Parent–Teacher E-Mail Strategies at the Elementary and Secondary Levels

Parent–teacher e-mail communication represents an increasingly prevalent form of computer-mediated communication at the elementary and secondary levels. Research is needed to identify the problems parents and teachers encounter when communicating via e-mail, as well as the strategies they employ to address these issues. The author conducted 30 parent and 30 teacher interviews and analyzed 341 parent–teacher e-mail messages. The findings revealed several noteworthy problems including misinterpretations, reductions in face-to-face communication, new boundaries crossed, and impacts on student responsibility. The findings also revealed a variety of e-mail strategies, providing teachers and parents ways to address problems they may encounter.     

Social Media and Active Shooter Events: A School Crisis Communication Challenge

In recent years, the need to study the communication challenges schools face during crises has become essential. The current study included semi-structured interviews with 56 crisis team members from 21 P–12 districts. Participants identified the social media challenges and strategies districts employ during crisis events. Implications for scholars and P–12 administrators are discussed.     

One Down,Two Involved: An Application and Extension of Inconsistent Nurturing as Control Theory to Couples Including One Depressed Individual

About 10% of the US population suffers from depression (NIMH, 2000/2001) affecting both the client and his/her family members. This study applies Inconsistent Nurturing as Control Theory (Le Poire, 1994) to romantic relationships with depressed individuals (N=68 couples) and examines types and patterns of attempts to curtail depression. Results from in-depth interviews of depressed individuals and their partners suggest partners change their communication strategies over time such that they use more negative strategies before they label depression problematic, actively help and encourage depressed individuals more after the labeling, and revert to a less consistent sequence of positive and negative strategies after the initial control strategies have proven unsuccessful. Implications for health challenges in romantic relationships are discussed.     

Teacher and librarian collaboration: A qualitative study

The twenty-first century is marked by increased challenges in education and limited resources to address them. A solution proposed within school librarianship is teacher and librarian collaboration. This qualitative study examines the practices of highly collaborative teachers and librarians and identifies mechanisms that operate within schools to facilitate high-end collaboration. Five broad themes emerge from the data and identify essential elements of successful collaboration: school culture, positive attributes of collaborators, communication, management, and motivation. This study adds to the body of knowledge of teacher and librarian collaboration by providing empirical support for collaborative practices described in school librarianship literature. The model of teacher and librarian collaboration that emerged from the data provides a preliminary framework for high-end collaborative environments in schools. Of particular interest were findings regarding time management. Participants indicated that in spite of limited time, time issues are overcome when collaboration is highly valued.     

Emergency Communication Challenges in Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In response to Hurricane Katrina's extensive destruction and related public health threats, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) deployed more than 1,000 staff to its emergency operations center and to affected areas. Among them were members of CDC's Emergency Communication System. This paper describes the strategies and tactics used by health communication specialists during the pre-event, response, and post-event stages to address a range of emergency communication exigencies. It highlights three difficult challenges for CDC communication specialists during Hurricane Katrina: rapid dissemination of health messages; adaptation of health messages for diverse audiences, locations, and circumstances; and phasing of key risk messages during the emergency response.     

Emergency Communication Challenges in Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In response to Hurricane Katrina's extensive destruction and related public health threats, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) deployed more than 1,000 staff to its emergency operations center and to affected areas. Among them were members of CDC's Emergency Communication System. This paper describes the strategies and tactics used by health communication specialists during the pre-event, response, and post-event stages to address a range of emergency communication exigencies. It highlights three difficult challenges for CDC communication specialists during Hurricane Katrina: rapid dissemination of health messages; adaptation of health messages for diverse audiences, locations, and circumstances; and phasing of key risk messages during the emergency response.     

Alcohol and Other Drug Resistance Strategies Employed by Rural Adolescents

This study seeks to identify how rural adolescents make health decisions and utilize communication strategies to resist influence attempts in offers of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 113 adolescents from rural school districts to solicit information on ATOD norms, past ATOD experiences, and substance offer-response episodes. Rural youths’ resistance strategies were similar to previous findings with urban adolescents—refuse, explain, avoid, and leave (the REAL typology)—while unique features of these strategies were identified including the importance of personal narratives, the articulation of a non-user identity, and being “accountable” to self and others.     

