What's in a Name?

Abstract

Many archivists believe that outreach is an important part of their job. However, how do archivists define the term outreach? How does outreach compare to basic services? What types of outreach programs are being done? This article reports the results of a survey that asked college and university archivists to answer these and similar questions. The author describes the respondents' answers, compares their opinions about outreach and basic services, and reports the types of outreach programs that are done. The article concludes with a new and more inclusive definition of outreach that is based on the respondents' answers.     

What's Your Money Worth?

No abstract available for this article.     

Near or Middle East? Choice of Name

Subject access to information has become increasingly important in recent years, and geographic names play a significant role. Some geographic name headings have been changed by the Library of Congress to comply with common usage, in order to improve access. However, it continues to use the name Near East rather than the name Middle East. By comparing definitions and use of Near East to that of Middle East, and by analyzing data dealing with the use of these names in titles, this study demonstrates that Middle East is more commonly used than Near East. This supports the hypothesis that the name currently in use by the Library of Congress, the Near East, is no longer appropriate. Therefore, users will be better served if Near East is replaced by the more common name, the Middle East.     

Is There a Core Literature in Museology?

Abstract While critics have often asserted that museology is underdeveloped as a discipline and lacks a “core literature,” no empirical evidence has been introduced to support this claim. A citation analysis of journal articles and books published over the past several years shows clear evidence that a core literature is in fact evolving in the field. Highly‐productive and influential authors are easily identifiable, as are seminal works that have received large numbers of citations by other authors. The majority of those highly‐cited works belong to the discipline of museology itself, and sizable numbers of influential publications cluster around key unifying themes.     

What's at stake? A reply to Bineham

The author responds to Bineham's article, arguing that rhetoricians need to (1) examine the world views and more particularly the views of human nature which are presumed by rhetorical theories and (2) come to a better understanding of what is entailed by a spiritual dimension to reality and being human.     

What is in a name? Credit assignment practices in different disciplines

The paper reviews the literature on disciplinary credit assignment practices, and presents the results of a longitudinal study of credit assignment practices in the fields of economics, high energy physics, and information science. The practice of alphabetization of authorship is demonstrated to vary significantly between the fields. A slight increase is found to have taken place in economics during the last 30 years (1978–2007). A substantial decrease is found to have taken place in information science during the same period. High energy physics is found to be characterised by a high and stable share of alphabetized multi-authorships during the investigated period (1990–2007). It is important to be aware of such disciplinary differences when conducting bibliometric analyses.     

At a Crossroads or Caught in the Crossfire?

This study of crime reporting shows that keeping crime records secret hurts democratic consolidation. While many reporters and journalism experts interviewed claimed to value the presumption of innocence, at the same time, many skirted legal restrictions and ethical codes. Police and prosecutors supplied leaks, and reporters sought further information from witnesses. This porous secrecy leads to publication of rumors and unreliable eye-witness accounts. Four exacerbating factors affect this reporting method: widespread “clientelism,” a partisan news media, an alternative definition of “public interest,” and weak professionalism.     

The soaps: What's on and who cares?

This two‐pronged study analyzed soap opera content, centering on demographics, problems, conversations and sex behaviors, and surveyed soap viewers to determine viewing motives, involvement, and possible effects of soap viewing.