How sawm shows devotion to god Essay

Sawm is the fourth pillar of Islam and is an important act of ibadah. The word â€Å"Ramadan† comes from the Arabic root word for â€Å"parched thirst† and â€Å"sun-baked ground.† It is expressive of the hunger and thirst felt by those who spend the month in fasting. As opposed to other holidays, when people often indulge, Ramadan is by nature a time of sacrifice. The month of Ramadan is sacred because the first revelation of the Qur’an is said to have occurred during this month. By tradition the month starts with the sighting of the new moon by at least two Muslims. For the entire month, Muslims must fast from daybreak to sunset by refraining from eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse. It is an apparent sign of devotion as it shows obedience, submission and servitude to God, the Exalted. By fasting, a Muslim expresses his submission to Allah’s command, his response to His will, and control over his own desires and wishes at the God’s command. In the holy month of Ramadan, a Muslim’s abstaining from food, drink, sexual intercourse, during the prescribed hours is the very manifestation of devotion to the Creator’s will. This self-deprivation represents a state of self-control and of overcoming pleasure, desire, and enjoyment, for the blissful love of God. It is a triumph of pure love over one’s pleasures for the eternal ones promised by God, the Almighty. This response to the Divine commandments represents and incarnates true devotion and is a brilliant display of spirit, intellect and decisive willpower. This purification allows them to prove their devotion to Allah by demonstrating they will honor the fast whether they are alone or with others, because it is His wish that they do so. Through fasting the Muslims are able to share in their unity with each other and their community, and display their gratitude to God for being given the words of the Qur’an. Through increased devotion, Muslims feel closer to their Creator, and recognize that everything we have in this life is a blessing from Him. Traditions (Hadith) succinctly explain this fact: â€Å"A fasting person is in a state of worship, even when (asleep) in bed, except when he backbites about another Muslim.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Every breath you take is (has the reward of) Tasbih (praise to Allah) and your sleep is worship†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In a moving speech, the Prophet of Allah described the believing soul that fasts for love of Allah out of truthfulness and sincerity, and out of devotion for him then the whole day becomes an alter of worship, and each and every activity of the fasting body, provided it abstains from loathsome acts, is nothing but worship embodied. This is why Muslims become focused in Ramadan and carry out lots of Ibadah to gain reward and please Allah as we need him in our lives as he is that powerful and the guide The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) described the sleep of a fasting Muslim, even the very breathing, as acts of worship, because they emanate from a body regarded as being in a state of continual worship through abstaining from tasting delicious and lawful things, solely out of obedience and devotion to the Creator. He Himself extols fasting and attributes as a special blessing for mankind as is clear from a ‘Hadith-e-Qudsi’: The Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) said: â€Å"God, the Exalted says: ‘Fasting is (exclusively) for me and I will reward it.† Ali ibn Musa al-Rida (A.S.), the Eighth Imam quoted his ancestor the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) on the chain of authority of his noble forefathers: â€Å"O people, anybody who in this month (Ramadan) cultivates good manners, will walk over the ‘Sira’ (Paradise’s bridge) on the Day when feet will tend to slip†¦.† The practices of Islamic fasting are designed to divert human mind towards righteousness through a process of self-denials. Fasting constitutes a process of self-purification, self-righteousness, and spiritual development of one self. Sawm also shows devotion to god through various other acts. An additional prayer is added in Ramadan called taraweeh.it is a Sunnah prayer and efforts are made to recite as much of the Quran as possible. This prayer is generally offered in congregation and those who cannot make it to the congregation pray it at home. This additional prayer prayed each day for 30 days shows love for god and how much we appreciate the guidance he sent through the Qur’an and how much we need god in our lives to show us the â€Å"straight path†. The night of power is also a way to show devotion to god as it was the night the Quran was revealed and so Muslims recite as much Quran as possible and perform other acts of Ibadah. This show devotion to god as many Muslims stay awake during the night so it shows our love for god as it says that the ummah will worship god and listen to him as he does to us. We will thank him and show devotion to him. The fasting person is training himself to remember that Allah (SWT) is always watching, so he gives up the things that he desires even though he is able to take them, because he knows that Allah (SWT) can see him. This shows devotion to god as it tells us that even though an individual would want to eat or do bad deeds as they can because it is in our control we do not as god has told us not to do it. This shows that the ummah will listen to god as we believe he provides and does everything we ask for us so we can do this for him. Another way muslins show devotion to god is through dua which is personal prayer to god. Many Muslims carry out this personal prayer in Ramadan after all the 5 prayers or in the morning before the fajr prayer when Muslims perform a Sunnah prayer called tahajud. This shows devotion to god as it show that Muslims are willing to wake up or stay awake just to please Allah and worship him as he fulfils our prayers so we must ask more and praise him during this. ‘Sawm is more about uniting the Muslim community than about showing devotion to Allah.’ Discuss? (10) Sawm is about showing devotion to Allah as In the holy month of Ramadan, a Muslim’s abstaining from food, drink, sexual intercourse, during the prescribed hours is the very devotion Muslim’s have to the Creator’s will. This self-deprivation represents a state of self-control and of overcoming pleasure, desire, and enjoyment, for the blissful love of God. It is a triumph of pure love over one’s pleasures for the eternal ones promised by God, the Almighty. This response to the commands of Allah represents and incarnates true devotion and is a brilliant display of spirit, intellect and decisive willpower. This purification allows them to prove their devotion to Allah by demonstrating they will honour the fast whether they are alone or with others, because it is His wish that they do so. . Through increased devotion, Muslims feel closer to their Creator, and recognize that everything we have in this life is a blessing from Him. Also Muslims celebrate the gift of Quran purely for the sake of Allah and to thank him for sending a guide to the Muslim’s. Ramadan is month were everyone recharges their spiritual batteries on for the sake of Allah and to have him be pleased with us and to forgive any previous sins. Sawm also is intended to strengthen the worldwide Ummah not merely in shared experience and practical provision but in contributing to the concept of spiritual unity and cohesive communal solidarity which is the hallmark of Islam. Through fasting the Muslims are able to share in their unity with each other and their community, and display their gratitude to God for being given the words of the Qur’an as they all as a community pray taraweeh and pray parts of the Quran collectively so all the young and all join in and realise the importance of the Muslim Ummah. In addition to this Muslim’s give their zakat or sadqa in the month of Ramadan as they also want those Muslim’s who cannot afford it to have the best Ramadan possible and it helps them also identify the poor and realise that as they are also Muslim’s it is our duty to help them. Mosque receivers is a way the Muslim community comes together as women and children in the home can listen top talks and speeches in the home so they don’t miss out on any information about Islam and can also hear the prayers at home so they become part of the community swell. Muslims give food to one another so it shoes that we are all there for each other and we are am Muslim Ummah so muslin’s should give in this blessed month to friends, relatives to share the bond of Islam. However sawm is about showing devotion to god and worshiping him through fasting or praying but to do this Muslim’s come together as an Ummah to help one another and get more reward of carrying out the worship together. However each individual Muslim for doing good acts will get rewards for him but the reason it is done together is because the Ummah is important in Islam to keep it going.

Opposite of Loneliness

osite of loneliInterpretive essay – opposite of loneliness For every teenager, stepping into the world of adulthood somewhat gives them a different vibe and ambiance whereby they go through different stages and levels to finally be where they are today. They can never be aware of what the future holds for them but to only be prepared for every impact that might hit them along the way. Its like a test, being graded based on your performance and to distinguish whether or not you’ve achieved your success.In the article â€Å"Opposite of loneliness† by Marina Keegan, it explains about the life of a young adult who started her adulthood in Yale University. A place she had found happiness and most certainly the opposite of loneliness. Moreover, she finds herself completely attached to it as she had said in the first paragraph â€Å"What I’m grateful and thankful to have found at Yale and what I’m scared of losing when we wake up tomorrow and leave this p lace†. This phrase shows us that Yale brought out the best in her, something she fears losing and that she is actually very reluctant to have to leave.She is afraid that all her memories and experiences she has gone through would be gone once she steps out of Yale. This article shows the basic development of a young adult’s social life beginning with a simple circle of friends or a clique and the attachment that became stronger as one grow fonder of the people around her which is exactly what she faces in her experience in Yale where it was mentioned in paragraph three, â€Å"Yale is full of tiny circle we pull around ourselves†. She found that even though not everyone knows everyone, there is still unity and a sense of togetherness among the students in Yale.She also added that the experienced they shared among themselves were priceless and unforgettable and that she felt safe and loved whenever in the company of her peers during her time in Yale. This article a llows us to see that the writer begins to discover herself and learns to comprehend about life as she faces challenges along the way while being in Yale. The fear of knowing the truth or fear of not knowing at all is something every individual learns to adapt to however the word â€Å"fear† should never conquer a person as it would only demotivate ourselves instead f seeing the positive side of life just as she had mentioned in paragraph 4 â€Å"But let us get one thing straight: the best years of our lives are not behind us. They’re apart of us† The writer starts comparing the her past and the possible future where she wished that she could wind back time and correct her past mistakes and regrets if given the chance to. It makes us realize that in life there will be scenes playing in our minds like a 1980’s classical film in which the â€Å"What if† takes place.There are times that every individual wished they could go back in time and do somethin g good for themselves or be a the chairperson of a certain society, things they never knew they had it in them or things they went through and it never crossed their mind that they actually did it which is exactly what she felt in herself, â€Å"I’ve looked back on my high school and thought: how did I do that? How did I work so hard? † Everybody would have their standards of living and expectations of succeeding however the article also makes us realize that no matter how perfectly we plan, we may not have the ending that we wished for.We can never be certain of what the future holds for us, however as life goes on, we understand that a human being tends to regret her decisions and change their minds ample of times which explains what she had mentioned in paragraph nine â€Å"If only I had majored in biology, if only I’d gotten involved in journalism as a freshman† The writer also shared uncertainties for what the future would hold for her. She starts co mparing herself to others who have accomplished more than she has. Life is all about choices and it is these choices that she is most afraid of.The writer also stated that during her time in Yale, she never had to make any life changing choices and knows she has to start doing it once she graduated and is afraid to make the wrong choices. However, she added that however our lives turned out to be, the future is uncertain and that it can be altered at any point of our life. This can be seen when she said â€Å"What we have to remember is that we can still do anything. We can change our minds. We can start over†. At a young age especially an undergraduate student would always feel that there’s always something missing in their lives to what they’ve accomplished.However also at a young age the opportunity that lies ahead in the future is even bigger. For each expect the young adult faces in Yale University, she comes across one conclusion of her college life, lonel iness was never involved however happiness, laughter and memories are definitely words to describe it. Stages by stages this article makes us understand that we as human beings should cherish each and every moment that we have and make the best out of it. Sustain it as a memory that becomes apart of you until the very end. Yes life is not a bed of roses however there’s no harm in trying to make it an enjoyable experience and ride.

