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“A generational shift…is just now beginning to unfold” as libraries convert, individually and collectively, into online public access utilities. Adopting an online public access catalog (OPAC) is increasingly signaling the subsequent provision of other electronic technologies that can be used directly by library patrons. Other bibliographic databases are typically added first, followed by numeric, statistical, and graphic databases. The library is becoming, in essence, a local online information utility.

Librarians nationwide agree that collection assessment is a valuable tool for managing the collection and allocating the materials budget. Libraries invariably list a variety of reasons for why an assessment is out of the question: “Yes, but…we're not automated.” “We don't have enough staff, time, or resources, much less know‐how to carry out an assessment.” Or the time honored, “We've done projects like that before and no one really uses the information in the end.” Despite being essentially excuses, all of these concerns are valid and bear some semblance of truth.

This chapter looks at the past, present and future of international cannabis control required by the UN drug control conventions in the post-2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session era with an eye on the next High Level Ministerial Segment (HLMS) at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in 2019, and beyond. From a policy analysis perspective, the author meanders through the increasing tendency to legally regulate recreational cannabis markets notwithstanding the obligation enshrined in the UN drug control conventions to limit cannabis exclusively for ‘medical and scientific’ purposes. Taking into account relevant national and international developments, the chapter describes how the growing discomfort with the status of cannabis and the prohibitive and punitive approach stemming from the international drug control regime went through a process from soft to hard defections of the treaty obligations. The case of the Netherlands demonstrates the difficulty faced by reform-minded states in reconciling their wish for a different cannabis control mechanism with their obligations under international law, resulting in an incomplete regulation of its coffee-shop system, where small amounts of cannabis are tolerated for sale, but where the illicit supply to the shops remained unregulated. Subsequent more wide-ranging reforms to regulate cannabis from seed to sale in Uruguay, several US States and – in 2018 – in Canada, are clearly violating the obligations of the UN drug control conventions. Nevertheless, the HLMS will likely leave the elephant in the room untouched. The emerging paradigm shift regarding cannabis shows that a modernisation of the UN drug control regime is long overdue. This chapter discusses some of the options available.

Nepal is confronted by an increasing number of natural- and human-induced disasters, making it the most disaster-prone country in the world. Landslides, floods, droughts, fires, thunderbolts, blockades, and earthquakes, among others, occur frequently. All these disasters take a high toll on people and cause heavy damage to physical properties worth billions of dollars every year. One of the recent examples in the history of disasters was the devastating earthquakes that struck Nepal in 2015 taking away human lives, destroying physical infrastructures, altering cultures, challenging institutions, and devastating the hope and ambitions of people. Thirty-three of the Nepal’s 75 districts were affected, at different degrees, and 14 out of 33 were badly damaged by the two major earthquakes on the 26th of April and the 12th of May 2015. This chapter provides a reflective dialogue on the current state of the disaster-recovery process with a focus on the delivery of recovery services aiming to (1) understand how key actors are responding to disaster-recovery works in Nepal and (2) identify knowledge gaps in the disaster response policy and research arenas in managing future disasters in Nepal.

This chapter examines the framing of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement in mainstream media. An analytic sample of 4,303 articles collected from the Dow Jones Factiva database reveals variation in depth, breadth, and intensity of BLM coverage in the following newspapers between 2012 and 2016: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Al Jazeera English. We review contemporary literature on racial inequality and employ Media Framing and Critical Race Theory to discuss the implications of our findings on public perceptions, future policy formation, and contemporary social protest worldwide.

In recent years, guides to hiking trails and wilderness areas have enjoyed an increase in popularity. Here, Douglas J. Ernest and Lewis B. Herman evaluate more than 100 such books.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships among determinant (ease of use), extrinsic (usefulness) and intrinsic motivations (enjoyment), attachment and usage intention regarding seniors’ use of mobile devices for tourism. In addition, this study examines the moderating role of knowledge in these relationships.

