Multivariate approach to classify research institutes according to their outputs: The case of the CSIC's institutes

This paper attempts to build a classification model according to the research products created by those institutes and hence to design specific evaluation processes. Several scientific input/output indicators belonging to 109 research institutes from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) were selected. A multidimensional approach was proposed to resume these indicators in various components. A clustering analysis was used to classify the institutes according to their scores with those components (principal component analysis). Moreover, the validity of the a priori classification was tested and the most discriminant variables were detected (linear discriminant analysis). Results show that there are three types of institutes according to their research outputs: Humanistic, Scientific and Technological. It is argue that these differences oblige to design more precise assessment exercises which focus on the particular results of each type of institute. We conclude that this method permits to build more precise research assessment exercises which consider the varied nature of the scientific activity.     

The MERMLS leadership institute for hospital librarians: a new concept in extension service

This paper describes a pilot Leadership Institute conducted by the Mid-Eastern Regional Medical Library Service (MERMLS) and a consultant group from Temple University. The purpose of the institute was to instill some basic group leadership techniques in a selected group of geographically dispersed hospital librarians. The institute was conducted in two sessions totalling three days, with two months separating the two sessions. Extensive evaluations by participants at the end of both sessions resulted in general endorsement that the institute's objectives had been attained and that more institutes of this type should be provided.     

Processing of Sexual Media Messages Improves Due to Media Literacy Effects on Perceived Message Desirability

This study tested the double-edged desirability hypothesis to investigate whether a lack of reduction in desirability perceptions signified failure of a media literacy intervention to reduce the appeal of sexual portrayals or whether it instead represented an improved awareness of message-design techniques and, therefore, a successful intervention. Data from two media literacy curriculum evaluations, both pretest–posttest quasi-experiments with control groups (N₁ = 922, M = 14.13, SD = 1.07; N₂ = 1,098, M = 14.26, SD = 1.06) showed that the media literacy treatment in both studies eliminated the effect of desirability on participants’ attitudes, reduced the effect of message desirability on participants’ expectancies, and reduced the effect of message desirability on participants’ efficacy in one of the evaluations. The results supported the double-edged desirability hypothesis, which holds that media literacy education can diminish the influence of desirable but unrealistic sexual media messages on adolescents’ decision making concerning sex, regardless of whether it decreases their affinity for the messages. This approach appears to represent a more effective alternative to demonizing media messages teens find desirable.     

Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) Maintained Research Institutes’ Libraries in India: Towards Digitization and Networking

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) was established for development of social science research in India. It provides grants to 27 research institutes and six regional centers in India. These institutes have established close links with scholars in the region through activities such as seminars, workshops, training, and consultancy programs. Some of the institutes are closely associated with national and state level planning development agencies and have thereby strengthened the links between research and policy-making. The present study includes 22 institute libraries and three regional libraries in different Indian states. The study analyses their annual acquisition of books; periodicals; CD-ROMs; annual budgets; computerization; hardware and software; Internet; library network; and interlibrary loan and photocopy facilities available in these libraries. Digitization provides a solution to traditional library problems such as conservation, preservation, multimedia documents, and remote access to information, collection, and storage space. ICSSR institute libraries are replacing conventional storage and network systems with digital systems. The progress is a bit slow. Only a few ICSSR institute libraries are subscribing to electronic journals and having electronic documents. ICSSR institute libraries have started computerized operations and are making vigorous attempts to have digitized collections. However, these libraries are required to understand literature growth and use patterns in the social sciences.     

Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) Maintained Research Institutes’ Libraries in India: Towards Digitization and Networking

The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) was established for development of social science research in India. It provides grants to 27 research institutes and six regional centers in India. These institutes have established close links with scholars in the region through activities such as seminars, workshops, training, and consultancy programs. Some of the institutes are closely associated with national and state level planning development agencies and have thereby strengthened the links between research and policy-making. The present study includes 22 institute libraries and three regional libraries in different Indian states. The study analyses their annual acquisition of books; periodicals; CD-ROMs; annual budgets; computerization; hardware and software; Internet; library network; and interlibrary loan and photocopy facilities available in these libraries. Digitization provides a solution to traditional library problems such as conservation, preservation, multimedia documents, and remote access to information, collection, and storage space. ICSSR institute libraries are replacing conventional storage and network systems with digital systems. The progress is a bit slow. Only a few ICSSR institute libraries are subscribing to electronic journals and having electronic documents. ICSSR institute libraries have started computerized operations and are making vigorous attempts to have digitized collections. However, these libraries are required to understand literature growth and use patterns in the social sciences.     