Library management system Essay

In one of the first papers on library management systems (LMS) in the UK to be published during the review period of 1991-2000, Arfield 1 describes how the changing economics of computing resulted in staff at Reading University Library wishing to move away from a system shared between various libraries to an integrated library management system under local control. Reading had been a member of the SWALCAP (originally standing for the South Western Academic Libraries Co-operative Automation Project) which had provided shared cataloguing and circulation services to a number of academic libraries in the UK since 1979. However, ageing equipment was becoming increasingly unreliable and staff at Reading felt that the SWALCAP service was unable to cope with the increasing number of terminals that were required for the users. This situation was replicated in other academic and public libraries at the start of the 1990s and many moved over, or migrated, to integrated library management systems (in Reading’s case the LIBS 100 system from CLSI was chosen). Jones 2, of the House of Lords Library, describes how the decline in the number of customers of the shared services resulted in the decision by SLS (SWALCAP Library Services) to withdraw this service. Following a study undertaken by an external consultant (when it was recommended that a multi-user integrated LMS be chosen) a decision was made to implement the ADVANCE system from the company Geac in the House of Lords. Another reason for libraries choosing to replace their LMS during this period was the fact that some LMSs were not designed to cop e with dates in the 2000s –i.e. they were not Year 2000 (or Y2K) compliant. Many of the integrated LMSs, such as CLSI’s LIBS 100 and Geac’s ADVANCE, were developed during the 1980s so that by the 1990s these comprised a number of modules to cover the general library housekeeping functions of: Cataloguing – creating records for material held in the collection Circulation – keeping track of who has what item from the collection on loan Providing access to the catalogue – via an Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) Acquisitions – selecting and ordering items for the collection and maintaining the accounts Serials control –managing the acquisition of serial publications and so dealing with challenges such as claiming for missing issues. Interlibrary lending – to enable books and serials to be borrowed from different libraries. Most LMSs are now integrated, i.e.data is only held once by the system and is then used by all the modules and functions. This has an obvious benefit as a search of an OPAC can inform the user as to the number of copies of the title are held, where they are housed, as well as whether or not they are out on loan, and if so when they are likely to be returned. The libraries of the early 1990s, be they public, university, college, medical, government, legal, industrial, or school, dealt primarily with printed materials such as books, reports, scholarly journals and so on, as well as what were referred to as non-book materials, such as films, videos, tape-slide productions, CD-ROMs and so on. However, by the end of the 1990s the huge impact of the Internet and the World Wide Web meant that staff in libraries increasingly were involved in not just managing the collections housed physically within the four walls of their library building but were also involved in providing access to a vast range of digital information sources of potential relevance to their users which were housed outwith the library building. This mixture of providing access to print and digital collections caused some writers, e.g. Oppenheim and Smithson 3 , to refer to the development of the hybrid library. For staff working in libraries in the early 1990s the LMSs were, for many, their first experiences in using computers. By the end of the 1990s though, following much training in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as part of the Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) in the UK’s academic libraries (Rusbridge4) and the People’s Network in public libraries ( Library and Information Commission 5) staff became much more familiar with using computer systems. The functionality required by LMSs inevitably evolved during the 1990s and some suppliers kept pace with technological developments whereas others failed. Another development of the 1990s was that many smaller libraries were able to afford to buy LMSs as systems began to cost thousands (or in some cases hundreds) of pounds rather than hundreds of thousands of pounds. A number of books appeared during the decade providing, inter alia, advice to librarians involved in selecting and managing LMSs. Examples include Clayton with Batt6 , Harbour7, Rowley 8 9 and Tedd 10. Managing the Electronic Library 11 covers a wider area than LMS with 40 contributors, mainly from the UK academic community. The main theme of this book is change and how staff in university libraries were responding in the 1990s to the rapidly changing higher education system in the UK with its increasing student numbers and greater diversity and requirement for flexibility of access to information. For many libraries the challenge relating to LMS was not necessarily choosing a new system ‘from scratch’ but migrating from one system to another as described earlier. Muirhead’s book12 includes a number of case studies written by library staff from a range of different types of library describing their experiences in migration. Muirhead also edited the British version of a book13 on planning for library automation which was written in the US. Brief descriptions of some of the LMS available In this section brief descriptions will be given of some of the LMSs used in UK libraries between 1991 and 2000. Further details are provided in the excellent directory of 30 LMS compiled by Leeves with Russell 14 through funding from the British Library Research and Development Department (BLR&DD) under the auspices of the Library Information Technology Centre (LITC) at South Bank University in London. The LITC was a centre which, in 1991, moved from its former base at the Polytechnic of Central London to the then South Bank Polytechnic. LITC was funded by the BLR&DD to offer impartial advice on LMSs and general automation projects to librarians and information professionals. Staff at LITC were involved in a number of activities related to LMSs including the production of briefing documents, guides (e.g. 15 16) , introductory packs (e.g. for special sectors, such as school libraries17), providing consultancy advice to individual libraries choosing a new LMS, being involved in funded research work and publishing the journal Vine. The Leeves with Russell directory was based, in part, on an earlier directory (Leeves et al. 18) of some 29 LMS in Europe; of these over 50% referred to LMS used in UK libraries at that time. Other references to case studies describing particular implementations have, in the main, been taken from the journals Program: electronic library and information systems and Vine. ADLIB This LMS was initially developed in the 1980s by Lipman Management Resources of Maidenhead and in the 1990s was supplied by Adlib Information Systems. Leeves with Russell record 11 users of ADLIB in the mid-1990s most of which, ten, were special libraries. An example of a library and information service implementing ADLIB is provided by Wilsher19 who describes the decision made by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to choose the catalogue, OPAC and acquisitions modules of this system to replace the previous BookshelF system used when ACAS was part of the UK government’s Department of Employment. ALEPH 500 Ex Libris developed its first LMS, the forerunner of the ALEPH 500 system, for the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in the 1980s and it became a popular system in Europe. The first customer for ALEPH 500 in the UK was King’s College London (KCL) which, in 1996, was looking for a new LMS to replace the soon to be defunct LIBERTAS system. Sudell and Robinson 20 describe that procurement process and explain how its use of industry standards (Unix, Oracle, Windows, SQL etc.) was one of the major reasons for its being chosen for King’s. Many other academic libraries followed KCL in choosing ALEPH 500 including Bristol, as described by King21. ALICE This LMS originated in Australia and was introduced into the UK market in 1992. It is primarily aimed at school libraries and has proved to be popular with Leeves with Russell recording some 320 users in special, college and prison libraries as well as in schools. Darroch 22 provides a brief description of the place of ALICE in the LMS marketplace in the late 1990s. ALS Automated Library Systems (ALS) is a British company that has been involved with computer-based library systems since the late 1960s when it developed a special device based on punched paper-tape for automatically recording details of books and borrowers at a library’s issue desk. During the 1990s the suppliers developed a version of the ALS System 900 which would run on open systems platforms (as opposed to the previous proprietary hardware and software solution) as well as dealing with Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) developments in the acquisitions module. Ashton23 describes how EDI with ALS was used at Hertfordshire Libraries Arts and Information Service. BookshelF/Genesis BookshelF originated as a microcomputer-based software package developed in the 1980s for the Cairns Library at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. However, by the 1990s the multi-user system of BookshelF became known as Genesis and was marketed by the Specialist Computer Group (SCG). Rowley 24 describes how this LMS was one of the first to run as a Windows product with a graphical user interface (GUI). Further details of BookshelF are provided by Fisher and Rowley 25. Leeves with Russell report that takeup of this new LMS had been quite rapid during the early 1990s with there being 37 customers (mainly college or small academic) including both previous BookshelF customers which had upgraded to the new improved system as well as new customers. CAIRS-LMS The Computer Assisted Information Retrieval System (CAIRS) was initially developed as an inhouse information retrieval system for the Leatherhead Food Research Association in the mid-1970s. CAIRS-LMS was developed to complement this and was used by those libraries in the 1990s which typically had sophisticated information retrieval requirements and comparatively low numbers of loans. Perrow26 describes the upgrade from the microcomputer version of CAIRS (MicroCAIRS) to CAIRS-LMS at Templeton College. Leeves with Russell record 218 users of CAIRS-LMS, the vast majority of which were special libraries. Bennett and Tomlinson27 describe the use of the interlibrary loans module of CAIRS-LMS at the library of the Institutions of Electrical Engineers. DataTrek This LMS originated from software developed in the US but by the 1990s some UK special libraries were using it. Hoey28, for instance, describes its implementation at the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). As similar learned societies, the RSC had been using online information retrieval system since the 1980s and by the 1990s realised the need for a complementary LMS. In 1996 DataTrek, by then part of the Dawson Holdings group, acquired Information Management and Engineering (IME) the producers of the Tinlib software. Dynix/ Horizon The history of Dynix up to the early 1990s is provided by Gilmartin with Beavan29 who were responsible for implementing this LMS at Glasgow Caledonian University. The original Dynix LMS was developed in the US in the 1980s and Leeves with Russell state that there were 68 users of this LMS in the UK in public, university, small academic/college and special libraries. During the 1990s a client-server LMS, Horizon, was marketed by the firm Ameritech Library Services, which had merged with Dynix during the 1990s. Hackett and Geddes30 describe the Horizon LMS noting that it was truly scaleable with installations in small special libraries as well as large multi-site academic libraries, although they also note that it might have been argued that Horizon was marketed too early in the UK in 1995, when the product lacked depth of functionality required to deal with the needs of large multi-site universities. However by 1998, when universities including Huddersfield, Middlesex, Staffordshire, Strathclyde and Birkbeck College, University of London had implemented Horizon the feeling was that customers were â€Å" beginning to reap the benefits of its fully graphical, client/server construction†. In 2000 Ameritech Library Services became known as epixtech Inc.and continued to supply existing products as well as web-based solutions and services. Galaxy The Galaxy 2000 LMS, from the British firm, DS proved to be a popular system, particularly in public libraries, during the 1990s. Neary31 describes how Birmingham Library service, the biggest metropolitan library authority in the UK with 40 community libraries and the busiest lending library in Europe installed the Galaxy 2000 LMS in 1994 and the upgraded it  to a newer version in 1999. Galaxy 2000 offers the usual LMS modules but also has a separate issuing function for use of the Birmingham’s housebound service. The OPAC module of Galaxy is known as ViewPoint and there have been some 230 ViewPoint terminals located throughout Birmingham since 1994. Geac This Canadian firm Geac first installed its Geac Library Information System in a UK library in 1979 and this software ran on proprietary hardware and was used in several UK libraries in the 1980s. In 1988 Geac acquired an American company, Advanced Libraries, and developed its software, ADVANCE, to run under the Unix operating system and this became its main LMS offering in the 1990s. For instance, in the mid-1990s Edinburgh University upgraded its previous Geac (Geac 9000) system to ADVANCE, Newcastle University chose this system as did the public library at Hamilton District Libraries in Scotland, the National Library of Wales and the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford. A history of library automation at the Bodleian, including the implementation of the DOBIS/LIBIS system in the late 1980s is provided by Crawshaw32 and Burnett 33 describes the 1995 decision to migrate to ADVANCE along with an assessment of the impact of automation on such a large organisation and a catalo gue of some eight million items. Geac ADVANCE was the basis for the Oxford Library Information System (OLIS) that provided library housekeeping services for many of the Oxford colleges, academic libraries within the university as well as the copyright library. During the 1990s Geac also acquired CLSI and its LIBs 100 LMS and marketed this for some time. Heritage Heritage, like Genesis, was developed from the original BookshelF software although Heritage was initially a single-user system, and was marketed by Logical Choice (which became known as Inheritance Systems during the 1990s) in Oxford. Alper 34 describes the implementation of Heritage in a small one-librarian medical service and concluded that this LMS had proved to be a great time-saver in issuing and claiming books and had excellent statistical reporting facilities. In 1997 the library at the Central School of Speech and Drama, having outgrown its previous LMS, needed a new system. Edwards 35 describes the selection process for this new system which resulted in a short list of four LMS ranging in price from  £3,000 –  £27,400. Heritage was chosen ( at a cost of  £11,350) and the paper describes some of the innovative features of this LMS. INNOPAC/ Millennium Innovative Interfaces Inc. (III) is an American company which started to market the INNOPAC LMS in the UK in the early 1990s with the first customer being the library at the University of Wales, Bangor. In 1995 staff at the University of Hull, as described by Leeson 36, chose INNOPAC to replace the previous Geac 9000 as it had improved functionality. In 1997 III acquired the UK company SLS and its LIBERTAS software. Towards the end of the 1990s III started to develop its Millennium system which, inter alia, provided a web-based interface for each module. Users of Millennium in the UK included Sheffield Hallam University, St. Andrew’s University, and St. Mary’s University College in Twickenham. The School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London chose Millennium because of its proven ability to deal with Chinese, Japanese and Korean material. Myhill37 provides a personal insight into the challenges faced at the University of Exeter in migrating from th e LIBERTAS LMS to Millennium. LIBERTAS The stand-alone LMS LIBERTAS, of SLS, was designed with assistance from many of the systems librarians who were working in the libraries of member universities of the SWALCAP co-operative. LIBERTAS was launched in 1986 and initially incorporated modules for cataloguing, OPAC, and circulation control. Leeves with Russell report 46 users of LIBERTAS in UK libraries by the mid-1990s. Bradford38 outlines the advantages and disadvantages of using the ILL module of LIBERTAS at Bristol University, which was an original member of SWALCAP. In 1997 SLS was sold to III and support for the LIBERTAS system declined. OLIB Smith39 describes how the Bar Library in Belfast which serves all practising barristers in Northern Ireland implemented the OLIB LMS from the British  firm Fretwell Downing in 1996. The requirements for this special library included the need to provide a document management/delivery service for members as well as an efficient system for managing the library. Initially the Bar Library used the cataloguing, circulation and OPAC modules of OLIB with the intention of implementing the acquisitions and serials modules at a later date. Talis The other early co-operative for library automation in the UK was BLCMP- or Birmingham Libraries Co-operative Mechanisation project. Like SWALCAP it had developed stand-alone software for its members which, in the early 1990s, was known as BLS – BLCMP’s Library System- and included modules for acquisitions, OPAC, circulation control and serials control. In 1992 BLCMP announced a new Unix-based system known as Talis. Like LIBERTAS, Talis had been designed in conjunction with the co-operative’s member libraries. It was based on a modular principles using computing industry standards for an open systems design. Among the early users of Talis were the John Rylands Library of the University of Manchester and the public library of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. Leeves with Russell report 30 users of Talis in the mid-1990s, most of which were university or public libraries in the UK. Wilson 40 describes the experiences of migrating from BLS to Talis at Nene College, the first institution to undertake this migration and produced a lengthy list of ‘morals of migration’. In 1999 the organisation supplying Talis ceased being a co-operative of member libraries and became a commercial company. This decision followed much consultation with the members of the co-operative and the new company stated that strong customer relationships and customer focus would remain central to the culture of the business. Tinlib Tinlib, also known as the Information Navigator, was developed by the British firm IME in the 1980s. It was one of the earliest systems to offer a navigational facility and to make use of Windows for display and selection of data. Leeves with Russell report that there were 315 users of Tinlib in the mid-1990s in the UK although a full customer list was not supplied.  