Modeling the impact of individuals’ characteristics and library service levels on high school students’ public library usage: A national analysis

Information behavior (IB) and public library usage studies seldom simultaneously analyze individual-level characteristics and community-level information service factors. Thus, it is uncertain whether changes in community-level factors, such as an increase in public library funding and service level, make a difference in an individual's library usage after differences in personal characteristics are accounted for. Applying the person-in-environment (PIE) framework designed to integrate individual agency and sociostructural factors in IB research, this study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the factors influencing a student's frequency of public library usage for schoolwork, leisure, and Internet access. It mapped and merged a nationally representative survey of 13,000 U.S. 12th graders with census tract data and public library statistics. The SEM findings indicate that school information environment, frequency of school library use, race/ethnicity, and home computer availability were among the top three factors affecting public library usage for schoolwork, leisure, and Internet access. More importantly, library service levels had a positive impact on students’ library usage in terms of frequency of use. Specifically, even after personal differences such as each student's socioeconomic status and achievement motivation were controlled for, higher service levels in the student's neighborhood public library contributed to more frequent library usage. The findings pinpoint the benefits for individual-level IB study to incorporate etic measures of community-level factors. The findings also suggest that continuous effort to fund high levels of public library services—particularly in disadvantaged areas—is worthwhile. Such efforts should be encouraged.     

基于社会符码理论的科学中心展品及其科技叙事结构分析

目前,学术界对于科学中心展示的探讨多集中在观众的满意度及其学习成效上,但对展示的概念以及如何进行科技阐释作为一种既定的程式却少有研究。因此,本文从伯恩斯坦的社会符码理论出发,对科学中心内展品以及贯穿其中的科技叙事结构进行探讨,形成科学展品的深奥、隐喻、公共及神秘(反思)的符码框架和包括技术、历史、社会文化及哲学四大层面的科技叙事结构,以期从展示本身的角度给科学中心提供可行的理论框架。     

The Use of Fictional Stories in Science Exhibits: The Emperor Who Only Believed His Own Eyes

The authors explore how fictional narratives (stories) can be used as a learning tool in the context of informal science environments and specifically science centers. They base their argument on an analysis of the theoretical, structural and epistemological properties of stories and how those can serve to establish a story as a cognitive tool. They offer an example of an application of these properties to a story‐based learning design called “The Emperor who only Believed his own Eyes” in the context of a large, public science center, and specifically an exhibition about “senses”. This paper focuses on the idea of a “hack,” a museum sanctioned strategy for exploring the potential and implications of narrative‐based design as a way to reinterpret science exhibits in a way that can engage young users in content exploration and offer recommendations for future research.     

Engendering mutual respect,strengthening the bonds of unity,and underscoring inevitable interdependence among Nigerian peoples: An analysis of Nigerian government information on official visits

Official visits deserve attention as important instruments of governance, national unification, and as a means of conducting external diplomacy. Following Nigeria's independence on October 1, 1960, the country saw a significant increase in official visits. Each visit, and the official publication documenting the event, is a vehicle through which the social, economic, and political development of the country can be viewed and understood. As bibliographic artifacts, official visits are extremely elusive. They comprise a subgenre within two larger genres, government publications and grey literature, with which they share common problems. The body of information they contain has remained untapped, and a vastly unidentified resource in the field of public administration, international relations, history, and political science. The purpose of this article is to identify, analyze, and describe published Nigerian government information on official visits. There are three major levels of analysis: international visits, interstate visits, and intrastate visits. A substantive guide to these materials, with locations, for use in collection development, reference, and for scholars likely to undertake future research on the topic, is appended.     

John Dewey's “Wholly Original Philosophy” and Its Significance for Museums

Abstract John Dewey's lifework was to create a philosophy that encompassed both life‐experience and thought. He attempted to construct a philosophical system that incorporated life as it is lived, not in some ideal form. He rejected all dualisms, such as those between thought and action, fine and applied arts, or stimulus and response. An analysis of “experience” (defined as almost synonymous with “culture”) is central to Dewey's writing and leads him to emphasize process, continuity, and development, rather than static, absolute concepts. This paper examines the significance of Dewey's educational views for museum exhibitions and education programs, and his complex definitions of relevant concepts, with special emphasis on his interpretation of “experience.” Dewey's faith in democracy and his moral philosophy require that the value of any educational activity depends on its social consequences as well as its intellectual content, a proposition that is discussed and applied to museums. This argument suggests that exhibitions and programs can strengthen democracy by promoting skills that improve visitors' ability to become critical thinkers and by directly addressing controversial issues, taking the side of social justice and democracy.     

