained in over 80 per cent of the schools in the research project, and were generally found to be a manageable, low‐maintenance, sustainable enterprise that generated substantial benefits for the school community. The paper describes the experiences of schools in planning and running fruit tuck shops, and summarises the problems and benefits associated with them.

Knowing how the library’s collection is being used and how patrons are feeling about its collection are important for the evaluation of the library collection. The former can be measured by conducting library collection use studies and the latter through a user survey method. Another method is to check library holdings against standard bibliographies. The citation analysis technique was chosen to evaluate the collection of the Ministry of Education library, Singapore. Results were counter checked with ILL data analysis results. Books were the most cited (96 per cent) resources followed by journal articles (1.5 per cent) and 69 per cent of the citations were published between 1980‐1994. The library had only 20 per cent of the citations and the rest were supplied through ILL. Results show a need for a change in acquisition policy with more focus on books, reduction in non‐used journals, and development of an efficient ILL.

This study aimed to explore teachers' learning processes through a hybrid cross-cultural lesson study (LS) because little is known about the learning process through this novel and promising LS approach.

This cross-cultural LS lasted over six months focusing on developing a research lesson (RL) related to linear functions/equations by addressing a commonly concerned student learning difficulty. The data collected were lesson plans, videos of RLs, cross-culture sharing meetings and post-lesson study teacher interviews. A cultural-history activity theory (CHAT) perspective (Engeström, 2001) was used as a theoretical and analytical framework, and contradictions were viewed as driving forces of teachers' learning. The data were analyzed to identify contradictions and consequent teachers' learning by resolving these contradictions.

The results revealed four contradictions occurring during the hybrid cross-cultural LS that are related to the preferred teaching approach, culturally relevant tasks, making sense of the specific topic and enactment of the RL. By addressing these contradictions, the participating teachers perceived their learning in cultural beliefs, pedagogical practice and organization of the lesson.

This study details teachers' collaborative learning processes through hybrid cross-cultural LS and provides implications for effectively conducting cross-cultural LS. However, how the potential learning opportunity revealed from this case could be actualized at a larger scale in different cultures and the actual impact on local practices by adapting effective practices from another culture are important questions to be investigated further.

This study expands teacher learning through cross-cultural LS by focusing on contradictions cross-culturally as driving forces.

Role loss or substitution are common experiences of older adults, and a role typically held by older people – great grandparent or grandparent – is now under threat. Set within the context of a retirement village where an Intergenerational Programme (IGP) was taking place, the purpose of this paper is to understand older people’s perspectives on preschool-aged children, and the roles they adopt with them.

The authors conducted semi-structured interviews and analysed the data using narrative analysis (n=19).

Four narratives were identified, revealing that older adults adopt the roles of teacher and compromiser when interacting with children, believe they are “plugging a gap” in society through their involvement with younger generations and are reminded of life when with them.

The study does not feature the voice of younger children within intergenerational contact; information which would have provided a different perspective on the roles identified.

The bulk of global IGP practice is targeted at bringing together older and younger people who are not as young as preschool age, but this may be an opportunity missed. Retirement village operators may also want to consider intergenerational activity with preschool-aged children as a way for them to provide opportunities for role substitution within this environment.

The findings identify a positive perception older people have about young children in today’s society, expanding on very limited literature. How older adults perceive their role with young children is also identified within this research, highlighting how interacting with non-related preschoolers can provide some older people with a substitute role in later years.

This paper aims to share how it was possible to change the way business was conducted in a short period in order to continue the academic semester and seek alternatives to manage the day-to-day university affairs in the midst of a pandemic crisis at a higher education setting. As a result, the authors’ experiences have created new norms and opportunities for the university.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Brunei Darussalam is an evolving situation with extraordinary challenges for staff and students of the university. Although the campus remains open and essential services were continuously provided, the university had to implement and adapt to new norms instinctively to minimise the potential pathways for community spread of the coronavirus and at the same time minimise interruption in teaching and learning.

Firstly, structured blended learning will be the basis of teaching and learning, alongside ensuring the highest quality of online education and successful achievement of the intended learning objectives. Secondly, blended learning will open more opportunities to offer programmes in a more flexible, personalised, student-centric and lifelong learning manner, with the option of taking a study hiatus at students' convenience. Thirdly, there will be more global classrooms and the exchange of online modules with international partner universities. Fourthly, short programmes such as the Global Discovery Programmes will be modified and improvised to become an online learning experience. And finally, there will also be the opportunity to understand and consider the physical and mental well-being and durability of the university community in overcoming a national crisis situation.