Chappell and Thackeray41 outline the need for an automated system to replace the existing manual systems at the library of the Arts Council of Great Britain and how the use of Tinlib had increased the effectiveness and efficiency of the library and made its collections much more accessible. Unicorn Haines42 describes her experiences during 1990 in attempting to negotiate the acquisition of an American system, Unicorn, from the Sirsi Corporation, which was previously not available in Europe, for use in a British independent health fund, the King’s Fund. Sirsi was determined not to enter the European market without a partner with expertise in library software support and with the necessary technical skills in Unix systems. This was finally achieved and the system was successfully launched in the UK in 1991. Leeves with Russell reported some 37 users of Unicorn most of which were medical, legal or government libraries. Cree43, for instance, outlines how Unicorn was introduced into the UK government’s Department of Health library where it needed to be integrated with the Department’s office information system and added to a large network with multiple applications. By the end of the 1990s Unicorn was used in a variety of libraries including the Cheltenham and G loucester College of Higher Education, the London School of Economics, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal Veterinary College, and the library at the Natural History Museum. Voyager Endeavor Information Systems was formed in the US in 1994 and its first product was its Voyager LMS. The WebVoyage module of Voyager allows web browsers to query the Voyager database, which is based on the Oracle relational database management system. Voyager became the LMS of choice for a number of libraries looking for new systems following the demise of LIBERTAS. In Wales , for instance, the university libraries of Aberystwyth, Cardiff, Lampeter and Swansea as well as the Welsh College of Music and Drama were all faced with choosing a new system and they decided to approach the selection process in a consortial way, as described by West44. Each institution was free to choose its own system following the selection process. In the event all chose Voyager from Endeavor and these systems were  implemented, with differing OPAC interfaces in 1999. Knights45 outlines the procurement and migration experiences at Hertfordshire University Library in moving also from LIBERTAS to Voyager. Inevitably not all the LMSs offered all modules in a way that satisfied all staff in libraries. In the 1990s there were some examples of libraries which had one LMS for most of its applications but used another for a specific function. For instance, Edwards46 describes that although Croydon Libraries had automated its circulation and stock control procedures for many years a decision had been made to delay the automation of the acquisitions processes as the LMS in place (CLSI’s LIBS 100) did not satisfy the needs of the acquisitions staff. In 1997 the acquisitions module from ALS’s Meritus LMS was used, in conjunction with a network solution for EDI ordering and invoicing was implemented. The requirements for interlibrary loans (ILL) within the UK which for many libraries involves the use of the centralised British Library’s Document Supply Centre have not always been met by LMSs, particularly those developed outside the UK. Leeves47 describes solutions for autom ating ILL in the early part of the 1990s and Prowse 48 describes the process of developing an ILL module for the ALEPH 500 LMS that had been installed at KCL. Reports in the literature of overviews of LMS during 1991-2000 Apart from the Leeves with Russell directory which includes details of users of the different LMS there have also been other studies and surveys undertaken during the period. In 1991 Blunden-Ellis49 reported on an update to a previous survey and aimed to provide an analysis of the UK market for LMS in a form that complemented the US annual LMS marketplace survey (e.g. Bridge50). The data for this market analysis was retrieved from questionnaires sent to LMS suppliers including ALS, BLS, CLSI, DS, Dynix, Fretwell Downing, Geac, IME and SLS. He concluded that DS was the overall market leader and that there was plenty of evidence of suppliers enhancing their products. In conclusion he stated that â€Å" This market will become increasingly competitive on economic, geographic and technological levels and so no vendor, even with a good current share, can confidently expect a ‘blue skies future. Investment in research and development and customer satisfaction remain the key activities for the immediate future.† By 1992 Blunden-Ellis51 reported that BLS had the market share with SLS as second. These were both established major forces and newer suppliers in the market at that time, i.e. Dynix and IME were performing well. In the final survey in this series Blunden-Ellis and Graham52 extended the coverage of their questionnaire as it was sent to 38 suppliers identified by the LITC and 29 responses were received. Previous surveys had concentrated on larger LMS suppliers and since this survey included many smaller LMS suppliers a total of nine market segments was identified. The Web was just beginning to impact on libraries at the time of this last survey and the final point made was that library housekeeping systems will become just one of a suite of services designed to deliver packaged information quickly and effortlessly. A different perspective on the use of, and growth of, LMS in public libraries in the UK has been provided in other surveys. In 1991 Dover53 reported on a survey undertaken through funding from the UK government’s Office of Arts and Libraries through the BLR&DD. Questionnaires were sent to 109 public library authorities and 95 responses were analysed. Batt, then of the London Borough of Croydon, carried out a series of six surveys of information technology in public libraries between 1984 and 1997. Comparisons year on year though are problematic given various local government reorganisations, such as that in 1997. In the sixth edition54 he reported that 95% of the 168 authorities surveyed had some form of automated circulation system in at least one service point. This compared with 82% in the previous survey of 1993. He also found that 38% has an automated circulation system in all their libraries. Table 1 shows some of the LMS used. Table 1 LMS used in public libraries as reported by Batt in 1997 1993 1997 ALS913 BLS1532 CLSI/GEAC PLUS119 DS2836 Dynix1520 Genesis8 Unicorn1 Availability of an OPAC had featured on Batt’s questionnaire since 1985 and his report shows the shift from seven authorities with some form of OPAC in 1985 to 143 in 1997 – a considerable shift. Automated acquisitions were reported in 76% of the authorities and 26% (44 of the 168) were also using EDI to communicate with a range of suppliers. An intriguing view of LMS in the 1990s is provided by Heseltine 55 who outlines the history and current state of the LMS market using the stages through which Christian passes in Pilgrim’s Progress. The ‘delights’ to be found at the end of the journey were described as: improvements in the user interface. He noted that many of the LMSs were developed from systems of the 1970s and 1980s which had rudimentary user interfaces access to a wider range of information  improved management information  systems designed for end users and not library staff implementation of standards. Yeates56 also wrote about how the LMSs of the 1990s reflected a conservative view of the library as a passive repository which took little account of the needs of the users and of the possibility of dynamic interaction. However, in a study of 10 libraries from the academic, public and special sectors which had purchased library management systems in the mid-1990s Murray 57 found that some of Heseltine’s ‘delights’ had come to pass as he noted the following: New generation LMSs are more flexible (portable and easier to use, more powerful in terms of connectivity) and incorporate industry standards. New LMSs are less staff intensive (in terms of support and backup). More suppliers now offer software only packages. Client/server systems and Windows-based LMSs have yet to become a mandatory requirement in the procurement process. Some of the libraries had taken the views of their end users into account when having systems demonstrated. The production of management information remained an area of difficulty for some systems. There was unanimity in the belief that Web developments in terms of software being provided by sippliers and the ability to link from the LMS to the Internet would dominate the marketplace. Raven 58 provides a very general review of the LMS marketplace for academic libraries in 2000 and notes that â€Å"Deciding on a new library management system has become much more difficult for universities in the UK in the last two years. The range continues to expand rapidly and if you’ve grown with your present system for the last ten years or so , change can be a frightening prospect.† Some developments in LMS between 1991-2000 Akeroyd59 provides an overview of integrated LMS towards the end of the decade in his introductory paper to a special issue of Vine on LMS in 1999. His developments have been used as a basis for this section although other aspects have also been added. Technological developments Many of the early LMSs used their own specially developed operating systems. However, during the 1990s many suppliers moved to developing systems that ran on the Unix operating system. Similarly many of the early LMSs were designed around specially developed database management systems. During the 1990s there was a move away from these to industry standard relational database management systems such as Ingres (used by Galaxy 2000), Informix (used by Unicorn), Oracle (used by ALEPH and Olib) and Sybase (used by Horizon and Talis). Another technological development of the 1990s was the adoption of the client-server architecture. In this model a split is made between the applications software (which runs on a computer known as the client) and the database software (which runs on a computer known as the server). The two communicate with each other over a network using a communications protocol (or set of rules). Processing which involves data manipulation or aspects of screen display can be carried out on the client computer and only database queries from the client and responses from the server need to be communicated across the network. Self service An important development during the 1990s was the installation of self-issue and self-renewal machines in libraries so that users can issue and return their own books. The library at the University of Sunderland was one of the first to use machines from the 3M company for this purpose. Stafford 60 describes this service and highlights the four Ps (preparation, publicity, position and persuasion) necessary for a successful implementation. In 1996 a conference was held at Sunderland on self-issue systems and its proceedings61 contain a number of case studies. A special issue of Vine was published in 1997 on self service in libraries and Cookman62 describes the introduction of a 3M self-issue terminal at Maidenhead public library. The general experience was that library staff accepted the benefits of the new terminal and that on busy days queues had reduced noticeably. However, when the issue desk was quiet it appeared that users preferred the human approach to issuing and returning mat erials. Messages to users by e-mail or text With many users having access to e-mail and/or mobile telephones some LMS have incorporated the facility to use these technologies for sending overdue notices, alerts for reserved items or other communications. Sudell and Robinson63 note that the reader record in the ALEPH 500 system at KCL can hold a variety of addresses. If an e-mail address is entered then that will be first in line, if not the system can handle multiple postal addresses so that an appropriate address may be used depending on whether it is term time or vacation. Improved accessibility via the OPAC and use of the Z39.50 protocol OPACs have always been designed with end users in mind and so the interfaces that have developed over the years from the command-driven and menu-based systems at the start of the decade to the form filling on Web pages have all been intended to be straightforward to use. However the information that is searched i.e. the records in the catalogue database are often stored in MARC format which has little information to support elaborate subject searching. The 856 field of MARC allows the inclusion of a URL into the bibliographic record by the end of the 1990s some OPACs were using this to provide links to digital objects.. A further development of the 1990s related to OPACs was the Z39.50 standard. As defined by Dempsey et al.64 Z39.50 is â€Å" a retrieval protocol which allows client programs to query databases on remote servers, to retrieve results and to carry out some other retrieval-related functions.† The main impact of this is that it enables users to, say, search the OPAC of a neighbouring library (which might perhaps use the Horizon LMS) using the same user interface as the local library (which might be based on the Talis LMS). For this to happen the relevant LMSs need to have appropriate software to make them Z39.50 compatible. A list of LMS with this capability is provided by Dempsey et al. and includes: ADVANCE, ALEPH, DataTrek, Dynix, Horizon, INNOPAC, LIBERTAS, OLIB, Talis, Tinlib and Unicorn. Brack65 describes t he RIDING Project which resulted from one of the eLib Programme’s large scale resource discovery (clumps) projects and which provided a Z39.50 Search and Retrieve facility for all the Yorkshire and Humberside university OPACs, plus the British Library Document Supply Centre databases and the Leeds Library and Information Service OPAC. Catalogue record provision Most LMS allow for original cataloguing of bibliographic records as well as for allowing the import of, usually MARC, records from external sources. Although not all LMSs use the MARC record for internal processing of records they usually do include the ability to input or output records in this format. The early UK co-operatives of BLCMP and SWALCAP developed large databases of MARC records which proved valuable to the cataloguers of their respective member libraries. Many of these records have now been incorporated into the OCLC database in the US and made available internationally. Retrospective cataloguing of materials held in libraries continues and Bryant’s report66 outlines the issues, opportunities and need for a national strategy in this area. Examples of consortial working Although the BLCMP and SWALCAP co-operatives had disappeared by the end of  the 1990s there were several examples of other consortial projects and systems related to LMSs. Some of these consortia were formed as part of the eLib Programme, others, such as the Welsh academic libraries already mentioned were linked with the sharing of resources for the procurement of a new LMS. COPAC COPAC is the OPAC of the Consortium of University Research Libraries which provides free access to the merged catalogues of 20+ major university research libraries in the UK and Ireland. Cousins67 describes the development of COPAC and its launch in the mid-1990s. COPAC is an example of a physical merged catalogue i.e. all the records from all the libraries are combined into one database and checks are made to identify duplicate records. During the 1990s COPAC was available via a text interface as well as a Web interface. M25 consortium The M25 Consortium of Academic Libraries was formed in 1993 with the aim of fostering co-operation amongst its London-based, higher education member libraries in order to improve services to users. In 1998 the M25 Link project was funded as part of the eLib Programme and aimed to establish a pilot virtual clump to provide single search access to the library catalogues of six members of the M25 Consortium. The project consisted of a seamless search tool, using the Z39.50 protocol, to the OPACs of the six pilot partners which between them had a range of LMSs including: Horizon, INNOPAC, Libertas, Talis and Unicorn. An overview of the work undertaken by the M25 Consortium is provided by Enright68. Foursite consortium Froud 69 describes the Foursite consortium of four public libraries in the South West of England which came together to identify replacement computer requirements and which subsequently went on to share a single LMS operated by one of its members, Somerset. The Foursite consortium demonstrated that significant cost savings could be achieved at all stages in the process of specifying, selecting and implementing an LMS provided: political support and enthusiasm by members of the consortium flexible management in all authorities who were prepared to make sacrifices in the interest of the consortium’s objectives, coupled with an openness that precluded any hidden agendas tight project management clear terms of reference for individual groups and clear ground rules good communication systems  expert technical advice. Use of project management methodologies There was some evidence during the 1990s of project management methodologies being used for the procurement and implementation of LMSs. Lewis70 describes the use of the PRINCE (Projects IN Controlled Environments) methodology at the University of Wales Bangor for the procurement, in conjunction with the North East Wales Institute, of a replacement LMS. PRINCE is a project management methodology used within government departments. Chambers and Perrow71 report on a questionnaire carried out as part of a study on the sue of project management methodologies generally in university libraries in the UK. Of the 80 university librarians who responded, 28% had used project management software – and the most popular software was Microsoft Project. Closer links between LMSs and archives Suffolk County Council’s Libraries and Heritage is an example of an organisation which covers public libraries, record offices, arts and museums. Suffolk had installed its first LMS (a batch system to deal with circulation in conjunction with a microfiche catalogue) in 1980. By 1987 this had been replaced with an LMS using proprietary hardware, software and communications which managed circulation, acquisitions, cataloguing, community information, the OPAC, e-mail, dial-in facilities and management information. In 1995, when the time came to replace this LMS, the aim was to provide a system which would use generic hardware, software and communications which would provide a networking infrastructure to bring Internet access to all branches and which would also serve the needs of Suffolk’s archives and museums. Pachent 72 describes the procurement process which resulted in the acquisition of DS Ltd’s Galaxy 2000 and the CALM 2000 systems. Closer links between LMSs and archives in the public sector was enhanced during the decade by the formation of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) ( and its forerunner Re:Source) as the strategic body working with, and for museums, archives and libraries. Fitzgerald and Flanagan 73 describe the implementation of the Unicorn system at the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew for managing its collections of archives as well as books. Human aspects One of the core texts related to the human aspects of the use of computers in libraries is that by Morris and Dyer74. In the introduction to this work the authors note that there are many pitfalls on the road to the successful implementation of any computer system, such as an LMS, in a library and that if people respond badly to the introduction of the new system, the anticipated effectiveness will not be achieved. They also note that poor workstation and job design can result in poor health and can induce, or increase, stress and that poorly designed user interfaces can result in under-used systems and a decrease in accuracy. The book provides much advice as to how to overcome such challenges and to design systems that are human-friendly. The role of the systems librarian developed during the 1990s. Following research funded in the early 1990s by the BLR&DD Muirhead75 reported on the result of a questionnaire aimed at identifying the education, qualifications, previous experience and so on of staff who were involved in the day to day running of LMSs in libraries in the UK and also edited a book76 containing a series of case studies. Stress related to technology, or ‘technostress’, emerged as an identifiable condition during the 1990s. Harper 77 noted that with UK libraries undergoing increasingly rapid technological change at the end of the 1990s this change would have consequences at every level of an organisation, all of which must be managed. He advised that managers need to adopt solutions which range from addressing technical and health issues to being prepared to review job descriptions and roles. Further information on how the implementation of an LMS has effects on job design and staffing structures is provided by Dyer et al.78 whereas Daniels 79 looks on the effect the implementation of an LMS has had on non-professional staff in three college libraries. Some final thoughts Inevitably there have been many changes and developments related to the provision and availability of library management systems during the 1990s. Much appeared in the literature on experiences of libraries in choosing and implementing particular LMSs. One aspect that was promised in LMSs and that probably was not used greatly during the 1990s was the management information delivered from LMS. By the end of the 1990s some LMSs incorporated interfaces to standard tools such as Microsoft’s Excel for the presentation of statistical data. During the 1990s there was an almost total lack of reporting on ways of evaluating LMSs once they had been installed. Given the large amounts of resources, in terms of time and money, invested in procuring LMSs it is perhaps surprising that libraries have not carried out a post-implementation review, although there may well be reasons for this including, for instance: no-one requested in  not enough time,  no money ,no suitable staff to carry out the evaluation  fear of drawing attention to an LMS’s defects soon after large amounts of time, money and collective energy ahs been expended lack of a baseline for comparison of improved service. However, there are many reasons why a post-implementation evaluation of an LMS should take place. Such reasons include to: determine if the broader goals of the library are being met by the LMS determine if the particular goals of implementing the LMS have been met determine if the system as delivered satisfies the contract enable others to learn from the experience  provide an account to the funding body of the money spent on the LMS  investigate complaints from the staff or users about the system establish a benchmark showing at what level of performance the LMS is operating. Akeroyd 80 concluded his overview of LMSs with a description of some of the functionality required by future systems and which were beginning to be investigated in some research projects at the end of the 1990s. These included: the integration of multiple sources and systems, both of bibliographic information and the full-text of documents the simplification of access to sources  the personalisation of systems  a change in the way that software is created and maintained. Only a review of the next years would provide an overview of such future developments.   

