Automation--planning to implementation; the problems en route.

Once the major decision to automate library processes is made, there are a variety of problems which may be encountered before the planned system becomes operational. These include problems of personnel, budget, procurement of adjunct services, institutional priorities, and manufacturing uncertainties. Actual and potential difficulties are discussed.     

Effects of Using Thinking Routines on the Academic Results of Business Students at a Chilean Tertiary Education Institution

The present study investigates the effects of using thinking routines to promote interactive learning environments on the academic results of tertiary education students enrolled in the Cost and Budgeting course at a Chilean higher education institution during 2016. Using the quasi‐experimental methodologies Propensity Score Matching and Differences in Differences, student grade averages and exam grade averages were compared using information from both the year this initiative was implemented (2016) and the previous year (2015) to control for preexisting differences between the comparison groups. The results show that students taught using thinking routines obtain better academic results than their counterparts taught using traditional methods.     

Life on the border

For many first-generation students, starting college means entering a new country, one where the culture, language, and habits are all unfamiliar. From personal experience and research, the author describes these students' lives and some ways colleges can do a better job of reaching out to them.     

Publishing papers in international journals

Conclusions It is not going to get any easier to publish internationally. However, if you do good work, with new information, and can present it acceptably, then you should get published. Thus the key to getting published lies in the research more than in writing the paper. Conversely, good writing and presentation will not hide bad research in these competitive days.     

Parent bonding in clinically depressed deaf and hard-of-hearing adults

This study assessed the relationships between parent communication variables and the parent bonding factors of care and overprotection using a sample of 38 deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals connected with mental health services who had DSM-III-R or DSM-IV diagnoses of depression-related disorders. The 22 therapists working with these individuals also contributed to data collection. Results based on revised depression (BDI-R) and parent bonding (PBI-R) questionnaires, together with background data from both clients and therapists, indicate that higher ratings of depression are associated with less perceived care by mother and greater perceived overprotection by both mother and father. Paternal care and overprotection were negatively correlated, as were maternal care and overprotection. In comparison to hard-of-hearing counterparts, deaf participants were less depressed and had more positive ratings of communication with their parents. The BDI-R scores positively and significantly correlated with coded severity of diagnosis. Due to the small sample size, findings are suggestive. Further study is warranted.     

Family Structure and Psychosocial Correlates among Urban African-American Adolescent Males

Substance use and delinquency, psychological well-being, and social support were compared across 5 family constellations among 254 urban African-American adolescent males. Single-mother, stepparent, both parents, mother with extended family, and extended family only households were studied. The only differences found were that youth living in single-mother households reported more parental support than other youth. Relationships with father and male role models were also studied and related to several psychosocial outcomes. The results challenge the assumptions that single African-American mothers are alone in providing support to their sons and that fathers' absence results in no significant relationship.     

Academic-industry liaison in the United Kingdom: economic perspectives

In recent years, higher educational institutions (HEIs) have been under increasing pressure to liaise more closely with industry. This paper draws on some relevant areas of economic theory to analyse the relationship between HEIs and industrial organisations. The nature of the benefits from liaison is examined, and the implications for financing liaison activities are considered. It is argued that liaison can frequently strengthen the traditional functions of HEIs by contributing to teaching and research. However, there is justification for the fears of many academics that in practice the outcome of closer industrial involvement may be to weaken these functions. Such undesirable outcomes reflect the weaknesses of the internal organisation of HEIs; in particular, the scope for opportunistic behaviour provided by the incompleteness of the academic contract, and the informational disadvantages suffered by senior management. In the light of these arguments, the final section considers alternative systems for organising liaison, drawing on examples from the United Kingdom. The criteria for assessment are concerned with the likely effectiveness of the systems in reducing the costs of both facilitating and policing liaison activities.