Enhancing Gifts and Talents of Women and Girls

This article presents an overview of some relevant historical/societal influences on how expectations (e.g. overt and more subtle messages conveyed through the media) of women and girls influence realization of their full potential, often negatively affecting achievement and career choice (Wilgosh, 1993, 1996a, 1996b). The research framework is then extended to a further examination of contemporary media influences on women and girls, including development and application of a tri-dimensional categorization system for examining how informational messages impact on young women and girls. The proposed categorization system aims at assisting educators and counsellors in undoing influences, which might reinforce underachievement. To facilitate movement from potential to performance, consideration will also be given to developing innovative educational strategies and approaches to encourage expression of gifts and talents and maximize achievement of adolescent girls and young women.     

Influence of strategic direction for NHS Scotland knowledge services on indexing policy for the NHS Scotland e-library

OBJECTIVES: Indexing policy for the NHS Scotland e-Library needs to maximize future inter-operability with other significant health- and social-care-related resources. The strategic drive towards integration and partnership working means that the indexing system has to be widely acceptable to the full range of disciplines within the integrated health-care family. METHODS: Indexes identified by various means and then shortlisted using predefined criteria. RESULTS: Three subject indexes have been chosen--Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), CareData and the Government Category List (GCL), plus mapping between natural language and MeSH terms. This decision was a reasonable compromise between the strategy-driven aim of seamless access for all 'partners in care', and practical constraints of time/manpower. Other authority files (e.g. geographical area, language) are also standards based, and customised to reflect the information needs of an increasingly integrated health-care system. CONCLUSIONS: No single index could provide the scope required to meet the widening range of NHS information need. The influence of high-level strategic aims and objectives have extended their reach to influence indexing policy for the e-Library. Our indexing policy will continue to evolve and contribute to a knowledge management infrastructure capable of supporting current and future NHS Scotland information needs and strategy. Layperson terminology was identified as a gap; additional measures to address this gap are highlighted.     

INTRODUCTION: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES AFFECTING PRE- AND POSTRETIREMENT AMONG COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY FACULTY

ABSTRACT

The aging of college and university faculties mirrors general demographic trends in the United States (Administration on Aging, 2003 Administration on Aging . ( 2003 ). A profile of older Americans . Retrieved August 25, 2004 from www.aoa.gov/prof/statistics/profile/2003/2003profile  [Google Scholar]). It also presents unique issues and challenges that reflect the work and retirement patterns of professors and the nature of academe itself (TIAA-CREF Institute, 2004 TIAA-CREF Institute . ( 2004 , Spring ). Recruitment, retention, and retirement: Institute's conference focuses on higher education's three Rs . Quarterly , 4 – 7 . [Google Scholar]). There have been major economic and policy changes of the past decade, including the uncapping or elimination of the mandatory retirement age for professors, the erosion of financial support for many public institutions of higher education, the use of more part-time and contract faculty, and the soaring costs of health care. These have all impacted college and university faculty and the institutions that they serve. This theme issue addresses the impact of some of those trends, and offers possible solutions to the complex issues that they raise.     

Motivation to read in grades K – 2: a cross-cultural perspective

ABSTRACT

We examined early elementary children’s reading motivation in four different countries. Results revealed that reading motivation is a stable construct in countries like Chile, Finland, Greece, and the United States. Motivation to read followed similar patterns across the countries, with increased scores at the end of the school year. This trend differs from what has been reported in the literature for older students. Significant gender differences were observed mainly for Finnish and Greek students. Understanding early reading motivation from a cross-cultural perspective can help identify commonalities in the initial development of reading motivation, and deepen our understanding about how it may differ in different cultural contexts.     

QuickSmart: a basic academic skills intervention for middle school students with learning difficulties

QuickSmart is a basic academic skills intervention designed for persistently low-achieving students in the middle years of schooling that aims to improve the automaticity of basic skills to improve higher-order processes, such as problem solving and comprehension, as measured on standardized tests. The QuickSmart instructional program consists of three structured, teacher- or teacher aide-directed, 30-minute, small-group lessons each week for approximately 26 weeks. In this study, 42 middle school students experiencing learning difficulties (LD) completed the QuickSmart reading program, and a further 42 students with LD took part in the QuickSmart mathematics program. To investigate the effects of the intervention, comparisons were made between the reading and mathematics progress of the intervention group and a group of 10 high-achieving and 10 average-achieving peers. The results indicated that although the standardized reading comprehension and mathematics scores of QuickSmart students remained below those of comparison students, they improved significantly from pretest to posttest. In contrast, the standardized scores of comparison students were not significantly different from pretest to posttest. On measures of response speed and accuracy gathered using the Cognitive Aptitude Assessment System (CAAS), QuickSmart students were able to narrow the gap between their performance and that of their high- and average-achieving peers. Implications are drawn regarding the importance of interventions that emphasize the automaticity of basic academic skills for students with learning difficulties.     

The Audit

The value of the audit process to libraries is examined and questioned. Although generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are followed by accountants in all fields, these policies and procedures are not always relevant for serials, particularly electronic journals. Adhering to these best practices does little to achieve professed goals and desired outcomes.