Evaluating digital libraries in the health sector. Part 2: measuring impacts and outcomes

This is the second part of a two-part paper which explores methods that can be used to evaluate digital libraries in the health sector. Part 1 focuses on approaches to evaluation that have been proposed for mainstream digital information services. This paper investigates evaluative models developed for some innovative digital library projects, and some major national and international electronic health information projects. The value of ethnographic methods to provide qualitative data to explore outcomes, adding to quantitative approaches based on inputs and outputs is discussed. The paper concludes that new 'post-positivist' models of evaluation are needed to cover all the dimensions of the digital library in the health sector, and some ways of doing this are outlined.     

Evaluating digital libraries in the health sector. Part 1: measuring inputs and outputs

This is the first part of a two-part paper which explores methods that can be used to evaluate digital libraries in the health sector. In this first part, some approaches to evaluation that have been proposed for mainstream digital information services are examined for their suitability to provide models for the health sector. The paper summarizes some major national and collaborative initiatives to develop measures for digital libraries, and analyses these approaches in terms of their relationship to traditional measures of library performance, which are focused on inputs and outputs, and their relevance to current debates among health information specialists. The second part* looks more specifically at evaluative models based on outcomes, and models being developed in the health sector.     

Institutional Repositories, Open Access, and Scholarly Communication: A Study of Conflicting Paradigms

The Open Access movement of the past decade, and institutional repositories developed by universities and academic libraries as a part of that movement, have openly challenged the traditional scholarly communication system. This article examines the growth of repositories around the world, and summarizes a growing body of evidence of the response of academics to institutional repositories. It reports the findings of a national survey of academics which highlights the conflict between the principles and rewards of the traditional scholarly communication system, and the benefits of Open Access. The article concludes by suggesting ways in which academic libraries can alleviate the conflict between these two paradigms.     

Stakeholder perceptions of university library effectiveness

This research in New Zealand, based on the multiple constituencies model, identified key performance indicators in university libraries as perceived by six separate stakeholder groups. Ranked lists and correlations between the lists show similarities, but also confirm that stakeholder groups have different perspectives on library effectiveness.     

The evolution of innovation capability in multinational enterprise subsidiaries: Dual network embeddedness and the divergence of subsidiary specialisation in Taiwan

This paper examines how innovation-related capabilities for production, design and marketing develop at the subsidiary level within multinational enterprises (MNEs). We focus on how subsidiary autonomy and changing opportunities to access external (host country) sources of capability contribute to the accumulation of specialist capabilities in five Taiwan-based MNE subsidiaries in the semiconductor industry. Longitudinal analysis shows how the accumulation process is subject to discontinuities, as functional divisions are (re)opened and closed during the lifetime of the subsidiary. A composite set of innovation output measures also shows significant variations in within-function levels of capability across our sample. We conclude that subsidiary specialisation and unique subsidiary-specific advantages have evolved in a way that is strongly influenced by the above factors.     

Japan: Meeting the challenge of computers in education

Conclusion The conditions that prepare the way for integrating computers in the curriculum are being successfully addressed in Japan. Computers have definitely found their way into the classroom, and more computers will be purchased by the Japanese government in the next year or two. The groundwork has also been laid in teacher training and in upgrading the quality of instructional software. The issue now lies in being able to teach not onlyabout computers, but how to teach effectivelywith computers. The next challenge for Japanese education is to focus on policy and efforts aimed at putting the equipment, the software guidelines, and the teacher education programs to work.She was in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1993 as an exchange professor at Yasuda Women's University.The author would like to thank Mr. Toru Iiyoshi of the International Christian University in Tokyo; Ms. Mochizuki of the Center for Educational Technology in Tokyo; and the director and staff of the Center for Educational Computing in Tokyo for their assistance with research materials.     

Developing a community of research practice

Writing journal articles is essential for academics and professionals to develop their ideas, make an impact in their fields and progress in their careers. Research assessment makes successful performance in this form of writing even more important. This article describes a course on writing journal articles and draws on interviews with participants one year after the course in which they identified persistent challenges. These writers’ accounts make visible some of the processes of writing for publication that are often tacit and identify key writing strategies. However, they also identify barriers to writing in academic workplaces and those professional workplaces where academic writing is produced. This article concludes by suggesting that while research assessment values written outputs over almost everything else, it is equally important to legitimise writing processes—and to be able to articulate the development of these processes—in communities of research practice.     

Family Values and Schools

Sociological research into the changing nature of the family provided the context for a pilot project on the family values of Year 4 children in an inner-city school in Birmingham. An innovatory aspect of the research was that the researcher communicated with the pupils mainly through the means of email. The project's findings indicate that the family values that the children bring to school may not coincide with those of their teacher. This raises the question of how far the school and its teachers have the right to challenge values that are learned in the home and that underpin family life.