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This study aims to establish a set of best practices that reflect the spirit of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and comply with the new 2010 Department of Justice regulations.

At each of eight academic libraries in four Rocky Mountain states, the librarian most directly responsible for library services to students with disabilities was interviewed, comprehensive criteria to physical facilities, services, management practices, and investments were used, access leading to and within the library was considered, and data and observations to place each library in the framework of the diametrically opposed reactive or universal access service models were analyzed.

Self‐reporting students with disabilities were the largest minority group at three campuses and the second largest minority group at another three campuses. Five libraries based their services primarily on reaction to complaints, and three libraries incorporated most elements of universal access. No consistent approach or set of best practices to serve students with disabilities existed across the eight participating libraries.

The best practices identified in this research provide academic libraries the resources to meet the spirit of the ADA and comply with the new Department of Justice regulations to be implemented in 2012.

No other recent study documents the broad spectrum of service needs that can be proactively addressed by academic libraries for students and faculty with disabilities. This study underscores the value of universal access to information as a civil right of this user group while also improving services for all.

The purpose of this paper is to adopt “whole network” perspective and analyzes the governance and control mechanisms in the Universal Postal Union (UPU), one of the oldest and largest inter-governmental networks, through the lens of institutional entrepreneurship theory. The purpose is to introduce a typology of network governance forms to the accounting literature and to analyze the governance and management control mechanisms within the UPU, a “participatory federation” (Provan, 1983) type of network that has managed the challenges of collective collaboration since 1875.

The study benefits from unlimited access to all archival materials of the UPU such as minutes of Congress and committee meetings since 1875 as well as secondary documents and market studies related to the postal sector. The data reported in this study are derived from the archives of the UPU in Berne, Switzerland and interviews conducted with senior officials.

Drawing on the work of Provan (1983) and Provan and Kenis (2008) the authors identify five “ideal type” network governance forms based on such variables as differences in the relative power of network participants and whether these networks have arisen spontaneously or due to external coercion, the authors classify the UPU as a “participatory federation.” Within the theoretical boundaries of this typology the authors identify the multi level governance structures and the use of management control mechanisms by each level of governance. The authors introduce a distinction between the “network constitutional organization” that focusses on the socialization of network members and strategy-level orchestration of the overall network and the “network administrative organization” (NAO) that mobilizes management accounting and control mechanisms to monitor, encourage and facilitate member collaboration. The authors propose that control within a participatory federation is enacted through collective entrepreneurship by governance bodies using management accounting and control mechanisms as institutional carriers.

The paper is focussed on the current state of the UPU’s network structure and processes and did not explore the dynamics around the emergence of the different network governance and control mechanisms. An exploration of the collective construction by network participants of the need for these mechanisms would provide insights into how they emerge and might lead to a better understanding of the role of NAOs in networks.

The paper highlights the challenges faced by collaborative networks and identifies enabling characteristics of a participatory federation’s governance bodies. The empirical observations within the context of the UPU contribute to the theoretical understanding of the desirable characteristics of participatory federations that might be applicable to similar public and private collaborative networks

This study expands the knowledge of management accounting and control systems in networks. It bridges a gap in the accounting literature by adopting a “whole network” perspective and by differentiating types of network governance structures that use management accounting and control systems. This contributes to the understanding of accounting and control across the full range of organizational forms.

In assessing the contribution made by telecommunications in India by the state and civil society to public service, this article aims to identify the state's initial reluctance to recognise telecommunications provision as a basic need as against the robust tradition of public service aligned to the postal services and finds hope in the renewal of public service telecommunications via the Right to Information movement.

This article follows a history of telecommunications approach that is conversant with the political economy tradition. It uses archival sources, personal correspondence, and published information as its primary material.

The findings suggest that public service telecommunication is a relatively “new” concept in the annals of Indian telecommunications and that a de‐regulated environment along with the Right to Information movement holds significant hope for making public service telecommunications a real alternative.

This article provides a reflexive, critical account of public service telecommunications in India and suggests that it can be strengthened by learnings gained from the continual renewal of public service ideals and action by the postal services and a people‐based demand model linked to the Right to Information Movement.

In the social policy literature, it is often assumed that universal policies are more popular than selective ones among the public, because they supposedly generate broader self-interested coalitions and are considered morally superior. The present article revisits and challenges this assumption.

The article critically reviews the existing empirical literature on public support for universal and means-tested welfare schemes.

The main conclusion is that the popularity of universal vis-à-vis selective welfare remains very much an open question. First, the studies that are typically cited to support the claim that universalism is indeed more popular are inconclusive because they conflate the institutional design of welfare programs with their respective target groups. Second, there is considerable variation in public support for universal and selective welfare across countries, time and policy domains.

The findings suggest that future research should focus on scrutinizing under which circumstances – when, where and why – universal social policies are more popular than selective ones.

The article makes an original case for considering perceived welfare deservingness of social policies' target groups alongside the policy design when studying popular support for differently targeted welfare schemes.

