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1 – 10 of 114The world in which libraries are and will be operating for the next ten years seems much like the former Soviet Union. Constituencies multiply and subdivide; players enter and…
Abstract
The world in which libraries are and will be operating for the next ten years seems much like the former Soviet Union. Constituencies multiply and subdivide; players enter and exit with astonishing speed; rival factions strive for ascendancy; stability and predictability seem distant memories. Change, that familiar nemesis, is at work here, but with a speed, intensity, and on a scale that are literally stunning. How does this battleground look from a marketing perspective?
Funding strategy is a management concept, a financial tool used by the corporate world whose eye is firmly on fixed profits and losses. One might expect the term to have little…
Abstract
Funding strategy is a management concept, a financial tool used by the corporate world whose eye is firmly on fixed profits and losses. One might expect the term to have little place in a world where preservation of culture and ideas is the goal. Creating a funding strategy for a public library may in fact seem alien to the image of what a library represents in our society. But the Denver Public Library (DPL), at the outset of the 1980s, entered the world of funding strategies in order to survive. And not only have we survived, we have flourished. We would recommend our approach to all libraries that want to secure a healthy fiscal future, not just to those experiencing financial hardships.
This issue's column explores some of the data‐processing problems associated with performing a time‐and‐cost study of a library operation. The data are real, coming from a study I…
Abstract
This issue's column explores some of the data‐processing problems associated with performing a time‐and‐cost study of a library operation. The data are real, coming from a study I did for a client who operated a centralized ILL clearinghouse operation and wanted to know the basic unit costs of that operation. But the methodology is applicable to time‐and‐cost studies of many financial management operations.
In this chapter Suzanne Ross draws on her experience previously as a talent manager and now as a leadership consultant, Executive Coach and Senior Lecturer in Executive Education…
Abstract
In this chapter Suzanne Ross draws on her experience previously as a talent manager and now as a leadership consultant, Executive Coach and Senior Lecturer in Executive Education, and applies her research on leadership derailment to talent management. As organizations continue to invest in leadership development, research suggests up to 50 per cent of leaders derail or fail in their role. The derailment literature is, to-date, disconnected from TM although central to the definition of leadership derailment is that derailed leaders were previously successful and had potential. The chapter explores the concept of derailment, how it is defined, its scale and scope and some of the causes of derailment including a lack of organizational support during leadership transitions. The notion of the ‘accidental manager’ is used to provide an example of where literature on TM and derailment converge as a key derailer characteristic is having an overly functional orientation. This maps to the accidental manager concept and to the challenges that TM practitioners face in developing career pathways for expert/specialists beyond managerial roles. Suzanne argues that talent identification should take more account of derailment characteristics and suggests there may be gender differences in how these are perceived and in the consequences that arise when they are present. The chapter contributes to a greater understanding of how the concept of derailment can be integrated within talent management research and practice.
Osamuede Odiase, Suzanne Wilkinson and Andreas Neef
The risks of natural hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, tsunami, landslides, tornado, coastal erosion and volcano are apparent in Auckland because of its vulnerability to…
Abstract
Purpose
The risks of natural hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, tsunami, landslides, tornado, coastal erosion and volcano are apparent in Auckland because of its vulnerability to multiple risks. The coping capacity of individuals serves as a precursor to the adaptation to inherent challenges. The purpose of this paper was to examine the coping capacity of the South African community in Auckland to a disaster event.
Design/methodology/approach
This study gathered information from both primary and secondary sources. Interviews and survey were the main sources of primary data. The research used parametric and non-parametric statistical tools for quantitative data analysis, and the general inductive process and a three-step coding process to analyse qualitative data. The research findings are discussed in line with existing studies.
Findings
The results indicated that the aggregate coping capacity of the community was above average on the scale of 1-5 with communication and economic domains having the highest and least capacities, respectively. An improvement in disaster response activities and economic ability among the vulnerable population should be considered in future policy to enhance coping capacity.
Research limitations/implications
The study was limited to the time of the investigation. The practical coping capacity of the community during challenges will be determined. This study excludes the roles of institutions and the natural environment in coping capacity because the unit of analysis was the individual members of the community.
Originality/value
The research is a pioneer study on the coping capacity of the South African community in Auckland.
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Women have been at the vanguard of transhistorical resistance against oppressive structures on the African continent. Targets of women’s struggles for social justice include…
Abstract
Women have been at the vanguard of transhistorical resistance against oppressive structures on the African continent. Targets of women’s struggles for social justice include colonial governments, neo-colonial states, transnational corporations and entrenched traditional institutions. These struggles have had a catalytic effect on dynamics of social change in multifarious contexts in Africa. This chapter deploys a select number of case studies to argue that the challenges posed to entrenched structures of oppression have historically put women in the crosshairs of power. Women have also sometimes pursued feminist goals using state machinery. ‘State feminism’, which is widespread on the continent, the chapter argues, enables and disenables women’s emancipation. The chapter reflects on women’s resistance movements in Africa and analyses seven major themes. These are obduracy of patriarchy, social divisions, prevalence of maternalist framing, elite women’s engagement, deferment of women’s issues and tactical divide. The contradictions immanent in women’s social positionality and challenges are explored.
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In this article, the author discusses works from the French Documentation Movement in the 1940s and 1950s with regard to how it formulates bibliographic classification systems as…
Abstract
Purpose
In this article, the author discusses works from the French Documentation Movement in the 1940s and 1950s with regard to how it formulates bibliographic classification systems as documents. Significant writings by Suzanne Briet, Éric de Grolier and Robert Pagès are analyzed in the light of current document-theoretical concepts and discussions.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual analysis.
Findings
The French Documentation Movement provided a rich intellectual environment in the late 1940s and early 1950s, resulting in original works on documents and the ways these may be represented bibliographically. These works display a variety of approaches from object-oriented description to notational concept-synthesis, and definitions of classification systems as isomorph documents at the center of politically informed critique of modern society.
Originality/value
The article brings together historical and conceptual elements in the analysis which have not previously been combined in Library and Information Science literature. In the analysis, the article discusses significant contributions to classification and document theory that hitherto have eluded attention from the wider international Library and Information Science research community. Through this, the article contributes to the currently ongoing conceptual discussion on documents and documentality.
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