Soy dairy performance metrics

Soybean (Glycine max (L. Merr.) has been a crop of interest to address both poverty and malnutrition in the developing world because of its high levels of both protein and oil, and its adaptability to grow in tropical environments. Development practitioners and policymakers have long sought value added opportunities for local crops to move communities out of poverty by introducing processing or manufacturing technologies. Soy dairy production technologies sit within this development conceptual model. To the researchers’ knowledge, no research to date measures soy dairy performance, though donors and NGOs have launched hundreds of enterprises over the last 18 years. The lack of firm-level data on operations limits the ability of donors and practitioners to fund and site sustainable dairy businesses. Therefore, the research team developed and implemented a recordkeeping system and training program first, as a 14-month beta test with a network of five dairies in Ghana and Mozambique in 2016-2017. Learning from the initial research then supported a formal research rollout over 18 months with a network of six different dairies in Malawi and key collaboration from USAID’s Agricultural Diversification activity. None of the beta or rollout dairies kept records prior to the intervention. The formal rollout resulted in a unique primary dataset to address the soy dairy performance knowledge gap. The results of analysis show that the dairies, on average, achieve positive operating margins of 61%, yet cannot cover the fixed costs associated with depreciation, amortization of equipment and infrastructure, working capital, marketing and promotion, and regulatory compliance. The enterprises in our sample operate only at 9% of capacity, which limits their ability to cover the normal fixed costs associated with the business. The challenge is not the technology itself, as when operated, it produces a high-quality dairy product. The challenges involve a business that requires too much capital for normal operations relative to a nascent and small addressable market.

The Impact of the Perceived Value of Records on the Use of Electronic Recordkeeping Systems

<p>Today’s electronic documents and digital records are rapidly superseding traditional paper records and similarly need to be managed and stored for the future. This need is driving new theoretical recordkeeping models, international electronic recordkeeping standards, many instances of national recordkeeping legislation, and the rapid development of electronic recordkeeping systems for use in organizations. Given the legislative imperative, the exponential growth of electronic records, and the importance to the individual, organization, and society of trustworthy electronic recordkeeping, the question arises: why are electronic recordkeeping systems experiencing different rates of acceptance and utilization by end users? This research seeks to address that question through identifying the factors that influence a user’s intention to use an electronic recordkeeping system. Although a significant body of research has been dedicated to studying system use in various situations, no research in the information systems discipline has yet focused specifically on electronic recordkeeping and its unique set of use-influencing factors. This research creates a new conceptual research model by selecting constructs to represent the technology acceptance literature and adding additional constructs to represent organizational context and knowledge interpretation. It also introduces a new construct: the perceived value of records. A survey instrument was developed and administered to a sample of public servants from the New Zealand government in order to evaluate the research model quantitatively and determine the relative importance of the factors. By identifying the factors that impact the use of electronic recordkeeping systems, this research will inform future strategies to improve the capture and retention of our digital heritage. As Archives New Zealand states: “Do nothing, lose everything. If no action is taken, public sector digital information will be lost.”</p>

The Impact of the Perceived Value of Records on the Use of Electronic Recordkeeping Systems

<p>Today’s electronic documents and digital records are rapidly superseding traditional paper records and similarly need to be managed and stored for the future. This need is driving new theoretical recordkeeping models, international electronic recordkeeping standards, many instances of national recordkeeping legislation, and the rapid development of electronic recordkeeping systems for use in organizations. Given the legislative imperative, the exponential growth of electronic records, and the importance to the individual, organization, and society of trustworthy electronic recordkeeping, the question arises: why are electronic recordkeeping systems experiencing different rates of acceptance and utilization by end users? This research seeks to address that question through identifying the factors that influence a user’s intention to use an electronic recordkeeping system. Although a significant body of research has been dedicated to studying system use in various situations, no research in the information systems discipline has yet focused specifically on electronic recordkeeping and its unique set of use-influencing factors. This research creates a new conceptual research model by selecting constructs to represent the technology acceptance literature and adding additional constructs to represent organizational context and knowledge interpretation. It also introduces a new construct: the perceived value of records. A survey instrument was developed and administered to a sample of public servants from the New Zealand government in order to evaluate the research model quantitatively and determine the relative importance of the factors. By identifying the factors that impact the use of electronic recordkeeping systems, this research will inform future strategies to improve the capture and retention of our digital heritage. As Archives New Zealand states: “Do nothing, lose everything. If no action is taken, public sector digital information will be lost.”</p>

Trust in Recordkeeping

<p>Research Problem: Compliance in recordkeeping is essential, especially in public service organisations that are required to comply with the Public Records Act (PRA) of New Zealand, which lays down strict guidelines for recordkeeping to aid in transparency in government. Records must be comprehensive and complete, as well as authentic and reliable. People are less likely to use a system if they do not trust it. There are various factors influencing compliance; this research examines trust in the recordkeeping system itself, and the factors that enhance or diminish trust. Methodology: This quantitative research was conducted using an online questionnaire in March of 2014. It was disseminated via New Zealand’s listserv for the recordkeeping community and it was sent to records managers because they understand the PRA, and have a holistic view of recordkeeping; and also would have an overview of staff compliance and attitudes. Text questions were included at the end, giving people an opportunity to explain or expand on their answers. Findings: Results were varied, reflecting the diversity of organisations affected by the PRA as well as diversity in standards of recordkeeping and compliance. Some results were clear, with all respondents seeing the benefit of support from management. Different problems were experienced in different organisations, and strategies to enhance trust and consequences of mistrust were listed. Implications: With increased knowledge about the factors affecting trust in recordkeeping systems, as well potential solutions, records managers can have a better chance of running or implementing a successful system. People factors play a large role in the success of a system, and record managers need to find ways to achieve user buy-in. Different solutions work in different organisations. Further research into the other factors affecting compliance in recordkeeping systems is indicated.</p>