Critical and Creative Thinking Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critical and Creative Thinking Questions - Essay Example As I cam to an understanding that not all people are taught in the same way that I was taught, I began to wonder how God could allow so many people to get it so wrong. Somewhere, though, I had an epiphany. Maybe it wasn’t that they were all wrong, but that they just had a difference in the way that they believed. I began to come to a place where I had to believe, because I believed in a just and fair God, that the approach made toward God wasn’t nearly as important as just the belief. If this was not true, then there would only have ever been two choices in believing in God - a single approach toward God, and a single approach away from God. In understanding that variety was not a threat to the way in which I believe, it was possible to have an understanding that the way that others believed was based solely on their traditions, just in the way that I believe based on the traditions of my family and spiritual community, I was able to accept the validity of the beliefs of others and create a more harmonious way in which to live a spiritual life. I do not believe that anyone is free of prejudice. Simply making the choice of how people are judged, provides for prejudice. Even deciding not to associate with a serial killer would be a prejudice (although this would be a prudent prejudice). However, legitimately foul prejudice based on any form of looks or any form of belief is very difficult to completely shed from one’s mind. Walking through an airport, for instance, many people get a tiny twinge when someone from Middle Eastern descent is noticed, even though much has been written and reported on how very small the radical element of the Muslim faith is in percentage to the number who are not of radical and fanatical beliefs. This leads to the most important element of prejudice that must be addressed before prejudice can be eliminated. Fear is the most destructive force in the cause against prejudice. It seems to be a natural

