History of Communication Technology

Antonio Meucci 1808–1889 by Marco Nese and Francesco Nicotra (Italy/Italy Magazine, 150 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10011—price not given, ISBN not provided)

The Spirit of Independent Telephony by Charles A. Pleasance (Independent Telephone Books, PO Box 321, Johnson City, TN 37601—$29.50, ISBN 0-9622205-0-7)

Video Recording Technology: Its Impact on Media and Home Entertainment by Aaron Foisi Nmungwun (Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1989—$49.95/$24.95, ISBN 0-0858-0360-2 hard, and 0-8058-0622-9 paper)

Communication Satellites: Their Development and Impact by Heather E. Hudson (New York: Free Press, 1990—$24.95, ISBN 0-02-915320-4)     

How to Be Engaging: Recreational Reading and Readers' Advisory in the Academic Library

The Future Voices in Public Services column is a forum for students in graduate library and information science programs to discuss key issues they see in academic library public services, to envision what they feel librarians in public service have to offer to academia, to tell us of their visions for the profession, or to tell us of research that is going on in library schools. We hope to provide fresh perspectives from those entering our field in both the United States and other countries. Interested faculty of graduate library and information science programs who would like their students' ideas represented in these pages are invited to contact Nancy H. Dewald at nxd7@psu.edu.

Heather Nicholson is a recent graduate of the Library and Information Science program at the University of Western Ontario. Here she discusses leisure reading and readers' advisory in academic libraries.

The Master of Library and Information Science program at University of Western Ontario aims to graduate qualified professionals with a thorough knowledge of theory and practice in library and information science. The program is at the graduate level because professional activity in this area is based not just on traditional and current practices but also on theory that has been tested and supported by research. We strive to maintain and improve our national and international stature in research and education through multidisciplinary programs delivered by faculty members with a wide range of scholarly interests and qualifications. Through our optional co-op program, students gain exposure to the professional environment, an opportunity to use and develop newly acquired skills, and practical experience in the field.     

Disability and accessibility in the library and information science literature: A content analysis

The library profession is a strong and vocal proponent of increased information access for people with disabilities. With the discipline's longstanding interest in the subject of services to people with disabilities, questions arise about how the profession perceives the phenomenon. How is library and information science (LIS), as a discipline, conceptualizing disability and accessibility? A content analysis of the LIS literature was conducted to examine this question. The literature provides a fertile ground for study as it reflects the profession's approaches to, and perceptions of, a topic. This research identifies the major issues and trends in the research about accessibility and disability in the LIS literature throughout a 10-year period, 2000–2010. The strongest theme in the literature is accessibility as it relates to web, database, and software, while the prevailing disability of focus is visual disabilities. The overall environment emphasizes technology more than attitudinal aspects associated with disabilities. The research could benefit from increased direct participation of people with disabilities.     

Historical memory and the importance of the Bracero Project in the struggles of trabajadores migrantes today

The author undertook a field study at the Centro de los Trabajadores Agrvcolas Fronterizos (Center for Border Agricultural Workers, or CTAF) in El Paso, Texas, while she was a student on the Border Studies Program in the fall of 2000. This ethnography treats the theme of the connections between institutionalized racism and the suppression of historical memory, with specific reference to the Bracero Program. It also examines what roles ''outsiders'' can play in progressive political movements.     

The Current Status of Graduate Training in Suicide Risk Assessment

Directors and coordinators (n = 75) of graduate programs in school psychology approved by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) were surveyed regarding their training practices in suicide risk assessment. Respondents viewed the assessment of suicide risk as an important part of graduate instruction, and most believed that students completing training at their institutions would be adequately prepared to perform this task. Almost all directors indicated that a portion of class lectures was dedicated to addressing child/adolescent suicide risk assessment, and students were reportedly exposed to this topic in multiple courses, particularly those associated with practicum and internship. Students in doctoral and nondoctoral programs received comparable training and were judged to be equally prepared to perform suicide‐related professional activities in the schools. Gaps in training were revealed involving instruction in the use of quantitative measures of risk, large‐scale suicide prevention efforts, interventions with suicidal youth, and postvention activities.     

