FROM THE LITERATURE

ABSTRACT

BrowZine is a mobile application and web service that helps users create their own personalized library/collection of journals. This column will showcase some special features of this app and describe its format and capabilities for mobile devices. BrowZine enables users to organize and manage journals and articles that are commonly read in their field and disciplines in order to track and keep abreast of new research.     

Garbage In,Gospel Out: Twelve Reasons Why Librarians Should Not Accept Cost-per-Download Figures at Face Value

The ease with which journal usage statistics can now be collected and ingested into e-resources management systems encourages librarians to make renewal and cancellation decisions based on a simple cost-per-download metric. However, to avoid basing decisions on erroneous data it is important to consider the reliability of this metric. There are many reasons why the cost-per-download of one journal is not as directly comparable with that of another journal as might be expected. Nevertheless there are steps that libraries can take to identify and to apply corrections to misleading usage statistics. A balance needs to be struck between usage analyses being rigorous but time consuming, and being pragmatic but “good enough.”     

Using the EPPM to Create and Evaluate the Effectiveness of Brochures to Increase the Use of Hearing Protection in Farmers and Landscape Workers

The extended parallel process model was employed to increase intentions to use on-the-job hearing protection among agricultural workers. Brochures were designed to increase perceptions of the threat of hearing loss and the efficacy of hearing protection to avert hearing loss. Brochures were presented to one half of the sample in each population (farmers and landscapers), and a questionnaire was administered assessing perceptions of threat, efficacy, and intentions. The other half of each sample completed the questionnaire, and then received brochures. Results indicated that farmers were initially high in threat and efficacy perceptions, but brochure exposure resulted in higher intentions to use hearing protection. Landscapers perceived higher threat, efficacy, and intentions after being presented with the brochure. Results are discussed in terms of future research and practical application.     

VERSO Graphic Interface to Reference Sources: A Project of Quinnipiac University's Arnold Bernhard Library

ABSTRACT

Librarians at the Arnold Bernhard Library of Quinnipiac University were concerned with the usage levels of their electronic reference titles. They added the titles to the library's Web page, made individual records in the online catalog, and even established links between an OPAC keyword search and a search through electronic reference titles. It was still felt that the collection was underutilized. In 2007, the Automation Librarian began a project to add one more level of access to these titles—a graphic interface that simulated the process of walking into a reference room and picking out a title. A preliminary version was loaded in the Fall of 2007, and early results indicate that it has found an audience.     

Repeated failures in reducing rat’s spontaneous alternation through the intertrial disruption of spatial orientation

Three experiments examined the contention that an extramaze cue representing relative spatial direction controls rats’ spontaneous alternation. Attempts to eliminate this short-term directional memory by horizontally rotating the Ss were without effect. These data, along with other recent findings, cast doubt upon the completeness of Douglas’s model of spontaneous alternation.     

Events in learning mathematics: Insights from research in classrooms

In this paper, it is contended that in order to understand individual student's learning in the complexity of the mathematics classroom it is necessary to examine the events that occur before, during, and after learning. To illustrate, the process by which two children each construct new mathematical meanings is examined in this manner. The detailed analyses of each of these events provides insight into the processes by which individual students construct mathematical meanings in classroom settings. The investigation also reveals that the underlying social norms differ from those found in traditional classes, and that this creates different opportunities for learning. It is contended that it is the differences in the norms that have been established in their respective classes that distinguishes between the events in learning for the two children.Preparation of this paper was supported by the National Science Foundation (RED 9254939) and while the author was the Snodgrass Scholar in the School of Education Purdue University. The final draft was completed at the Mathematics Education Research Centre, Oxford University. All opinions are those of the author.