ILLEGAL EMPLOYMENT OF NON-EU NATIONALS IN IRELAND. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 64 JULY 2017

Illegal employment of non-EU nationals can be defined in two ways, in reference to two different typologies: those who are legally resident working outside the conditions of their residence permit and/or without an Employment Permit, and those who are irregularly resident.1 Illegal employment is defined in this study to mean ‘economic activity carried out in violation of provisions set by legislation’ (European Migration Network, 2014). Illegal employment is hidden by nature, meaning estimating the scale both in Ireland and within the EU is challenging. According to research by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2015) high risk sectors tend to be characterised by low wages, long hours and a relatively high turnover in staff. Owing to its hidden nature, illegal employment often impacts upon workers’ fundamental rights. Combatting illegal employment is therefore both a social policy and fundamental rights objective, as employees’ rights are often violated (European Migration Network, 2017). This is the first comprehensive study on illegal employment concerning both regularly and irregularly staying non-EU nationals in Ireland, which outlines in detail policy and practice with input from a variety of stakeholders. Its purpose is to provide an evidence base for national and EU policymakers, researchers, practitioners working with non-EEA nationals as well as the general public. The study focusses on policy, law and practice in relation to: prevention measures and incentives for compliance, direct policy initiatives, inspections, sanctions and outcomes for people found to be working illegally

Bayesian State Space Modeling of Physical Processes in Industrial Hygiene

Exposure assessment models are deterministic models derived from physical-chemical laws. In real workplace settings, chemical concentration measurements can be noisy and indirectly measured. In addition, inference on important parameters such as generation and ventilation rates are usually of interest since they are difficult to obtain. In this paper we outline a flexible Bayesian framework for parameter inference and exposure prediction. In particular, we propose using Bayesian state space models by discretizing the differential equation models and incorporating information from observed measurements and expert prior knowledge. At each time point, a new measurement is available that contains some noise, so using the physical model and the available measurements, we try to obtain a more accurate state estimate, which can be called filtering. We consider Monte Carlo sampling methods for parameter estimation and inference under nonlinear and non-Gaussian assumptions. The performance of the different methods is studied on computer-simulated and controlled laboratory-generated data. We consider some commonly used exposure models representing different physical hypotheses

Walking Away from the Big Deal : Where We are One Year after Crossing that Bridge

Background: Budgetary constraints at West Virginia University (WVU) in combination with impending expiration/renewal of “big deal” contracts resulted in the unbundling of three major journal packages between 2017-2019: Wiley, Elsevier Science Direct, and Springer. Unbundling these packages saved the library system a total of $1,441,450. This poster will describe longer-term results of these decisions and how we have continued to adapt to improve access to journals for our research community. Methods: Since the unbundling, the WVU Libraries’ Collections Advisory Committee has closely monitored ILL usage and costs for canceled titles, as well as faculty complaints and requests. An interactive session was held with key department chairs at the Health Sciences Center in early 2020 to obtain their feedback regarding journal access and the publishing landscape. Criteria were established to consider adding back journal titles, including usage prior to cancellation, number of ILL requests received after cancellation, overlapping coverage with other resources, and journal price. New services were introduced to improve rapid access to journal articles. These included cross-training staff to place ILL requests during evenings/weekends, implementation of an automatic ordering feature through Reprints Desk for 552 ISSNs, and implementation/marketing of LibKey Nomad and LibKey.io. Results: Up-to-date ILL statistics will be reported, including numbers of specific titles ordered and total article costs. Usage of Science Direct titles automatically retained in Clinical Key has more than tripled since the unbundling, increasing from an average of 505 uses/month in 2018 to 1,943/month in 2019 and 1,757/month this year. No complaints have been heard regarding its shorter period of coverage. Several journals have been added back based on established criteria. Conclusions: Journal unbundling implemented by necessity has had positive results. Besides the obvious financial benefits, rapid access to journal articles has improved with adaptations to our ILL service and implementation of new ways to connect to articles

Dispelling the Myths about Open Access: Making Informed Choices about Open Access Publishing Opportunities

This workshop will discuss open access vs. traditional publishing venues and will include a section about predatory publishers\u27 practices. Resources that are available to help find appropriate journals in which to publish will be demonstrated, and WVU Libraries\u27 sources of assistance for open access publishing will be outlined

Opening the Door to Open Access: Successes and Lessons Learned with an Open Access Author Fund Pilot Program

Background: In an effort to respond to faculty requests for assistance and to support open access publishing by West Virginia University authors, the West Virginia University Libraries established a pilot program for an Open Access Author Fund (OAAF) in August 2016. The fund has now been operational through two academic years. Methods: WVU Libraries used $30,000 from its operations budget to establish the fund. A webpage was designed by the library web team to outline the criteria and to link to an application form. The primary criteria were that the journals needed to be totally open access, not a hybrid; should be listed in DOAJ or OASPA, and indexed in a scholarly database. The fund was promoted at New Faculty Orientation and by outreach to liaison faculty members and graduate student classes. Two librarians vetted the journals in the applications to ensure that they met the criteria, and a committee consisting of faculty from across campus approved all applications. Article processing charges for approved applications were paid directly to the publisher. Results: Over 2 years, 61 requests were received and 49 were funded. Requests were received from a variety of STEM disciplines, with Health Sciences representing 33% of the total. Opportunities for educating users were found in regard to hybrid and predatory journals, and the process was improved with the addition of a preliminary checklist to be completed ahead of the application. Usage and viewing statistics were phenomenal for the funded articles from the journal’s websites, especially when compared to usage via subscription databases. Conclusion: The OAAF has proven to be a popular service offered by the Libraries. In addition to increased exposure for WVU authors, outcomes include a new library-sponsored workshop on open access publishing and plans to pursue more money for the OAAF through the Provost or Research Offices of the university

