The Information Age

A FEW GOOD MEN FROM UNIVAC by David E. Lundstrom (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1987—$19.95)

DYNAMICS OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT: CONCEPTS AND ISSUES edited by Indu B. Singh and Vic M. Mishra (Norwood, N j: Ablex Publishing, 1987—$37.50)

HIGH-TECH SOCIETY: THE STORY OF THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REVOLUTION by Tom Forester (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1987—$19.95)

THE IDEOLOGY OF THE INFORMATION AGE edited by Jennifer Daryl Slack and Fred Fejes (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing, 1987—$37.50)

INNOVATION IN ELECTRONIC MAIL by Peter Vervest (Amsterdam and New York: Elsevier Science/North Holland, 1987—$61.00)     

Ombuds processes and disputant reconciliation

Effective dispute resolution systems are critical to the functioning of large universities and organizations. However, the design of dispute resolution systems is often inadequate to achieving the stated goals of the system. Analysis of the cases of 45 disputants reveals how the design of a university dispute system and the social context can prevent an ombudsperson from successfully reconciling relationships. This study shows how a dispute system that generally failed to utilize face-to-face meetings or mediation techniques between disputants in a social context of fear and limited social ties was unable to reconcile or preserve working relationships. Analysis from normative pragmatic and social contextual approaches to disputing provides a mechanism for understanding the problems encountered by this ombudsperson and provides a tool for designing more effective dispute resolution systems.     

Implementing IT Service Management: A systematic literature review

This article provides a systematic review of existing research related to the implementation of IT Service Management (ITSM) and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). The review's main goals are to support research; to facilitate other researchers’ search for relevant studies; and to propose areas for future studies within this area. In addition, we provide IT managers with useful information on ITSM and ITIL, based on research-based knowledge of their implementation. The review results suggest that motives, critical success factors, implementation status, and benefits are the most frequently studied areas, and that each of these areas would benefit from further exposure.     

Information Technology and Gender. Problems and Proposals

The paper examines the possible reasons why there is a gender bias towards males studying computing at secondary school level. The authors have surveyed recent research in the area of information technology (IT) and gender, highlighted some of the major areas for discussion and made a number of recommendations for improving classroom practice. The recommendations are arranged under five headings: access to the curriculum; course design; teachers' attitudes and teaching styles; language; assessment issues; and the role of technology. The aim is to alert teachers to the importance of considering how gender bias is being perpetuated, and then to examine how practice can be improved. The recommendations follow the example already set by the Association for Science Education in the United Kingdom, and note the work done in Scotland by the General Teaching Council in addressing gender as a key issue. Although the discussion focuses upon the Scottish context and in particular the development of computing studies, many of the points apply equally well to the introduction of IT as a cross‐curricular theme at both the primary and secondary stages. This is particularly relevant as IT is a significant development within the 5‐14 Programme in Scotland and mirrors innovation in the area of IT in England and Wales.     

Show Racism The Red Card: potential barriers to the effective implementation of the anti-racist message

This discussion paper focuses on anti-racist groups associated with British Association football (soccer) and the barriers that they face in relation to effective implementation of the anti-racism message and aspirational cultural change. In order to address those issues (above) this essay draws on the educational charity Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) and their work to educate individuals in Great Britain though football. It takes an overview of the work of the charity, specifically focusing on three key areas relating to the group’s mission statement. Concluding comments are made on the current position of SRTRC in light of recent high-profile racist incidents.     

Effects of an intervention programme with teachers on the development of positive behaviours in Spanish physical education classes

Background: The physical education (PE) context has been emphasised as an ideal environment for developing positive behaviours among students. Under the Positive Youth Development paradigm, various initiatives have been conducted with the aim of promoting personal and social responsibility among adolescents. Self-Determination Theory has been widely used to analyse students’ motivational processes during PE classes.

Purpose: This study aimed to measure the effects of a multidisciplinary intervention with teachers on the development of positive behaviours in PE classes.

Participants: Twenty PE teachers participated in the study (M_age?=?35 years; SD?=?2.32) along with 777 of their students (M_age?=?12.81 years; SD?=?.93). The teachers (male?=?16; female?=?4) were between the ages of 29 and 48 years (M?=?35.2 years; SD?=?2.32). The students who participated in this study (male?=?377; female?=?400) were divided into 52 classes and were between the ages of 12 and 16 years (M?=?12.81; SD?=?.93).

