1,720,961 research outputs found
What do demand-driven e-lending, e-acquisition and e-cataloguing activities really cost: A case study in Tallinn University of Technology Library
Full text linkAccording to C. A. Mandel: „We are all spending money, some of us know how much, fewer of us know what for“ (Mandel 1988, p. 220). For over a several decades, many academic libraries have been purchasing books requested by their patrons or customers. The ease and effectiveness of demand-driven acquisitions definitely helps to optimize acquisitions budget as well. Nowadays university libraries increasingly turn to e-books as an alternative to purchasing multiple copies. Academic libraries have for years been forced to purchase large packages of e-books that are of questionable financial value because so much of the content is not used. The number of content units downloaded from large e-book packages byuniversity patrons is not growing. E-books have several advantages as compared to physical books. Since April 2013, the e-books from ProQuest Ebook Central (more than 800 000) are available via Tallinn University of Technology Library for a selection. They are available almost instantly and usually it is possible to see the content of e-books before making purchase decision. Through this demand-driven acquisition and lending model, the library offers its users a much wider range of titles, while ensuring that more of the titles purchased are used. A lot of studies are conducted to compare print and ebook collections: collection size, expenditure on print books and ebooks, and usage statistics. But only very few cost accounting surveys involving different library activities have been carried out in Estonia (Kont, 2015a; Kont 2015b: Kont 2016) and none have been published in the area of the e-books before ether in Estonia and, based on the information known to the author, elsewhere as well. The purpose of the present paper is to investigate the cost of activities related to purchasing, cataloguing, and lending processes in TTU Library based on the example of the time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) method. More specifically, the study concerns the individually acquired, catalogued and lent as short-time loans e-books. The aim of the current paper is to find out: 1) How much does it cost to acquire the e-book? 2) How much does it cost to borrow the e-book? 3) How much does it cost to catalog the e-book? The results are interpreted on the basis of directions in the literature, and the author’s opinions based on long-term experience working in Estonian academic libraries. The results of Acquisition and cataloging case studies are compared to printed books studies compiled in the TTU Library in 2012/2013
Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing to Support Performance Measurement in Estonian University Libraries: A Case Study for Acquisition Process
Full text linkLibraries today are included in the general demand for cost transparency and effective cost management. In the current socio-economic situation, it is challenging to cope with the same or reduced resources in managing the same processes and activities, so that the quality of the result would not be affected. The need of library managers to justify their costs to their parent organizations has become particularly important, perhaps even more important than ever in the history. With the data they have traditionally collected, libraries can assess details about the costs of collection building; what they need now are reliable data about the costs of their services and products. However, libraries lack a specific overview of the activities between which their costs are divided. Cost accounting is the simple process of breaking down resources to the activity being carried on and then collating the monetary cost to show the cost of the activity. The time-driven activity-based costing TDABC helps to get a better picture of the acquisition related activities that libraries are actually engaged in and their costs.
The purpose of the present paper is to analyse the cost of activities related to acquisition process in Estonian university libraries based on the example of the time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) method. More specifically, the study concerned both the acquisition process of foreign as well as domestic documents in physical carriers – books, audiovisual documents and printed music documents. Only documents acquired as purchases were added.
While analysing the results, it appeared that the difference in time consumed for purchasing a document can be remarkable and it concerns, first and foremost, acquiring foreign documents
Estų kibernetinio raštingumo įgūdžiai. Veikla ir politika, skatinanti žiniomis paremtą požiūrį į kibernetinį saugumą
Full text linkWith the advent of COVID-19, people spent more time at home. Countries, societies, companies and individuals suddenly became dependent on cyberspace overnight. Work, shopping and leisure meant we became more than ever weak to the risks of cyberspace. The human factor makes people the “key” to otherwise technically hardly penetrable systems – criminals play on people’s greed, emotions, happiness, etc.
