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This study aims to investigate ground-related design deficiencies as potential avenues of avoidable cost overruns, discernible from the geotechnical practices of highway agencies in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

The study deploys an interpretivist qualitative methodology to provide a detailed descriptive analysis of the design-related geotechnical practices of highway agencies during the pre-contract phase of highway projects. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with in-house professionals, consultants and contractors affiliated with the three highway agencies in the Niger Delta and thematically analysed to identify significant deviations from geotechnical best practices.

The study outcome shows that during the pre-contract phase, a chain of design-related geotechnical shortcomings has plagued highway projects executed in the Niger Delta. This view of practice uncovered in this study demonstrates a culture of significant deviation from best practice recommendations, which could plausibly contribute to the history of significant project cost overruns recorded in the region.

The study qualitatively spotlights gaps in the practice of highway agencies and reinforces the need for a re-orientation of the attitude to risk management, to give geotechnical concerns a priority in the financial management of highway projects executed in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

With the rapid expansion of global online markets including India, researchers and practitioners are challenged to understand drivers of customer satisfaction, trust and loyalty towards web sites. The paper aims to focus on web site design, which is expected to influence whether customers revisit an online vendor.

Participants in India evaluated a local and foreign web site of the same online vendor. Surveys and interviews were used to collect the data.

The results indicate significant preference for the local web site in almost all design categories. Further, the local site instilled greater trust, satisfaction and loyalty. Data collected for this study are compared with parallel work conducted using the same procedures in four other countries.

The current investigation is relevant for researchers who aim to expand knowledge concerning the impact of web site design related to user trust, satisfaction and loyalty. The work also has implications for web designers or managers who seek to enhance the market attraction and retention of online web sites. Limitations of the study are that both the local and foreign web sites used were Samsung web sites and that only a single task (searching for a cell phone) was used.

Few studies have examined web design in relation to user outcomes such as trust, satisfaction and loyalty in international markets.

The purpose of this paper is to present the physical context of the necropolis of Bat, look at its management by the Omani Ministry of Heritage and Culture (MHC), and discusse the challenges it is facing. It will also shed light on how the site of Bat is perceived by the local community and visitors.

The archaeological complex of Bat, al-Khutm, and al-Ayn was listed by the UNESCO as a world heritage site in 1988. Despite this classification, relatively little attention has been given to the management of this site. The author conducted interviews with representatives of the MHC in order to understand how this site is being managed, and the author uploaded an online public questionnaire to learn how the population is being educated about the importance of this heritage.

The results of this investigation revealed a surprisingly high level of public awareness about the importance of this site to the country socially, and economically. In spite of this awareness, the site is not visited frequently because it is not adequately equipped: a situation that was clearly outlined by the respondents. Suggestions were proposed in order to better integrate this site into the local development plans and the socio-economic growth of the whole region.

The originality of this research is that it took the site of investigation an archaeological site listed by the UNESCO for its outstanding universal value and contrary to what is expected, this site was “forgotten” in all development and management plans executed by the local and central government for almost two decades. It is also the first research about a site in Oman to address such issues and use these methods.

Corporate asset managers are increasingly confronted with the escalating costs, regulatory pressures and disclosure requirements associated with the ownership of contaminated real estate. Corporations historically have been reluctant to sell, or even engage upon site investigation for, their contaminated or potentially contaminated real estate assets. Traditional efforts to address these concerns raise complex legal issues and fail to define or limit liability. Efforts to remediate these properties have often led to projects with ever increasing costs and, in the end, more lingering liability than many corporate directors had been willing to accept. New strategies and management tools are available to assist corporate real estate managers with identifying which environmentally affected real estate assets may be ripe for sale. Similarly, environmental insurance is being considered with increasing frequency as a tool to mitigate risk and facilitate the sale of contaminated and potentially contaminated property. This paper explores, with concepts and examples, how corporate real estate managers can effectively implement these tools to unlock value from underutilised real estate assets.

There has been much discussion of the subject of contaminated land in the academic and professional press, particularly since the proposal to register sites subject to contaminants prior to the enactment of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Much of this work has focused on aspects of the regulatory regime such as liability for pollution and its remediation and on the consequences of owning a contaminated site in terms of the site’s value. There has been relatively little discussion, other than in engineering journals, on site investigations and how these can assist potential purchasers of land in avoiding acquiring liabilities with a contaminated site. Similarly, there have been few articles concerning the liability of professional advisers in this respect. Seeks to explore both of these issues by examining the role of conveyancing professionals in England and Wales. It contains discussion of how liabilities for pollution may be acquired and reports primary research which indicates that conveyancers may not, in general, be exercising their professional duties to protect clients’ interests adequately.