High School Athletes’ Relationships With Head Coaches and Teammates as Predictors of Their Expressions of Upward and Lateral Dissent

Athletes’ expressions of dissent are largely unrecognized, which limits coaches’ abilities to manage their teams and athletes’ abilities to voice themselves effectively. This study considers athletes’ roles on their teams, sport type, and relationships with coaches and teammates as predictors of upward and lateral expressions of dissent. Results gathered from 273 former high school athletes revealed a complex pattern of social interaction, whereby starting status and relationships with teammates directly predicted upward dissent and athlete–coach relationships indirectly predicted upward dissent. In contrast, only athletes’ relationships with coaches predicted their expressions of lateral dissent. These findings suggest that in order to promote functional patterns of athlete dissent coaches must build quality relationships with athletes, as well as climates that facilitate cohesion among athletes.     

“First years' information literacy backpacks: What's already packed or not packed?”

This survey-based research explores whether first-year college students who have had previous interactions with library instruction, services, and resources at the high school level are better prepared to undertake information literacy challenges and are better equipped to adapt to the rigors of academic research. In this collaborative project, academic librarians across six colleges in New Jersey surveyed first-year students regarding their research preparation and their experiences in high school and in their first year of college. Additionally, the team surveyed a group of vetted, certified high school librarians in New Jersey regarding their resources and instructional practices and followed members of their senior class to college Based on student survey responses relating to their high school experiences, the team was able to identify, study, and compare three groups of first-year students: novice researchers, non-novice researchers, and a subset of non-novices from the high schools with vetted librarians. These were labeled alumni non-novices. The team found that students with prior high school research experiences (non-novices), especially those followed from schools identified as having certified librarians (alumni non-novices), felt more prepared for academic research and performed at a higher level relating to their understanding and use of research tools and strategies. The results point to equity concerns and suggest that students require differentiated attention at the college level.     

Using Communication Infrastructure Theory to Formulate a Strategy to Locate “Hard-to-Reach” Research Participants

In health-communication research, participants who are disproportionately affected by health disparities are often “hard-to-reach,” making them difficult to identify for formative research. This study used communication infrastructure theory (CIT) to create a strategy for locating a specific subset of residents—those who use 911 for healthcare—within a low-income Atlanta community. Findings suggest the need for strategies that involve employing both the communication channels that are part of the neighborhood storytelling network and the community's discursive spaces, more specifically the communication hot spots and community comfort zones located within the community's built environment.     

Females’ (Non)Disclosure of Minority Sexual Identities in the Workplace From a Communication Privacy Management Perspective

In this study, communication privacy management theory (CPM) provides a theoretical framework for investigating the development of privacy rules and strategies for females disclosing a minority sexual identity (MSI) in the workplace. Analysis of in-depth interviews indicated that participants’ rules were influenced primarily by role and relational risk evaluations. Findings nuance CPM’s conceptualization of role risk to identify 3 variations: risk to employment status, professional image, and ability to complete tasks. In addition, connections between workplace relational and role risks and how gender identities influence risk assessments and disclosure are demonstrated. Despite risk, participants disclosed personal information at work and often did so utilizing implicit disclosure strategies in everyday interactions to test confidants’ reactions and normalize their MSI in the workplace.     

“They don’t know what it’s like in here”: Incarcerated individuals’ communication with family members

The incarcerated population is large and growing. Maintaining family connections during confinement is linked to positive outcomes, yet the family communication of incarcerated individuals is understudied. We examine the family communication of individuals incarcerated in an urban county jail for women. Four family communication themes were identified: 1) communication access and understanding, 2) family support, 3) parenting challenges, and 4) family conflict. The findings inform both theoretical and practical implications.     

Patient and Partner Strategies for Talking about Lifestyle Change Following a Cardiac Event

Heart patients are frequently advised to make lifestyle changes and communication with a romantic partner can help or hinder adoption of heart healthy behaviors. However, talking about lifestyle change can have both positive and negative meanings and this can create dilemmas for couples. We engaged in an interpretive analysis of interviews with 25 patients and 16 partners to identify the ways they managed the meanings of lifestyle change talk. Their communicative strategies included rationing talk, saying it nicely and framing it cooperatively. Each strategy had advantages and disadvantages as well as optimal conditions. We also identified interpretive lenses that shaped the meaning of talk, including legitimacy, patience, emphasizing the positive, moderation, benefits for both people, and perceived compliance. Finally, environmental resources (such as household patterns and communication with the social network) contextualized the meaning of talk. We proposed a model of the interrelated influence of communication, interpretation, and environment on the meanings of talking about lifestyle change.     

