Clinical and research searching on the wild side: exploring the veterinary literature

Zoological medicine furthers the health and well-being of captive and free-ranging wild animals. Effective information retrieval of the zoological medicine literature demands searching multiple databases, conference proceedings, and organization websites using a wide variety of keywords and controlled vocabulary. Veterinarians, residents, students, and the librarians who serve them must have patience for multiple search iterations to capture the majority of the available knowledge. The complexities of thorough literature searches are more difficult for nondomestic animal clinical cases and research reviews as demonstrated by three search requests involving poisonous snakes, a gorilla, and spiders. Expanding and better disseminating the knowledgebase of zoological medicine will make veterinary searching easier.     

Preventing Problem Behaviors in Young Children with Disabilities

Young children with disabilities acquire behavior problems as a result of many factors. When planning interventions, it is important to remember that all children may display stages of inappropriate behaviors at various times during their early development. In most cases, the problems are short-lived and typically improve with guidance and age. There are children with continuing or increasing problem behaviors that result in injury to self or others or that cause damage to the environment; interfere with development, learning, and acquisition of new skills; or socially isolate the child. We discuss interventions and prevention strategies for young children with persistent and consistent behavior problems and present directions for future research.     

Measuring peer feedback in face-to-face and online public-speaking workshops

This study explores the use of a survey instrument relating to feedback within the organizational context to measure student perceptions of peer feedback in a speech workshop activity conducted in a public-speaking class. A 20-item instrument was adapted from Steelman, Levy, and Snell’s Feedback Environment Scale (FES) for coworker feedback (The Feedback Environment Scale: Construct definition, measurement, and validation. Educational and Psychological Measurement 2004; 64: 165–184. doi: 10.1177/0013164403258440). Results suggest that four constructs adopted from Steelman et al. (source credibility, feedback quality, favorable feedback, and unfavorable feedback) appear suited to gauge student perceptions of peer feedback. Further analyses on the variables indicated no significant differences, regardless of whether the activity took place face-to-face or online.     

There is Something I Need to Tell You: Balancing Appropriateness and Efficiency in Modality Choice for Interpersonal Disclosures

An array of communication technology, such as text messaging, social networking sites, and mobile apps, have become the platforms through which many self-disclosures take place. This brings forth questions about which factors determine media selection for self-disclosure, such as media appropriateness and efficiency. Survey participants (N = 598) indicated modality preferences for disclosing hypothetical negative, positive, private, and public scenarios to a friend. For positive or public disclosures, modalities considered most convenient were more likely to be chosen; for negative or private disclosures, participants were more likely to select modalities that were considered most appropriate. Results also show a discrepancy between perceptions of appropriateness and motivations for media selection. These findings present implications for the balance between media appropriateness and efficiency in self-disclosure strategies.     

Outside the box: Unpacking the group process model

Courses: Small group communication and advanced group dynamics.

Objectives: After completing this single-class activity, students should be able to: (1) evaluate successful communication characteristics that enhance the group's ability to achieve specific goals; (2) identify small group communication barriers; and (3) develop strategies to overcome small group communication challenges to achieve shared goals.     

Exploring Attribution of Responsibility in a Cross-National Study of TV News Coverage of the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

This study investigates how prime-time television news portrayed attributions of responsibility for climate change policy issues in the United States, China, and Canada. In analyzing news coverage of the 2009 climate change summit in Copenhagen, we distinguish between causal and treatment responsibility. Additionally, we develop frames to test Cerutti's conceptualization of responsibility attribution (2010). The results suggest that television news in the 3 countries portrayed treatment responsibility differently. The prominence of morality, global justice, and national efficacy frames varied across countries, and these conditions were associated with the treatment responsibility frame, partially lending support to the validity of Cerutti's conceptualization.     

Classroom teachers’ craft knowledge of their inclusive practice

Whilst recent decades have seen significant progress in research on inclusive education, many teachers still feel that the research literature does not fully address their professional concerns about how to enact a policy of inclusion in their classrooms. To help to bridge this gap, we drew on the concept of craft knowledge to undertake a detailed study in two Scottish primary schools of the practice of class teachers who are committed to meet the needs of all learners. This paper describes the processes involved, and considers how these helped us to develop a greater understanding of what constitutes inclusive practice, whilst also contributing to a more robustly theorised knowledge of what we have termed inclusive pedagogy, or the inclusive pedagogical approach. Methodological complexities arising from the use of the concept of craft knowledge are also explored.     

Using Second Life as a Training Tool in an Academic Library

Training is an important factor for successful employee growth within an academic library. The purpose of this article is to scrutinize the option of using the virtual world, Second Life, as a training tool within an academic library. In doing so, various topics will be examined including training within libraries, the use of Second Life in educational settings, and Second Life as a training tool. Second Life offers unique opportunities for training but also presents a definite set of challenges, the first of which is the steep learning curve. Second Life is a virtual world that is being used with varying success as a training technique within corporate settings; however, little has been documented within a library setting. Nonetheless, libraries may find that Second Life can be an asset toward achieving their training goals.     

ILLiad,Document Delivery,and the Distance Student: How Document Delivery Can Enhance Support for Distance Library Users

ABSTRACT

Academic libraries serve great numbers of distance learners and must address the unique challenges faced by these students. Technology can bridge the gap in terms of access and use of library resources. Academic librarians working with distance students must examine their student population, determine the needs of their users, and be prepared to adapt technology available to meet those needs. Many academic libraries have adapted Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) ILLiad to allow better support of distance learners. Library models that have used OCLC ILLiad or similar software for distance services are discussed and can be used as a model for change in library distance services programs.