The Road to Effective Leadership

Library leadership is one of the much-discussed subjects in library and information science. Yet, many librarians tend to shy away from using the word “leadership” and the authors wondered why. It seemed peculiar that librarians tend not to associate themselves with the context of leaders or leadership. Whether you are a driven librarian or an ambitious young librarian, or you are an ambitious and driven person, library leadership is a rather remote subject for most librarians and information professionals. Why is that the case? This paper will explore the world of library leaders and leadership by deconstructing the myths of leadership, examining whether there is a difference between a leader and a library leader, and guiding you to become a leader through seven stages of leadership development. One of our professional societies, Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA) changed in 2008 to the Library Leadership and Management Association [LLAMA] in recognition of the growing importance of the issues of leadership and librarians. The LLAMA Annual Report (2008–2009) reported that the name change also presented an implicit challenge to LLAMA: “leadership” needs to move to the forefront of its activities, and resources need to be allocated to reflect and support this shift. Research has shown that millennials and new librarians have not aspired to become leaders. This paper is directed at early career librarians who are wondering about becoming a library leader. We assume that you are curious about leadership and someday you want to be a leader, if you are not one already. The goal is to offer encouragement and guidance to young or newly minted librarians and offer much needed food for thought. The current library leaders who want to create a culture of entrepreneurship and nurture future library leaders are encouraged to join the session to share their views on leadership

Evaluation of the SLIRI/Landmine Action Socio-Economic Impact and Dangerous Area Surveys and of SLIRI\u27s Organizational Sustainability in the Nuba Mountains

From its inspired beginnings in 2001, the Sudan Landmines Information and Response Initiative (SLIRI) has had the potential to become an influential mine action organization with the capacity to use the mine action platform for engaging Sudan\u27s adversaries in a peacebuilding dialogue. It is the only non-partisan indigenous organization in thecountry. Its first location – or Sector Operations Centre (SOC) as the site offices have been called - and the most innovative has been in the Nuba Mountains, where shortly after the cease-fire in January 2002 SLIRI first introduced two offices working in tandem on either side of the conflict line for collecting information about victims and mined areas. Information was collected by pairs of field workers drawn from both sides of the conflict. From the Nuba Mountains, SLIRI expanded, establishing 15 Sector Operation Centres (SOCs) throughout the country as the programme grew, operating simultaneouslyin Government controlled areas and SPLM controlled areas. Its ultimate ambition was to have SOCs in all major areas of the country with sub-sector locations where basic landmine surveys would contribute to protecting the population and to assisting mine clearance in setting priorities.This evaluation report argues that Landmine Action and other associated international partners should take measures to rescue SLIRI from its present decline, to resurrect SLIRI\u27s reputation with UNMAS and to mend fences with the Government as it continues to seek official recognition. The EC continues to actively support registration for SLIRI, a sign that the EC maintains an interest in supporting the SLIRI ideal. The fact that SLIRI no longer functions in the way it was envisaged does not mean it should not do so or that it was not a good idea or that it did not do well. It has done well even if its present circumstances are poor testimony. SLIRI functioned well in Phase I of European Community funding and continued to function well, against some odds, in 2004 duringthe first year of the European Community\u27s Phase II funding. Its accomplishments are considerable especially considering the difficulties experienced in providing data according to UNMAS\u27 standards. A neutral, national indigenous organization is a viable and feasible ideal, and even if these first three and a half years have had disappointments, they have provided lessons for avoiding the risks that a non-partisan, national institution must navigate if it is to serve as a platform for implementing a peacebuilding campaign through mine action

Web Services: Enabling Dynamic Business Networks

A Dynamic Business Network is a distinct system of participants (customers, suppliers, complimentors, competitors, service providers) that use the network to achieve customer satisfaction and profitability and where participants and relationships evolve over time. However, unpredictability and rapid change in a Dynamic Business Network creates a significant challenge in implementing and supporting business application software. Traditional information systems implementation methods require an a priori design and are built for a particular purpose for use over an extended period of time. Loosely coupled business networks change interrelationships between nodes both quickly and frequently, thus providing little or no notice for planning, implementing, or changing the supporting applications. The dynamic sourcing capabilities of the emerging Web Services framework provide a key to enabling these complex eco-systems. We explore the strategic and technological dimensions of Web Services and describe how they can be used to support dynamic business networks

