Public opinion and knowledge about childhood sexual abuse in a rural community.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the knowledge and attitudes of the general public about child sexual abuse (CSA) through a population-based survey. METHOD: A survey was completed by 246 respondents living in Klamath Falls, a small city in rural eastern Oregon. Specific areas of inquiry included who respondents believed were likely perpetrators of CSA, when a child was most likely to disclose sexual abuse, whether respondents believed that children would be truthful, reasons a child might not acknowledge that they had been sexually abused, what respondents knew about how CSA could be diagnosed, and what attitudes respondents thought that a sexually abused child might have towards the perpetrators of their abuse. Finally, respondents were asked how they would report a suspected case of CSA and about their receptivity to personal safety training to prevent CSA. RESULTS: While significant proportions of respondents were fairly knowledgeable about CSA, gaps in knowledge were found in all age groups and ethnic groups. Groups with the most significant knowledge deficits about CSA included men, unmarried respondents, respondents who had not had children, respondents in younger age groups, respondents of Latino descent, and respondents with low incomes or low education. Respondents were most likely to report CSA to their physician or the police. There is community interest in training about CSA and its prevention. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that significant deficits as well as strengths in knowledge about CSA exist in this rural community, and identify populations to which community education about CSA could be directed.     

No more late night dumpster runs – recycle and upcycle unwanted library books

ABSTRACT

After books and other items are deselected from the library, there remains the problem of what to do with them. Traditional means of disposal such as taking books to the tip can mean a public relations disaster is lying in wait. As alternatives, libraries have given away books to organizations that will value them, or they can sell discarded items to generate revenue. Book sales have changed significantly with the widespread adoption of the Web because this creates a much larger potential market than could be reached with sales in the library. There are many companies that take and onsell discarded library books; some are for profit and some are social businesses. Another option is to sell books to recycling companies because paper recycling is becoming much more widespread. The last, newest, and most innovative option is ‘upcycling’, which means using an old discarded library book to make something new, such as a desk, shoes, or even a chandelier.     

Oxfam 'Developing Rights': Towards a Maximalist Conception of Citizenship

The concept of citizenship is open to a wide range of interpretations and, although it has a long history at the margins of education in the UK, it has never had an established tradition. Arguably, citizenship should occupy a central position in the curriculum since a broad interpretation of it underpins many of the skills, values and attitudes which we would want to promote. As part of Oxfam's promotion of global citizenship, a pack of teaching materials was commissioned and developed by teachers, with the aim of promoting basic rights from local, national and global perspectives. This paper describes this pack and the rationale for it.     

Educational Equality: Luck Egalitarian,Pluralist and Complex

The basic principle of educational equality is that each child should receive an equally good education. This sounds appealing, but is rather vague and needs substantial working out. Also, educational equality faces all the objections to equality per se, plus others specific to its subject matter. Together these have eroded confidence in the viability of equality as an educational ideal. This article argues that equality of educational opportunity is not the best way of understanding educational equality. It focuses on Brighouse and Swift's well worked out meritocratic conception and finds it irretrievably flawed; they should, instead, have pursued a radical conception they only mention. This conception is used as a starting point for developing a luck egalitarian conception, pluralistic and complex in nature. It is argued that such a conception accounts for the appeal of equality of opportunity, fits with other values in education and meets many of the objections. Thus, equality is reasserted as what morally matters most in education.     

Starting from Scratch on Perpetual Access

When library staff resources are limited, administering post-cancellation access to electronic journal content can often be neglected when other demands of managing electronic resources take priority. Difficulties handling perpetual access include determining access rights from publishers’ license terms, verifying the paid content to which the library is entitled, and retaining access when a journal is transferred to a new publisher. Libraries can utilize their existing electronic resources management tools to develop staff workflows for perpetual access entitlements. This article is based on a presentation given at the Mississippi State University Libraries eResource & Emerging Technologies Summit on August 3, 2012.     

University-School Connection: A Reading Circle for Teachers

Educators are encouraged to integrate technology into their classrooms because today's student is exposed to all sorts of digital devices in their daily life. Classroom blogging is an excellent way to use the internet for more than just research. Blogging capitalizes on student interest in the internet. When done properly, a blog can serve as an online portfolio to showcase student work. Blogging can give the “silent student” a voice by allowing them the opportunity to write on topics of interest. Finally, blogging provides immediate, “click-to-publish” results. Student work is available immediately for peers to review or for others on the world wide web to comment and post feedback. All of these factors can be motivating for students to learn.