Rhetoric as a way of knowing

Islam represents one of the world's major rhetorical patterns, claiming nearly half a billion adherents from northern Africa to Indonesia. And yet, Islamic rhetoric has received relatively little scholarly attention in the West. Language differences and historical animosities dating back to the Crusades help explain this deficiency. Typifying the Judeo‐Christian view of Islam, Dante placed the Prophet Mohammed among the lower circles of Hell, with other “sowers of scandal and of schism.” Even as late as 1893, a Christian leader stood before an international conference of the world's religions and described the Middle East as “a desert of Mohammedan superstition and bigotry.”     

Accessibility,Disability, and Inclusion in Information Technologies: Introduction

Abstrat

The inclusion of informatics supporting trans‐border data flows (TDFs) in research and action related to the New World Information Order is essential. Documents prove the fact that information has been treated by developing countries as a critical element in the establishment of a New International Economic Order.

The author calls for the recognition of TDFs as an integral element of the debate over information. Such issues as free flow of information, national sovereignty, and dependent development are addressed. In the conclusion, it is argued that the International Telecommunication Union is well equipped to expand its domain of jurisdiction to TDFs in coordination with a maturing Intergovernmental Bureau for Informatics.     

Evolution of a State Periodical Index: Converting an In-House Index to a MARC-Based Database on the Web

This article describes the process of transforming the Arkansas Periodical Index, which began as a card file index in the University of Arkansas (U. of A.) Libraries, to an online database. As in many other states, in-house indexes were compiled to cover local history journals and subject-related magazines. A variety of software now exists to mount locally created databases, one option being the choice to use the same turnkey software that runs the library's online catalog. We began by converting our card files to a local Inmagic DB/Textworks database. The U. of A. received the 1991 Gale Research Award for Excellence in Reference and Adult Library Services for that design. We later mapped the database structure to MARC fields and mounted it as a Web-accessible database through our library OPAC vendor, Innovative Interfaces, Inc. (III). The authors begin with a brief history of periodical indexing, the reasons for choosing MARC formatting, and the field mapping required. The article explains the development of the database to include other publication formats, such as material from biographical compendiums, newspaper indexing, and university publications. The mapping incorporates indexing several publication formats in the same database. It also provides fields for linking citations back to the OPAC records, where users may find call numbers for journals or books, be connected to the full text of articles when available, or to an association's own website when applicable. We address some of the concerns for libraries in developing indexing projects. The article offers a mapping table of migrated fields that can be used by others wanting to encourage the rediscovery of local print periodicals and to expand access to the various materials otherwise buried in the library's special collections. The Arkansas Publications Index was released in April 2005 and is available free at http://arkindex.uark.edu/.     

From Tech Services to Leadership

Whether or not uniform titles serve any useful purpose has been debated almost since their implementation in 1981 with the adoption of AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules. Second Edihon). The problems posed by a separate bibliographic record for each physical manifestation of the same intellectual work (e.g., original, reprint, microfilm) apply to some extent to all categories of material, but present special problems for union lists of serials. This article discusses these two problem areas of serials cataloging. A proposed solution to the multiple versions dilemma is also briefly discussed.     

Technology Assessment Study in The Netherlands

The Technology Assessment Study was aimed at describing the achievement of 14/15‐year‐old pupils who either did or did not take technology, with reference to the objectives for the subject technology, as stated in the (revised) Curriculum Guideline for Technology of the Foundation for Curriculum Development (SLO). The pupils’ achievement has been, among other things, assessed by means of a written test (the Technology Achievement Test) developed by the project team. This test was administered to 1805 pupils in 86 schools covering various types of secondary education. For the condition ‘technology’ the highest mean total score belongs to pupils of schools for junior technical training, immediately followed by pupils of schools for junior agricultural training and middle schools. This study shows that the boys’ mean total score is significantly higher than that of the girls. Furthermore, it becomes evident that no relationship exists between either father's level of education or profession and the children's test scores.     

Recognising and managing pupils with mental health difficulties: teachers' views and experiences on working with educational psychologists in schools

The role and future directions of the educational psychology services are being re‐examined and there is a drive to build a more integrated system of services for children and young people that incorporates education, health and social care. This qualitative study examines teacher’s perspectives on their professional involvement with educational psychology services. The results indicate that while it was clear that educational psychologists are highly valued by teachers, there are a number of issues that teachers believe constrain service provision. We suggest that greater cross‐system consultation is needed in order to more closely examine how the roles of professionals working in education, health and social care services impact on each other.