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The Special Collections Department of Information Services at the University of Birmingham is currently using the CALM 2000 archives management system to enable management of the archives collections held by the university. The project to develop the OPAC side of CALM, enabling online and remote access to archive catalogue records, was initiated in September 2000 and completed at the end of May 2001. Reviews the history of the project, its various stages and final results. The Online Archive Catalogue at the University of Birmingham provides a significant research resource for users of information services as well as for the wider research community both nationally and internationally and may be accessed via the Internet at http://calm.bham.ac.uk/DServeA/

The purpose of this study was to explore gender differences in contractual commitments, job satisfaction and spouses' occupation among GP principals in NHS Scotland.

This paper is based on data provided by a self‐completion, postal questionnaire survey. The response rate was 50 per cent.

Males worked more hours than females and were more likely to work out‐of‐hours. Females reported greater job satisfaction but only when they worked fewer hours. Females earned less than males but there were no gender differences in total household income. Both genders planned to retire at 59 years. More males would delay retirement if they could work part‐time. More females than males were in dual‐doctor households. Male respondents in dual‐doctor households were more likely to have modified their working hours or career aspirations than males in other households.

The number of hours worked by GPs is in part determined by the occupation/earning power of their spouse. The number of women GPs is increasing and they are likely to continue to choose to work fewer hours than their male counterparts have done in the past.

This study has attempted to incorporate spouse's occupation/income as a factor in the career choices of GPs in Scotland.

The purpose of this study is to explore non‐principals’ working patterns and attitudes to work.

The article is based on data provided by a questionnaire survey.

Gender division was apparent among the non‐principals. Males were more likely to work full‐time, because their spouses modified their working hours.

It was impossible to identify all non‐principals in Scotland or to compare responders and non‐responders, due to the lack of official data. Hence, the results might not be representative.

More flexible posts would enable GPs to more easily combine paid work with family commitments. It is anticipated that the new GP contract should deliver this.

This was the first time a study of all non‐principals in Scotland had been attempted. The findings provide a more comprehensive picture of GPs in Scotland and provide valuable information for policymakers.

Studies of the representation of women in United States history textbooks, both in number and manner in which they appear, have found women are inequitably represented as compared to their male counterparts and are viewed through a patriarchal lens. This study analyzed a contemporary high school United States history textbook’s representation of women in the Progressive Era compared to an earlier edition textbook. Using their visual representation of women, it was found that the textbooks continued the patriarchal view of women and their roles in society. Although the number of representations of women had slightly increased over time, these additions did not promote a more contemporary view of women's role in history, except in the area of women's rights. Recommendations for future areas of research are made. Some are: monitoring of textbooks for equability, analyzing of textbooks covering U.S. history prior to 1877 for equability in inclusion of women in history, investigating what teachers are doing to compensate for the inequity, determining whether or not state standards are inclusive of women's history, and analyzing how women's history in college level textbooks represent women in history.

In 2008, Mind in Bexley received a research development grant from the Big Lottery Fund and a training grant from Bexley Care Trust to empower service users to participate and contribute to a pilot research project. The project aims were to work with, develop, train and support service users as researchers, in order to record the narratives of service users who have common experiences of mental health distress and treatment. The research development project set up an advisory group, created and developed a partnership with the University of Kent and provided workshops and training sessions to explore some of the principles of research and ethics. In addition, the group undertook a preliminary literature review, developed and refined a research questionnaire and piloted interviews with six service users. Many issues were raised and lessons learned during the planning and conduct of the project. This paper discusses the process and reflects on aspects of the project's design and delivery. In addition, this paper highlights some of the difficulties in undertaking service user research and suggests recommendations as to how to overcome some of these complex issues.

Ever since Mead, sociology has maintained a deep divide between human and non human animals. In effect, Mead constructed humans as having capacities that he saw lacking in animals. Recent research on animals has challenged the traditional ideas of Mead and others by providing evidence of animal intelligence, adaptability, selfawareness, emotionality, communication and culture. This paper examines the human‐animal relationship as presented in Introductory Sociology Textbooks to see if this new research on animals has allowed us to move beyond Mead. We find outdated information and confused thinking on such topics as the relationship between language and culture, the development of the self in animals, and the role of instinct, socialization and culture in animal behavior. We conclude that, with few exceptions, the main function of the treatment of animals in these texts is to affirm the hard line that sociology has always drawn between humans and other species.

The purpose of the paper is too provide a flavour of the content of the American Library Association Annual Conference held in Washington DC in June 2007.

An outline description of the issues, content, networking, speakers and participants of this conference.

This major conference covered many topical issues and themes, latest trends and research and leading edge technology applicable to librarians and information professionals internationally. It facilitated many networking opportunities.

A conference report of value to librarians and information professionals as the variety of themes apply to the various aspects of library and information work.

“Collaborative customer co‐design websites” (CCCWs), reflect a combination of co‐design and social networking. While this technology is presently emerging, little research has explored consumer perception of the underlying benefits and impediments of CCCW features. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceived benefits and impediments offered by a CCCW and its influence on consumer acceptance of this technology.

The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with additional variables (perceived playfulness, perceived social risk, and mass confusion) was employed to examine the effects of CCCW features on consumers' beliefs about the CCCW and their consequent intention to use a CCCW. An online, scenario‐based survey was used to collect responses from college students (n=223). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Results of structural model testing indicated that perceived playfulness had the largest influence on intentions to use the CCCW. Additionally, perceived social risk associated with the CCCW negatively influenced consumers' intention to use the website. Contrary to expectations, mass confusion positively influenced consumers' intentions to use the CCCW.

Successful online co‐design retailers have begun to utilize social networking features for customer collaboration. Yet, there is scant research that explores the features leading to consumer acceptance of this technology during the collaborative customer co‐design process. Focusing on this problem, the present paper empirically tested perceived benefits and impediments regarding acceptance of a CCCW. The findings suggest that online retailers who adopt a CCCW as a business strategy may relay the value added benefits to consumers by: promoting how this technology relieves customers' perceived social risk; and underscoring the fun and enjoyment aspects of CCCWs to encourage website use and patronage.