"Ask A Librarian": the experiences of four hospital libraries

The librarians at four hospital libraries describe the electronic reference service, "Ask A Librarian," offered at their institutions. The hospitals are vastly different in size and in number of library staff, and offer the "Ask A Librarian" service to different clientele. The article illustrates that both large hospitals with a large library staff and small hospitals with a solo librarian and some volunteers can offer this type of service.     

Season-of-birth bias in association football

In this longitudinal study, we assessed the frequency of birth dates for boys selected for the Football Association National School. Birthdays were divided into three periods of the year: January to April, May to August and September to December. We compared data over a 5 year period and concluded that there is indeed a bias towards selecting older children. Furthermore, analysis of separate data revealed a shift of bias when comparing two different start dates, namely September and January. Our findings show that the youngest children from the January start date (born September to December) are selected significantly more often than the youngest children from the September start date (born May to August). Interestingly, even when the influence of body mass was reduced, the selection bias towards the older players remained.     

Information--movement coupling: implications for the organization of research and practice during acquisition of self-paced extrinsic timing skills

Information--movement coupling is a fundamental concept, integral to theorizing on the coordination of goal-directed activity in ecological psychology. In this paper, we examine the implications of this concept for the design of experimental research and the organization of practice during the acquisition of movement coordination in sport tasks. The task vehicle for our analysis is interceptive actions, in particular self-paced extrinsic timing tasks exemplified by serving in sports such as volleyball. Recent research highlighting the relevance of information--movement coupling for the process of practice in sport is discussed. We conclude that information--movement coupling represents an important principle for the structural organization of research and practice in self-paced extrinsic timing tasks and that further work is required to verify its significance across a range of sport movements.     

Social life in cultures: judgements, conflict, and subversion

We present a developmentally grounded perspective on the study of social life in cultures that examines the sources of the coexistence of sociability and opposition, harmony and conflict, acceptance and critique. The coexistence of these elements, it is proposed, is systematically connected both to the development of distinct domains of thought and to the dynamics of participation in more and less hierarchical social relationships in society.     

The Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test: a field test that simulates the activity pattern of soccer

The aims of this study were to describe and determine the test-retest reliability of an exercise protocol, the Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test (the LIST), which was designed to simulate the activity pattern characteristic of the game of soccer. The protocol consisted of two parts: Part A comprised a fixed period of variable-intensity shuttle running over 20 m; Part B consisted of continuous running, alternating every 20 m between 55% and 95% VO2max, until volitional fatigue. Seven trained games players (age 21.5+/-0.9 years, height 182+/-2 cm, body mass 80.1+/-3.6 kg, VO2max 59.0+/-1.9 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1); mean +/- s(x)) performed the test on two occasions (Trial 1 and Trial 2), at least 7 days apart, to determine the test-retest reliability of the sprint times and running capacity. The physiological and metabolic responses on both occasions were also monitored. The participants ingested water ad libitum during the first trial, and were then prescribed the same amount of water during the second trial. The 15 m sprint times during Trials 1 and 2 averaged 2.42+/-0.04 s and 2.43+/-0.04 s, respectively. Run time during Part B was 6.3+/-2.0 min for Trial 1 and 6.1+/-1.3 min for Trial 2. The 95% limits of agreement for sprint times and run times during Part B were -0.14 to 0.12 s and -3.19 to 2.16 min respectively. There were no differences between trials for heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, body mass change during exercise, or blood lactate and glucose concentrations during the test. Thus, we conclude that the sprint times and the Part B run times were reproducible within the limits previously stated. In addition, the activity pattern and the physiological and metabolic responses closely simulated the match demands of soccer.     

Effects of uncontrollability and failure on the development of learned helplessness in perceptual-motor tasks

The aim of this study was to distinguish between the roles of uncontrollability and failure on learned helplessness in a perceptual-motor task. Forty-eight junior high school students were randomly assigned in a 2 x 2 (Controllability: Contingent vs. Yoked Noncontingent Feedback x Type of Outcome: Success vs. Failure) factorial design to complete a gun-shooting task on a moving target using a computer screen. Twelve other participants (control group) simply read a passage. After filling out causal attribution and self-efficacy expectations questionnaires, all participants carried out another gun-shooting task (test task). Results showed that contingency led to higher performances than noncontingency. Success conditions elicited higher self-efficacy expectations than failure conditions. Failure entailed less persistence than success did for participants who had been assigned to the contingency condition. Internalization of failure was negatively correlated with persistence. Comparisons with the control group showed that expectations and performance deficits of learned helplessness were provoked by failure in noncontingent situations; persistence deficits were due to failure in contingent situations. These results reveal that both uncontrollability and failure can be responsible for different forms of learned helplessness.     

Leisure time physical activity in Australian women: relationship with well being and symptoms

This paper explores the association between moderate levels of physical activity (PA) and health benefits in well being and symptoms such as tiredness, back pain, and constipation. Participants in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, 14,502 young women (ages 18-23 years), 13,609 middle-age women (45-50 years), and 11,421 older women (ages 70-75 years), answered questions about vigorous and less vigorous exercise (used to determine a physical activity score), well being (SF-36), symptoms, and medical conditions. There were significant associations between the PA score and SF-36 in each cohort. Odds ratios (OR) for a range of symptoms and conditions were lower for women who reported low to moderate activity than for sedentary women, for example, for young women or for constipation = 0.76 (CI, 0.65-0.89), for middle-age women or for tiredness = 0.70 (0.63-0.78). There was no threshold of PA at which health benefits increased significantly. Although cross-sectional, the findings suggest that low-to-moderate levels of exercise are associated with a range of health benefits for women of all ages. These preliminary findings will be followed up during the longitudinal study.