Bøker av Barbara Allan

Former sheriff, talented thespian and delightfully eccentric true-crime author Vivian Borne hunts down a Christmas killer in the new Trash 'n' Treasures cozy mystery - "one of the funniest cozy series going" (Ellery Queen Magazine) It's five days before Christmas, and Vivian Borne - septuagenarian antiques dealer, true-crime writer and enthusiastic amateur sleuth - and her long-suffering daughter Brandy are preparing a presentation of holiday antiques at the local country club's annual Christmas luncheon. Distracted by their secret Santa gifts, the ladies of the club, to Vivian's dismay, are not giving her and her antique sleigh bells the attention they deserve. But when Norma Crumley, socialite and world-class gossip, falls face first into her plum pudding, it seems Santa has also delivered the sleuthing mother and daughter a present: a cracker of a case! Christmas in small-town Serenity is (usually) a magical time. Can Vivian and Brandy - not forgetting Shih Tzu sidekick Sushi - make a killing from their holiday antiques, catch a devious murderer, and wrap up the case in time to eat their festive microwave turkey dinners? This light-hearted, laugh-out-loud cozy mystery also features mother-daughter sleuths Brandy and Vivian's witty tips for buying and selling antiques, along with a selection of tasty recipes. Perfect for getting you into the holiday spirit - whatever the time of year!

When podcast star Nicole is found dead, mother-daughter sleuths and antiques dealers Vivian and Brandy Borne have to find the killer fast. Fast, because not only does the culprit need to be stopped but Vivian - having the worst timing of all - found the body and is accused of murder! Will the duo be able to find the killer and free Vivian in time?

This book provides a straight forward and pragmatic guide to leadership, management and team working in contemporary library and information services.

In order to make an impact with their customers, library staff must be well trained and up-to-date. Training is often delivered by library managers, development officers and trainers who may have limited budgets with access to few resources. This accessible guide uses case studies and examples of best practice from public, school, academic, special and government libraries to help library and information workers deliver excellent training practice. Increasingly, library and information staff are being asked to do more and more with fewer resources. In the context of higher education and further education, library and information workers are often involved in training large, diverse groups of more than 100 students, who may have limited resources. In public libraries, library staff may be involved in delivering a wide range of training activities to extremely diverse groups. Many library and information workers in special libraries deliver end-user and specialist training to busy professionals who are unlikely to have the time to attend pre-scheduled workshops. In addition, the rise of social networking tools and other information and communication technologies, has meant that training practices are continually changing to meet the expectations of participants. This book provides guidance on the design and delivery of effective training courses and is aimed at helping experienced trainers, as well as those who are still developing their skills, including: The people side of training; Use of technologies to support training practices;Different approaches to learning and teaching; Planning and designing training; Delivering training: face-to-face and blended learning; Evaluation of training events and continuous improvement; Learning and development in the workplace. The book will be essential reading for all library and information workers involved in training.

This book provides a `no-nonsense' guide to project management which will enable library and information professionals to lead or take part in a wide range of projects from large-scale multi-organisation complex projects through to relatively simple local ones.

Emerging Strategies for Supporting Student Learning provides a straightforward and accessible guide to the latest learning and teaching practices appropriate for use with higher education students.It is both an exciting and challenging time to be working in higher education as the sector experiences rapid changes including: an increasingly diverse student population with changing expectations; changes in technology including the rise in the use of social media; increased emphasis on employability and internationalisation; development of new social learning spaces; as well as an ever-decreasing resource base. As a result of these changes, new approaches to supporting student learning are developing rapidly.In the past five years, developments in both the theory and practice of learning and teaching have created a complex landscape which it is sometimes difficult to navigate. Emerging Strategies for Supporting Student Learning provides practical guidance and brings together theory and practice in an accessible style. The book covers a wide range of tools and techniques (relevant to face-to-face, blended learning and online practices) which will suit students in different contexts from large groups of 500+ to very small classes of research students.This practical book makes extensive use of case studies, examples, checklists and tables and contains:An analysis of the current higher education landscape, the changes that are occurring and the diverse nature of students populationsAn exploration of new theories of digital literacy including case studies demonstrating how library and information workers have applied these models in practiceA demonstration of the many different ways in which academic library and information services are working in support of student employabilityA theoretical overview of different approaches to teaching and learning including Kolb's learning cycle, Laurillard's conversational framework for university teaching, Entwistle's teaching for understanding at university, Land and Meyer's threshold concepts, and the Higher Education Academy's work on flexible pedagogiesPractical guidance on designing, developing and evaluating courses and other learning and teaching events in different situations in including face-to-face, flipped classroom, blended learning, and online learningAn exploration of approaches to personal and professionals development including 90+ approaches to workplace learning; accredited courses; short courses, conferences and workshops; networking through professional organisations; and developing online networks.Emerging Strategies for Supporting Student Learning will be essential reading for different groups working in colleges and universities including library and information workers, staff developers, educational technologists, educational development project workers, educational change agents and students of library and information science who are planning their careers in higher education institutions.