The Right Kind of Wrong: A “Knowledge in Pieces” Approach to Science Learning in Museums

Research has highlighted the vast gulf that exists between experts' and novices' understandings of science, and how difficult it is to bridge this gulf. When this research is applied to the design of museum exhibits and outreach material, it becomes clear that there is a tension between being scientifically correct and communicating effectively to a broad, diverse audience. In this paper we present a new approach to thinking about science learning in museums. Drawing on decades of research from the learning sciences, we argue that being “wrong” is an inescapable part of learning, and that not all simplifications are problematic. Instead, being “wrong” involves the gradual restructuring of many fine‐grained intuitive or commonsense notions that persist throughout the learning process and play an essential role in scientific expertise. We discuss the implications of adopting this approach for museum design.     

Narratives in a Science Center: Interpretation and Identity

Abstract This paper discusses issues raised by research into people's views of science and scientists, and the implications for interpretative forms in museums. The principles proposed here are based on a series of meetings that looked at the use of narratives in science and the responses of potential visitors from different cultural groups to ideas for narrative signage. Signage design can help people connect to science content by relating practical and theoretical knowledge, crafting explanations, understanding the nature of the medium, and conveying a message about science. The use of narrative form to design experiential guides opens up the possibility of changing a visitor's relationship to the traditional text encountered in museums.     

PART VIII: THE ECONOMICS OF INFORMATION ACCESS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Abstract

Traditionally the distance clinical laboratory science students visit Winston-Salem State University three or four times during the course of the semester. These visits are usually for orientation and testing purposes. While the students are aware that there is a library on campus, they are not familiar with all of the library's electronic resources that they have access to from their home computers. The distance and health science librarians decided to collaborate to design an informational CD-ROM specifically for these students.     

Using SSCI to Map Scholarly Influence in the Social Sciences:

Many uses exist for the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) in performing social science research. Depending upon a user's interest and imagination, SSCI can be effectively used to ascertain a scholar's influence in the published research record. By utilizing the citation section of SSCI a researcher can map the scholarly influence a scholar exercises in his/her field. Braudel's influence in the Annales school of historical research and his impact upon the social sciences was mapped by examining SSCI for 1980-1989. This approach can serve as a template for other disciplines and is valuable for scholar and subject bibliographer.     

“Think With Me:” David Carr's Enduring Invitation

David Wildon Carr (1945–2016) was recognized in the international cultural community as a scholar and instigator whose critical thinking challenged museum practitioners to reflect on the purpose and responsibility of their work. In his recent papers and lectures, he argued that those discussing museum experiences are late to enter into a dialogue already in progress—a dialogue which carefully considers the whole person in a community, and wherein thinking with a museum is an enterprise embedded in the learner's experience. This forum, written by three museum professionals in response to his recent untimely death, is intended to capture personal impressions of Carr's contribution to the continuing work of museums. Each author quotes from Carr's writings, since his words have such enduring strength—a strength that will continue to resonate long into the future. Each also offers readers some personal background on his work as a teacher.     

20世纪中美图书馆交流史上的一个里程碑——鲍士伟博士来华

20世纪20年代,中美图书馆交流史上发生了一个大事件,那就是美国图书馆学专家鲍士伟博士来华。本文介绍了鲍士伟博士其人,其来华经过,来华交流的内容,以及此次来华的影响,最后指出了鲍士伟的来华,促进了中国的＂新图书馆运动＂,推动了建设＂中国的图书馆学＂理念的发展,从而极大程度上具备了20世纪中美图书馆交流史上的里程碑意义。     

The Evolution of a Law Firm Intranet: A Librarian's Perspective

Summary

The American Association of Law Libraries' Foreign and Comparative Law Special Interest Section's Clearinghouse for Internships and International Personnel Exchanges provides a listing of libraries willing to participate in visits and exchanges. The purposes and functions of the Clearinghouse are discussed. The author's own experience at the University of Glasgow provides an example of the use of the Clearinghouse survey results to successfully plan and participate in a visit.     

