It Takes a Village: Developing Library of Congress Genre/Form Terms

The Library of Congress (LC) is in the process of developing a separate thesaurus of genre/form terms, which describe what a work or expression is, rather than what it is about. From the beginning, LC policy specialists realized that to accomplish this undertaking, it would be both necessary and desirable to collaborate with the library community. This article examines and evaluates the various methods of collaboration used by LC in the creation of the genre/form thesaurus.     

Book review

Higher Education in an Era of Digital Competition: Choices and Challenges. Donald E. Hanna & Associates (Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing, 1999, 362 pp., $29.95).     

Decision‐Making Strategies for College Students

College students' decision making is often less than optimal and sometimes leads to negative consequences. The effectiveness of two strategies for improving student decision making—node‐link mapping and social perspective taking (SPT)—are examined. Participants using SPT were significantly better able to evaluate decision options and develop plans, suggesting that college counselors might increase the effectiveness of students' decision making by presenting a simple SPT strategy.     

“Beneath their cheerful bunny faces,his slippers had steel toe caps”: Traction Cities,Postmodernisms, and Coming of Age in Philip Reeve’s <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mortal Engines</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Predator’s Gold</Emphasis>

This article discusses Philip Reeve's young adult science fiction novels as literary collages. It explores the ways in which the author uses postmodernisms to introduce big ideas and construct a compelling futuristic world that combines fast-paced adventure with the bildungsroman.

Helping children value and appreciate nature

Summary Integrating nature education into the curriculum teaches children many important concepts, such as aesthetics, respect, caring for the earth, and the interrelationships among humans and the habitat. As the world becomes more populated and polluted, and as some animal and plant life becomes endangered and extinct, the role that we all play in protecting or destroying the earth can be reinforced. Through nature study, children can learn how they affect the environment as well as how the environment affects them. By having rich and varied opportunities to experience and explore nature, children can begin to value and appreciate their immediate world and will hopefully generalize this knowledge to other situations and places.     

How Framing Climate Change Influences Citizen Scientists’ Intentions to Do Something About It

How we communicate the dangers of climate change may influence attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. Here we test two pairs of positive and negative framing statements with North American citizen scientists interested in gardening and birdwatching. Mentioning dangers for humans did not increase participants’ interest in taking personal action on climate change, but mentioning dangers for birds was highly effective. Highlighting the positive collective impacts of small behavioral changes also increased participants’ interest in taking personal action. These results suggest that while some dire messages are ineffective, those evoking concern for target species of significance to the learners may be as successful as positive messages.     

Getting Ready for the Future of Brown v. Board of Education

This article provides historical and legal context and resources for readers (and in many cases their students) about the threshold period when this country changed from a legally segregated society to one of greater freedom. The body of the article provides background for Brown and related stories, a primer on the structure of the legal system, and significant legal progress toward and distinctions between the two U.S. Supreme Court decisions that comprise what has come to be know as Brown. Appendices are comprised of significant legal documents, including the complete decisions, a glossary of terms used throughout this issue, and an annotated bibliography of selected titles. It is the hope that by providing a thorough background in these various areas, readers will become sufficiently informed to fully appreciate the other articles in this special issue.