A Review of Children's,Teachers' and Parents' Influences on Children's Drawing Experience

In this article we argue that research into children's drawings should consider the context in which drawing occurs and that it is crucial to investigate the attitudes and practices of teachers, parents and children themselves that shape children's drawing experience and the drawings which they produce. We review the findings of seven empirical studies reporting data collected through direct observations, interviews and questionnaires from the three main players (teachers, parents and children) on the attitudes and practices shaping children's drawing. Issues covered include teachers' perceptions of the purposes and importance of drawing, support offered by teachers, parents and children for children's drawing endeavours, and possible factors that may lead to an age‐related decline in the amount of drawing children choose to do. We end the review by reporting some preliminary findings from our own large‐scale interview and survey study of 270 5–14 year old children, their parents and teachers, that provides a comprehensive assessment of attitudes and practices influencing children's drawing experience at home and at school. The findings provide further insight into the aforementioned issues, particularly children's, teachers' and parent's explanations of why children's drawing behaviour might decline with age. It is hoped that by reporting these preliminary findings some additional understanding of the context in which children produce their drawings can be gained and new areas for debate opened up.     

Intellectual capital or signal? The effects of scientists on alliance formation in knowledge-intensive industries

Hiring employees with advanced education, training, and experience has been a prevalent human resource practice in dynamic science-based industries, and a growing body of literature has demonstrated the importance of scientists in such fields. Little research has attempted to distinguish the functional from the symbolic roles of scientists, however. We develop an integrative theoretical framework to separate the productive and legitimating effects of scientists on strategic alliance formation of firms. Results from a longitudinal analysis of more than 300 U.S. biotechnology firms between 1988 and 1999 suggest a positive relationship between ratio of scientists and R&D alliance partners as well as a positive relationship with finance alliance partners. Scientists influence partner attraction more strongly for firms that are less-well-connected, and they become less prominent in fostering finance ties as the industry practice of partnership becomes more institutionalized. We conclude that scientists serve more than just a research function in knowledge-intensive industries. Implications for building interorganizational networks and managing human resources in such industries are discussed.     

The long tail: a usage analysis of pre-1993 print biomedical journal literature

Objective: The research analyzes usage of a major biomedical library''s pre-1993 print journal collection.Methodology: In July 2003, in preparation for a renovation and expansion project, the Biomedical Library at the University of California, San Diego, moved all of its pre-1993 journal volumes off-site, with the exception of twenty-two heavily used titles. Patrons wishing to consult one of these stored volumes could request that it be delivered to the library for their use. In the spring of 2006, an analysis was made of these requests.Results: By July of 2006, 79,827 journal volumes published in 1992 or earlier had been requested from storage. The number of requests received declined with age of publication. The usage distribution exhibited a “long tail”: 50% of the 79,827 requests were for journal volumes published before 1986. The availability of electronic access dramatically reduced the chance that corresponding print journal volumes would be requested.Conclusions: The older biomedical print journal literature appears to be of continued value to the biomedical research community. When electronic access was provided to the older literature, demand for older print volumes declined dramatically.

Highlights

• Analysis of requests for stored biomedical journal volumes published prior to 1993 indicates that older biomedical journal literature receives substantial use: during this 3-year study, there were nearly 80,000 requests for journal volumes published in 1992 or earlier, with half the requests for volumes published from 1986–1992 and 40% of the request for volumes published from 1970–1985. These results indicate that retaining older print volumes, or providing easy access to the older literature through electronic journals or other means, will likely be required to meet user information needs.
• Use of older journal volumes varies by title and by user population, and a small number of journal titles were responsible for most of the use.
• Requests for older print biomedical journal titles dropped significantly when electronic access became available.

Implications

• Biomedical libraries should carefully consider implications of eliminating on-site access to older journal literature for users and budgets.
• Removing access to older journal literature may result in higher demand for interlibrary loan and document delivery services.
• Biomedical libraries can safely substitute reliable electronic access to older literature to meet ongoing needs for this information, thereby creating space for other purposes.

     

Television History

SATURDAY MIGHT: A BACKSTAGE HISTORY OF SATURDAY MIGHT LIVE by Doug Hill and Jeff Weingrad (New York: Beech Tree Books/Morrow, 1986—$17.95)

THE SOAP OPERA ENCYCLOPEDIA by Christopher Schemering (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985—$8.95, paper)

WARNER BROS. TELEVISION: EVERY SHOW OF THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES EPISODE-BYEPISODE by Lynn Woolley, et al. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1985—$25.95)

THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN BANDSTAND by Michael Shore with Dick Clark (New York: Ballantine Books, 1985—$12.95, paper)

A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO TV MEMORABILIA by Anthony Slide (Wallace-Homestead Book Co., 580 Waters Edge, Lombard, IL 60148—$13.95, paper)