bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A survey of the application of Web 2.0 in Australasian university libraries
Authors: Cuong Linh Nguyen
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to provide an overall picture of the application of Web 2.0 technologies in Australasian university libraries. The focus of the research was what types of Web 2.0 technologies were applied in such libraries as well as their purposes and features.

Design/methodology/approach

Content analysis was used in terms of quantitative approach. A checklist as the main research instrument was developed based on other checklists and questionnaires, and synthesized ideas from literature. Data were collected by accessing all Australasian university library web sites within two weeks. Then, Microsoft Excel was utilized as a main tool to synthesize and analyze data, and present results.

Findings

At least two‐thirds of Australasian university libraries deployed one or more Web 2.0 technologies. Only four Web 2.0 technologies were used for specific purposes and with some basic features. The general Web 2.0 application indexes were still low as the mean application index was 12 points and the highest index was 37 points (out of 100).

Research limitations/implications

A combination of content analysis with survey and/or interview may enable future researchers to analyze other aspects (e.g. the application of internal wikis or the use of instant messaging for reference services) of Web 2.0 that a single method of content analysis could not gain.

Originality/value

This unique study explores the application of Web 2.0 in a wide scope including any Australasian university libraries that deployed any types of Web 2.0 technologies. This study is useful for Australasian university libraries in evaluating/deploying Web 2.0. Library managers, librarians and other university libraries may also find this helpful once they want to implement such technologies in their libraries.
Designing and testing a web‐based board game for teaching information literacy skills and concepts
Authors: Markey Karen , Swanson Fritz , Jenkins Andrea , Jennings Brian J. , St. Jean Beth , Rosenberg Victor , Yao Xingxing , Frost Robert L.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This paper seeks to focus on the design and testing of a web‐based online board game for teaching undergraduate students information literacy skills and concepts.

Design/methodology/approach

Project team members with expertise in game play, creative writing, programming, library research, graphic design and information seeking developed a web‐based board game in which students used digital library resources to answer substantive questions on a scholarly topic. The project team hosted game play in a class of 75 undergraduate students. The instructor offered an extra‐credit incentive to boost participation resulting in 49 students on 13 teams playing the game. Post‐game focus group interviews revealed problematic features and redesign priorities.

Findings

A total of six teams were successful meeting the criteria for the instructor's grade incentive achieving a 53.1 percent accuracy rate on their answers to substantive questions about the black death; 35.7 percent was the accuracy rate for the seven unsuccessful teams. Discussed in detail are needed improvements to problematic game features such as offline tasks, feedback, challenge functionality, and the game's black death theme.

Originality/value

Information literacy games test what players already know. Because this project's successful teams answered substantive questions about the black death at accuracy rates 20 points higher than the estimated probability of guessing, students did the research during game play which demonstrates that games have merit for teaching students information literacy skills and concepts.
Copyright in the networked world: plagiarism and its ambiguities
Authors: Seadle Michael
Published: November 2008

Purpose

Libraries and scholars face more frequent problems with and decisions about plagiarism than in the past. This article aims to look at complex cases where plagiarism may have occurred.

Design/methodology/approach

The method is anthropological and looks at specific cases, in which the situations are real but the actors have been fictionalised to protect identities.

Findings

Plagiarism tools, while invaluable for discovering potential problems, can also expose cases where judgments depend on complex circumstances.

Originality/value

The goal is to show areas where ambiguity in plagiarism cases exists.
Implementing change and reorganization in the acquisitions departments at the University of Alabama and the University of Florida
Authors: Champieux Robin , Jackson Millie , Carrico Steven
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the motivations, creation, and implementation of workflow and organizational redesigns within two academic library acquisitions departments: the University of Alabama (UA) and the University of Florida (UF).

Design/methodology/approach

Both institutions utilized a combination of goal identification, staff contribution, and Blackwell's workflow consulting services to build and implement new acquisitions workflows.

Findings

A comparison of the projects reveals two paths to conducting a reorganization of acquisitions in academic libraries, but with the same goal: doing more with less staff while promoting a more cost‐efficient model of operations.

Originality value

In evaluating these analysis projects at UA and UF, common successes that are applicable to future undertakings were identified.
Perspectives on managing a library
Authors: Linn Mott
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This paper seeks to argue that when managing strategically it is important for leaders to view situations from multiple perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

Discusses and gives examples to illustrate how one can consider situations from different vantage points.