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Governance and Public Policy - Essay Example As good governance, there is a marriage of the new public management with liberal democracy. As a socio-cybernetic system, it refers to the interdependence of socio-political-administrative actors. And finally as a self-organizing network, it refers to networks seeking to establish their own policies and manage their environments (Rhodes, 1997). Other authors emphasize different points relating to governance. Farazmand (2004) highlights the international element of governance, including the fact that effective governance is value-laden. Lowndes and Skelcher (1998) have an actor view of governance with various elements of governance relating to the outcomes of social processes, ensuring that the means by which actors relate to each other is founded on reality. Frederickson and Smith (2003), on the other hand seeks to view governance as an attempt to understand the institutional interactions in administration. All of the definitions support the fact that governance refers to more than the actions which governments do to accomplish their tasks. Governance in other words relates to the interactions between the public sector and the society as a whole in the management of public issues and problems. Rhodes’ (1997) definitions of governance also include other kinds of relations, including hierarchical and market-style relations. Strong arguments against the narrow perspective of governance are made by Schuppert (2007) who argues that a narrow definition makes it difficult to include the generally more successful elements of governance, including hierarchical governing. As pointed out by Wolf (2007), what is more important is to consider the... This essay critically discusses the ways the word governance is used by Rhodes, mostly with reference to Judt and to various examples and conceptualizations. Initially, a discussion of concepts was established in this study, followed by a critical analysis of these concepts. Rhodes discusses how new applications of governance have emerged. He also evaluates the contributions of actors and institutions outside the central administrators to the general processes of governance. Theoretical contributions impact on conventional applications, which usually picture government to be strong and centralised executives, managing the unified state. Governance as defined and described by Rhodes refers to various elements, including transparency, accountability, new public management, good governance, socio-cybernetic applications, and self-organizing network. Other discussions on governance raised by Judt, who emphasizes the importance of adopting liberal principles of democracy in securing favou rable outcomes in governance. Governance lost its link with the traditional past, mostly because traditions have been considered backward, often holding back development for various states, including third world countries. Governance is also now based on the dynamic relations between the different political actors of the state, using resources which allow for transparency and accountability and the political actors, who include the engaged citizenry, working with the state and the governing authorities.

Balanced Scorecard Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Balanced Scorecard - Research Paper Example he balanced scorecard as, â€Å"a management system that facilitates organizations to clarify their strategy and long-term objectives, and then enforce them.† Secondly, the balanced scorecard enables business enterprises to improve continually on their results and strategic performance by provide them with feedback regarding internal business processes and external outcomes. Voelpel et al. (2006) stated that the balanced scorecard is important to any organization because it is a key ingredient in any successful business. The balanced scorecard has four key components or perspectives that enable the management of an organisation to clarify its strategy and long-term objectives and even enforce them. These four components of the balanced scorecard also represent the integral features of an organization that can determine its success. Therefore, it is correct to assert that the four key components of the balanced scorecard help the management of an organization to identify important information requirements that are necessary for the success of the business. From the image above it is noted that the balanced scorecard helps the management to identify important information regarding the financial position of the organization, the customer base of the organization, the aspect of learning and growth within the organization, and information pertaining to internal functions. On each component or perspective, the balanced scorecard has listed four different information that it requires to implement the management system. These four critical information requirements comprise of the objective, the measures, the targets, and the initiatives of each component. This is to say that upon look at the balanced scorecard framework, the management of Dual-Tech Inc will be able to identify crucial information that it will need to implement the management system and thereby be able to reap benefits attributed to utilization of the balanced scorecard (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). Voelpel

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Article review - Essay Example Despite the fact, that some movies have used the popular genre of the popular culture they did not sell very much. The novel Red Storm Rising and other works of Tom Clancy have sold greatly. Clancy’s novel is the context of thriller style. They have historical lessons and use images and symbols to represent the idea behind the novel. The genre thriller that Clancy used has flourished over time and have best explained the crisis of the civilization during that century. The foundation for modern thriller was laid down by Joseph Conrad, John Bunchan and Eskrine Childers. Walter (4) examines the work of the three writers and places them as those of modern thriller. Authors like Eric Ambler rose up and started writing real literature instead of the mere spy tales. They involved moral characteristic in their tales and they used the heroic formula to develop the theme in their story. The Americans had become fond of the British tales, but when writers like Mickey Spillane did a book in American style it sold much. The United State became become domestic communism, and they read more of these books. Walter present works of the writer and movies that have sold due to their thriller genre. The Red Storm Rising is one of those books that see the writer winning the award and selling a number of volumes. Walter says that the thriller style of doing movies and writing stories has seen many books sell even in America. Walter presents quite a number of works that have been done. He presents Reagan the administrator is represented in Clacy’s text like a cult of national security. Walter analyzes the book Red Storm Arising. The use of popular character Clancy novel makes them sell. Reagan popularity makes Clancy novel sell. Clancy uses immensely powerful themes that involve the Americans culture. This success is seen by the popularity that they have. We are able to admire Clancy heroes and these keeps us to want to read more

Continuous improvement on the free-throw line Coursework

Continuous improvement on the free-throw line - Coursework Example and recording the current process and identification of the causes of variation from the ideal and the current situation is conducted through analysis of a cause and effect diagram. Understanding the causes of variation allowed Timothy to seek alternatives for his son including standing at centre of the free-throw line, bouncing the ball four times, focussing on the middle part of the ring and aiming for a perfect shot, and shoot. Developing an action plan incorporating the alternatives forms the second phase of the cycle. Implementing the alternatives in a real time situation and making comparison with expected results is the last part of the cycle, which in the case involve the improvement of Andrew’s free-throw percentage to 69% from 42% in 1994 season and 71% in 1995 season and an average of 60% in-game practice. Changing the technique resulted in a fall of the throws for the 1996 season with a shooting percentage fall to 50% and reinstallation seeing an increase to 70% in gamer practice and 75% in 1996 and 1997 seasons. Benefits from the (PSDA) include improved results in practice and games, augmented confidence, and profound knowledge of the determination of changes in shooting technique resulting in

Inclusive Education in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Inclusive Education in UK - Essay Example (Mitchell, 2005) Some philosophers argue that inclusion is the act of inviting others in or integrating others into the mainstream. (Asante, 1996). This premise stems from the fact that some people in society have always been treated unfairly. Society has been historically unjust to certain categories of individuals. These include racial minorities, handicaps and others. Proponents of such a definition claim that people who have been sidelined in the past need to be 'invited in'. One can therefore extend this definition of inclusion to the field of education where inclusive education may be defined as a form of education that facilitates integrating those who have been neglected in the past 'in'. However, one cannot help but see some of the loopholes that emerge from such a definition. First of all, who has a right to invite others in Additionally one should examine what are the causes of exclusion in the past. It should be understood that all persons have equal rights in education. No single person should have the upper hand to decide another's fate. (Hanson, et al, 1998) A more acceptable way of looking at inclusive education should include the acknowledgment of the fact that all human beings are born equal and that society is given the responsibility of supporting those who have special needs. The Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education came up with a more comprehensive definition of inclusive education. They state that inclusive education refers to inclusion of all manner of children in schools (high school, universities, colleges and preschool) regardless of their disabilities provided they are given all the support they require. They assert that inclusion should encompass the community and life in general. It involves the acknowledgment of the fact that some pupils or students may need more support. The support should be provided by a number of stakeholders ranging from local governments, education agencies and education sponsors among others. However, there is a need to modify this kind of definition because it does not include the element of continuity. (Lieber et al, 1998) The most acceptable and comprehensive definition was put forward by CSIE, two years later. They described inclusive education as the continuous process of including students in mainstream classrooms, the community and local culture. It also involves reducing the level of exclusion in the latter mentioned realms. It also involves the elimination or reduction of obstacles in education and participation. It should be noted that this definition is more dynamic and highlights the fact that schools/ communities cannot adopt inclusion overnight. This is something that gradually changes with time. It should also be noted that this definition avoids the use of integration and emphasises inclusion instead. The reason for this is that integration tends to imply that some people are more equal than others and that the former have a right to 'integrate' others into their own systems. Advantages and disadvantages of inclusive education Advantages Inclusive education is more beneficial than it is detrimental. Even criticisms labelled against inclusive education are simply based on the fact that the program was not implemented properly. If it is implemented in the right way, then inclusive

