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Networking is deemed important for women in careers. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to the interaction of a specific networking practice with a religious practice and its implications on British Muslim women (BMw). The practice ‘happy hours’ is closely linked with drinking alcohol (Flores-Pereira et al., 2008), while alcohol consumption is forbidden in Islam.

A qualitative research approach was used to interview 37 participants who were in managerial or professional positions.

The findings demonstrate that the presence of alcohol in work-related socializing is a norm, making the practice of ‘happy hours’ invisible and legitimate (Acker, 2006), thereby contributing inadvertently to reinforcing inequality regimes in organizations. Furthermore, the interaction of contradictory religious beliefs/practices of individual employees and organizational practices presents challenges for Muslim women, who feel they have to participate in happy hours as a networking practice in order to progress in careers. While it involves emotional effort, as they persuade themselves to join in activities where alcohol is being served, it paradoxically results in feelings of exclusion and marginalization within the group, as they do not drink alcohol.

This paper focuses on the micro/individual level of analysis, singling out the Muslim female voice while positioning ‘happy hours’ as a ‘networking practice’. It also contributes to the underexplored area of the role of religion and individual behaviour in organizations (Tracey, 2012).

The purpose of the empirical study was to examine whether strategies shown to work well in one model of network development for library and information science (LIS) practitioners and researchers could be applied successfully in the development of a new network and contribute to the narrowing of the research–practice gap in LIS.

Overall, 32 members of a new professional network were surveyed by a questionnaire following the completion of a programme of four network events held between 2019 and 2021.

The analysis demonstrates the transferability of the existing model of network development to a new network and that it can be successfully adapted for online delivery of network events and activities.

The criteria deployed for the evaluation of the new network could be used in other similar settings. Funding bodies can also use these findings as demonstration of the value of their investment in network grants.

This contribution on means of growing collaborative networks to narrow the LIS research–practice gap stands out in contrast with prior research that tends to focus the support of research productivity of academic librarians in North American universities for the purposes of career development. Here wider aspects of research engagement are considered of value for LIS practitioners from a range of sectors and institutions, beyond North America, for purposes that are broader than personal advancement.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss empirical findings from a study that investigated the work practices within an education network, with the aim of understanding the processes of knowledge development and learning process.

The research is interpretatively positioned through a qualitative case study methodology. This enabled a holistic portrait of the network activity using three different methods of data collection. These were a preliminary focus group, followed by documentary analysis of a significant number of artefacts/documents produced by the network which were triangulated with data from interviews using a cross-case analytical framework.

Empirical insights are provided into the practice of the network through a lens of social capital. It suggests that having a strong bonding social capital is an informal learning factor which develops the individual participants “skills and knowledge” within the framework of Boyers scholarly practice. The findings also indicate a “dark side” to this informal learning factor which impeded collective learning through exclusivity and a maintenance of the status quo within the network.

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further.

The paper considers social capital within a network and the implication that this has on learning and development.

This paper provides insight into informal learning factors employed within work-related learning and the duality of social capital. It also offers a novel approach in understanding how nurse academics frame work-related learning through scholarly practice.

This chapter is about the relationship between Networked Organizations and Appreciative Inquiry. To set a context, Theory about networks is related to the expressed needs of Appreciative Inquiry. Stories follow, from both appreciative and network perspectives. Ideas are put to work through practice as expressed by method – consisting of principles, practices, and processes. Further, method is embedded in technology to support functioning networks. In research, we look at learning about human systems and suggest that online digital places form natural laboratories to collect, analyze, and synthesize data. Concluding with Search, we revisit the question of consciousness in human systems.

This scoping review utilizes findings from 80 articles to build a research model to study research-practice-policy networks in K-12 education systems. The purpose of this study was to generate a broad understanding of the variation in conceptualizations of research-practice-policy partnerships, rather than dominant conceptualizations.

Arskey and O'Malley's (2005) five stage scoping review process was utilized including: (1) a consultative process with partners to identify research questions, (2) identify relevant studies, (3) study selection based on double-blind peer review, (4) charting the data and (5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results in a research model identifying key dimensions and components of research-practice partnerships (RPPs).

Coburn et al. (2013) definition of RPPs arose as an anchoring definition within the emerging field. This article proposes a model for understanding the organization and work of RPPs arising from the review. At the core lies shared goals, coproduction and multistakeholder collaboration organized around three dimensions: (1) Systems and structures: funding, governance, strategic roles, policy environment, system alignment; (2) Collaborative processes: improvement planning and data use, communication, trusting relationships, brokering activities, capacity building; (3) Continuous Learning Cycles: social innovation, implementation, evaluation and adaptation.

By using a common framework, data across RPPs and from different studies can be compared. Research foci might test links between elements such as capacity building and impacts, or test links between systems and structures and how those elements influence collaborative processes and the impact of the RPPs. Research could test the generalizability of the framework across contexts. Through the application and use of the research model, various elements might be refuted, confirmed or refined. More work is needed to use this framework to study RPPs, and to develop accompanying data collection methods and instruments for each dimension and element.

The practical applications of the framework are to be used by RPPs as a learning framework for strategic planning, iterative learning cycles and evaluation. Many of the elements of the framework could be used to check-in with partners on how things are going – such as exploring how communication is working and whether these structures move beyond merely updates and reporting toward joint problem-solving. The framework could also be used prior to setting up an RPP as an organizing approach to making decisions about how that RPP might best operate.