Findings

It is helpful for library directors to consider situations from the multiple perspectives, such as from structural, human resource, political, and cultural points of view.

Practical implications

This provides concepts to be considered when a leader attempts to move forward a library's priorities.

Originality/value

Hopefully, this article will motivate librarians to use different ways to think about how to better manage their libraries.
Time management Part III: Plan implementation
Authors: Fitsimmons Gary
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to conclude the discussion of the leadership quality of good time management by presenting thoughts on implementing an action plan based on work goals. Design/methodology/approach – The paper establishes the need for good plan implementation and then lays out a way of dealing with problems as they arise. Finally it discusses plan assessment in general terms as either the final step in the implementation, or part of a cycle of assessment and reimplementation.

Findings

The findings are that a good leader and manager must be able to carry a plan from planning through implementation and to know when and how to sustain a cycle of assessment and reimplementation.

Originality/value

The value of this paper is in its suggestions for smoothing the way through plan implementation when things go awry.
Issues in library human resources management
Authors: Kieserman Robert H.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a discussion of the benefits of succession planning and open communication between administration and staff when an employee leaves their employment at the library.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper used the personal expertise of the author who has been a professor of human resources management as well as a library consultant to all types of libraries for over 15 years.

Findings

This paper proposes that every library organization should follow a five‐step succession planning strategy to guarantee a smooth transition when an employee leaves for whatever reason. The paper also proposes an open and honest communication policy when an employee is terminated to ease the anxiety of the rest of the staff.

Originality/value

This paper helps the library director and the library department manager more intelligently handle the necessary transitions when an employee leaves their employment.
Building your base: identifying library donors
Authors: Silverman Emily
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to consider several methods for establishing and growing a pool of potential library donors. Who gives to libraries and where are they? All types of libraries can benefit from private giving; the initial challenge in building a philanthropic base is identifying prospective donors.

Design/methodology/approach

Considers the donor development strategies employed by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries, noting those most effective.

Findings

A range of initiatives can help establish and build a donor base, such as robust programming, expanded partnerships, annual fund efforts, friends groups, and a mix of technologies.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills an identified information/resource need and offers practical suggestions to library administrators for building a donor base.
Negotiation strategies in supply chain management
Authors: Zachariassen Frederik
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This paper seeks to explore the impact of different negotiation strategies on the negotiation setting in different buyer‐supplier relationships. So far, the extant supply chain management (SCM) literature has only briefly touched this subject, though such a study has been advocated on previous notes in the SCM literature.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative research methodology was chosen in order to investigate a focal firm's negotiations with five of its suppliers. A total of 25 hours of interviews and 15 hours of observations were carried out at the focal firm and with a number of the firms' tier one suppliers in order to investigate the subject at hand.

Findings

Explanation is given of when the use of different negotiation strategies can be considered expedient in different relational settings, pairing a distributive negotiation strategy with arm's length relationships, while integrative negotiation strategies remain a more ambiguous exercise. Valuable insight concerning the impact of different negotiation strategies on the negotiation setting are advanced, which, in turn, leads to a questioning of previous research conclusions regarding the application of distributive negotiation strategies in strategic partnerships. The reason for such questioning is due to a limited focal perspective applied in previous research on negotiations in SCM.

Research limitations/implications

Future research should statistically and analytically validate the research in order to reject or confirm the reached conclusions.

Originality/value

The paper is the first to specifically investigate the role of negotiation strategies in the academic discipline of SCM from a qualitative angle using participant observations and interviews.
Factors influencing implementation of a dry port
Authors: Roso Violeta
Published: November 2008

Purpose

A close dry port with direct rail connection to a seaport is a potential solution for seaport terminal congestion as well as for better seaport inland access. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and define impediments to a close advanced intermodal terminal – dry port implementation.

Design/methodology/approach

Comparative case studies through face‐to‐face interviews and a literature review have been carried out in order to accomplish the purpose. In addition, secondary sources such as reports, internal documents and web pages were used.

Findings

The most common factors that impede dry port implementation are infrastructure, land use, environment and regulations. Hence, the same reduce the efficiency of freight movements on land access routes to and from seaports. An advanced intermodal terminal must fit into a complex system where the necessary infrastructure is in place and the regulatory systems are properly designed to optimize the involvement of both the public and the private sector.

Research limitations/implications

Empirical data for the case studies are collected at Port Botany, Sydney, and its close intermodal terminals. A more comprehensive view of the problem could be obtained through additional case studies on other countries' seaports' intermodal terminals.

