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Article
Publication date: 2 February 2015

Paula C Johnson and Jennifer E. Simonsen

The purpose of this study was to determine whether engineering master’s students at a medium-sized university use library-provided abstracting and indexing (A&I) services (e.g…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine whether engineering master’s students at a medium-sized university use library-provided abstracting and indexing (A&I) services (e.g. Compendex), and if they do, to what extent, in what manner and for what purposes.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed methodology approach was used to explore electronic information-seeking patterns of engineering master’s students at New Mexico State University. Usage statistics, a focus group and a Web-based survey were used, the latter composed of 17 questions using a critical incident approach and direct questions to probe: reasons for and method of search, types of materials used (with relative frequencies), means of obtaining materials and evaluations of the usefulness of five library-provided A&I services.

Findings

Only 15 per cent of respondents used a subscription A&I service such as Compendex when searching specific terms. The majority of sources used were located through known term searches, and master’s learned of these information resources through article citations or conversations with colleagues. Half the respondents reported using Google Scholar to find the last scholarly article they had read. Engineering master’s students – similar to practicing engineers – evaluate the costs associated with obtaining information, and may “satisfice”. Even so, students expressed interest in increasing their knowledge of skills and strategies to find worthwhile electronic information.

Originality/value

This study sheds light on engineering master’s students’ use of A&I services, and examines their perceptions of five of these services commonly provided by academic libraries.

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2014

Paula C. Johnson

The aim of this paper is to determine whether the accelerated growth of web content during the years 1989-2011 had an effect on New Mexico State University engineering PhD…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to determine whether the accelerated growth of web content during the years 1989-2011 had an effect on New Mexico State University engineering PhD students' use of the library's collections. The research also solicited direct input from PhD advisors regarding their expectations for and perceptions of present day PhD reference lists. If the collections were being used with less frequency, there would be reason to increase outreach to the engineering graduate student population, as well as to review current engineering collection development policies.

Design/methodology/approach

Reference lists from College of Engineering PhD dissertations produced 1989-1991 (pre-web), 1999-2001 (web-emergent), and 2009-2011 (post-web) time periods were analyzed using descriptive statistics. PhD faculty advisors from the College of Engineering were interviewed about their expectations for, and perceptions of, research resources used in PhD dissertations.

Findings

The number of resources cited, percentages of type of resource (e.g. book, journal, patent, etc.) and age of citation did not vary substantially over time, although the percentage of journal articles cited to total number of citations per dissertation increased post-web. Some websites were cited in the post-web period, but not in significant numbers. Engineering faculty expressed concerns that some PhD students were not critically evaluating and fully synthesizing the information they were citing in the literature review sections of their dissertations.

Originality/value

The results of the citation study provided PhD faculty advisors with the positive news that there appears to be no degradation in the quality of references post-web. However, the expressed faculty interest in seeing some dissertators undertake a more robust analysis of the literature created an outreach opportunity for the engineering librarian: a graduate student workshop in how to use the library collections to perform a thorough survey of the relevant research in order to write an effective literature review.

Details

Collection Building, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0160-4953

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 October 2020

Hon Ho Kwok

This chapter develops a set of two-step identification methods for social interactions models with unknown networks, and discusses how the proposed methods are connected to the…

Abstract

This chapter develops a set of two-step identification methods for social interactions models with unknown networks, and discusses how the proposed methods are connected to the identification methods for models with known networks. The first step uses linear regression to identify the reduced forms. The second step decomposes the reduced forms to identify the primitive parameters. The proposed methods use panel data to identify networks. Two cases are considered: the sample exogenous vectors span Rn (long panels), and the sample exogenous vectors span a proper subspace of Rn (short panels). For the short panel case, in order to solve the sample covariance matrices’ non-invertibility problem, this chapter proposes to represent the sample vectors with respect to a basis of a lower-dimensional space so that we have fewer regression coefficients in the first step. This allows us to identify some reduced form submatrices, which provide equations for identifying the primitive parameters.

