S.C.A.L.E.--spiritual care at life's end: a multi-disciplinary approach to end-of-life issues in a hospital setting

End-of-life care is a hot topic in many hospitals of late, in part due to an aging society, which is forcing health care professionals to address the issue. A culture that places enormous value on youth and avoids the topic of death also contributes to the discomfort many health care professionals feel discussing this topic with their patients and family members. Inpatient satisfaction survey scores at Thunderbird Samaritan Medical Center (TSMC) were very inconsistent on the question of how the institution was meeting the emotional and/or spiritual needs of patients. A staff survey and needs assessment was also conducted regarding end-of-life care, which pointed out communication issues among staff members. All of these factors led to the development of an inter-disciplinary team to examine the issue of end-of-life care at TSMC.     

State publications

One can make several observations after a review of the notable state publications submitted this year. The single largest category of publications concerns environmental issues, encompassing a variety of specific topics such as wildlife, water resources, solid waste management, etc. For a few examples of documents in this category see Managing Seagrass Systems in Western North America (AK) or Territorial Sea Plan (OR). Health-related issues, business and the economy, and general demographic studies continue to command a great deal of interest and attention from state governments, as does reform of education, criminal justice, and welfare systems. Four characteristics, however, distinguished this year's notable documents from those of recent years. First, an unprecedented number of publications on topics of historical interest were submitted. For a few examples of these outstanding publications see: The Dardanelle and Russellville Railroad (AR), Onipa 'a: Five Days in the History of the Hawaiian Nation, Ship Ashore: the U.S. Lifesavers of Coastal North Carolina, New Hampshire Covered Bridges, or The Forts of Pemaquid, Maine.A second topical area that received unprecedented attention this year is that of information technology. Publications on this topic range from statewide plans for the development and integration of educational and information technologies (DE, VT, IN) to more specific guides and analyses such as A Teacher's Guide to the Internet (GA), Instructional Communications (WI), and Cyberstate: Minnesota on the Information Superhighway. Also noteworthy this year is the concern of state governments with the issue of immigration and its cultural and economic impact (NY, RI, and NJ). Finally, several state contributors submitted publications that describe or analyze recent disasters. Publications from Missouri and Illinois describe the impact of the Great Flood of 1993; Hurricane Andrew is a topic of interest in Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms; and a New York Senate Committee studies the World Trade Center bombing.There is not sufficient space in this column to highlight all of the notable titles submitted this year. State publications specialists play a key role in bringing attention to the outstanding publications of their state governments, publications that often otherwise suffer from low visibility. I heartily thank all of those who contribute to this effort.     

The Value of Fiction as Management Training

ABSTRACT

Reading fiction can teach sophisticated management skills. The difference between paraliterary fiction that focuses on escaping reality and literary fiction that analyzes reality is important. All reading can help improve basic literacy including increased comprehension and reading speed. Intermediate skills provide the manager with specific lessons on how to manage. Advanced skills, obtained from reading literary fiction, include empathy, the ability to interpret and create sophisticated texts, and an increased possibility of recognizing the “truth” in any environment. Traditional business publications offer more direct training but often overlook the complexities that the experienced manager will encounter and overemphasize the possibilities for success.

Column Editor’s Note This JLA column will consider issues of education and training for management positions in libraries and other information organizations from the perspectives of both the provider and the recipient. The column will appear in odd-numbered issues of the journal and focus on management education/training at various stages of the individual's career including the effectiveness of these efforts, their content, and the specific challenges of teaching and learning within the field of librarianship. The column will address both theoretical and practical concerns. Prospective authors are invited to submit articles for this column to the editor at aa3805@wayne.edu.     

Applying informetric methods to empirically assess the authoritativeness of Health Canada electronic documents

Government publications have long been considered authoritative sources of information regardless of the format [electronic via the World Wide Web (WWW) or paper] they are published in and with little consideration as to how they are researched, written, and published. Given the greater accessibility that the WWW provides the public to this very important source of information on a wide variety of subjects, assessing authoritativeness becomes a bigger and more difficult issue. This preliminary study applies informetric methods, specifically citation analysis, to assess whether the blind trust afforded government publications is appropriate in an important area of public policy that, particularly in Canada, is seen almost as a natural right of citizenship, public health care. The results of this study show that this trust is not misplaced as these publications are well researched and, with or without references, are used without discrimination.     

