List Of Best Practices Research Articles

Improving the Practicum or Internship Experience in Cataloging

The perceived importance of hands-on work in cataloging education led the authors to survey people who completed a cataloging practicum or internship, as well as supervisors of cataloging practicum students or interns, to assess the successes and possible failures of the experience. Responding to the survey were 137 practicum or internship students and 131 supervisors. After analyzing the results of the survey, the authors compiled a list of best practices for students and supervisors in order to provide readers with practical advice on this important subject.

Student Feedback on Federated Search Use, Satisfaction, and Web Presence

Illinois State University’s Milner Library conducted focus groups in the summer and fall of 2007 as part of its user-centered approach to implementing a federated search engine. The feedback supplemented the comments from usability testing conducted in the summer of 2006. The purpose of the focus groups was to learn about students’ use of and satisfaction with the federated search engine and to gather their ideas on how to incorporate it into the library website. The focus groups provided qualitative information that Milner Library used to guide decisions regarding website design and federated searching instruction. A list of best practices from the user perspective is also drawn from the findings. The unique aspects of this article include the use of focus groups to gather feedback on federated searching and the discussion of incorporating a federated search engine into a library website. This article is based on preliminary findings presented at the Internet Librarian 2007 conference in Monterey, California.

Integrating Statistical and Clinical Research Elements in Intervention-Related Grant Applications: Summary From an NIMH Workshop

The authors summarize points for consideration generated in a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) workshop convened to provide an opportunity for reviewers from different disciplines-specifically clinical researchers and statisticians-to discuss how their differing and complementary expertise can be well integrated in the review of intervention-related grant applications. A 1-day workshop was convened in October, 2004. The workshop featured panel presentations on key topics followed by interactive discussion. This article summarizes the workshop and subsequent discussions, which centered on topics including weighting the statistics/data analysis elements of an application in the assessment of the application's overall merit; the level of statistical sophistication appropriate to different stages of research and for different funding mechanisms; some key considerations in the design and analysis portions of applications; appropriate statistical methods for addressing essential questions posed by an application; and the role of the statistician in the application's development, study conduct, and interpretation and dissemination of results. A number of key elements crucial to the construction and review of grant applications were identified. It was acknowledged that intervention-related studies unavoidably involve trade-offs. Reviewers are helped when applications acknowledge such trade-offs and provide good rationale for their choices. Clear linkage among the design, aims, hypotheses, and data analysis plan and avoidance of disconnections among these elements also strengthens applications. The authors identify multiple points to consider when constructing intervention-related grant applications. The points are presented here as questions and do not reflect institute policy or comprise a list of best practices, but rather represent points for consideration.

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis for frameworks of world-class maintenance

The term ‘world-class maintenance (WCMt)’ is being used frequently nowadays and refers to the collection of best practices in maintenance. Different researchers and consultants have proposed several frameworks of WCMt representing these best practices. If an organization or a maintenance manager wants to implement a framework, it may not be easy for him or her to identify a single framework from a variety of frameworks that are reported in the literature. Thus the task of choosing a particular framework has become a major issue for the managers. Hence in this paper, an attempt has been made to perform an analysis for comparing different WCMt frameworks based on their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). In addition to this, a comparative study of WCMt with other maintenance systems has been carried out to understand the similarities and differences. The SWOT analysis of frameworks revealed a list of best practices in maintenance to be considered by an organization, when it attempts to achieve a world-class status in maintenance apart from the weaknesses and threats associated with each framework. Such an analysis can prove valuable as a decision aid for the operations or maintenance manager while making a decision of choosing a suitable framework of WCMt.