“Let's Go to MY Museum”: Inspiring Confident Learners and Museum Explorers at Children's Museums

Abstract Not a month goes by at the Brooklyn Children's Museum without a call or visit from a group of enthusiastic educators and community leaders on a mission to start their own children's museum or gallery. Recent guests have arrived from as far away as Israel, Ecuador, Japan, and Australia, and as nearby as the Bronx. In the United States, children's museums represent one of the youngest and fastest growing cultural sectors. Our field was founded in 1899 with the opening of the Brooklyn Children's Museum. Anna Billings Gallup, an influential curator and director at the museum from 1902 to 1937, spoke widely about the value of bringing the child into the forefront of museum activities. In the United States, the field grew slowly but steadily to four children's museums in 1925 and to approximately 38 by 1975. In the last three decades, sparked by the groundbreaking work of Michael Spock at the Boston Children's Museum, the field has been energized by an extraordinary boom in new and expanding children's museums. Today there are approximately 350 worldwide.     

The scholar's journey; transforming the maze into the labyrinth

By exploring the labyrinth as a metaphor for a student's shift from information consumer to knowledge creator, an approach to library design emerges in which the whole library facilitates that transformative journey. Approaching this idea from multiple perspectives, the author joins ideas from education, architecture, environmental psychology, and retail shopping to build a case for the use of the labyrinth as a metaphor for both the student's learning journey and library design, and offers the beginnings of how such a library might work.     

科技博物馆学习对学生科学课成绩影响的研究

实地参观是博物馆学习中的一种常见且重要的形式。到科技博物馆实地参观,被许多中小学作为校内科学课学习的补充。美国研究人员以纽约市8年级学生为研究对象,通过分析2007—2012年学生去科技博物馆参观的情况和学生们在州级标准化测试中科学科目成绩数据之间的关系研究发现:实地参观体验对于8年级学生的科学课成绩有一定的积极影响,特别是对西班牙裔学生和享受免费午餐的学生有更大影响。这一基于观众调查和大量数据分析的研究内容、数据分析过程及其研究结果等,对我国的相关研究及博物馆实践都具有启发意义。     

自然科学博物馆Twitter传播力研究及启示

本文以传播学理论为基础,根据Twitter的社交媒体性质和自然科学类博物馆特性选择维度和指标,构建自然科学博物馆Twitter传播力评价指标体系,采用熵值法确定指标权重,并选取国外14家自然科学博物馆的Twitter账号进行实证研究,计算各博物馆Twitter传播力。根据结果,总结提炼经验,对国内自然科学博物馆提升社交媒体传播力提出相应的策略。     

HAROLD D. LASSWELL'S ANALYSIS OF HITLER'S SPEECHES

The War-Time Communications Project (WTCP), conducted during the Second World War, was a major event in the evolution of communication science. A prominent place in it was occupied by Professor Harold D. Lasswell's study on Hitler's speeches, in which the ‘speech model’ was examined in reference to its vocal components and non-verbal communication elements – in terms of ‘how spoken’, rather than of ‘what said’, with an emphasis on audience feedback. This approach formed part of Lasswell's innovative idea: quantification of the word domain. The study was of one of a series of content analysis research works undertaken at the Library of Congress at that time, part of an attempt at ‘keeping an eye’ on world peace. The present article, the first exposition of Lasswell's opus, highlights one of his central concepts – linguistic transformation.     

科学中心的发展历程与未来方向——兼与某些观点商榷

本文以毛泽东同志的《实践论》为依据,对《从动手实践到行业实践——技术史视野下科学中心到科学博物馆的转型》一文中的观点进行了分析和讨论。从科学中心的发展历程和本质特征出发,辨析了该文中的部分观点,并对相关问题进行了探讨,提出了科学中心的发展方向。     

A Down Under Reference Experience

Summary

In the summer of 1999, the author, a library science student pursuing his master's degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, travelled to Australia to do a field experience at the University of Sydney Law Library. This article talks about his experience, discussing, among other issues, his experiences behind the reference desk and difficulties in learning how to research Australian law.