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What is a fossil? In modern usage, a fossil represents the remains of past life on Earth. By analogy, a fossil computer represents the hardware and software remains of an extinct—that is, no longer manufactured—computing device. Computers have been part of libraries for decades, especially in the academic environment. But the beginning of the personal computer era ten to fifteen years ago also marked the beginning of computing for many public, school, and special libraries. These early desktop devices have been showing their age for years as new machines have appeared on the market with enlarged memory, increased processing power, and graphic interfaces.

The second-year studio presented here investigates the potential of reducing the gaps between the academy and professional practice by using the results of practice as a teaching tool. Part of a two-semester sequence intended to introduce students to the fundamentals of architectural form and space, the design studio emphasizes discipline-specific notions of inquiry, exploration and process. The range of fundamental concerns is addressed through in-depth analyses of exemplary buildings in order to discover how practicing architects have incorporated basic design principles into overall design strategies. The “design in the style of” methods that characterized architectural education at the École des Beaux Arts and the pattern books which served as sources for 19th and early 20th century practice in North America provided definitive models that were subject to limited interpretation. In contrast, the analyses projects described here do not provide “answers” to questions regarding style, but rather focus questions on a range of concerns which are fundamental to architectural practice. Employing exemplary projects in beginning-level studios assists in demonstrating that highly regarded practitioners aspire to a synthesis of program/use requirements, conceptual ideas, structural solutions and constructional systems. The fact that the students were able to make concrete connections between their activities and the profession resulted in an intensity and sense of purpose that is evident in both the process and products of the studio.

Considers the issues faced by training and HR managers wanting to use electronic distribution of training courses and materials. Provides strategies that will embrace the disparate technologies that will exist throughout an organization and be ready to accept new technologies as they appear. Gives an example of a training deployment strategy that allows flexibility for both technology and user needs and preferences.

To develop a decision framework for the planning and development of a flexible manufacturing system (FMS).

A systematic weighted property index approach for FMS development decisions is developed to evaluate various design options. This methodology converts design property values of differing orders of magnitude into a unitless system where an overall evaluation of the options can be made.

Major design choices related to the implementation of an educational FMS are identified, and considerations affecting each choice are discussed. A methodology for the selection of the appropriate FMS is then developed and demonstrated.

Provides a useful framework for evaluating various options in FMS development and selecting an appropriate system for a given environment and situation.

Identifies the major design choices related to the implementation of an educational FMS, provides practical examples taken from the development of FMSs at Southwest Missouri State University and the University of Missouri‐Rolla, and presents a systematic methodology for FMS design decision making.

Looks at the contemporary debate on US immigration, focusing particularly on the increasing articulation of eugenics. Notes that, at times of economic and moral crisis, biological generalizations tend to resurface to provide support for the existing system of privilege and rights, and that the information superhighway provides the perfect vehicle for rapidly spreading beliefs and information. Addresses three specific issues – the genetically determined traits and behaviours of specific racial groups, culture as an expression of biological characteristics, and immigration destroying the racial purity of American society. Outlines briefly US history of immigration. Airs the current concerns on US immigration – pinpointing that concern lies not in immigration per se., which has declined in the last decade, but in the changing national origin of new immigrants, that is immigrants are now mainly Latin American or Asian, which is seen as a threat to Anglo‐Saxon hegemony. Refers to the work of the Pioneer Fund, exploring human variation through the racial basis of intelligence and propensity to violence and/or crime. Claims that scientific language has been adapted to reinforce worries about immigration reducing the supremacy of America’s culture.

This chapter explores the relationship between entrepreneurship skills and decent work (DW), and how policy can help achieve this. We review the entrepreneurship skills literature in the context of DW, highlighting the key entrepreneurship skills needed in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Thereafter, we extract lessons from selected policy initiatives in countries with broad similarities (Australia, Canada, United States and England), through the lens of DW. Our review draws on peer-reviewed journals and key United Nations and global entrepreneurship platform publications. Entrepreneurship skills deficiencies have a detrimental impact on the success and sustainability of SMEs. Yet, SME's survival and growth is currently crucial, whereby organizations need to transform in response to changing environmental, political, technological and consumer needs. This is intensified by the challenges of Covid-19, severely affecting DW and productivity. To develop and retain even a semblance of ‘decent work’, entrepreneurs need to develop appropriate skills and there is a need for suitable policy addressing this. In this chapter, we present lessons learnt based on our review and provide recommendations for entrepreneurship skills development policies aligning with DW.

The purpose of this paper is to relate the customer value proposition offered by a bank with its structure of ownership.

The study adopted a combination of exploratory and descriptive approaches. The attitudes and opinions of bank customers were gauged through a survey. Based on literature, a pool of items was identified to measure the construct of value proposition. It was hypothesized that different types of banks in India are chosen for different benefits offered by them. The relationship between value proposition and its constituent variables functional, emotional and self-expressive benefits was analyzed using multiple regression.

Results prove that while self-expressive benefits drive the choice of foreign banks (FBs), functional benefits are important for all types of banks.

The research intends to study only the perceptions of customers having an account in Indian public sector banks, private sector banks or FBs.

The study helps to relate the type of bank (public, private or foreign) a customer chooses, with the value proposition it offers. Using this study, banks can configure the value proposition that is appropriate for their target segment.

The paper examines the value proposition offered by the three different types of banks (public, private and foreign) empirically. It links bank choice of the customer to the benefit assortment offered by different types of banks.