Choosing the right tools for your relationship banking strategy

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the banking industry's expanding use of loyalty marketing programs to build profitable relationships with customers. Banks' relationship‐building strategies fall into two categories: full‐blown multi‐product loyalty programs and narrower programs that expand customer rewards in one or two key product areas.Design/methodology/approachInnovative loyalty programs launched by various banks are used as examples to show how individual banks are customizing their relationship‐building strategies within the two broad categories. Those categories are broad multi‐product loyalty programs and narrower initiatives focused on key products.FindingsThe authors believe their deeper look into relationship banking reveals that, far from a magic bullet approach, banks are customizing their relationship‐building strategies to create value propositions as unique as the institutions and customers they serve. When banks use loyalty programs to engender trust and build confidence in the brand, the customer relationship will develop organically, and so will profits.Practical implicationsThere is no core list of best practices for relationship banking. By examining innovative programs and being willing to customize their strategies, banks can build enduring customer relationships that lead to growth.Originality/valueThis paper takes a look at relationship banking trends, with suggestions on how banks can incorporate these trends into successful, customized programs.

Moral Memory: Why and How Moral Companies Manage Tradition

Recent research on the role of ethics in the organizational culture literature found practically the whole literature reduced to a debate between ethical rationalism and ethical relativism. The role of the past in the form of tradition to maintain and improve moral reflection is completely missing. To address this gap in the literature on the level of practice, the concepts of moral memory and moral tradition are applied to data on 22 companies that have long-standing moral practices. In this way, the practice of moral traditions can be explored with recent conceptual advances and a list of best practices delineated. Moral memory is the recollection of and attachment to the succession of past events and experiences that maintains moral tradition. Moral tradition is the continuing transmission and reception of related moral themes through multiple generations of employees. It is found that companies that maintain moral traditions tend to develop “family” cultures with considerable compassion for workers as persons who have non-economic needs and rights. These companies also temper the role of leadership, insisting that leaders are responsible for and are evaluated by the company’s moral traditions. Finally, moral traditions are essential mechanisms through which companies paradoxically both stimulate and limit competitive behavior.

Open Access Initiatives in India - an Evaluation

Developing countries have embraced open access with a view to promoting visibility of research done in these regions. Open access initiatives described in this paper are based on interviews with information professionals responsible for creation and maintenance of online research repositories in India. Open access journals, e-print archives and e-theses repositories are covered with an emphasis on the sciences including the physical sciences, mathematics and the biomedical sciences. Existing repositories were identified from the Registry of Open Access Repositories located at http://archives.eprints.org. Key contacts were facilitated by well-known local open access advocates. Participants were contacted by e-mail and sites visited wherever possible. Many universities in India are at present lacking in infrastructure for establishing institutional repositories, so most of the institutions visited were research institutes and informatics centres. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to ascertain the background of participants, institutional culture, software selection, nature of funding, submission policies and future plans of these repositories. Also covered were promotion methods, user feedback and institutional support. Barriers to setting up institutional repositories are identified in this paper. Special features are described. Based on participant feedback a list of best practices is presented. The study has definite implications for the role of Canadian librarians in the promotion of Canadian research.

Establishing a Relationship Between Warranty and Reliability

In today's competitive marketplace, customers have come to expect that the products they purchase will perform as intended, and federal and state laws have been passed to enshrine this as a right of customers. A warranty is a written assurance that the manufacturer of a product will guarantee the quality and reliability of a product in terms of correcting any legitimate problems with the product at no additional cost, for some expressed or implied period of time or use. This paper presents the concept of a warranty, and the relationship between warranty and reliability. The paper is written in the context of the automotive industry, with a case study of an ignition module. A list of best practices and recommendations is provided. One key conclusion is that all warranty as well as out-of-warranty returns be considered field failures unless proven that another cause for returns exist

The Debtor's Digital Autopsy Or Where's the Money!