What Is Moral Conversion All about Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 7

What Is Moral Conversion All about - Essay Example Bernard explains that moral conversion has six stages and is based on advancing to higher and higher levels of moral thinking.   The first level is preconvention, where one is a child, and the last is post-conventional involving the adult level. At the Post-conventional level, the adult has the knowledge of the ethical principles that lead and influence the world’s moral behaviour. Religious conversion according to Bernard is the ultimate of conversion. It is the conversion that influences genuine love in a person and shows total surrender to the demands of the human spirit. Copeland teaches that during conversion, the believer goes through a complete and immediate change of nature. He explains that at the time of birth, the spirit of God comes over a person, and a holy being related to Jesus is conceived in the body. He says that it is therefore natural that a man should think as Jesus thought.  

Mis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Mis - Essay Example In order to ensure the security of the users in the information systems, several measures have to be taken; this is to avoid any inconveniences in the running of the organization. Security is ensured to the users when the organization makes regular changes to their management information systems. This is done through successful implementation of updated and new software and hardware components. These continuous changes bring about better adjustment done to configure the information systems. Also, the frequent changes makes the users be aware of the emerging security threats and they therefore adapt to the emerging situation. In most organizations, they have to develop their information systems, in so doing so, they have to employ several components, these components are different and can be interconnected in their specified arrangements in that they can encounter the organization’s mission, business their security needs (Dhillon& Backhouse, 2000). To ensure that there is security in information, there are various techniques that have to be implemented for the management, operation and security in conformation. These techniques go hand in a hand with se veral mainframes which include, servers, applications, operating systems and work stations (Dhillon& Backhouse, 2000). Maintaining of information with a level of confidentiality, availability and integrity is of much benefit to the users. Inorder to ensure security in information, the security systems have to control its access panel. The major role of access is to prevent unauthorized log in from unknown users in that they will not adjust or use their information. Access is grouped into three categories; preventive, corrective and detective. These three categories have their roles, preventive control role is elimination of occurrence of a disastrous event; detective controls

Fair Value accounting Essay Example for Free

Fair Value accounting Essay The squabble on the issue of what accounting measurements will be used as the standard for financial instruments had caused the on-going debate with various proponents of accounting standard; even today, proponents of every side argues on the basis of their advantages over the others. Among these contending parties are the proponents of the fair value accounting and those who favored accounting standard based on the historical costs. Hitz (2007, p. 324) pointed out the increasing importance of fair value as an accounting measurement attributes. Hitz stated that today, the â€Å"cost and transaction-based reporting model is in decline and a new market value and event-based model is on the rise† (Hitz, p. 324). Citing the significance of fair value accounting, Hitz mentioned that starting out as a specific remedy for the iniquities of the reporting model for certain financial instruments â€Å"fair value has manifested it self as a dominant measurement paradigm for financial instruments and, more recently, has increasingly been implemented for measurements of non-financial items† (Hitz, 324) such as investment property. On the other hand, while Hitz adhere to the tenets of fair value accounting, he recognized the views of the opponents of fair value accounting particularly the criticism regarding the questionable reliability of fair value measures notably for model-based estimates relying on management’s expectation and projections. However, Hitz asserts that results on empirical research regarding value measurement â€Å"support the incremental value relevance of fair value disclosure for securities (Petroni and Wahlen, 1995; Barth et al., 1996 as cited by Hitz). The Australian accounting standards Board (AASB) though recognizes other accounting standards it recognizes fair value accounting as the main financial instruments which applies in various financial processes and transaction within AASB. The AASB defines Fair value as â€Å"the amount for which an asset could be exchanged or a liability settled, between knowledgeable, willing parties in an arms length transaction† (p. 21) Fair value has been the standards in evaluating and managing the performances of a group financial assets or financial liabilities. In the ASSB 7, paragraph 9 to 11 and B 4 the ASSB require the entity to provide disclosures about financial assets and financial liabilities it has designated at fair value through profit or loss including how it satisfied these conditions (ASSB, p. 17). This clearly indicate that fair value accounting as a financial standard instrument have been effectively use and provide significant contribution to the financial situation. This is clearly reflected in the following statement from the ASSB as follows: â€Å"investment in equity instrument that do not have a quoted market price in an active market, and whose fair value cannot be reliably measured shall not be designated as at fair value through profit or loss† (p. 18). The Fair value of any investment plays an important in determining market condition as the fair value of a particular financial instrument is based on the following factors a. the time value of money, b. the credit risk, c. foreign currency exchange prices, d. commodity prices, e. equity prices, f. volatility, and g. payment risk. Regardless of the accounting standard used, accounting plays an important role in financial reporting. While M. J. Milne’s discussion focus on the importance of accounting in financial management including accounting standards that lead to increases in reported earnings,   citing the arguments of Watt and Zimmerman Milne (2002) puts it â€Å"Managers have greater incentives to choose accounting standards which lower earnings thereby increasing cash flows, firm value, and their welfare, due to tax political, and regulatory considerations than to choose accounting standards which reports higher earnings and, thereby increase their incentive compensation† (p. 372). Obviously, accounting standards contributes to the financial situation not only of the firm that uses such standards but the entire financial realm. In this case, Milne partly hinted as to why trillions of dollars went off the global financial market balance sheets and why asset values experience decline. Milne seem to mean that managers choose accounting standards that reported lower earning yet, it increase the firm’s cash flows, the firm value, and their welfare, due to higher tax and political pressures. In this case the real market value as well as the real earnings were reassigned to somewhere else or as Milne suggest, to cash flows and their value. Given this accounting standard, it is no wonder that management will lobby financial instrument that reduce reported earnings to avoid taxes, regulatory procedures, and all other costs. As Milne stressed, â€Å"ordinarily, managers are predicted to have greater incentives to lobby for accounting standards that lead to increase in reported earnings and thereby management wealth. However, since changes in cash flows and stock prices can also be affected by taxes, regulatory procedures, information costs and political costs, managers also have to consider the effects of reported earnings might have on the likelihood that such costs could be imposed on the firm† (p. 372). The trillions of dollars that were written off the global financial market balance sheets and the massive decline of asset values can therefore be attributed to these factors accompanying this accounting standard, and the commentators were partly right in their opinion regarding this massive decline of asset values. However, this does suggest that that money going to taxes, regulatory procedures, political costs, and information costs are lost money and that regulatory procedure should be viewed as negative for business activities. Regulatory procedures should be viewed in even broader terms that include all forms of social control and influence. Michael Greiffin emphasized that this should also include â€Å"not only the corporations legislative requirement but also other rules and directions, such as professional accounting standards and stock exchange requirements† (p. 2 par. 3). Graffikin pointed out that regulation is considered desirable â€Å"where there windfall profits† – where through some fortuitous event is able to make above â€Å"normal† profits. Regulations should be seen as necessary in the rationalization and coordination of economic activity so as to organize behaviour of industries in an efficient manner (graffikin, p. 3).

