Predictors of learner satisfaction in an academic computer conference

This study tested the Adult Distance Study Through Computer Conferencing (ADSCC) model developed by Eastmond (1994), to determine if learner readiness, online features, and CMC‐related learning approaches are associated with learner satisfaction in an academic computer conference. All three variables were correlated with learner satisfaction and online features emerged as the best predictor of learner satisfaction. Results indicate interrelationships between the three variables. The ADSCC model was a good predictor of learner satisfaction. It provided a useful framework for understanding learner satisfaction by showing how to categorise the different components that influence satisfaction in an academic computer conference.     

Decreasing “obscene” language of behaviorally disordered children through the use of a DRL schedule

The purpose of the present study was to determine the value of DRL schedules in reducing the behavior of a group of behaviorally disordered children. During the DRL procedure, reinforcement was made available for inappropriate language that was less than a prescribed limit for each day. When the DRL limit was successively decreased across weeks, the behavior of the students systematically decreased. Data indicated that reinforcing low rates of behavior may be an effective alternative to the use of aversive contingencies to reduce the misbehavior of such children.     

Deceptive Journalism: Characteristics of Untrustworthy News Items

ABSTRACT

Trustworthiness is key in journalism, yet some journalists intentionally deceive their audiences by fabricating sources or inventing news stories altogether. Earlier research suggests that deceitful news articles have characteristics that are different from trustworthy news articles. We aimed to confirm and expand on the existing literature by examining the case of Perdiep Ramesar, an esteemed Dutch journalist until it was discovered in 2014 that sources were non-existing in 126 of his articles for national newspaper Trouw (“Fidelity”). Using content analysis, we searched for systematic differences in source use and presentation comparing Ramesar’s deceptive news articles with two same-sized sets of reliable articles, (1) articles on similar topics from other journalists and (2) articles with verifiable sources from Ramesar himself. Results indicate that compared to real news sources, fictitious sources are more often secondary definers, who are presented in more stereotypical ways and through more and longer direct quotations. Furthermore, negations and self-references occur more often in deceptive news articles.     

Why are they not accessing it? User barriers to clinical information access

The Medical Library Association''s InSight Initiative provides an open and collaborative environment for library and industry partners to discuss vexing problems and find solutions to better serve their users. The initiative''s fifth summit, continuing work from the previous summit, focused on understanding how users discover and access information in the clinical environment. During the summit, participants were divided into working groups and encouraged to create a tangible product as a result of their discussions. At the end of the summit, participants established a framework for understanding users'' pain points, discussed possible solutions to those points, and received feedback on their work from an End User Advisory Board comprising physicians, clinical researchers, and clinical faculty in biomedicine. In addition to the pain point framework, participants are developing MLA InSight Initiative Learning content with modules to educate librarians and publishers about critical aspects of user behavior. The 2020 Insight Initiative Fall Forum will serve as a virtual home for constructive dialogue between health sciences librarians and publishers on improving discovery and access to information.     

Support for student and staff wives in social transition in a university setting

This paper describes an university sponsored, professionally mediated self-help support program for wives of graduate students and staff members and discusses the rationale for its structure. First, we identify the kinds of problems these women have that make it difficult for them to adapt to their new surroundings. We then present the program as it now functions, together with reports on the wives' assessments of different features of the program. In the discussion that follows, we outline the problems of implementing and maintaining this kind of support program and suggest why self-help groups for this constituency need the active involvement of a professional familiar with the details of campus resources and social life. We also address the importance of locating that professional in a strategic place within the organization to be able to act on that knowledge.     

Mission-Focused Collections: Rebirth of the Seminarbibliothek as an Ebook Collection

German universities built over the years highly specialized book collections for use by faculty and graduate students. The German term, seminarbibliothek, is often applied to these types of collections, although examples can be found in universities across Europe. The purpose of this article is to examine a similar type of collection using ebooks in veterinary science and to compare this collection to the standard subject classified ebook collections. Most collection development in college and university libraries focuses on academic subjects. The type of collection being described here focuses on a mission. A mission-focused collection increases the use of library holdings and greatly benefits the stakeholders within the institution. This study looks at how such a collection might be formed and defined and what possible effects this might have on the use of collections of this type.     

Another Bridge Across the Access to Justice Gap: LII's Virtual Reference Desk

The Legal Information Institute (LII) has been at the forefront of access to justice for 25 years as the first organization to publish online the United States Code. More than just publishing the law online, the LII has been the leader in helping people find and understand the law since 1992, through innovative technologies they've created or employed for use with their collections and through partnerships with other like-minded organizations, groups, and individuals. Two decades later, the LII was inspired to help more people trying to find and understand the law. This summer will mark the third anniversary of the LII's virtual Reference Desk.