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1 – 10 of over 63000
Article
Publication date: 1 January 2016

Joshua M. Avery

The paper aims to explore the circumstances and processes involved in implementing and migrating from a proprietary integrated library system (ILS) (Follett’s Destiny) to an…

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Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to explore the circumstances and processes involved in implementing and migrating from a proprietary integrated library system (ILS) (Follett’s Destiny) to an open-source ILS (Koha) for a special focus institution.

Design/methodology/approach

In 2012, the campus libraries of God’s Bible College (GBC) migrated to Koha. After locally hosting and supporting Koha for three years, GBC contracted a vendor (ByWater Solutions) to provide hosting and support, beginning in the fall of 2015.

Findings

The paper offers experiences and practical recommendations in migration and implementation. The paper will demonstrate that libraries, including special-focus institutions, can migrate efficiently and without vendor support. Additionally, the paper examines some of the reasons why libraries might consider vendor hosting and support.

Practical implications

The paper gives libraries a framework, illustrated with a special-focus institution case study, for selecting and migrating from a proprietary ILS to an open-source ILS. Such information will be of assistance in clarifying the process of migration and implementation for institutions seeking to move from a proprietary system, especially Destiny, to an open-source ILS.

Originality/value

The paper covers the steps taken to successfully migrate the database and offers a series of best practices for the adoption and migration process of an open-source ILS, providing librarians and other key stakeholders both theoretical and practical information in the selection and implementation of an open-source ILS.

Details

Digital Library Perspectives, vol. 32 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5816

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 4 October 2018

Genya Morgan O’Gara, Liz Woolcott, Elizabeth Joan Kelly, Caroline Muglia, Ayla Stein and Santi Thompson

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the initial top-level findings of a year-long comprehensive needs assessment, conducted with the digital library community, to reveal…

5300

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the initial top-level findings of a year-long comprehensive needs assessment, conducted with the digital library community, to reveal reuse assessment practices and requirements for digital assets held by cultural heritage and research organizations. The type of assessment examined is in contrast to traditional library analytics, and does not focus on access statistics, but rather on how users utilize and transform unique materials from digital collections.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper takes a variety of investigative approaches to explore the current landscape, and future needs, of digital library reuse assessment. This includes the development and analysis of pre- and post-study surveys, in-person and virtual focus group sessions, a literature review, and the incorporation of community and advisory board feedback.

Findings

The digital library community is searching for ways to better understand how materials are reused and repurposed. This paper shares the initial quantitative and qualitative analysis and results of a community needs assessment conducted in 2017 and 2018 that illuminates the current and hoped for landscape of digital library reuse assessment, its strengths, weaknesses and community applications.

Originality/value

In so far as the authors are aware, this is the first paper to examine with a broad lens the reuse assessment needs of the digital library community. The preliminary analysis and initial findings have not been previously published.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 19 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 1 September 2017

Frank Fernandez and David P. Baker

During the 20th century, the United States rapidly developed its research capacity by fostering a broad base of institutions of higher education led by a small core of highly…

Abstract

Purpose

During the 20th century, the United States rapidly developed its research capacity by fostering a broad base of institutions of higher education led by a small core of highly productive research universities. By the latter half of the century, scientists in a greatly expanded number of universities across the United States published the largest annual number of scholarly publications in STEM+ fields from one nation. This expansion was not a product of some science and higher education centralized plan, rather it flowed from the rise of mass tertiary education in this nation. Despite this unprecedented productivity, some scholars suggested that universities would cease to lead American scientific research. This chapter investigates the ways that the United States’ system of higher education underpinned American science into the 21st century.

Design

The authors present a historical and sociological case study of the development of the United States’ system of higher education and its associated research capacity. The historical and sociological context informs our analysis of data from the SPHERE team dataset, which was compiled from the Thomson Reuters’ Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) database.

Findings

We argue that American research capacity is a function of the United States’ broad base of thousands of public and broadly accessible institutions of higher education plus its smaller, elite sector of “super” research universities; and that the former serve to culturally support the later. Unlike previous research, we find that American higher education is not decreasing its contributions to the nation’s production of STEM+ scholarship.

