No description available.

Submitted to tbe Department of Library and Information Science For the Award of Master of Library and Information Science University of Zululand, 2009. / Different categories of people who may be scholars, lectures, students, retirees, housewives, politicians, administrators etc. use the library to access the information they require to pass exams, make decisions or read for leisure. Academic libraries are most important to all scholars and students who pass through a university. For these libraries to continue striving and provide effective services, research is required to improve on areas that are not viable to users. The professional academic librarian is mandated to provide guidance on how these services can be improved in order to make the library useful to all. This cannot be possible if the academic librarians only concentrate on shelving, acquisition, classification, cataloguing, charging and discharging and processing of information materials. The role of academic librarians has continued and will continue to change as time goes on. Many academic librarians provide research assistance to their users and other vital services to facilitate the completion of their client's research. However, it is significant to note that academic librarians must engage in research and publish, in order to improve services and attract more users to the library. Payne and Payne (2004: 9) highlights that there are two main reasons why people carry out research. One among others is because there is an intellectual challenge and the urge to fill a gap in our knowledge, or believe that current accepted theories should be tested. A second reason is that we want to change the world. Academic librarians need to be provided with incentives such as funding, promotions, and time out in order to entice them to carry out research. This study was carried out with an idea that academic librarians should carry out research and publish, for development and for the improvement of library services. Academic librarians holding a bachelors degree and above,, who were working in public universities in Eastern and Southern Africa were targeted for the study. The purpose of this research was to compare the research and publication patterns of academic librarians working in Eastern and Southern Africa from 1990 to 2006. Six objectives were formulated in order to achieve this purpose. The research was purely carried out online, 866 academic librarians names were retrieved from a total of 47 Public university libraries WebPages, via the universities websites. These names were used as access points to retrieve data from the two online databases (i.e. LISTA and WORLDCAT). Bibliometrics was used as research method, Microsoft Excel software was also employed for the purpose of data analysis and presentation of the collected data. Findings indicated that Southern Africa was the most prolific region with 194 (74.00%) of the publications emanating from there. South Africa was the most productive country in Southern Africa with 111(42.21%) publications. Tanzania was the most productive country in Eastern Africa with 31 (11.41%). Muswazi and Pienaar were the most prolific academic librarians with 11(3.97%) publications each. Most productive academic library was from Southern Africa, which was Botswana with 31 (11.41%) publications. Majority of the academic librarians from both regions contributed to one publication. The study was concluded with the following observation being made: Overall South Africa emerged the most prolific country in both regions; majority of the countries from both regions were not consistent in their publication production; there was a continuous rises and drops in research publication from 1990 to 2006; and academic librarians preferred publishing articles than any other publications, many academic librarians did not engage in research and academic librarians, from the two regions prefer publishing individually. The study further recommended several studies that needed to be carried out in Africa and other parts of the world in order to fill and clarify gaps that emanated from the study.

Recently, community initiatives have emerged for the establishment of large-scale environmental observatories. Cyberinfrastructure is the backbone upon which these observatories will be built, and scientists' ability to access and use the data collected within observatories to address research questions will depend on the successful implementation of cyberinfrastructure. The research described in this dissertation advances the cyberinfrastructure available for supporting environmental observatories. This has been accomplished through both development of new cyberinfrastructure components as well as through the demonstration and application of existing tools, with a specific focus on point observations data. The cyberinfrastructure that was developed and deployed to support collection, management, analysis, and publication of data generated by an environmental sensor network in the Little Bear River environmental observatory test bed is described, as is the sensor network design and deployment. Results of several analyses that demonstrate how high-frequency data enable identification of trends and analysis of physical, chemical, and biological behavior that would be impossible using traditional, low-frequency monitoring data are presented. This dissertation also illustrates how the cyberinfrastructure components demonstrated in the Little Bear River test bed have been integrated into a data publication system that is now supporting a nationwide network of 11 environmental observatory test bed sites, as well as other research sites within and outside of the United States. Enhancements to the infrastructure for research and education that are enabled by this research are impacting a diverse community, including the national community of researchers involved with prospective Water and Environmental Research Systems (WATERS) Network environmental observatories as well as other observatory efforts, research watersheds, and test beds. The results of this research provide insight into and potential solutions for some of the bottlenecks associated with design and implementation of cyberinfrastructure for observatory support.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Martin Summers / The second wave feminist media, defined as ideological contributions via the written word, played an essential role in the second wave by sharing radical ideologies and bringing women into a feminist consciousness. This study examines the herstory of three groups in Boston at the time: the Second Wave magazine (1971-1983), the Combahee River Collective (1974-1980), and Persephone Press (1976-1983). Each group had different motivations yet remained dedicated to the radical feminist media and various methods of societal upheaval. As a radical feminist magazine, a black feminist organization, and lesbian-feminist publishing house respectively, the women behind the three entities aspired to alter the face of second wave feminism. Each had several commonalities: including a commitment to the feminist media, factionalism and ideological strife, difficulties in balancing beliefs with harsh systemic realities, and a great connection to coalitions and the greater feminism community. The Second Wave, the Combahee River Collective, and Persephone Press may appear conflicting at first glance but shared a great commitment to facing sexist oppression through the written word. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History.

