Opportunities for intra-university collaborations in the new research environment
- Authors: Steel, Kathryn , Thompson, Helen , Wright, Wendy
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Higher Education Research and Development Vol. 38, no. 3 (2019), p. 638-652
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- Description: New opportunities for research collaborations within universities are explored through reflection on a recent collaboration between an academic researcher, the library and the eResearch Centre at a regional Australian university. Such opportunities arise from significant changes to the research landscape, including increased emphasis on open access publication of research outputs and the growth of eResearch capabilities. The latter has resulted in increases in data size and complexity and provides opportunities for collaboration across research institutions. This article reflects on the dynamics and assesses the outcomes of a collaboration formed during an externally funded open research data project. This project and a precursor project are briefly described, together with the specific contribution of each collaborator. Collaboration dynamics and the reasons for project success are assessed, as are implications for future research practice. Outcomes from eResearch collaborations may provide broader benefits to universities, as well as rewards to academic researchers.
Understanding regional trades and labour councils : Sources for Australian labour history
- Authors: Steel, Kathryn
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Labour History Vol. , no. 115 (2018), p. 129-143
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- Description: An exploration of sources available to document the history of a specific type of Australian labour organisation, the regional trades and labour council, has been informed by a quest for the early history of the Gippsland Trades and Labour Council. This paper builds on previous surveys to investigate the variety, extent and relevance of sources available to document the formation of such organisations and the context within which they determine and carry out their strategies and campaigns. The paper also considers advances in technology and the challenges and opportunities they offer for accessing, appraising and making available labour history sources, both physical and born digital.
Injustice and outcomes : a comparative analysis of two major disputes
- Authors: Steel, Kathryn
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Labor History Vol. 56, no. 5 (2015), p. 670-693
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- Description: Injustice is said to be the cornerstone of collective action, but why is it so important, and how does the way in which it is framed for mobilisation affect the outcomes? This paper compares two lengthy disputes in the Australian electricity industry which demonstrate that a sense of injustice and a history of successful industrial action do not guarantee that a dispute will be resolved to employees' satisfaction when the wider context is unfavourable. Although leaders of both disputes expressed confidence in success predicated on the outcomes of previous industrial activity, there were specific factors within the industrial, economic and political context which provoked determined employer and government counter mobilisation leading to unsuccessful outcomes for the workers in dispute. The reasons for the poor outcomes are discussed within the context of the framing of the injustice by leaders and the effect of the response of a determined government.
Industrial agency in regional trades and labour councils
- Authors: Steel, Kathryn
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Industrial Relations Vol. 54, no. 1 (2012), p. 75-91
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- Description: The range of roles and activities undertaken by peak union bodies has recently been conceptualized by Ellem and Shields. This article uses their framework to discuss industrial agency in an Australian regional peak union council. An examination of two locally significant industrial campaigns using historical data specifically considers the impact of the industrial identity developed within the particular locale. These campaigns support the proposal that regional peak union council agency is determined by the geographic and social relationships resulting from local industrial history. In addition, in order to achieve successful outcomes for campaigns, even over local issues, forms of agency should be flexible and operate across scales. This article concludes that extending the Ellem and Shields framework to include more explicit consideration of locale and specific industrial identity as a mediating factor enables a greater understanding of not only the possible roles and functions of, but also those developed in practice by, regional peak union bodies.