The importance of supporting the needs of research students has recently risen higher up the academic agenda around the world. Numbers of postgraduate students have expanded, and the traditional PhD has now been joined by a new range of doctoral qualifications including professional doctorates such as the Doctor in Business Administration (DBA). These developments have led to a more diverse student body which now includes senior professional practitioners. This shift has seen an acknowledgement that support services within universities must cater more for the needs of research students. While the library and information profession is a graduate one, a relatively small number of LIS professionals have a research degree. This means that, though they are likely to have experience of carrying out smaller scale research projects, they will not have experienced and internalized the distinct learning processes involved in gaining a doctorate. This timely book offers guidance to enable them to support the specialist needs of research students effectively. Individual chapters are designed to be read and worked through in any order. The key areas covered are: research and the research process; the research student's experience; research skills training; supporting research students in academic libraries and information services; virtual graduate schools; introduction to research communities; and, professional development. This is an essential text for all library and information professionals in higher education institutions globally that cater for the needs of research students. It will also be valuable reading for LIS students.

Study Skills for Business and Management Students has been carefully structured to be used throughout a degree course in order to hone the skills necessary to get a good degree and begin a successful career.

Education and training have been transformed in the 21st century as a result of changing patterns of work and culture, and learners increasingly expect technology-rich and flexible learning opportunities. Nowadays, learning takes place in a wide range of physical spaces, for example in educational or training organizations, in the workplace or at home, as well as in both public and private virtual spaces. Information professionals currently face the challenge of providing end-user education and staff training to very large and diverse groups, whilst integrating the use of ICT into their teaching. But there seems to be a tendency within the LIS literature to focus solely on the methodologies of face-to-face learning or of e-learning, and this is a lost opportunity.This book offers a holistic blended learning approach, combining the best of traditional and new approaches to learning and teaching to make best use of the advantages of each while minimizing the disadvantages. It provides information professionals with a practical guide to the design and delivery of such training programmes, illustrated with a broad range of library-based examples, checklists and case studies.This book covers key areas which include: tools and technologies in the classroom - virtual communication tools, social-networking software, e-learning systems, m-learning, and models of teaching and learning; planning and designing blended learning programmes; using individual and group learning activities; working as an e-tutor; developing online communities of interest and practice; and, managing blended learning projects - working in collaborative and multi-professional teams. This unique book will be of great value to any information professionals, whatever their previous level of experience, involved in establishing and delivering training and learning programmes and end-user education. It will also benefit staff developers in schools, colleges and higher education; library and information students; independent consultants and trainers; and, information suppliers such as database providers.

Anyone wishing to be a successful supervisor must learn the interpersonal skills of communication, assertiveness and motivation in order to build a successful team with a positive ethos. This book provides a practical guide to supervisory skills for team leaders and supervisors in library and information work. Although reference is made to relevant management concepts, its strength is that it translates theory into practice, and the focus is decidedly on the latter. This is very much a 'how to' guide for anyone wishing to develop a supervisory role in an ILS context. Each topic is covered in a practical and down-to-earth manner, and is illustrated by examples and case studies from different types of ILS. The text also offers self-assessment audits and other activities to enable the reader to relate the tools and techniques to their own work situation. Key topics covered are: the role of team leader in ILS; leading and managing the team; confident leadership and supervision; the psychology of motivation; managing the work; communication skills; managing and leading complex teams; human resource management; workplace learning and training; and, personal and professional development. This is an essential tool for new and aspiring supervisors and team leaders in ILS, and for more experienced supervisors who wish to dip into it to refresh their approach. It will also be of great value to ILS students.