Strategic Marketing of Library Resources and Services

The development of marketing activities for an academic library as an outgrowth of an overall library strategic plan can assist in clarifying which key resources and services should be promoted and in developing the optimal activities for communicating their benefits. Marketing as an ancillary process to strategic planning can increase awareness and use of library resources and services among targeted user groups and can present a clear, consistent image to students, faculty, and administration as to what the library offers to the life of the university community and validate its continued funding. A permanent library marketing committee is the best means for coordinating library marketing activities.     

Format Overlap of the New York Times: A Collection Management Case Study

The issue in academic libraries of format duplication for the same title in print, microfilm, and electronic formats continues to strain library budgets, facilities, and staff. This article reviews the criteria used by a medium-sized academic library for deciding what formats of the New York Times to continue to collect and maintain. A research study was conducted to ascertain the completeness of coverage in both the online and microfilm formats of this title, with the results used as additional decision criteria.     

Google Book Search and Metadata

This article summarizes published documents on metadata provided by Google for books scanned as part of the Google Book Search (GBS) project and provides suggestions for improvement. The faulty, misleading, and confusing metadata in current Google records can pose potentially serious problems for users of GBS. Google admits that it took data, which proved to be inaccurate, from many sources and is attempting to correct errors. Some argue that metadata is not needed with keyword searching; but optical character recognition (OCR) errors, synonym control, and materials in foreign languages make reliable metadata a requirement for academic researchers. The authors recommend that users should be able to submit error reports to Google to correct faulty metadata.     

Developmental dyslexia,cerebellar/vestibular brain function and possible links to exercise-based interventions: a review

The Phonological Processing Deficit (PPD) hypothesis remains the most influential theory to explain why some children fail to acquire appropriate reading skills. However, current research suggests that there may be other deficits operating, and that the phonological processing deficit may be just one manifestation of a deeper underlying anatomical syndrome that originates in the cerebellar or vestibular areas of the brain. Claims that exercise regimes or programmes of vestibular stimulation may provide a ‘cure’ for developmental dyslexia (specific reading difficulties) prompt scepticism among the scientific community and raise concerns about the exploitation of vulnerable parents. The paper provides a review of research into the causes of specific reading difficulties at the behavioural, cognitive and biological level of explanation, and considers whether or not there is any theoretical basis for the use of exercise-based intervention programmes. Following consideration of recent findings from a range of scientific disciplines, it is concluded that such ‘unconventional’ methods of intervention may draw some theoretical support from the scientific literature, although researchers are cautioned to be wary of comorbidity issues. It is also concluded that more rigorous and independent evaluations of the success (or otherwise) of exercise-based interventions are needed.     

Students' reactions after cheating: An attributional analysis

The hypothesis that students who cheat will externalize the cause of this behavior was tested by contrasting the causal inferences of cheating students and noncheating students. The results supported Kelley's attributional model, for cheaters tended to note the high distinctiveness, high consensus, and low consistency of their actions, while noncheaters noted the low distinctiveness, low consensus, and high consistency of their morally commendable actions. Comparison of the students' attributions with inferences formulated by uninvolved observers also indicated that students tended to formulate self-serving attributions, suggesting that external attributions—in providing students with an excuse for cheating—may work to limit self-concept changes after misconduct.     

The Construction of Meaning from Text: possible effects of different reading strategies

An examination is reported of the effect of differences in reading strategies on the construction of meaning from novel length text. Following a brief review of psychological theory relevant to the question of how particular strategies could constrain meaning construction, specific differences are hypothesised in relation to Orwell's classic tale, Animal Farm. The results of an experimental examination using post‐graduate Diploma in Education students as subjects, and multidimensional scaling as the analytic technique, support the contention that reading strategies are important in the construction of differential meanings. The educational implications of the results are discussed in relation to the change in school practice from teacher‐directed reading to students reading more books but on their own or in small groups, without direct teacher intervention.