Originality/value

The idea behind the study is to contribute to a better understanding of the concept of close dry port through the factors that influence the implementation of the same and thereby to improve knowledge of the implementation of the concept.
The nature of the service quality and satisfaction relationship
Authors: Leisen Pollack Birgit
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to challenge the assumption that the relationship between service quality attributes and customer satisfaction follows a classic linear path. It suggests the existence of a threshold level after which the strength of the relationship between the two constructs, for some service attributes, adjusts. Depending on the type of adjustment, service attributes can be classified as satisfier or dissatisfier. Each requires a distinct managerial action.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected via self‐administered questionnaire from customers of three service industries (i.e. banking service, hairdresser service, phone service). The type of impact of nine individual service quality attributes on customer satisfaction was investigated using multiple regression models with interaction terms.

Findings

The empirical findings provide evidence for the existence of satisfiers and dissatisfiers. Satisfiers exhibit initially no relationship with satisfaction, but after the acceptable level of quality (i.e. inflection point) has been reached, become positively related. Dissatisfiers follow initially a positive relationship path with satisfaction but after the inflection point exhibit no relationship, or at best a significantly weakened one, with satisfaction. The relationship patterns were found to be service attribute as well as service type dependent.

Originality/value

The findings suggest that, for dissatisfiers, increasing service quality ad infinitum may not be the most prudent approach. Here, gains in satisfaction can no longer be achieved after the acceptable quality level has been reached. However, for satisfiers, service firms must leap over the threshold before gains in satisfaction can be realized. This may require large investments in quality improvements.
Prioritizing improvement of service attributes using impact range‐performance analysis and impact‐asymmetry analysis
Authors: Mikulić Josip , Prebežac Darko
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to describe and apply a new three‐step approach to prioritizing service attributes in formulating quality‐improvement strategies. In particular, the paper seels to demonstrate the value of impact range‐performance analysis (IRPA) and impact‐asymmetry analysis (IAA) in prioritizing quality attributes for improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed new analytical framework is developed and presented. Data from a survey on satisfaction with airport passenger services are then used to demonstrate the proposed approach. Improvement priorities are derived using a three‐step analytical framework.

Findings

This paper raises several conceptual issues concerning importance‐performance analysis (IPA). In particular, the study contends that direct and indirect measures of the “importance” of an attribute are not measuring the same construct.

Practical implications

Managers who use IPA to prioritize the improvement of service attributes might obtain misleading recommendations. In particular, managers should be aware that the impact of an attribute on overall customer satisfaction can vary significantly with different levels of performance of that attribute.

Originality/value

The study proposes a revised approach to IPA in which the traditional measure of “attribute‐importance” is replaced by a measure of the range of attribute‐impact on overall customer satisfaction (RIOCS). Moreover, a new analysis provides detailed information on asymmetric relationships between attribute‐level performance and overall customer satisfaction (OCS).
A review of empirical investigations comparing quality initiatives in manufacturing and service organizations
Authors: Rönnbäck Åsa , Witell Lars
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, by reviewing the literature, the relationship between quality management and business performance with a comparison between manufacturing and service organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

This meta‐analytic study critically examines the literature and evaluates the business performance implications of adopting quality management principles in manufacturing and service organizations. Altogether, 14 published research studies were identified that focused on the relationship between quality management and business performance with a comparison between manufacturing and service organizations.

Findings

The results show several inconsistencies in previous research when it comes to the relationship between quality management and business performance when comparing manufacturing and service organizations. Some of these inconsistencies concern the principles of supplier relationships, leadership commitment and customer orientation. The inconsistencies can be explained by a number of factors: the difference in size of the organizations included in the studies, the cultural aspect and the research design. Regarding consistencies, two quality management principles stand out in several studies as being more central for service organizations: employee management and process orientation.

Practical implications

The results can provide guidance for service managers aiming to implement quality management. In addition, the paper provides guidance to researchers about methodological issues so that future research can provide more reliable and valid results.

Originality/value

The paper provides a critical review of previous research on what principles of quality management should be adopted in a service organization.
What's wrong with IVR self‐service
Authors: Dean Dwane H.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

Reports in the popular press suggest much consumer frustration with interactive voice response (IVR) self‐service. The present study aims to conceptualize why frustration might occur and measures attitudes toward IVR.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire responses were obtained from a quota sample approximately equally divided among men and women and three age groups (18‐28, 29‐48, 49 and older).

