Rethinking Library Service to Distance Education Students: Analyzing the Embedded Librarian Model

Since fall 2009, reference librarians at The George Washington University's Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library have been embedded in online classes through Blackboard within the School of Nursing and School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The authors sought to determine the types of questions asked of the librarian, with the goal of informing future interactions with distance education classes to help develop a standard “protocol” for working with this population of students. Eighty-two questions were categorized and qualitatively analyzed. The findings have prompted librarians to explore tools such as Elluminate Live!, a tool that allows librarians to provide synchronous instruction within the Blackboard environment.     

US Urban Elementary Teachers’ Knowledge and Practices in Teaching Science to English Language Learners: Results from the first year of a professional development intervention

The study examined US elementary teachers’ knowledge and practices in four key domains of science instruction with English language learning (ELL) students. The four domains included: (1) teachers’ knowledge of science content, (2) teaching practices to promote scientific understanding, (3) teaching practices to promote scientific inquiry, and (4) teaching practices to support English language development during science instruction. The study was part of a larger five‐year research and development intervention aimed at promoting science and literacy achievement of ELL students in urban elementary schools. It involved 32 third grade, 21 fourth grade, and 17 fifth grade teachers participating in the first‐year implementation of the intervention. Based on teachers’ questionnaire responses and classroom observation ratings, results indicated that (1) teachers’ knowledge and practices were within the bounds of acceptability but short of reform‐oriented practices and (2) grade‐level differences existed, especially between Grades 3 and 5.     

Forgetting ACT UP

The struggle over credit for the discovery of penicillin is a powerful case study of the ability of scientific narrative to establish reputation. This paper examines the ways Alexander Fleming and Howard Florey told the story of the discovery and development of penicillin, each providing provenance for the drug and enhanced claims for personal recognition. Fleming's version incorporated familiar narratives of the intervention of chance and divine favor, heroic scientists, and the need to extract good from evil. This account, echoing themes found in British home front stories of the “Blitz,” the Battle of Britain, and the miracle of Dunkirk, appealed to a public imagination already stimulated by a wartime press. By contrast, Florey used a conventional chronology typical of scientific literature to tell his version of the discovery of penicillin, placing his work at the end of a sequence of investigations on antibiotic substances that started in the 19th century. This view of scientific development as building on the work of predecessors was an account of the penicillin story satisfying to an audience of scientific peers. That Fleming is credited in the public mind as the discoverer of penicillin is partially a result of his construction of a narrative of discovery that invited popular participation and appealed to a beleaguered nation at war.     

Exploring influences on later life learning

Academic debate about education and ageing issues has hitherto been based largely on provider and practitioner concerns. Here, the first stage of a two‐year research project that aimed to move the focus to older learners themselves is discussed. The aim in this initial stage was to construct a conceptual model of life course influences on older people’s learning that could be tested in a subsequent stage of the research. The method used involved ten focus group discussions with very different groups of learners, all of whom were ‘post‐work’ and based in different parts of the UK. The intertwined themes that emerged from the discussions related to discontinuity and change, situational and institutional influences on education and learning and the possible influence of personality factors and values as well as issues of gender, class and race. The efficacy of using focus groups in this context is briefly discussed, together with implications for the next stage of the project and for further research.     

资源型企业技术创新主体作用发挥与自主创新绩效提升

针对目前缺乏对资源型企业如何发挥技术创新主体作用的研究,以5家世界500强资源型企业为研究对象,采用多案例研究方法,深入剖析资源型企业通过发挥技术创新主体作用提升自主创新绩效的内在机理以及关键要素,提出相应的理论命题,得出结论如下：推动资源型企业自主创新绩效提升的重要因素是发挥企业需求主体作用,基本保障是发挥企业研发投入主体作用,重要途径是发挥企业产学研协同创新主体作用,重要支撑是发挥企业研发组织主体作用,关键要素则是发挥企业人才培养主体作用。研究结论启示资源型企业加强研发投入、构建以自身为主体的产学研联盟组合、构建内部技术研发平台以及培养人才、完善人才激励政策等,以增强技术创新主体作用、提升自主创新绩效。     

Trends in mobile and outreach services

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on results of a questionnaire distributed to North American public libraries to determine what types of services they are providing to populations experiencing barriers to using bricks-and-mortar branches. The results indicate that many are offering homebound delivery and that bookmobiles remain popular, particularly in libraries serving large geographic areas. Some libraries are exploring kiosk, or vending machine style services. Lastly, new trends are emerging, notably pop-up libraries, vans, and book bikes.