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Purpose As libraries are required to become more accountable and demonstrate that they are meeting performance metrics, an assessment website can be a means for providing data for evidence-based decision making and an important indicator of how a library interacts with its constituents. The purpose of this paper is to share the results of a review of websites of academic libraries from four countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia and the USA.Design/methodology/approach The academic library websites included in the sample were selected from the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Research Libraries of the United Kingdom, Council of Australian University Libraries, Historically Black College & Universities Library Alliance, Association of Research Libraries and American Indian Higher Education Consortium. The websites were evaluated according to the absence or presence of nine predetermined characteristics related to assessment.Findings It was discovered that “one size does not fit all” and found several innovative ways institutions are listening to their constituents and making improvements to help users succeed in their academic studies, research and creative endeavors.Research limitations/implications Only a sample of academic libraries from each of the four countries were analyzed. Additionally, some of the academic libraries were using password protected intranets unavailable for public access. The influences of institutional history and country-specific practices also became compelling factors during the analysis.Originality/value This paper seeks to broaden the factors for what is thought of as academic library assessment with the addition of qualitative and contextual considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government contracting with not-for-profit agencies, particularly those characterised as 'religious' and 'faith-based', to deliver social welfare has been the subject of substantial research in the United States and the United Kingdom in recent years. In contrast, attention to the role of 'religious' and 'faith-based' agencies in service delivery in Australia has been relatively limited. This paper explores conceptual issues relating to research into the impact on 'church-related' not-for-profit social welfare agencies in Australia of engagement in government contracting. It commences with a critical analysis of typologies in recent US and UK literature that use the terminology 'religious', 'faith-based' and 'secular', and identifies why this terminology is not analytically helpful. An alternative conceptual approach is developed, to guide research into the engagement of these agencies with government focusing on issues of governance, identity and mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia is facing many of the same trends in journalism that are occurring in other countries with mature media industries including declining numbers of journalists, fragmenting audiences, a loss of advertising revenue for media organisations and other challenges to their traditional business models including shifting patterns of news consumption, new competitors for old media and new technologies that demand more time from audiences. However, Australia is also in a unique position. It has a small population and unusually concentrated media ownership; recent newspaper circulation declines have not been as large as in the United States or United Kingdom; and Australia's major media organisations have “colonised the Web” to a larger degree than in many other countries. This has led to suggestions that Australian journalism will be immune from many of the most damaging international trends. Yet other evidence suggests Australia is already in the midst of an economic and professional crisis in newspaper journalism and that this is even more advanced than in other countries such as the United States and United Kingdom. This paper tests these competing propositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the policy context of the rise in the international mobility and migration of nurses. It describes the profile of the migration of nurses and the policy context governing the international recruitment of nurses to five countries: Australia, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We also examine the policy challenges for workforce planning and the design of health systems infrastructure. Data are derived from registries of professional nurses, censuses, interviews with key informants, case studies in source and destination countries, focus groups, and empirical modelling to examine the patterns and implications of the movement of nurses across borders. The flow of nurses to these destination countries has risen, in some cases quite substantially. Recruitment from lower-middle income countries and low-income countries, as defined by The World Bank, dominate trends in nurse migration to the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States, while Norway and Australia, primarily register nurses from other high-income countries. Inadequate data systems in many countries prevent effective monitoring of these workforce flows. Policy options to manage nurse migration include: improving working conditions in both source and destination countries, instituting multilateral agreements to manage the flow more effectively, and developing compensation arrangements between source and destination countries. Recommendations for enhancements to workforce data systems are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]