Findings

Compared to a human operator, consumers perceive that transactions conducted through IVR take longer and are less customizable. Respondents strongly prefer a human operator, believe that IVR was implemented to benefit the company more than customers, and are bothered by not having an initial choice of a human operator versus IVR. Despite these negative views, satisfaction with IVR was primarily driven by transaction speed rather than concerns with these other issues. Compared to younger consumers, older respondents held a more cynical view of IVR and the companies that employ the technology.

Research limitations/implications

Only inbound (and not outbound) IVR calls were studied and only customers (and not employees) were surveyed.

Practical implications

Frustration with IVR resulted in a “spillover” effect, lowering overall regard for the firm. Five managerial recommendations are suggested that may help recapture lost goodwill.

Originality/value

This is believed to be the first study to offer a theoretic explanation for consumer frustration with IVR. Also, the comparison of age groups on attitudes toward IVR in the present study may be novel.
Customer satisfaction and loyalty in the eyes of new and repeat customers
Authors: Pantouvakis Angelos , Lymperopoulos Konstantinos
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to explore the relative importance of the physical and interactive elements of service on overall satisfaction, particularly when these elements are moderated by the point‐of‐view of repeat and new customers. Evidence is drawn from the transport sector industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The data for this study come from 388 ferry passengers. Regression analysis was used to test the influence of each parameter and SEM employed to assess the moderating effects of repeat patronage on satisfaction.

Findings

The results suggest that the physical elements of the service are of greater importance in determining customer evaluations on overall satisfaction than interactive features of service. The results also suggest that these effects are not just direct but also moderated by the repeat use of the service. Finally, both elements are very good predictors of overall satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

As results are obtained from only one industry, generalisations should be drawn with care.

Practical implications

The presumption of managers when looking at satisfaction as the primary, even sole, gauge of customer loyalty appears to be erroneous. The consequence is potential misallocations of resources due to myopic focus on customers' satisfaction increase. The findings suggest that attention should be given to increasing the loyalty of passengers/customers.

Originality/value

This study suggests a moderating role for repeat and new customers in the satisfaction‐loyalty relationship and implies that to maximise investments in service improvements based on a focus on increasing physical satisfaction rather than seeking to develop an interactive “delight” to the customer.
Between grids and networks: grid‐enabled network control planes
Authors: Belter Bartosz , Binczewski Artur , Carrozzo Gino , Ciulli Nicolla , Escalona Eduard , Markidis George , Nejabati Reza , Simeonidou Dimitra , Stroiński Maciej , Tzanakaki Anna , Zervas Georgios
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This article seeks to introduce the concept of the Grid‐GMPLS control plane architecture with focus on new services, models, and interoperability issues of Grid‐GMPLS (G2MPLS) and GMPLS control planes. The purpose of this activity is to design, implement and test extensions of the GMPLS Control Plane that can enable the paradigm of a G2MPLS network.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach deploys extended GMPLS implementations aiming to facilitate bandwidth provisioning to Grid users.

Findings

G2MPLS is a Network Control Plane architecture that implements the concept of Grid Network Services. GNS is a service that allows the provisioning of network and Grid resources in a single‐step through a set of integrated procedures. By providing a unified network/Grid infrastructure the control plane can adapt to the demands of applications having intensive requirements on both computational and network resources.

Research limitations/implications

The project delivers the prototype implementation of G2MPLS. Consideration should be given to involving the vendors of the optical equipment in the development process to incorporate the project findings into their operating systems.

Practical implications

The G2MPLS protocol stack has been designed to be compatible with the ASON/GMPLS architecture. This could lead to possible integration of Grids in the existing operational networks, by overcoming the current limitations of Grids running over dedicated networks with their own administrative procedures.

Originality/value

The paper provides the description of Grid Network Infrastructures with a common and transversal Control Plane approach based on G2MPLS, in which Grid resources and optical network resources are both controlled by the same Control Plane, seamlessly spanning the different Control and Management domains of the network.
Advanced monitoring techniques for a large‐scale data‐processing network
Authors: Martin B. , Al‐Shabibi A. , Batraneanu S.M. , Ciobotaru  , Darlea G.L. , Ivanovici M. , Leahu L. , Stancu S.N.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to describe the methods used to monitor and measure the performance of the data acquisition network deployed in the ATLAS detector at the LHC in CERN, Geneva.

