This account describes action learning in a small to medium-size enterprise (SME) that operates as a local power utility on an established market that is currently going through a process of radical transformation. The task of the action learning set was to improve the flow of information to employees about the evolving framework in which the…

Michel Foucault's concept of power/knowledge is applied to an exploration of how managerial discourse affects the practice of public environmental education at a publicly owned electric utility. Emerging from interviews with people at SaskPower is a managerial discourse with a particularly instrumental approach to environmental education. The aim…

The concept of health is not only a specific criterion for evaluation of water quality delivered by a distribution system but also a suitable paradigm for overall functioning of the hydraulic and structural components of the system. This article views health, despite its complexities, as the only criterion with suitable depth and breadth to allow…

Information technology (IT) professionals face markedly different kinds of challenges in developing countries from the ones in developed countries. Based on the research literature and our fourteen years of fieldwork in Iringa, Tanzania, we have identified eight groups of technical characteristics of IT work that significantly affect the work of…

This article examines how local experiments and negotiation processes contribute to social and field-level learning. The analysis is framed within the niche development literature, which offers a framework for analyzing the relation between projects in local contexts and the transfer of local experiences into generally applicable rules. The…

The graduate of the Gasfitter apprenticeship program is a certified journeyperson who will be able to: (1) apply the standards and regulations of natural and LP gas in order to provide the maximum of safety; (2) know the characteristics and proper use of each product; (3) be able to install and maintain pipe systems, appliances and equipment using…

A discernible difference, attributed to the digital divide, is evident between the adoption and implementation of distance education technologies in institutions of higher learning in low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in high-income countries in America and Europe. A review of the literature revealed a rural-urban digital divide…

This book explores the connections between infrastructure reform and poverty alleviation in Latin America based on a detailed analysis of the effects of a decade of reforms. The book demonstrates that because the access to, and affordability of, basic services is still a major problem, infrastructure investment will be a core component of poverty…

Describes the benefits, design procedures, costs, and effectiveness of a computer-based training program to provide distance learning for the employees of British Gas. (SK)

Discussion of the value of online information services in schools reviews recent reports from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, and describes some of the available cataloging, bibliographic, full text/statistical, videotex, local, and electronic bulletin board services. Four examples of current applications in Australian…

An Ontario university non-salary price index is presented that attempts to measure the impact of inflation on non-salary expenditure. Using 1970-71 as the base year (in which the index equals 100), the changes in prices of non-salary expenditures for 1976-77 are shown. The non-salary expenditures covered include books and periodicals, furniture…

Swedens necessity for and present efforts toward energy conservation are discussed. The district system for space heating and certain Swedish laws that promote energy conservation are described. (MDR)

Major activities, programs, and conferences in geothermal energy during 1982 are highlighted. These include first comprehensive national assessment of U.S. low-temperature geothermal resources (conducted by U.S. Geological Survey and Department of Energy), map production by U.S. Geological Survey, geothermal plant production, and others. (JN)

Thirty-three school boards responded to an energy survey administered by the Ontario Association of School Business Officials. Energy savings are illustrated in tables. (MLF)

Describes the background of OCLC's international interests and briefly surveys the collaborative activities being undertaken in Europe, the Far East, and Canada. Both the benefits to all involved parties and problems that must be resolved are discussed. (two references) (Author/CLB)