A Culture of Camaraderie: Examining Emotional Intelligence Competencies and Academic Library Disaster Team Members Attributes

This qualitative case study examines the relationship between emotional intelligence competencies and the personal attributes of academic library disaster response assistance team members who led their libraries to recover from a disaster. Using appreciative inquiry protocol to conduct individual and focus group interviews at two academic libraries — the University of Iowa, which suffered a flood in 2008 and the University of New Mexico, which underwent a fire in 2006 — this research contributes to understanding disaster team members emotional intelligence. The study presents findings from emergent thematic coding of interview transcripts, documents, and artifacts. The overarching theme was one of creating a culture of camaraderie to cope with the disaster, exemplified through teamwork, collaboration, and initiative. A more complex finding involved the realization that although solid leadership was exhibited by traditional library leaders, most often leadership was expressed through the initiative of individuals who took responsibility and made quick decisions in the moment. Other major themes were trust/trustworthiness, communications, and adaptability. The study provides another layer of understanding through the application of predetermined concept choice mapping of the data, using Goleman\u27s (2001) Framework of Emotional Intelligence Competencies. All twenty emotional intelligence competencies were mapped in participants\u27 transcripts. These results amplify the major themes found in the emergent thematic coding and suggest a strong relationship between emotional intelligence competencies and attributes exhibited by disaster team members as they dealt with the disasters at their respective institutions. Study findings may inform library leaders who appoint and provide training for disaster team members.\u2

Staff outdoor positioning in large area campus using GPS enabled phone, Google Map and mobile network

This paper explore the feasibility of using GPS enabled phone to locate staff in a large campus area on a customized campus map. This system provides an alternative approach to locate staff compared to static directory. GPS foot printing enable the system to determine which campus building that the staff is in. The map can be viewed on Internet connected browser via personal computer or mobile device

Training of Crisis Mappers and Map Production from Multi-sensor Data: Vernazza Case Study (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)

This aim of paper is to presents the development of a multidisciplinary project carried out by the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and ITHACA (Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action). The goal of the project was the training in geospatial data acquiring and processing for students attending Architecture and Engineering Courses, in order to start up a team of "volunteer mappers". Indeed, the project is aimed to document the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration and sharing. The proposed area for testing the training activities is the Cinque Terre National Park, registered in the World Heritage List since 1997. The area was affected by flood on the 25th of October 2011. According to other international experiences, the group is expected to be active after emergencies in order to upgrade maps, using data acquired by typical geomatic methods and techniques such as terrestrial and aerial Lidar, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and GNSS instruments etc.; or by non conventional systems and instruments such us UAV, mobile mapping etc. The ultimate goal is to implement a WebGIS platform to share all the data collected with local authorities and the Civil Protectio

Offshore education : offshore education in the wider context of internationalisation and ICT: experiences and examples from Dutch higher education

This report presents a study on offshore education conducted by a consortium of Dutch higher education researchers and commissioned by the Digital University (DU). The study explored the extent to which Dutch higher education institutions are involved in offering their educational services abroad (offshore education). After thoroughly embedding offshore education in the wider contexts of internationalisation and ICT policies, the study particularly explores the practical experiences with a number of real-life offshore activities of Dutch higher education. As a warm-up to this report, a few interesting cases are briefly touched upon below

Transition UGent: a bottom-up initiative towards a more sustainable university

The vibrant think-tank ‘Transition UGent’ engaged over 250 academics, students and people from the university management in suggesting objectives and actions for the Sustainability Policy of Ghent University (Belgium). Founded in 2012, this bottom-up initiative succeeded to place sustainability high on the policy agenda of our university. Through discussions within 9 working groups and using the transition management method, Transition UGent developed system analyses, sustainability visions and transition paths on 9 fields of Ghent University: mobility, energy, food, waste, nature and green, water, art, education and research. At the moment, many visions and ideas find their way into concrete actions and policies. In our presentation we focused on the broad participative process, on the most remarkable structural results (e.g. a formal and ambitious Sustainability Vision and a student-led Sustainability Office) and on recent actions and experiments (e.g. a sustainability assessment on food supply in student restaurants, artistic COP21 activities, ambitious mobility plans, food leftovers projects, an education network on sustainability controversies, a transdisciplinary platform on Sustainable Cities). We concluded with some recommendations and reflections on this transition approach, on the important role of ‘policy entrepreneurs’ and student involvement, on lock-ins and bottlenecks, and on convincing skeptical leaders

Inspired: The Burton D. Morgan Foundation 2013 Annual Report

The Burton D. Morgan Foundation celebrates 2013 as the year of the mentor. The practice of mentorship across the region has become the critical link that connects experienced talent with entrepreneurially minded people of all ages who seek guidance and networks. Our 2013 annual report focuses on the dynamic relationships that have flourished between mentors and their mentees across Northeast Ohio. We hope their stories will be an inspiration to our readers as we recognize the contributions of mentors and advisors who are devoting their time and energy to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams and simultaneously make our region a better place for all of us

GIS application in emergency management of terrorism events on the University of North Texas campus.

This thesis presents a Web-based geographic information system (GIS) application for campus emergency management that allows users to visualize, integrate, and analyze student population, facilities, and hazard data for efficient emergency management of University of North Texas before, during, and after a terrorism event. End-users can locate and search the source area of an event on a digital map from the ArcIMS-based Website. The website displays corresponding population information and attributes of impacted facilities in real time. School officials and first responders including police, firefighters and medical personnel can promptly plan the appropriate rescue and response procedures according to the displayed results. Finally, the thesis outlines the limitations of Web-based GIS in the arena of campus emergency management