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21 – 30 of 233In the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Bloc countries of Central and Eastern Europe most information technology was unavailable, unaffordable or discouraged for forty years. These…
Abstract
In the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Bloc countries of Central and Eastern Europe most information technology was unavailable, unaffordable or discouraged for forty years. These countries realise that they must improve their internal infrastructures if they are to become integral parts of the global information infrastructure. We report the results of a mail survey conducted in late 1994 and early 1995 of seventy research libraries in Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, building on the findings from interviews conducted with 300 persons in the region in 1993–1994. Results show that these libraries are acquiring automated processing systems, CD‐ROM databases, and connections to computer networks at a rapid rate and that automation activity has increased substantially since 1989; we report specific data on system implementation and network services by country and by type of library. ‘Access’ is their top reason to automate, which appears to mean placing the catalogue online with better search capabilities and putting items on the shelves faster — but does not necessarily mean improvements in self‐service for library users. Co‐operation and standards are highly‐ranked automation goals, yet we find anomalous results on each. Management goals focus more on speed and processing than on management information, staffing or advancing the mission of the parent organisation. Management of human resources ranks low, despite the need for wider staff involvement in the system selection process, education of technically‐trained library professionals, continuing training of staff and training of library users. We conclude with implications of these results for the region.
VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library housekeeping processes, principally in the…
Abstract
VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library housekeeping processes, principally in the UK. It is edited and substantially written by the Information Officer for Library Automation based in Southampton University Library and supported by a grant from the British Library Research and Development Dept. Copyright for VINE articles rests with the British Library Board, but opinions expressed in VINE do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the British Library. The subscription for 1982 for VINE is £20 for UK subscribers and £23 for overseas subscribers — the subscription year runs from January to December. The 1983 subscription will be £22 for UK and £25 for overseas — VINE is available in either paper copy or microfiche and all back issues are available on microfiche.
Barry Loveday, Steve Williams and Peter Scott
The aim of this paper is to examine the significance and the implications of efforts to institute workforce modernization within the police service in England and Wales.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to examine the significance and the implications of efforts to institute workforce modernization within the police service in England and Wales.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach taken uses an analysis of the modernization proposals advanced by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary as its starting point.
Findings
The development of workforce modernization in the police service would appear to have eroded the hitherto “reform‐resistant” nature of policing, however political factors continue to impede reform.
Research limitations/implications
Although more evidence concerning the scale and the outcomes of the reform process would be desirable, the main implication of this paper is that workforce modernization in the police is viable, but constrained by political factors.
Originality/value
Empirically, the paper focuses on developments in a sector – the police service – that has been neglected by the existing literature on workforce modernization; theoretically, it demonstrates the important influence often exercised by political contingencies over public sector workforce reform.
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The reactions to informal surveys conducted by the author about the effort to set a national policy that would include public school districts indicated it was either largely…
Abstract
The reactions to informal surveys conducted by the author about the effort to set a national policy that would include public school districts indicated it was either largely unknown or not understood by many school officials and professors of education administration. Thus, an inquiry was conducted to document the historical basis for creating the double entry method of accounting, the impetus for a national accounting policy, and the relevance to public school districts. The ultimate objective of the inquiries, therefore, was to offer a set of conclusions regarding the current status of accounting and budgeting policies with particular reference to their potential influence on the practices of public school districts.
NOBODY can win all the time. From Employer to Worker, from Reader to Editor there must always be some times when each wins and others where they lose out.
Charles R. McCann and Vibha Kapuria-Foreman
Robert Franklin Hoxie was of the first generation of University of Chicago economists, a figure of significance in his own time. He is often heralded as the first of the…
Abstract
Robert Franklin Hoxie was of the first generation of University of Chicago economists, a figure of significance in his own time. He is often heralded as the first of the Institutional economists and the impetus behind the field of labor economics. Yet today, his contributions appear as mere footnotes in the history of economic thought, when mentioned at all, despite the fact that in his professional and popular writings he tackled some of the most pressing problems of the day. The topics upon which he focused included bimetallism, price theory, methodology, the economics profession, socialism, syndicalism, scientific management, and trade unionism, the last being the field with which he is most closely associated. His work attracted the notice of some of the most famous economists of his time, including Frank Fetter, J. Laurence Laughlin, Thorstein Veblen, and John R. Commons. For all the promise, his suicide at the age of 48 ended what could have been a storied career. This paper is an attempt to resurrect Hoxie through a review of his life and work, placing him within the social and intellectual milieux of his time.
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Michela Magliacani and Roberto Di Pietra
Accounting can affect and determine power relations. Previous studies have emphasized how accounting has been used by “central” powers; less is known from the perspective of…
Abstract
Purpose
Accounting can affect and determine power relations. Previous studies have emphasized how accounting has been used by “central” powers; less is known from the perspective of “local” power and its capacity to resist and protect its interests. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the Archbishop’s Seminary of Siena (ASS) (local) and Roman ecclesiastic institutions (central). This study contributes to filling the existing gap in the literature regarding how accounting could be used as a tool for deception in local/central power relations.
Design/methodology/approach
The research methodology is based on a case study and archival research. The ASS case study was analyzed through its archive, made up for the most part of accounting books. As to the approach adopted, the authors used the Foucault framework to observe power relations in order to identify possible ways in which accounting can be employed as a factor of deception.
Findings
Power relations between the ASS and Roman ecclesiastic institutions were maintained through a system of reporting that limited the influence of the ecclesiastical power of Rome over the Seminary’s administration and control. The relationship thus runs contrary to the findings in previous studies. The accounting system was managed as a factor of deception in favor of local interests and the limitation of central ecclesiastic power.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to enhancing the existing literature on governmentality, proposing a different perspective in which power relations are based on the use of accounting. The Foucaldian approach demonstrates its validity, even though the power relations under consideration have the unusual feature of occurring within the context of religious institutions.
Originality/value
This study on the ASS has allowed the identification of two relevant points: the local/central dichotomy is consistent with the logic of power relations as theorized by Foucault, even in cases where it highlights the role of a local power in limiting the flow of information to a central one; and the ASS accounting system was used as a factor of deception.
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Khalid Mahmood and Farzana Shafique
The purpose of this paper is to review the changing scenario of research in Pakistan and the status of demand and supply of library and information science (LIS) professionals…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the changing scenario of research in Pakistan and the status of demand and supply of library and information science (LIS) professionals with research qualifications to fill the leadership positions in Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
Government reports and websites were reviewed and telephonic contacts made with LIS faculty and senior librarians.
Findings
The paper finds that research activities are rapidly increasing in Pakistan, while there is a wide gap between demand and supply of LIS professionals with research qualifications.
Originality/value
The researchers have furnished some recommendations for filling the identified gap.
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IN presenting the 1975 Viscount Nuffield Memorial Paper entitled “The attempt to reform British Leyland's Industrial Relations” its author, Mr. Pat Lowry (Director of Personnel…
Abstract
IN presenting the 1975 Viscount Nuffield Memorial Paper entitled “The attempt to reform British Leyland's Industrial Relations” its author, Mr. Pat Lowry (Director of Personnel, British Leyland Ltd.), asserts that British Leyland did not invent strikes — it inherited them. It is to be wondered whether Mr. Lowry was not too close to events to understand fully the nature of the illness which, in recent times, has gripped British Leyland and, indeed, other car manufacturers. British Leyland were not short of specialists and consultants during recent years, neither was there any lack of diagnoses or of treatments.