The researchers collected data via online surveys to reach the target population of this study, 55 years and older adults who had used mobile devices for tourism. The researchers used the partial least squares approach for this study.

The results reveal that ease of use has significant effects on extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. The motivations of usefulness and enjoyment significantly affect attachment, which, in turn, influences usage intention. The relationships between ease of use and usefulness, ease of use and enjoyment and enjoyment and attachment were stronger for the high-knowledge group than for the low-knowledge group. The relationship between usefulness and attachment was stronger for the low-knowledge group than for the high-knowledge group.

The findings of this study provide compelling implications for academics and practitioners in the senior tourism field.

The compelling insight of this study is the development of a research model that combines an emergent construct of attachment as a mediator and knowledge of technology as a moderator.

“The issue we confront today is not primarily one concerning a special day for an individual. The issue is in reality whether our nation can summon the will and vision to recognize a great and historic period in its history by designating the birthdate of one who made major contributions to the period a national public holiday.”

Nepal is exposed to multi-hazard risk and is highly prone to disasters such as earthquake, flood, landslide, and drought. The climate, topography, nature-based livelihood, and weak economy and institutional capability to deal with such disasters put the country at frontline of the highly vulnerable countries in the world. Majority of the population of Nepal live in rural areas which are characterized by poorly developed infrastructures. Several disasters in such areas induce temporarily or permanently displacements of the people. Vulnerable communities, households, and individuals lack the capacity to withstand shocks, while more resilient communities are able to reduce the associated risks. Migration during disasters is itself an adaptive response which is both the opportunity and challenge for developing a resilient community. This chapter presents the trends and patterns of disaster-induced displacements in Nepal and explores how disaster-induced displacements could be an opportunity to build back better to enhance the resilience of the vulnerable communities. This chapter also highlights the existing institutions and disaster management framework of the national policies and strategies at the federal, provincial, and local levels in the light of disaster-induced displacement, and recommend actions that need to be taken to manage the risk of disaster-induced displacements and enhance resilient livelihoods in Nepal.

Understanding bottom-up approaches including local coping mechanisms, recognizing them and strengthening community capacities is important in the process of disaster risk reduction. The purpose of this paper is to address the questions: to what extent existing disaster policies in Nepal support and enable community-based disaster resilience? and what challenges and prospects do the communities have in responding to disaster risk for making communities resilient?

This paper is based on policy and academic literature reviews complimented by field research in two communities, one in Shankhu, Kathmandu district and another in Satthighare, Kavrepalanchowk district in Nepal. The author conducted in-depth interviews and mapped out key disaster-related policies of Nepal to investigate the role of communities in disaster risk management and post-disaster activities and their recognition in disaster-related policies.

The author found that existing literature clearly identifies the importance of the community led initiatives in risks reduction and management. It is evolutionary phenomenon, which has already been piloted in history including in the aftermath of Nepal earthquake 2015 yet existing policies of Nepal do not clearly identify it as an important component by providing details of how communities can be better engaged in the immediate aftermath of disaster occurrence.

The author conducted this research based on data from two earthquake affected areas only. The author believes that this research can still play an important role as representative study.

The practical implication of this research is that communities need to understand about risks society for disaster preparedness, mitigation and timely response in the aftermath of disasters. As they are the first responders against the disasters, they also need trainings such as disaster drills such as earthquakes, floods and fire and mock practice of various early warning systems can be conducted by local governments to prepare these communities better to reduce disaster risk and casualties.

The mantra of community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) is community engagement, which means the involvement of local people to understand and prepare against their local hazards and risks associated with disaster and haphazard development. CBDRM approaches motivate people to work together because they feel a sense of belongingness to their communities and recognize the benefits of their involvement in disaster mitigation and preparedness. Clearly, community engagement for disaster risk reduction and management brings great benefits in terms of ownership and direct savings in losses from disasters because the dynamic process allows community to contribute and interchange ideas and activities for inclusive decision making and problem solving.

This research is based on both primary and secondary data and original in case of its findings and conclusion.