Library social networking sites for fostering startup business globalization through strategic partnerships

University libraries can be powerful cornerstones of an open innovation ecosystem for entrepreneurs. They are a source of worldwide market research for entrepreneurs looking to expand outside national borders with their existing enterprises. Social networking sites (SNS), which have been widely adopted by libraries as a means of engaging with students, are increasingly being utilized to provide market information to business communities. SNS can assist startups in forming and maintaining strong strategic ties with libraries to obtain ongoing support for globalization efforts. This column discusses the numerous benefits and some problems of using social media to develop such collaborations, particularly in terms of giving useful market insights to entrepreneurs (implementing partnerships). The issues of SNS adaptation for developing such relationships can be addressed with prototyping technologies. To address the needs of global startups, libraries must take advantage of social network access, overcoming the need for meetings on library grounds. To do so, thorough integration of SNS with library business activities is required, which is, regrettably, only observable in a few circumstances. University libraries are boosting their use of SNS to provide more online support for the business community.     

Building preservation functionality in a digital archive: the National Library of The Netherlands

An increasing volume of information exists only in digital form. It can be scanned material; material actually created as digital publications; or material created as part of the day‐to‐day business of an organization. In The Netherlands, initiatives such as the ‘Memory of The Netherlands’ have emerged, creating a demand for good‐quality digital materials to support them. Many other digitization initiatives are constantly being announced. The digital form offers many advantages but presents challenges in respect of preservation and of changes in platforms and software.     

Energy,Climate, Food and Health

ABSTRACT

On June 3–5, 2008, international organizations and heads of state met in Rome to discuss the critical situation in global food supplies and prices during the World Food Crisis Summit. The intent of this column is to provide approaches to identifying the complex issues that impact public health, public safety, and nutrition on a global basis. The Web sites selected provide a background for the complex issues involved (energy, climate and environment, agriculture, and politics) and reveal controversial and competing agendas with many far-reaching implications.     

Pivoting: leveraging opportunities in a turbulent health care environment

Purpose:

The purpose of this lecture is to challenge librarians in clinical settings to leverage the opportunities presented by the current health care environment and to develop collaborative relationships with health care practitioners to provide relevant services.

Discussion:

Health care organizations are under financial and regulatory pressures, and many hospital librarians have been downsized or have had their positions eliminated. The lecture briefly reviews hospital librarians'' roles in the past but focuses primarily on our current challenges. This environment requires librarians to be opportunity focused and pivot to a new vision that directs their actions. Many librarians are already doing this, and colleagues are encouraging us to embrace these opportunities. Evidence from publications, websites, discussion lists, personal communications, and the author''s experience is explored.

Conclusion:

Developing interdisciplinary and collaborative relationships in our institutions and providing relevant services will mark our progress as vital, contributing members of our health care organizations.     

An Interview with Daniel K. German,Senior Vice President of Database Creation and Maintenance,info USA,Inc.

ABSTRACT

On the transition between editors, Charles Popovich reflects on his more than ten-year tenure as the third editor of the Journal of Business&;Finance Librarianship (JBFL) from 1996 to 2005. Among his contributions as Editor are a regular and predictable publication schedule; special thematic issues; business and information professionals from multi-type information settings as authors, contributors and column editors; and broad dissemination of content. This interview seeks to capture Charles Popovich's unique perspective on business librarianship publishing. It also documents some history of Haworth Press' Journal of Business&;Finance Librarianship, established in 1989.     

Competing Frames for a Public Health Issue and Their Effects on Public Opinion

This study examines the effects of goal framing on opinion about a public health issue. A content analysis of newspaper coverage regarding a New York City trans fat ban identified four frames, each of which invoked a policy goal (promoting public health or protecting business). An experiment tested the effects of goal framing on support for banning trans fat, as well as the effects of competition between frames invoking the same goal and competition between frames invoking different goals. The findings suggest that goal framing can shape opinion about public health issues but that competitive framing can undermine these effects.     

Metropolitan Detroit's network. Detroit Medical Library group: five year progress report

Over a five-year period, much progress has been made in meeting the needs of health care personnel in the Detroit metropolitan area through library cooperation. These cooperative relationships have stimulated implementation of the following projects: (1) publications, (2) research on medical library problems, and (3) library programs at both the city and state levels.     

