Town Centre Management: Outlook from Portugal

In the last two decades, the Portuguese Government has responded to the decline of centres of commerce. In this paper, we analyse the three different experiences of town centre management (TCM) schemes developed in Portugal since the turn of the millennium. The first two stages were developed using public sector initiatives and their impacts were limited. The third stage is still under way and is composed of private projects created by local business owners. Taking Lisbon as a case study for this third stage we conclude that these projects have become a pro-active means of intervention in Portuguese town centres.     

Understanding end-user perspectives to enhance perceived value uptake of harm-minimization tools: considering gambler’s views of a pre-commitment system

Harm-minimization strategies reduce the experience of gambling-related harms for individuals and those close to them. Most policies and particularly discussions of tool design and implementation fail to involve end users and consider their concerns and needs. This study aimed to investigate the best way to introduce a harm-minimization tool for electronic gaming machines (EGMs) that will maximize the perceived value and subsequent uptake by the intended audience of gamblers. Focus groups were conducted with 31 Australian regular EGM gamblers experiencing a range of gambling problems. Participants were asked their perspectives of a pre-commitment system (features including accessing activity statements, setting limits, viewing dynamic messages, taking breaks), including concerns, and how to enhance perceived value and usefulness. Positive attitudes about the system were expressed; however, many gamblers saw the tool as relevant only for problem gamblers. Participants indicated that value could be enhanced by making the system flexible and customizable, but still easy to use. Design and implementation strategies such as incorporating flexibility in features, ease of use, appropriate terminology, and educational efforts may address gamblers’ concerns, particularly regarding privacy and potential stigma. This would enhance user perception of harm-minimization tools as relevant and may subsequently enhance effectiveness.     

No Mind Reading Necessary: Conducting Evidence-Based Electronic Resource Marketing and Outreach Using Marketing Research Assessment

Abstract

In her presentation entitled “No Mind Reading Necessary: Conducting Evidence-Based Electronic Resource Marketing and Outreach” at the North Carolina Serials Conference April 2019, Kate Hill discussed marketing research strategies and outreach tools used to increase online users’ access to electronic resources and primary resources. In an effort to connect users to seldom-used resources, Jackson Library collaborated with university partners to develop surveys to identify the information-seeking behavior of its users and apply the gathered marketing research to strategically plan outreach activities.     

社会化电子商务中卖家与非卖家信息分享行为差异

  目前社会化电子商务对用户分享行为的激励措施单一，缺乏吸引力，急需个性化的、有针对性的激励方式。社会化电子商务网站上，除了普通用户分享产品和购物信息外，一些电子商务卖家也分享产品相关信息以吸引消费者，拥有不同身份属性的用户被不同因素所激励。因此，为了设计个性化的激励方式，社会化电子商务平台需要进一步了解激励用户信息分享行为的关键因素的影响强度是否随着卖家与非卖家身份属性的不同而有所差异。         基于社会认知理论提出影响用户分享行为的关键因素，包括预期个人结果、预期社区结果和自我效能。采用目标理论，认为卖家为自我卷入型用户，非卖家为任务卷入型用户，并对卖家和非卖家不同身份用户的信息分享行为影响因素的差异建立理论研究模型。采用问卷调查法收集1 177位社会化电子商务用户的信息分享意愿及其影响因素的相关数据，运用Spss 19.0进行测量模型和t检验分析，以验证假设。         研究结果表明，结果期望和自我效能对信息分享意愿的影响强度在卖家与非卖家之间有显著的差异，卖家的分享意愿更多地受到预期个人结果和自我效能的影响，非卖家的分享意愿受到预期社区结果的影响。         研究结果拓展了社会化电子商务领域关于信息分享行为的相关研究，为后续研究提供了可能性。建议电子商务网站运营者在制定和实施激励计划时，应充分考虑用户的不同身份属性，有针对性地提供激励，以最大化地鼓励用户参与，保障网站健康发展。     

Negotiating Accessibility for Electronic Resources

Abstract

Accessibility of library electronic resources is a must. Its importance derives from professional ethics of librarianship, rising total costs of acquisition, and mounting legal challenges to colleges and universities that fail to provide resources accessible to users with disabilities. Library staff are responsible for ensuring the accessibility of vendor-licensed eresources. This column reviews the accessibility clauses of nine model license agreements for electronic resources. It describes terms that should go into an optimal accessibility clause and creates a composite model clause. It also provides guidance for library staff seeking to negotiate stronger accessibility language into vendor license agreements. Finally, it addresses the impact of accommodation requests on the total cost of acquiring library eresources, concluding with a call to redouble efforts to advocate for greater accessibility and educate both vendors and library staff about its importance.     

