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1 – 10 of 24Monica Humphries, Liz Chapman, Barry Bowes, CC Aguolu, Anita Wright and David Radmore
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS subject headings are relatively unusual in this country and they do provide for some relatively unusual headings. ‘Ground effect machines’ and ‘one‐leg resting…
Abstract
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS subject headings are relatively unusual in this country and they do provide for some relatively unusual headings. ‘Ground effect machines’ and ‘one‐leg resting positions’ are just two examples. ‘Ground effect machines’ refers to such things as hovercraft. ‘One‐leg resting position’ however could cover books on anthropology or art. ‘Negative income‐tax’ sounds like something we would all like to receive but it's not exactly the first term which springs to mind to describe income benefit schemes. However, despite these oddities, our subject catalogue seems to be fairy well used and our new guide cards make it even easier to use.
P HAVARD‐WILLIAMS, RJ PRYTHERCH, ERIC STEVENS, TED GOODLIFFE, DORIS PALMER, MONICA HUMPHRIES and RL DAVIS
THE MIXED reaction to the proposal for a diploma of higher education appears to be based not on the qualities or defects of the curriculum for the diploma—for no‐one yet really…
Abstract
THE MIXED reaction to the proposal for a diploma of higher education appears to be based not on the qualities or defects of the curriculum for the diploma—for no‐one yet really knows what it is going to be—but on attitudes which relate not to educational problems, but to social or political assumptions. The great British public has never wanted to spend more than it must on education. Expenditure on universities was never questioned when it was a fraction of the budget: since it has been a significant figure, the government of the day, whatever its complexion, has sought to economise. The polytechnics were supposed to be cheaper than universities; four term years cheaper than three term years. Now it is two‐year diplomas that are cheaper than three or four year degrees. No‐one with experience of the various changes in educational policy made by successive governments can, it seems to me, be other than cynical about the educational motives of politicians in making changes in the educational system. The case for the introduction of a two‐year course for a diploma in higher education is that many students would prefer to undertake a shorter course, with the possibility of topping it up later to degree standard if they wish to do so. This is presumably one example of the current fashionable phrase ‘continuous education’. Bodies such as the AUT and some members of professional associations fear that the introduction of the diploma will lead to a reduction in standards in the education students receive. The AUT also thinks it will affect the salaries of teaching staff.
IN THE LIGHT of their subsequent close harmony, it is strange to recall that it was an impending royalty dispute between authors and publishers that provoked John Brophy's…
Abstract
IN THE LIGHT of their subsequent close harmony, it is strange to recall that it was an impending royalty dispute between authors and publishers that provoked John Brophy's article, ‘A proposal to increase authors' incomes through the libraries’ in the summer 1951 issue of The author. His premise was simple: the book trade, supporting printers, binders, publishers, book‐sellers and librarians, was conspicuously failing to support more than a small minority of authors upon whom all the others depended.
Computers have been used at Brunel University Library for acquisitions and circulation since the early 1970s. Over the years there has been a move away from locally written…
Abstract
Computers have been used at Brunel University Library for acquisitions and circulation since the early 1970s. Over the years there has been a move away from locally written systems running at the university's computer centre to stand‐alone turnkey systems in the library. This has involved the transfer of the ALS card‐based system to BLCMP's CIRCO system. The implementation of BLCMP's Integrated Library System (BLS) is also described with special reference to the replacement of a card catalogue by an Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) developed from the short title file of an early circulation system.
Sheeba Asirvatham and Maria Humphries-Kil
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on career aspirations and experiences explored with senior women organizational scholars employed in neoliberally driven public…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on career aspirations and experiences explored with senior women organizational scholars employed in neoliberally driven public universities in Aotearoa (New Zealand) legally mandated to serve as a critic and conscience of society.
Design/methodology/approach
Over the 18 months period, three sequential research conversations were conducted with each of 12 participants known for their commitment to social justice and planetary well-being. The conversational approach allowed for spontaneous participant-lead development of ideas. Sequencing of conversations allowed for reflection on matters raised in previous conversations.
Findings
Vitality and creativity deemed essential to scholarly careers were reportedly under pressure. Career concepts in use indicate a protean commitment to self-direction but also recognized constraints of institutionally driven neoliberal output regimes. Detrimental impacts of neoliberal values permeating their employing institutions were offered spontaneously often in radical feminist terms but paradoxically given liberal feminist remedies.
Research limitations/implications
The 12 diverse transcripts of participant conversations generated remarkable similarities that indicate the influence of career articulations on the social construction of reality. The implications of this interpretation invite further reflection on the consequences of normalization of career metaphors and their implication in the intensification of institutional control, the weakening of professional autonomy and the system preserving restriction of career-related responsibilities.
