Desk Bound No More: Reference Services at a New Research University Library

The authors discuss a newly established academic library at the University of California, Merced, as a model for reference service that foregoes a desk staffed with reference librarians. The library provides innovative, quality reference services for its users by using well-trained staff at a library services desk and employing new technologies for asynchronous communication and instruction.     

Searching for patterns in the MeSH vocabulary

NLM revises its MeSH vocabulary annually to reflect changes in biomedical literature and the health sciences community. This study tested two hypotheses about NLM's MeSH vocabulary. The first is that new terms are added to MeSH when their broader terms have an increased number of postings. One examination compared the number of postings for the broader terms of new and existing terms in the current MEDLINE file; the other compared them over time. No significant statistical difference was found in either case. A second hypothesis--that there is a relationship between the patterns of MEDLINE indexing and searching and the organization of the MeSH tree structure--was tested by comparing the distribution of searched terms in the MeSH trees with the distribution of all terms. It was found that certain trees are searched more often than could be predicted by the overall term distribution, while others are searched less frequently than expected. In summary, (1) new terms cannot be predicted by the increase in postings of existing terms, and (2) searchers' and indexers' use of the terms' tree structure does not correlate with the terms' distribution in the MeSH trees.     

Intelligence Recreated

Many of us are frustrated with the overuse of intelligence tests. But intelligence tests have become so entrenched in our society that it is hard to imagine how they realistically could be replaced. Schools would be without a well-established screening device, and intelligence research would be without an external measure of validity. But what if we started over and imagined thinking about intelligence without the benefit (some would say hindrance) of Binet? What would theories and tests of intelligence look like? The articles in this special issue address this topic; here, I discuss the articles. The discussion is divided into three sections. The first section deals with definitional issues: How can intelligence be operationally defined, and can a single definition capture cognitive abilities of individuals at all ages? The second section briefly summarizes and evaluates each of the seven theories: How intelligent are these theories of intelligence? The final section focuses on the implications of the theories and theory-based tests reported in this issue: How can future research and educational practices benefit from the views presented here?     

When is a song a song? The development of singing in early childhood

During the second year of life, babies actively play with sounds they produce. Their sound-play often has musical qualities such as pitch, rhythm, and melodic contour, but it is not the same as singing. Singing is a complex activity, one requiring skills that usually take the entire preschool years to develop.Lyle Davidson is a professor at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, MA. W. George Scarlett is a professor of child psychology at Assumption College, Worcester, MA. The research reported on in this article is based on work done at Project Zero, Harvard School of Education, Cambridge, MA.The research reported here was part of a larger study of early symbolization carried out at Project Zero, Harvard School of Education, and funded by the Spencer and Carnegie foundations. The results of this larger study will appear in a formthcoming book,The Making of Meanings, edited by Dennie Wolf and Howard Gardner.     

The relationship between IQ and reading disabilities in English-speaking Canadian and Spanish children

This study was designed to examine the role of intelligence (IQ) in the definition of reading disabilities (RD) in languages with different orthographic systems. A sample of 94 Spanish children and 157 English-speaking Canadian children with RD was classified into four groups on the basis of IQ scores from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (< 80; 81-90; 91-109; 110-140). We examined the reading and spelling skills of Canadian and Spanish children as a function of Full Scale, Verbal, and Performance IQ scores. Significant differences between the languages were found when reading performance was analyzed as a function of Verbal IQ scores, in that there were some differences between the groups of Canadian children with RD but not between the groups of Spanish children. The Canadian children with Verbal IQ scores < 80 demonstrated relatively lower performance in reading and spelling skills than the Canadian groups with higher IQ scores. There were differences in reading tasks as a function of Performance IQ in English but not in Spanish. The differences in the role of IQ as a function of orthographic systems may relate to the greater significance of visual-orthographic as opposed to phonological processing in English.     

Effects of a phonological awareness program on English reading and spelling among Hong Kong Chinese ESL children

This study investigated the effects of a 12-week language-enriched phonological awareness instruction on 76 Hong Kong young children who were learning English as a second language. The children were assigned randomly to receive the instruction on phonological awareness skills embedded in vocabulary learning activities or comparison instruction which consisted of vocabulary learning and writing tasks but no direct instruction in phonological awareness skills. They were tested on receptive and expressive vocabulary, phonological awareness at the syllable, rhyme and phoneme levels, reading, and spelling in English before and after the program implementation. The results indicated that children who received the phonological awareness instruction performed significantly better than the comparison group on English word reading, spelling, phonological awareness at all levels and expressive vocabulary on the posttest when age, general intelligence and the pretest scores were controlled statistically. The findings suggest that phonological awareness instruction embedded in vocabulary learning activities might be beneficial to kindergarteners learning English as a second language.     

Building a Successful Adult Life: Findings From Youth-Directed Research

Abstract

Although transition outcomes for youth with disabilities have shown some improvement and transition support practices have been identified, many young people continue to face transition barriers that preclude their full participation in key adult life activities. While research efforts have largely been professionally driven, there is emerging literature suggesting that the use of participatory, empowerment methodologies may bolster the identification of appropriate research methods and useful solutions to problems, as well as promoting the application of findings to accomplishing practice and policy improvements. The purpose of this study was to use a youth-directed, participatory action methodology to investigate youths' perceptions of the value of transition promotion experiences identified as effective by professionals, and to examine the level at which youth with disabilities participate in those experiences. A survey was developed and administered to 202 young people with disabilities by leaders from the National Youth Leadership Network. Findings indicated that youth generally endorse the importance of validated transition promotion practices; however, they reported having limited opportunity to participate in them. Implications related to the use of participatory action methodologies and needed practice and policy improvements are discussed.     

The ethics of polyvocal ethnography: empowering vs. textualizing children and teachers

Polyvocal approaches allow researchers and informants to interact on a more equal footing and informants’ voices to be heard in the final text. But research methods intended to empower informants also can be a source of unanticipated authorial power ‐ the power to confront informants with unsolicited self‐reflections and to textualize people's lives and words. The authors reflect on those ethical dilemmas in this article.