Free Newspapers in the United States: Alive and Kicking

Free newspapers are a substantial segment of the U.S. newspaper industry, as well as an under-studied topic within media research. This study considers the economic health of free newspapers in the United States and whether they face a dire future given their heavy reliance on advertising, a source of revenue that has been in decline for newspapers. One question guiding this research is whether free newspapers face two options: continue producing free content by relying on advertising (in addition to other revenue sources), or abandon the advertising-based business model. Seven research questions address a number of issues, such as whether free newspapers are profitable, if decision-makers are considering changing their business model, whether they are seeking alternative sources of revenue, whether reader engagement is connected to the price, or a lack of one, of a newspaper, and whether decision-makers are optimistic or pessimistic about the future of their industry. A Web-based survey asked decision-makers at free newspapers in the United States to respond to questions related to the health and future of their newspaper or newspapers. This survey was complemented by in-depth interviews with publishers of four different types of free newspapers in Texas. The study concludes by suggesting free newspapers are not only viable but in many markets they are thriving. Sweeping generalizations (often seen in industry discourse) about the future of print newspapers can be misleading. This study contributes a reality check and calls for further research on the economics of print media in the digital era.     

图书馆馆办刊物借古兴今论

论文通过回顾馆办刊物的历史及其现实指导意义,分析、研究现阶段大学图书馆馆刊情况,提出存在的问题,给出解决的方法。     

Bibliographical activities of the Arab Countries of North Africa

The kind and size of a library determines the need to collect and the method of controlling government publications. New Zealand libraries tend to handle these publications like any other book with the exception of official records and statistics. As a rule, public, rather than academic libraries, are the designated depositories. In comparing the concept of New Zealand libraries to that of the University of Oregon Library concerning government publications, I found that New Zealand libraries collect and store official and statistical publications and give them partial use; most government publications are integrated into the general collection (use is not known), and few libraries have separate government publication sections with special librarians governing the collection. On the other hand the University of Oregon collects all types of government publications for optimum use; many have been integrated into the general collection (use is not known); and a separate documents section is open to the public with several librarian specialists in attendance. Government publications in the general collection are not, as a rule, recognized as government publications by the public, but those publications are readily accessible. Many government publications at the University of Oregon Library are housed in the general collection, but since 1974 publications of the United States, Canada and many international organizations are shelved in the Documents Section. Use of the various classification schemes has proved successful; however, changes and improvements should be considered frequently to make the government publications collection the best able to serve the public.     

A selected, annotated list of materials that support the development of policies designed to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities.

Research documents the existence of racial and ethnic health disparities. As a result, policy makers are seeking to address these disparities. This list is a starting point for building or updating a collection that supports this policy development process. It is written for health policy librarians and researchers and includes annotated recommendations for books, periodicals, government publications, and Websites. Entries for print publications are primarily from 1998 to 2003.     

Citizens’ access to on-line state legislative documents

State legislative web sites should provide information to citizens that is useful and is easily accessible. Each state’s legislative web site was studied to find common usability issues in making legislative documents available on-line. Examples of how various state legislative web sites address each issue are provided. In conclusion, a model for an accessible, useful state legislative web site is proposed.     

Inaugural Essay

New to the Journal of Archival Organization, the “Technology matters in archives” column examines how technology affects archives and archivists. This inaugural column explains the nature of the column and sets the stage for topics and issues that it will address. It examines the meaning of the term technology. Further, the column explores the notion of technological dependence-- not just dependence on digital or electronic systems--as a lens in which to examine the archival enterprise in grappling with twenty-first century issues. Concluding with the suggestion that technology can be considered from three categorical points of view: soft (philosophical approaches and practices), medium (codified processes, guidelines and standards) and hard technology (hardware and software).     

Business information sources for health sciences librarians.

As the health care industry becomes more business oriented, health sciences librarians will encounter more patrons seeking business information. Administrators and managers of health care facilities are primarily in need of business information. This paper discusses those resources with which health sciences librarians must be familiar to successfully meet the challenges of these new demands. It identifies traditional and online sources, and emphasizes business sources geared to the health care industry. The business managers of the health care facility represent a new patron market for the health sciences librarian.     

Online searching on selected business databases for management aspects of health care.

This article presents a rationale for searching certain types of health care issues on specialized business databases. Focusing on ABI/INFORM, MANAGEMENT CONTENTS, and PREDICASTS' PROMT/F & S INDEXES, the results of searching six actual topics on all three files is outlined. The results are intended to illustrate the features of all three databases, and their potential usefulness for health science librarians.