Design/methodology/approach

Strict inventory and connectivity control was employed through cross‐correlation of multiple databases. Basic monitoring uses a commercial product and, in addition to that, 2‐D graph display tools were developed to compare and contrast multiple instances of peer performance in terms of through‐put and error. Traffic analysis and diagnostics were improved by displaying at carefully customized aggregate plots. By overlaying geographical, logical and traffic information a 3‐D, system‐wide, visualization system was developed with fly‐through navigation and zoom‐based levels of detail to monitor the 6,000‐port system in quasi‐real time.

Findings

The difficulties of automatically detecting unacceptable traffic patterns are presented and both signal‐processing techniques and rules‐based expert systems are suggested as possible solutions to the problem.

Originality/value

It is believed that the scope of the 3‐D visualization program is unique in the field of network monitoring. These techniques should be of value to any manager of a complex network situation.
Probing next generation Portuguese academic network
Authors: Friaças Carlos , Massano Emanuel , Domingues Mónica , Veiga Pedro
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to provide several viewpoints about monitoring aspects related to recent deployments of a new technology (IPv6).

Design/methodology/approach

Several views and domains were used, with a common point: the Portuguese research and education network (RCTS).

Findings

A significant amount of work is yet to be done, in order to mature the deployment of this new internet technology.

Research limitations/implications

The equipment whence the data were collected still has some limitations regarding the new technology. Future datasets may benefit from wider deployments.

Practical implications

The work also demonstrates that IPv6 deployment is in its early stages, which is negative, given the projected dates for IPv4 exhaustion.

Originality/value

The findings and the work described will be useful for people trying to deploy IPv6 networks in the short or medium timeframe.
Large‐scale networked virtual environments: architecture and applications
Authors: Lamotte Wim , Quax Peter , Flerackers Eddy
Published: November 2008

Purpose

Scalability is an important research topic in the context of networked virtual environments (NVEs). This paper aims to describe the ALVIC (Architecture for Large‐scale Virtual Interactive Communities) approach to NVE scalability.

Design/methodology/approach

The setup and results from two case studies are shown: a 3‐D learning environment through which long‐term sick children can stay in close contact with their school environment; and a 3‐D mobile city guide, in which city inhabitants and visitors can form a virtual community in which they share information and communicate with each other.

Findings

These case studies clearly demonstrate the applicability of the ALVIC architecture. In order to be able to create even larger NVEs, a next‐generation client‐server NVE architecture is proposed: ALVIC‐NG, which employs proxy servers and logic servers in order to balance the server load.

Research limitations/implications

Further scalability tests need to be performed to evaluate this new architecture. ALVIC‐NG will also be the basis for a new case study, in which large 3‐D city datasets will be used.

Originality/value

The results provide insight in scalability issues to those who need to deploy very large‐scale networked virtual environments.
EFDA‐fed: European federation among fusion energy research laboratories
Authors: Castro R. , Vega J. , Portas A. , Pereira A. , Balme S. , Duarte A. , Fernandes H. , Kadlecsik J. , Lebourg P. , Neto A. , Oliveira F. , Purahoo K. , Reis F. , Rodriguez C. , Signoret J. , Theis J.M. , Thomsen K.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The fusion energy research in Europe is developed by a set of laboratories of different countries and organisations. EFDA is an organisation whose main objective is to promote and improve the coordination and collaboration among these laboratories. This paper sets out to describe a working federation (EFDA‐Fed) that gathers EFDA (as organisation) and a set of fusion research laboratories: EURATOM/CIEMAT (Spain), CEA (France), JET (UK), IST (Portugal) and KFKI/HAS (Hungary).

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve the objective a federation among all the organisations has been implemented based on PAPI as the authentication and authorization infrastructure that provides a security layer for accessing data among organisations.

Findings

During the implementation of EFDA federation some improvements in distributed single sign on systems have been achieved such as the integration of JAVA applications and a single sign off mechanism.

Practical implications

Users who belong to one of the federated organisations will be able to access from any IP address to resources located in any organisation of the federation in a secure way. On the other hand, new resources can be shared for federated users and access policies to these services can be implemented.

