How I Got My Head in the Cloud … But Forgot to Bring an Umbrella

The Association of College and Research Libraries developed information literacy standards and associated performance indicators for undergraduate psychology students. A survey of tenure-track faculty members and full-time lecturers in the Psychology Department at Eastern Michigan University was conducted to discover how those professors viewed the importance of these indicators, and how those professors perceived their role, as well as the role of librarians, in supporting instruction that develops those skills. The psychology faculty acknowledged the curricular value of the information literacy performance indicators and perceived librarians as having a supportive role relative to their own more primary role in developing the skills.     

Is This a Serial?

Serials represent a growing proportion of published literature and budget allocations. Since serials frequently contain the most current information and latest reports of research activity, they both generate many reference questions and supply the answers. Due to the continuing and changing nature of serials, their records are more difficult to interpret than are monograph records. The philosophy underlying the creation of serial records, the variations in serial cataloging rules, and the effects of automation partially explain what appears in our catalogs. A review of the essential elements in serial bibliographic records accents the unique characteristics of serials and the problems encountered in trying to create records that are consistent and intelligible.     

Is This Search Necessary?

Reference service as practiced in most large libraries meets the criteria for information and referral services as set forth by the Community and Information Referral Task Force of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Because most reference service these days also includes some form of online data base searching, user expectations at the reference desk are heightened and in some cases unrealistic or unreasonable. Librarians must be able to make the decision to utilize print resources, conduct online data base searches, or refer users to more appropriate sources to satis their information needs. On-line data bases, In particular, are not always the first resource to consider.     

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Early Canadian radio broadcasting policy privileged private, commercial broadcasting enterprises above alternative broadcasting formats, including amateur and community radio. One station, 10AB, operated by the Moose Jaw Radio Association (MJRA) and owned by community members took exception to this policy and engaged in a decade-long dispute with radio authorities, first the Radio Branch of the Department of Marine and Fisheries and later the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC). The MJRA ignored regulations with which it disagreed and challenged the radio authorities whilst requesting a private commercial broadcasting license. Absorbed by perceived discrimination, the MJRA failed to understand the complex situation the CRBC faced. I argue that considering transnational radio history can deepen our understanding of the dispute between the local station and national regulators in Canada.     

Does Ownership Matter?

Does media ownership affect the editorial page? Scholars such as Tim Groseclose, Jeffrey Milyo, and Tim Groeling have offered recent empirical tests for media bias in political news coverage. This article focuses on the editorial content of newspapers to examine whether a change in publishers affects a newspaper's editorial page's support for government action on public policy questions, the attention given to the major political parties, and the tone of coverage of the parties. Our content analyses compare the Wall Street Journal's editorial page before and after Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation purchased the paper with two newspapers that did not change ownership structures over the same time period (New York Times and Washington Times). We show that Murdoch's Wall Street Journal is far less supportive of government intervention in the economy, much more negative to Democrats, and much more positive to Republicans than the paper's editorial page was under Bancroft family ownership. We also show that the Wall Street Journal's changes were unique as the New York Times and Washington Times generally did not exhibit similar changes to their own editorial pages.     

Where Does It Hurt?

No abstract available for this article.     

Case Studies in Electronic Serials Cataloging,or What Am I Supposed to Do with This?

SUMMARY

Shadle examined the CONSER recommended aggregator-neutral record, providing background on its development, as well as examples and discussion of records demonstrating the changes that are underway. He also included a brief discussion on electronic serials and integrating resources, with examples that served to clarify their differences. Lastly, there was discussion on title changes and buried title changes as they might appear in electronic serials, with suggestions on ways to most effectively handle them.     

A ‘Presidential Look’? An Analysis of Gender Framing in 2016 Persuasive Memes of Hillary Clinton

A persuasive campaign with elements of propaganda was waged on social media against Hillary Clinton during the 2016 U.S. presidential race, partially through a Russian-financed effort to discredit her. This study analyzed doctored images (memes) posted on Twitter about Clinton during the general election campaign. Through qualitative content analysis, researchers sought to identify whether negative memes reflected socially constructed gender stereotypes. Results show gendered frames used in memes against Clinton were based on female biological/physical traits (weak, ill, unattractive), anti-feminine traits (dishonest, untrustworthy), and negative female politician traits (dictatorial, unqualified) that were incongruent with the perceived role of the presidency.     

Big Changes Needed: Where to Find the Money?

This article discusses ways that librarians can find the money to make big changes within their organizations. The article discusses strategic planning, metrics, and greater operating efficiencies as sound management methods to obtain the funding to make important changes in tight financial times. The piece has a practical tone addressed to library leaders and to practitioners who are asked to make significant changes in a lean economy.     

This is so contemporary? Mediums of exchange and conservation

What conservation strategies can be used for Tino Sehgal's 2005 work This Is So Contemporary, and what are their relations to oral traditions? Sehgal's art leaves no material traces, as the artist resists the use of photos and videos acting as a documentary surrogate for his work. This paper will explore how Sehgal's non-written documentation strategies connect to the work of Yumutjin Wunungmurra, a contemporary artist and ceremonial leader from Northeast Arnhem Land, Australia. The connection will be tracked through the role of caretaker and custodian that features in the workflow of both artists. The paper asks whether the performance-based strategies discussed can support the notion of conservation as a social process with multiple stakeholders.     

Does communication matter in social influence during small group discussion? Five positions

Social influence has been a central area of inquiry since the beginning of research in small group communication. Nonetheless, controversy concerning whether communication matters in group discussion is relevant to the hypothesized impact of communication on social influence during discussion. In this paper, five positions concerning the functions that communication performs in social influence during group discussion are described, each with enough research backing to be considered viable. The question of whether communication matters in social influence during group discussion boils down to the question of which of these functions “count as” communication mattering.     

Does the concentration of scientific research funding in institutions promote knowledge output?

Basic research is the main powerhouse of a country’s potential for continuous economic growth, and national-level scientific research funding is an important source of capital that supports this basic research. Given these observations, this paper takes micro-level data from projects funded by the Department of Management Sciences in the National Natural Science Foundation of China between 2006 and 2010 to examine the relationship between the efficient use of research funding and the level of concentrated funding in certain research institutions. In contrast to the positive externalities produced by the concentration of R&D activities, our study finds that the accumulation of scientific research funding at the institution level is negative correlated with the knowledge output of the principal investigators of projects within the research institution. We explore the sources of the negative correlation and discuss some policy implications.     

Knowledge and Dignity in the Era of “Big Data”

Private companies and government agencies are now creating and tapping into vastly more data than ever before. These data flows include enormous amounts of personal information and raise questions about privacy and intellectual policy that could have profound impacts on our lives. While data collection and creation are nearly ubiquitous, the instruments of collection and analysis are often hidden in order to track more natural behavior. Recent revelations of massive governmental data collection offer the country, and librarians in particular, an opportunity to discuss and question the societal implications of “Big Data,” and the policies that govern them.     

Does TQM really help anyone?

This paper looks at Total Quality Management (TQM) and how it fits into organizational change. TQM's emphasis on customer service and empowerment falls right in line with current thinking on organizational change. However, the commitment to TQM should be organization-wide, which is hard to obtain.     

Can I Bring My Gun? A Fifty-State Survey of Firearm Laws Impacting Policies Prohibiting Handguns in Public Libraries

In Capital Area District Library v. Michigan Open Carry, 826 N.W. 2d 736 (2012), the Michigan Court of Appeals concluded that state law preempted the library's weapons policy prohibiting firearms in the library. This survey asks how laws in each state impact similar policies prohibiting handguns in public libraries.