bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Incoming international students and the library: a survey
Authors: Jackson Pamela A. 
Published: June 2005

PurposeTo assess incoming international students' library and computer experience before coming to the US, and to determine their current library needs.Design/methodology/approachA study was undertaken to assess incoming international students' exposure to libraries, computer literacy skills, and to determine their library needs. Results from a survey conducted in August 2003 include demographic information about incoming students, computer and library use before coming to the US, library concepts that are new to them, and opinions about the library.FindingsSurvey results show that international students arrive in the US with high levels of computer literacy and that most incoming students have used a library in their home country. Findings suggest that international students would benefit from specialized library information competence and orientation programs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was conducted just over 3 weeks after the Dr Martin Luther King, Jr Library opened its doors. Thus, student survey responses were collected during an unsettled period. While students perceive themselves as understanding library terminology, no testing was conducted to confirm this. Further study is needed to determine the extent of their knowledge of library terms and jargon.Practical implicationsSurvey results have led to the implementation of library programs that support the information competence, retention and academic success of international students.Originality/valueFew studies include the international students themselves to determine their library and educational needs. This study offers a current view of the library needs of international students as they perceive them.
Elements of active learning in the online tutorials of ARL members
Authors: Hrycaj Paul L. 
Published: June 2005

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine the extent of the use of active learning in the online tutorials of members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and to compare these results with those found in a similar study done in 1999 by Nancy Dewald, and also to determine what major types of active learning these sites offer.Design/methodology/approachThe focus of the study in this paper was on “stand‐alone” library skills tutorials, as opposed to those tutorials that need to be used in conjunction with an in‐person course in order to be effective. After defining what counts as a “tutorial” and “active learning”, ARL sites were reviewed to determine whether they employ elements of active learning.FindingsThis study found that the percentage of ARL tutorials that employ active learning is significantly greater than the percentage of such tutorials in Dewald's study. Also, some categories of the methods of active learning employed in these tutorials are determined and examples for each category are provided.Research limitations/implicationsBecause web page content is fluid and open to frequent changes, the findings of this study may not be accurate by the time of publication.Originality/valueThis paper updates and expands on (by focusing on ARL members) the findings of Dewald's original study of online tutorials. Also, the categories of active learning discussed and the examples of these provided can offer some aid to libraries that wish to add to or expand the use of active learning in their online tutorials.
Embedding a librarian in the classroom: an intensive information literacy model
Authors: Hearn Michael R. 
Published: June 2005

PurposeTo describe an information literacy (IL) component for an undergraduate program, and to discuss the design and implementation of a faculty/librarian collaboration to teach first‐year English students how to do appropriate and thorough research.Design/methodology/approachThe librarian was assigned to be a co‐instructor in the course, taught a significant percentage of the research material, and participated in the assigning of students' grades.FindingsEach session taught by the librarian is described in detail, and the impact of the experiment on the students, the instructors and the college is addressed.Originality/valueThe paper addresses the benefits and difficulties of adding an intensive IL component on a small college campus.
Ten must reads for new academic librarians
Authors: Landry Abbie 
Published: June 2005

PurposeTo inform new academic librarians and their mentors about books, articles, and web sites which provide guidance in becoming a professional librarian and achieving tenure and promotion.Design/methodology/approachNew academic librarians are often ignorant of important publications that can help them succeed in becoming successful professional librarians. Many are not prepared for what is expected of them in an academic library. These ten works, arranged by ten categories, contain an explanation of the importance of the work and its value to the new professional librarian. These resources range from topics such as achieving tenure to learning about state publications.FindingsThese ten works were chosen based on their clarity, usefulness, and content. Full bibliographic information or pertinent URL is provided for each source.Practical implicationsThis list has been successfully used by new librarians mentored by the author and will be of value to both new hires finding their way through tenure, promotion, and evaluations, as well as providing practical information for mentors to give their charges.Originality/valueOther bibliographies provide information on how to do research, publications, pros and cons of tenure, etc., but this one brings together practical information that is instantly useful, as well as filling in gaps in a new librarian's knowledge on becoming a successful librarian.
Fruits of the tree: resources on Shaker art
Authors: Harrington Sara 
Published: June 2005

