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Books in Social sciences

The Social Sciences collection forms a definitive resource for those entering, researching, or teaching in any of the many disciplines making up this interdisciplinary area of study. Written by experts and researchers from both Academic and Commercial domains, titles offer global scope and perspectives.

Key subject areas include: Library and Information Science; Transportation; Urban Studies; Geography, Planning, and Development; Security; Emergency Management.

    • New Roles for Research Librarians

      Meeting the Expectations for Research Support
      • 1st Edition
      • Hilde Daland + 1 more
      • English
      New Roles for Research Librarians: Meeting the Expectations for Research Support presents strategies librarians can use to adapt to the new conditions and growing expectations that are emerging from students and researchers. Even if they have never completed a PhD, or even been engaged in independent research themselves, this book will provide a new roadmap on how to deal with the new work environment. The book provides different approaches that include the library in the research process, an area that is often neglected by researchers during their planning and strategic work on research projects. Users will find content that offers tactics on how to create a new dialogue between the librarian and the postgraduate student, along with comprehensive discussions on different starting points, and how communication and collaboration can help reach the best of both worlds.
    • Threat Forecasting

      Leveraging Big Data for Predictive Analysis
      • 1st Edition
      • John Pirc + 3 more
      • English
      Drawing upon years of practical experience and using numerous examples and illustrative case studies, Threat Forecasting: Leveraging Big Data for Predictive Analysis discusses important topics, including the danger of using historic data as the basis for predicting future breaches, how to use security intelligence as a tool to develop threat forecasting techniques, and how to use threat data visualization techniques and threat simulation tools. Readers will gain valuable security insights into unstructured big data, along with tactics on how to use the data to their advantage to reduce risk.
    • Citation Tracking in Academic Libraries

      An Overview
      • 1st Edition
      • Judith Mavodza
      • English
      Citation Tracking in Academic Libraries: An Overview presents results from the overarching need for researchers to get relevant advice for their scholarly pursuits. This is even more critical in the fast changing environment, where even those who are established scholars find the new scholarly publishing paradigm hectic, and amateurs get easily intimidated. In the wake of the competitive ranking of universities, there is an added requirement for faculty to be involved with research activities so they can enhance the standing of their parent institutions. That means there is a need to use valid and authentic platforms for publishing. Making reference to already existing texts and answering questions that have been encountered by the author, the book is compiled to make easy, short, and concise reading that is an overview on the tracking of citations. Besides giving suggestions on how academic librarians can provide support to scholars, it includes the benefit of having librarians who are also scholars.
    • Forensic Psychology of Spousal Violence

      • 1st Edition
      • Mauro Paulino
      • English
      Exploring the dynamics between victim and offender is paramount to answering important issues of character and vital for forensic research. This involves examining the role of the victim during and after victimization; this process is especially important for spousal violence because of the interactive process between the victim and the offender.Forensic Psychology of Spousal Violence covers the phenomenon of spousal violence and its different forms, discussing the consequences of abuse, providing research tips to be used in the field, including relevant case studies and much more. The innovative approach of this text fills a void in the current understanding of spousal violence.
    • OS X Incident Response

      Scripting and Analysis
      • 1st Edition
      • Jaron Bradley
      • English
      OS X Incident Response: Scripting and Analysis is written for analysts who are looking to expand their understanding of a lesser-known operating system. By mastering the forensic artifacts of OS X, analysts will set themselves apart by acquiring an up-and-coming skillset. Digital forensics is a critical art and science. While forensics is commonly thought of as a function of a legal investigation, the same tactics and techniques used for those investigations are also important in a response to an incident. Digital evidence is not only critical in the course of investigating many crimes but businesses are recognizing the importance of having skilled forensic investigators on staff in the case of policy violations. Perhaps more importantly, though, businesses are seeing enormous impact from malware outbreaks as well as data breaches. The skills of a forensic investigator are critical to determine the source of the attack as well as the impact. While there is a lot of focus on Windows because it is the predominant desktop operating system, there are currently very few resources available for forensic investigators on how to investigate attacks, gather evidence and respond to incidents involving OS X. The number of Macs on enterprise networks is rapidly increasing, especially with the growing prevalence of BYOD, including iPads and iPhones. Author Jaron Bradley covers a wide variety of topics, including both the collection and analysis of the forensic pieces found on the OS. Instead of using expensive commercial tools that clone the hard drive, you will learn how to write your own Python and bash-based response scripts. These scripts and methodologies can be used to collect and analyze volatile data immediately. For online source codes, please visit: https://github.com/j...
    • Online Learning and its Users