It is no surprise that Estonians are more active daily internet users compared to the rest of the Europeans. But what is being done in Estonia at the national level, as well as in cyber protection organisational level, to raise the awareness of residents about cyber security? What else should be done to reduce victims among ordinary citizens and how to protect various important public and private organisations from the consequences of the cyber-risky behaviour of their employees? What is the role of libraries in promoting cyber security awareness? A human error is a central target of cyber attacks, phishing scams, and data breaches. Cyber criminals are becoming more and more inventive. It is important to understand that cyber security risks can be managed and mitigated, but not completely eliminated. Increasing security awareness is the only factor that can help limit breaches caused by human frailty.Prasidėjus COVID-19 pandemijai žmonės daugiau laiko leido namie. Staiga, per naktį, šalys, bendruomenės, įmonės ir asmenys tapo priklausomi nuo kibernetinės erdvės. Dirbdami, apsipirkdami ir leisdami laisvalaikį tapome labiau pažeidžiami kibernetinėje erdvėje. Žmonės dėl žmogiškojo veiksnio tampa „raktu“ šiaip jau techniškai sunkiai įveikiamose sistemose – nusikaltėliai naudojasi žmonių godumu, emocijomis, laime ir t. t.
Nenuostabu, kad estai, palyginti su kitais europiečiais, kasdien vis aktyviau naudojasi internetu. Tačiau kaip Estijoje valstybiniu lygmeniu ir kibernetinio saugumo organizacijose lygmeniu yra didinamas gyventojų supratimas apie kibernetinį saugumą? Ką dar reikėtų padaryti, kad sumažėtų nukentėjusiųjų tarp paprastų piliečių, ir kaip apsaugoti įvairias svarbias viešas ir privačias organizacijas nuo jų darbuotojų elgesio, keliančio pavojų kibernetiniam saugumui, pasekmių? Kokį vaidmenį atlieka bibliotekos, skatindamos supratimą apie kibernetinį saugumą? Kibernetinėmis atakomis, duomenų vagystėmis ir duomenų saugumo pažeidimais siekiama žmogaus klaidos. Kibernetiniai nusikaltėliai tampa vis išradingesni. Svarbu suprasti, kad kibernetinio saugumo rizika gali būti valdoma ir švelninama, bet jos visiškai pašalinti negalima. Supratimo apie saugumą didinimas yra vienintelis veiksnys, galintis padėti sumažinti žmogaus pažeidžiamumo sukeltus saugumo pažeidimus
ELECTRONICALLY PUBLISHED SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION IN TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
Full text linkThe use of electronic information resources is growing rapidly. The actual science information is electronic as a rule - practically all the journals of engineering and natural science have electronic versions and a certain number of them are available only electronically. Electronic scientific information in technical universities is the basis for research and development, degree study and professional specialty, to a certain extent. It is widely agreed by producers and purchasers of information that the use of electronic resources should be measured in a more consistent way. Librarians want to understand better how the information they buy from a variety of sources is being used; publishers want to know how the information products they disseminate are being accessed. Findings of this study suggest that the financial opportunities of technical university libraries in the four neighboring countries - Swedish Royal Institute of Technology, Helsinki University of Technology, Tallinn University of Technology Library and Scientific Library of Riga Technical University (henceforth referred to as KTHL, HUTL, TUTL and RTUL respectively) - to spend resources on electronic publications are very different
Activity-Based Costing (ABC) and Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC): Applicable Methods for University Libraries?
No full textObjective – This article provides an overview of how university libraries research and adapt new cost accounting models, such as “activity-based costing” (ABC) and “time-driven activity-based costing” (TDABC), focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of both methods to determine which of these two is suitable for application in university libraries.
Methods – This paper reviews and summarizes the literature on cost accounting and costing practices of university libraries. A brief overview of the history of cost accounting, costing, and time and motion studies in libraries is also provided. The ABC and the TDABC method, designed as a revised and easier version of the ABC by Kaplan and Anderson (Kaplan & Anderson 2004) at the beginning of the 21st century, as well as the adoption and adaptation of these methods by university libraries are described, and their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their suitability for university libraries, are analyzed.
Results – Cost accounting and costing studies in libraries have a long history, the first of these dating back to 1877. The development of cost accounting and time and motion studies can be seen as a natural evolution of techniques which were created to solve management problems. The ABC method is the best-known management accounting innovation of the last 20 years, and is already widely used in university libraries around the world. However, setting up an ABC system can be very costly, and the system needs to be regularly updated, which further increases its costs. The TDABC system can not only be implemented more quickly (and thus more cheaply), but also can be updated more easily than the traditional ABC, which makes the TDABC the more suitable method for university libraries.