“With a little help from my friends”: Training and education of professional booksellers and publishers in the Netherlands

Prospective and practicing booksellers and publishers in the Netherlands receive extensive training, through a variety of sources. This article describes the training centers and explains the way one of them has developed its curriculum. Job profiles for booksellers and publishers are outlined. It also discusses areas in which further training is needed. Hein H. Grünhagen is managing director of Vakopleiding Boekenbranche (Amsterdam), the institute for training and education on behalf of booksellers and publishers in the Netherlands. Vakopleiding Boekenbranche, a not-for-profit organization, is part of the Royal Dutch Book Trade Association (Koninklijke Vereeniging ter bevordering van de belangen des Boekhandels).     

科技查新机构评价指标体系研究

从查新报告评价和查新机构评价两个方面对我国科技查新评价研究的现状进行了综述。从查新委托人、查新机构和科技管理机构的角度论述了科技查新机构评价的意义。从现实需求出发,通过问卷调查和专家调研,构建了由文献资源、人力资源、查新设备、内部管理、科研和奖励、查新业务等六大类指标构成的科技查新机构评价指标体系。      

A study on directional returns to scale

This paper investigates directional returns to scale (RTS) and illustrates this approach by studying biological institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Using the following input–output indicators are proposed: senior professional and technical staffs, middle level and junior professional and technical staffs, research expenditure on personnel salaries and other expenditures, SCI papers, high-quality papers, graduates training and intellectual properties, the paper uses the methods recently proposed by Yang to analyze the directional returns to scale and the effect of directional congestion of biological institutes in Chinese Academy of Sciences. Based on our analysis we come to the following findings: (1) we detect the regime of directional returns to scale (increasing, constant, decreasing) for each biological institute. This information can be used as the basis for decision-making about organizational adjustment; (2) congestion and directional congestion occurs in several biological institutes. In such cases the outputs of these institutes decrease when the inputs increase. Such institutes should analyze the underlying reason for the occurrence of congestion so that S&T resources can be used more efficiently.     

Preparing a Holocaust Unit for High School Students

Summary

This article focuses on how teachers in the Social Studies Department at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington, MA constructed, in 1972, a six-week curriculum on the Nazi Holocaust. The unit is considered to be the first formal curriculum on that subject for secondary students. The author of the article, who was a member of the department at that time, explains how she and her colleagues chose the material to be included, which resources were particularly useful and how two of the teachers updated the anthology of readings that had become the basis of the curriculum.

The anthology was published initially by Bantam Books in conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith as a trade book in soft cover and was entitled The Holocaust Years: Society on Trial (Chartock and Spencer, eds., 1978). After being out of print for nearly ten years, it was republished in hardcover in 1995, with a new title, Can It Happen Again? Chronicles of the Holocaust(Black Dog and Leventhal) with nineteen additional entries. Since the 1970s the anthology has served as a springboard for other educators interested in developing their own interdisciplinary curriculum on the Holocaust.     

Walking the talk: Using digital media to develop distance learners’ digital citizenship at the Open University (UK)

ABSTRACT

This article describes the approaches that the Library at the Open University has taken to ensure that distance learning students develop digital and information literacy skills for study, work and lifelong learning. Librarians create learning objects and work with academics to embed them into the online curriculum. They also deliver a program of live online training and pilot new approaches to engage with the student community.     

The Enhanced and Changing Role of the Specialist Librarian

Summary

Much like the role of other academic librarians, the education librarian's responsibilities are in a constant state of transition. Major factors contributing to these changes are demands being placed on teacher training programs in colleges of education, demands placed on teachers and administrators in the nation's schools, demographic shifts, globalization, declining accessibility of resources along with the digital divide, and, most of all, greater demands for accountability of student achievement at all levels of education.

The work of the education librarian has become more integrated in the creation and access of knowledge both in the library profession, and education itself. Education librarians not only have close ties to school curriculum being taught but also with the preparation of preservice teachers, students enrolled in advanced graduate studies, and the education researcher. This article will review the literature on the role of the education subject specialist in librarianship, and how that role has been changed due to a variety of reasons. Findings will be discussed from an informal survey on how education librarians perceive their roles in their institutions.     

A Reflection on the Development of an Erasmus Mundus Digital Library Learning (DILL) Programme

The purpose of this article is to reflect on the development of an Erasmus Mundus Digital Library Learning (DILL) program to understand the impact of the changes in technology on the role, skills and competencies of the digital librarian in contemporary society. This reflective article is based on the writer’s experience as a participant observer of the DILL program on its 10?years of development. A literature review was also employed to gather information from scholarly articles that were analyzed to help answer the research questions. Analysis of data followed a thematic approach where key ideas were identified and grouped together into themes that have been used to structure the discussions in the article. The discussions in this article have implications for further developments of education for information, particularly relating to the development of digital library learning programs in different contexts. Any effective digital library program should focus on content within a specific context, with required technology and a unique digital library education curriculum that is separate from LIS syllabi. The program may also be more effective if its curriculum content is designed to evenly assess the professional knowledge, generic skills and specific personal competencies of today’s digital librarians.     

