Schools of Thought: An Analysis of Interest Groups Influential in International Population Policy

This analysis, written in 1993, explores the relationships; among competing schools of thought in the international population policy arena. It offers the following observations: (1) Five interest groups are influential: the population-concerned community, a market-oriented group, people focusing on equitable distribution of resources, women's advocates, and the Vatican; (2) Only one of the five groups wants to draw attention to population growth; the other four all have other priorities and prefer to reduce attention to demography, seeing attention to population growth as interfering with their priorities; (3) Any attempt to base policy on identified common ground in this situation would result in asymmetry, turning policy attention away from population growth.     

让你的谈话发挥效力

让我们想象这样一幅场景：一位人类学家来到你的办公室，他用了一整天时间跟在你身边，寸步不离地观察你的一言一行。当你一天工作结束之后，他告诉你，在这一整天当中，他只看到了一件事情——人们在不停地进行沟通。这位人类学家告诉你，在这一天的时间里，他参加了一些正式的会议，看到人们在进行面对面的交流，进行随机的讨论，或者是通过电子邮件进行沟通。“没错，确实如此，”你说道，“可那叉怎样呢？”人类学家告诉你，你在这一天当中所说的话大多数都是重复的。“这很好，”你告诉自己，     

Immigration Policy in Australia,Canada, New Zealand,and the United States: An Overview of Recent Trends

Immigration policies in most host nations of the west have undergone significant changes in recent years. Based on the four country‐specific papers that appear in this section of the journal, and also on our own research, we present an overview of these changes and their context. In all countries, economic considerations play a central role in shaping immigration policy and greater importance is given to scientific research. Several common policy changes are noted in Australia, Canada and New Zealand which include: a shift away from a human capital focus toward more targeted selection based on labor market demand for specific skills, increased emphasis on temporary foreign worker programs, attraction of international students, an overhauling of the refugee system, and regionalization of immigration. In the U.S., while adoption of some of these changes has often surfaced in public policy and academic discussions, legalization of unauthorized migrants remains an important policy debate, with recent arguments focusing on the economic benefits of legalization.     

Globalising accessibility: drawing on the experiences of developed countries to enable the participation of disabled people in Zambia

This paper explores the accessibility situation in a developing country such as Zambia. The global view of accessibility for disabled people is provided to examine the accessibility situation in developed and developing countries, highlighting the role of the environment in achieving rights for disabled people. Recognition of disability rights relating to accessible built environments is a necessary element to ensure their participation. Limited disability research, lack of disability policies and systems, evaluation of disability rights and support from developed countries have been cited as contributing to the non-recognition of disability rights and low participation by disabled people in Africa. An international perspective of disability, accessibility and participation and the experiences of developed countries are examined and their potential for advancing accessible built environments for participation in developing countries considered. However, accessibility concepts, having been developed in western countries, are presented with caution acknowledging the geographical, social–cultural and economic differences that exist.     

Analysis of ergonomics conditions of a brand of mattress and pillows. University-industry project, Medellín-Colombia

This project presents an analysis of the ergonomic conditions of three types of mattress and three types of pillow. The products are manufactured by a Colombian company which specializes in flexible polyurethane foam and other products designed for rest and relaxation. The project was developed through the University - Industry relationship: a strategic partnership based on the knowledge and strengths of each component. The conceptual theories that underpin the Ergonomics Research Division of the Design Studies Research Group (GED) provided the methodological approach for the project: the characteristics, the requirements and the relationships that are established between the components that constitute the User - Product - Context system (basic principles of the Ergonomics - Design relationship). An important factor in the project was the conception and measurement of comfort. Comfort can be measured on an objective level (quantitative measurement), and on a subjective level (a user's particular perceptions and tastes). What constitutes 'comfort' can vary from person to person, thus making the identification of criteria for the standardization of consumer products problematic. This project enabled design recommendations to be made to the Company vis-à-vis future proposals for mattress and pillow products. This experience of applied research was carried out by professors and students from the Faculty of Industrial Design at the UPB in Medellín, Colombia.     

2009 New England Technical Services Librarians (NETSL) Spring Conference: Working the Cataloging Landscape: Fishing,Mining, and Harvesting

Abstract

Rachel Fleming and Kristin Calvert of Western Carolina University discuss their study of interlibrary loan borrowing requests in the three years surrounding a journal cancellation project. Noting that the impact of such a cancellation on interlibrary loan has not been studied since the 1990s, they examine numerous facets of requests for cancelled and non-cancelled journals, including request per journal, year of article requested, and request history for newly cancelled journals. Though journal cancellations resulted in a 2 percent increase in interlibrary loan requests, this number proved so small that Calvert and Fleming judged that their cancellations caused no undue effects.     

Reports of Conferences, Institutes, and Seminars

Late winter and early spring of 2009 was a busy conference time for librarians. Some of the conferences held during that time are reported herein: the American Library Association Midwinter Conference, January 23–28; Electronic Resources and Libraries (E&RL), February 9–12; the North Carolina Serials Conference, March 27; the New England Technical Services Librarians' (NETSL) Spring Conference, April 17; and the Technical, Electronic and Digital Services Interest Group (TEDSIG) Spring Meeting, April 24.