Underground testing: Name-altering practices as probes in electronic music

Name-altering practices are common in many creative fields—pen names in literature, stage names in the performing arts, and aliases in music. More than just reflecting artistic habits or responding to the need for distinctive brands, these practices can also serve as test devices to probe, validate, and guide the artists’ active participation in a cultural movement. At the same time, they constitute a powerful probe to negotiate the boundaries of a subculture, especially when its features are threatened by appropriation from the mass-oriented culture. Drawing evidence from electronic music, a field where name-altering practices proliferate, we outline dynamics of pseudonymity, polyonymy, and anonymity that surround the use of aliases. We argue that name-altering practices are both a tool that artists use to probe the creative environment and a device to recursively put one’s creative participation to the test. In the context of creative subcultures, name-altering practices constitute a subtle but effective form of underground testing.     

Where college students look for vaping information and what information they believe

Abstract

Objective: This convergent mixed methods study examined how information sources influence college students’ beliefs and knowledge about vaping. Participants: College students either completed a survey (n?=?522; January–April, 2016) or were interviewed (n?=?33; 2015–2016). Methods: College students completed an online survey asking ‘where’ students had heard about e-cigarette and ‘what’ they had heard. Responses were quantified and a chi-square analysis was conducted. Additional college student e-cigarette users were interviewed about the credibility of information sources. Thematic analysis was conducted with the coded interviews. Results: There was a significant relationship between information sources for e-cigarettes (social sources, media, advertising, education/research) and the messages they recalled. Friends who vaped and e-cigarette users were the most credible information sources. Confirmation bias and scientific impotence bias characterized assessment of e-cigarette information. Conclusions: Health education specialists working on college campuses should provide accurate information via communication channels most unitized by college students.     

基于钻石模型的重庆自贸区跨境电商创新发展的路径研究

重庆自贸区跨境电商在推进重庆建设内陆国际物流中心、内陆服务贸易中心、内陆功能性金融中心中起到了重要作用。运用波特钻石模型对重庆自贸区跨境电商进行分析，从生产要素、需求条件、相关与支持产业、竞争对手、发展机会、政府作用六个方面，构建模型分析各种影响因素，研究重庆自贸区跨境电商的现状及比较优势，提出创新发展的路径。     

政府补贴下竞争型WEEE闭环供应链定价决策研究

针对由单个制造商和两个回收商组成的电子电器闭环供应链,考虑合格回收商与不合格回收商相互竞争,研究政府回收处理补贴及消费者渠道偏好对闭环供应链决策的影响。发现:竞争环境下,随着回收处理补贴的提高,合格回收商的竞争力随之增大;制造商、各回收商及系统利润均随着消费者对正规回收渠道偏好的提高而增加,政府应积极促进消费者对正规回收渠道的认知与接受度。     

资源禀赋、电商认知与家庭农场主电子商务采纳行为

基于河北、江西和云南3省893个家庭农场调研数据,研究了资源禀赋、电商认知、政府扶持对家庭农场主电子商务采纳行为的影响机理。结果表明:资源禀赋中的家庭农场主受教育程度、电商培训和农产品特色明显程度对其电子商务行为采纳及采纳程度有显著正向影响;年龄、注册品牌、绿色或有机认证、产品深加工对采纳程度有显著正向影响;组织化和电商认知对电子商务采纳行为有显著正向影响;政府扶持对电子商务行为采纳具有显著正向影响,且对资源禀赋、电商认知 电子商务行为采纳及采纳程度关系中有正向调节效应。在此基础上,提出培育农产品电商品牌,提升农场主电商运营能力,创新电商经营模式和提高家庭农场组织化程度等建议。