Search results

Searching for information on the World Wide Web can often be a tedious and time‐consuming business. The combined problems of search tools with unsophisticated interfaces, poorly structured databases and the sheer weight of the information available make it difficult to track down relevant information quickly and efficiently. Wouldn't it be great, therefore, if you no longer had to spend hours trawling through search engines to track down the information you need? What if relevant and timely information simply arrived on your PC desktop on a regular basis with almost no effort required on your part? There are now tools available which make this possible. All of these products are using a technology known as ‘Push’.

The article examines the use of MUDs (Multi‐User Dungeon) / MOOs (MUDs Object Orientated) in on‐line teaching and learning. They allow computer based communication in real time, in an environment defined in a central database. Examples are in use at CoMentor and Diversity University. University of Leeds has been using an experimental MOO to run IT user support sessions at one of its remote sites, the University teaching hospital. The article describes this service, and gives an example of a typical interaction. The article concludes by reflecting on the benefits and limitations of the technology in teaching and learning.

In 2014, the Research Libraries UK (RLUK) consortium developed a shared set of customer-focused service standards to be adopted and used by all University Library members. This was the first time that such an approach had been taken across research libraries in the UK. The driver for this initiative was to enable the libraries to develop more comprehensive, shared quality indicators which would enable them to demonstrate their value, especially in times of austerity when budgets might be under threat. The purpose of this paper is to set out the approach taken to the development of shared service standards and ensuring the engagement and buy-in of the RLUK membership.

The service standards initiative was conceived and developed as a strategic RLUK project, as part of the strategy on “collaboration to reduce costs and improve quality”. Initially it was considered that a collaborative approach to developing quality and performance indicators and service standards would reduce duplication of effort across members and save staff time in establishing mechanisms for collection of performance data. In addition it was agreed that there would be potential for a shared set of measures or standards to be used for benchmarking purposes and to enable libraries to demonstrate their value to their institutions.

The initiative established eight customer-facing service standards which were agreed as being applicable to all of the University Library members of RLUK. These include a range of quality indicators focused on services rated as important to the largest customer group – undergraduate students. The service standards include measures on areas such as shelving turn-around, time taken to obtain materials on reading lists, opening hours, information literacy teaching and inter-library loans. In addition, the UK National Student Survey data are included on satisfaction rates for library services, with a benchmark target set at 90 per cent.

Notwithstanding the SCONUL Annual Statistics exercise, this is the first time in the UK that a collaborative approach to the development of service standards has been attempted for a group of research libraries. The initiative also demonstrates the increased commitment amongst research libraries to the fundamental principles surrounding excellent customer service – in particular the need to demonstrate service quality and proactively identify gaps in services so that these can be addressed, and services can be improved on a continual basis.

A ‘World Wide Web search engine’ is defined as a retrieval service, consisting of a database (or databases) describing mainly resources available on the World Wide Web (WWW), search software and a user interface also available via WWW. After intro ducing early Internet search engines, which are pertinent as precursors for the current range of WWW search engines, the problems of searching the WWW (link persistence, lack of integrated search software) and the resulting search engine types (keyword or directory) are analysed. Search engines of all types are then compared across their generic features (database content, retrieval software, and search interface), rather than on a search engine by search engine basis. Finally, wider information access issues aris ing from the nature of the Internet and web search engines are considered, and a general strategy for using web search engines is proposed.

This article discusses the use of computer‐mediated communication (CMC) within the library and information world and suggests that participation in “virtual communities” may become an increasingly significant dimension of information work. Participation in “virtual community” can, for instance, be related to the delivery of a variety of services to users within all sectors, to computer‐supported collaborative work within information services, and to both informal and formal activities for professional updating, learning and development. The article identifies some concepts and issues in these areas as a means of introducing the papers in the VINE 109, which each address aspects of the “virtual community” topic.

How can organizations use strategic frames to develop support for illegal and stigmatized markets? Drawing on interviews, direct observation, and the analysis of 2,497 press releases, I show how pro-cannabis activists used distinct framing strategies at different stages of institutional development to negotiate the moral boundaries surrounding medical cannabis, diluting the market’s stigma in the process. Social movement organizations first established a moral (and legal) foothold for the market by framing cannabis as a palliative for the dying, respecting moral boundaries blocking widespread exchange. As market institutions emerged, activists extended this frame to include less serious conditions, making these boundaries permeable.

This article reviews research published in secular management journals that examines what the world’s largest religions (Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Islam) say about management. In terms of how religion informs management, the literature identifies two basic means: (1) written scriptures (e.g., Analects, Bible, Quran) and (2) experiential spiritual practices (e.g., prayer, mindfulness). In terms of what religion says about management, the emphasis tends to be either on (1) enhancing, or (2) liberating mainstream management. Studies based on scriptures typically either enhance or liberate management, whereas empirical research based on spiritual disciplines consistently point to liberation. Implications are discussed.

Acute and chronic pain affects more Americans than heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined. Conservative estimates suggest the total economic cost of pain in the United States is $600 billion, and more than half of this cost is due to lost productivity, such as absenteeism, presenteeism, and turnover. In addition, an escalating opioid epidemic in the United States and abroad spurred by a lack of safe and effective pain management has magnified challenges to address pain in the workforce, particularly the military. Thus, it is imperative to investigate the organizational antecedents and consequences of pain and prescription opioid misuse (POM). This chapter provides a brief introduction to pain processing and the biopsychosocial model of pain, emphasizing the relationship between stress, emotional well-being, and pain in the military workforce. We review personal and organizational risk and protective factors for pain, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, optimism, perceived organizational support, and job strain. Further, we discuss the potential adverse impact of pain on organizational outcomes, the rise of POM in military personnel, and risk factors for POM in civilian and military populations. Lastly, we propose potential organizational interventions to mitigate pain and provide the future directions for work, stress, and pain research.