PurposeProvides students, scholars, and interested parties an introductory essay and selected bibliography of recent resources on the art and material culture of the Shakers, a communitarian religious group who lived in the United States from the 18th to 21st centuries.Design/methodology/approachIntroduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and exhibition catalogues examining Shaker art and material culture dating from 1987 to the present.FindingsProvides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship on Shaker art, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions of well and lesser known Shaker objects.Practical implicationsProvides a point of departure for an exploration of Shaker studies, focusing on the art and material culture of the Shakers, and highlights important sources within the growing body of literature on the Shakers.Originality/valueAs the only recent annotated bibliography of material on Shaker art, the article provides access to interdisciplinary resources that are widely scattered within the humanities literature and thus previously difficult to locate. The article also serves to bring resources on Shaker art and material culture to a wider audience, since the special libraries devoted to Shaker collection do not have electronic catalogs, and are largely limited to on‐site access.
The impact of overqualification on job search
Authors: Wald Steven 
Published: June 2005

PurposeThe two main purposes of the paper are: first, to provide an empirical test of the widely‐held view among employers that overqualified workers are less committed as evidenced by heightened levels of job search, and second, to evaluate the three explanations of overqualification (matching theory, the theory of differential overqualification, and the career mobility hypothesis) in which job search plays a central role.Design/methodology/approachMaximum likelihood probit estimation is conducted on a sample of employed Canadians aged 18 and over who were surveyed in 2000. Predictors of job search are derived from the economic assumption that the employee's decision to undertake job search depends on a cost‐benefit assessment.FindingsThe empirical results indicate that overqualified workers are more active job searchers, and lend support to the matching theory view that overqualification is sub‐optimal from the worker's perspective.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the small number of European studies exploring the connection between overqualification and job search. The impacts of overqualification are especially important for Canadian employers given the high incidence of overqualification of the Canadian work force.
The relationship between organizational culture and withdrawal intentions and behavior
Authors: Carmeli Abraham 
Published: June 2005

PurposeThe goal of the present study is to examine the influence of five dimensions of organizational culture (i.e. job challenge, communication, trust, innovation and social cohesiveness) on employees’ withdrawal intentions and behavior. Specifically, three forms of employees’ withdrawal intentions (i.e. from the occupation, job, and organization), and one form of employees’ withdrawal behavior (i.e. self‐reported absenteeism) are examined.Design/methodology/approachThe paper investigates these relationships among social workers in the Israeli health care system through a structured questionnaire. Regression analyses were employed to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe findings of this study indicate that an organizational culture that provides challenging jobs, diminishes employees’ absenteeism, and withdrawal intentions from the occupation, job, and the organization. The results also show that other dimensions of organizational culture were not significantly correlated with the dependent variables, with the exception of the relationship between a culture of innovation and employees’ withdrawal intentions from the job.Originality/valueThis study contributes to a better understanding of the influence of organizational contexts (e.g. culture) on the development of multiple withdrawal intentions and behaviors among social service employees in the health care sector.
Efficiency and productivity of employment offices: evidence from Sweden
Authors: Althin Rikard , Behrenz Lars 
Published: June 2005

PurposeThis paper aims to measure the efficiency and productivity of Swedish employment offices.Design/methodology/approachUsing four inputs, five outputs, and two quality attributes the efficiency and productivity of 253 Swedish employment offices are evaluated using models of relative technical efficiency and Malmquist productivity indices. The results are computed as solutions to linear programming problems for the 1992‐1995 periods.FindingsResults of the study find that the mean efficiency across offices varies between 74 and 78 percent. The mean productivity change demonstrates a decrease of 11 percent during the 1992‐1993 period, and an increase of 7 and 13 percents during 1993‐1994 and 1994‐1995 respectively.Research limitations/implicationsDifferent background characteristics of job seekers could possibly bias the result for some of the offices. Further research could use a dynamic model where different job seeker characteristics are taken into consideration.Practical implicationsThe paper provides an opportunity for inefficient/low productivity offices to study how offices identified as more efficient are producing their services.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates how efficiency and productivity could be measured in a multi‐input, multi‐output employment office service sector setting where quality aspects are allowed to play a part.
The influence of managerial power and credibility on knowledge acquisition attributes
Authors: Politis John D. 
Published: June 2005

