Web site usability testing involving people with learning disabilities using only images and audio to access information

The need for social inclusion, informed choice and the facilitation of independent living for people with learning disabilities (LD) is being emphasised ever more by government, professionals, academics and, indeed, by people with LD themselves, particularly in self‐advocacy groups. Achieving goals around inclusion and autonomy requires access to relevant and accessible information. Hence, the project reported here, which revolves around the creation and development of a web site containing information about ‘transition’. This is the move from education or sheltered living to supported employment. The development of the web site included an examination of whether people with very low literacy skills were able to navigate the site and to access information. To this end, usability tests were undertaken consisting of simple tasks, broken down into ‘one‐action’ elements and requiring the accessing and understanding of pictorial or audio information. Results elicited various issues including the size and understanding of images; activating hyperlinks, page length and invisible content, and accessing audio. Two accessibility issues were also found – poor mouse control and involuntary activation of the context menu. Solutions are offered regarding the issues documented, and the paper concludes by suggesting that it is possible both for people with minimal levels of literacy to obtain information on the web site.     

Initial teacher training students' attitudes to use of information technology and individual locus of control

ABSTRACT

In England and Wales initial teacher education (ITE) is becoming more school‐based. This study considers some implications for information technology (IT) in the primary school years (4–11). The results of a survey of primary school teaching practice placements are examined and the outcomes are related to other recent findings. The pattern which emerges is of a wide variability in teacher expertise, of outdated hardware and software still in use in a substantial proportion of classrooms and of many students – themselves lacking in IT capability – not receiving informed and effective support for their IT activities in schools. As these problems appear to be widespread and not capable of easy or rapid solution, the utility of the move to greater school‐based training is called into question at least for IT.     

Teacher professional development through curriculum development: teachers' experiences in the field trialling of on-line curriculum materials

ABSTRACT

This paper, which arises out of wider Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded research, examines the provision of information technology in ten British secondary schools. The longitudinal nature of the research allows us to test a model proposed by Wellington, which describes the evolution of information technology in secondary schools from a vertical to a horizontal approach, against the data from the ten schools. We explore tensions between vertical and horizontal approaches and show that the evolutionary process is more complex than suggested by the model. We focus on the role of the information technology co‐ordinator in promoting horizontal approaches to information technology and explore the conditions under which the role is carried out.     

Effects of tactile stimulation and gross motor movement on cognitive learning: A test of Montessori's muscular movement theory in the college classroom

Research investigating the management styles of male and female supervisors is mixed. In an effort to clarify this research, the present study examined the interaction effect of gender of supervisor and gender of subordinate on perceived mentoring. Results revealed the least amount of mentoring occurred between female supervisors and female subordinates, but the greatest mentoring took place between female supervisors and male subordinates. Results were explained in terms of managerial experience and the double‐bind of female managers. These findings challenge the traditional advice that female subordinates should seek female supervisors.     

At Sea: Reclaiming a Serials Collection at a Small Specialized Library

This article describes a multi-year project in which a small specialized academic library worked to restore and optimize its print serial holdings for preservation and access. After a review of the literature the article focuses on project work flow, preservation, bibliographic control, and the criteria for decision-making processes among the librarians to determine appropriate titles to keep or discard. Provided are data collected on titles, some statistics, and tentative future plans to augment access and digitize holdings.     

The OPAC is Dead: Managing the Virtual Library

Changing trends in library use and management of e-resources were discussed by Jane Burke from ProQuest/Serials Solutions. A paradigm shift in library collections has occurred in which e‐resources are now the major component of new library materials, requiring new ways to manage and display them. The use of e‐resource access and management services was discussed as a helpful tool, along with federated searching. Burke suggested that by spending less time processing print materials and ending bibliographic instruction, more time will be available for librarians to market and manage e-resources, which will be of greater benefit to today's library users.     

Web Subject Guides: Virtual Connections across the University Community

ABSTRACT

A year ago, West Chester University Libraries began using the LibGuides library content management system. In the 1st year since implementing LibGuides (http://subjectguides.wcupa.edu/), our subject librarians have developed numerous subject guides, replacing outmoded and outdated Web pages with new guides that have a more appealing format. We have also found that Web guides can be used for projects beyond the traditional library subject guide. One of the best features of the LibGuides software is that it allows our subject librarians to easily repackage information and resources in multiple ways that suit different audiences. In this article, the authors describe how they have used these guides to respond to the needs of their university community and how they hope to expand the potential uses of the Web guides.     

General Media: Related Works

Media Ecology Review (New York: NYU School of Education, 1972—$7.00 for 16 issues which make up the year's volume)

Frederick D. Wilhelmsen and Jane Bret's The War in Man: Media and Machines (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1970—$4.50)

Carl Belz' The Story of Rock (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972—$7.50)

Roger Karshner's The Music Machine (Los Angeles: Nash, 1971—$7.95)

Ann Christine Heintz' Persuasion (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1970—$3.20, paper)     

An evaluation on the effectiveness of Web 2.0 Startpages (Netvibes & Pageflakes) within NHS libraries

Carol McCormick was Learning Resources Advisor in the library at James Cook University Hospital, South Teesside when she completed her BSc (Hons) Librarianship (Work Based Learning) degree at Northumbria University. She gained a 1st Class Honours and is now Learning Resources Librarian. Carol's dissertation formed part of a wider action research project into the provision of current awareness services at James Cook University Hospital. This article reports on the evaluation which was conducted after a Web 2.0 Startpage, or portal, had been introduced to improve access to current awareness information for all staff within the Trust. It is the second article in the Dissertations into practice series to examine the use of web‐based tools to improve access to information for NHS staff. AM