Incorporating Social Justice in Reference Education

Students of reference service can better prepare for careers in serving today’s communities by not only being sensitive to the needs of all members of their communities but also serving as advocates for services for those who are disenfranchised. This column addresses the place of incorporating the philosophy and application of social justice into the education of information specialists who are preparing for careers as reference librarians.     

Genre systems and “keeping track” in everyday life

Keeping track of what needs to be done and where and when and by whom is a common practice in Canadian households. The documentary tools used to coordinate the work of keeping track in everyday life are the focus of this paper. We consider these documentary tools as belonging to genres. On the basis of four in-depth interviews, observation, and photography, we identify four genres common to all participants: check-ins or status reports, lists, reminders, and calendars. We map examples of these genres to show that they are socially and intertextually connected—in genre systems—with institutions and organizations beyond the home. Archivists have much to gain by applying the concept of genre-as-social-action and using ethnographic methods to study personal records from the creator’s perspective. Such approaches provide insight into the contexts within which personal records are created and used, including the intertextual linkages between personal and institutional recordkeeping.     

The Role of Knowledge,Social Norms,and Attitudes Toward Organic Products and Shopping Behavior: Survey Results from High School Students in Vienna

In 2005 a survey was used to investigate social norms and attitudes of Viennese high school students (14–20 years, n = 340) toward organic products. Young people, who already participate in household decisions and consume organic products, have not yet been recognized sufficiently in research. The Theory of Reasoned Action and discriminant analysis are used to explore relations of a number of variables and the complex field of factors influencing Viennese high school students’ shopping behavior when shopping for organic products. Key findings include the importance of primary socialization in forming social norms and shaping behavior. Surprisingly, knowledge of organic products does not explain students’ self-reported shopping behavior when shopping for organic products. Cultural patterns seem to be far more useful to predict behavior and attitudes toward organic products.     

Using compositional data analysis to explore accumulation of sedentary behavior,physical activity and youth health

Purpose:The study aimed to describe youth time-use compositions,focusing on time spent in shorter and longer bouts of sedentary behavior and physical activity(PA),and to examine associations of these time-use compositions with cardiometabolic biomarkers.Methods:Accelerometer and cardiometabolic biomarker data from 2 Australian studies involving youths 7-13 years old were pooled(complete cases with accelerometry and adiposity marker data,n=782).A 9-component time-use composition was formed using compositional data analysis:time in shorter and longer bouts of sedentary behavior;time in shorter and longer bouts of light-,moderate-,or vigorous-intensity PA;and"other time"(i.e.,non-wear/sleep).Shorter and longer bouts of sedentary time were defined as<5 min and>5 min,respectively.Shorter bouts of light-,moderate-,and vigorous-intensity PA were defined as<1 min;longer bouts were defined as≥1 min.Regression models examined associations between overall time-use composition and cardiometabolic biomarkers.Then,associations were derived between ratios of longer activity patterns relative to shorter activity patterns,and of each intensity level relative to the other intensity levels and"other time",and cardiometabolic biomarkers.Results:Confounder-adjusted models showed that the overall time-use composition was associated with adiposity,blood pressure,lipids,and the summary score.Specifically,more time in longer bouts of light-intensity PA relative to shorter bouts of light-intensity PA was significantly associated with greater body mass index z-score(zBMI)(β=1.79;SE=0.68)and waist circumference(β=18.35,SE=4.78).When each activity intensity was considered relative to all higher intensities and"other time",more time in light-and vigorous-intensity PA,and less time in sedentary behavior and moderate-intensity PA,were associated with lower waist circumference.Conclusion:Accumulating PA,particularly light-intensity PA,in frequent short bursts may be more beneficial for limiting adiposity compared to accumulating the same amount of PA at these intensities in longer bouts.     

Narrow identity resources for future students: the 21st century skills movement encounters the Norwegian education policy context

21st century skills is a global network of corporate and governmental influences that promotes competences suited to fit the future knowledge economy. Through a discourse analysis of an influential Official Norwegian Report, ‘The School of the Future. Renewal of Subjects and Competences’ (NOU 2015:8), this paper explores how ideas of 21st century skills are translated into the Norwegian education policy context. Firstly, the paper analyses the context-specific reasons for receptiveness by investigating discursive warrants. Secondly, the paper identifies how the policy document constructs a set of preferred subject positions that constitute an image of an ideal student. Thirdly, the paper investigates the discursive framing of these subject positions. We find that the policy document constructs an image of an ideal student who is creative, responsible, cooperative, engaged, self-regulated and in complete control of herself, her learning and her future. This image draws on more pronounced neo-liberal discourses, but also well-established discourses in the Norwegian context, such as social democratic progressivism. This intertwining of discourses shows how traits of homogeneity related to global ideas, as well as heterogeneity related to the Norwegian policy context, are both visible in the Norwegian translation of 21st century skills.     

E-Rogenous Zones: Positioning Pornography in the Digital Economy

Electronic commerce offers immense opportunities to the producers of pornographic products and services. Although this sector generates significant revenues, it is almost invisible in academic literature on the information society and the digital economy, where it is both little discussed and undertheorized. We suggest that a social shaping of technology framework may help explain current moves by stakeholders in the industry to achieve legitimacy, and that this approach may assist future analyses of commercial dynamics in the online pornography sector.     

Helping Students Help Themselves: Strategies for Successful Mentoring Relationships

Mentoring has long been heralded as a method of training and socializing the next generation of professional counselors and counselor educators. Yet, there appears to be a disparity between the promotion and the practice of mentoring in counselor education. The authors attempted to reconcile this disparity by suggesting a set of strategies that mentors and apprentices may use as they establish and maintain successful mentoring relationships. Implications for counselors and counselor educators are discussed.     

Missed opportunities: the IEA’s study of civic education and civic education in post‐communist countries

This article argues that the opportunity in Phase I of the IEA’s Civic Education Study to include the new democracies’ experiences of citizenship education have not been sufficiently exploited. ‘Borrowing’ citizenship education from abroad and citizenship education for ‘civil society’ have been chosen as examples of problems in the new democracies which have not been exploited. The final section focuses on the question of why new and recurring problems in citizenship education, which occurred in post‐communist Europe, have not been identified, described or analysed in the IEA’s publication New paradigms and new recurring paradoxes in education for citizenship: an international comparison. The paper also points to some of the circumstances that seem to have had an impact on which problems were analysed in the study and which problems were largely ignored.