Improving medical education in Kenya: an international collaboration

This paper describes a partnership between the University of Nairobi College of Health Sciences (CHS) Library and the University of Maryland Health Sciences and Human Services Library (HS/HSL). The libraries are collaborating to develop best practices for the CHS Library as it meets the challenge of changing medical education information needs in a digital environment. The collaboration is part of a Medical Education Partnership Initiative. The library project has several components: an assessment of the CHS Library, learning visits in the United States and Kenya, development of recommendations to enhance the CHS Library, and ongoing evaluation of the program''s progress. Development of new services and expertise at the CHS Library is critical to the project''s success. A productive collaboration between the HS/HSL and CHS Library is ongoing. A successful program to improve the quality of medical education will have a beneficial impact on health outcomes in Kenya.     

Faculty–Librarian Micro-Level Collaboration in an Online Graduate History Course

This paper describes a micro-level faculty–librarian collaboration implemented at the authors' state university to address students' information literacy deficiencies in a graduate-level history research methods course. The setting, implementation, and evolution of the partnership are described in detail to suggest a model for other instructors. Additionally, consideration is given to issues of working in an online course environment and the benefits of micro- versus macro-level librarian support. Consideration is given to future steps for strengthening the partnership and measuring its impact on student outcomes.     

A Multilevel Analysis of Antimarijuana Public Service Announcement Effectiveness

In public-health campaign research, 3 prominent theories of persuasion and media effects—elaboration likelihood model (ELM), activation model of information exposure (AMIE), and limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing (LC4MP)—have been used to predict message effectiveness. Although conceptually overlapping, these theories suggest contradictory predictions about individual-level and message-level factors on persuasion outcomes. In this study, we contrast and test competing predictions of antidrug message effectiveness from 3 recent publications that draw on ELM, AMIE, and LC4MP. We use televised antimarijuana messages, young-adult samples, and a multilevel modeling approach. Significant interactions between individual- and message-level factors were found predicting message effectiveness as theory dictates; these results replicate some, but not all of the findings from the aforementioned publications.     

The Relative Credibility of Zoo‐Affiliated Spokespeople for Delivering Conservation Messages

Abstract Zoos aspire to be leaders in environmental conservation through their work in environmental education. This study examined whether a spokesperson's job title impacts credibility when conservation messages are delivered to the public. Visitors to a zoo were presented with seven environmental messages. They then selected—from a list of zoo‐related job titles—the one they deemed most credible and the one considered least credible. Statistical analysis established that three “credible” job titles were selected significantly more often, while three were generally selected as “least credible.” The authors demonstrate that some job titles have greater credibility than others among visitors, and recommend that more attention be given to this variable if attitude and behavior change are desired outcomes. They caution that while source credibility may vary based on job title, the influence it has on persuasiveness is yet to be determined.     

Implementing a just-in-time collection development model in an academic library

This article describes the development of a system for changing a university library's collection development strategy from the traditional “just in case” model to a “just in time” approach. The reasons for such a change included a desire to be more responsive to user requirements, a need to be more flexible in acquiring interdisciplinary resources and new formats, and a substantial cut in the library's budget. The Collection Development librarians envisioned the collections as a service, using a simpler and more versatile accounting structure. The Access-Based Collection Development (ABCD) model emphasizes making materials available at the point of need rather than having them on hand in anticipation of use. ABCD has four overarching themes: to be sustainable, to be holistic and inclusive, to be flexible and scalable, and to use evidence for decision-making. The authors provide details of the implementation, outcomes, evaluation, and future of the model.     

The Validity of Global Press Ratings

This study examines year-by-year correlations between Freedom House and Reporters Sans Frontières' (RSF) press freedom scores for countries over a 13-year period (2002–2014). The goal of the study is to test the hypothesis that, further into the age of digital disclosure, as press abuses and harassment of journalists are more widely reported, press freedom ranking systems are gradually becoming more precise and, therefore, correlations between the two indices will strengthen over time. To further assess concurrent validity of the indices, correlations between both indices and scores on the United Nations Human Development Index are also provided. The study also examines changes in the indices' rankings of countries over time within six world regions: the Middle East and North Africa, the Americas, Western Europe, Eastern Europe/Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. In so doing, this study adds a degree of understanding to the validity of two press freedom indices that are routinely cited in journalistic reportage and trade journals, as well as many scholarly publications. Results suggest that the two organizations' scoring of press freedom has become significantly more correlated in the years 2002–2014, and the primary cause of the increased agreement is that RSF's ratings became substantially more aligned with Freedom House's scores during this period. Both indices' ratings are significantly correlated with countries' United Nations Human Development Index scores.     

Information support of the performance quality of an enterprise

The evaluation of the quality of the performance of an enterprise, which includes management quality, is analyzed based on its state parameters: effectiveness, efficiency, and sustained success. Efficiency is evaluated based on outputs. Effectiveness and sustained success are evaluated based on outcomes. Outputs are represented in vector form, outcomes are represented by a complex indicator, and sustained success is represented as a forecast by estimating a series of complex indicators. Performance quality may be characterized by combined Effectiveness and Efficiency (E&E) estimates, and management quality is an E&E estimate in the long term.     

