Researching Telemedicine: Capturing Complex Clinical Interactions with a Simple Interface Design

Telemedicine has been shown to be an effective means of managing follow-up care in chronic diseases such as depression. Exactly why telemedicine calls work, however, remains largely unknown because there are no adequate research tools to describe the complex communicative interactions in these encounters. We report here an ongoing project to investigate the efficacy of telemedicine in depression care, arguing that technical communication specialists have unique contributions to make to this kind of research.     

Role of the University in Community College In-Service Education

Abstract

Of concern to many educators is in-service education of community college faculty. Some two-year colleges have looked to themselves for in-service programs and activities; many have turned to the university for this. A study was conducted among community college leaders and university professors involved in community college education to determine the current status of in-service education in the community college. Opinions related to this topic as well as the role of the university in in-service education of community college faculty were also sampled.     

Television and Political Participation Among Adolescents: The Impact of Television Viewing,Entertainment and Information Preferences

Although sweeping statements about the effect of television viewing on political participation could still be found in the literature in the 1990s, it is now commonly held that the effect of television should be studied as a multidimensional phenomenon. Not only the time spent watching television but also the kinds of programs being watched and even the preference for particular stations are assumed to have an effect. In this article, we report on a survey among 6,330 Belgian adolescents allowing for a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between various dimensions of television viewing and political participation. We focus on adolescents, because research suggests that the decline in participation levels clearly manifests itself in this age group. The results of the analysis confirm a negative impact of the amount of television viewing, which is partly counterbalanced by a positive impact of a preference for information and for public broadcasting. We discuss the implications of these findings among adolescents for adult participation behavior.     

Children and Media: On Growth and Gaps

This essay argues that there is far too little research on the effects of new types of media programming and formats on children. In fact, the gap between the research base and production and policy issues appears to be widening. The essay advocates use of the developmental research model to study media effects on children. More specifically, researchers should focus more on the neuropsychological effects of format characteristics and viewing styles of children.     

Ronald Reagan and the oral tradition

President Reagan's success stems from his use of rhetorical structures characteristic of the oral epics and his use of the electronic media which partially replicate conditions characteristic of preliterate oral societies. These societies develop a culture transmitted orally through epic poems or recitations. Such recitations are developed by themes, formulas, and repetition as well as by distinctive thought patterns, experiential and non‐analytic. Reagan's methods will have a lasting influence on American political discourse, since future politicians will emulate his techniques.     

Other Foreign Media

Ellen Propper Mickiewicz Media and the Russian Public (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1981— price not given, but available in hardback and paperback).

Television and Circulation of Program mes and Ideas (RAI—Radiotelevisione Italiana, Viale Mazzini, 14, Rome, Italy—free on request, paper)     

Synthesizing Pedagogies and Engaging Students: Creating Blended eLearning Strategies for Library Research and Writing Instruction

Twenty-first century students need consideration, ideas, and face-to-face work to enable their success in acquiring new information. Twenty-first century skills are generally described as core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem solving. Collaborative work between the classroom instructor and the librarian builds digital reference and research materials to follow a scaffolded research project specifically from start to finish. This article identifies reference opportunities and the importance of online and face-to-face student support. Instead of a linear approach to information literacy, this article demonstrates a chunked eLearning in-context performance support style.     

The Author Challenge: Identification of Self in the Scholarly Literature

Considering the expansion of research output across the globe, along with the growing demand for quantitative tracking of research outcomes by government authorities and research institutions, the challenges of author identity are increasing. In recent years, a number of initiatives to help solve the author “name game” have been launched from all areas of the scholarly information market space. This article introduces the various author identification tools and services Thomson Reuters provides, including Distinct Author Sets and ResearcherID—which reflect a combination of automated clustering and author participation—as well as the use of other data types, such as grants and patents, to expand the universe of author identification. Industry-wide initiatives such as the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) are also described. Future author-related developments in ResearcherID and Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge are also included.     

The Role of Mentoring Support and Self-Management Strategies on Reported Career Outcomes

This study examined the contribution of self-management strategies to job outcomes for employees involved in mentoring relationships. Participants (n = 158) reported their use of three types of self-management strategies, the level of support functions provided by their mentors, and their job satisfaction and perceived career success. Results showed that individuals who used self-set career goals reported greater job satisfaction and perceived career success; those who engaged in positive cognitions also had higher job satisfaction; and those who used behavioral self-management strategies reported greater perceived career success. Mentoring and self-management strategies each contributed uniquely to satisfaction and perceived career satisfaction. After controlling for amount of instrumental support provided by the mentors, positive cognitions remained predictive of perceived career success, and participation in self-set career goals were related to higher levels of job satisfaction. Moderator analysis showed that the self-management strategies appeared to be useful in the absence of certain types of mentor support.