Search

The IDS Project was formed in 2003 to improve resource sharing among the State University of New York colleges. Over the years it grew from the original 12 to over 120 libraries. While the focus has always been on community, there has also been a strong developmental desire and innovative push from its members. IDS Project has developed many systems and tools over the years and continues to support resource sharing among all libraries and not just its members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers often set budgets with the goal to minimize their spending. Contrary to this traditional interpretation, our research suggests that budgets can take on a different psychological meaning depending on whether the budget is for a personal or gift purchase. Across 11 studies, we find that consumers aim to spend below their budgets for personal purchases (budget minimizing) but aim to spend the entirety of their budgets for gift purchases (budget maximizing). We differentiate budget maximizing from spending maximizing, showing that gift purchasers are more likely to prefer "at-budget" than "above-budget" purchases. We also show that gift purchasers have weaker savings goals than personal purchasers—a difference that mediates the effect on their budget-minimizing and -maximizing tendencies. We explore multiple reasons that could explain why savings goals are less prevalent among gift purchasers and find an upstream role for price consciousness, guilt, and perceived specialness. Finally, we find that consumers' preference for spending the entirety of their budgets on gifts was moderated by two separate factors: consumers' budget slack and salience. Our research adds to the literatures on mental budgeting, gift giving, and self-other decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates whether charities can enhance fundraising effectiveness by increasing donors' sense of agency. This article introduces two strategies that allow donors to target individual charitable projects, either via the choice options (targeting-via-options) or via the suggested donation amounts (targeting-via-amounts). A large-scale field experiment involving more than 40,000 prospective donors manipulates the ability to control the allocation of the charity's resources and finds that enhancing donor agency boosts fundraising revenue by 42%. A causal forest analysis indicates significant donor heterogeneity, with a subset of donors being three times more responsive to the opportunity to target their gift than the average donor. Inactive donors, "clumpy" donors (who exhibit uneven donation patterns), and donors who concentrate their gifts during the popular giving periods are less responsive to interventions, whereas frequent, generous, and long-tenured donors are more responsive to them. Three experiments offer stronger internal validity regarding the manipulations and process evidence that agency—and not emotion—is responsible for the increased donation effects. An optimization analysis provides implications for how charities can leverage these insights to manage their fundraising campaigns to greater success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Scientist staff have made a list (and checked it twice) of their favorite STEM books from 2024 that will make perfect gifts for science enthusiasts of all ages. [...]

Mumia, a kind of omnipotent panacea or simply cure-all drug, was a highly valued rare substance with a long and complex history that nevertheless fell into oblivion towards the end of the eighteenth century. From ancient times to the early modern period, a range of naturally found materials and substances related to the preservation of or parts of human and animal corpses have been associated with mumia, mummy, and related words. Used as a drug for a range of illnesses and conditions, in the sixteenth century mineral mumia extracted from mountains in Iran was believed to have extraordinary potency. This article examines a selection of sources that discuss mumia's substance, collection, use, and exchange. A rediscovery of this material expands the vocabulary of early modern visual and material culture. More significantly, as a forgotten, non-global object, mumia also highlights the limits and the conceptual boundaries of that vocabulary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates recent South African jurisprudence on the public/private divide in the law of gifts, based on the dichotomy between public and private gifts. It analyses post-constitutional judgments in which South African High Courts and the Supreme Court of Appeal ostensibly accepted the existence of the divide in South African law. It also examines two recent judgments in which the South African Constitutional Court rejected the divide, albeit with some equivocation. The article questions the prudence of summarily proscribing the divide and, drawing comparatively on corresponding aspects of Dutch law, suggests that the divide safeguards private autonomy and the free and voluntary exercise of the ius disponendi in the law of gifts. It proposes that courts exercise perceptive restraint when resolving policy-based challenges to private gifts. The article attends to the limited circumstances in which judicial intrusion on dispositive intent in the private sphere may be justified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Auðunar þáttr vestfirska" or the story of "Audun and the Bear" is about two kings, one Icelander, and one bear, and concerns a wide range of topics and issues. The core of the story, however, concerns the comparison of two great men (a medieval and Icelandic topos) and how an apparently naïve and certainly stubborn young Icelander succeeds in making them reveal themselves as moral actors. On first reading, it might appear that King Svein of Denmark is the clear winner of this implicit contest, but the comparison is a subtle one and the kings more equal than such a reading might initially suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on early language input and socioeconomic status typically relies on correlations in small convenience samples. Using data