Book part
Publication date: 29 March 2014

Matthew R. Griffis

This exploratory study, a Ph.D. dissertation completed at the University of Western Ontario in 2013, examines the materially embedded relations of power between library users and…

Abstract

This exploratory study, a Ph.D. dissertation completed at the University of Western Ontario in 2013, examines the materially embedded relations of power between library users and staff in public libraries and how building design regulates spatial behavior according to organizational objectives. It considers three public library buildings as organization spaces (Dale & Burrell, 2008) and determines the extent to which their spatial organizations reproduce the relations of power between the library and its public that originated with the modern public library building type ca. 1900. Adopting a multicase study design, I conducted site visits to three, purposefully selected public library buildings of similar size but various ages. Site visits included: blueprint analysis; organizational document analysis; in-depth, semi-structured interviews with library users and library staff; cognitive mapping exercises; observations; and photography.

Despite newer approaches to designing public library buildings, the use of newer information technologies, and the emergence of newer paradigms of library service delivery (e.g., the user-centered model), findings strongly suggest that the library as an organization still relies on many of the same socio-spatial models of control as it did one century ago when public library design first became standardized. The three public libraries examined show spatial organizations that were designed primarily with the librarian, library materials, and library operations in mind far more than the library user or the user’s many needs. This not only calls into question the public library’s progressiveness over the last century but also hints at its ability to survive in the new century.

Details

Advances in Library Administration and Organization
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-744-3

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1999

Allan Metz

President Bill Clinton has had many opponents and enemies, most of whom come from the political right wing. Clinton supporters contend that these opponents, throughout the Clinton…

Abstract

President Bill Clinton has had many opponents and enemies, most of whom come from the political right wing. Clinton supporters contend that these opponents, throughout the Clinton presidency, systematically have sought to undermine this president with the goal of bringing down his presidency and running him out of office; and that they have sought non‐electoral means to remove him from office, including Travelgate, the death of Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster, the Filegate controversy, and the Monica Lewinsky matter. This bibliography identifies these and other means by presenting citations about these individuals and organizations that have opposed Clinton. The bibliography is divided into five sections: General; “The conspiracy stream of conspiracy commerce”, a White House‐produced “report” presenting its view of a right‐wing conspiracy against the Clinton presidency; Funding; Conservative organizations; and Publishing/media. Many of the annotations note the links among these key players.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 October 2020

Áureo de Paula

Evidence suggests that, in the presence of imperfect market institutions, individuals devote resources to the establishment of reliable connections to attenuate the frictions that…

Abstract

Evidence suggests that, in the presence of imperfect market institutions, individuals devote resources to the establishment of reliable connections to attenuate the frictions that reduce trading and insurance opportunities. In this chapter, the author surveys the relevant literature on strategic formation of networks and use it to study this particular economic situation. A simple model is built to show that the investment in strong ties often, though not always, produces stable configurations that manage to improve upon the imperfections of market institutions.

Details

The Econometrics of Networks
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-576-9

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 30 July 2014

Emily Boshkoff Johnson

This chapter is a comprehensive discussion of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the globe (e.g., United States, China, Brazil, Japan and Turkey). Topics that are discussed…

Abstract

This chapter is a comprehensive discussion of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the globe (e.g., United States, China, Brazil, Japan and Turkey). Topics that are discussed include the following: diagnostic criteria and approaches; international perspectives of ASD; western and eastern assessment practices; cultural considerations of assessment of ASD; educational and medical interventions; behavioral and emotional interventions; complementary and alternative medical interventions; variations in educational services among countries; early intervention practices; adult services; national and international resources; and current needs and future directions.

