Why Pod? Further Explorations of the Motivations for Independent Podcasting

This article presents the results of a follow-up study examining the motivations of independent podcasters. Results from a web-based survey found that podcasting continues to be dominated by educated, professional males over 30, most of whom are not podcasting full-time. Podcasters are highly engaged with their audiences and continue to seek new business models to support potential full-time podcasting. Motivations for podcasting are consistent with the theory of produsage, which stresses the importance of community, feedback, and continual improvement. Podcasters take their activities seriously and see podcasting as an alternative to traditional radio.     

Nothing but the Facts?

This paper seeks to understand how journalists deal with storytelling and truth-seeking in their daily news practice. While storytelling is usually studied through texts, we approached it from a practice perspective, combining data from three ethnographic studies in which 36 beat reporters and 13 journalistic storytelling experts were extensively interviewed. Because of the emphasis journalists place on “finding out the truth” in public discourses, it is tempting for academics to present them as naive truth-seekers. However, by means of an interpretative repertoire analysis of their “practice” discourses, we seek to enlarge the discursive space to talk about the supposed tension between story and reality. Although departing from the idea that all news making is storytelling, the interviewed journalists consider news making and storytelling as distinct—and sometimes opposing—practices. These professional practices serve as the framework around which five storytelling repertoires are organized.     

Why Don't Library Science Students Want to Become Managers?

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.

Very few students who have taken Wayne State University's required management course from me have any interest in library careers in management. Some are even more firm in their decision after taking the course though most graduates will have management responsibilities in their first library position and some will manage a small library. I polled current students and recent graduates about this reluctance. The sixteen responses considered the following possible causes: personality traits, a preference for traditional library activities, a dislike of managerial responsibilities, prior management experience, and salary. Additional, more systematic research is needed to test this hypothesis.     

XML: Why Bother?

An XML-first workflow provides a framework that will empower publishers to move from a print-centric to a content-centric creation process, freeing them to find new and creative ways to present content to the world, to connect with readers in new ways. XML is far more than a production workflow—it is the medium that will allow publishers to deliver their message most effectively, and will enable a rapid and necessary evolution in the way publishers manage and disseminate an author’s content.     

Surface cleaning? Yes,freshly grated Agar gel,please

Polysaccharide-based rigid hydrogels are by now well-established means for delivering water or, more generally an aqueous solution, to a surface in a controllable way so as to minimize diffusion and possible side-effects on water-sensitive materials during cleaning treatments. These gels can be applied as pre-formed solid bricks on planar surfaces or brushed onto objects in a semi-solid state. In this note, a different application procedure is presented, suitable for surface cleaning treatments of sensitive painted surfaces: pre-formed rigid gels grated to tiny particles that can be brushed onto the surface. A general discussion on the strategies that can be adopted when water is required to clean a water-sensitive soiled surface is presented, then the new procedure is discussed and a representative case study is shown, supporting the procedure described.     

Dimensions: A competitor to Scopus and the Web of Science?

Dimensions is a partly free scholarly database launched by Digital Science in January 2018. Dimensions includes journal articles and citation counts, making it a potential new source of impact data. This article explores the value of Dimensions from an impact assessment perspective with an examination of Food Science research 2008–2018 and a random sample of 10,000 Scopus articles from 2012. The results include high correlations between citation counts from Scopus and Dimensions (0.96 by narrow field in 2012) as well as similar average counts. Almost all Scopus articles with DOIs were found in Dimensions (97% in 2012). Thus, the scholarly database component of Dimensions seems to be a plausible alternative to Scopus and the Web of Science for general citation analyses and for citation data in support of some types of research evaluations.     

Libraries in Scottish Colleges of Nursing and Midwifery: significant achievements in the past,but the future—?

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Converging libraries,archives and museums: overcoming distinctions,but for what gain?

Many within the information field have declared that libraries, archives and museums (LAMs) must collaborate or else face extinction. The convergence of these institutions marks the extreme of this movement, which is currently being driven by technological initiatives that seek to attract new, digitally engaged users. This paper presents some recent initiatives to bring these institutions together and explores the history of exchange between LAMs. Finally, a more pointed examination of archives in museums provides grounds to question the ability of technology to facilitate deep-rooted collaboration. This reading of the history of LAMs and their current challenges raises a concern that convergence is nothing more than a rebranding exercise, in which archives appear vulnerable to lose their defining characteristics.     

Conceptual Revolutions: Who Needs Them and Why?

ABSTRACT

This article, rationale for the lifelong professional work of the author, shows how conceptual revolutions have changed the way we view our world. The author believes that another conceptual revolution is needed as we “learn how to live within the limits of the ecosphere that gave birth to us.” That means replacing the 10,000-year-old block-field agriculture system with perennial food and soil-building crops system. This change is needed to replace the energy-intensive planting, fertilizing, and harvesting of single annual crops by the application and use of expensive hydrocarbons that pollute the air, soil, and water. The 35th anniversary (November 2005) issue of Smithsonian magazine profiles Jackson as one of “35 Who Made Difference” in shaping our present and future world. This article is presented in PLQ because it lays out proactive alternative to an energy-intensive agriculture and modest, piecemeal environmentalism. The author's citations of scholars and ecological movements lead readers to numerous individuals and organizations working to create viable food-production pathway to achieve bright future for our world.     

Community Impact of Science Centers: Is There Any?

In a competitive environment, established cultural institutions need to justify their activities and to provide measurable indications of success when applying for public and private funds. Science centers are part of the movement striving to enhance public understanding of science. The educational aspects of science centers have been the subject of numerous studies, while there is much less tangible information on the economic, political, or public impact of our institutions. There is clear evidence that learning behaviors occur in non‐formal settings. Crude assessments of the economic contribution by a cultural institution to the local economy can fairly easily be made. These include the direct purchasing power of the institutional budget and the salaries that the employees get, and an estimate of the direct costs related to the visits. An indication of the impact on local communities may be estimated from the attendance figures as a percentage of the total metropolitan population. Science centers tend to attract media attention for the exhibitions, programs, and events that they stage. This can be measured. The impact on the local economy, on political agendas, and on public perception of science has been only rudimentarily studied. Methods have not been developed, nor have the critical questions been clarified. More research, including compilation of existing scattered proprietary data, is needed. An active role in promoting a research agenda, or at least in compiling and accessing relevant data, could be taken by the professional organizations of science centers.     

We May Be Teaching Information Literacy,but Are the Design First Year Students Actually Getting It?

The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of information literacy instruction for the Design first year students at the Temasek Polytechnic Library. Also of interest was whether or not the librarian was being seen as easily approachable, and if the students were deeming the lessons to be worthwhile. A participant action research approach was used, with the data being collected from multiple choice tests delivered via the institutional learning management system, group exercises, and a diagnostic assessment that was delivered before the workshops. It was found that the students did see the librarian as someone who was eminently approachable, and the majority of them found the lessons to be of value. It was concluded that the use of a diagnostic tool can be very useful in highlighting the gaps in students' knowledge, and that it would be beneficial to use it for all information literacy instruction at TP. Suggested future research could include a study of how much the students retain of IL skills into their third year of study.