Trust in Recordkeeping

<p>Research Problem: Compliance in recordkeeping is essential, especially in public service organisations that are required to comply with the Public Records Act (PRA) of New Zealand, which lays down strict guidelines for recordkeeping to aid in transparency in government. Records must be comprehensive and complete, as well as authentic and reliable. People are less likely to use a system if they do not trust it. There are various factors influencing compliance; this research examines trust in the recordkeeping system itself, and the factors that enhance or diminish trust. Methodology: This quantitative research was conducted using an online questionnaire in March of 2014. It was disseminated via New Zealand’s listserv for the recordkeeping community and it was sent to records managers because they understand the PRA, and have a holistic view of recordkeeping; and also would have an overview of staff compliance and attitudes. Text questions were included at the end, giving people an opportunity to explain or expand on their answers. Findings: Results were varied, reflecting the diversity of organisations affected by the PRA as well as diversity in standards of recordkeeping and compliance. Some results were clear, with all respondents seeing the benefit of support from management. Different problems were experienced in different organisations, and strategies to enhance trust and consequences of mistrust were listed. Implications: With increased knowledge about the factors affecting trust in recordkeeping systems, as well potential solutions, records managers can have a better chance of running or implementing a successful system. People factors play a large role in the success of a system, and record managers need to find ways to achieve user buy-in. Different solutions work in different organisations. Further research into the other factors affecting compliance in recordkeeping systems is indicated.</p>

Providing Food and Nutrition Services during the COVID-19 Surge at the Javits New York Medical Station

Military field hospitals typically provide essential medical care in combat zones. In recent years, the United States (US) Army has deployed these facilities to assist domestic humanitarian emergency and natural disaster response efforts. As part of the nation’s whole-of-government approach to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, directed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services, during New York City’s (NYC) initial surge of COVID-19, from 26 March to 1 May 2020, the US Army erected the Javits New York Medical Station (JNYMS) field hospital to support the city’s overwhelmed healthcare system. The JNYMS tasked a nutrition operations team (NuOp) to provide patient meals and clinical nutrition evaluations to convalescent COVID-19 patients. However, few guidelines were available for conducting emergency nutrition and dietary response efforts prior to the field hospital’s opening. In this case study, we summarize the experiences of the NuOp at the JNYMS field hospital, to disseminate the best practices for future field hospital deployments. We then explain the challenges in service performance, due to information, personnel, supply, and equipment shortages. We conclude by describing the nutrition service protocols that have been implemented to overcome these challenges, including creating a standardized recordkeeping system for patient nutrition information, developing a meal tracking system to forecast meal requirements with food service contractors, and establishing a training and staffing model for military-to-civilian command transition. We highlight the need for a standardized humanitarian emergency nutrition service response framework and propose a Nutrition Response Toolkit for Humanitarian Crises, which offers low-cost, easily adaptable operational protocols for implementation in future field hospital deployments.

Use and Management of Email as Records in African Universities

The chapter examined the management of email as records in African universities from the perspective of selected librarians. Data was gathered from interviews conducted for the librarians and their deputies along with analysis of related documents. Findings revealed that email is a record and therefore should be managed the same way other documents recognized as records in the universities are managed. The methods African universities are adopting in the management of email as records include capturing in an electronic document records management systems otherwise known as (EDRMS), print and file as attachments, headers details, and other appropriate metadata to the paper based on recordkeeping system, unaltered, classified, accessible, and readable for longer period.

Recordkeeping Metadata Standardization for Electronic Health Records System Integration: a Preliminary Study

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are beneficial in improving patient care, promoting safe practice, as well as enhancing patients and multiple providers’ communication and risk error reduction. However, it seems that the adoption of EHR system is happening very slowly to become fully integrated in both primary care and within hospital settings. In Malaysia, the implemented system still has limited integration and interoperability for supporting clinical operations among other Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOHM) hospitals, health centres, and clinics. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to discuss about this scenario and strain the need for solution through the consideration towards metadata standard establishment in health records system integration. Method used in this study is literature review analysis and face-to-face interview. The paper begins with discussions from various literatures highlighting the need of metadata standard for recordkeeping system integration. Subsequently, the face-to-face interview is done to explore the real situation in Malaysia to encounter the scenario discuss in the literatures. The finding of this study reveals that there is significant need for further research on record keeping metadata standard development for realization of electronic health records system integration. This study is significant for records managers, information technology managers, system developers and record keeping audit.

A Framework for a Good Recordkeeping System

A good record keeping system has a number of components that should be in place for the record keeping system to work optimally for the proper management of records in an organisation. This chapter presents and discusses the components of a recordkeeping system that include a records policy, people or staff, classification system, tracking, capturing business processes and controls, physical handling and storage, preservation, retention and disposition, Compliance monitoring and auditing, vital records protection and disaster preparedness, access, and training.