Public libraries, arts and cultural policy in the UK

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose: Public libraries in the UK are increasingly expected to provide arts activities and events as part of their usual operations. This paper summarizes recent policy trends in this direction from both the perspective of libraries' and the arts sector. A touring theatre project aimed at children and families is discussed in further detail to examine some of the outcomes of these policies. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper will present a brief history of policy developments and debate in this area. Mixed method findings from the research element of 'Among Ideal Friends' (AIF) will be discussed, having used surveys and interviews with audiences and librarians, geodemographic profiling, box office records and library card data. Findings: Public funding across both libraries and the arts has decreased at a national and local level, though both sectors are encouraged to work together to share expertise and community knowledge. Costs and benefits of the project are presented and while the holistic view is broadly positive, the return to any specific agency or stakeholder group less certain. Practical implications: Public libraries can see the results and challenges of a successful touring theatre project for consideration in their own activity planning, especially those related to families and younger users. Social implications: Libraries and Arts organisations have different priorities in regards to these areas. Though co-operative, the situation is not without tension. The topic is illustrative of some wider debates around cultural value, participation and ‘cultural democracy’. Originality/value: This paper offers a timely discussion of cultural policy in relation to libraries, eg: The Society of Chief Librarians 'Universal Cultural Offer' (October 2017)

Beyond the Organizing Model: The Transformation Process in Local Unions

[Excerpt] The ideological foundations of traditional U.S. trade unionism have been called into question by world and domestic events. The post-World War II labor movement, founded on a social truce with capital and the apparent inevitability of a rising living standard, has hit a bulkhead-piercing iceberg of dramatic proportions. The global economy, economic restructuring, deregulation, and privatization have wrought destruction on U.S. unions. In the wake of this devastation, it has become common, even for union leaders, to define unionism in objectively negative terms (e.g., without a union, you have no protection from arbitrary management). As a movement, we have offered little in the way of a comprehensive explanation of what we stand for. The upheaval has forced new questions and problems to the surface and has set the stage for an internal debate about the future. The dialogue has included little that is fundamentally new. There have always been disagreements over labor strategy and tactics, the relationship of unions to capital, and the appropriate form of organization for the labor movement. This debate has taken on new urgency since the mid-1980s, however, and has concentrated on whether there is a viable alternative to the prevailing form of business unionism, which appears to be leading workers nowhere

Overcoming Obstacles to Transformation: Challenges on the Way to a New Unionism

[Excerpt] The change to organizing requires more than a shift in resources. It is difficult to imagine a sustained commitment to organizing at the grass roots unless locals have the tools, skills, and strategic perspective necessary to mount successful organizing campaigns. Ultimately the commitment to building the labor movement inherent in the organizing priority challenges unions to alter organizational cultures that are often deeply imbued with traditional and conservative approaches to trade unionism. The struggle to succeed at organizing, to maintain representation, and to alter union culture is forcing national unions to define their role in this process and to reassess their relationships with locals. A key objective of the research reported here is to help clarify the issues at stake in the process of the change to organizing at the local level. Although there are few definitive answers, the experiences of locals struggling with the realities of juggling organizing and representational responsibilities should guide the search for sustainable conversion

Simulating the aerodynamic performance and wake dynamics of a vertical-axis wind turbine

The accurate prediction of the aerodynamics and performance of vertical-axis wind turbines is essential if their design is to be improved but poses a signifi cant challenge to numerical simulation tools. The cyclic motion of the blades induces large variations in the angle of attack of the blades that can manifest as dynamic stall. In addition, predicting the interaction between the blades and the wake developed by the rotor requires a high-fi delity representation of the vortical structures within the fl ow fi eld in which the turbine operates. The aerodynamic performance and wake dynamics of a Darrieus-type vertical-axis wind turbine consisting of two straight blades is simulated using Brown’s Vorticity Transport Model. The predicted variation with azimuth of the normal and tangential force on the turbine blades compares well with experimental measurements. The interaction between the blades and the vortices that are shed and trailed in previous revolutions of the turbine is shown to have a signifi cant effect on the distribution of aerodynamic loading on the blades. Furthermore, it is suggested that the disagreement between experimental and numerical data that has been presented in previous studies arises because the blade–vortex interactions on the rotor were not modelled with sufficient fidelity

High Specification Offshore Blades: Work Package: 1B: Blades Design

This report outlines the current state of the art in offshore wind turbine blade aerodynamic design, along with the key technical limitations and possible technologies which may improve the aerodynamic design of blades and turbine rotors in the future. It is suggested that there are three principal areas in which aerodynamic improvements can be made to the design of offshore wind turbine systems: improved rotor system and blade tip design for operation at higher tip speeds, optimisation of wind farm design to alleviate aerodynamic interactions between individual turbines, and the aerodynamic feasibility of using structural mode coupling to achieve pitch and/or stall control of the loads on blades

How many news websites block AI crawlers?

In this factsheet we describe the proportion of news websites in ten countries that block AI (artificial intelligence) crawlers. We find that, (i) by the end 2023, 48% of the most widely used news websites across ten countries were blocking OpenAI’s (ChatGPT) crawlers. A smaller number, 24%, were blocking Google’s (Gemini) AI crawler. However, (ii) the proportion of news websites that blocked OpenAI varied considerably by country, ranging from 79% in the USA to just 20% in Mexico and Poland. For Google, the figures ranged from 60% in Germany to 7% in Poland and Spain. We also find that (iii) all types of news outlet were blocking, but the websites of legacy print publications were more likely to be blocking than those of either broadcasters or digital-born outlets