Originality/Value

The chapter provides empirical analyses, which support previous sociological theory about mass higher education and super research universities.

Book part
Publication date: 28 June 2017

Staci Lynne Ripkey

This chapter examines a case study of inter-institutional merger in higher education, and explores the complex challenges institutional leaders may face in pursuing a merger…

Abstract

This chapter examines a case study of inter-institutional merger in higher education, and explores the complex challenges institutional leaders may face in pursuing a merger process within a university setting where centuries-old tradition frames the context within which new innovations occur. Using the conceptual lens of organizational ambidexterity, findings uncover seven distinct phases of this merger process and propose a pre-merger Affiliation period as a strategy for establishing trust and mutual respect, aligning institutional cultures, and achieving balance between innovation and preservation in order to achieve full merged status. The chapter concludes with implications for theory and opportunities for practice.

Details

Research in Organizational Change and Development
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-436-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2018

David Knight, Timothy Kinoshita, Nathan Choe and Maura Borrego

This paper aims to determine the extent to which graduate student funding portfolios vary across and within engineering, life sciences and physical sciences academic fields for…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to determine the extent to which graduate student funding portfolios vary across and within engineering, life sciences and physical sciences academic fields for degree recipients. “Graduate student funding portfolios” refers to the percentages of students funded by fellowships, research assistantships, teaching assistantships, personal means and other sources within an organizational unit.

Design/methodology/approach

Using data from the Survey of Earned Doctorates data set, the authors analyze doctoral students’ self-reported primary mechanisms of funding across and within academic fields varying along the Biglan taxonomy. The authors used cluster analyses and logistic regression to investigate within-field variation in funding portfolios.

Findings

The authors show significant differences in doctoral student funding portfolios across dimensions of the Biglan taxonomy characterizing academic fields. Within those fields, the authors demonstrate considerable variation in funding; institutions cluster into different “modes” of funding portfolios that do not necessarily map onto institutional type or control variables.

Originality/value

Despite tremendous investment in graduate students, there has been little research that can help characterize at the program-level how graduate students are funded, either by internal or external mechanisms. As programs continue to feel the pressures of more limited resources coupled with increasing graduate enrollment demands, investigating graduate student funding at a macro level is becoming increasingly important so programs may better understand constraints and predict shifts in resource availability.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 July 2020

Morgan R. Clevenger

Corporate involvement in higher education remains highly visible and controversial. While best practices can be found, many gray areas exist in the actions motivating both…

Abstract

Corporate involvement in higher education remains highly visible and controversial. While best practices can be found, many gray areas exist in the actions motivating both parties. This organizational analysis examines corporate citizenship through the inter-organizational relationships of a public US doctoral university and six US corporate partners as framed through Cone’s (2010) corporate citizenship spectrum between 2006 and 2010. The literature has shown that little research exists regarding the behavior aspects of these inter-organizational relationships. Triangulation of data is provided by 36 interviews, 12,609 pages of documents and audio-visual materials, and a campus observation of 407 photographs. The research indicates three themes as to why higher education desires involvement with companies: viable resources, student enrichment, and real-world connectivity. Further, there are four themes explaining what motives and ROI expectations companies have to be involved with higher education and include: workforce development, community enrichment, brand development, and research. Finally, three themes emerged regarding ethical considerations between these inter-organizational relationships with higher education and companies. First, generally no ethical dilemmas were found. Second, several general ethics discussion topics created five clusters of interest: public relations, solicitation, policies and stewardship, accountability and transparency, and leadership behavior. Third, five ethical concerns were shared.

Details

University–Community Partnerships for Promoting Social Responsibility in Higher Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-439-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 5 February 2016

W. Richard Scott and Manuelito Biag

Media characterizations of the state of higher education in America often seem bipolar. They emphasize either the accomplishments of the most successful elite schools or the…

Abstract

Media characterizations of the state of higher education in America often seem bipolar. They emphasize either the accomplishments of the most successful elite schools or the failures of colleges that are beset by problems and falling behind the performance of schools in other developed societies. A more complete understanding of higher education is obtained by embracing an organization field perspective, which recognizes the multiplicity of schools that exist – their varying origins, missions, structures, and performance metrics. This diversity is concretized by focusing on the evolving characteristics of colleges in one metropolitan region: the San Francisco Bay Area. The field perspective also calls attention to the support and governance systems that surround colleges and account for much of the stability of the field.

