The self experience of the gifted person: Theory and definitions

Recent articles on the gifted self are characterized by theoretical confusion and lack of definitional clarity. This article, anchored in current self psychology theory, defines the self experience as the person's subjective experience of organization and meaning, the maintenance of which is crucial to normal functioning. Interactions with others are a formative part of the self experience. Traits of giftedness, and the reactions of others to these, contribute to the gifted self experience. Social and emotional problems of giftedness, such as those that arise with asynchronous development and perfectionism, are based on a compromised sense of cohesion and unity of the self experience.     

Right is Wrong: an examination of the effect of right justification on reading

Previous attempts to examine the effects of different types of text format on reading have focused on the improvement of reading. The present study investigated the effect of using a text format that might be predicted to disrupt reading. In this study 56 individuals were presented with reading material presented in right-justified format and in'ragged'uneven line format. Subjects performed significantly worse on right-justified material. Subjects who were classified as good readers on the basis of a pretest were more affected than poor readers. It is suggested that this may result from differences in the reading style of good and poor readers.     

Localized Representation of Formative Assessment in China: A Regional Study from a Sociocultural Perspective

Formative assessment originated and developed in a Western context. With its function of learning improvement being evidenced in research, formative assessment has been adopted in assessment initiatives in multiple contexts including that of China. Research, however, reveals that formative assessment as implemented in Chinese contexts is by no means equivalent to what is understood and implemented in the West; rather, in many cases, it is decontextualised and recontextualised, or culturally appropriated. This paper presents findings of a study which examined the culturally appropriated representation of formative assessment within eight universities in a mid-western province of China. Senior administrators in each university were interviewed face-to-face and individually to fulfill three purposes: (1) To clarify understandings of formative assessment in the area of college English education; (2) To explore the existing gap between formative assessment principles and their representation in College English Curriculum Requirements (CECR), and the gap between formative assessment initiatives at the national level and local contexts; and (3) To distill implications for policy-borrowing and effective implementation in the Chinese context.     

A network under stress: using embeddedness to understand uncertainty management and resilience in campus emergencies

Persistent school shootings have generated ongoing pressure to assess and enhance crisis communication effectiveness via strategies such as resilience-building and post-crisis restoration. A network perspective offers a robust, multilevel approach for examining complex information flows among community, campus, and individual actors affected by crises. Drawing on relational and structural embeddedness and Uncertainty Management Theory, we offer nine propositions that help explain structural and relational changes in a network over time. Although theoretically driven, these propositions are primarily functional, offering practical implications for safety officials and administrators trying to understand, prepare for, and respond to crises. Thus, we suggest measures and recommendations to improve information flow, uncertainty management, and resilience before, during, and after a crisis.     

Cooperative cataloging: History and the current state

This paper considers the history of the emergence and development of cooperative cataloging in Russia and abroad and presents the first projects and programs in the field of cooperative cataloging: CONSER, NACO, BIBCO, and PCC. It elucidates the activity of the OCLC Center and Consortium of European Scientific Libraries, which are the first-rate international cooperative associations, as well as the ARBIKON Association and LIBNET centers which are Russian centers of cooperative cataloging.     

Open access to scientific knowledge: Its state,problems, and prospects of development

The concept of “open access” to scientific and teaching information has become one of the specific forms of the worldwide trend towards the formation of global interactive knowledge. This paper presents the basic information on open access (OA) to scientific and teaching information, its current status, financing options, problems and prospects of development, and the participation of Russia in this process.     

Information and information technologies as applied in political strategy modeling

This paper analyzes modern information technologies as applied in the political environment and considers the content and peculiarities of using IT programs in strategic political modeling.