PurposeThis paper examines the relationship between credibility, the dimensions of power and a number of knowledge acquisition attributes.Design/methodology/approachThe study involves a questionnaire‐based survey of employees from a number of organisations operating in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A total of 130 useable questionnaires were received from employees who are engaged in self‐managing activities from seven companies. These were subjected to a series of correlational and regression analyses.FindingsThere are three major findings in this research. First, the relationship between expert power and the knowledge acquisition attributes of personal traits, control and negotiation is positive and significant. Second, the constructs of coercive and referent power are likely to have a negative influence on employees' knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing. Finally, the findings have clearly shown that the management dimension of credibility has a positive and significant impact on the knowledge acquisition attributes of control and negotiation.Practical implicationsThe study shows that the real challenge for organisations in the UAE is to provide a working environment that encourages and fosters expert power and credibility and, by extension knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing.Originality/valueThere is a paucity of research in this area and this paper makes a contribution towards filling this gap.
Jaguar “Roadmap” rethinks self‐piercing technology
Authors: Mortimer John 
Published: June 2005

PurposeDescribes how Jaguar Cars is evaluating a technology roadmap to assess future manufacturing processes.Design/methodology/approachDescribes the major production line technologies that are under close scrutiny for the next ten years for use in the Jaguar Cars' production plants at Castle Bromwich and at Halewood, Merseyside, both in the UK. Technologies under review include ultrasonic welding, friction stir spot welding, laser welding and self‐piercing rivets.FindingsThe use of self‐piercing rivets is already used in production at Jaguar for the aluminium‐bodied XJ saloon. But developments of the process are already underway in readiness for the next new model. However, at the same time, engineers are examining other techniques including ultrasonic joining and friction stir spot welding, both of which at the subject of research work in the US and the UK. Use of pedestal guns and blow feeding devices is expected to bring improvements in cost.Research limitations/implicationsEngineers at Jaguar are carrying out research and development, both in‐house and with various research bodies and universities to establish the most beneficial processes for the joining of aluminium sheet, extrusion and cast components that go to form an aluminium car body. For successful joining aluminium requires low heat input solutions. At present, self‐piercing rivets offer the best solution, but Jaguar engineers are looking at other processes including ultrasonic joining and friction stir spot welding. The aim is to find processes that are fast and cost‐effective. In the meantime, Jaguar will continue to use self‐piercing rivets for aluminium structures.Practical implicationsThe practical implications of the work will lead to reduced cycle times which in turn will help to make the manufacture of aluminium car bodies more cost‐effective.Originality/valueBMW claims it is the first car maker to make use of bowl‐feeding self‐piercing rivets for the manufacture of aluminium body‐in‐white.
Interfacing industrial robotic systems with manufacturing tracking and control software: a choice for semi‐autonomous manufacturing systems
Authors: Norberto Pires J. 
Published: June 2005

PurposeThis technical paper reports the development of an industrial robotic labeling system, designed to insert identification labels on rolls of paper coming from an industrial paper machine.Design/methodology/approachThe system was developed for an existing installation comprising a paper machine, a roll measuring and weighting station and a roll wrapping machine. The labels identify each roll by means of barcodes, which are used internally in the factory to identify and store each roll at the automatic warehouse and by the customer company for similar purposes.FindingsIn describing an industrial application designed for labeling applications, this paper discusses and details a software interface designed to command shop‐floor manufacturing systems remotely from the manufacturing tracking software. This adds in terms of flexibility and agility, since all available operations were implemented in a very general way requiring only simple parameterization to specify the individual operations.Practical implicationsSince the TCP/IP server is a general implementation, using the BSD compatible TCP/IP socket implementation from Microsoft, it can receive commands from virtually any client. This makes this robotic cell interface an interesting way to command shop‐floor manufacturing systems.Originality/valueDemonstrates a method for controlling shop‐floor manufacturing systems that has broad applications.
The steady uptake of robots for dishwasher manufacture
Authors: Kochan Anna 
Published: June 2005