Originality/value

The paper describes a successful use of an open source technology (PAPI) for implementing a real multi‐organisation infrastructure for sharing services in a secure way, and integrating client applications and with a complete single sign off mechanism.
Utilising eduroamTM architecture in building wireless community networks
Authors: Huhtanen Karri , Vatiainen Heikki , Keski‐Kasari Sami , Harju Jarmo
Published: November 2008

Purpose

eduroam™ has already been proved to be a scalable, secure and feasible way for universities and research institutions to connect their wireless networks into a WLAN roaming community, but the advantages of eduroam™ have not yet been fully discovered in the wireless community networks aimed at regular consumers. This aim of this paper is to describe how eduroam™ architecture and technologies can be utilised in building these kinds of wireless community networks and to present the experiences gathered in building the Wireless Tampere community network.

Design/methodology/approach

The eduroam™ architecture and technologies were chosen as the basis of Wireless Tampere community network architecture because of their scalability and security. Deploying eduroam™ technologies and architecture to a wider user base both confirmed old and revealed new issues and solutions in improving the usability and the deployment effort of eduroam™ and similar technologies.

Findings

The eduroam™ technology and architecture can be utilised to build wireless community networks, but additional effort must be allocated in improving the usability and the ease of deployment when consumers, company and other regular users are involved. The improvements achieved would not have been developed if the concept and architecture had not been exposed to consumer and company users. The development of both the eduroam™ and Wireless Tampere concept requires deploying them to a wider audience and improving them iteratively utilising the existing solutions as the basis for new improvements.

Originality/value

The paper presents the issues and problems, which were confronted when applying eduroam™ technologies in building the Wireless Tampere community network. The solutions found and deployment experiences presented can be utilised in improving eduroam™ as well as a basis for developing new, open and inter‐connected wireless community networks.
Information systems and ecological sustainability
Authors: Chen Adela J.W. , Boudreau Marie‐Claude , Watson Richard T.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

There is a growing awareness by researchers and practitioners of organizations' ecological responsibilities. Past research in management suggests that it is important to develop ecological sustainability, a long‐missing piece of the sustainability puzzle, together with economic sustainability and social sustainability. However, little research has been conducted to explore how information systems (IS), as one of the defining technologies in human society, can help organizations develop ecological sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a conceptual model and propositions with regard to the roles of IS in the pursuit of ecological sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper focuses on how organizations are motivated to act in the same legitimate way (i.e. eco‐friendly way) and proposes institutional theory as a lens to better understand how IS can be leveraged to achieve the three milestones of ecological sustainability, i.e. eco‐efficiency, eco‐equity and eco‐effectiveness.

Findings

The model advocates that under different institutional pressures, IS can be leveraged to achieve eco‐efficiency, eco‐equity and eco‐effectiveness through automating, informating (up and down) and transforming organizations, respectively. Research limitations/implications – The paper calls for the incorporation of the dimension of natural environment into our framework for future investigation of the IS roles in organizations.

Practical implications

The paper highlights the importance for practitioners to understand the environmental impact of the IS that they design or use, and the roles that IS can play in facilitating the large‐scale learning about ecological sustainability.

Originality/value

The implications of this research for both practice and academia are discussed, with a brief outlook towards future research.
Citizen attitudes toward the police in Canada
Authors: O'Connor Christopher D.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

Citizens' opinions of the police are important indicators of how well the police are performing their duties and can help to shape police practice as well as public policy. However, little research exists in Canada on people's opinions of the police. This paper aims to provide a more robust understanding of citizen attitudes toward the police in Canada by examining a variety of factors that have been deemed important in shaping people's attitudes in other countries (predominantly from research conducted in the USA).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper utilizes path analysis to decompose and better understand the relationships between sociodemographic/non‐sociodemographic variables and attitudes toward the police. Data were drawn from the 1999 General Social Survey conducted by Statistics Canada. A random sample of Canadians was surveyed regarding victimization, personal safety and attitudes toward the criminal justice system.

Findings

Several distinct groups of people (i.e. young people, visible minorities, males, those who have experienced criminal victimization, those dissatisfied with their safety and those who perceive their neighborhoods as being high in crime) emerged as having negative views toward the police, which is consistent with much of the research conducted in the USA.

Originality/value

Police practice should more closely resemble the principles inherent in community policing if certain groups' negative views of the police are to be improved. This can be partly accomplished by the police being more inclusive of diverse opinions in the community and actively seeking out this opinion in order to better inform policing practices and strategies.
Chinese immigrants' perceptions of the police in Toronto, Canada
Authors: Chu Doris C. , Huey‐Long Song John
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess empirically Chinese immigrants' perceptions of the police in Toronto, Canada.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were analyzed based on 293 surveys conducted with Chinese immigrants who participated in various community service organizations in Toronto, Canada, between March and May 2005. Ordinary least squares and ordered logit regressions are used for the analysis.

