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1 – 10 of 215Patrick Fleming and Edmund King
This paper aims to describe the history and current plans for the newspaper collections of the British Library.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the history and current plans for the newspaper collections of the British Library.
Design/methodology/approach
The Library will create more access to its older collections, via mass digitisation of texts. The Library is seeking to work with UK newspaper publishers to secure the ingest of “born digital” newspapers, to present issues of recent newspapers to users in library reading rooms. Digitised newspapers will be taken into the Library's digital library storage system being developed for all types of digital materials that the Library is acquiring in growing quantities. There are plans to move the existing collections from Colindale to a new storage facility at its Boston Spa site, to ensure controlled environmental conditions for the original printed newspapers.
Findings
It was found that the British Library is investing in the future in order to improve access to a vital part of its collections.
Originality/value
This is one of the few published articles on how a national library deals with the massive task of providing access to newspapers.
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Jenny Fleming and Neil J. Haigh
While the intended outcomes of work-integrated learning (WIL) are well documented, significant challenges arise when the stakeholders have different understandings and…
Abstract
Purpose
While the intended outcomes of work-integrated learning (WIL) are well documented, significant challenges arise when the stakeholders have different understandings and expectations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the alignment of stakeholder views on the defining features of cooperative education as a model of WIL.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretive case-study methodology, incorporating questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, was used to determine the views of students, workplace supervisors and university academic supervisors involved in a sport cooperative education program.
Findings
Students, workplace supervisors and academic supervisors shared a perception that the students’ development of employability skills and their acquisition of experience in industry were the primary intended outcomes. As an associated benefit, students would be work-ready. Ideally, cooperative education experiences should also provide opportunities for students to learn to integrate theory and practice, further develop their personal and professional identities, and learn to navigate the important ethical aspects of being a professional.
Practical implications
While the employability emphasis in the findings aligns well with government agendas, graduates need to be prepared for complex and dynamic workplaces, and to be future ready for careers that are yet to exist. WIL curricula need to explicitly address this expanded agenda, which in turn needs to be communicated clearly to all stakeholders.
Originality/value
This paper challenges stakeholders in WIL to move beyond a focus on preparing students for the “now” and to reconsider the learning outcomes that should be imperative for university education in the twenty-first century.
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Michael L. Tidwell and Ellis S. Logan
The purpose of this paper is to understand demographic group (race, first-generation college graduate, gender, age) differences among perceived family and faculty social and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand demographic group (race, first-generation college graduate, gender, age) differences among perceived family and faculty social and family financial support within the US graduate school admissions pipeline in the social sciences.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from a cross-sectional convenience sample survey (N = 99), this paper looks at ordinal social support variables (faculty member support, family social support and family financial support) by demographic groups. This paper uses a Mann–Whitney U test to compare first-generation status, race and gender and a Kruskal–Wallis H test to compare age groups.
Findings
This paper finds that applicants over 27 years old had significantly less faculty support in the graduate admissions pipeline compared to other age groups; differences in faculty support across race were marginally significant (p = 0.057). Regarding family social support, this paper finds first-generation applicants, male applicants and applicants over 27 years old report lower levels of support. Finally, this paper finds first-generation applicants and applicants over 27 years old report lower levels of familial financial support.
Originality/value
Previous literature on graduate admissions – published in this journal (Pieper and Krsmanovic, 2022) and others – does not consider experiences up to and before applicants hit the “submit” button on graduate applicants, which the authors term the graduate admissions pipeline. Instead, most previous literatures focus on faculty committees and validity of required application materials. Thus, this study begins to answer Posselt and Grodsky’s (2017) call to develop an understanding of applicant experiences and support within the graduate admissions pipeline.
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Academic freedom is a complicated issue for military service academies. As accredited institutions of higher learning, academic freedom is valued. At the same time, the academies…
Abstract
Academic freedom is a complicated issue for military service academies. As accredited institutions of higher learning, academic freedom is valued. At the same time, the academies are subject to regulations that guide speech and publishing by the Department of Defense. This chapter explores the balance between maintaining academic freedom while upholding the discipline contained in regulations concerning free speech. The chapter concludes with a view to the future and opportunities for further research.
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Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha and Eva Dakich
This paper investigates areas for improvement in internship practices from the perspectives of key stakeholders, such as university department leaders, host company leaders…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates areas for improvement in internship practices from the perspectives of key stakeholders, such as university department leaders, host company leaders, lecturers, work supervisors, graduates, and final year students. Student choices of internship practices are also reported.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory sequential mixed methods approach was implementing that included three focus groups, 15 individual in-depth interviews, and 461 responses to a student survey. In the qualitative phase, deductive thematic analysis was employed to explore areas for improvement in internship practices. In the quantitative phase, descriptive statistical analysis, and two non-parametric tests were used: the Mann–Whitney tests and Kruskal–Wallis tests, followed by pairwise comparisons to identify student choices of internship practices.
Findings
The corroboration and triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative data sets revealed three distinct areas for improvement in internship practices in Vietnamese universities. These are internship learning outcomes, internship support, and internship assessment. Findings highlighted the crucial role of industry stakeholders, including work supervisors in the entire process of the internship, as well as the key responsibility of universities in improving student internship experiences.
Originality/value
Areas for improvement and student choices of internship practices in Vietnamese universities have not been discussed previously. Findings carry practical, policy and theoretical implications for higher education in Vietnam and other countries striving to enhance student internship experiences. Hence, this study contributes to the Vietnamese and international WIL literature with its findings emerging from a complex mixed-methods design. This methodological approach offers enhanced reliability and validity of findings compared to previous research in the field that relied on a single data set.
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Gobbrey George Chapepa, Fiskani Ngwira and Patrick Mapulanga
The purpose of this study was to investigate metadata creation practices in a functional academic institution repository in Malawi, with a specific focus on the Lilongwe…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate metadata creation practices in a functional academic institution repository in Malawi, with a specific focus on the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) library.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a qualitative approach with a case study design. The study adopted a case study strategy that focuses on the in-depth, holistic and in-context examination of one or more cases. The researcher used non-probability purposive sampling to include all three LUANAR Digital Repository (LDR) staff at LUANAR library because they were thought to be knowledgeable about the LDR metadata work. The three library staff members directly involved in repository metadata were investigated for the study. Data collection techniques used in a case study approach included semi-structuring face-to-face interviews and documentary analysis. Data from interviews and documentary reviews were manually analyzed and presented in thematic categories based on the study’s objectives.
Findings
Qualified Dublin Core (DC) was chosen by all participants as the only metadata structure scheme that they will use to create and implement metadata in the repository. DC application profile was the only scheme used to enforce uniform naming and capitalization conventions in the application of Qualified DC element definitions. The scheme, however, was discovered to be the Qualified DC default format in the DSpace system. All participants indicated that the Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Vocabulary is used. Participants highlighted that institutional repository system compatibility, the subject matter of the resources, resource types and staff expertise influenced the selection criteria for the metadata schemes. The repository policy had been developed but had yet to be adopted by the LUANAR management.
Research limitations/implications
The current study was limited to LUANAR library. A wider study across public and private universities in Malawi is needed to ascertain the role of metadata policy, technical knowledge and metadata specialist institutional repositories.
Practical implications
Metadata policy is to aid in the understanding of the data, ensuring that appropriate security measures are used to protect the data and for metadata harvesting purposes.
Social implications
Academic libraries should lobby for management support towards metadata policy for institutional repositories.
Originality/value
Very little is known about challenges affecting the growth of institutional repositories and standards adopted, including metadata harvesting. This paper bridges the gap in metadata standards for institutional repositories in developing countries.
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