from Baby's First Years, this paper assesses the causal impact of monthly, unconditional cash transfers on child‐directed speech and child vocalizations among a large, racially diverse sample of low‐income U.S. mothers and their 1‐year‐olds (N = 563; 48% girls; 2019–2020). The monthly, unconditional cash transfers did not impact mothers' child‐directed speech during a 10‐min at‐home play session (effect sizes range from −.08 to.02), though there was wide variability within this sample. Future work will assess the impact of the continued cash transfer on children's language input and development over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has identified discrepancies between gift givers and receivers in their attitudes towards certain types of gifts, such as self‐improvement gifts. However, it remains unexplored whether there are divergent preferences between givers and receivers regarding probabilistic gifts (i.e., gifts involving probabilistic goods), despite the growing popularity of such goods. To address this gap, we conducted five studies. Study 1 revealed that when presented with a choice between probabilistic gifts and regular gifts, givers were less likely than receivers to select probabilistic gifts. This discrepancy was replicated in two contexts: vertical outcomes of probabilistic gifts (e.g., travel packages with varying prices) in Study 2, and horizontal outcomes of probabilistic gifts (e.g., T‐shirts with different patterns) in Study 3. Study 4 identified that this asymmetrical preference occurred due to different regulatory focus and perceptions of norm violations among individuals when engaging in gift giving. Givers exhibited a higher inclination towards prevention‐focused strategies, whereas receivers displayed a stronger preference for promotion‐focused strategies. Moreover, givers tend to significantly overestimate the extent to which receivers perceive probabilistic gifts as violating gifting norms. These disparities resulted in an asymmetrical preference for probabilistic gifts between givers and receivers. In Study 5, we found that consideration of creativity in gifting moderated the giver‐receiver asymmetrical preference for probabilistic gifts. Specifically, givers with heightened consideration of creativity were more likely to choose probabilistic gifts. These findings imply that gift givers could give greater consideration to probabilistic gifts, and marketers can capitalize on this by promoting probabilistic goods as viable gift options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores co‐creative gift systems within digital platforms. We define co‐creative gift systems as systems where consumers actively engage in content creation and co‐creation, disseminating original artistic digital gifts (i.e., content such as novels, videos, music) on digital platforms and engaging in collaborative exchanges that shape the work in progress. Using a qualitative methodology, including netnography and guided introspections, we analyze 3 years of netnographic data on Wattpad, a platform for developing and publishing written fiction. Our findings reveal the building of varying relational ties within the gift system, from casual interactions to deep connections that foster communities of practice and fandoms, and fluid role transitions between givers and recipients. These interactions and transitions impact the development of the digital gift through editorial support, narrative co‐creation, and independent reviews. This study contributes to the literature on gift giving by emphasizing the role of co‐creative gift systems in enhancing digital community interactions and content co‐creation. Future research directions are suggested to further explore co‐creative gift systems across various digital platforms and their implications for consumer research and digital content production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In four studies, we found that receiving a customized gift leads recipients to appreciate the gift more highly because of vicarious feelings of pride. This vicarious pride is the same feeling that the customizer experiences after having self‐customized a product. In the first two experiments with real‐life pairs of friends, vicarious pride was documented among recipients of customized gifts. The findings show that the relationship between customization and gift appreciation is mediated by vicarious pride. Study 3 and Study 4 replicate the results of the first series of experiments, and reveal the role of vicarious pride in enhancing state self‐esteem and, in turn, gift appreciation. Study 4 also tests the effect of a relational variable (i.e., relationship anxiety) on this relationship. Specifically, relationship anxiety affects vicarious pride, and then consequently state self‐esteem and gift appreciation, which are only enhanced by customization when the relationship is not anxious. As a practical implication, this research emphasizes the importance of communicating gift customization to gift recipients to enhance their gift experience and appreciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In some cultures, migrants bear an obligation to bring gifts from the foreign country for their relations when returning to their homeland. Why, and to what end? We examine the reasons for these transnational gift obligations in a multisite study of Ghanaian migrants in the United States and Australia, as well as people in Ghana with migrant relations living overseas. We adopt a wealth-centered perspective that problematizes the underexplored mutual impact of migrants and their gifts on social hierarchies within societies and transnational spatial hierarchies between societies. We show how the concepts of wealth in people and wealth in place connect with local gift economies to explain transnational gifting obligations. Specifically, informants use transnational gifts that embody wealth in place to acknowledge "being wealth" to people and to acquire wealth in others. We highlight the wealth in things that are exchanged as gift objects and the wealth in people who are exchanged as gift subjects between here and there. Our