What makes local governments' online communications successful? Insights from a multi-method analysis of Facebook

Little is known about how public sector organisations capitalise on the potential of social networking sites (SNSs) as communication channels. Previous research is short on theoretical models and managerial insights into the success of local governments' online communication strategies. The purpose of this study is to explore how successfully local governments utilise SNSs for managing their external communication with citizens. Using a multi-method analysis of 15,941 posts and 19,290 comments on the Facebook pages of the 25 largest German cities, we make five contributions to research and practice. First, we analyse the properties and topics of government posts to draw a rich picture of how local governments use Facebook as a communications channel. Second, we conceptualise success in governments' online communications in terms of the frequency and polarity of citizens' reactions, which we use for third, evaluating government communication behaviour in SNSs. Fourth, we identify which benefits SNSs offer that traditional communication channels do not provide. Fifth, we offer guidelines for improving the online communication strategies of local governments using SNSs.     

The Ethnographer of Communication at the Table: Building Cultural Competence,Designing Strategic Action

Ethnographers of communication are increasingly working within interdisciplinary teams to address social problems in communities, corporations, and governments. This special forum brings together ethnographers of communication to reflect on the opportunities, tensions, and challenges involved in using the ethnography of communication to seek workable solutions to social problems with fellow scholars, practitioners, and community members. Through empirical case studies, contributors demonstrate how the ethnography of communication is used to build cultural competence and design strategic action.     

Research data management at an African medical university: Implications for academic librarianship

The study investigates and provides results on the current status of research data management at a medical school in a developing African country. The study focusses on four aspects of research data management: generation; preservation and backup; competencies; and challenges. Quantitative data collected using a questionnaire from 84 health researchers and 16 librarians was complemented by qualitative data gathered through conducting structured interviews with the Director of Research of the university. The study results provide the research community with a better understanding of research data management perspectives amongst health researchers in a developing country. This could help research data management stakeholders to adopt better strategies for championing research data management activities in this particular country and in other developing countries. The study notes that the current research data management status creates an opportunity for an academic library to consolidate and fortify its widely viewed natural role in research data management. In view of the findings, the study proposes that the adoption of research data management policies is essential in inspiring the conceptualisation, popularisation, adoption, and operationalisation of various research data management activities within the African university environment.     

试论社会学芝加哥学派与传播学技术主义范式的建构

传播学史经常忽略社会学芝加哥学派在技术主义方面所做的理论贡献。该学派特别强调传播技术在促进人类心智进化与社会发展上的极端重要性,从而为传播技术主义范式的创立与发展打下了思想基础。但由于片面地强调技术,使芝加哥学派陷入了抽象的技术决定论泥潭,这也在一定程度上造成了传播技术主义范式的局限。     

Reimagining the Wheel: Using Circular Calendars for Planning in Law School Libraries

This essay proposes using a wheel or circular calendar to identify and document the events and projects of an academic law school year, both in and out of the classroom. The idea of harnessing the natural cyclical process of law school for library planning comes from concept mapping, which can conceptualize an issue by using a variety of mapping strategies to organize and show the relationships between pieces of information and a central concept. Using a wheel graphic to visualize a process can facilitate project management and aid in teaching legal research strategy.     

Examining Twitter Content of State Emergency Management During Hurricane Joaquin

Those tasked with disseminating life-protecting messages during crises have many factors to consider. Social media sites have become an information source for individuals during these times, and more research is needed examining the use of specific message strategies by emergency management agencies that may elicit attention and retransmission. This study examines Twitter content concerning Hurricane Joaquin. Content analysis of tweets from state emergency management accounts was performed to provide an overview of the content and stylistic elements used in tweets associated with the event. The findings are discussed in the context of both past research on the matter and implications for emergency management agencies responding to high-consequence events.     

Imposed Queries in the School Library Media Center: A Descriptive Study

This work replicates and builds on a pilot study designed to test the theoretical model of information-seeking behavior called the imposed query. The same cross-sectional approach was used to collect data at the pilot site and at two other similar schools, and interviews were conducted with the school library media specialist, teachers, and students at the pilot site. Major quantitative findings include the persistence of a relationship between grade level and question type, gender difference in library use at the pilot site, and a significant difference in prevalence rate for one school as compared with the other two. Qualitative findings identify teachers, the school library media specialist, parents, and children as imposers. Children were most hindered by limited reading skills, showed a preference for browsing and known items, demonstrated a limited ability to assess information critically, and used a wider variety of sources for imposed queries than for self-generated questions.