Electronic resource management (ERM) systems have inundated the library marketplace. Both integrated library systems (ILS) vendors and subscription agents are now offering products and service enhancements that claim to help libraries efficiently manage their electronic resources. Additionally, some homegrown and open-source solutions have emerged…

This interview with Dr. Szapocznik reveals the importance of building an intervention on the foundation of empirical evidence and family systems theory. Szapocznik is the director of the Center for Family Studies and professor at the University of Miami. He is a chair of the National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse. Szapocznik is also the…

The Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi) was founded on September 2, 1968, during times of turbulence, turmoil, and unrest in this country. This article chronicles the formation, development, and progress of the ABPsi over the past 40 years. The initial thrust of the ABPsi in its originating years was to denounce racism and the American…

The work value system, its development, and its relationship with work experiences can be modeled as an adaptive control system [Ford, D. H., & Lerner, R. M. (1992). "Developmental systems theory: An integrative approach". Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications]. This study employed longitudinal data from 1000 participants (Youth Development Study;…

This article introduces and explores the concept of political economy. In particular it focuses upon the political economy of health while also considering the implications for international nursing studies in the context of health care more generally. Political economy is not only about budgets, resources and policy. It is also about particular…

In this article, the authors suggest that educational initiatives that appear to have very different missions and goals can cooperate rather than compete when schools promote a comprehensive and coordinated approach to schoolwide improvement. By organizing efforts at the systems level, schools can effectively and efficiently leverage resources to…

This paper explores issues relating to programmes for doctoral students wishing to gain experience of, and develop skills in, teaching. The focus is on "Developing Learning and Teaching"--a new provision at the University of Oxford. The purpose is to exemplify how activity theory can be used to situate particular programmes and individual…

Values education and environmental education for sustainability are both spheres of education research that have manifested rapid and overlapping development in recent years. An independent primary school located in the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia participated in research on both values education and environmental education for…

This article illustrates that studying intra-individual variability in Second Language Development can provide insight into the developmental dynamics of second language (L2) learners. Adopting a Dynamic Systems Theory framework (Thelen & Smith, 1994; van Geert, 1994) and using insights from microgenetic variability studies in developmental…

Institutions across the nation have strengthened their enrollments through such strategies and tactics as coordination of recruitment activities, enhancement of financial aid processing, implementation of effective retention strategies, development of new instructional programs, a focus on intensive marketing activities, creation of one-stop…

The very notion of productivity improvement involves measurement against a context. The success of computers and other quantitative approaches during the past half century has led to an ideational context wherein transmitters of information often assume that the content of their message is like code--ascertainable to the recipient by means of a…

Marriage and family therapists (MFTs), who are trained in systems theory and consult with complex and difficult systems (e.g., couples and families), are uniquely suited to both assess and intervene in broader organizational systems. However, MFTs are in need of more systemically designed assessment tools to guide and inform their interventions…

Heeding Hillard's call for teachers to crack the walls of the matrix (inequitable schooling), this qualitative case study used Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory as a theoretical lens and methodological tool to investigate the reflections of three elementary pre-service teachers. The first research question examined participants'…

This article reflects on the potential benefits of applying systemic theory to the work of educational psychologists (EPs). It reviews developments in systemic thinking over time, and discusses the differences between more directive "first order" versus collaborative "second order" approaches. It considers systemic theories and…

This article includes a description of a family-systems model for implementing early childhood and family support assessment and intervention practices. The model includes both conceptual and operational principles that link theory, research, and practice. Lessons learned from more than 20 years of research and practice have been used to revise…