Local Radio—A Different Sort of Animal

There was extensive mutual influence between BBC Local Radio and Independent Local Radio (ILR), particularly during the set-up periods for both systems. Although they competed for locations and frequencies, often fiercely, they developed through a single governmental mechanism and came to feel at times a close affinity. Had the proposals of the Annan Committee been agreed, that these 2 systems of local radio should be brought together under a single regulator, both could have benefited and the long-term prospects for local radio in the UK might have been enhanced.     

Dial the Difference—How and Why BBC Local Radio and Independent Local Radio Developed Different News Services

This article is principally concerned with how and why these 2 types of radio news developed. It discusses the culture, ethos and practices of the 2 services and, in particular, if and how each was influenced by the other. Much of the article is concerned about how the new commercial stations developed practices and styles that were consciously different from, and in some cases in direct opposition to, those at the BBC, both nationally and locally. The article argues that it was the BBC which adopted and integrated commercial radio’s style and practices, rather than, as is often supposed, the other way around.     

Different Standards: Engineers’ Expectations and Listener Adoption of Digital and FM Radio Broadcasting

As digital radio broadcasting enters its third decade of operation, few would argue that it has met all expectations expressed at the time of its launch in the mid-1990s. Observers are now more circumspect, with views divided on the pace of transition to an all-digital future. In exploring this mismatch between expectation and actuality, this article considers the introduction of FM radio in the 1950s. It too was expected to replace its forebear (AM) but, like digital radio, its adoption by listeners was slower than anticipated. An examination of published literature, in particular engineering and technical documents, reveals a number of similarities in the development of digital radio and FM. Assumptions about listeners’ needs and preferences appear to have been based on little actual audience research and, with continual reference in the literature to the supposed deficiencies of the predecessor technology, suggest an emphasis in decision making on the technical qualities of radio broadcasting over an appreciation of actual audience preferences.     

Local Radio Audiences in Iran: An Analysis of Ardebilian People's Trust in and Satisfaction with “Sabalan” Radio

There are numerous local radio stations across Iran. Considering the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural characteristics of their audiences, local stations endeavor to produce and broadcast diverse programs. One local station is “Sabalan” situated in Ardebil province in northwest Iran. Since the audience of this station speaks the same language as the inhabitants of the neighboring countries of Azerbaijan and Turkey, whether Sabalan can attract and satisfy its audience becomes significant. The paper is the result of a research project done in relation to the extent to which the Ardebilian audience is satisfied by Sabalan and trusts its programs. The findings reveal that the audience is less than satisfied with Sabalan and has almost no trust in the news, information, and programs. The reasons they mention for their attitude are: censorship of the news and little reflection of reality, lack of respect for indigenous culture and language, and broadcasting too many programs in Persian.     

Radio Reverb: The Impact of “Local” News Reimported to Its Own Community

According to recent data, more than 40% of radio stations now do news for stations outside their own market. This “outsourced news,” as one former Federal Communications Commission commissioner called it, raises questions about how local news decisions are made when removed from their local context. Using research on news conventions and decision-making processes, and data from field work in a small radio market served by news produced in a large market, this study frames issues of news selection and presentation within the context of a deregulated environment where the lines of what is “local” in local news are blurring.     

The “Most Thrilling Invention Since the Radio Itself!”: The Evolution of the Radio Remote Control in the 1920s and 1930s

This article examines the early history of the media remote control, focusing on the technical development of radio remotes in the 1920s and 1930s. Using a co-evolutionary model of technical change, it considers the technical and social conditions that served as the foundation for the first radio remotes. Drawing on patent records, it then examines the development, firstly, of wired radio remotes and, secondly, of wireless radio remotes, offering evidence of a direct patent-based link between the latter and the earliest successful wireless television remote of the 1950s.     

“Serving the masses,not the classes”: Station WHN,pioneer of commercial broadcasting of the 1920s

Historical accounts of how American radio developed into an advertising medium in the 1920s have focused almost exclusively on the broadcasting activities of large corporate concerns, especially AT&T. The contributory role of small broadcasters to this process has been overlooked, despite the fact that many of these were operating on a commercial basis when their larger corporate competitors were still eschewing direct advertising as an abuse of the medium. Drawing on contemporary publications and archival sources, this article details the controversial career of one such commercial pioneer, station WHN of New York, which played a crucial and hitherto overlooked role in opening up the airwaves to commercial use.     

