Teachers' Perspectives on Working with Children Experiencing Loss

This paper investigates one aspect of the teacher's role which is likely to cause stress and in many cases some personal grief. A significant number of teachers at some point in their career find themselves offering support to pupils who have experienced loss. Using a small-scale questionnaire, the writers investigate teachers' personal perspectives on this work. The results showed the personal distress that teachers can experience and the high self-expectations they are likely to have of themselves. The kind of support that the teachers felt they needed is described, as is the proactive work which teachers might undertake.     

Empirical research methods reported in high-profile LIS journal literature

This study describes a content analysis aimed at identifying the distribution of empirical research strategies and techniques reported in high-profile LIS journal literature published in 2005. For each article, researchers identified the overall research strategy, the data collection technique, and whether the type of analysis was quantitative or qualitative. The taxonomies used in the analysis were those based on Järvelin and Vakkari's [Järvelin, K., & Vakkari, P. (1990). Content analysis of research articles in library and information science. Library & Information Science Research, 12, 395-422] study in order to compare the results with the earlier findings derived from the 1975 and 1985 literature. The survey approach remains the predominant research strategy in both library science and information science. However, there was a marked increase in experimentation. There were more modest increases in the use of qualitative approaches, except for historical research, which showed a marked decline. This study's findings will inform development of methods courses in doctoral programs, which aim to cover the most commonly used strategies and techniques in contemporary LIS research. Revised taxonomies, which include previously unspecified strategies and techniques such as ethnography and transaction log analysis, are suggested for future content analyses of LIS research.     

Professing the History of Early Modern Sport

Abstract

This essay traces the author’s career change, from being a critic and historian of the language and literature of France into becoming an historian of early modern sport. It details the steps in this process, the conditions under which the change occurred, the difficulties encountered, and the successes achieved. It concludes with a statement of his methodological approach.