A Review of the Literature and Implications for People with Disabilities (E-Human Resources Literature Review)

To accomplish this overview, an extensive review of the literature on information technology applications to the employment process was conducted. Three human resources related uses of the Internet are explored in this review of current literature: E-recruiting, E-benefits/HR, E-training. Each of these areas can have a significant impact on employees with disabilities, especially given the growth of business’ use of the Web. If E-recruiting is not accessible, it could prevent people from applying for or even finding open positions. E-training, if not accessible, could create a new barrier to the advancement of individuals who are unable to access online training to improve or update their skills. E-benefits, while likely to make enrollment and other activities easier for many employees, may become an obstacle for individuals with certain disabilities if not designed to be accessible. In addition, we examined the literature for any current discussion of access issues for applicants and employees with disabilities by business. In the remainder of this introduction, we also cover the World Wide Web and accessibility issues for people with disabilities, legislation relevant to Internet accessibility, and studies of Web accessibility

Signals and Signposts of the Future: Literary Festival Consumption in 2050

This conceptual paper uses a scenario planning process to facilitate possible futures for literary festivals, a form of festival tourism that has grown rapidly in the developed and developing countries of the world in the early decades of the 21st Century and which continues to grow towards 2050. The paper addresses this in the context of two significant cities, Shanghai - a megacity in China, and Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria, Australia. The paper offers two scenarios for literary festivals, one drawn from science fiction and the other from a process of prognosis. The aim of this work is to contribute to research in festival tourism studies by exploring the signposts and signals that may confer the future role, form and function of literature and the format and activity of literary festivals and literary festival tourism in a changing world. Utilizing Signals and Signposts, the work contributes to the body of work which seeks strategic responses to rapid change, rapid urbanization and possible zones of uncertainty that may await literary festivals and associated tourism and community activity in the future

Diversity, Multiculturalism, and Pluralism: A James White Library Bibliography

A bibliography of books available in the James White Library addressing issues of diversity, multiculturalism, and pluralism in the disciplines of business, education, political science, religion, and sociology

Participative management in academic information services

M.Inf.Enterprises are in the midst of some revolutionary changes in how people are managed in work situations. The major premise underlying work-force management traditionally has been that efficiency can be achieved best by imposing management control over workers' behaviour. Today, in response to massive evidence that control-oriented management models can produce outcomes that subvert the interest of both enterprises and the people who work in them, a new work-force management model is appearing - that of participative management. The premise of the emerging model is that enterprises must elicit the commitment of their employees if they are to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in contemporary markets. Rather than relying on a "retain and control" management, enterprises in the future will apply a "share and learn" management where they will heavily rely of member self-management in pursuing collective objectives. This study intends to stress the fact that employee potential needs to be mobilised by management and can only show up as performance when employees are given opportunity to contribute to decision-making with the minimum interference of management. This study calls for a transformation of leadership willing to empower staff to participate fully and freely in the creation of the future. The time has come to transform the way in which leaders work with and provide leadership to staff in academic information services. Leaders in academic information services need to realise that employee participation will enhance commitment and performance for both employees and management. A review of literature revealed that participative management is more than only a willingness to share influence - formal patterns of participation need to be truely implemented where employees have a right to contribute on all levels of decision-making. Participation is not an absolute term - there are various degrees of participation and types of involvement programmes to apply. Participative management is more complex than simply allowing employees to make some of the decisions. It involves formal programmes which need to be effectively implemented. The empirical survey which was done through a twenty-item questionnaire distributed to seven academic information services in Gauteng, revealed that participative management is applied at these institutions but more in low-level decisions. This indicated that participation is still limited and controlled by management and is not yet experienced as a right by employees. This study also clearly showed that self-regulation occurs most effectively through self-managed work-teams. These teams offer the highest degree of decision-making autonomy to all levels of staff and are a unique and viable alternative to traditional forms of work design in academic information services. Directors and leaders of modern academic information services need to encourage and facilitate self-regulation among employees of all levels. This will help to cope more effectively with future challenges of rapid change and technological complexity that now threaten efforts to create more responsive academic information services

The health and social care information needs and behaviour of people with a visual impairment.

Background and purpose: There are currently almost two million people with a visual impairment in the United Kingdom, many of whom also experience other health conditions and/or disabilities. People with visual impairments are, therefore, often regular users of health and social care services. Information has an important role in helping support and improve people's health and social care. The purpose of this thesis was, therefore, to address an identified knowledge gap and undertake an in-depth study of the health and social care information needs and behaviour of people with a visual impairment. Design/ methodology/ approach: The research consisted of four interconnected studies: an interview study with 17 people with an age-related visual impairment and 14 people with a visual impairment since birth or early childhood; an audio diary study with seven older visually impaired people; a survey of managers of local societies for the blind and partially sighted; and an evaluation of the active involvement of visually impaired people in the design of this research. Findings: As a result of this research we now have a detailed understanding of the health and social care information needs of two groups of visually impaired people, in particular the types of information they require; the information sources they use, such as local societies for the blind and partially sighted; what factors potentially affect their information behaviour; the possible role of newer information sources, such as NHS Direct and the Internet; as well as the extent to which two established information models (Wilson, 1999 and Moore, 2002) can explain their information behaviour. Originality/ value: This research, the first of its kind, substantially increases our knowledge of the health and social care information needs and behaviour of visually impaired people by employing novel approaches, such as the adoption of audio diaries as a research method, and involving visually impaired people directly in the design of the research

Grounding interprofessional education in scholarship

i) Summary The 18 papers submitted are a cross-section of my publications in interprofessional education (IPE) since becoming actively engaged in that field in 1989. They comprise four themes. Each is updated and complemented by additional conceptualisations. Together, they point to the need to: systematise relationships between stakeholders centrally; remodel IPE as a continuous cycle of learning and development; triangulate data from monitoring, reviews and evaluations to verify its evidence base; and establish IPE as a community of practice

An Examination of School Shootings and Mental Health: A Comparative Case Study

School shootings have become more relevant in our society over the past few decades, yet the debate over the cause of these shootings never seems to reach a conclusion. The current study looks at the connection between mental illness and school shootings, as well as the roles that media, gun control, violence, and masculinity play in the common phenomena. Prior literature has debated over the main causes of school shootings, but many researchers state differing opinions regarding the motivations for perpetrators. This study found that severe mental illness is the main cause of school shootings, and while mental illness may be the main explanation, a lack of social capital, alongside male pressure to conform to societal stereotypes, play significant parts as well. 96% of shooters are male, and when addressing the notion of male stereotypes, it is important to note that men, specifically men with mental illnesses, are socialized to not seek help. Other aspects that pertain to the possible causes of school shootings are the immense lack of gun control in the United States and the sensationalization of perpetrators in the media. The combination of all of these factors, with mental illness as the most prominent, contribute to the overwhelmingly sizable problem that has become school shootings. The rate of school shootings only seems to be increasing, and while school shootings may never cease to exist, the United States can certainly decrease the rate at which shootings occur through increased mental health resources in schools