Details

Special Education International Perspectives: Biopsychosocial, Cultural, and Disability Aspects
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-045-2

Book part
Publication date: 6 September 2023

Georgia Beardman, Naomi Godden, Mehran Nejati, Jaime Yallup Farrant, Leonie Scoffern, James Khan, Joe Northover and Angus Morrison-Saunders

Climate change is a global issue with far-reaching environmental, social and economic consequences. As more people become aware of these consequences, pressure is mounting on…

Abstract

Climate change is a global issue with far-reaching environmental, social and economic consequences. As more people become aware of these consequences, pressure is mounting on governments and businesses to implement ambitious and required climate mitigation and adaptation plans to reduce and finally stop making the climate crisis worse. One of these strategies is just transition, which is defined as the call for climate transformation that prioritises the social and environmental needs of workers and vulnerable groups, especially in the context of transitioning away from fossil fuels, while leaving no one behind. This chapter first provides an overview of just transition through a review of the literature and bibliometric analysis. Then, it discusses just transition in policymaking, comprising reactive, proactive and transformational just transition approaches. This is followed by a discussion on barriers to just transition. Finally, the chapter offers a practical example of transformational just transition approach by reporting some preliminary findings from a case study in the coal mining town of Collie on Wilman Boodja, Western Australia.

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 14 May 2020

Paula Bitrián, Isabel Buil and Sara Catalán

Gamification is a tool with great potential to motivate individuals to increase their physical activity. That is why sport apps for mobile devices, such as Nike+ or Strava, have…

12135

Abstract

Purpose

Gamification is a tool with great potential to motivate individuals to increase their physical activity. That is why sport apps for mobile devices, such as Nike+ or Strava, have integrated game elements. There is, however, little evidence of gamification's effectiveness in this field. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the impact of game elements included in gamified sports' apps on the satisfaction of basic psychological needs (i.e. competence, autonomy and relatedness). Similarly, the research analyzes the impact of these needs on autonomous motivation.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve these goals, data were collected from users of gamified sport apps, using an online questionnaire. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results showed that interaction in the app with achievement-related game elements satisfied the needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness; social-related elements satisfied the need for relatedness; and immersion-related elements satisfied the needs for competence and autonomy. Similarly, satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and relatedness while using the app is crucial to experience autonomous motivation.

Practical implications

The findings of this study provide guidelines for practitioners and app developers.

Originality/value

Based on self-determination theory, the paper provides new insights into the relationship between game elements included in sport apps and individuals' basic psychological needs and motivation.

目的

遊戲化在推動人們增加其體力活動方面是有極大潛能的。因此,設於流動通訊設施的運動應用程式如耐克(Nike)及Strava等都結合了遊戲的元素。唯遊戲化在這領域的功效方面的證明並不多。因此,本研究的目的,在於分析遊戲化運動應用程式內的遊戲元素,對滿足基本心理需要的影響 (即是說,能力水平、自主及關聯性)。同樣地,本研究分析這些需要對自主積極性的影響。

研究設計/方法/理念

要達到這些目標,數據以一項網上問卷調查方法取自遊戲化運動應用程式的使用者。數據並以偏最小二乘結構方程模型進行分析。

研究結果

研究結果顯示、在帶有成就相關的遊戲元素的應用程式內的互動滿足了能力水平、自主和關聯性的需要; 與社交有關的元素滿足了關聯性的需要,而與沉浸相關的元素則滿足了能力水平和自主的需要。同樣地,使用應用程式時,要能體驗自主動機、關鍵在於自主及相關性的需要得到滿足。

實務方面的含意

本研究結果為執業者及應用程式開發商提供了指引。

研究的原創性/價值

以自決理論為基礎,本研究為運動應用程式包含的遊戲元素與個人的基本心理需要和動機之間的關係提供新的見解。

Details

European Journal of Management and Business Economics, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2444-8451

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2001

Dawna L. Rhoades and Paula L. Rechner

Shareholders are demanding that firms change their ownership and corporate governance structures to improve accountability and corporate performance. This study examined the…

Abstract

Shareholders are demanding that firms change their ownership and corporate governance structures to improve accountability and corporate performance. This study examined the influence of ownership and governance on entry mode selection, considered a key decision for international firms and one with important financial implications. Results indicate that owner control is related to the selection of higher risk and higher control forms of entry. Partial support was found for the effects of other governance mechanisms.

Details

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 9 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1055-3185

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