Highlights of the collection development librarians of academic libraries discussion group

The Collection Development Discussion Group, moderated by Eric Carpenter (Oberlin College), focused on two primary topics: “The Role of Faculty in Collection Development” and “Performance Evaluation.”     

Persuasion,information technology,and the environmental citizen: An empirical study of the persuasion effectiveness of city applications

As the negative environmental impacts of cities continue to grow, citizens must be involved in climate change mitigation initiatives. A range of policy instruments can be used by municipal policy makers to encourage citizens to engage in environmentally responsible behaviours. Information and communications technology (ICT) is an important lever for changing individuals' behaviours and thus is increasingly found among the policy approaches adopted by cities. This research focuses on cities' use of ICT-enabled persuasion. Combining the unimodel of persuasion with the persuasive system design framework, the research develops and tests a theoretical model explaining how dimensions of the user context (green identity, goal intention) and technology context (integration support) influence the persuasiveness of city-sponsored applications with respect to environmentally responsible behaviours performed in the home and community. A survey of 203 individuals in North America shows that goal intention and integration support provided by the applications significantly influence perceived persuasion effectiveness for environmentally responsible behaviours at home. For environmentally responsible behaviours in the community, all three independent variables have a positive influence on the perceived persuasion effectiveness. The research extends the digital government literature by investigating an emerging policy intervention and providing a novel theoretical explanation of how elements within an ICT-enabled persuasion event come together to affect individuals' behaviours. Furthermore, the research provides municipal policy makers with new insights into how to design an ICT-enabled policy instrument for encouraging greater environmental citizenship.     

The NICE OECD countries’ geographic search filters: Part 1—methodology for developing the draft MEDLINE and Embase (Ovid) filters

Objective:There are no existing validated search filters for the group of 37 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This study describes how information specialists from the United Kingdom''s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) developed and evaluated novel OECD countries’ geographic search filters for MEDLINE and Embase (Ovid) to improve literature search effectiveness for evidence about OECD countries.Methods:We created the draft filters using an alternative approach to standard filter construction. They are composed entirely of geographic subject headings and are designed to retain OECD country evidence by excluding non-OECD country evidence using the NOT Boolean operator. To evaluate the draft filters’ effectiveness, we used MEDLINE and Embase literature searches for three NICE guidelines that retrieved >5,000 search results. A 10% sample of the excluded references was screened to check that OECD country evidence was not inadvertently excluded.Results:The draft MEDLINE filter reduced results for each NICE guideline by 9.5% to 12.9%. In Embase, search results were reduced by 10.7% to 14%. Of the sample references, 7 of 910 (0.8%) were excluded inadvertently. These references were from a guideline about looked-after minors that concerns both OECD and non-OECD countries.Conclusion:The draft filters look promising—they reduced search result volumes while retaining most OECD country evidence from MEDLINE and Embase. However, we advise caution when using them in topics about both non-OECD and OECD countries. We have created final versions of the search filters and will validate them in a future study.     

Shifting the focus to people: Global societal priorities and the contribution made by conservation science

During the ICCROM Forum on Conservation Science in 2013, one of the main themes discussed was the ability for conservation science to contribute to global societal priorities. Today's world is in many ways globalized. Human actions have an impact at local as well as global level. Information travels fast, more or less in real time. To set up a framework for international interactions and cooperation, the majority of the recognized nations have joined the United Nations and signed the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Global societal priorities are various and wide-ranging. This paper deals primarily with those that are referred to under the UN Millennium Development Goals and the term Sustainable Development. The first aims to fight extreme poverty, raise education levels, achieve gender equality, combat diseases, etc. The second deals with the interconnecting systems of social, economic, and environmental sustainability. A core aspect in the discussion is that culture and cultural heritage is integrated in all human activities, yet is diverse because culture holds various values, meanings, and functions for different groups in society. Cultural heritage is a powerful tool to reach and interact with people. It can be used for good and for ill. For conservation science as a discipline to take its professional responsibility seriously, it should contribute to the multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary environment of conservation, and enhance its benefits for society. Through advanced research it can provide historical perspectives and raise awareness of traditional methods, transforming it into ‘easily accessible’ knowledge. It can also contribute by providing facts and information that can open up different narratives based on the same cultural historical realia. Examples of how that can be done are given under the headings: social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Finally, addressing the global conservation community, the following three areas are recommended for future development: the need for process managers and facilitators; the need for active participation in the global sustainability challenges, and the need for inspirational role models and case studies.     

The CSR green halo effect on the corporate–public communication: an experimental study

Environmental corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a popular practice among corporations. However, the mechanism and effectiveness of environmental CSR in affecting corporate–public communication are still unclear. Against the theoretical backdrop of the ‘halo effect’ and through a controlled experiment with 742 participants from Hong Kong and mainland China, we find that: if a company’s environmental CSR activity receives higher support from the consumers, it is less likely for consumers to avoid advertisements endorsed by the company. The CSR green halo effect therefore exists. Moreover, consumers’ nationality and their three preexisting attitudes (general environmental CSR support, environmental beliefs, and favorability of products’ country of origin) are important moderators of the green halo effect and need to be considered in practice.     

