Features of Islamic Children’s Books in English: A Case Study of Books Published in Malaysia

The purpose of this study is to investigate the elements of Islamic children’s books that are written in English by focusing on books that are available in the Malaysian market and published in Malaysia. This study applies the content analysis method, by examining the selected books of their subject matter as well as the language. The results of the study reveal that Islamic books written for children in English are distinctive in terms of the content and language features.     

Clustering small-sized collections of short texts

The need to cluster small text corpora composed of a few hundreds of short texts rises in various applications; e.g., clustering top-retrieved documents based on their snippets. This clustering task is challenging due to the vocabulary mismatch between short texts and the insufficient corpus-based statistics (e.g., term co-occurrence statistics) due to the corpus size. We address this clustering challenge using a framework that utilizes a set of external knowledge resources that provide information about term relations. Specifically, we use information induced from the resources to estimate similarity between terms and produce term clusters. We also utilize the resources to expand the vocabulary used in the given corpus and thus enhance term clustering. We then project the texts in the corpus onto the term clusters to cluster the texts. We evaluate various instantiations of the proposed framework by varying the term clustering method used, the approach of projecting the texts onto the term clusters, and the way of applying external knowledge resources. Extensive empirical evaluation demonstrates the merits of our approach with respect to applying clustering algorithms directly on the text corpus, and using state-of-the-art co-clustering and topic modeling methods.     

Decolonising higher education curricula in South Africa: factoring in archives through public programming initiatives

South African higher education curricula are largely Eurocentric, to such an extent that indigenous knowledge is marginalised (Horsthemke in Transform High Educ 2(1)–9, 2017). Consequently, the decolonisation of university curricula has become a necessity. The nationwide ‘FeesMustFall’ student protests in 2015 and 2016 have underlined the need to address this matter urgently. Free quality education and the decolonisation of university curricula were among some of the students’ demands (Le Grange in SAJHE 30(2):1–12, 2016). Fundamentally, decolonising curricula involve a serious investigation of history and the strategising of future actions (Ngulube in Historia 47(2):563–582, 2002). Little is known about the potential role of archives in the process of decolonising higher education curricula in South Africa. Perhaps this can be attributed to a lack of awareness about archives and their significance in South Africa (Sulej in ESARBICA J 33:13–35, 2014). This paper explores the role of archives in the decolonisation of higher education curricula in South Africa. It appears that sub-Saharan scholars rarely consult archives (Onyancha et al. in ESARBICA J 32:67–77, 2013). Therefore, public programming is investigated as a means to get more members of the academic community to use archives as centres of critical inquiry. The relevant literature was consulted and discussed. Unique outreach or public programming initiatives will help the academic community to better understand the significance of archives in the decolonisation process.     

Spanish historic archives’ use of websites as a management transparency vehicle

Against the backdrop of Spain’s Transparency Act, this article discusses the presence or otherwise of a series of document types, proposed as management-related transparency indicators, on 61 (8 national and 53 provincial) historic archive websites. Although examples of good practice were identified, the information provided was found to be scant, in particular as regards lines of action, organisational objectives and yearly reports. The information most commonly provided on the websites included the collection classification chart, service use regulations and citizen charters. The inference drawn was that archives, so intently focused on their role in the application of the Act by the organisations they serve, neglect their own administrative obligations in respect of its provisions. The recommendation is that as government-funded and subsidised public service institutions, historic archives should exercise transparency by furnishing the information stipulated in the Act on their websites.     

“Seeking Information from the Lips of People”: oral history in the archives of Qatar and the Gulf region

The turn to oral history in Qatar and the Arabian (also known as Persian) Gulf is not a rejection of traditional archival authority as has been the case in other parts of the world. In the Gulf, oral history has been embraced out of a desire to fill the silences of the largely unwritten record attributable to previous low levels of literacy and strong oral traditions in the region. Today, oral history is seen as the best method to capture details about traditional ways of life during the pre-oil era. After discussing archival concerns about the evidentiary nature of oral histories, this paper explores how it has come to be a crucial documentation tool in the Gulf, adapted to the specific nation building and cultural heritage priorities of the region.     

Forward view: advancing health library and knowledge services in England

This article is the fourth in a series on New Directions. The National Health Service is under pressure, challenged to meet the needs of an ageing population, whilst striving to improve standards and ensure decision making is underpinned by evidence. Health Education England is steering a new course for NHS library and knowledge services in England to ensure access to knowledge and evidence for all decision makers. Knowledge for Healthcare calls for service transformation, role redesign, greater coordination and collaboration. To meet user expectations, health libraries must achieve sustainable, affordable access to digital content. Traditional tasks will progressively become mechanised. Alongside supporting learners, NHS librarians and knowledge specialists will take a greater role as knowledge brokers, delivering business critical services. They will support the NHS workforce to signpost patients and the public to high‐quality information. There is a need for greater efficiency and effectiveness through greater co‐operation and service mergers. Evaluation of service quality will focus more on outcomes, less on counting. These changes require an agile workforce, fit for the future. There is a bright future in which librarians’ expertise is used to mobilise evidence, manage and share knowledge, support patients, carers and families, optimise technology and social media and provide a keystone for improved patient care and safety.     

International relocation of inpatriate managers: assessing and facilitating acceptance in the headquarters organization

The shortage of qualified managers to assign to overseas positions has necessitated rethinking of the viable candidates pools. A relatively new group of global managers have emerged, inpatriate managers. These are foreign nationals and third-country nationals who are relocated to the organization's domestic headquarters to serve as a “linking-pin” to the global marketplace. This paper examines challenges to effectively incorporating these inpatriate managers into the domestic organization. The various issues with inpatriate manager adjustment to the domestic macro and organizational culture are examined. In addition, the necessary social support in work and non-work contexts is discussed.