This paper explores the practical aspects of digital forensics in bankruptcy matters. Given the use of computers and digital devices in business today, a trustee who is investigating a debtor and attempting to recover assets for the creditors *must* consider conducting a digital forensic accounting investigation. Digital financial information (e-data), can be found practically everywhere you look in business today, and that is certainly true in bankruptcy and collections. Robert C. Furr, Esq. Editor for the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees indicated in his summer 2003 column of NABTalk® There are no filing cabinets full of records that are easy to digest. Rather, there is a mass of computers, hard drives, software, CD ROMS, etc., from which we have to try to figure out what happened to this debtor. A trustee has the duty to investigate the financial affairs of the Debtor and to ensure that books and records are properly turned over to the trustee. Most trustees may not have the technical expertise to properly investigate in the modern financial world of computer technology. Lear how it is almost impossible for unscrupulous Debtors or their officers to escape from the trail of e-data left behind in today's digitized business environment. Indeed this is the digital age, and in the Bankruptcy arena that means the trustee has powerful resources available to sift through the electronic sand pit of the unscrupulous Debtor. Obtain digital basic training for the 341 Meeting and learn why time is not on the Trustee's side. The debtor's *e-data* can help you find out more about its business and assets, than the debtor ever intended for you to know. Attorneys and other professionals working for the benefit of creditors, trustees, committees, examiners, employees, shareholders, insiders, co-defendants, and other parties in interest in a bankruptcy case, will want to become familiar with this process and the necessity for using digital forensic accounting technology in bankruptcy cases. A list of best practices is provided for the acquisition of forensic evidence as developed by the author that covers such topics as chain of evidence, acquisition of the debtor's e-data, preliminary measures for processing e-data, and the preservation e-data. In the digital age, without the proper knowledge, skills, and a full array of digital forensic sleuthing tools on your side, you are at a disadvantage against those who will use the best of this technology. Jack Seward is a consultant and digital forensic accounting technologist and has an association with a New York area forensic accounting firm. For many years, he has specialized in litigation support, bankruptcy, insolvency and the discovery, recovery and analysis of digital forensic accounting information for attorneys, corporations, creditors, trustees, stockholders and other interested parties. He can be contacted at JackSeward@msn.com or at his New York Office 917-450-9328 or Fax 212-656-1486.

Combating terrorism: strategies of ten countries

The tragic events of September 11, 2001, and the consequent war on have made the question of effective counterterrorism policy a growing public concern. The original essays in Combating Terrorism offer a unique overview and evaluation of the counterterrorism policies of ten countries: the United States, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Spain, Israel, Turkey, India, and Japan. Postscripts for each of the country chapters provide post-September 11 assessments of current counterterrorism practices. Most of the contributors to this volume have served in official governmental capacities and many continue to serve as consultants to governmental policy and decision makers.All of the essays address the same set of questions to allow for cross-national comparison of strategies and an assessment of counterterrorism practices: What is the governmental and public perception of the sources of terrorism? How successful have the policies of governments been in combating both domestic and international terrorism? What factors influence a government's willingness and ability to cooperate with other countries in combating terrorism? To what degree are the terrorist realities and the concerns of governments interconnected with global terrorism? To what degree are certain countries natural hosts of either terrorist groups or propensities that target Western or closely allied interests? To what degree are terrorist organizations mainly concerned about winning political participation in their target countries? Which counterterrorism strategies work, and which do not? What are the lessons of past experiences for future counterterrorism responses at the national, regional, and global levels? The conclusion to the volume summarizes the lessons that may be learned from the experiences of the ten countries and discusses a list of best practices in counterterrorism.This book will be of interest to policymakers, scholars, and other individuals with professional responsibilities in the area of terrorism and security studies. Written in clear, accessible prose, this book will also appeal to the general reader who is interested in gaining insight into the array of issues facing governments that endeavor to combat terrorism, and into the possible solutions to one of the foremost threats to world peace in our time.Yonah Alexander is Professor and Director, Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies; Senior Fellow and Director, International Center for Terrorism Studies, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies; and Co-Director, Inter-University Center for Legal Studies, International Law Institute.

Self-Determination in Action in the Classroom

This article addresses the ongoing need for parents, professionals, and individuals with disabilities to access the power of self-determination in their everyday lives. A practical definition for self-determination is provided, along with a description of key components. Self-determination is a series of developmental activities, attitudes, and beliefs that can be infused in a dynamic way within the environment of individuals with high-incidence disabilities. Specific examples are provided for implementing effective self-determination skills through the use of a case study, an action plan, and a list of best practices.