图书馆宏观评估研究——以地区公共图书馆事业评估为例

图书馆的评估研究可分为微观评估和宏观评估两种,微观评估主要以单个图书馆作为研究对象,而宏观评估则是以图书馆群体发展总过程的活动为研究对象。文章中提出地区公共图书馆事业评估这一概念,并认为它属于图书馆宏观评估的范畴。地区公共图书馆事业的评估涉及到政府、图书馆、馆员、用户四个主体,文章通过分析四个主体之间的相互关系,构建了地区公共图书馆事业评估指标集合。该指标集合包括政府、环境因素、办馆条件、基础业务建设、用户服务、馆员管理、资金管理六个方面,分有三个层次的指标集合。文章还从该指标集合当中选取部分有可比性的指标构建了一个地区公共图书馆事业评估指标体系的示例。     

A History of Ways of Seeing the Land: Environmental History at the National Museum of Australia

One of the distinctive features of the National Museum of Australia is the prominent role of environmental history in the Museum's programs and in its organizational structure. Environmental history is a field that operates best at the boundaries of science and the humanities, where the natural sciences and social history meet. The National Museum is one of few museums that facilitate this, drawing historians, geographers, archaeologists, earth scientists, and biologists into program development as members of the one curatorial and design team. This article discusses the advantages of environmental history as a strategic focus for the Museum, and looks at one of its major exhibitions.     

信息高速公路与信息服务产业

本文探讨了美国信息高速公路计划对我们的启示, 提出了我国在信息网络建设中亟待解决的几个问题, 研究了信息高速公路对信息服务产业的影响。     

Pennsylvania's transition to enterprise computing as a study in strategic alignment

We theorize about the strategic alignment of computing with organizational mission, using the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's efforts to pursue digital government initiatives as evidence. To do this we draw on a decade (1995–2004) of changes in Pennsylvania to characterize how a state government shifts from an organizational to an enterprise perspective regarding computing. We document and analyze the strategic and operational aspects of a series of information and communications technology (ICT) planning efforts to highlight the nature and roles of strategic alignment used to achieve this transition. Findings from this analysis mark the importance of combining several approaches to strategic planning regarding the adoption and application of ICT.     

Status of human resource management in public university libraries in Bangladesh

The study conducted a survey in five prominent public university libraries in Bangladesh to explore the extent of Human Resource Management (HRM) usually practiced by them. The survey used a combination of structured questionnaire, unstructured interview, and observation methods to examine the nature and type of library human resources, their professional categories, management issues including staff selection and recruitment, salaries and wages, job analysis methods, performance evaluation, audit, and promotion, supporting Human Resource Development (HRD) programmes, etc. The study used a five point Likert scale to rank major problems of HRM in libraries, and also to record staff's opinion on twelve (12) indicators measuring their levels of job satisfaction. Finally, the paper provided future directions for better HRM practices in the common interest of public university libraries in Bangladesh.     

The presidents private sector survey on cost control: A response to an opinion essay on its proposals

This article is a reply to Robert M. Hayes, “The President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control: An Opinion Essay on the Grace Commission Report,” Government Information Quarterly, 3, no. 1 (1986): 73–81.The President's Private Sector Survey on Cost Control in the Federal Government (PPSS) welcomes factual analysis of its report and debate on its recommendations. The author's article on the PPSS Report to the President in the last issue of GIQ, however, provides no evidence that he looked at our report in detail, evaluated our proposals based on factual knowledge, or had any intent other than to discredit the report. While the author states that the PPSS report “should be read with the greatest care by everyone concerned with governmental policies,” our response concludes that he uses innuendo and misdirection to derive his conclusions, since he presents no evidence to support his opinions.     

Tsunami early warnings via Twitter in government: Net-savvy citizens' co-production of time-critical public information services

Governments aim to mitigate natural hazards' impacts through a disaster early warning system. Drawing on citizen co-production theory and resilient information infrastructures framework, we empirically examined government use of Twitter Tsunami Early Warning Civic Network and citizens' roles in co-providing timely and actionable information. The Indonesian government issued its tsunami early warning Tweet, which was “re-tweeted” without delay by its followers to their own followers to warn tsunami hazards during the 2012 earthquake. Within 15 min it reached over 4 million Twitter users. Based on our case study and social network analysis of Twitter information flows and exchanges within the network, we found that the speed and enormous reach of the government's Twitter tsunami early warnings would be significantly less without citizens' direct participation in re-tweeting, hence influencing greater control of the network. We present evidence for net-savvy citizens' co-production effects on increased government efficiency in providing time-critical public information services.     

试论HDI指数与县级图书馆发展

论文分析在GDP指数不足的同时,提出要重视人类发展指数（Human Development Index,简称HDI）,认为贯彻落实科学发展观,地方政府应当重视并发挥县级图书馆事业在文化教育中的独特作用。