Chinas Logistics Industry

Chinas Logistics Industry Abstract The aim of this paper is to introduce development of China logistics industry in last decade. This paper examines problems during the development and the implementations to further develop China logistics industry in the future. The first part of this paper introduces the background of China logistics industry, problem statement and research objective. The measurements of development of China logistics industry are as dependent variables discussed in Chapter four. The second part talks about literature review for logistics, 3 elements in development of China logistics industry which are cost, productivity and expansion. Also, factors that affect development of China logistics industry are given which are transportation, governments regulation, warehousing and storage, IT supporting and infrastructure. Chapter three looks at research methodology which contains source of data, method of data analysis, questionnaire and interview. The theoretical framework shows the relationship between independent variables and dependent variables. Chapter four is mainly focuses on data analysis; the results are shown to indicate the main factors that limit the development of China logistics industry. Finally, the chapter five gives the conclusion and recommendation to solve the problems that effect development of China logistics industry that is integrated information technology to reduce transportation cost. KEYWORDS: logistics, cost, information technology, transportation. Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Background of Study With the increase of the global competition and the rapid development of the Information Technology (IT), the logistics industry has become one of the most important industries in the 21st century. The scope and role of logistics have changed dramatically over recent years. In the past, logistics has played a supportive role to primary functions such as marketing and manufacturing. Now the scope of logistics has expanded beyond its traditional coverage of transportation and warehousing activities to include purchasing, distribution, inventory management, packaging, manufacturing and customer service. More importantly, logistics has dramatically evolved from a supportive role characterized and cost absorbing to a primary role and become an important of competitive advantage. Companies experiencing growing pressure to reduce costs and provide better service so that they engage in improving the logistics by outsourcing/expansion, an option that can improve both efficiency and effectiven ess. Modern theory of logistics in China was introduction in 1980s to pilot program of logistic and distribution centres built-up in early 1990s and then evolved into full-fledged industry by the end of 1990s. Since its economic reform and opening up in 1978, Chinas economy keeps booming, with an annual GDP growth rate of nearly 10 percent which has become a global manufacturing centre with its high economic growth rate (Wang et al. 2006). In 2001, a condition for China to become a full member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was the removal of restrictions to foreign logistics investments. At the beginning, foreign capital was allowed only in form of joint ventures where Chinese partner held a majority (Goh and Ling, 2003). At the end of 2005, the restrictions were completely phased out. At present, state-owned, privately/locally owned, and foreign owned logistics companies are all equally allowed to enter and compete in logistics industry in China. Chinas logistic industry has been experiencing fast growth driven with the help of sustainable national economic expansion. Although there are tremendous opportunities, still the intense competition exists, especially after 2001. The logistics industry reported an annual growth rate of 31% in 1999, 35% in 2000, and 55% in 2001, and was expected to continue to expand rapidly in the future (Business knowledge on demand, 2007). According to Exhibit 1, the average annual growth rate of the logistics industry in China was 22.2%, and logistics expenditures accounted for about 21.8% of the GDP between 1992 and 2004 (business knowledge on demand, 2007). This sector has been developed in a physically sound way under improved infrastructure and external environment. According to Asia consulting, Added value has reached to RMB 1.4 trillion in 2006 up 13.9% over 2005. The transportation fee has been RMB 2.1 trillion increasing 12.1 %. The increase can be seen in inventory and delivery service along with 16.7% of warehousing fe es. It is expected that Chinas logistics market value will reach RMB1.1972 trillion, and will continue to maintain an annual growth of 20% in 2010. 1.2 Total Logistics Market Size The GDP of China is above RMB 10 trillion by the first time in 2002 that achieved a real growth of 8%. In the 10th Five-year Plan, the government is forecasting an average growth rate 7% per annum in 2002-2007. According to the forecasts by State Development Planning Commission (SDPC), the GDP will be quadruple, about US$4.3 Trillion by 2020. The price level will be stable because of higher price pressure within the economy. In a detailed survey by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP), the total logistics market was estimated at RMB1, 788 billion, 20% of the GDP in 2000. In 2002, it was estimated that the total logistics market of China were about RMB 2 trillion. Though the economy was expanding in 7%, logistics expenses were going to increase in a slower rate. It was because there is sufficient supply of logistics capacity such as trucks, warehouses and other fixed assets. Government registration shows 700,000 logistics service providers are operating. On the othe r hand, improving logistics efficiency also reduces its proportion to the GDP. A moderate rate of 4.0%-4.9% growth is estimated in the coming five years. According to HK Trade Development Council, leading logistics companies in China such as UPS, FedEx and DHL-Sinotrans have all recorded annual growths in over 30% on operations in China and there are more outsourcing contributes to the growth of professional logistics firms. Moreover, as competition increases, it is expected that market share is shifting from local companies to foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) or local giants, who can offer more efficient services in lower fees.(LI FUNG, 2003) 1.3 Players in the China Logistics Market Chinas logistics market is fragmented, characterized by tens of thousands of logistics companies and many of them are small, poorly organized with fundamental infrastructure and technology. A vast majority of the players are lack of nationwide capabilities and serve a narrow customer base; and mainly focus on simple transportation and storage functions. Competition is fierce, particularly in the low-end market. Traditionally, Chinas logistics market is dominated by the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) which provide 90% of the logistics services, but none of these has a market share over 2%. 1.31 State-Owned Players There are many state-owned players in China logistics market. Prior to 1980, under economic conditions in that time, Chinas logistics business could only be managed by state-owned enterprises and logistics was a monopoly industry, mostly for transpiration and warehousing. The characteristics of their management mode are small-scale native enterprises, slow product renovation, poor management, production plans following from various government agencies, etc. Due to government investment and monopolistic operation, these enterprises acquired large assets and became relatively large-scale business firms. Relying on their sufficiency capital and existing market share, in the past several years these enterprises rapidly became leaders in China logistics industry. However, due to the monopolistic nature of the industry and the separated management system, it will take time for these logistics firms to become truly comprehensive. The following is a list of todays relatively powerful state-o wned backbone logistics enterprises that operate nationwide: China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO); China Railway Express Company Limited (CREC); China Post Logistics Company Limited (CPLC); China Railway Container Transport Company Limited (CRCTC), etc. COSCO Logistics COSCO Logistics is a branch of COSCO, China Ocean Shipping Company. It was formed in 2002. Because of the parent companys network and infrastructure, in 2004 to 2008 it ranked number 1 in China in terms of comprehensive logistics capacities. COSCO Logistics has 300 logistics facilities, covering 90% of the China market and the service is strongly marine transport related. 1.32 Private Players Since the mid-1990s, Chinas private domestic logistics enterprises started to develop themselves. For example: EAS International Transportation Ltd (Shanghai). This company was founded in 1985 and it involves international business. In the past twenty years, EAS has gained notable achievement in building the unique operation platform to development modern logistics business according to the demand of customers. There are many other private domestic logistics companies in China, such as St-Anda, PGL, China Overseas logistics and so on. They are all medium-size Chinese logistics provides emerged in the last 10-20 years. These firms have enjoyed the fastest growth in the market due to their light-asset nature and high efficiency. They are more focused on geographies, service and customers. But they have problems in lacking sufficient financial support for market expansion and internal management mechanisms and effective organization to support high growth and profitability. (Fu Qinqin, 2007) 1.33 International Logistics Players(ILCs) Although the domestic companies dominate the general China logistics market, ILCs are playing a more important role, and their market shares are increasing rapidly. Among which the most important are the four giant ILCs that started with parcel and courier services. The international logistics players are: DHL, TNT, UPS, FedEx and so on. Deutsche Post World Net/DHL Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN) has a uniformed brand and image for its logistics, courier and parcel, and transport service; that is DHL. DHL first entered China in 1981. In 1986, it formed a joint venture with Sinotrans in courier and parcel delivery. Mainly because of this earliest partnership, DHL-Sinotrans has the biggest market share in courier service. Both parties enjoy a very fruitful partnership. For this reason, in 2002 when the first partnership ended, DHL and Sinotrans renewed the cooperation agreement for another 50 years, till the year of 2052. In May 2004, DHL initiated its domestic delivery of parcels in China, and again, DHL led the market. In the courier and parcel delivery market, the partnership between DHL and Sinotrans is the most stable. In the past twenty years, DHL has invested about $215 million in China. Out of its total investment of $1.1 billion in Asia, that was only about 20% of DHLs investment in Asia. However, DHL plan to invest about $273 millions in China from 2004-2008, or almost 2/3 of its $400 million investment in Asia over the same period. Clearly, the investment is heating up in the China logistics market. (Xuepin Cen, 2005) Nowadays, many foreign logistics companies have established good cooperation relations with Chinese logistics firms by using joint ventures. The advantage foreign companies have competitive advantage in technology and management, but only when they are combined with experiences and existing service network of Chinese enterprises that they could be brought into full play. Therefore, some Chinese logistics companies usually face Merge and acquisition (MA) risk. A number of foreign companies that have never touched on the Chinese market patiently search for Chinese companies for cooperation projects. Many inland Chinese cities promise many commercial opportunities in the logistics sector, and it needs time for foreign companies to fully penetrate into the Chinese market. However, for foreign logistics companies they are being challenged by infrastructure and customer base and of lack of on-the-ground capabilities in China. 1.34 Third Party Logistics companies (TPLs) Chinas market for TPL is still in its early stage. Also, TPL is a relative new concept for most of the Chinese companies. A TPL company normally provides process-base services rather than a function-base logistics service, which generally toward to the integration and full control of a part or whole process of customers logistics network. The rationale for outsourcing logistics is to achieve cost saving through economics of scale. Small or middle sized companies may not always have economics of scale to economically manage logistics operation, but this is precisely one of the advantages for third-party logistics companies. The year of 2006 is the first year of Chinas 11th Five-Year Plan (2006~2010), and is also the first year when logistics is opened up completely. From the year of 2006 to 2010, the basic frame and main functions of Chinas southern international logistics centre will come into being. The proportion of logistics cost in GDP will decrease more than 3%. The third party logistics will share up to 23% in the logistics market.(Fu Qinqin, 2007) 1.4 Major modes of Transport The first few years of the 21st century have been characterized by the rapid construction of transport infrastructure in China. During the five-year plan from 2001 to2005, transport infrastructure has been built significantly including 250,000 kilometres of highways and 24,700 kilometres of expressways. By the end of 2006, the total length Chinese highway has reached 3,457,000 kilometres and 77,000 kilometres of railways (Waters, 2007). The current five-year plan (2006-2010) has an ambitious agenda and will spend hundreds of billions of dollars over the next five years to develop Chinas roads, river ports, and railroads. (Richard Brubaker,2005 ) 1.41 Ports According to Richard Brubaker, (2005) since the central government opened Chinese ports to overseas investment in March of 2002, Chinese Port facilities have received massive amounts of investment and have taken huge steps towards significantly increasing capacity. In 2003, the total investment in Chinese port development and construction was US$2.2 billion, and in 2004, the Ministry of Communication has reported this figure was to reach nearly US$4.3 billion in 2004. Currently, Chinas coastal cities like Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, are all competing to complete new berths and establish themselves as dominant regional logistics centres. (Exhibit 2) In Shanghai for example, container throughput of 11.28 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) for 2003 is expected to increase to 14.5million TEUs in 2004, with massive expansion already underway. In addition to expansion that will add more than 2m TEUs of capacity in 2005, Shanghais massive Yan gshan deepwater terminal is also under construction and will eventually handle 25m TEUs at a cost of â‚ ¬1.5bn. Although such massive investment and expansion, the improvements brought by increasing use of foreign terminal operators, Chinese ports still need to keep up with increasing demand. 