Evaluating the impact of early years educational reform in Wales to age seven: the potential use of the UK Millennium Cohort Study

Early years education has received considerable attention in recent years, particularly as a result of longitudinal studies that demonstrate the importance of the first few years in a child’s development and educational experience. In 2004, a new approach to early years education, the Foundation Phase, was introduced in Wales. This is a major flagship policy of the recently devolved Welsh Government, and marks a radical departure from the more assessment-driven competency-based approaches to early childhood education that existed prior to the Foundation Phase. Studying approximately 2000 children in Wales who are part of the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), all born in 2000–2001 we investigate the potential impact of the Foundation Phase pilot on a range of key academic and well-being outcome measures. Compared with other children, those attending a Foundation Phase pilot school tended to have lower scores in a number of academic assessments at age seven and lower subjective well-being, in terms of their attitudes to learning and well-being at school. We consider these surprising, yet concerning, results in the context of the methodological limitations to this analysis and propose how the MCS can be further used to substantiate these findings.     

Serving the preschool gifted child: Programming and resources

Highlighting the unique educational needs of gifted and high ability preschoolers, this article guides the reader to consider the characteristics of young gifted children along with appropriate assessment practices in planning educational programming. A triarchic approach to programs and services for gifted preschoolers is outlined with major emphases on an integrated curriculum, ongoing evaluation, and parental involvement. Specific strategies including internet resources are described to guide practitioners in providing optimal learning environments for this distinctive student population.     

Exposing Student Teachers' Content Knowledge: Empowerment or debilitation?

Previous governments and other commentators have emphasized the relationship between a teacher's knowledge of the subject material being taught and the quality of learning outcomes. This has been reflected in the entry requirements to Initial Teacher Training (ITT) (primary) of public examination performance in the core subjects. However, disquiet has been expressed as to the efficacy of such qualifications as indicators of knowledge and skills at the entry point. Recent changes to ITT (primary) regulations require students' actual knowledge of the content of the three core subjects to be audited. This paper reports and reflects on the effects that re-examining their knowledge and skills in mathematics has had on the confidence of primary trainee teachers. It presents some key questions that must be addressed if the current audit regulations are indeed to benefit our future teachers and to enhance the learning of our pupils.     

Pre-Service Reading Teacher Efficacy and Tutoring: A Review

Teachers’ personal self-efficacy about their ability to motivate students and encourage learning has been shown to affect the classroom they create and student achievement. Therefore, research has been conducted on ways to increase teacher efficacy for in-service and pre-service teachers. One area of research that has been explored is the impact of field experiences on pre-service teachers. This review explores the research on field experiences and tutoring as well as the role these different experiences may play in pre-service teacher efficacy and knowledge of teaching reading. Overall, researchers have found that field experiences have varying effects on efficacy; however, researchers have found that tutoring field experiences in particular have been found to have a positive impact on pre-service teachers’ abilities to teach a particular content (e.g., reading) to the individual student and to put theory into practice. On the whole, this literature review suggests that we currently lack research exploring the possible benefits of simultaneously impacting efficacy and reading knowledge in pre-service teachers through tutoring.     

Factors associated with middle school students' perceptions of the quality of school-based sexual health education

This paper examines factors associated with middle school students' perceptions of the quality of the sexual health education (SHE) they received at school. Participants were 478 predominately White young people (256 girls, 222 boys) in grades 6–8 who completed a survey assessing their demographic characteristics; dating and sexual experience; and perceptions of the content, delivery and quality of the SHE they had received. Boys and students in a lower grade and with less sexual experience rated the quality of their SHE more positively. After accounting for student characteristics, students who more strongly agreed that their SHE matched their interests and covered sexual health topics more adequately, as well as who viewed their teacher as being more comfortable talking about sexual topics and doing a better job answering questions, reported higher quality SHE. Students' perceptions of the adequacy of coverage of 10 sexual health topics were also positively correlated with their reports of higher quality SHE, although only two topics (correct names for genitals and puberty/physical development) contributed uniquely to the prediction of this variable. These results reinforce the need for a comprehensive SHE curriculum as well as adequate preparation of teachers if SHE is to be engaging to students.