      Lessons for Higher Education
      • 1st Edition
      • Claire McAvinia
      • English
      Online Learning and Its Users: Lessons for Higher Education re-examines the impact of learning technologies in higher education. The book focuses particularly on the introduction and mainstreaming of one of the most widely used, the virtual learning environment (VLE) or learning management system (LMS). The book presents an activity theoretic analysis of the VLE’s adoption, drawing on research into this process at a range of higher education institutions. Through analysis and discussion of the activities of managers, lecturers, and learners using the VLE, lessons are identified to inform future initiatives including the implementation of massive open online courses (MOOCs). A replicable research design is included and explained to support evaluation and analysis of the use of online learning in other settings. The book questions accepted views of the place of technologies in higher education, arguing that there has been a repeated cycle of hype and disappointment accompanying the development of online learning. While much research has documented this cycle, finding new strategies to break it has proved to be a more difficult challenge. Why has technology not made more impact? Are lecturers going to be left behind by their own students in the use of digital technologies? Why have we seen costly and time-consuming failures? This book argues that we can answer these questions by heeding the lessons from previous experiences with the VLE and early iterations of the MOOC. More importantly, we can begin to ask new and different questions for the future to ensure better outcomes for our institutions and ultimately our learners.
    • The Education Dilemma

      Policy Issues for Developing Countries in the 1980s
      • 1st Edition
      • J. Simmons
      • English
      The Education Dilemma: Policy Issues for Developing Countries in the 1980s focuses on the questions on the adequacy of the Western European and North American model of formal schooling exported to developing countries. The selection first offers information on an overview of the policy issues in the 1980s, future of formal education in developing countries, and factors which promote school achievement in developing countries. Discussions focus on the effect of schooling variables on achievement; comparison of the importance of schooling inputs and home background; educational production function and its limitations; and theories of learning and schooling. The text then examines preschool age investment in human capital, policy implications of instructional technology, and the impact of American educational research on developing countries. The publication takes a look at common assumptions about education and employment, education and employment after independence, and the influence of education on migration and fertility. Topics include education and migration, fertility and education, socializing effects of educational institutions, educational and individual entrepreneurship, and education and access to labor market. The manuscript also surveys education, class conflict, and uneven development and investment in education in developing nations. The selection is a valuable reference for educators and researchers interested in the application of the Western European and North American model of formal schooling to developing countries.
    • Protecting Patient Information

      A Decision-Maker's Guide to Risk, Prevention, and Damage Control
      • 1st Edition
      • Paul Cerrato
      • English
      Protecting Patient Information: A Decision-Maker's Guide to Risk, Prevention, and Damage Control provides the concrete steps needed to tighten the information security of any healthcare IT system and reduce the risk of exposing patient health information (PHI) to the public. The book offers a systematic, 3-pronged approach for addressing the IT security deficits present in healthcare organizations of all sizes. Healthcare decision-makers are shown how to conduct an in-depth analysis of their organization’s information risk level. After this assessment is complete, the book offers specific measures for lowering the risk of a data breach, taking into account federal and state regulations governing the use of patient data. Finally, the book outlines the steps necessary when an organization experiences a data breach, even when it has taken all the right precautions.
    • The Academic Librarian as Blended Professional

      Reassessing and Redefining the Role
      • 1st Edition
      • Michael Perini
      • English
      The Academic Librarian as Blended Professional employs a model that allows for individual and managerial reconceptualization of the librarian's role, also helping to mitigate obstacles to professional development both internal and external to the library. Using traditional and personal narrative, the book extends Whitchurch’s blended professional model, designed to consider the merging of academicians’ roles across several spheres of professional and academic influence in a higher education setting, to academic librarians. The book is significant due to its use of higher education theory to examine the professional identity of academic librarians and the issues impacting librarian professional development. The work offers a constructive, replicable research design appropriate for the analysis of librarians in other academic settings, providing additional insights into how these professionals might perceive their roles within the larger context of a higher education environment. Following the application of the blended professional model, this book contends that academic librarians have similar roles concerning research, instruction, and service when compared to an institution’s tenure-track faculty. The scope of professional productivity and the expectation of the librarians, though, are much less regimented. Consequently, the academic librarians find themselves in a tenuous working space where their blended role is inhibited by real and perceived barriers.
    • Building a Travel Risk Management Program

      Traveler Safety and Duty of Care for Any Organization
      • 1st Edition
      • Charles Brossman
      • English
      Building a Travel Risk Management Program: Traveler Safety and Duty of Care for Any Organization helps business and security professionals effectively manage traveler risk by showing them how to build a complete travel risk program. While global corporate travel risks are increasing exponentially, many security and business managers are not well-versed in the rapidly changing global landscape of travel risk, nor do they fully realize the multitude of risks their companies face if they don’t comply with their legal obligations—“duty of care"—for protecting their employees from foreseeable harm, which can cost a company in the form of extensive fines, productivity loss, business interruptions, stock price loss, litigation, and even potential bankruptcy. This book is the first to bridge the gap between the topics of travel management, security, and risk management. It serves as a reference point for working with other departments, including human resources and legal, paving the way for better internal cooperation for travel managers and security managers. In addition, it helps organizations craft a travel risk management program for their unique needs that incorporates the most important policies and procedures that help them comply with legal obligations.