This article examines the public services component of digital and virtual libraries, focusing on the end-user experience. As the number and types of "places" where library users access library collections and services continue to expand (now including cell phones, iPods, and three-dimensional virtual reality environments populated by avatars),…

The production of research output has become a complex and competitive pursuit. Basic, experimental and strategic research compete more for scarce state and donor funding. In the Republic of South Africa (South Africa), research output is recognised through government subsidy-earnings guided by the policy for the measurement of research output of…

In June last year, "Adults Learning" described how a small learning centre, based in an old storeroom at a bus depot, was working to transform the workplace and the lives of its staff. To boost English learning among workers, the centre launched a short story competition. The resulting stories were collected and published in the book…

Affordable housing is an elusive commodity for students in Paris and much of the rest of Europe. Many European universities are in cities where property values have soared in recent years--along with higher-education enrollment figures and the number of students vying for rooms. Few of the universities have dormitories, and students are left…

Given a reasonable resolve to learn from the best that the Bologna Process has to offer, the author contends that one might also respond to the challenge it offers by standing up for the singular strengths of U.S. higher education: (1) long-standing commitment to broad access; (2) embrace of diversity as an educational good; and, most notably, (3)…

This article discusses the ongoing effort of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to bring higher education services within the purview of the General Agreement on Trade and Services (GATS). One result of the anticipated liberalization of trade in education, the author explains, is the headlong rush of Anglophone universities into the global market…

In recent years there has been a remarkable proliferation of ballet competitions. This prompts a number of questions, in particular how much are they affecting current training and performance practice and, more fundamentally, whether the notion of competition may be antithetical to dance as art. Underlying these questions is the issue of…

Since higher education reforms were started in the mid-1980s, higher education in China has experienced significant transformations. Changes have not only been revealed by the increase in numbers of undergraduates, but also by a significant expansion in postgraduate education in mainland China. In order to enhance its global competitiveness, the…

This historical case study explores the twin forces of collaboration and competition within independent schooling by examining the merger of two long established and well respected independent schools in Cincinnati, Ohio: (1) College Preparatory School; and (2) Hillsdale-Lotspeich School. Their merger in 1974 led to the creation of The Seven Hills…

Just before the start of school in 2006, the author discovered that boys' scores trailed girls' across every grade and in every racial subgroup at her school. In this article, she describes her efforts to increase boys' participation in her annual reading promotion activity by incorporating an element of competition and tracking weekly reading…

For the forty-second time, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two volumes. Volume 1 contains 37 papers dealing…

This study examined the perceived value of leadership development programs (LDPs) provided by continuing education for administrators in colleges and universities. Included in this study were questions about the perceived value of non-credit, credit, and blended (credit and non-credit) programs at the individual, institutional, and higher…

We find an individual's rank within their reference group has effects on later objective outcomes. To evaluate the impact of local rank, we use a large administrative dataset tracking over two million students in England from primary through to secondary school. Academic rank within primary school has sizable, robust and significant effects on…

The 2009 college football season is here, but there has been a continuing controversy swirling over how the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) selects its national champion. College football uses a multi-criterion decision matrix (MCDM) evaluation technique to determine which two teams will play for the national championship. We analyzed the BCS…

This paper is part of a stream of research dealing with customer and market orientation within higher education, specifically within business schools holding membership in AACSB-International. A market orientation strategy leading to a customer and market-oriented organizational culture is based upon the acceptance and adoption of the marketing…