MLA certification: the certification program and education for medical librarianship

The certification program was formally adopted by the Medical Library Association in 1948 in an attempt to establish standards for medical librarians. The program is reviewed, and some of its effects on education for medical librarians are discussed. At the time of its adoption the program defined the kind of education librarians in the field thought necessary for work in medical libraries. New techniques and a shortage of personnel demand consideration of new educational programs, and the Medical Library Assistance Act will provide the means for their establishment. The Association should assume leadership in determining what and where these programs should be and should evaluate its certification and standards programs as often as current needs require.     

The home front: citizens behind the camera

In the context of intense debate over immigration into the United States, the television show Border Wars offers a distinctive way for anxious citizens to participate in reinforcing the border. In the program, viewers are invited to share the lines of site of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents as they conduct surveillance of unauthorized border crossers. Because Latino bodies are repeatedly displayed as the subjects of surveillance, the positions of viewer/citizen and viewed-non-citizen encourage racial alignments with the border. In the face of these alignments, the Latino CBP agents are made readable as bodies in transition toward citizenship due to their performance of surveillance practices against other Latinos. The article comments on the soldier citizen as positioned at the panoptic center of watching without being watched, which is less available to Latinos because their bodies circulate as signs of suspicion, which casts them disproportionately onto the surveillance screen. Practices of surveillance should be understood as performances because they reaffirm Americans of their citizenship status at a time of heightened paranoia over the loss of a stable identity.     

Education for acquisitions and serials librarianship: The students' view

This study analyzes 27 student essays provided in response to examination questions on whether or not courses in acquisitions and serials should be included in the library school curriculum. The preponderance of student opinion supports a course in serials. Such a course should take a broad and integrated view of serials, encompassing serials publication and distribution, new technologies associated with serials, serials management and processing in libraries, serialsbased information services, and administrative, budget, and policy issues associated with serials. The majority of students did not support a course in acquisitions. Although recognized as an important library function, acquisitions was seen as lacking in “appropriate academic content” for the format of a three credit-hour course.     

Communication between vendors and librarians: The bookseller's point of view

As an academic librarian, the author felt that book vendors cost too much and provided too little. Once she became a bookseller herself, she realized that booksellers must always balance services provided with the costs thereof. She details problems from the bookseller's viewpoint, and suggests ways by which librarians might help obtain better service from their suppliers.     

Organizational communication effectiveness: The view of corporate administrators

Dimensions of organizational communication effectiveness have been described differently in the management, superior‐subordinate, and competence literature. This study compares previous findings to the results of interviews with 48 Northwest corporate administrators. Interview team members content‐analyzed interview notes to find six major dimensions of effectiveness: (1) Coaching and motivating employees; (2) Encouraging worker involvement and participation; (3) Self‐motivation; (4) Problem Solving Ability; (5) Direct and Adaptive Interpersonal Style; and (6) Listening Skills.     

MLA certification: its present problems and future development

The certification program is reviewed and questions as to the validity of the existing three grades of certification are raised. Large institutions which employ many medical librarians do not officially recognize the certificates. The three types of certificates should be replaced with one certificate or diploma. Problems of meaningful examinations, lack of training facilities, and revision of the curriculum require attention. A program is proposed for the improvement of education for medical librarianship. Public identification of medical librarianship is presently difficult.     

Speech teacher certification: Communication and self reception: An editorial

Professor Andrew T. Weaver has a remarkable record of leadership in Speech for the last fifty years. His contributions as a writer, as a teacher and as an officer in the Speech Association of America can well serve as an example and an inspiration to people interested in teaching Speech.     

Iceberg ahead: On electronic government research and societal aging

More than ten years ago, Peterson (1999, p. 3) warned that “[g]lobal aging, like a massive iceberg, looms ahead.” Government budgets have already been hit hard by a simultaneous increase in governmental spending and a decline in tax revenue related to a growing share of the elderly to the total population. While almost all industrialized countries can expect an aging population and resulting budget stress, the implications of the graying of society for a “graying of e-Government initiatives and budgets” are not readily apparent and therefore constitutes a subject worthy of investigation. Despite the increasing importance of this issue for e-Government in practice, there remains a clear need to assess our understanding and reflection of the phenomenon. Therefore, we examine (a) whether e-Government research presently provides adequate theory, vocabulary, and methods and (b) the extent to which future e-Government research is potentially able to contribute to tackling the substantial theoretical and practical challenges related to societal aging. Accordingly, we pursue a multi-method approach in terms of sequentially applying a retrospective literature review (12 journals, vol. 2000–2009) and a prospective Delphi study (involving 24 e-Government experts). The results suggest that there is currently a significant gap between actual and potential e-Government research on societal aging. We discuss the implications for future e-Government research and describe potentially fruitful ways of bridging the prevailing gap between theory and practice.     

从高校科技期刊盈利模式谈期刊改革的分类推进

随着我国期刊改革步伐的进一步加快,高校科技期刊面临激烈的市场竞争,其改革迫在眉睫.目前高校多数科技期刊较少盈利或不盈利,其原因除了认识上的问题,还与期刊的定位、办刊规模、人才储备等有关.高校科技期刊的改革要从改变科技期刊的权属关系入手,改变期刊管理模式,"弱化"主办单位的"主办权",将"主办权"与"出版权""发行权"分离,分层次推进改革,并建立适应期刊市场化运作的人才聘用机制.     

The Cunningham Fellowship: three international points of view*

The Medical Library Association Cunningham Fellowship Program provides funds for one medical librarian per year from outside the United States or Canada to work and learn in United States or Canadian medical libraries for a period of 4 months. An overview of the Cunningham Fellowship is presented from three different points of view—that of a Medical Library Association member who has worked closely with the Cunningham Fellowship programme, and two former Cunningham Fellows. Anita Verhoeven, who relates her impressions of American culture, architecture and art, was the 1998 MLA Cuningham Fellow and visited 33 libraries, met 171 librarians, visited prestigious universities and attended a Medical Library Association meeting. Ioana Robu, the 1997 Cunningham Fellow, visited 15 libraries in 13 cities during her experience. She describes the process of applying for the fellowship and assesses the impact that the 1997 Cunningham Fellowship has made on her life, her library and medical librarianship in Romania. An overview of the Cunningham Fellowship is also given, which includes the history, the application process, the requirements of the fellowship and the time table of the fellowship.     

Africana acquisitions problems: The view from both sides

This article discusses the book publishing industry in Africa in the early 1980s, the problems faced by North American librarians attempting to acquire African-published materials, and reviews the major bibliographic reference tools. The difficulties involved in producing books in Africa are examined at length and suggestions are made for easing the acquisitions problems of North American librarians.