Towards an adolescent friendly methodology: accessing the authentic through collective reflection

The re-emergence of student voice presents a challenge to schools and researchers to become more responsive to the voice of adolescents in education and in research. However, the poor articulation of the nature of student voice to date is confirmation of the complex and important nature of the personal advocacy and human agency that is involved in all student voice activities. This lack of clarity leads to interpretations of student voice that range in authenticity from token to active and meaningful (Hart, R. 1997. Children's Participation: The Theory and Practice of Involving Young Citizens in Community Development and Environmental Care. Earthscan Publications. London: UNICEF). Researchers who are guided by more traditional methodologies may implement methods that are appropriate for adults yet are not sensitive to the needs and interests of the young person whose perspectives are usually the focus of the research. This research found that while an advocacy and empowerment worldview supports student voice research, adolescents also prefer a methodology that is agentic, socially based, reflective and embodied (Dempster, N., A. Lizzio, M. Keeffe, J. Skinner, and D. Andrews. 2010. “The Contributions of Research Design and Process Facilitation in Accessing Adolescent views of Leadership.” Leading and Managing 16 [2]: 77–89). Adolescent perspectives on research processes and methods are valuable in helping researchers to choose more responsive approaches to sharing understandings with adolescents, so that research designs may be challenging, meaningful and rewarding for all participants.     

Core Competencies to the Rescue: Taking Stock and Protecting Institutional Knowledge

What happens when the only staff member who knows how to do a particular task is no longer available? Using NASIG’s Core Competencies for Electronic Resources Librarians, the Electronic Resources and Serials Department of Auburn University set out to tackle the problem of the indispensable staff person, and discovered that expertise is never fully achieved, and competence is always a work in progress.     

Effect of perceived ease of use on librarians' e-skills: Basis for library technology acceptance intention

Despite the widespread application of technology in the 21st century, making informed decisions regarding its acceptance in organisations is a function of several factors, particularly in developing countries, due to factors such as rising cost of the information technology infrastructure and low technological exposure. A model that incorporated perceived ease of use (PEOU) and e-Skills to examine librarians' intention for actual library technology acceptance was tested. The correlational research design, along with a multistage sampling procedure, was applied to select samples to reduce the sample to a manageable proportion. Professional librarians and library officers in four university libraries provided the data for the study. Results showed that e-Skill is the model's strongest determinant of technology acceptance intention among librarians. Also, PEOU will significantly moderate librarians' intention towards library technology acceptance when e-Skills are insufficient. From these outcomes, the understanding of the determinants of behavioural intention captured in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAT) is extended and refined.