On Our Own: Starting an Interlibrary Loan Service From Scratch

In August 2009, the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine Medical Library opened its doors to students, faculty, and staff. One of the many challenges before opening the library was developing a unique and autonomous interlibrary loan service for its patrons. This article examines the decisions in choosing the best document delivery system, the management of funds, and the selection of holdings for a new medical library. Along with these decisions, there is discussion on the significance of costs, turnaround times, and challenges going forward.     

What makes a good title?

The chances are the first thing you when you set out to write an article is the title. But what factors transform a mediocre title into a good title? Firstly, it should be both informative and specific, using words or phrases likely to be used when searching for information, for example ‘nurse education’ rather than simply ‘nurse’. Secondly, it should be concise yet convey the main ideas clearly; articles with short titles reporting study findings have been found to attract higher numbers of viewing and citations. Thirdly, provide details of the study design to assist the reader in making an informed choice about the type of project your article is reporting. In taking these small steps when developing your title, your title can present a more concise, retrievable and clear articulation of your article.     

The mediating role of mental imagery in mobile advertising

The future of communication and advertising is mobile. There is, however, little empirical evidence as to exactly how mobile advertising works. This research examines the role of mental imagery elicited by mobile advertising and its mediating effect on trust in the advertising message (ad trust) and purchase intention. Using a 2 × 2 factorial experimental design, we examined the influence of the type of message – SMS vs. MMS – and type of content – informational vs. transformational – on the three dimensions of mental imagery: vividness, quantity and elaboration. Results show a greater impact of MMS mobile ads and transformational ads on vividness and elaboration, while SMS mobile ads have a greater impact on the quantity dimension. The study also suggests that ad trust can be improved by enhancing the mental imagery elicited by mobile ads. Vivid and elaborate mental imagery mediates the effect of the type of ad on ad trust and exerts a positive influence on purchase intention. These findings have important implications for mobile advertisers since overcoming trust issues remains a major obstacle in the adoption of this medium. In addition, practical aspects of mobile ads’ conception and design are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.     

Does Performance in Digital Reading Relate to Computer Game Playing? A Study of Factor Structure and Gender Patterns in 15-Year-Olds' Reading Literacy Performance

Data from a Swedish PISA-sample were used (1) to identify a digital reading factor, (2) to investigate gender differences in this factor (if found), and (3) to explore how computer game playing might relate to digital reading performance and gender. The analyses were conducted with structural equation modeling techniques. In addition to an overall reading factor, the hypothesized digital reading factor was identified. When the overall reading performance was taken into account, a relative difference in favor of the boys for digital reading was indicated. This effect was mediated by a game-playing factor comprising the amount of time spent on playing computer games. Thus, the boys' better performance in digital reading was explained by the computer game-playing factor.     

Truth telling in Foucault and Arendt: parrhesia,the pariah and academics in dark times

In this paper, I consider the problem of truth telling through the notion of parrhesia as developed and explicated in Foucault’s last lectures at the College de France (1982–1983 and 1983–1984) and the figure of the pariah that runs throughout Arendt’s work. In tracing connections and tensions in the way the two thinkers explore questions and dilemmas around the courage to tell the truth in philosophy and politics, I look into the current climate within the UK academia, where there is a lot of ambivalence about whether people mean what they say or say what they mean anymore. In a Foucauldian mode of inquiry, I raise the question: what is the role of the academic when going through ‘dark times’, vis-à-vis questions of truth telling; what are the conditions of possibility for truth telling itself to be recognised as a question or a problem and how can we start mapping the effects of what we as academics do or refrain from doing?     

The Birth to School Study: evidence on the effectiveness of PEEP,an early intervention for children at risk of educational under‐achievement

This article presents the findings of the Birth to School Study (BTSS) a longitudinal evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP); a family‐focused intervention aimed at promoting early literacy, numeracy and self‐esteem in a community at risk of educational underachievement. The main aim of the study was to investigate the effects of PEEP on the children and families from the community it served. Embedded within this aim were dual objectives: to determine if the intervention had an effect within the community as a whole, and simultaneously to determine whether it had an effect on the sub‐group of families who participated in the PEEP weekly sessions. Outcomes in favour of the intervention were found for parents and for children's progress in language and early literacy skills, both at community and sub‐group level. The study is located within a discussion of social exclusion, the potentially mediating influence of education and the accessibility of literacy skills to intervention and change.     

Understanding Elder Abuse in Italy: Perception and Prevalence,Types and Risk Factors From a Review of the Literature

The paper aims to perform a review of studies on elder abuse in Italy. Hand searching was undertaken of grey literature and reviews of published papers concerning local, national, and cross-national studies, both in Italian and English languages. Inferences mainly about perception and prevalence, types and risk factors, but also concerning victims and perpetrators when data were available, have been derived through the quantitative and qualitative information collected. On the whole, elder abuse in Italy, with a prevalence rate around 10–14%, is characterized by more female victims, especially in the oldest age groups. The risk of psychological abuse is highest, but the level of financial mistreatment is also high. In domestic settings, difficulties of overburdened family caregivers have been associated with the existence of possible episodes of abuse, which often remain hidden. In institutional settings, neglect of dependent persons, expired medications and lack of hygienic conditions represent the most common forms of reported abuse, uncovered with the help of police inspections. In both settings, the use of physical restraints emerges as an area of concern. Although caution is needed in relation to generalization, the available data suggest the existence of a widespread phenomenon of elder abuse in Italy. But more in-depth research is needed to provide further evidence and to raise the currently relatively low general and professional awareness of elder abuse. Moreover, a dedicated legal framework and protocol for tackling and preventing the phenomenon, and ad hoc support services for the victims, need to be urgently addressed.     

The West Wing and Depictions of the American Presidency: Expanding the Domains of Framing in Political Communication

This study uses framing to assess how the office of the President of the United States is depicted on NBC's The West Wing. This work represents a theoretical and empirical domain extension of framing in political communication, an area of study dominated by analyses of news content. Three distinct presidential depictions are analyzed: chief executive, political candidate, and private citizen. This quantitative content analysis of the 2001–2002 The West Wing television season addresses the frequency with which the fictional president performs these three roles and posits several hypotheses concerning the relative presentation of personality characteristics across contexts. All three roles are represented with substantive frequency, with the chief executive role dominating. Principled character traits are evident more often when the fictional President Bartlet is acting as chief executive than as a private citizen. Conversely, Bartlet presents more engaging personality traits when acting as a private citizen than as either chief executive or political candidate. Implications for these finding are outlined and future lines of research are detailed.