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Books in Sociology of work

  • Workplace Culture in Academic Libraries

    The Early 21st Century
    • 1st Edition
    • Kelly Blessinger + 1 more
    • English
    Workplace culture refers to conditions that collectively influence the work atmosphere. These can include policies, norms, and unwritten standards for behavior. This book focuses on various aspects of workplace culture in academic libraries from the practitioners’ viewpoint, as opposed to that of the theoretician. The book asks the following questions: What conditions contribute to an excellent academic library work environment? What helps to make a particular academic library a great place to work? Articles focus on actual programs while placing the discussion in a scholarly context. The book is structured into 14 chapters, covering various aspects of workplace culture in academic libraries, including: overview of workplace culture, assessment, recruitment, acclimation for new librarians, workforce diversity, physical environment, staff morale, interaction between departments, tenure track/academic culture, mentoring/coaching, generational differences, motivation/incentive... complaints/conflict management, and organizational transparency.

  • Method in the Madness

    Research Stories You Won’t Read in Textbooks
    • 1st Edition
    • Keith Townsend + 1 more
    • English
    Method in the Madness is presented as a companion to researchers investigating the complex world of work. Rather than a ‘How to’ text on performing research, this book presents a record of experiences. Research so often evolves in the field or the planning stages and a successful researcher need to be aware of serendipitous opportunities as they arise and how to solve problems as they occur. The book comprises an introduction written by the editors followed by thirteen chapters written by different contributors. The introduction draws together the disparate experiences that follow and discusses the ways in which the contributors, all of whom are respected researchers, dealt with and learned from the research experience. In the following chapters, the contributors describe and reflect on the research process, the challenges they met during their research and the lessons learned. The style varies, but includes narratives, anecdotes and descriptions of individuals’ experiences as research was designed and carried out and the results generated.

  • Taking Charge of Your Career

    A Guide for Library and Information Professionals
    • 1st Edition
    • Joanna Ptolomey
    • English
    This book is about rethinking your career in a refreshing and systematic way to take into account your professional and personal goals. The book provides students and information and library professionals (at all levels) with tools and practical steps to making changes in their career. At the heart of the book is a methodology called ‘personal strategic planning’, which allows the reader to work out a baseline for what is important to them in a career and provide techniques and tools for moving forwards.

  • A Sense of Control

    Virtual Communities for People with Mobility Impairments
    • 1st Edition
    • Christine Tilley
    • English
    This work develops a theoretical framework for a virtual community for people with long-term, severe mobility disabilities. It proposes strategies for implementing a virtual community model based on user information needs. The central theme to emerge from their narratives is how the use of information and communications technology (ICT) allows them to regain a sense of control. The conclusion is that the technology provides strategies for independence and facilitates self-empowerment.

  • Globalization, Flexibilization and Working Conditions in Asia and the Pacific

    • 1st Edition
    • Sangheon Lee + 1 more
    • English
    This book represents a unique study which reviews employment conditions in Asia and the Pacific in the context of globalization and increasing pressure towards flexibilization. It places a strong focus on the diverging experiences of individual workers in their employment conditions such as employment status, wages/incomes, working time, work organizations and health and safety. Along with thematic studies concerning the roles of workers voice and labour regulation in determining employment conditions, this book includes nine country studies which have been undertaken based on a common research framework for a more rigorous comparison in the region.

  • Engineering Ethics

    An Industrial Perspective
    • 1st Edition
    • Gail Baura
    • English
    Engineering Ethics is the application of philosophical and moral systems to the proper judgment and behavior by engineers in conducting their work, including the products and systems they design and the consulting services they provide. In light of the work environment that inspired the new Sarbanes/Oxley federal legislation on “whistle-blowing” protections, a clear understanding of Engineering Ethics is needed like never before. Beginning with a concise overview of various approaches to engineering ethics, the real heart of the book will be some 13 detailed case studies, delving into the history behind each one, the official outcome and the “real story” behind what happened. Using a consistent format and organization for each one—giving background, historical summary, news media effects, outcome and interpretation--thes... case histories will be used to clearly illustrate the ethics issues at play and what should or should not have been done by the engineers, scientists and managers involved in each instance.

  • The Shape of Social Inequality

    Stratification and Ethnicity in Comparative Perspective
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 22
    • David Bills
    • English
    This volume brings together former students, colleagues, and others influenced by the sociological scholarship of Archibald O. Haller to celebrate Haller's many contributions to theory and research on social stratification and mobility. All of the chapters respond to Haller's programmatic agenda for stratification research: "A full program aimed at understanding stratification requires: first, that we know what stratification structures consist of and how they may vary; second, that we identify the individual and collective consequences of the different states and rates of change of such structures; and third, seeing that some degree of stratification seems to be present everywhere, that we identify the factors that make stratification structures change." The contributors to this Festschrift address such topics as the changing nature of stratification regimes, the enduring significance of class analysis, the stratifying dimensions of race, ethnicity, and gender, and the interplay between educational systems and labor market outcomes. Many of the chapters adopt an explicitly cross-societal comparative perspective on processes and consequences of social stratification. The volume offers both conceptually and empirically important new analyses of the shape of social stratification.

  • Faculty-Librarian Relationships

    • 1st Edition
    • Paul Jenkins
    • English
    Faculty-Librarian Relationships illustrates how academic librarians can enjoy a healthy working partnership with the faculty they serve. Though geared towards those new to the profession, the book is aimed at librarians interested in learning more about this often-complex relationship. Helpful strategies are provided for librarians working with faculty in the areas of collection development and information literacy. The book includes a number of interviews conducted with faculty members so librarians have examples of thoughts, concerns and suggestions regarding libraries and librarians.

  • Biotechnology Organizations in Action

    Turning Knowledge into Business
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 20
    • J. Norus
    • English
    This volume analyzes the dynamics and interactive processes among the players (individuals, institutions, and organizations/firms) that have constituted and legitimized the development of the biotechnology industries. The unit of analysis is small entrepreneurial firms developing biotechnological products and processes. What types of strategies are small entrepreneurs pursuing in order to create markets for their new products and processes, and how have specific strategies emerged? The primary interest is the network process through which the technological field and the development of institutions and routines evolve and co-evolve. The theoretical contribution of the book is its focus on the development of the concept of networks. From being regarded as a relative static concept the book transforms the concept into a dynamic concept of networking. The dynamic view on the creation and development of new technologies through network formations is linked to the concept of strategy that is used throughout the book. Hence the strategies are developed along with the creation of technological knowledge, and it is hoped that the diffusion of this specific knowledge will bring new actors into the technological arena or community. This book will be useful to the academic community, those studying the formation of networks, strategic management, organizational behavior, and management of technology, as well as business observers with a specific interest in the evolution of the biotechnology industry.