findings implicate a "glocal" gift economy that results from the global flows of things and people as gifts within transnational places of differing statuses. We discuss how this glocal gift economy (re)produces transnational spatial hierarchies and local (national) status hierarchies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. Over the years, book donations have strongly influenced the policy of the departments of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb encouraging faculty members to design new courses and developing interest in various academic fields. The holdings of the former departmental libraries, now united in the Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb (hereafter: the Library), have been enriched from the start by valuable donations from institutions and individuals, thereby often mitigating the insufficiency of funds for book acquisition. The aim of the paper is to highlight the role of donations in building the collections of the Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, based on research conducted among the Library's staff. Methodology. The research was conducted in August 2022 among subject librarians. An online survey (Google Forms) was completed by 16 subject librarians. Results. The survey results have shown that donations play a significant role in building the Library's collection. The procedures of accepting donations are explained in detail, based on the acquisition policy and the structure of the Library's collection, the method of evaluating the donations and the share they have in the overall collection of the Library. The results have also indicated the necessity of a justified and selective approach to accepting materials. The paper presents the Procedure for Accepting Gifts and Donations at the Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb, which outlines the process for accepting gifts and donations, maintaining records and issuing acknowledgement letters. Practical implications. The research may encourage other librarians to conduct an analysis of the share of donations in the library collections and to develop internal policy of accepting donations, if they do not already have one. Originality/value. This paper confirmes the importance of knowing the share of gifts in building library collections. According to our literature research, this is the first study on this topic in Croatian academic libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study how the buying purpose affects the trade-off between time and money. We consider the case of buying something for ourselves versus buying a gift and the decision whether to spend time traveling to a cheaper store to save money. We hypothesized that when purchasing a gift, people make less effort to save money, and therefore will be less willing to spend time traveling to a cheaper store when they buy a gift. In experiments with several scenarios, we fail to find support for this hypothesis. We also explore the impact of telling subjects that the purchase is made abroad. This is hypothesized to increase the valuation of the buyer's time. We also hypothesize that the interaction of being abroad and buying a gift will be negative. The data support both hypotheses. Subjects answered 15 questions about their decision-making style (rational, intuitive, and spontaneous). Subjects with more rational decision-making exhibit lower time value, which is likely to be closer to the real one. Subjects with more rational decision-making also show more strongly that time abroad is more valuable. These results suggest that questions about decision-making style are correlated with decision-making in scenarios of realistic purchase decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advance of technology, several crowdfunding platforms have emerged in Hong Kong to host informal public donation appeals. Unlike charitable crowdfunding activities, these appeals focus on crowdfunding to provide relief to specific individuals or groups in need. Due to the recent emergence of online informal public donation appeals and their lack of public benefit, regulatory bodies have not paid much attention to their regulation. However, recent media coverage highlighting scandals of maladministration of donation funds in the context of informal public donation appeals has impelled regulators to establish a systemic framework to govern crowdfunding platforms that host informal public donation appeals. This article addresses two main aspects of this topic. First, it discusses the operation of crowdfunding platforms that host informal public donation appeals and the risks associated with them. Second, it explores the feasibility of utilising trust law to regulate the administration of donation funds by these crowdfunding platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of French Journal of British Studies / Revue Française de Civilisation Britannique is the property of Centre de Recherches et d'Etudes en Civilisation Britannique and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper uses the donors' register of the Zurich Bürgerbibliothek ('citizens' library') to explore how the collection of the city's first public library developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The donors' register records over 3,000 gifts from some 900 local and foreign benefactors between 1629, the year of the library's founding, and 1769. Unlike a standard library or auction catalogue, the donors' register allows us to observe engagement with the Bürgerbibliothek over time and reveals that, while a remarkable influx of patrons in the first decade of the library's existence secured its position in the cultural and intellectual fabric of Zurich society, international interest in the institution dropped significantly by the end of the seventeenth century. Nevertheless, the Bürgerbibliothek's consistent growth across the period attests to the popularity of the library and its accessible collection at a local level as well as its benefactors' belief in the reciprocal value of patronising this new type of civic institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]