Diversity or Difference? New Research Supports the Case for a Cultural Perspective on Women in Computing

Gender difference approaches to the participation of women in computing have not provided adequate explanations for women??s declining interest in computer science (CS) and related technical fields. Indeed, the search for gender differences can work against diversity which we define as a cross-gender spectrum of characteristics, interests, abilities, experiences, beliefs and identities. Our ongoing case studies at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) provide evidence to show that a focus on culture offers the most insightful and effective approach for investigating women??s participation in CS. In this paper, we illustrate this approach and show the significance of cultural factors by describing a new case study which examines the attitudes of CS majors at CMU. Our analysis found that most men and women felt comfortable in the school, believed they could be successful in the CS environment at CMU, and thought they fit in socially and academically. In brief, we did not see any evidence of a strong gender divide in student attitudes towards fitting in or feeling like they could be successful; indeed we found that the Women-CS fit remained strong from prior years. Hence, our research demonstrates that women, alongside their male peers, can fit successfully into a CS environment and help shape that environment and computing culture, for the benefit of everyone, without accommodating presumed gender differences or any compromises to academic integrity.     

Examining the extent and nature of online learning in American K-12 Education: The research initiatives of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

In 1992, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation began its Anytime, Anyplace Learning Program, the purpose of which was to explore educational alternatives for people who wanted to pursue an education via Internet technology. Part of this grant activity was a research award to the Babson College Survey Research Group to examine online learning in American K-12 education. Three studies were conducted based on national surveys of school district and/or high school administrators. The focus of these studies was twofold: one, to examine the extent and nature of online learning in K-12 school districts; second, to examine the role of online learning in high school reform initiatives. The purpose of this article is to share the findings from these studies and to look critically at what they mean for the future of online learning in American K-12 schools.     

Reconnecting the Disconnects: Library Outreach to Faculty as Addressed in the Literature

While academic librarians have always sought to create the best services for college faculty and students, the increasingly self-defined “teacher-librarian” needs more than ever to promote positive relationships and collaboration with classroom faculty. Based on a review of library literature, this article explores the nature of several disconnects between librarians and college or university faculty and examines the ways in which library outreach to faculty in its various forms seeks to bridge those gaps. The author maintains that library outreach addresses the issues between librarians and may result in higher levels of advocacy, collaboration, and collegiality.     

Motion Picture History

Paul Smith (ed.) The Historian and Film (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1976---$13.95)

Tino Balio (ed.) The American Film Industry (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1976---$15.00/6.95)

Dale McConathy with Diane Vreeland's Hollywood Costume (New York: Abrams, 1976---$35.00)

David Chierichetti's Hollywood Costume Design (New York: Harmony Books/Crown, 1976---$15.00)

Anthony Slide's The Big V: A History of the Vitagraph Company (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1976---$9.00)

Michael G. Fitzgerald's Universal Pictures: A Panoramic History in Words, Pictures and Filmographies (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, 1976---$25.00)

James R. Silke's Here's Looking at You, Kid: Fifty Years of Fighting, Working and Dreaming at Warner Brothers (Boston: Little, Brown, 1976---$24.95)

P. Adams Sitney (editorial director), The Essential Cinema: Essays on the Rims in the Collection of Anthology Film Archives (New York: New York University Press, 1976-420.00/ 8.95)

Leo Braudy's The World in a Frame: What We See in Films (New York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1976---$8.95)     

British and Australian Media

Graham Cleverley's The Fleet Street Disaster: British National Newspapers as a Case Study in Mismanagement (London: Constable [Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage Publications] , 1976—4.50 [$12.95])

Recent Books on Mass Media with British Imprints, January 1975-September 1976 (41 pp.)

Current British Research on Mass Media and Mass Communication: Register of Ongoing and Recently Completed Research (74 pp.)

Television and Radio 1977 (Independent Broadcasting Authority, 70 Brompton Road, London SW3 I EY, England–L1.40, or about $2.50, paper)

Davis, Anthony. Television: The First Forty Years (159 pp.)

Fairley, Peter. Television: Behind the Screen (160 pp.)

Davis, Anthony. Television: Here is the News (144 pp.)

Ian K. MacKay, Broadcasting in Papua New Guinea (Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press [ISBS Inc., P.O. Box 555, Forest Grove, Ore. 971161, 1976—$22.50 in the U.S.)     

General Motion Pictures

Anthony Slide A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO MOVIE MEMORABILIA—WITH PRICES (Wallace Homestead Book Company, 1912 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50305—$12.95).

Richard L. Stromgren and Martin F. Norden. MOVIES: A LANGUAGE IN LIGHT (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1984—$15.95).

Jonathan Rosenbaum, FILM: THE FRONT LINE 1983 (Arden Press, 1127 Pennsylvania Street, Denver. Colorado 80203—$10.95).

James L. Limbacher's SEXUALITY IN WORLD CINEMA (Metuchen. New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 1983—$72.50 for two volumes).

Al Clark: THE FILM YEARBOOK-1984(New York: Grove Press, 1984—$12.95, paperback).

ANNUAL INDEX TO MOTION PICTURE CREDITS: 1982 (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1983—$150.00).

Nancy Allen and Robert L. Carringer AN ANNOTATED CATALOG OF UNPUBLISHED FILM AND TELEVISION SCRIPTS (Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Publications Office, 249 Armory Building, 505 E. Armbry Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820—$15.00, paper).