It's a family affair: the effect of union recognition and human resource management on the provision of equal opportunities in the UK

Equal opportunities policies and family-friendly practices are examined using data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey in order to assess (i) their associations with union recognition and strategic human resource management and (ii) the outcomes of what has recently been described as ''tinkering around'' for women at work. We find that, controlling for various factors, equal opportunities policies and their monitoring, together with ''softer'' family-friendly policies are strongly associated with trade union recognition. On the other hand, we find that a number of both ''hard'' and ''soft'' Human Resource Management (HRM) policies are strongly associated with flexible working practices. Employees are least likely to have access to equal opportunities and family-friendly policies in workplaces which do not recognise a union or use HRM practices, and we present evidence to suggest that this is the worst option for the employer in terms of workplace performance, as well as for those with family responsibilities

A new model for information literacy provision: how to balance cost and quality in an economic downturn

In this time of swingeing cuts in higher education, the Open University Library has focused creative energy on making efficiency savings while still providing a top quality e-service. The Open University’s quarter of a million part-time students are distance learners whose information literacy skills are developed and progressed as an integral part of teaching materials delivered within a VLE. This paper will focus on one of the Library’s contributions to the Open University’s strategic aims: to continue the process of transferring traditional information skills to the end-user by developing a range of new and re-usable generic tools and resources, in this example by creating a repository of core re-usable information literacy learning activities to cover each skill as set out in the Library’s information literacy framework. The Library’s Information Literacy (LIL) site provides short chunks of learning to be used in modules and degree courses in a flexible way. The pedagogy is aligned to the level of study, i.e. increasing independence in searching for, finding, evaluating and managing information, progressing from undergraduate to Masters level. The paper will outline the process costing of writing and re-versioning learning activities, how we measured the savings made in production costs of new modules, and the impact of the drive to produce less OU academic authored bespoke material by integrating either core generic IL activities or re-versioning generic material for re-use within particular subject contexts. Finally, the paper will set out how the benefits of providing students with a consistent IL experience, and making cost savings were ‘sold’ by our team of librarians to faculties of academics largely intent on writing all their own teaching materials from scratch for every module

Its a Family Affair: the Effect of Union Recognition and Human Resource Management on the Provision of Equal Opportunities in the UK

Equal opportunities policies and family-friendly practices are examined using data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey in order to assess (i) their associations with union recognition and strategic human resource management and (ii) the outcomes of what has recently been described as 'tinkering around' for women at work. We find that, controlling for various factors, equal opportunities policies and their monitoring, together with 'softer' family-friendly policies are strongly associated with trade union recognition. On the other hand, we find that a number of both 'hard' and 'soft' Human Resource Management (HRM) policies are strongly associated with flexible working practices. Employees are least likely to have access to equal opportunities and family-friendly policies in workplaces which do not recognise a union or use HRM practices, and we present evidence to suggest that this is the worst option for the employer in terms of workplace performance, as well as for those with family responsibilities.Workplace governance, equal opportunities, family-friendly, trade unions, human resource management

Amendments to the IMAS Land Release Series

The International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) review board formally endorsed amendments to the Land Release IMAS in April 2013 that clarify and standardize the language and practices in the series

Letter to Catherine Maybury regarding library manuals, November 19, 1959

A letter from Helen Gray Gillam to Catherine Maybury discussing the development of library manuals for use with in-house training

Alien Registration- Gray, Helen G. (Bar Harbor, Hancock County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/19399/thumbnail.jp

Alien Registration- Hagerman, Helen (Ashland, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/27380/thumbnail.jp

Family-Friendly Working: What a Performance! An Analysis of the Relationship Between the Availability of Family-Friendly Policies and Establishment Performance

This paper uses the Management and Employee Questionnaires from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey (WERS98) to consider whether the performance of workplaces which offer a range of family-friendly policies are superior to that of workplaces without such practices. It is found that in almost all cases where there is a significant relationship between the use of a family-friendly practice and workplace performance, this relationship is positive. In addition, it appears that workplaces which offer an extensive range of family-friendly policies are much more likely to have above-average performance than those with no such practices. The paper moves on to consider whether employers offering policies which enable employees with families to maintain a full-time presence in the workplace e.g. a workplace nursery, have better performance than those which offer policies which result in reduced-visibility e.g. working from home, part-time work. The evidence from WERS98 suggests that this is indeed the case.Family -friendly, part-time, equality, business case.

A temperate river estuary is a sink for methanotrophs adapted to extremes of pH, temperature and salinity

River Tyne (UK) estuarine sediments harbour a genetically and functionally diverse community of methane-oxidizing bacteria (methanotrophs), the composition and activity of which were directly influenced by imposed environmental conditions (pH, salinity, temperature) that extended far beyond those found in situ. In aerobic sediment slurries methane oxidation rates were monitored together with the diversity of a functional gene marker for methanotrophs (pmoA). Under near in situ conditions (4-30°C, pH 6-8, 1-15gl-1 NaCl), communities were enriched by sequences affiliated with Methylobacter and Methylomonas spp. and specifically a Methylobacter psychrophilus-related species at 4-21°C. More extreme conditions, namely high temperatures ≥40°C, high ≥9 and low ≤5 pH, and high salinities ≥35gl-1 selected for putative thermophiles (Methylocaldum), acidophiles (Methylosoma) and haloalkaliphiles (Methylomicrobium). The presence of these extreme methanotrophs (unlikely to be part of the active community in situ) indicates passive dispersal from surrounding environments into the estuary