Government Information Networks - Mapping Electronic Governance cases through Public Administration concepts

Facing economic pressure, social tensions, global competition and low public confidence, governments can no longer afford to address increasingly complex and interdependent public goals alone or step back and rely on the markets. Instead, they have to work through networks of state and non-state actors to organize existing resources, knowledge and capabilities in the pursuit of public goals. The new paradigm increasingly relies on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to connect actors to the network and to build, manage and sustain relationships between them. We refer to such ICT-enabled networks as Government Information Networks. This article serves as an introduction to the current issue of Government Information Quarterly on Government Information Networks. The issue comprises twelve cases of such networks selected from the papers submitted to the 5th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance, ICEGOV2010, held in Beijing, China, October 2010. The article also presents a conceptual framework for public administration networks, and applies the framework to describe, analyze and compare the cases, thus relating the volume to the Public Administration literature.     

The influence of academic culture on quality management system ISO 9001 maintenance within Malaysian universities

This study investigates the influence of the elements of academic culture on quality management system ISO 9001 maintenance within Malaysian universities. There is a dearth of empirical studies on maintaining ISO 9001, particularly in the higher education context. From the literature review, academic culture was classified according to four elements – academic freedom, individualism, professionalism and collegiality. Two case studies were conducted within Malaysian universities that had been ISO 9001-certified for 5 years. At the time of this research, these two were the only universities that had certification for their entire organisation. (Most organisations gain certification for specific departments). The findings showed that academic freedom, individualism and collegiality had worked against ISO 9001 maintenance, while professionalism had influenced ISO 9001 maintenance both positively and negatively. The opposites of individualism (teamwork) and collegiality (managerialism) had supported ISO 9001 maintenance in one of the cases.     

Learning for state‐building: capacity development,education and fragility

This paper examines capacity development in education in fragile contexts. This is a current concern for donors and development partners, but there has been little work on the nexus between capacity, education and fragility. The paper examines the concept of fragility and the particular problems in education associated with fragile contexts. The key argument – and tension – is that the focus should be on restoring state functions, yet this may be in a context of severe difficulties for donor agencies or NGOs of aligning with the government. The paper outlines some of the choices to be made in deciding on a focus for capacity development in education, examining the levels for intervention (individual, organisational, cultural and political) and the different sectors (administration and education institutions). It provides examples of the different sorts of areas in capacity development in education arenas that would address specific features of fragility, but draws attention to the need for research and indicators of the different impact of these strategies. The paper concludes with an analysis of what appears to be necessary to ensure that capacity development efforts are sustainable.     

The ASVIN Project: a study of electronic and printed veterinary science journals in the UK and Ireland

ASVIN was a Research Support for Libraries Programme (RSLP) Funded Project, whose principal aim was to develop better co-operation between nine libraries in the veterinary and animal health field. The project examined a number of library-related areas, such as journal archiving, collection development policies, development of a common Z39.50 catalogue interface, grey literature, and printed and electronic journals. This paper examines the latter, whilst also providing a detailed analysis of printed journals held in partner libraries. Comparisons of the nine partner library collections are undertaken with a range of secondary sources, and an ASVIN core list of veterinary journals was developed. It looks at some of the issues relating to e-journals, expressing the benefits and concerns that many librarians are experiencing, such as licensing arrangements, archiving and general management issues.