Despite increased attention on multistakeholder networks in education, the conceptual understanding is still limited. This article analyzed theoretical and empirical work to build a systematic model to study RPPs in education. This research model can be used to: identify RPP configurations, analyze the impact of RPPs, and to compare similarities and differences across configurations.

This article aims to explore, by drawing on, and coordinating and combining Cultural Historical Activity Theory and Community of Practice theoretical perspectives, what we might learn about how to design for Lesson Study that best supports both collective and individual learning.

The article primarily makes a theoretical contribution. It does, however, draw on, and is informed by, the design of a large-scale study that sought to improve teaching and learning in mathematics with the particular aim of improving grades of post-16 learners in national examinations in England. Lesson Study was central to the designed intervention and such design is explored from the two theoretical perspectives.

Theoretical analysis suggests how the careful design of Lesson Study can facilitate both individual and collective learning in terms of the theories networked here. In particular, it is suggested that supporting collective learning requires careful attention to how “disturbances” in activity systems need to be designed for rather than being left to chance and how architectures that can support individual learning in terms of identity development should pay attention to supporting emerging practices as well as defining what is non-negotiable.

The article takes a novel approach by coordinating and combining two different, and well established, theoretical approaches, which, significantly, are used quite widely in social science research. Together they provide a rich view of learning at both individual and collective levels and suggest ways in which we might better support design for Lesson Study.

This article explores two intermediary organizations that are attempting to alter the landscape of US education by building organizational networks and professional capital that disrupt traditional relationships between K-12 education and higher education.

The work is a theory-driven, comparative case study of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) and the National Network of Education Research-Practice Partnerships (NNERPP). Through the lens of institutional theory, the authors employ an extended case method that uses comparative analysis of situationally-embedded organizational case studies to build theory.

The two organizations play an intermediary role by The two organizations play an intermediary role by establishing new standards, norms, and patterns of practice between higher education and local systems of education. In doing so, these organizations serve as meso-institutions, alliances that mediate the processes of institutionalization and play essential parts in developing new facets of infrastructure and new professional identities that hold the potential for nurturing and sustaining professional capital. System leadership hinges on strategic bricolage to identify near-term next steps that align with longer-term strategic goals related to field building.

Professional capital as a concept was initially characterized from a bottom-up perspective, valorizing the agentive dimensions of human, social and decisional capital in opposition to top-down, centralized control. Our conceptualization of intermediary organizations as meso-institutions addresses how the processes of mediated networking and system leadership operate to build professional capital in specific ways that crystallize institutional change.

As the Internet's influence continues to gather pace, it is necessary to examine its impact on those who provide and receive health, education and social services. This paper discusses a research project that examined the use of the Internet by learning disability nurses in their practice. A case study approach using a questionnaire and one focus group was employed. Email was used for all correspondence; 49 people received the email and questionnaire; 28 learning disability nurses responded, which represents a 58% response rate. Six respondents participated in the focus group. The Internet is widely used by learning disability nurses for networking, updating practice, emailing colleagues, education, research and teaching. In general, respondents were enthusiastic about the Internet. The key factors in Internet use were access to equipment, training, IT support and email. The absence of these acted as a barrier to usage. The position held within organisations may be connected to improved access to the Internet, but not necessarily with the ability to use it.

Communities of practice (CoPs) exist to enable people to share knowledge, innovate and progress a common field of practice. This paper aims to identify whether CoPs have a measured impact on public health practice and the tools used to measure the impact and potential barriers and facilitators that may have been identified during the implementation of these CoPs.

A systematic review of the literature was conducted using PRISMA guidelines. Searches of six databases, Google Scholar and a citation search were completed. Included studies were from 1986 to 2016, involved the public health workforce and an evaluation of a CoP -like intervention. A narrative synthesis of the findings was conducted.

From 3,021 publications, 12 studies met inclusion criteria and described the impact of ten CoPs amongst public health practitioners from America, Canada, Australasia and the United Kingdom. CoPs support the prevention workforce to change their practice when they provide structured problem-solving, reflective practice and networking opportunities. None of the studies described the impact of CoPs on public health outcomes.

CoPs that provide structured problem-solving, reflective practice and diverse networking may effectively support the public health workforce. Existing methods used to evaluate CoPs lack rigour; thus, the true impact of CoPs on population health remains unknown.

This is the first known systematic review that has measured the impact of CoPs on the preventative health workforce and the conditions in which they have an impact.

This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy. It provides an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering various library types, study populations and research contexts. The selected bibliography is useful to efficiently keep up with trends in library instruction for busy practitioners, library science students and those wishing to learn about information literacy in other contexts.

This article annotates 424 English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, theses and reports on library instruction and information literacy published in 2021. The sources were selected from the EBSCO platform for Library, Information Science, and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), Scopus, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and WorldCat, published in 2021 that included the terms “information literacy,” “library instruction,” or “information fluency” in the title, abstract or keywords. The sources were organized in Zotero. Annotations summarize the source, focusing on the findings or implications. Each source was categorized into one of seven pre-determined categories: K-12 Education, Children and Adolescents; Academic and Professional Programs; Everyday Life, Community, and the Workplace; Libraries and Health Information Literacy; Multiple Library Types; and Other Information Literacy Research and Theory.

The paper provides a brief description of 424 sources and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.

The information may be used by librarians, researchers and anyone interested as a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy within 2021.