Financial autonomy and challenges to being a regionally responsive higher education institution

Abstract

This paper discusses some current problems and challenges of the Finnish AMKs (polytechnic institutions), and whether financial autonomy could contribute to finding solutions for some of these problems. It provides an overview of the current status of financial autonomy of polytechnics in 6 European countries, and finally attempts to find links from financial autonomy to the AMKs’ role as regional ‘boosters’. The AMKs are still faced with some administrative and cultural traditions related more or less to secondary level vocational institutions. The new Polytechnic Act (2003), 351/2003, guarantees self‐governance for the AMKs as regards with their internal issues. At the same time, the Act stipulates that budget power and strategic steering belongs to their public or private maintainers. This raises the question of to what extent institutions actually are autonomous. The essence of autonomy rests on independent decision‐making processes. The study shows that the Finnish maintenance system reflects strongly on the area of financial autonomy compared with the similar institutions in other European countries. Financial autonomy may be a factor that strengthens a higher education institution in becoming an organisationally uniform, responsive and flexible entity.     

Student Expectations of Tertiary Institutions: A case study of the Fiji National University (FNU)

Education is a human right and Fiji’s tertiary education board recently declared that all tertiary institutions in Fiji must abide by the framework in order to meet student–customers’ needs. The Fiji National University’s (FNU’s) destiny to be Fiji’s leading higher education provider could be a reality if students and staff’s expectations are considered in all decision-making processes and at all levels of management. Preliminary research was conducted on a newly proclaimed government university: the FNU. The results revealed negative quality gaps whereupon there is a high intensity of student dissatisfaction with the services provided by the FNU. FNU as a community of social and education providers needs an atmosphere to provide social and educational development at all levels to meet the social and education needs of every staff and student in order to protect the basic human rights of its staff and students, and to qualify as an education provider that is internationally acceptable.     

Tools of Academic Library Assessment: the User Survey

ABSTRACT

Academic libraries are taking a closer look at how well they are serving the needs of their users. As a result assessment activities become more important. In this column, the authors will focus on and describe one major tool of assessment—the user survey.     

Another Lane on the Information Highway? A Case Study of Experimenting with Text Message Reference

This article examines the process of researching, adapting, and implementing a text message reference service and the conclusions reached after nearly 10 months of continuous service. This experiment involved a single BlackBerry passed in a rotating schedule among librarians to gauge student interest in a text reference service. Although implementing this service allowed the library to be at the technological forefront, this is a service that would be better provided via a software interface. Furthermore, the text message reference service needed a stronger marketing campaign to make students aware of this option.     

Faculty Expectations and the Adult Learner: Some Implications for Reference

Summary

In addition to the normal difficulties encountered when returning to the academic environment, adult students are expected to use a library that may be very different from the one they have used earlier. While some teaching faculty recognize that these students may need additional help to effectively use the library, others do not. This study investigated faculty expectations for adult students and the academic library. The majority of faculty surveyed believe students need instruction to develop familiarity with library resources and technology. Furthermore, the faculty are willing to work with librarians to ensure students gain these skills.     

Evolution of a State Periodical Index: Converting an In-House Index to a MARC-Based Database on the Web

This article describes the process of transforming the Arkansas Periodical Index, which began as a card file index in the University of Arkansas (U. of A.) Libraries, to an online database. As in many other states, in-house indexes were compiled to cover local history journals and subject-related magazines. A variety of software now exists to mount locally created databases, one option being the choice to use the same turnkey software that runs the library's online catalog. We began by converting our card files to a local Inmagic DB/Textworks database. The U. of A. received the 1991 Gale Research Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Library Services for that design. We later mapped the database structure to MARC fields and mounted it as a Web-accessible database through our library OPAC vendor, Innovative Interfaces, Inc. (III). The authors begin with a brief history of periodical indexing, the reasons for choosing MARC formatting, and the field mapping required. The article explains the development of the database to include other publication formats, such as material from biographical compendiums, newspaper indexing, and university publications. The mapping incorporates indexing several publication formats in the same database. It also provides fields for linking citations back to the OPAC records, where users may find call numbers for journals or books, be connected to the full text of articles when available, or to an association's own website when applicable. We address some of the concerns for libraries in developing indexing projects. The article offers a mapping table of migrated fields that can be used by others wanting to encourage the rediscovery of local print periodicals and to expand access to the various materials otherwise buried in the library's special collections. The Arkansas Publications Index was released in April 2005 and is available free at http://arkindex.uark.edu/.     

维吾尔语位移事件的语言表达初探

文章以Talmy（2000）的位移事件框架理论为基础,通过语料分析维吾尔语位移事件表达的特点,维吾尔语的位移动词常常以复合动词形式出现的结论,初步断定维吾尔语应属于特殊的动词框架语言（verb—framed languages）。     

UCLA's Polish Collections and Collecting Poland at the UCLA Library: 2006–2011

The author's purpose in this article is to acquaint the reader with some interesting aspects of the UCLA library's collection of Poland-related and Polish-language print materials. Then, the author gives an account of the strategies for the collection development activities that he undertook from 2006 to 2011, during his curatorial tenure at UCLA's Young Research Library, to revitalize the Polish-language collection. Lastly, the author describes a methodology he used to assess the effectiveness of these activities; this methodology should be of broad interest to anyone involved in area- or language-focused collection development.     

一个馒头标准引发的谣言

本文试从网络谣言传播的角度,分析2008年初的“馒头风波”起伏的前因后果。     

The Professor-Librarian: Academic Librarians Teaching Credit-Bearing Courses

Many academic librarians have ideas or opportunities for teaching information literacy courses for the library, outside the scope of their regular positions. Some additional librarians are asked to consider teaching credit-bearing courses for other departments at their institutions, based on graduate degrees they hold in fields besides library science. Academic librarians who face either option are often asked to provide detailed information on how colleagues at other institutions handle arrangements: payment, coverage of library services while they are teaching, and proving their suitability for teaching in a given subject area. Unfortunately, the data available on their work is both scant and scattered. The authors surveyed librarians at 350 academic libraries across the United States to gather and analyze data on these and numerous related aspects of librarians’ teaching for departments outside the library. They also collected and analyzed comprehensive background information on these “professor-librarians.”