Conclusion – Both methods are suitable for university libraries. However, the ABC method can only be implemented in collaboration with an accounting department. The TDABC method can be tested and implemented by separate departments, and thus can contribute to the provision of better and more effective library services at lower costs. However, the involvement of experts in costing and accounting is recommended
DENTAL TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN ESTONIA: STUDENT RESEARCH IN TALLINN HEALTH CARE COLLEGE
Full text linkThe aim of this article is to give an overview of the best dental technician studentresearch in Tallinn Health Care College. In their graduation theses, students investigated themechanical properties of avilable materials in dental technology. The students’ main interestwas to find out what happens in a situation where dental technology materials are useddifferently from the manufacturers’ recommendations, e.g. if the components are mixed inwrong proportions. Students prepared (7-10 pieces) test bodies in a dental technologylaboratory. Tests and measurements were carried out at TTK University of Applied Sciences.The test spectrum using the Universal Material Tester G.U.N.T WP 300 covers tensile tests,compression tests, bending tests, and hardness tests. Expansion measurings are proceduresthat have been developed using digital calipers and a feeler gauge. The encouragement ofstudent involvement in a research project is most important for dental technician education.Incorrect handling of materials can affect the durability of dental prostheses; weaken the qualityof dental prostheses; influence the suitability of dental prostheses in the oral cavity. Thereasons for improper handling of dental materials: dental technicians do not read the manualcarefully; dental technicians have “a lot of work”; working by force of habit; patient needs thedenture as soon as possible.Keywords: dental technician curriculum, students’ research, alginate impressionmaterial, cold- and heat-cured acrylic, denture teeth bonding to acrylic, orthodontic wire, dentalgypsum, tensile strength, compressive strength, expansion, adhesion strength, flexural strengt
Information Security Awareness of Librarians in the Baltic Countries: A Comparative Analysis
No full textThe aim of this study was to analyse the information security awareness of librarians in the three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – in seven focus areas, which were password management, use of email, use of the Internet, use of social media, use of devices, handling of information and incident prevention and handling. The study was conducted among librarians in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. A total of 1,217 librarians from the public, special, school and research libraries of the three Baltic countries responded to the survey. Pearson correlation, average scores and descriptive statistics were used to achieve the research objective. The results revealed that Estonian librarians are more cyber-aware than their Latvian and Lithuanian colleagues, but everyone has their weaknesses. The chosen methodology is well suited for assessing the cyber awareness of not only library employees but also employees of all memory institutions (archives, museums) and identifying training needs. Keywords: libraries, informal education, cybersecurity, cyber skills, cyber literacy, cyber hygiene, information awareness, human factor, KAB-model, HAIS-Q questionnaire
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Estijos slaugos profesijos raida ir slaugytojų mokymo istoriniai, politiniai bei socialiniai aspektai
No full textŠio straipsnio tikslas – aprašyti slaugos ir slaugytojų rengimo raidą Estijoje, atsižvelgiant į socialinių ir politinių permainų kontekstą šalyje. Slaugos vystymosi Vakarų Europoje, Skandinavijos ir Baltijos šalyse istorinė apžvalga suteikia galimybę susipažinti su slaugos atsiradimo ir vystymosi ypatumais Estijoje. Didžiausias dėmesys skiriamas slaugos vystymuisi atkūrus nepriklausomybę, pabrėžiant tolesnes slaugymo ir slaugos mokymo raidos perspektyvas. Ypač didelis dėmesys skiriamas paskutinio dešimtmečio slaugytojų emigracijai iš Estijos. Ši stiprėjanti tendencija gali sukelti problemų Estijos sveikatos priežiūros sistemai.
Rengiant šį straipsnį buvo naudojami duomenys, gauti apibendrinant atitinkamus straipsnius, knygas, ir tyrimų, atliktų keliose Europos šalyse ir turėjusius didžiausią įtaką Estijai, rezultatus. Istoriniai tyrimo metodai leido šiame straipsnyje pateikti dokumentuotą profesijos istorijos vaizdą svarbiais jos vystymosi laikotarpiais. Istoriniais metodais remtasi analizuojant Estijos slaugos istoriją. Tyrimai apėmė istorinius dokumentus, senąją periodiką, knygas, kuriose buvo skelbiama medžiaga apie slaugymą ir slaugos mokymą.