1.42 Road Benefit from government heavy investment and the unreliability of other options for instance rail and inland water, road transport becomes most popular choice for the inland distribution of goods in China. Beijing has already emphasised on a plan to double Chinas expressway mileage. (Richard Brubaker,2005) By 2005, as Chinas new inter-provincial highway system nears completion, almost 200,000 km of new roads will bring the national total to roughly 1.5 million km. Among the most significant of these developments, Shanghai-Chengdu Highway and Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway are the most arresting plan. Because most of Chinas highways are financed using a fixed return toll based system, tolls account for roughly 20% of costs faced by long distance trucking operators and create huge incentives to overload trucks. Nearly 75% of Chinas more than 100,000 traffic fatalities per year have been attributed to overloaded trucks. These deaths have led to new road safety laws, which if observed, could have significant implications for the efficiency and the costs of trucking operations where trucks are overloaded on average by 30% and often by 50%. However, at present the trucking industry in China remains extremely fragmented and is not organized on a national basis. The largest of the nearly 3 million trucking service providers in China is Sinotrans, with a registered fleet of 3,000 trucks specializing in long-distance service. Short-distance trucking services in China are generally provided by local operators who offer relatively cost effective and competitive services. In spite of national policies, this separation between local and long distance trucking operators is in part due to efforts by local and city authorities to protect local businesses. By the end of 2004, Chinas WTO commitments require that Chinas trucking sector be fully opened to foreign firms. Experts said that current market fragmentation and the benefits of newly expanded infrastructure make the trucking sec tor particularly attractive for consolidation and foreign investment. 1.43 Rail According to Richard Brubaker, (2005) Chinas Railway infrastructure has received relatively low levels of investment compared with Chinas road and port infrastructure. The Ministry of Railways has relatively modest plans to increase Chinas existing rail network from 72,000 km to 100,000 km in 2020. Use of the Chinese rail system increased 6% year on year between January of 2003 and January of 2004, though it would appear that this relatively modest increase can be less attributed to weak demand than the limitations posed by serious under capacity. Railway bottlenecks and the inability of the railway system to transport the requisite amounts of coal were in large part responsible for the power shortages of the summer of 2004. This has since led to the prioritization of coal shipments leaving other commodities and cargoes sitting on docks. Many importers, most notably Chinas steel mills have been struggling to find enough railcars to carry cargo and now often resort to barges and truck s at much greater cost. Poor handling practices, delays, unpredictable delivery times, bulk shipment requirements, theft, minimal shipment tracking, the lack of inter-modal facilities, and a general lack of infrastructure all plague the Chinese railways. However, despite these issues exist, the heavy subsidization still makes Chinas railway become the cheapest form of overland transport compare with shippers. 1.44 Inland Waterways Infrastructure on inland waterways, most significantly the Yangtze River, increased 8% between January 2003 and January 2004. (Richard Brubaker,2005) Rivers such as the Yangtze can handle ships of up to 6000 tonnes and are generally uncongested; however, canals and low bridges can be problematic and projects such as the recently completed 3 Gorges Dam can serve to prolong dry seasons and keep water levels low. 1.45 Air freight Although Chinas airfreight sector is constrained by inadequate infrastructure, its development has been rapid. China is the second-largest domestic airfreight market in the world after the United States. According to Boeings World Air Cargo Forecast, the market has grown at more than 20 percent annually since 1991. (Richard Brubaker,2005) Airports are seeing rapid expansion in three principal economic areas: the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), the Pearl River Delta (PRD), and the capital city of Beijing. Expansion in the PRD is very important that it threatens to cut into the volumes handled by Hong Kong, the worlds largest air cargo airport. But a large proportion of the goods exported from South China are routed through Hong Kong. Its position has been strengthened, moreover, by an agreement that allows Chinese airlines to expand their international services via Hong Kong and gives Hong Kong airlines greater access to the mainland. 1.46 Warehousing Most of Chinas warehousing facilities are older or old-style facilities with a range of associated issues. Many facilities do not have computerized stock supervision systems in place. Single and multi-story warehouse designs limit efficiency by preventing the use of multiple racking levels and by modern forklift trucks. Cross contamination is an issue as are unsealed loading platforms at refrigerated facilities, which expose food products to ambient air temperatures during loading and unloading. The shortage and shortcomings of existing facilities as well as the opening up of the Chinese warehousing under its WTO commitments by the end of 2005, have led to considerable investment and anticipation in this sector. (Richard Brubaker,2005 ) For example, in Shanghai, several foreign logistics services providers hoping to invest in the future and capitalize on preferential policies and proximity to port facilities (including APL Logistics, DHL and OOCL Logistics) have or are planning to es tablish massive logistics centres in Shanghais Waigaoqiao Logistics Park / Free Trade Zone. The park has been established as an international transit, delivery, sourcing and transhipment hub to promote and coordinate the development of Shanghais sea and air transport, warehousing and logistics industries. 1.5 Statements of the Problem 1.51 High Cost Since the late of 1990s, China has been aiming at fostering logistics industry and improving logistics management skills, for the huge manufacturing industries in China has driven logistics industry growing rapidly in recent years. With its imminent entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), China is embracing a big opportunity to develop its logistics industry, officials and experts noted. Zhang zhigang, deputy director of the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC), said that: it is urgent that China reforms its old circulation system and speeds up the development of its logistics industry as China faces new challenges in the globalization process. But the high logistics cost nibble the competence of firms. According to the data released by Development Research Center of the State Council of PR China, Chinas logistics expenditures amounted to 20% of the GDP in 2000 whereas logistics spending accounted for 10.3% of United Statess GDP, 14% of Japans GDP, and 10 to 13% of Europ ean Unions GGP (Waters, 2007). The annual growth rate of total logistics expenditures is 10.29, 12.99, 16.76 and 12.86 percent from 2002 to 2005 (National Development and Reform Commission, 2004). Statistics published by China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing show that Chinas total logistics expenses reached RMB3.8414 trillion in 2006, up 13.5% year on year at current price, a growth 0.6 percentage points higher than in 2005. The rate of total logistics expense of GDP was 18.3%, 0.2 percentage points lower than in 2005. This is the mainly problem that slow down the development of China logistics industry. The total logistics cost encompasses transportation, inventory storage and management. In 2007, the total logistics cost increased by 18.2% to 4540.6 billion yuan. The total logistics cost in China generally includes three cost components, namely, transportation, inventory storage and management cost. According to Exhibit 3, it is clear that the total logistics cost increased rapidly during 1991-98, since then the growth started levelling off. In 2004, the total cost amounted to 2911.4 billion yuan (US$ 352 billion), grew by 16.6%. Of this total, transportation cost made up the largest portion and witnessed the highest growth rate. Transportation cost was 1655.8 billion yuan (US$ 200 billion), accounting for 56.9% of the total logistics cost. On the other hand, inventory storage and management cost were 846.7 and 408.9 billion yuan (US$ 102 billion and US$ 49 billion), accounting for 29.1% and 14% of the total logistics cost respectively (US$ 15.7 billion). Adding the costs of packing, transport, storage and damage, the ratio of total logistics costs to total industry production ranges from 40% to 60%, whereas in the United States this percentage is close to 20% (Smyrlis, 2006). If logistics costs are broken down, transport accounts for 57% of costs, inventory and storage accounts for 29%, and management accounts for 14% (Exhibit 4). Percentage wise, transport costs in China are twice as expensive as in developed countries (Wakers, 2007). 1.52 Low in productivity The ratio of total logistics cost to GDP represents the efficiency of logistics operation in the economy which means the productivity of logistics industry. It is also used as an indicator of the development level of the logistics industry. In general, the higher the percentage, the less efficient is the logistics industry. Exhibit 5 shows the total logistics cost as a percentage of GDP in the 10th Five-year Plan period (2000-2005). Despite the total logistics cost as a percentage of GDP has been on a downward trend that decreased from 19.4% in 2000 to 18.57% in 2005 and the total cost savings in the 10th Five-year Plan period totalled 109 billion yuan; according to exhibit 3, the logistics cost was still higher than that in US, Japan and developed countries which means lower inefficiency of China logistics industry. As predicted by the CFLP, the ratio of total logistics cost to GDP will continue higher that resulting inefficiency of modern logistics services. CFLP predicted that tot al logistics costs during the 11th Five-year Program period (2006-2010) will grow at 10% annually, 2% lower than that of the 10th Five-year Plan period. It also forecasted that the total logistics cost will reach 5,400 billion yuan in 2010, the ratio of total logistics cost to GDP at around 16.8% and cost savings yield during the period will be around 435 billion yuan. 1.53 Slowly expansion/outsourcing One of the most significant drivers of growth in the global logistics industry is the trend of mergers and acquisitions. Such buyouts and mergers enable logistics players to build up their infrastructure and service scale, both of which are critical to remaining competitive. By merging their operations and collaborating on technology, complementary services partners can also scale up their logistics capability without having to invest heavily in infrastructure. The result is lower cycle-time, streamlined business processes and lower manpower costs, which in turn boosts companies productivity and profitability. Although the giant logistics companies in China have overseas offices established from the 1980s and 1990s as their overseas branches to support their international transportation, their businesses are heavily dependent on agents. For example, Sinotrans has business in 200 countries, but there are only 40 overseas offices. The most international business is done via the agents. As Contrill claimed, dont expect a wave of Chinese 3PLs to land on Western shores soon. The pace of change in China is slow by Western standards and there is much to do in the home market. 1.6 Research objective The objective of this research is twofold. On one hand, the objective is: To understand the development of China logistics industry in last decades. On the other hand is to investigate the factors affect the development of China logistics industry and find the solutions to solve the current problems to further develop logistics industry in China. On meeting the two objectives this paper will develop a framework to address the factors that affect the development of China logistics industry. 1.7 Research questions There questions will be discussed in this article: 1: To introduce the development of logistics industry in China in last decade. 2: What are the factors that affect the development of China logistics industry? 3: How to solve the current problems to further develop logistics industry in China? 1.8 Significance of study This research would contribute by indicating and analyzing some of the problems that affect development of China logistics industry and this study was designed to answer some questions from perspectives of both the researcher and some practitioners. The theoretical framework was based on an extensive review of the literature on the various theoretical models of factors affect development China logistics industry. 1.9 Limitations of the research Because of time restriction (from September to November, 2009), this thesis will be finished within 3 months, I will cover the detail of logistics management (Transportation, Warehousing and IT supporting) as specific as possible. Because of the location of sampling in Shanghai, China, the searcher has to come to China but only around 1month, so time limited to the questionnaire distributing and receiving which cause low response rate. There are many problems that influence the development of logistics industry in China; in this paper, we only focus the above 5 main problems. Because of some companies are not public listed companies, it is difficult to find the financial data from the current annual reports released by these companies, so we may analyze these companies using the previous data (Eg: Annual Report in 2007) Some of questions are directly related to the internal strategy of company management, so managers are unwilling to answer. 1.10 Chapter Outline Chapter one Introduction: This provides the reader with background information of the study, which creates a pictorial flow of the main research. Research objectives, background of study, problems and significance as well as the limitations faced by the researcher are clearly stated in this chapter. Chapter two Literature review: This chapter explores relevant literature; it basically dealt with pertinent literature on problems of current China logistics industry with discussions on related research variables such as government policy and regulations, transportation cost, warehousing and storage, training/education/IT supporting and infrastructure. Chapter three Methodology and Data collection: This chapter describes the research design used to conduct this research. This chapter will further disclose the ways used in analyzing data collected, limitations of the methods used and how the data was collected. This section concludes with discussions of the data gathering techniques and the data analysis procedures that were used to answer the hypotheses and research questions. Chapter four Results and discussions: This chapter outlines results of data analysis, provides discussion of research findings and builds bridges between objectives, findings and relevant literature. The result section summarizes the analysis of the data and present findings of the study with respect to the hypothesis and research questions. While the discussion section reviews the findings of the study in the context of the conceptual framework of the study. Chapter five Conclusions and recommendations are provided in this chapter together with discussions on the contribution of the study to the body of knowledge. This chapter concludes the research and documents the implications of the study with recommendations for future research. Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Definition of logistics Logistic is the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services and related information from their point of origin to point of consumption for the purpose of conforming to custom