Findings

The paper shows that individuals who had previous contact with police rated police less favorably than those who had not had contact with police in the past. In general, people who rated police as helpful when they called them for assistance expressed a higher degree of respect for police. In addition, poor communication was a significant predictor of Chinese immigrants' perception of police prejudice. Finally, a majority of respondents expressed the concern that more bilingual police were needed in the city.

Research limitations/implications

As with any study utilizing a non‐probability sample, care must be taken to avoid generalizing the findings to all Chinese immigrants in Toronto. Since the sample was taken from participants of various community service organizations in Toronto, the findings may not be appropriate to generalize to the other constituencies in the Chinese community, such as young people.

Practical implications

The paper highlights the need for improving the quality of police services, recruiting more bilingual officers (or officers from their communities), strengthening police training in racial and cultural diversity, and reducing communication barriers to improve Chinese immigrants' evaluations of the police.

Originality/value

This research is the first to specifically examine Chinese communities' perceptions of law enforcement in Canada. Law enforcement can utilize these findings to improve their services and address the Chinese community's concerns; not only can this promote the police‐citizens relationship, but it can also encourage the Chinese community's participation in a crime reduction partnership.
Harnessing the crime control capacities of third parties
Authors: Cherney Adrian
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the strategy of police harnessing the crime control capacities of third parties and to relate this to problem‐oriented policing.

Design/methodology/approach

Harnessing the crime control capacities of third parties requires police to act as effective brokers of public safety by improving the spheres of influence that third parties assert over relevant locations, systems or conditions that facilitate crime. This process is often termed redistribution, leveraging or third‐party policing. Research from the fields of illicit synthetic drug control and regulation is reviewed to highlight a number of key implementation issues.

Findings

The term “harnessing capacity” provides a strong conceptual basis by which to analyse police efforts to facilitate the co‐production of public safety, with terms such as third‐party policing being conceptually imprecise. To effectively engage third parties in crime prevention police need to use a range of compliance‐seeking mechanisms. In harnessing the crime control capacity of third parties police need to consider a range of issues: existing deficits in capacity, competency to act against crime, existing incentives to act, and the costs of co‐production.

Practical implications

Relevant implementation challenges are canvassed, as well as issues relating to third parties bearing the costs in return for co‐producing crime prevention.

Originality/value

The paper further expands theory and practical implications related to police harnessing the crime prevention potential of third parties.
A neighborhood‐level analysis of concealed hand‐gun permits
Authors: Gau Jacinta M.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of the present analysis is to test the relative impact of trust in police, social cohesion, and fear of crime on neighborhood‐level rates of concealed pistol license (CPL) holding. The dynamics of both formal and informal social control are hypothesized to affect neighborhood CPL concentrations.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were neighborhood‐level and came from a city survey and the state Department of Licensing. A path model was estimated.

Findings

Police service level had a negative indirect effect on neighborhood CPL concentrations through fear of crime, but had a strong positive direct effect. Social cohesion also had a strong positive direct effect on CPL rates.

Research limitations/implications

The study suggests that lawful concealed hand‐gun carrying should be viewed as a way in which neighborhoods exercise informal social control. People in socially cohesive areas may carry concealed hand‐guns not only because they fear for their own safety, but also because they feel a sense of responsibility to their fellow neighborhood residents.

Practical implications

Police who encourage citizens to engage in private forms of self‐protection should be aware that citizens in cohesive areas may choose to do this via hand‐gun carrying. Police should be sure that citizens in these neighborhoods have ready access to safety training and devices. Most importantly, police should emphasize to citizens in these areas that hand‐gun carrying has not been shown conclusively to reduce crime, and that there are other private crime‐prevention techniques that carry more promise of keeping communities safer from crime.

Originality/value

There are few studies attempting to determine the precursors to concealed hand‐gun carrying. The paper seeks a better understanding of the reasons why some neighborhoods evince higher levels of CPLs than others. Additionally, most prior studies have used suboptimal levels of aggregation. The study uses neighborhood‐level data, which allows for an examination of ecological phenomena without the confounding effects of between‐jurisdiction heterogeneity that a higher level of aggregation would produce.
Determinants of job satisfaction among South Korean police officers
Authors: Hwang EuiGab
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to compare the job satisfaction of police officers in metropolitan cities with that of officers in smaller areas in a rapidly developing nation. It also assesses the difference in the factors that affect the job satisfaction of officers in metropolitan cities and smaller areas.

