'Fairy Tale and Folklore in the Nineteenth Century', Blackwell Literature Compass, 6.3 (April 2009) 785-98

Fairies and fairy tales continue to intrigue both academic and popular audiences. This article, while exploring the diverse approaches of recent scholars in this field, also raises disciplinary questions. Should the study of folklore and of the literary fairy tale be seen as separate research areas, one the preserve of the cultural historian and folklorist, the other the remit of the literary scholar? Can we even make a clear distinction in the nineteenth century between authored, literary fairy tales and orally collected supernatural folktales? If it is reductive to assume that the fairy tale can always be classified (and potentially dismissed) as children's literature, how might recent trends in Victorian studies suggest new ways of seeing and teaching the genre? Discussing the fairy tale in the context of debates over orality and authenticity, literature and science, all of these questions will be examined below.

Factors That Impact Technology Innovation Adoption Among Irish Professional Service Sector SMEs

This paper disseminates the findings from a study into the factors impacting technological innovation adoption and diffusion specific to the deployment of electronic-commerce strategies within professional service sector SMEs in Ireland. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed and seven factors relating to a firm's external/internal environment were found to underpin adoption. These are: electronic-commerce capability; willingness to change/rate of response to new technologies; technological opportunity recognition; customer orientation; sensitivity to competitive/customer environments; perceptions of technology feasibility; and e-skills development mechanisms. t-tests revealed differences between adopters and non-adopters, and forward stepwise logistic regression is used to assess the extent to which these seven factors actually predict electronic-commerce adoption. It was found that electronic-commerce capability and the willingness to change/rate of response to new technologies are the two most important factors affecting adoption behaviours. © Imperial College Press.