Slaugymo praktikai ir slaugos mokymui Estijoje įtakos turėjo visos Europos slauga. Kadangi Antrasis pasaulinis karas keliems dešimtmečiams sutrikdė slaugos mokymą Europoje, pirmosios slaugos mokymo programos universitetuose atsirado XX a. 9-ajame dešimtmetyje. Šiuolaikiniam slaugos mokymo procesui didžiausią įtaką turėjo Bolonijos procesas (Bologna process), sudaręs prielaidas harmonizuoti slaugos mokymą, todėl reikalingą išsilavinimą įgiję Estijos slaugytojai gali dirbti visoje Europoje. Tai lėmė suaktyvėjusią profesionalių slaugytojų tarptautinę migraciją į aukštesnių pajamų šalis. Apskritai slaugos mokymas tampa vis labiau akademiškas, pirmieji Estijos slaugytojai jau gavo slaugos daktaro (PhD) laipsnį.
Yra išleista monografijų apie slaugymo ir slaugos mokymo Estijoje istoriją, tačiau nėra daug apžvalginių straipsnių, lyginančių slaugymą ir slaugos mokymą su šiuolaikiniu slaugos mokymu Europoje. Šiuo straipsniu bandoma užpildyti šią spragą.Šio straipsnio tikslas – aprašyti slaugos ir slaugytojų rengimo raidą Estijoje, atsižvelgiant į socialinių ir politinių permainų kontekstą šalyje. Slaugos vystymosi Vakarų Europoje, Skandinavijos ir Baltijos šalyse istorinė apžvalga suteikia galimybę susipažinti su slaugos atsiradimo ir vystymosi ypatumais Estijoje. Didžiausias dėmesys skiriamas slaugos vystymuisi atkūrus nepriklausomybę, pabrėžiant tolesnes slaugymo ir slaugos mokymo raidos perspektyvas. Ypač didelis dėmesys skiriamas paskutinio dešimtmečio slaugytojų emigracijai iš Estijos. Ši stiprėjanti tendencija gali sukelti problemų Estijos sveikatos priežiūros sistemai.
Rengiant šį straipsnį buvo naudojami duomenys, gauti apibendrinant atitinkamus straipsnius, knygas, ir tyrimų, atliktų keliose Europos šalyse ir turėjusius didžiausią įtaką Estijai, rezultatus. Istoriniai tyrimo metodai leido šiame straipsnyje pateikti dokumentuotą profesijos istorijos vaizdą svarbiais jos vystymosi laikotarpiais. Istoriniais metodais remtasi analizuojant Estijos slaugos istoriją. Tyrimai apėmė istorinius dokumentus, senąją periodiką, knygas, kuriose buvo skelbiama medžiaga apie slaugymą ir slaugos mokymą.
Slaugymo praktikai ir slaugos mokymui Estijoje įtakos turėjo visos Europos slauga. Kadangi Antrasis pasaulinis karas keliems dešimtmečiams sutrikdė slaugos mokymą Europoje, pirmosios slaugos mokymo programos universitetuose atsirado XX a. 9-ajame dešimtmetyje. Šiuolaikiniam slaugos mokymo procesui didžiausią įtaką turėjo Bolonijos procesas (Bologna process), sudaręs prielaidas harmonizuoti slaugos mokymą, todėl reikalingą išsilavinimą įgiję Estijos slaugytojai gali dirbti visoje Europoje. Tai lėmė suaktyvėjusią profesionalių slaugytojų tarptautinę migraciją į aukštesnių pajamų šalis. Apskritai slaugos mokymas tampa vis labiau akademiškas, pirmieji Estijos slaugytojai jau gavo slaugos daktaro (PhD) laipsnį.
Yra išleista monografijų apie slaugymo ir slaugos mokymo Estijoje istoriją, tačiau nėra daug apžvalginių straipsnių, lyginančių slaugymą ir slaugos mokymą su šiuolaikiniu slaugos mokymu Europoje. Šiuo straipsniu bandoma užpildyti šią spragą
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