Charitable giving is a topic that has received little attention in the literature to date, in spite of the recent growth of the voluntary sector in the U.K This paper uses data from interviews with 49 people about their preferences for ways of giving, for kinds of causes, and their beliefs about the role of charity in society. Two main themes are selected for analysis: (a) the kinds of experience that people have had of others in need, and (b) the organization of giving, formally or informally, within social institutions. These themes are used to construct a conceptual framework showing that charitable giving reflects variations in the relationship of individuals to the community of which they are a part. This is a critical alternative to explanations of charity based upon either individual motive, social norms, or the setting in which the solicitation of gifts occurs.

This article reports on the development and results of a recent survey of academic librarians about their attitudes, involvement, and perceived capabilities using and engaging in primary research. The purpose of the survey was to inform the development of a continuing education program in research design. It updates earlier studies of academic librarian research; with the introduction of a confidence scale, it also contributes new insights regarding how prepared librarians believe themselves to be with regard to conducting research. The authors found that confidence in one's ability to perform the discrete steps in the research process is a statistically significant predictor of a librarian conducting research and disseminating the results. The analysis of the responses to the confidence scale and other survey questions suggests several paths for future research about academic librarians and their research agendas.ibrarians in an academic setting are integrally involved with providing research services to faculty, students, and staff of higher education institutions. Though familiar with the research process and responsible for supporting others in their academic agendas, it is said, "librarians generally do not publish their research." Motivated by a desire to help academic librarians improve their research skills and, thus, the quantity and quality of their research, the authors of this study explore ways in which librarians have developed these skills in the past and how that process might be improved in the future.crl-276

The use of images by overseas aid agencies for the purpose of raising funds is common in the media in western societies. This paper reports a qualitative study of the ways that people in Britain view such photographs, how they interpret Jthem and how they respond tohthiem. The accounts given by respondents reveal that this involves individuals in making sense not just of visual material, but of a social world in which need is defined and met. That is, picturing need and articulating one's response to it is part of an imaginary (constructive) relationship through which the social world and the speaker are together made sensible. This is consistent with a theoretical position which holds that looking at photographs is both discursively and non-discursively ordered. Seeing is therefore understood as a cultural activity, through which social differences and moral imperatives are jointly and severally made to reappear.

This article reports the results of a 2015 survey that updates and extends the authors' 2010 survey of academic librarians, to learn of the current state of their attitudes, involvement, and perceived capabilities in the research process. A key change in the 2015 survey is the use of an expanded research confidence scale, designed by the authors. They also added questions on research training and institutional support for research. The results of this survey add to the growing body of research examining the success factors for librarian-researchers. Research selfefficacy continues to be a predictor of research success. Institutional support for research, including both formal and informal mentorship, is increasing and associated with research success.

This paper compares three groups of individuals in their beliefs about charitable giving. Focusing upon their preferences for different kinds of needy recipients, the paper compares the views of 49 people from (a) business, (b) professional and (c) 'manual' backgrounds. Their justifications of need provided the basis for comparisons on the basic themes of emotional response to requests for funds, to local versus overseas aid and to the relative roles of charity and state provision. It is argued that distinctions between the groups show the need to examine specific beliefs as well as generally held ideologies about charity. In addition, a further comparison of the groups is used to argue that they exemplify differences in the actual form of the gift relationship. These differences in form show the importance of examining charitable giving within specific social contexts, as well as with reference to the various ways of raising funds.