Book Review - The Marketing of Academic, National and Public Libraries Worldwide: Marketing, Branding, Community Engagement

Patrick Lo and David Baker have brought the world of marketing to the center ground of libraries in their book The Marketing of Academic, National and Public Libraries Worldwide: Marketing, Branding, Community Engagement. Published by Chandos-Elsevier its sheer size and substance is indicative of how far the language, culture, and operations of marketing have taken root in the library sector worldwide and is in the minds of those who lead important libraries. Lo and Baker have captured an immense amount of information to fill a significant gap in the literature. Far from being a dirty word, the ‘marketing’ of libraries is clearly necessary, essential, desirable, perhaps uncomfortable at times, and quite fascinating

Well rounded Postdoctoral Researchers with initiative, who are not always “tied to the bench” are more successful academically

This article reports the development, application and results of a baseline investigation of contract research staff in 2007 in the Medical School at the University of Sheffield which was carried out in order to develop a specifically tailored training and career development programme and allow for future impact evaluation of the scheme. Postdoctoral researchers reported on their perceived skill levels, academic achievements, career motivations and the current research environment. Results indicated that transferable skills related to communication and awareness of the process of research (i.e. the process of acquisition of funding, commercialisation of research outputs) were lacking. Furthermore, these skills were associated with higher publication outputs, and improved with mobility between institutions at postdoctoral level. This paper also describes how the findings from the baseline evaluation were used to develop a programme to address the lower ranking skills and evaluate the impact of the programme

An Overview of Platforms to Support Online GMB

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in the new reality of remote working and learning, forcing group model building practitioners to make an abrupt shift to online workshops. Like our peers, the Social System Design Lab (SSDL) at Washington University in St. Louis confronted this challenge by exploring what tools existed for adaptation and continued collaboration. The shift has not been easy, but it has revealed new insights that suggest areas to leverage the strengths of online GMB long after the pandemic comes to an end. The purpose of this brief is to review a number of online platforms that group model building practitioners have used since the rise of remote work, and to suggest promising combinations for groups who are hoping to implement their own online system dynamics work

Mental Models

A central principle of the systems thinking perspective is that system structures are supported and held in place by our underlying beliefs, mindsets, and goals (See Brief 1.01 - Systems Thinking Iceberg). Therefore, in order to transform and redesign systems we must also transform our mindsets. The purpose of this brief is to introduce the concept of mental models, and to discuss how system dynamics tools can be used to elicit, negotiate, and transform them

Facilitation Team Roles in Online GMB

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in the new reality of remote working and learning, forcing group model building practitioners to make an abrupt shift to online workshops. Like our peers, the Social System Design Lab (SSDL) at Washington University in St. Louis confronted this challenge by exploring what tools existed for adaptation and continued collaboration. The shift has not been easy, but it has revealed new insights that suggest areas to leverage the strengths of online GMB long after the pandemic comes to an end. The purpose of this brief is to compare facilitation team roles in traditional, in-person GMB sessions with those in online GMB sessions, shedding particular light on how the realities of online platforms shift what tools facilitators have at their disposal when engaging a group of participants

Online GMB: Challenges, Opportunities, and Barriers

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in the new reality of remote working and learning, forcing group model building practitioners to make an abrupt shift to online workshops. Like our peers, the Social System Design Lab (SSDL) at Washington University in St. Louis confronted this challenge by exploring what tools existed for adaptation and continued collaboration. The shift has not been easy, but it has revealed new insights that suggest areas to leverage the strengths of online GMB long after the pandemic comes to an end. The purpose of this brief is to provide some general points of comparison between in-person and online group model building and introduce challenges and opportunities that practitioners in the SSDL have faced when translating workshops to online spaces