Ten Years of Change: National Library of Medicine TOXMAP Gets a New Look

The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) TOXNET® databases <http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov> provide broad coverage of environmental health information covering a wide variety of topics, including access to the U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA)'s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data. The NLM web-based geographic information system (GIS), TOXMAP® <http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/>, provides interactive maps which show where TRI chemicals are released into the environment and links to TOXNET for information about these chemicals. TOXMAP also displays locations of Superfund sites on the EPA National Priority List, as well as information about the chemical contaminants at these sites. This column focuses on a new version of TOXMAP which brings it up to date with current web GIS technologies and user expectations.     

Audience and image in ciceronian Rome: Creation and constraints of the Vir Bonus personality

Although the study of Roman oratory persistently has occupied the interests of classical rhetoricians, little research has been done to try to understand the speeches as they were actually delivered and the influence which listeners had upon speakers. Focusing on Cicero, this study investigates his views and relationship with listeners who frequently filled the Forum to evaluate rhetorical skills. The results of this research indicate that the audience became such a dominant force that many orators, in an effort to gain recognition, were encouraged to stress histrionics and the appearance of virtue over the realities of a sincere moral commitment to a cause. Consequently, individuals such as Cicero were strongly tempted to concentrate on the appearance of a virtuous public image and not the morality which it implied.     

Using Multiple Data Sources to Develop a Liaison Agenda

Subject librarians at many college and university libraries have a wide variety of job responsibilities. Yet they often lack guidance on goal setting and prioritization. At the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Libraries, the liaison program currently lacks a formal agenda setting process. This study explores using multiple sources of data for liaison goal setting and goal prioritization. Data from the LibQUAL+ survey, faculty surveys and focus groups, and usage statistics were examined for the disciplines of art, architecture, business, and hotel administration, and then applied to the development of liaison agendas. The results show that data can enrich and inform liaison perceptions of the behavior and priorities of their constituents and assist liaisons with establishing annual goals.     

SCCTP Electronic Serials Cataloging Workshop

This preconference was a presentation of the Electronic Serials Cataloging Workshop created by the Serials Cataloging Cooperative Training Program (SCCTP). The workshop assumed a general knowledge of print serials cataloging and focused on issues specific to cataloging electronic serials. Presenter Jeanne Baker followed the course content developed by SCCTP, while highlighting changes introduced by the new CONSER standard record where applicable.     

Using Syllabi to Determine the Core Journal and Monographic Literature in Doctoral Finance Programs

Using course syllabi from 66 active Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business–accredited doctoral programs, the investigators determined a core journal and monographic collection in doctoral finance programs. The results are compared to previous studies, such as that of Corrado and Ferris (1997), and implications for collection development and liaison librarians are considered.     

TheParis review at forty

TheParis Review celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 1993 in Paris, Mississippi. A founding editor, the managing editor, and the editor-at-large discuss the manazine's birth and growth, editorial policies, authors, and interview subjects. James Linville is managing editor of theParis Review. His nonfiction and interviews have been published inEsquire and theParis Review and reprinted inHarper's and thePushcart Prize Anthology. Jeanne McCulloch is editor-at-large for theParis Review. She was managing editor from 1984 to 1989. George Plimpton is a founding editor of theParis Review and the author ofPaper Lion, Shadow Box, X-Factor, and other books. He has edited many works, including theNorton, Anthology of Sports Literature, The Writer's Chapbook, and the ninth volume ofWriters at Work.     

20世纪中国文学典型论局限分析

在承认 2 0世纪中国文学典型论价值的基础上 ,着重分析其三大局限 :典型的政治意识形态化、神化及典型理论发展中的共性论与个性论的内在矛盾 ,以期对陷入理论危机的典型论提供一个建设性的参照点     

The Effect of Training in Test Item Writing on Test Performance of Junior High Students

High stakes testing, a phenomena born out of intense accountability across the United States, produces instructional settings that marginalize both curriculum and instruction. Teachers and other school personnel have minimized instruction to drill and practice in an effort to raise standardized and criterion referenced test scores. This study presents an alternative to current practice that engages students in learning and increases their awareness of the internal aspects of standardized tests. The Test Item Construction Model (TICM) guides students through the process of studying test item stems and subsequently creating items using a 12 week process of incrementing from understanding to creating test items. Students grew in their understanding of the test item stems and the generation of these. An ANOVA did not yield significant differences between random groups of trained and untrained test writers. However, students in the experimental group demonstrated gains in understanding of test items.