A new edition of the FIDIC Red Book is under discussion. It is an issue whether this edition should be based on the current edition or there should be a complete break with tradition in favour of a contract based on a new philosophy such as that of the NEC, which is reported to be used in many countries in circumstances in which the Red Book would otherwise have been used. This article compares the two contracts on the way they deal with site conditions issues. The comparison is on equity and clarity in risk allocation, adequacy of contractual procedures for dealing with unforeseeable conditions encountered, effectiveness of contractual machinery for dispute resolution, and compliance with reported new developments in successful contractual practices in underground construction. Studies highlighting the recurring frequency of claims for unforeseen ground conditions suggest a need for such particular attention to this aspect of construction. Although a desire for some equity in risk sharing is discernible in both contracts, there is room for improvement in the clarity of both contracts. Each contract has commendable features which are not present in the other. However, a better approach involves a combination of these features with full compliance of the reported modern developments in successful contracting practices.

Introduction The development of the pre‐stressed concrete form of construction for pressure vessels has made rapid strides in recent years. Vessels of this type possess obvious advantages for nuclear power stations, and those currently under construction in this country employ such vessels for the reactor containment. During the construction of one station — for which this Company was appointed Inspecting Authority — an unusual corrosion problem arose which may well be pertinent to other pre‐stressed concrete structures. The post‐tensioning method of pre‐stressing using tendons stretched through the concrete and anchored at the outer face of the vessel was employed. About nine months after installation of the tendons in the bottom caps of the two vessels, it was discovered that serious corrosion had occurred. The C.E.G.B. subsequently set up a Working Party on which all interested bodies were represented, in order to look into the causes and recommend preventative measures. Extensive investigations were made both on site and in the laboratory. The following briefly summarises the case and the investigations carried out.

A place brand is a culmination of its exclusive history, people and traditions that affect customer and community experiences. Place branding has become increasingly important for collective heritage brand strategy, as stakeholders undertake efforts to create an aura of a distinctive geographic location. Though place branding has received considerable scholarly attention, there is a lacuna: the role of residents as co-creators of a place and its heritage. Accordingly, this paper aims to develop a “bi-directional participatory place branding” model by applying the stimulus–organism–response approach grounded theory.

A grounded theory approach with multi-sited ethnography, personal interviews (with residents and city leaders) and observational techniques were adopted in a UNESCO world heritage city of India, Ahmedabad.

The findings indicate that the people (residents) aspect of place branding is associated with their life stories, past experiences, feelings and aspirations. However, the place acts as a nostalgia enabler, disseminating symbolic and heritage metaphors to residents and visitors as place brand ambassadors. When the place and people components are perceived positively, residents participate involve themselves with the place and thus, in turn, become the place ambassadors.

No prior studies have analyzed the association between residents, the place where they reside and the resultant behavior toward the place. The unique contribution is the bi-directional participatory place branding model, especially involving a UNESCO world heritage city rather than solely a site.

This article aims to summarize the employers' requirements of scientific data specialists and the status quo of LIS education organizations' training system for scientific data specialists. It also focuses on the matching analysis between the course content and the responsibilities as well as requirements of scientific data specialists. Moreover, in order to provide some indications for LIS education of scientific data specialists in China, it presents the training objectives and modes.

Some job portals for librarians and the comprehensive job portals are investigated as information sources and the keywords such as “scientific data management”, “data service”, “data curation”, “e-Science”, “e-Research”, “data specialist” are selected to retrieval library-released job advertisements for scientific data specialists to understand the library's requirements towards scientific data specialists' core capabilities. Meanwhile the course catalogues of all iSchools' web sites are searched directly in order to find if scientific data courses are provided.

Libraries value teamwork ability, communication ability, interpersonal ability and a good use of data curation tools as the core competences for scientific data specialists. Candidates who possess a second advanced degree, who understand libraries, who hold demonstrated knowledge of metadata standards, and who emphasize details, under the same condition, are more likely to be considered first. Libraries do not have a unified title for scientific data specialists yet. The current curriculums of iSchools mainly cover research method, data science, data management and data service, data statistic and analysis, data warehouse, information studies and technologies, and so on.

This unique study explores some required qualifications of science data specialist surveyed by job openings, including the core skills, position requirements, responsibilities of the job, and some qualifications. It also investigates the related curriculum setting of iSchool universities through course descriptions. This study is very useful for curriculum development in Chinese LIS education of scientific data specialists including required core courses and selected electives, and to promote the practice of data service in Chinese academic libraries.

Using the canvas of the author’s sojourn with the Islamic preaching group Tablighi Jamaat, this study aims to exhibit reflections on how spaces can be categorized as more sacred or less sacred according to a specific religious worldview. The paper extends the conversation on Mary Douglas’s concepts of purity and danger by sharpening the focal lens on place in Douglas’s theoretics. The paper also proffers the idea of a sojourn as a vehicle of purification.

This paper depicts findings from the author’s multi-sited ethnographic field notes carried out from a 40-day sojourn with the Islamic preaching group Tablighi Jamaat in Pakistan.

The study unveils the concept of relative sacredness or how some spaces can be considered more sacred than others. The differential sacred status of these variegated spaces, each with its own etiquettes, meaning and consumption rituals is a means for purification for sojourners.

This paper prioritizes a focus on place in Mary Douglas’s arguments on purity and impurity in a religious consumption context. The thesis argues that place is a significant concept associated with metaphorical cleanliness/sacredness, which in religious terms guides consumer action.