Book Reviews

Indexing and Abstracting in Theory and Practice, 3rd edn, by F. W. Lancaster Facet Publishing 2003, 464 pp., ISBN 1‐85604‐482‐3, £39.95 Science Editors' Handbook European Association of Science Editors 2003, ISBN 0‐905988‐13‐2, £18 Digital Preservation: The Record of Science, edited by Barry Mahon and Elliot Siegel IOS Press, 2002, 143 pp., ISBN 1‐58603‐317‐4, paperback £65.00     

Communicating Library Impact on Retention: A Framework for Developing Reciprocal Value Propositions

This article explores the trends identified in a survey of library directors on efforts to document and communicate library contributions to student retention. Library deans/directors have little in the way of communication methods for sharing library impact on retention. Methods that are used tend to be unidirectional in nature. Based on these results, this article also presents a framework of stakeholder markets and examples of reciprocal value propositions library leaders could develop around library contributions to retention efforts. This in turn can assist with advocacy and the communication of academic library value to university leaders and other higher education stakeholders.     

The Societally Responsive University: Public Ideals,Organisational Realities,and the Possibility of Engagement

The increased public scrutiny of colleges and universities has sparked efforts to reconsider what academic institutions are doing, and what they should be doing, in relation to the needs of the larger society.This paper develops a conceptualisation of societal responsiveness on campus, with the intent of exploring the factors constraining the responsiveness of faculty and their home institutions to public needs.     

Hidden Leadership in Small Special Libraries

“The Specialist” addresses the administration of special libraries, however, identifying the administrator of a small special library is problematic. In these small libraries within organizations, the librarian often works alone and the library is overseen by a non-librarian manager. In these cases, it is not as easy to identify or define the library's administrator as it would be in a public or academic library, or even a larger special library. This column introduces a model where the administration of small special libraries is a collaboration between librarians and non-librarian managers. In this model, information professionals exercise hidden leadership and management skills without leading a staff or possessing a management title. The column also suggests ways information professionals without explicit management responsibilities in the workplace can develop these skills and apply them in their jobs.     

Estimated student score gain on the act COMP exam: Valid tool for institutional assessment?

The higher education community needs measures of the value added to student development by the college experience. ACT provides a quick, easy method for estimating the extent of student growth in general education. An institution can test seniors with the ACT College Outcome Measures Project (COMP) exam, then subtract from the senior score anestimated freshman score obtained from a concordance table that is based on the known relationship between freshman ACT Assessment composite score and freshman COMP Total score. Studies using scores for 4,200 seniors and 2,100 freshmen tested during a two-year period at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, indicate that this method is not sufficiently reliable or valid to serve as the basis for making precise judgments about the quality of general education programs.     

Qualitative analysis of parents' information needs and psychosocial experiences when supporting children with health care needs

OBJECTIVE: To identify the information needs of parents of children with health care needs. METHODS: A series of three focus groups and one in-depth interview were held with parents (n = 10, 90% female) in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK. RESULTS: Findings were grouped into four themes: delivery of information; levels of support; relationship between the family and professional; and management of events. Parents expressed a preference for information to be delivered on a verbal, 'one-to-one' basis by a professional, supplemented by accessible, written reference materials. The provision of a contact telephone number for a named professional, so further information could be obtained when required, was identified as a key source of support. Participants emphasized the importance of being consulted about the care of their child, the interaction between professional and child, and also of being treated as an individual by the professional. CONCLUSIONS: Delivery of information to parents may be most effective on a verbal, 'one-to-one' basis with a professional, in conjunction with written accessible general and child-specific reference materials. The importance to parents of the provision of contact details for a named professional and specialist nurse support is also emphasized. The psychosocial experiences of parents, along with the impact of the relationship between family and professional, and requirement for good channels of communication, must be taken into account by professionals during the care of children with health care needs. These findings have important implications for professionals and service providers for the future delivery of information to parents of children with health care needs.     

The road to excellence: deliberate practice and the development of expertise

The relative contribution of domain‐specific and non‐domain‐specific activities to the development of soccer expertise was examined using a retrospective cross‐sectional design. Elite and sub‐elite players aged between 9 and 18 years of age completed a participation history questionnaire under supervision. Weekly and accumulated hours spent in soccer team practice most consistently discriminated between skill levels across age cohorts. Elite players spent more time in decision‐making activities during team practice, possessed higher levels of motivation and had greater parental support. Maturational indices, time spent in playful activities, sporting diversity and time at which specialization occurred did not differentiate between groups. Engaging in activities deliberately designed to improve performance rather than mere experience within the domain or experience of related activities is likely to lead to elite status.