Using Cloud-Based Software to Build an Interlibrary Loan Survey Databank

As an assignment for the Reference and User Services Association and as part of the American Library Association Emerging Leaders Program, the authors created a databank to house the results of a large-scale interlibrary loan staffing survey. After examining the pros and cons of several software solutions, the authors decided to use a Web-based database product, Dabble DB. The paper discusses the scope, outcomes, and value of the Reference and User Services Association interlibrary loan survey, the development of the authors’ project plan, and recommendations for the use of cloud-based database products in library operations.     

Communications activities of Wisconsin farm families in wintertime

Documents at the Dwight Eisenhower Library reveal the existence of a secret television planning board which advised the candidate during the presidential campaign of 1952.     

Disseminating the Positively Aging® Teaching Materials: Results of a Controlled Trial

ABSTRACT

This study tested the effectiveness of 2 dissemination methods for the Positively Aging® teaching materials. In San Antonio, Texas, 4 middle schools participated in a 3-year controlled trial of dissemination via distance electronic support alone (control) compared to distance electronic support plus in-school support from study staff (intervention). Web site and classroom utilization of lessons were tracked. The results demonstrated that in-school staff support was necessary to disseminate these materials. Potential dissemination barriers included competition for instructional time with other curricula, teacher variability in teacher computer use, teacher and student turnover, and the effects of mandatory testing on the educational process.     

Assessment in the Service of Student Learning: Three Cases in Point

Three examples of extant testing practices (i.e., a classroom instructor's use of a simple pre-post design, the practice of teaching to the test, and the think aloud verbal protocol) are discussed to illustrate the contention that assessment in the service of testing and learning does not necessarily involve radically different assessment practices. It is demonstrated that activities already familiar to teachers and assessment specialists can powerfully inform student learning and teaching practice.