This paper is intended to be a conceptual paper where the authors describe novel experiences during the pandemic. The authors’ views, interventions and experiences may result into a new model for higher education that will reposition students to the new global markets and economy.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the baseline model required to measure whole-of-organisation agility within a university information services division. The paper seeks to analyse the process of identifying and applying such a model.

The qualitative methodology applied is that of a single case study. The organisation analysed was an Australian university’s information services division. A structured survey, based on Wendler (2014), was administered to all staff as part of a multi-phased approach, thus facilitating a triangulation process.

The current research has confirmed the applicability of Wendler’s model to the higher education information technology sector. Application of the model establishes not only a baseline agility maturity score across the whole-of-organisation but also provides granular scores based on organisational units. Triangulation of survey results is recommended to achieve a more in-depth perspective.

Further research comparing similarly and differently sized universities could provide valuable insights. More research is needed to extend the applicability of Wendler’s model to a wider range of domains and industries.

The grouping of survey questions under particular broad themes reflected the strategic focus of the division being surveyed. Organisations implementing the proposed model will need to select themes that correspond with their respective strategic goals and culture.

The paper has extended the research and resultant model developed by Wendler by applying them not only to both managers and staff but also to a different domain, specifically higher education.

SINCE the year 1940, there have appeared two major reports on the Public Library system in Great Britain. The first, “The public library system of Great Britain: a report on its present condition, with proposals for post‐war re‐organisation” by Lionel R. McColvin, appeared in 1942. It suggested sweeping changes in the organisation of the public library system, more radical and far‐reaching than those embodied in the recent recommendations of the Library Association for local government reform. On library co‐operation, the report was equally radical, though certain similarities with the recommendations of the second report are apparent.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

The purpose of this paper is to calculate the bank efficiency of removing potential risks that are hidden from the extreme portfolio of bank’s assets and further compare the differences and causes of bank’s efficiency and potential risk level between China’s representative banks and OECD representative banks in 2011-2015.

Based on the weight-limited DEA model, this paper calculates the bank’s efficiency and further compares the differences between China’s representative banks and OECD representative banks by using commercial banks’ transnational data.

By analyzing US representative banks’ data, the authors find that the excessive expansion of the scale of banks’ investment for the non-real economy shrinks after the bubble burst and would not improve the efficiency of banks immediately. The OECD representative banks rather prefer to extreme asset portfolio so that the potential risks gradually increase, while there is a diminishing effect on investments in non-real economies to improve bank efficiency. On the other hand, China’s representative banks have the signs of reducing investment in the real estate market, but the existence of the bubble in the market led to a lagged effect on the impact of adjustment of bank asset portfolio on efficiency.

This paper has practical significance for commercial banks to improve efficiency and reduce credit risks. This is conducive to the implementation of targeted supervision by the banking supervision department.

Based on the lesson that the financial crisis created by the real estate bubble burst in the USA in 2008 and the financial market active guidance of the developed economies, faced with the reality of Chinese real estate market bubble rising and the continuous improvement of Chinese financial market, this paper compares the differences between representative banks in China and OECD, and explores the causes by using the cross-country data of commercial banks.

By adjusting the weight of the input variables in the efficiency measurement, quantifying the risk is often overlooked by the changes in bank efficiency. This potential risk is caused by the bank’s investment preferences in the non-real economy represented by real estate and tradable financial assets.

This paper aims to examine the adjustment experiences of academically successful international students in living and learning in a private Malaysian higher education institution (HEI).

A total of 53 international students participated in a mixed-method study, where they completed a survey (close- and open-ended questions). Also, 12 international students were interviewed.

The findings diverge from other studies, in that issues with respondents' English language proficiency were minimal, but for some of the students, social and cultural adjustment was problematic. However, these students were proactive in improving their situations. These findings indicate foci for university improvement in study and living experiences for all students.

The study is limited to one group of academically successful students at a private university in Malaysia.

There are benefits to HEIs and international students in enabling students to reflect upon and share their successful strategies. These not only enable students to recognise and value their achievements but also contribute to the development of more inclusive practices that will enhance future students' adjustment and overall learning experience.

The study contributes to the literature with its focus on academically successful students at a private university in Malaysia, both of which are areas of limited research coverage.