Optimizing library's organizational climate through improvement of the weak scales identified by ClimateQUAL™ surveys: A case study of Nanjing Agricultural University Library

Nanjing Agricultural University Library (NAU Library) performed an organizational climate assessment in 2011 with a revised ClimateQUAL™ scales and implemented some measures to optimize the weak areas identified. The second and third rounds of assessment were carried out in 2014 and in 2017 to examine the effects of such optimization measures. The results showed the scores increased overall. Data from the three rounds of assessments revealed that team work was markedly improved. Interpersonal conflict and task conflict decreased in the work place. However, the pattern of all the scales kept almost the same. Justice, Deep Diversity, Continual Learning, Stimulate & Competition, Organizational Commitment and Psychological Empowerment in the Workplace are in the bottoms of the curves of the survey results of 2011 and 2017. Librarians thought they were qualified for the job but they did not have a large impact on or a great deal of control over what happens in the library. Innate problems that influence the library climate have not been solved yet. Such issues need to be addressed at a societal level before changes are seen at an organizational level.     

Exploring the Influence of Parasocial Relationships and Experiences on Radio Listeners’ Consumer Behaviors

The purpose of the present study was to explore the influence of radio listener experiences on radio listening behaviors, consumer perceptions and behaviors, and social media involvement. A national sample of listeners (N = 2,700) from a variety of small, medium, and large designated market areas (N = 9) throughout the United States revealed the presence of parasocial relationships (PSRs) and experiences of parasocial interaction (EPSI) with local and nationally syndicated radio personalities. Both PSRs and EPSI predicted radio listening, positive perceptions about, recall of, and purchasing of the brands, products, and services recommended by listeners’ favorite radio personalities. Results also show that PSRs and EPSI predicted listeners’ involvement with social media platforms.     

A Marriage of Friends or Foes? Radio,Newspapers, and the Facsimile in the 1930s

The 1930s represent a contentious period between the radio and newspaper industries. In the middle of the press-radio war, a new technology, the broadcast radio facsimile, emerged with the potential to bring together the warring industries. Although the radio facsimile was short lived, its story, seen through the lens of the press-radio war, provides an interesting look at the forces shaping a new technology.

Envisioned as a technology that would allow subscribers to receive the newspaper via a radio receiver, the facsimile presented an interesting dilemma: Who would control the creation and dissemination of news—the newspaper or radio industry? This article explores this question through an examination of industry narratives about the facsimile. In analyzing the discourses, this study focuses on how the newspaper and radio industries envisioned the future of the facsimile. Was the facsimile viewed as a means for cooperation or as a point of contention?     

The Study of Impact Factors＇ Measurement of the Quality of Digital Reference Service of Library Based on Factor Analysis

以黑龙江省为例,针对数字参考咨询服务质量问题,以问卷调查的形式进行调研,选取19个主要因素进行测评,采取描述分析、因子分析方法找出影响数字参考咨询服务的主要因素,并从图书馆定位、管理、合作等多角度提出有效的改进措施,以期为提升图书馆数字参考咨询服务工作质量提供参考。     

Classifying the Imaginary: An Expansion of Library of Congress’ Subclass G9930 for Local Use

Abstract

Class G provides granular classification for most cartographic materials through a well-established and expanded Cuttering system, maps of imaginary places are classified under G9930 which has no formal expansion. With the creation of a collection of imaginary maps at the Texas A&M University Libraries, the lack of expansion under G9930 created access and filing complications. This case study describes the problem that growing a collection under the unexpanded classification system posed and the solution that was found through the creation of an in-house expansion for G9930.     

Are all citations worth the same? Valuing citations by the value of the citing items

Bibliometricians have long recurred to citation counts to measure the impact of publications on the advancement of science. However, since the earliest days of the field, some scholars have questioned whether all citations should be worth the same, and have gone on to weight them by a variety of factors. However sophisticated the operationalization of the measures, the methodologies used in weighting citations still present limits in their underlying assumptions. This work takes an alternative approach to resolving the underlying problem: the proposal is to value citations by the impact of the citing articles, regardless of the length of their reference list. As well as conceptualizing a new indicator of impact, the work illustrates its application to the 2004–2012 Italian scientific production indexed in the WoS. The proposed impact indicator is highly correlated to the traditional citation count, however the shifts observed between the two measures are frequent and the number of outliers not negligible. Moreover, the new indicator shows greater “sensitivity” when used to identify the highly-cited papers.