Research design: A quasi-experimental design was used that consisted of a control group and three groups in which an intervention was developed. In the control group, the teachers did not receive any type of intervention; in the second group, the teachers received a training programme to develop strategies for supporting basic psychological needs and promoting positive behaviours; in the third group, the teachers received a didactic unit to promote positive behaviours; and in the last group the teachers received a combination of the two previous interventions.

Data analysis: A repeated-measures ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) was used for every dependent variable included in the study to analyse the effect of Group?×?Time interaction, including Gender and Grade Level as covariates. The fixed effects caused by Intercept, Group, Time, and the Group?×?Time interaction were calculated using compound symmetry as the type of covariance and restricted maximum likelihood as the estimation method.

Findings: By examining the differences between pre-test and post-test, it was determined that in comparison with the students in the control group, the students from the three experimental groups had generally improved scores on the variables related to positive behaviours, such as perceptions of the teacher's support, as well as the development of the targeted behaviours.

Conclusions: These results provide information about the efficacy of an intervention programme with teachers that consists of strategies for developing positive behaviour and support for basic psychological needs to promote the development of positive student behaviour.     

Coat of arms: Dovetailing the needs of outdoor sculpture and military assets to develop more durable and adaptable paint systems

The requirements for paints used on outdoor sculpture and military vehicles are similar: overall protection for the underlying substrate, and the ability to withstand prolonged outdoor exposure and recurring physical contact. Aesthetic requirements are different but stringent for both categories of coatings and include maintaining appearance over time. Building on prior work undertaken by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Army Research Laboratory (ARL) to modify military coating systems into a matte black paint suitable for outdoor sculpture, a long-term interdisciplinary collaboration is under way between the ARL, the Getty Conservation Institute, Mack Art Conservation, and NCP Coatings, that aims to develop and evaluate a wider range of robust paint systems with novel attributes for both the DoD and outdoor painted sculptures. For the latter, this includes coatings with a broader range of gloss, formulated with a much more varied palette. New low-gloss coatings used on military assets were used to paint sculptures by Alexander Calder, Tony Smith, and Louise Nevelson, designed to an aesthetic standard based on approved colour and gloss levels by the relevant artists’ foundations and estates, and formulated to enhance durability. These new coatings offer the ability to match or meet a range of artists’ aesthetic preferences, and to use a variety of polymeric flattening agents to control gloss levels, reduce marring, and eliminate volatile and hazardous pollutants. The use of low molecular weight (LMW) resins provides 4–8 hour pot life to assist in the application process. Compared to current resins, the LMW systems reduce organic solvent levels, are low viscosity, and permit far easier application. In addition, the replacement of typical pigments with low solar absorbing (LSA) pigmentation provides higher reflection which ‘shields’ the resin/binder system and reduces degradation. A particular advantage to conservators from this collaboration is that the coatings on DoD assets provide a convenient indicator of the paint's performance and durability. The outcome will be a unique coating system to provide enhanced durability and maintain the original coating properties for a period of 6–10 years.     

Abuse and deliberate self-poisoning in women: a matched case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: Controlled studies have shown deliberate self-harm to be more common in abused populations, but no controlled studies have shown abuse to be more common in self-harming populations. This is the first controlled study to determine whether abuse experiences (sexual, physical, and psychological) occurred more commonly in women who take overdoses than in controls. METHOD: The design was a matched (1:1) case-control study set in a district general hospital in England. The subjects were 36 women admitted following deliberate self-poisoning. They were matched with the next non-overdose admission to the same hospital on six variables (sex, age, ethnicity, social class, marital status, and geographical locality). The main outcome measures used were modified versions of standardized self-report questionnaires of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse, together with measures of parenting style and general psychopathology. RESULTS: Women who had taken an overdose were more likely (odds ratio 15.0, 95% confidence interval 2.0 to 113.6) to have been sexually abused, and somewhat more likely to have been psychologically (1.02, 1.00 to 1.05) but not physically abused. They also had higher measures of psychopathology (GHQ-30: 1.19, 1.07 to 1.31), were more likely to have been abused at a younger age, exposed to the "affectionless control" style of parenting by their mothers, and to have harmed themselves in other ways. CONCLUSIONS: The management of women presenting to hospital after self-poisoning should include assessment of abuse experiences, and instigation of appropriate treatment in those with significant sequelae of abuse.