Leader traits and leadership competencies necessary during organizational change

The rapid onset and constancy of change in organizations today have created a climate that challenges leaders and followers alike. To complicate matters, there was little evidence to support the need for leaders to demonstrate new and/or different leader traits and leadership competencies, to be successful during major organizational change. The purposes of this study were: (a) to identify the leader traits and leadership competencies necessary for leaders to be successful during major organizational change initiatives; (b) to determine if there were significant differences between the perceptions of leaders and followers on the importance of leader traits and leadership competencies; (c) to determine if there were significant differences between experts, leaders, and followers in their perceptions of the traits and competencies, (d) to determine if there were significant correlations between experts, leaders, and followers\u27 rankings of importance of those traits and competencies, (e) to determine if there were significant differences in the perceptions of importance between healthcare professionals in rural and urban organizations on the necessary leader traits and leadership competencies, (f) to determine if there were significant differences in perceptions of leaders and followers on the importance of the leader traits and leadership competencies when grouped by demographic variables (gender, race, and educational levels), and (g) to determine if there were significant relationships between age, number of years in healthcare, number of years in the current organization, and the number of major changes experienced while working in healthcare, and the levels of perceived importance of leader traits and leadership competencies necessary during organizational change. The study was a descriptive survey research. An extensive review of the literature was conducted to identify leader traits and leadership competencies necessary during organizational change. The identified traits and competencies were validated by a Delphi panel of experts. The 5 leader traits and 17 leadership competencies were validated as necessary for leader success during major organizational change. They were formatted into in a researcher-developed instrument, named the Leadership Trait and Competency Assessment (LTCA). Data for the study were collected from a stratified random sample of 550 healthcare professionals from rural and urban healthcare organizations. The sample included 444 urban participants (123 leaders and 321 followers) and 103 rural participants (17 leaders and 89 followers). A total of 347 completed the questionnaires were returned, which was a return rate of 63 percent. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of each leader trait and leadership competency necessary during change. A Likert scale of 1 to 6 was used. One was the least important and 6 was the most important. Respondents were also asked to provide demographic data. Research data were tabulated and statistical analyses were conducted to test the research hypotheses. The results of the study were: The LTCA is a valid instrument for assessing the perceived importance of leader traits and leadership competencies during major organizational change. The 5 traits and 17 competencies were perceived to be important by leadership experts and healthcare leaders, and followers. Healthcare leaders and followers have the same expectations of their leaders during major organizational change. Experts in the leadership field and healthcare leaders and followers all have the same expectations of their leaders during major organizational change. Rural and urban healthcare professionals have the same general expectations from their leaders, except for the leader trait determined. Females expect their healthcare leaders to have higher standards than their male counterparts. Healthcare professionals who were of different races and educational levels were in agreement on their perception of the importance of necessary leader traits and leadership competencies. The age of healthcare professionals, the number of years in healthcare, the number of years in the current organization, and/or the number of major changes experienced while working in healthcare were unrelated to the expectations of leaders during major organizational change

Herreshoff Marine Museum: Historical Analysis

These methods that Herreshoff utilized can be classified as early stages of the LEAN manufacturing concept which is used today in a majority of America’s leading manufacturers. Herreshoff made sure that his entire inventory was used and nothing was wasted. By reducing/eliminating waste, Nat preserved the value of his products and increased the efficiency of operation

Pivoting a Health Sciences Leisure Reading Collection in a New Direction

Background: The dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racial inequity brought renewed attention to establishing a leisure reading collection in our Health Sciences Library. Such a collection had long been on our wish list, but had never been achievable due to budget constraints. With a renewed University emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion, and an unexpected $5,000 donation, the decision was made to feature books written by patients and medical practitioners of marginalized groups and those offering diverse perspectives on the practice of medicine. This emphasis dovetailed with the Libraries’ Strategic Roadmap goals and the campus’s Wellbeing Priorities. It is hoped that this collection will allow current students to see themselves in their future careers in new and unique ways, and that it will introduce health sciences students to the conversation around implicit bias in medicine early in their careers. Methods: Books chosen for the collection included graphic medicine titles, medical memoirs and reflections, and those emphasizing diversity, equity and inclusion in medicine. The initial titles were selected using the following recommended reading lists: Essential Graphic Medicine: An Annotated Bibliography, the National Network of the Library of Medicine’s Reading Club, and the Medical Library Association Reads selections. Formats included 92 print titles, 42 eBooks, and 10 eAudiobooks. Librarians collaborated with a graphic designer to create marketing materials, including an easel poster, tabletop signage, and an announcement for the online information system used by the University. The collection was also made a “featured collection” in the University’s Overdrive platform. Results: This poster will present and discuss to-date circulation statistics for the collection. Conclusions: Next steps for the collection will be based on actual usage data and title recommendations from library users. Books written by patients and medical practitioners of marginalized groups and those offering diverse perspectives on the practice of medicine will continue to be prioritized

A test of a statistical learning model for multiple choice behavior

The purpose is to study the multiple choice behavior of animal subjects under partial reinforcement and to test certain preditions of Estes\u27 statistical learning theory