When A. Rose is not A. Rose: the vagaries of author searching

Creation of a faculty database is a challenging but worthwhile project. In 2002, librarians at the University of Missouri-Columbia were approached by the School of Medicine to create a database of faculty publications. This article outlines the project and gives special emphasis to the problems of author searching. Discussion items include author searching syntax and providing ideas for how to determine if a publication was written by a particular author.     

Seniors connect: a partnership for training between health care and public libraries

Kaleida Health Libraries, in partnership with the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, presented "Seniors Connect: A Health Information Project." The program was funded by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and the Kaleida Health Foundation. The purpose of the project was to teach African-American and Hispanic senior citizens or their caregivers residing in the city of Buffalo how to search the Internet to find quality, accurate, understandable health information. Attendees were taught to distinguish quality information from inaccurate, misleading, and fraudulent material. A total of fourteen training sessions were offered. The Seniors Connect program was initiated with health fair at each branch library, conducted by Kaleida Health staff, to provide an opportunity for participants to learn about health care services available in their community; observe demonstrations of health information searches on the Internet; learn about new treatment modalities for diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol, thyroid abnormalities, and hypertension; and interact with area health care providers and library staff. The sessions were highly rated by attendees and many participants expressed their gratitude for a program geared specifically toward seniors.     

Assisting children and families who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices: Best practices for school psychologists

In developing individual education plans for children who need assistive technology devices, school psychologists will increasingly be called upon to assist in the decision making process regarding electronic augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices. A thorough assessment is required to select a device that is most appropriate for the child and their family. Assessment factors which must be considered within five domains (child, AAC device, service system, family, culture) are reviewed. A self-checklist is provided to help school psychologists develop and conduct thorough “best practice” assessments for the target population. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Kindergarten Teachers and Classrooms: A Transition Context

Demographic and structural features of kindergarten classrooms are described using data from the National Center for Early Development and Learning's (NCEDL) Transition Practices Survey, a nationally representative survey of kindergarten teachers (n=3595), as a first step in investigating the context of the transition to kindergarten. Findings indicate that kindergarten teachers have a lot of education and experience, but lack specific training on facilitating transitions to kindergarten. Kindergarten classrooms generally meet National Association for the Education-of Young Children (NAEYC) (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997) guidelines for class size, but are larger than some research indicates is optimal (Mosteller, 1995). All estimates are presented for the overall population and by metropolitan status, district poverty, and minority enrollment. Few differences were found between subgroups on teacher education, experience, transition training, or class size.     

A Comfortable Start for Everyone: The First Week of School in Three Multi-Age (K-2) Classrooms

This article describes the start of the school year in three multi-age classrooms where 8 new kindergarten children join 16 returning first and second graders. The authors (professor/observers and teachers) describe what happens during the first week of school in this setting where the students remain with their teachers for 3 years. They explain what the start of the year is like for the returning students (first and second graders), the new students (kindergartners), the parents, and the teachers.     

Spelling errors as a window on variations in phonological deficits among students with dyslexia

Characteristics of spelling development and spelling error patterns were examined in 100 schoolchildren (aged 7 to 15 years) previously identified as dyslexic with specific phonological weaknesses. Within a severely restricted range, spelling development generally followed a normal course despite wide individual variation. The group was divided using two different spelling criteria: (1) global spelling stage, and (2) a split based on the number of spelling confusions involving phonetically similar consonants. Comparisons using either criterion led to the conclusion that better spellers are also better readers and are more skilled in phoneme manipulation. Regression analyses suggested that measures of phonemic segmenting and manipulation make independent contributions to the acquisition of word reading. Phoneme segmenting explained significant variance only when students were subdivided according to errors in coding confusable consonants. Implications for instruction are considered.