Design/methodology/approach

The research used survey data collected from 1,500 police officers throughout South Korea. Ordinal logistic (ordered logit) regression was the main method of analysis considering the ordinal response in the dependent variable.

Findings

The findings revealed no difference in job satisfaction between officers in metropolitan cities and those in smaller cities and rural areas, but certain factors, especially length of service and rank, negatively affected officers' job satisfaction in metropolitan cities; this was not the case in smaller cities and rural areas.

Research limitations/implications

Although findings from police survey data of a non‐random sample of officers should be generalized with caution, the findings provide police administrators with some evidence that certain factors are necessary to minimize the likelihood of job dissatisfaction among senior and supervisory officers in metropolitan cities.

Originality/value

Few researchers have compared the level of and predictors of officers' job satisfaction in large and small cities, especially in non‐Western contexts. The study intends to fill this void.
Impact of workplace connectivity on office productivity
Authors: Haynes Barry P.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to establish if office occupiers, who adopt different work patterns, can be segmented based on differences of perceived productivity with regards to the physical environment and the behavioural environment.

Design/methodology/approach

Components of office productivity were used in an office productivity model with categorical data enabling a unique opportunity to undertake an analysis of office occupiers by work process type.

Findings

The four distinct evaluative components used were comfort, office layout, interaction and distraction. The components were subsequently used for more detailed statistical analysis. This study establishes that statistical differences exist between the work styles under investigation.

Research limitations/implications

This research establishes that to truly appreciate office productivity there is a need to further understand the way that people work in offices and their specific requirements. The matching of office occupier need with space provision can only be achieved if the office occupier is involved in the creation of the office solution.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates that there is a need to consider how the office environment matches the work patterns of the office occupiers. This understanding of how the office works could be considered as establishing the office landscape or “officescape”.
Getting our priorities in order: are our service values in line with the communities we serve?
Authors: Duffy Jocelyn S. , Jaggars Damon E. , Smith Shanna E.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

LibQUAL+® allows users to rate their minimum, perceived, and desired levels of service for 22 items in three dimensions: information control, library as place, and service affect. Using the results from the 2005 survey at the University of Texas at Austin, this paper aims to examine how well the service priorities of library staff are aligned with the priorities of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper has re‐scaled the “desired” score for each item to reflect the degree to which the item is above or below the average desired level for that individual. The rescaled scores (termed “priority” scores) for the 22 items were then compared between the four groups using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).

Findings

Preliminary results indicate that service priorities for library staff align more closely with those of undergraduates than with those of graduate students and faculty.

Practical implications

This analysis is a first step in identifying service priority gaps between library staff and the users they serve. The intention is to promote discussion among library staff about users' needs and how closely staff service priorities align with those needs. In addition, the findings may prove useful as management information by allowing the analysis of users' service priorities and integrating the results of this analysis into organizational decision making and planning processes.

Originality/value

This paper describes a development of LibQUAL+® that enables a greater depth of understanding of service priorities.
Library assessment on a budget
Authors: Ackermann Eric
Published: November 2008

Purpose

Colleges and universities conduct regular surveys that provide space for local questions, including library‐related items. Unfortunately these surveys often use incomparable metrics and scales. This study seeks to examine techniques to take advantage of such surveys to supply practical results.

Design/methodology/approach

Effect size meta‐analysis is a statistical method used to combine such disparate results. This method and other statistical tools were used to extract significant findings from the survey results, looking at such library constructs as physical access, analysis (the ability to determine information quality and relevance), collection quality and quantity, retrieval, hours and staff.

Findings

The paper describes the meta‐analysis of three separate surveys which contained library‐related data responses, and conclusions subsequently drawn from that analysis.

Research limitations/implications

This paper assumes that the reader possesses some understanding of basic statistical concepts, such as means, variance, standardized scores, and null hypothesis significance testing (NHST). It assumes a “good‐enough” approach to library assessment, one that strives for the greatest possible statistical accuracy, reliability, and validity given the time and resource limitations within which most academic libraries operate.

Originality/value

The method provides a practical, sustainable, and effective library assessment technique using data from Radford University. The use of freeware to undertake the analysis also makes it financially viable.