Adoption and adaptation in the use of transaction processing systems: The case of OCLC software

Library networks have developed transaction processing software as automation tools for technical and public services, based on generic library models. Transaction processing systems are shown to be a flexible type of design, allowing users to introduce modifications which aid their individual objectives: 92% of user institutions reported they made local modifications to standard OCLC practices and procedures. These findings are discussed in terms of network models for decision making in software use; methodology of software user studies; and diffusion of innovation processes in post-implementation stages of transaction processing software.     

Principle learning as a function of instruction on excluding irrelevant variables

The purpose of this study was to determine if instruction on excluding irrelevant variables enhanced learning the principle that explained why objects float and sink. The results of the study show that learning the correct principle without first learning to exclude the false principles is not as effective as learning to exclude the false principles and then learning the correct principle. The data also indicate that the presentation of the verbal principle in the program enhanced achievement on the concept criterion test.     

Critical race theory in education,Marxism and abstract racial domination

In the context of the ongoing debate between critical race theory (CRT) and Marxism, I begin in this paper by examining the origins of CRT in Critical Legal Studies (CLS) in the United States. I go on to describe CRT's entry into education, first in that country, and then in the United Kingdom. I move on to a discussion of current debates between critical race theorists and Marxists, focusing on an analysis of arguments for the existence of abstract racial domination.     

Newspaper Portrayals of Child Abuse: Frequency of Coverage and Frames of the Issue

For several years, child welfare advocates have claimed that the U.S. news media misrepresent child abuse and fail to highlight its societal dimensions. To investigate the accuracy of this diagnosis, the following study examines findings of a content analysis of child abuse coverage in major national and urban U.S. newspapers from 2000 to 2008. First, we determine how frequently newspapers covered the different types of child abuse. Second, we analyze whether child abuse has been framed as either an isolated phenomenon (episodic and individual frames) or a broadly systemic and public problem (thematic and societal frames). Third, we look for changes in coverage frequency and media frames over time. Findings are mixed: On one hand, different types of child abuse receive varying degrees of coverage, with sexual abuse receiving a disproportionately large amount; on the other hand, the topic of child abuse in general has predominantly been framed thematically as a problem that has societal causes and solutions. However, there was no clear pattern in the way these causes and solutions have been framed over the years. Based on these findings, we suggest that child welfare advocates should focus on communication goals other than influencing media frames.     

Talking about public opinion and public opinion yet to come: Media and legislator constructions of public opinion in the Clinton‐Lewinsky Scandal

Previous scholarship has argued that constructions of public opinion serve one of three dominant purposes: (1) to provide drama; (2) to promote particular strategic political interests; and (3) to symbolically legitimize the public's role in democracy. This paper analyzes media and legislator constructions of public opinion in the Clinton‐Lewinsky scandal. We assess the uses of public opinion and the purposes to which they were put, and particularly examine the use of different time frames in this discourse. Throughout the scandal, the public remained firmly ambivalent about President Clinton, with majorities supporting him remaining in office, even as they disapproved of his sexual relationship with Ms. Lewinsky. However, the media frequently emphasized the possibility that public might change, and this future orientation was joined to a strongly disapproving emphasis on public morality, rooted in a construction of past values. Later the media took present public opinion as a given, but political implications for the present and future framed the coverage. Once the scandal came to Congress, members of Congress usually recognized the public's support for President Clinton, but offered different interpretations of the roots of this support, its proper influence on Congress, and its future course. In assessing political consequences of their votes, legislators acted like investors involved in futures markets, and judged which opinions were likely to retain intensity in the coming months and years. Changing in a dynamic fashion in response to events, elites’ judgments, and polls, constructions of public opinion served multiple purposes, and were strongly tinged by assessments about the stability and basis of public opinion. The low use of present‐oriented time frames delegitimized citizen views.     

Photography Albums/Collections

Ansel Adams, Images 1923-1974 (Greenwich, Conn.: New York Graphic Society, 1974---$65 before January 1st, $75 afterwords; $275 for limited edition)

Arnold Newman's One Mind's Eye: The Portaits and Other Photographs of Arnold Newman (New York: David R. Godine, 1974---$27.50)

Ben Madow's Edward Weston: Fifty Years (New York: Aperture Press 1974---$40.00)

Robert Doty (ed.) Photography in America (New York: Random House, 1974---$25.00)

Milton Meltzer and Bernard Cole's The Eye of Conscience: Photographers and Social Change (Chicago: Follett, 1974--- $6.95)

Library of Photographers (New York: Grossman in cooperation with the International Fund for Concerned Photographers, Inc., 1974--- prices vary but books in both hard and soft cover)

Masters of Contemporary Photography (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974---$7.95/3.95 each volume)

Walter Herdeg's Photographic '74 (New York: Hastings House, 1974---$35.00)

Photography Year, 1974 (New York: Time-Life Books, 1974--- $11.95)

Roger Whitehorse's New York: Sunshine and Shadow--A Photographic Record of the City and its People from 1350 to 1915 (Yew York: Harper & Row, 1974---$12.50)

Ralph Stein's The Pin-Up: From 1052 to Now (New York: Playboy Press with Simon and Schuster, 1974---$17.95)     

A Study of the Transferable Elements in Interviews with Parents

The authors used correlational and confirmatory factor analytic techniques to examine the relationship between measures of the constructs of mathematics anxiety and test anxiety. The correlations found between measures of the 2 constructs were nearly as high as those found within measures of the 2 constructs, bringing into question the separateness of the constructs. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis provided some support for a distinction between the constructs; the correlation between the 2 factors, however, was relatively high. Those findings suggest that mathematics anxiety and test anxiety may be separate phenomena; the conceptual uniqueness of mathematics anxiety, however, needs to be further delineated and its measurement improved.     

The Development of Provision for Young People with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties: An activity theory analysis

In this article we consider aspects of past and continuing transformations in specific forms of social practice relating to educational services for young people now described as having emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). Our particular concern is the evolution of this provision and how historical dilemmas and tensions are relevant to explaining present and likely future developments. We believe that the framework of Activity Theory, not previously employed in this field, is a useful aid to analysis and facilitates wider understanding.     

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT IN COMMUNITY/JUNIOR COLLEGES: THE STATE OF THE ART AS VIEWED BY THE ACADEMIC AFFAIRS OFFICER

The purpose of this study was to determine the state of the art in curriculum development in U.S. community/junior colleges. Responding to a questionnaire of 33 items, 184 academic affairs officers expressed their perception of community/junior college curriculum development including (1) goals and objectives, (2) content, (3) learning experiences, (4) learner characteristics, and (5) planning and evaluation. Several areas are identified as needing attention that provide direction for improved curriculum development.     

Extending the Trait–State–Occasion Model: How Important Is Within-Wave Measurement Equivalence?

Abstract

Trait–State–Occasion (TSO) covariance models represent an important advance in methods for studying the longitudinal stability of latent constructs. Such models have only been examined under fairly restricted conditions (e.g., having only 2 tau-equivalent indicators per wave). In this study, Monte Carlo simulations revealed the effects of having 2 versus 3 indicators per wave and relaxing the within-wave tau equivalence. These modifications were examined under conditions that varied with regard to the within-wave trait variance and the cross-wave stability of occasion influences. In general, the TSO model performed well (i.e., few convergence problems or out-of-range parameter estimates) under most of these conditions; however, the likelihood of improper solutions increased when only 2 indicators were used per wave, when factor loadings were small, when the proportion of trait variance was either very high or very low, and when the occasion factor was highly stable. Based on these findings, recommendations are made for successful use of TSO models with real data.