A comparison of OpenURL link resolvers: The results of a University of Connecticut Libraries environmental scan

Open URL link resolvers are emerging technological tools designed to increase use of library collections by automating the process of locating and accessing library holdings. This study examines the system architecture and capabilities of commercially available OpenURL link resolvers to assess viable options for the University of Connecticut Libraries. Data for the study, largely experiential feedback received from libraries employing OpenURL link resolvers, were gathered through a series of evaluative activities. These included a preliminary literature review, Web survey, follow-up e-mail survey, and on-site visits to libraries. Results were analyzed within the context of the University of Connecticut Libraries' resources and needs. Analysis revealed wide variation in library experiences with and perception of product functionality and performance, as well as requisite staff and financial investments.     

Playing football without a ball: language,reading and academic performance in a high‐poverty school

Second language (L2) reading research suggests that there is a complex interplay between L2 proficiency, first language (L1) reading and L2 reading. However, not much is known about the effect of L1 proficiency on L1 reading, and of L1 reading on L2 reading, or vice versa, in bilingual settings when readers have few opportunities for extensive reading in their L1. The relationships between L1 (Northern Sotho) and L2 (English) proficiency and L1 and L2 reading were examined in Grade 7 learners attending a high‐poverty primary school in South Africa, during the course of a year when a reading intervention programme was implemented. The effect that attention to reading and accessibility of books had on the learners' reading proficiency in both languages was examined, and the factors that predicted academic performance were analysed. When the learners were engaged in more reading, L2 reading contributed more variance to L1 reading than L1 proficiency. Reading in both languages also contributed significantly to academic performance. The study highlights the need for more cross‐linguistic reading research in different educational settings.     

Method as a journey: a narrative dialogic partnership illuminating decision-making in qualitative educational research

Qualitative education research is an inherently complex landscape, presenting the qualitative researcher with constant ethical and reasoned decision-making. Presented as a narrative dialogic, this paper traces and juxtaposes the method stories of two qualitative researchers who focused their work around education phenomena, but in different contexts and in different ways. One researcher’s narrative study of phenomena via interviews is juxtaposed with the other’s phenomenographical investigation utilizing Facebook status updates. Seeing researcher thinking side-by-side provides a comparison that teases out the ways in which researchers might consciously grapple with thinking around method. These twin method stories offer ways for other qualitative researchers to think about their own decision-making as they address the challenges of balancing subjectivity and rigour, authenticity of reported data, and protection of participants. This dialogic partnership points to the malleability of method. It also encourages further exploration of the complexities of qualitative education research in which the researcher is often insider–outsider or outsider–insider.