PurposeAims to determine how robotics is used in white goods manufacture.Design/methodology/approachInterviews production specialists at BSH Bosch and Siemens Hausgerate about the application of robots to dishwasher manufacture at the company's Dillingen plant in Germany, and reviews several robot applications at the facility.FindingsRobots have an important though limited role to play in dishwasher manufacture due to most automation needs being met by dedicated machineryOriginality/valueReveals how the white goods industry views robotics and its value to production
Landmine detection using an autonomous terrain‐scanning robot
Authors: Najjaran Homayoun , Goldenberg Andrew A. 
Published: June 2005

PurposeDescribes a dual‐arm mobile manipulator that can autonomously scan natural terrain using a typical handheld landmine detector in a manner similar to a human operator.Design/methodology/approachPresents a terrain‐scanning robot that consists of two articulated arms mounted on an off‐road remotely operated vehicle. One arm carries a laser and four ultrasonic rangefinders to build a terrain map. The map is used in real time to generate an obstacle‐free path for the second arm that manipulates the landmine detector autonomously. The arms are mounted on the vehicle that is controlled by an operator from a safe distance. Motion planning and control of the robot is carried out using an embedded computer that is linked to a host computer to transmit the detector data and operator commands.FindingsFinds that the terrain‐scanning robot can effectively manipulate a relatively large landmine detector on rugged terrain with undulations and obstacles.Research limitations/implicationsProposes real‐time motion planning that may be equally applicable to other mobile manipulators.Practical implicationsProvides a technology that together with state‐of‐the‐art landmine sensors will offer a safe solution for detecting hidden landmines and clearing them from the postwar countries.Originality/valueIntroduces the concept of a dual‐arm mobile terrain scanning robot for landmine detection in off‐road missions and civilian areas where truck‐mounted detectors are inefficient.
Evolving locomotion gaits for quadruped walking robots
Authors: Golubovic Dragos , Hu Huosheng 
Published: June 2005

PurposeThis paper presents an evolutionary algorithm (EA) for Sony legged robots to learn good walking behaviours with little or no interaction with the designers. Once the learning method is put into place, the module can learn through its interaction with the real world.Design/methodology/approachAn EA for developing locomotion gaits of quadruped walking robots is presented in this paper. It is based on a hybrid approach that changes the probability of genetic operators in respect to the performance of the operator's offspring.FindingsThe mutating and combination behaviours of the genetic algorithms allow the process to develop a useful behaviour over time. The resulting gait from this training proved to be a better solution than the non‐interference training for movements over all types of surfaces, pointing to a local optima being discovered in the non‐environmental interference situation.Research limitations/implicationsThe behaviour of these algorithms is stochastic so that they may potentially present different solutions in different runs of the same algorithm. The mechanism described here has several features that should be noted. It allows rapid parameterisation of operator probabilities across the range of potential genetic algorithms and operator set. It is tailored to a steady state reproduction scheme. It would not be literally applicable to problems with noisy evaluation functions.Originality/valueProvides novel application of genetic algorithms to a potentially practical application area.
Demographic characteristics of consumers who find it difficult to decide
Authors: Walsh Gianfranco , Mitchell Vincent‐Wayne 
Published: June 2005

PurposeThe puropse of this article is to identify consumers who experience difficulty in making their buying decisions, especially in the face of variety of choice, proliferation of brand choice, small inter‐brand differences, brand counterfeiting, marketing communication overload and so on.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire administered to 264 consumers in north Germany used a scale developed by the authors at the University of Hanover in 2002 to measure three types of difficulty in marketplace decision making. Those relate to similarity among product‐service offerings available, information overload, and marketing communications that lack clarity. Data collected were analysed by ANOVA and hierarchical cluster analysis.FindingsANOVA suggested that high levels of marketplace decision difficulty were characteristic of older, less well‐educated female consumers. Subsequent cluster analysis identified four distinct and meaningful consumer types, in terms of “marketplace decision difficulty” or MPDD.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study was restricted to a single large city in one European country, and one of the test statistics was perhaps too rigorous for useful conclusions in the case of some variables, but the findings do contain clear managerial implications and future research developments are proposed.Practical implicationsMarketing strategists should find it useful to understand the demographics of consumers who are likely to experience difficulty in making marketplace decisions – for instance, to segment audiences for their marketing communications, and to vary style and content accordingly.Originality/valueThis study offers a practical market segmentation scheme, based on demographic influences on decision‐making behaviour.