Mapping Our Way: New Formations in Technical Services: Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians Annual Conference

Abstract

The annual meeting of the Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians (OVGTSL) was held May 16–18, 2007, at the Holiday Inn-University Plaza in Bowling Green, Kentucky. One hundred twenty technical services librarians from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and points beyond gathered for programming centered around the theme of “Mapping Our Way: New Formations in Technical Services.”     

An exponential (matching based) neighborhood for the vehicle routing problem

We introduce an exponential neighborhood for the Vehicle Routing Problem (vrp) with unit customers’ demands, and we show that it can be explored efficiently in polynomial time by reducing its exploration to a particular case of the Restricted Complete Matching (rcm) problem that we prove to be polynomial time solvable using flow techniques. Furthermore, we show that in the general case with non-unit customers’ demands the exploration of the neighborhood becomes an -hard problem.     

Occupational Segregation and the Female–Male Wage Differentials: Evidence for Spain

Using matched employer–employee data from the Spanish labour market in 2010, we analyse the effects of industrial, establishment and occupational segregation on the gender wage differential, disaggregating the latter contribution by different groups of workers belonging to different occupational areas and responsibility levels. These workers are employed in 61 occupations within 26,492 establishments in 51 different industries. Since the matched employer–employee data exhibit a particular type of grouped structure, which contrasts the statistical properties of such data with the random sample case, we estimate the effects of each type of gender segregation on the wage gap using a robust specification. We find that the major part of the contribution of gender segregation is not explained by differences in the observable characteristics. Furthermore, the estimations show that the educational female advantage has helped to narrow the gender wage gap caused by occupational segregation within each establishment only for those groups of workers with the lowest educational requirements.     

Research records and the resolution of misconduct allegations at research universities

Accurate record keeping is an important part of the responsible conduct of research. However, there is very little empirical research on scientific record keeping. No one knows the incidence of serious problems with research records, the types of problems that occur, nor their consequences. In this study, we examined the role of research records in the resolution of misconduct allegations as a useful barometer for the incidence and types of problems that occur with records. We interviewed Research Integrity Officers (RIOs) at 90 major research universities and conducted focus groups with active research faculty. RIOs reported problems with research records in 38% of the 553 investigations they conducted. Severe problems with research records often prevented completion of investigations while problems that are more typical lengthened them by 2 to 3 weeks. Five types of poor record keeping practices accounted for 75 % of the problems with incomplete/inadequate records being the most common (30%). The focus groups concurred with the findings from the interviews with RIOs, stressed the importance of the research group leader in setting and maintaining record practices, and offered additional insights. While university officials and faculty members have suspected for many years that there are serious problems with research record keeping, our study provides empirical evidence for this belief. By documenting some of the problems with record keeping in university-based research, the results of our study provide information that will be useful for policy development at academic institutions.     

The Impact on Inequality of Raising the Minimum Wage: Gap‐narrowing and Reranking Effects

Raising the minimum wage may reduce inequality by increasing the wages of low‐skill workers, but it may also increase inequality due to negative impacts on employment that produce wage losses. Using previous estimates of the elasticities of wages and employment to changes in the minimum wage in Colombia and Brazil, we show that the net impact on inequality of increasing the minimum wage may depend on the distributional weights used for inequality measurement. The results are obtained by decomposing the Gini index into reranking and gap‐narrowing effects. Inequality‐increasing reranking effects, which are associated with job losses, may dominate inequality‐decreasing gap‐narrowing effects, which are associated with wage gains, when high weights are placed on workers with low earnings. For standard distributional weights, however, the likely net impact is a reduction in wage inequality.     

Legacies of empire?

Using methods and themes from Charles Tilly’s work, this paper presents a number of propositions related to empire-to-state transformation. We argue that variations in national state development from imperial metropole origins can be explained, at least in part, by variations in imperial administration, finance, development, identity, and inequality. Capacity is a critical determinant of the results of state transformation, while decisions about finance and investment are both economic and political. Identity and inequality are inextricably linked to empire, and our exploration of these concepts demonstrates that they are the outcomes of variable processes linked to concrete, if inadvertent, lines of imperial decisions.     

A variability taxonomy to support automation decision-making for manufacturing processes

Abstract

Although many manual operations have been replaced by automation in the manufacturing domain in various industries, skilled operators still carry out critical manual tasks such as final assembly. The business case for automation in these areas is difficult to justify due to increased complexity and costs arising out of process variabilities associated with those tasks. The lack of understanding of process variability in automation design means that industrial automation often does not realize the full benefits at the first attempt, resulting in the need to spend additional resource and time, to fully realize the potential. This article describes a taxonomy of variability when considering the automation of manufacturing processes. Three industrial case studies were analyzed to develop the proposed taxonomy. The results obtained from the taxonomy are discussed with a further case study to demonstrate its value in supporting automation decision-making.     

Mapping Our Way: New Formations in Technical Services: Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians Annual Conference

The annual meeting of the Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians (OVGTSL) was held May 16–18, 2007, at the Holiday Inn-University Plaza in Bowling Green, Kentucky. One hundred twenty technical services librarians from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and points beyond gathered for programming centered around the theme of “Mapping Our Way: New Formations in Technical Services.”     

Home Alone: Children as Caretakers in León,Nicaragua

This article seeks to explore and understand the life situations of sibling caretakers in poor areas in León, Nicaragua. The every day lives for caretakers were studied through observations and interviews with children, informants and parents. The children themselves were satisfied and proud to be trusted as caretakers and felt useful in contributing to their families’ livelihood. However, in a life course perspective the caretaking role implies a narrowing of life options. Early on they seem to acquire essential life skills but as they grow older many are at risk of falling behind due to their marginalised situation and lack of basic education.