First Hubble Space Telescope observations of the brightest stars in the Virgo galaxy M100 = NGC 4321

As part of both the Early Release Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale, we have obtained multiwavelength BVR WFPC2 images for the face-on Virgo cluster spiral galaxy M100 = NGC 4321. We report here preliminary results from those observations, in the form of a color-magnitude diagram for -11,500 stars down to V ~ 27 mag and a luminosity function for the brightest blue stars which is found to have a slope of 0.7, in excellent agreement with previous results obtained for significantly nearer galaxies. With the increased resolution now available using WFPC2, the number of galaxies in which we can directly measure Population I stars and thereby quantify the recent evolution, as well as test stellar evolution theory, has dramatically increased by at least a factor of 100. Finally, we find that stars are present in M100 at the colors and luminosities expected for the brightest Cepheid variables in galaxies

A Dynamic, Data-Driven, Decision Support System for Emergency Medical Services

Abstract. In crisis, decisions must be made in human perceptual timeframes under pressure to respond to dynamic uncertain conditions. To be effective management must have access to real time environmental data in a form that can be immediately understood and acted upon. The emerging computing model of Dynamic Data-Driven Application Systems (DDDAS) fits well in crisis situations where rapid decision-making is essential. We explore the value of a DDDAS (iRevive) in support of emergency medical treatment decisions in response to a crisis. This complex multi-layered dynamic environment both feeds and responds to an ever-changing stream of real-time data that enables coordinated decision-making by heterogeneous personnel across a wide geography at the same time.

An inclusive search for free quarks at PEP

Abstract We report the results of a search for fractionally charged particles in e + e − reactions at a center of mass energy of 29 GeV. We find no evidence for such particles and present upper limitts on R q = σ q q X/σ μμ for change 1 3 e and 2 3 e which range from 1 to 8 × 10 −2 for mass up to 12 GeV/ c 2

Do Health Beliefs and Behaviors Differ According to Severity of Obesity? A Qualitative Study of Australian Adults

Public responses to obesity have focused on providing standardized messages and supports to all obese individuals, but there is limited understanding of the impact of these messages on obese adults. This descriptive qualitative study using in-depth interviews and a thematic method of analysis, compares the health beliefs and behaviors of 141 Australian adults with mild to moderate (BMI 30−39.9) and severe (BMI ≥ 40) obesity. Mildly obese individuals felt little need to change their health behaviors or to lose weight for health reasons. Most believed they could “lose weight” if they needed to, distanced themselves from the word obesity, and stigmatized those “fatter” than themselves. Severely obese individuals felt an urgent need to change their health behaviors, but felt powerless to do so. They blamed themselves for their weight, used stereotypical language to describe their health behaviors, and described being “at war” with their bodies. Further research, particularly about the role of stigma and stereotyping, is needed to fully understand the impact of obesity messaging on the health beliefs, behaviors, and wellbeing of obese and severely obese adults

Posting and transfer: key to fostering trust in government health services

Appropriate deployment or posting and transfer (P&T) of health workers – placing the right people in the right positions at the right time – lies at the heart of fostering communities’ faith in government health services and cementing the role of the health system as a core social institution. The authors of this paper have been involved in an ongoing transnational dialogue about P&T practices and determinants. This dialogue seeks to call attention to the importance of P&T as a health system function; to urge donors and policy-makers working in health systems, HRH and public administration governance to consider how to address issues around P&T; and to suggest avenues and approaches to research. P&T is a vexed and unresolved issue in many low- and middle-income countries that requires, above all, political commitment to improving public sector services and to new thinking and research. It holds promise as a focal point for inter-disciplinary collaboration in research and implementation that can inform other areas in HRH and health systems strengthening. Innovative social science and management theorizing, and iterative, locally driven interventions that focus on establishing transparent professional norms and building the credibility of government administration, including the health services, are likely the way forward