Over the past few decades, there has been an exponential increase of females holding professional positions traditionally assigned to males. While female professors of music have become more commonplace over the past few decades, there continues to be a recognizable absence of women in the field of music composition. Additionally, publication and performance of music composed by women is minimal in comparison to their male counterparts. The purpose of this study was to examine the current employment practices of U.S. universities with leading music programs to ascertain if gender inequity was evident. Further, I sought to determine what social barriers cisgender female professors faced when pursuing a degree in composition and what restrictions they have faced as professional composers. Finally, I ascertained what initiatives are in place to encourage women to pursue careers in music composition. Cisgender music composition professors at leading music programs in the U.S. (N=14) were interviewed, and the conversations were recorded, transcribed, and coded to expose common themes. Although participants indicated the road to professorship was not significantly affected by gender, they reported encountering pro-male prejudice when seeking to publish, produce, program, and distribute their musical works. The interviews also revealed that issues surrounding motherhood and ageism led to restrictions in their advancement in academia. Further research focusing on causes of continued marginalization of musical works by females and university employment practices surrounding the hiring of female composition professors could provide a broader view of the political and social issues that affect women composers’ careers today.

No description available.

John Steinbeck, known for his descriptions of the American West, maintained a fascination with the Arthurian legend throughout his life and literary career. Through comparative analysis of Cup of Gold, Tortilla Flat, and The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, we can see Steinbeck's recurring interest in the Arthurian legend which is often overlooked by scholars. Steinbeck's initial interest in strict translation which evolved into adaptation over the course of his work on The Acts shows his developing interest in Arthurian themes which he enhanced with his own creative abilities as a world-renowned author. By highlighting the gap between Steinbeck's view of America and his known Arthurian interest, we can challenge current interpretations of Steinbeck's literary corpus, and create new meaning which has been overlooked. Despite limited scholarship on The Acts, this thesis explores Steinbeck's connection to King Arthur and underscores the significance of his contribution to the Arthurian tradition.

No / Nursing Lecturer, Catherine Kelsey, reflects on developing her Celebrating Nursing Practice project.

本研究者緣自1978年投入職場以來，長年從事出版行銷工作的背景和對童書情有獨鍾的偏愛心懷，在久經實務操作和用心觀察之後，撰述本研究。 本研究嘗試對台灣童書出版行銷通路發展的歷史軌跡和現況加以描述；對童書出版業的產業特質，加以剖析；並就數十年來蔚為主流的行銷管道：經銷，郵銷，和直銷等三種通路的特質，4P組合方式，成本結構，經營的關鍵成功因素，和其面對的主要難題等要項，加以分析、討論，並對通路的未來發展趨勢，概廓描繪。 本研究同時以天衛文化為個案，介紹其公司緣起，願景，組織，行銷通路運作網絡的結構和淵源，經營狀況和特色，瞭解其面對的問題和因應措施並提出建言，以供參考。 本研究的結論是對台灣童書出版產業全面、長期的發展，寄予厚望，除了市場、消費者、出版業者、通路業者都亟待觀念與技術的提昇、突破之外，也寄語政府當局妥當扮演適切的角色，不宜缺席。 本研究的綜合建議是： 一、童書的行銷通路，亟待競合重組的改造。 二、行銷通路的發展必須走向多元整合，追求綜效。 三、產業秩序與道德規範尚待塑造。 四、兒童教育理念的提升推廣，資訊化的加強是業界當前要務。 五、童書出版應以兒童為中心，要正視孩子的需求和影響力。 以上，為本研究記要，謹供閱者參考指正。