Considers universal banking’s role in the evolution of national financial systems, notably with respect to their role in overall economic performance. Deals with conceptual and empirical evidence regarding mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the financial services industry, with special relevance to the Asia‐Pacific region. Develops a typology of intra‐ and inter‐sectoral M&A transactions among banks, insurance companies and securities firms, and examines the global deal flow during the 11‐year 1985‐1995 period. Discusses the dynamics of M&A transactions in the financial services industry, notably with respect to exploitation of economies of scale and economies of scope that are core to the universal banking concept. Develops the implications for the Asia‐Pacific region, with reference to the static and dynamic efficiency properties of national financial systems.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated fuzzy approach to determine important universal usability problems (UUPs) by providing experts who behave like real users and to establish a work plan to correct the most important ones.

In this study, a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approach with three stages is proposed for the evaluation of universal usability. At the first stage, UUPs are identified by performing modified heuristic evaluation, and severity rating of each problem is determined by experts. At the second stage, critical problems are specified by applying the fuzzy Delphi considering these severity ratings. At the third stage, Fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory approach is applied to prioritize critical problems as sub and main criteria. An illustrative example related to emergency service is performed to apply the proposed approach.

Results showed that the elevator button design, the elevator emergency button design and the position of the floor signboard are the first three problems that should be primarily improved as sub-criteria. In terms of main criteria, equitable use, simple and intuitive use, and perceptible information are the first three main criteria that should be improve in emergency service.

This study is original in terms of methodology and providing a new perspective for building design evaluation. The results can help the designers to see the UUPs in buildings, to focus the most important UUPs and to establish improvement ranking. These advantages provide time and cost-effective design improvement actions.

Taking a forward looking and global perspective, the paper seeks to address the issue of whether the concept of public service telecommunications has any relevance to the future.

The paper draws on published sources to look at the history of public service telecommunications, mainly in the USA, reviews the progress towards universal service across the world and explores the likely future developments in the telecommunications landscape over the next few decades.

The concept of public service telecommunications helped to stabilise the telecommunications industry in its infancy but ultimately stifled access to telecommunications services at affordable prices. However, the future will still need to be nurtured so that telecommunications are provided genuinely in a way that serves the public interest.

Provides a global and forward‐looking view on the value of the public interest in telecommunications.

During the past decade, a fairly extensive literature on the digital divide has emerged. Many reports and studies have provided statistical data (Digital Divide Network, 2002; NTIA, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000) pertaining to sociological aspects of ‘the divide,’ while some studies have examined policy issues involving universal service (Camp and Tsong, 2001) and universal access (Brewer and Chuter, 2002). Other studies have suggested ways in which the digital divide could be better understood if it were ‘reconceptualized’ in terms of an alternative metaphor, e.g. a ‘divide’ having to do with literacy (Warschauer, 2002), power (Moss, 2002), content (Carvin, 2000), or the (information) environment (Floridi, 2001). However, with the exception of Johnson (2001) and Koehler (2002), authors have tended not to question ‐ at least not directly ‐ whether the digital divide is, at bottom, an ethical issue. Many authors seem to assume that because disparities involving access to computing technology exist, issues underlying the digital divide are necessarily moral in nature. Many further assume that because this particular ‘divide’ has to do with something that is digital or technological in nature, it is best understood as a computer ethical issue. The present study, which examines both assumptions, considers four questions: (1) What exactly is the digital divide? (2) Is this ‘divide’ ultimately an ethical issue? (3) Assuming that the answer to (2) is ‘yes,’ is the digital divide necessarily an issue for computer ethics? (4) If the answer to (3) is ‘yes,’ what can/should computer professionals do bridge the digital divide?

To assess the impact of China's WTO commitments on foreign investment flows, domestic regulation and industry performance in the telecommunications services sector.

Situates GATS disciplines in telecommunications in their historical context, then reviews China's specific commitments, and finally reviews available data on developments in China since accession.

China's commitments on market access and national treatment in telecommunications services are rather modest, and China is lagging in the implementation of regulatory disciplines. Nevertheless, China has gone a long distance toward a complete transformation of the telecommunications sector with little outside influence and no outside ownership or control. It is mainly because the prospect of joining the WTO and opening to the world galvanized government and industry into action. The overall thrust of those actions, however, has been to ensure that telecommunications plays its full role as a strategic economic sector and helps deliver economic benefits to the Chinese people in order to legitimize Communist Party leadership.

Up‐to‐date and coherent data on industry performance (e.g. penetration rates, productivity increases, etc.) are lacking.

Very useful background and analysis relating to: relationship between, on the one hand, international trade commitments and, on the other hand, domestic reforms and industry performance; and on‐going issues in China's efforts to implement its WTO obligations and to create a statutory, regulatory and institutional framework supportive of continued growth of the telecommunications sector in China.

Responds to an identified information need with information and analysis of practical value.