Organization fields are shaped by both isomorphic and competitive processes. Isomorphic processes have been dominant for many years, but now competitive processes are in ascendance. All fields are embedded in wider societal structures, and the field of higher education is richly connected in modern societies with the economic, stratification, and political spheres. Some of these interdependences reinforce within-field processes, some recast them, and still others disrupt them. The appearance of new technologies, new types of students, and changing work requirements have begun to unsettle traditional field structures and processes and encourage the development of new modes of organizing. Over time, the dominant professional mode of organizing higher education is being undercut and, in many types of colleges, supplanted by one based on market forces and managerial logics.

Details

The University Under Pressure
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-831-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2018

Kimberly Griffin, Vicki Baker, KerryAnn O’Meara, Gudrun Nyunt, Tykeia Robinson and Candice L. Staples

The purpose of this study is to explore the developmental networks of graduate students of color participating in PROMISE, Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to explore the developmental networks of graduate students of color participating in PROMISE, Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate program, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded graduate retention and support program. The authors specifically examine how underrepresented minority students gain access to needed supports through building individual mentoring relationships and broader networks of support.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors rely on a case study approach to explore developmental networks and support accessed by students participating in the PROMISE program. A total of 16 students of color in STEM fields from three institutions in the University of Maryland System have participated.

Findings

Study findings reveal that scientists from underrepresented backgrounds construct and draw from diverse developmental networks that include individuals from within and outside of the academic community. Key relationships include advisors; faculty with whom they share identities, peers in and outside of their programs; and administrators. Developers play distinct roles within the networks including shaping students’ emerging professional identities as scientists and providing psychosocial support. Student agency and initiative as well as faculty engagement and programs like PROMISE further enhanced student access to mentorship.

Research limitations/implications

This study offers unique insights into the nature, cultivation and resources gained from the relationships that make up the developmental networks of science graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Originality/value

Traditional notions of mentoring and support, particularly in graduate education, highlight the role and importance of the student’s advisor in their growth and development. This study is unique in its focus on the multiple relationships students of color in science form. This study offers specific insight into the nature, construction and resources gained from developmental networks formed by a group of underrepresented minority students in STEM graduate education.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 January 2019

Morgan R. Clevenger, Cynthia J. MacGregor, Dina Piepoli Udomsak, Carol Bosack-Kosek and Sharon Castano

Functionality of generating human capital of educated workers and citizens is core to higher education. This chapter explores the long-term relationship for the academy to support…

Abstract

Functionality of generating human capital of educated workers and citizens is core to higher education. This chapter explores the long-term relationship for the academy to support the needs for advanced degree and certificate programs, executive education, career preparation, and lifelong service opportunities focused on companies and their needs.

Details

Business and Corporation Engagement with Higher Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-656-1

Article
Publication date: 16 July 2018

Nancy L. Leech, Jessica Schnittka and Carolyn A. Haug

The purpose of this paper is to investigate motivation to teach for higher education faculty within schools of education.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate motivation to teach for higher education faculty within schools of education.

Design/methodology/approach

This study utilized survey research methods to collect data from higher education faculty at nine universities identified from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of teaching website.

Findings

The predictor variables of gender, years of teaching in higher education, percent of overall workload devoted to teaching and two dummy variables for type of institution (i.e. doctoral granting and research II institution) when considered together did not statistically significantly predict whether or not a faculty person achieved tenure with outstanding teaching. In total, 14 of the factors influencing teaching (FIT)-choice scale components statistically significantly predicted whether or not a faculty person achieved tenure with outstanding teaching, only social dissuasion statistically significantly added to the model.

Originality/value

This is the first study to use the FIT-choice scale with university education faculty, and the findings suggest that higher education faculty may be motivated to produce high-quality instruction based on different factors than K-12 teachers.

Details

International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2396-7404

Keywords

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