Practical implications
Highlighting constraints to creativity and vitality necessary for scholarly work can inform further research into professional influences on justice and environmental matters in and beyond the Academy.
Social implications
In this paper a short review of Aotearoa (New Zealand) as in vanguard of neoliberal intensification globally, the implication of this doctrine in neoliberally driven universities and the impacts on career opportunities, degradations and responsibilities of scholars are explored.
Originality/value
The conversational research process contrasts with more tightly framed empirical research methods by generating spontaneous participant-led articulations of career-related dynamics explored and expanded over subsequent conversations.
Details
Keywords
Ben Dyson, Donal Howley and Yanhua Shen
The purpose of this paper is to study teachers’ perspectives of social and emotional learning (SEL) in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) primary schools.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study teachers’ perspectives of social and emotional learning (SEL) in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) primary schools.
Design/methodology/approach
This research was a case study design investigating the phenomenon of SEL in primary schools (elementary school level) in Aotearoa NZ (Stake, 2005).
Findings
The SEL themes that were drawn from the data were: positive interdependence, empowerment, self-management, self-awareness restorative conversations and circle time.
Research limitations/implications
The research challenges the field to work with teachers and community workers to create more in-depth qualitative research knowledge that is contextually relevant to SEL for researchers, educational policymakers and our children.
Originality/value
Based in Aotearoa NZ primary schools, this qualitative research provides a unique perspective of SEL from school-based practicing teachers.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to engage with the cinematic history of Australian education by examining the historical representation of secondary schools in two Australian feature films of the…
Abstract
This paper aims to engage with the cinematic history of Australian education by examining the historical representation of secondary schools in two Australian feature films of the 1970s: Picnic at Hanging Rock (Weir, 1975) and The Getting of Wisdom (Beresford, 1977). By what narrative strategies, metaphors and understandings were Australian high schools encoded into images and how might these interpretations differ from written accounts of the secondary schools? The discussion focuses on the social and material worlds of the schools. It reflects on the types of education depicted and the characterisations of teachers and students, including consideration of gender, class, and sexualities. The paper asks: what was the historical understanding of secondary schools that made them so attractive for cinematic explorations of Australian national identity in the 1970s?
This study examines the impact of bureaucratic structure on morale among hospital staff. Hypotheses are drawn from Hage's axiomatic theory of organizations, including the…
Abstract
This study examines the impact of bureaucratic structure on morale among hospital staff. Hypotheses are drawn from Hage's axiomatic theory of organizations, including the predicted negative impact on morale of formalization, centralization and stratification, and the positive impact on morale of task complexity. Contingency hypotheses involving structure and task complexity are also examined. Results indicate morale is either positively affected or unaffected by structure, and negatively affected by process. Some evidence of contingent effects are found. The findings are discussed within the broader context of Weber's theory of bureaucracy. This paper addresses the relationship between several structural features of bureaucracy and workers' morale in a hospital setting. It examines these relationships from broadly defined theoretical perspectives. In this connection, Weber's theory of bureaucracy is treated, as was the case in his original, as part of his general theory of rationalization in modern western society. The study considers the relationship between: 1) Formalization and morale, 2) Centralization and morale, 3) Stratification and morale, 4) Complexity and morale. These structural features of bureaucracy—formalization, centralization, stratification and complexity‐are treated as the means at the command of management for attaining organizational objectives. Worker morale is often referred to as the “level of feeling” about themselves among workers or about the work they perform (Revans, 1964; Veninga, 1982; Simendinger and Moore, 1985; Zucker, 1988). In effect, the term is used in stating that morale is high or low to suggest that something is right or wrong about the organization. Surprisingly, many of these studies do not explain why they are suggesting a particular state of morale, but only that the state of morale is crucial to the performance of the organization. In essence, morale is the level of confidence of the employees. It can vary from one department to the other due to specific or overall structural conditions of the organizations; without giving it routine consideration, performance will degenerate (Nelson, 1989).
A survey of current work on database systems is presented. The area is divided into three main sectors: data models, data languages and support for database operations. Data…
Abstract
A survey of current work on database systems is presented. The area is divided into three main sectors: data models, data languages and support for database operations. Data models are presented as the link between the database and the real world. Languages range from formal algebraic languages to attempts to use a dialogue in English to formulate queries. The support includes hardware for content addressing, database machines and software techniques for optimizing and evaluating group expressions. Mathematical models are used to organize this support. Throughout there is a tutorial component and evaluation, which in both cases is related to the application of database ideas to documentation.