Multiple Copies of Bestsellers in Public Libraries: How Much Is Enough?

How do public libraries develop their collections of high-demand materials for the “I want it now” generation? Ten public libraries’ holdings of fiction and nonfiction bestseller titles were observed over a four-week period. The number of copies rose fairly consistently, with the five fiction titles having roughly about twice the number of copies as the five nonfiction titles. The ratio of holds to copies averaged 2.7:1 and ranged from 0.8:1 to 6.5:1. Demand for e-books was consistently higher than the number of copies available, averaging more than 4:1 across all libraries.     

How Much Time Do You Spend Online? Understanding and Improving the Accuracy of Self-Reported Measures of Internet Use

Given the importance of survey measures of online media use for communication research, it is crucial to assess and improve their quality, in particular because the increasingly fragmented and ubiquitous usage of internet complicates the accuracy of self-reported measures. This study contributes to the discussion regarding the accuracy of self-reported internet use by presenting relevant factors potentially affecting biases of self-reports and testing survey design strategies to improve accuracy. Combining automatic tracking data and survey data from the same participants (N = 690) confirmed low levels of accuracy and tendencies of over-reporting. The analysis revealed biases due to a range of factors associated with the intensity of (actual) internet usage, propensity to multitask, day of reference, and the usage of mobile devices. An anchoring technique could not be proved to reduce inaccuracies of reporting behavior. Several recommendations for research practice follow from these findings.     

How Much Do We Really know About Equity's Impact on Relational Communication? Issues in Measuring Equity in Communication Research

This study examined the question of whether the short global measure of equity that is typically used in communication research has fidelity to the manner in which equity was originally conceptualized. Participants were 100 pairs of college students in close relationships. They reported equity in their relationships using Hatfield's 1-item measure and also a component measure calculated with Walster et al.'s original formula for computing equity. The two measures correlated only r = .28 (students) and .26 (partners). Correlations between these measures and other relational properties that are theoretically related (e.g., satisfaction, closeness) did not provide definitive support for either measure as being a valid measure of equity. These findings have significant implications for study of equity and relational communication, especially relational maintenance, because they cast question on how valid our measurement of equity has actually been.     

How Do Youngsters Use Public Libraries to Find Non-Fiction Books? The Results of a Recent Research Project

ABSTRACT

Even in the face of widespread domestic use of electronic materials, books within public libraries remain an important source of information for many youngsters. This paper draws on the results of a qualitative English study broadly concerned with young people's information behavior to explore how youngsters locate non-fiction books within such libraries. One of several approaches was taken. Familiar with the placement of materials on the subject of the need, some went directly to the appropriate part of the collection. Others did not know the position of the desired section and combed the shelves randomly, consulted labels on the shelves/walls, sought help from staff or exploited the subject index. Most users wanted information on a certain topic, not a particular item. There were high levels of ignorance of both library terminology and the arrangement of books within the building. The article concludes by making recommendations for both practice and future research, based on the investigation's findings.     

“What Do You Want to Be … When You Grow Up?” Recollections of a Slavic Librarian Part I: The Cold War,Dartmouth, and University of Illinois Years, 1945–1987

In this article, the author describes his experience growing up in Washington, DC, during the Cold War, as an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, as a graduate student at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, and as a librarian in the Slavic and East European Library, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.     

How Do We Learn?: Contributions of Learning Theory to Reference Service and Library Instruction

Summary

This article focuses on some major contributions from learning theory that impact how adults learn. Following an overview of two major learning theories—behavioral and cognitive theories—the authors discuss four factors that affect learning. These are attention, perception, memory, and contiguity and practice. Other topics presented include prior knowledge effect and transfer of knowledge problems. The article closes with five recommendations for incorporating results from learning theory research into reference service and user instruction.     

Hurtful Episodes in Parent–Adolescent Relationships: How Accounts and Attributions Contribute to the Difficulty of Talking about Hurt

This research examines sense-making about hurtful episodes between parents and adolescents and how sense-making processes relate to subsequent communication. Results highlight differences in the events parents and adolescents find hurtful and the complex forces that influence accounts for hurtful episodes. Children were less affected overall by hurtful episodes and provided more benevolent accounts of parents' hurtful actions and words. Parents demonstrated typical victim–perpetrator biases, particularly when relationship quality was low. Furthermore, findings provided evidence that sense-making about hurtful events may affect follow-up conversations. Intentionality attributions and the similarity of pre-interaction accounts predicted the difficulty and negativity of subsequent conversations, based on both perceived and observed ratings. Account similarity also predicted observed aspects of joint storytelling in the conversations.     

How Do We Market to Distance Populations,and Does It Work?: Results From a Longitudinal Study and a Survey of the Profession

This article discusses the results of a longitudinal survey conducted by Kansas State University Libraries to assess the marketing of library services to the university's distance education population. The latest implementation of the survey revealed overall similar or increased awareness of and satisfaction with library services compared to the previous survey. Also included are results of a survey of library professionals on best practices for distance education librarians. Findings include the importance of developing relationships with campus distance education offices and faculty and the need to be persistent with marketing efforts to a changing population.