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THIS number will appear at the beginning of the Leeds Conference. Although there is no evidence that the attendance will surpass the record attendance registered at the Birmingham Conference, there is every reason to believe that the attendance at Leeds will be very large. The year is one of importance in the history of the city, for it has marked the 300th anniversary of its charter. We hope that some of the festival spirit will survive into the week of the Conference. As a contributor has suggested on another page, we hope that all librarians who attend will do so with the determination to make the Conference one of the friendliest possible character. It has occasionally been pointed out that as the Association grows older it is liable to become more stilted and formal; that institutions and people become standardized and less dynamic. This, if it were true, would be a great pity.

One potential shortcoming of the emerging gig economy is the reduced ability of gig workers to meet their social and relatedness needs through their work. Using self-determination theory (SDT) as a theoretical foundation, we examine how gig work platforms currently use their technology for managing relationships with gig workers. We develop a framework consisting of four main attributes: relationship content, relationship duration, relational eHRM function, and social eHRM type. We then analyze the eHRM resources offered on 20 gig work platforms, evaluating the extent to which they are aligned with the framework. All platforms analyzed included some relational eHRM resources. Relationship content tends to be focused on tasks or career development, and relationship duration tends to be short. All three of the relational eHRM types (communication, training and development, and performance management) are currently found on gig platforms. Many of the eHRM resources are available to an open audience, but some of the resources with the potentially highest value are kept internal and are available only to people in particular roles. We discuss practical implications and directions for future research on this topic, suggesting that eHRM systems more focused on relational functions could be used to help gig workers meet their relatedness needs.

The exponential growth in the number of visitors and the mass-tourism mobility patterns in natural areas are causing serious issues such as traffic congestion, crowding in car parks, pollution, high noise levels, and traffic accidents. In order to redress this situation, demand management policies that propose more sustainable transportation systems are crucial. In this chapter, the authors summarize extensive research carried out in Teide National Park (Canary Islands, Spain), the most visited national park in Spain, one of the most visited in the world, and a clear example of a natural area under pressure from mass tourism. The authors present the current situation of the natural site and three scientific contributions based on a survey combining revealed and stated preferences that analyzes visitor preferences with regard to the use of sustainable transportation systems. The first study analyzes visitors’ preferences regarding the implementation of a public bicycle-sharing system. The second study explores visitors’ willingness to pay to reduce the environmental impact of their visit and the potential implementation of a shuttle-bus service. The third study investigates the recreational economic value of the site. The chapter provides useful information for decision-makers who need to address problems associated with the unsustainable visitor mobility and reports results that can be extrapolated to other natural parks with similar characteristics and high inflow of tourists.

The years following the 9/11/2001 terrorists attacks saw a marked increase in community and hospital emergency preparedness, from communications across community networks, development of policies and procedures, to attainment and training in the use of biological warfare resources. Regular drills ensured emergency and health care personnel were trained and prepared to address the next large-scale crisis, especially from terrorist and bioterrorist attacks. This chapter looks at some of the more familiar global health issues over the past two decades and the lessons learned from hospital responses to inform hospital management in preparation for future incidents.

This study is a narrative review of the literature related to lessons learned from four major events in the time period from 2002 to 2023 – SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19.

The initial search yielded 25,913 articles; 57 articles were selected for inclusion in the study.

Comparison of key issues and lessons learned among the four major events described in this article – SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19 – highlight that several lessons are “relearned” with each event. Other key issues, such as supply shortages, staffing availability, and hospital capacity to simultaneously provide care to noninfectious patients came to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic. A primary, ongoing concern for hospitals is how to maintain their preparedness given competing priorities, resources, and staff time. This concern remains post-COVID-19.

Information and communication technology (ICT) plays an increasingly important role in delivering healthcare today. Healthcare professionals, including consultants, doctors and nurses, are engaged in what is seen as a radical action plan for improving the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. A major focus of this plan is the greater empowerment of the patient, and providing them with more information about their health needs and care. Information and communication technology has the potential to effectively support the complexities involved in the communication that takes place both amongst healthcare workers themselves and between healthcare workers and their patients in both primary and secondary care both in the UK and elsewhere. This paper explores the challenges involved in human interaction and describes how AIDMAN, a clinical information system, allows for richer communication between the patient and those involved in their health.

Presents the findings of a study of the use of foreign languages by Irish exporting companies. Suggests that, although a substantial majority of respondents believe that foreign language skills are very important for export success, relatively very few of them actually use foreign languages to any great extent in their day‐to‐day exporting activities. Just over half of the firms contacted claim to communicate frequently in German or French, around 20 percent in Italian or Spanish; only 7 percent use Japanese and less than 3 percent use any other foreign language on a regular basis. The specific tasks conducted in a foreign language are relatively low level basic exchanges of information in telephone calls, fax messages or routine letters rather than activities requiring higher‐level language skills such as negotiating contracts or discussing technical specifications. The implications of the research are discussed in the wider context of export promotion and development in general, and some ideas for further research on this topic are suggested.

Reports on a study of Irish exporting companies aimed at discovering the extent to which they use foreign languages in conducting their export business and discusses the implications of its findings for export‐oriented foreign language training. Concludes that a high level of foreign language skill is not essential for success in exporting to non‐English‐speaking markets, but that some competence in the language of the foreign target market can be immensely valuable in gaining the confidence of prospective customers and in understanding their needs. Training aimed at improving the foreign language skills of exporters should also cover the culture and business practices of the foreign market, and the technical terms used in a particular industrial sector. However the real need is for competence at a relatively low level within exporting companies to enable junior staff to deal effectively with incoming messages. Language training should focus initially on developing reading and basic writing skills rather than seeking to achieve fluency in speaking the foreign language.