From interviews with 20 human resource developers in Finland, career stories of 4 were selected and analyzed. Underlying their career histories are the following commonalities of professional human resource expertise: emphasis on the centrality of people, personal style as a working tool, and understanding of learning. (Contains 53 references.)…

Examines the use of stochastic frontier estimation of constant elasticity of substitution (CES) cost function to measure differences in efficiency among British universities. (Contains 28 references.) (PKP)

This study in the domain of statistics compares four information presentation formats in a 2 x 2 factorial design: timing of supportive information (before or during task practice) ? timing of procedural information (before or during task practice). Seventy-two psychology and education students (7 male and 65 female; mean age 18.5 years, SD =…

Failure to consider costs as well as benefits is common in many policy initiatives and analyses, particularly in the environmental arena. Economists and other policy scientists have demonstrated that integrating both cost and benefit information explicitly into the policy process can be vital to ensuring that scarce funds go as far as they can…

"The Iron Triangle" is a small-scale exploratory piece of research that adds another dimension to a decade of observation of how different groups view the current challenges facing higher education. The report explores the perspective of college and university presidents, examining the views of more than two dozen presidents who shared their…

As libraries change to meet the evolving needs of our patrons, including the development of online services, many libraries are considering consolidating physical service points to maximize staff and better serve the in-house patron. This article describes the planning, implementation, and evaluation process involved in merging the circulation and…

The non-standard practice at Cowles Library at Drake University has been to display electronic journals and some print journals in the Knowledge Base while simultaneously listing print journals and some electronic journals in the online public access catalog (OPAC). The result was a system that made it difficult for patrons to determine our…

In the last issue, this journal asked a question on many librarians' minds, and it was pleased with the depth and variety of responses. As suggested by this journal editorial board member Oliver Pesch, readers were asked, "Many libraries have gone to federated searching to win users back from Google. Is it working?" Respondents approached the…

Educational technology and instructional design research has focused on evaluating interventions and innovations in terms of their effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal. While such indicators of learning outcomes are important, designers should also strive for engaging, socially just, and transformational instruction. To illuminate the…

For years, spending by the King County (Seattle, Washington) corrections department consumed a growing share of the county operating budget, and the department accrued a backlog of needed capital investments. At the same time, there was a history of mistrust between the county council and department management, which centered on whether the…

This study aimed to learn more of the differences that may exist between the two most powerful groups of donors today, baby boomers (40-58 years old) and mature donors (59 and older), in an effort to help organizations improve fundraising efforts. Questions about the importance of organizational efficiency, program outcomes, and the desire for…

This study deals with the instructional efficiency of integrating text and animation into computer-based science instruction. The participants were 84 seventh-grade students in a private primary school in Istanbul. The efficiency of instruction was measured by mental effort and performance level of the learners. The results of the study showed…

If higher education is a right, and distance education is the avenue for making higher education universally available, then who shall pay? This article asks (1) can state governments in the United States afford to fund this initiative and (2) can public higher education institutions in the U.S. fund this effort through capitalizing on…

Guides for mail-handling efficiency from the mailroom supervisor at Michigan State University. (MLF)

Evidence from Korea suggests feelings of professional inefficacy among journalists in developing countries may be linked to an intimate knowledge of politics and a lack of professional commitment and career tenure. (RB)