Planning Intercultural Interaction: Extending Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory

This article responds critically to a recent article by Lemieux and Tighe (Communication Research Reports, 21, 144–153, 2004) in which the authors conclude that recipients of comforting efforts prefer messages that exhibit a moderate rather than high level of person centeredness. It is argued that an erroneous assumption made by Lemieux and Tighe about the status of “receiver perspective” research on the comforting process led to faulty interpretations of the data and unwarranted conclusions about recipient preferences regarding comforting messages. Alternative interpretations of Lemieux and Tighe's data are presented; these are guided by the extensive previous research that has assessed evaluations and outcomes of comforting messages.     

A newcomer looks at the broadcast curriculum controversy

The following article was also written in response to Dr. John Penny‐backer's article, “Working with Universities” that appeared recently in the Journal of Broadcasting. This reply is intended to present the point of view of a relative newcomer to the position of “teacher of broadcasting.” This point of view is quite different from that of Dr. Pennybacker, who now holds dual positions as Executive Secretary of the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters and Assistant Professor of Speech at Louisiana State University. (A brief commentary written by Dr. Pennybacker is printed following Mr. Davlin's article.)     

进入21 世纪中国竞争情报发展的回顾及未来展望

在简单叙述竞争情报产业链构成环节的基础上,重点评述进入21世纪后,竞争情报在开展主体（企业、公司、政府部门、社会机构等）、竞争情报软件系统、竞争情报出版物（书籍、期刊等）、竞争情报教育培训和竞争情报会议等诸方面的进展,以期给业内人士一个行业的全景图。同时,笔者对竞争情报的未来发展作出展望。     

Librarianship in six Southwest Asian countries

Abstract

Library education in Jordan falls into three categories: professional, at the post-graduate level, subprofessional, at the community colleges level, and in-service training. The primary institution concerned with in-service training is JLA. Detailed accounts of programmes, syllabus, curriculum and course contents offered at all levels are given. The historical account of the library movement in Jordan indicates that Jordan’s libraries are in transition from traditional to advanced library and information functions and practice. Continuous course evaluations and assessments resulted in the development of curricula endeavouring to advance trends in library and information science. Thus, more libraries are implementing computer systems. The post-graduate curriculum introduces courses on advanced topics in information science and technology besides library automation. JLA is shifting its emphasis towards specialized courses on computerization and library software packages such as CDS/ISIS. Community colleges’ library education has also changed to include advanced topics.

Statistical analysis of students and trainees at all levels is given. The impact of information technology on several library aspects and information services is highlighted to disclose what should be incorporated into the new library education curricula to equip the future generation of library and information professionals to practise the profession in Jordan.     

The Impact of the Internet

Summary

The Internet has brought great changes to reference services in academic libraries. One significant impact has been the growth and evolution of the reference librarian's role as teacher. This article reviews the literature on the librarian's increased teaching role with the emergence of the Internet, discusses the changing student populations who require a librarian's instruction and the skills that students need to achieve information literacy, and reviews how the Internet has affected current teaching strategies including classroom instruction, Web-based instruction, and efforts to integrate information literacy instruction into the curriculum. In addition, it also introduces emerging Internet technologies with their potential impact on teaching and instruction. The authors conclude that the reference librarian's teaching role will further increase with the development of information technologies.     

The Appeal of Media Populism: The Media Preferences of Citizens with Populist Attitudes

Although a growing body of literature points to the particular media diet of populist voters, we know too little about what specific media preferences characterize citizens with populist attitudes. This article investigates to what extent citizens with antiestablishment and exclusionist populist attitudes are attracted to attitudinal-congruent media content. We collected survey data using a nationally representative sample (N = 809) and found that citizens’ preferences for media content are in sync with their populist attitudes. Beyond having a tabloidized and entertainment-based media diet, populist voters self-select media content that actively articulates the divide between the “innocent” people and “culprit” others. These findings provide new insights into the appeal of different types of media populism among citizens with populist attitudes on different dimensions.     

Reader response theory and the problem of meaning

If we accept the idea that the literary experience lies in the mind of the reader, in the transaction between the reader and the book, then teachers must adjust their instructional goals and teaching practices. The curriculum must also be reconceived to deal with this approach to literature, particularly in the selection of texts. A former English teacher, he is the author ofResponse and Analysis: Teaching Literature in Junior and Senior High School and part of the team that prepared Ginn'sNew Voices series.