Demonstrating Library Impact Through Acknowledgment: An Examination of Acknowledgments in Theses and Dissertations

Academic libraries are increasingly seeking ways to demonstrate their impact on student learning. Acknowledgments - formal statements of indebtedness – in graduate theses and dissertations provide a rather unexplored area for demonstrating impact of the academic library on student learning. This study uses quantitative and qualitative methods to characterize acknowledgments of the Texas A&M University Libraries (TAMU Libraries) in theses and dissertations, both overall and for three disciplines specifically: civil engineering, geography, and history. This study also searched for mentions of the TAMU Libraries throughout the entire body of theses and dissertations. Overall, acknowledgments to the TAMU Libraries in theses and dissertations were less than 1%, though acknowledgments were found in all three disciplines with over a quarter of the history theses and dissertations containing an acknowledgment to libraries. There was no statistically significant difference found between the numbers of acknowledgments in theses versus dissertations. Acknowledgments to the TAMU Libraries were found in the theses and dissertations of 28 different departments. Mentions to the TAMU Libraries – not necessarily a formal acknowledgment – were found throughout the text of theses and dissertations with most concentrated in the acknowledgment, method, and bibliography sections.     

Google Scholar's Coverage of the Engineering Literature 10 years Later

In 2008 Meier and Conkling first tested Google Scholar's coverage of the engineering literature against citations gathered from the Compendex database. Since that time, other studies have used the same methodology and found improvement in Google Scholar's coverage. This study uses engineering dissertations from Proquest Dissertations & Theses to create a data set of citations for the comparison of fee-based databases, Compendex and Scopus, against Google Scholar. From 1950 to 2017 Google Scholar outperformed both Compendex and Scopus in discoverability of citations in nine engineering subjects. These results have implications for collection management and information literacy program planning for librarians.     

They’re good blogs,Brent: (Mostly) painless branding for information professionals

ABSTRACT

Social media is a powerful tool for building an online presence, but it asks a lot. While it affords plentiful opportunities for professional development and networking, building a professional brand in an online space is not without its drawbacks and risks. By working from a set of actionable principles and benchmarks, users can minimize frustrations and setbacks to build a useful professional presence, all while imbuing the web with the tenets of good information stewardship.     

The Methodological Foundations of Standardization in the Field of Library and Information Support of Science

This paper characterizes the methodological foundations of national standardization in the Russian Federation, in particular in the library and information field. The activities of Technical Standardization Committee 191 Scientific and Technical Information, Librarianship, and Publishing are reported.     

We May Be Teaching Information Literacy,but Are the Design First Year Students Actually Getting It?

The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of information literacy instruction for the Design first year students at the Temasek Polytechnic Library. Also of interest was whether or not the librarian was being seen as easily approachable, and if the students were deeming the lessons to be worthwhile. A participant action research approach was used, with the data being collected from multiple choice tests delivered via the institutional learning management system, group exercises, and a diagnostic assessment that was delivered before the workshops. It was found that the students did see the librarian as someone who was eminently approachable, and the majority of them found the lessons to be of value. It was concluded that the use of a diagnostic tool can be very useful in highlighting the gaps in students' knowledge, and that it would be beneficial to use it for all information literacy instruction at TP. Suggested future research could include a study of how much the students retain of IL skills into their third year of study.     

Co-rumination and Immune Inflammatory Response in Healthy Young Adults: Associations with Interleukin-6 and C-Reactive Protein

A rich literature exists reinforcing the notion that both perceived and received social support has stress ameliorating and protective benefits both psychologically and physiologically. However, recent literature suggests that excessive dyadic negative problem talk about an issue, a phenomenon labeled co-rumination, may reverse much of the beneficial effects of social support. Healthy young adults participated in a laboratory research study exploring the associations between co-rumination and immune system inflammatory response. Partial correlations indicated a positive association between co-rumination and C-reactive protein and a negative association between co-rumination and interleukin-6 after controlling for stress, anxiety, and temperature. Discussion focuses on the means by which co-rumination may lead to negative health outcomes.     

Susceptibility to Deception in a Political News Interview: Effects of Identification,Perceived Cooperativeness,and Ingroup Vulnerability

This article explores people’s susceptibility to political deception. Participants watched a news interview in which a politician either answered all the questions or deceptively evaded a question. In Study 1 (n = 202), deception is perceived through the dodge being irrelevant for voters who do not identify with the politician. In Study 2 (n = 618), partisan voters consider the politician more deceptive, and acting more deceptively, when the politician has their opposing party affiliation, independent of whether he dodges. When the politician shares their party identification, voters identify with the politician more and consider his responses more relevant. Findings are consistent with theoretical positions of identification, the cooperative principle, and social identity.     

From exemptions to censorship: religious liberty and victimhood in Obergefell v. Hodges

This article analyzes the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, showing that a subset of the dissent constructed devout religious groups as victims to rearticulate power relations between the state, LGBT groups, and religious entities. This rearticulation is possible as a consequence of ambiguity in the legal concept of religious liberty, which is explored in depth. That ambiguity is employed to mount an argument against the decision, moving LGBT individuals from oppressed to oppressor of religious groups. The study contextualizes this inversion against the material and symbolic conditions of both the LGBT and devout Christian communities in the United States.     

Spanish historic archives’ use of websites as a management transparency vehicle

Against the backdrop of Spain’s Transparency Act, this article discusses the presence or otherwise of a series of document types, proposed as management-related transparency indicators, on 61 (8 national and 53 provincial) historic archive websites. Although examples of good practice were identified, the information provided was found to be scant, in particular as regards lines of action, organisational objectives and yearly reports. The information most commonly provided on the websites included the collection classification chart, service use regulations and citizen charters. The inference drawn was that archives, so intently focused on their role in the application of the Act by the organisations they serve, neglect their own administrative obligations in respect of its provisions. The recommendation is that as government-funded and subsidised public service institutions, historic archives should exercise transparency by furnishing the information stipulated in the Act on their websites.     

Contesting Communities

This introductory article to the combined special issue of Journalism Studies and Journalism Practice provides an overview of some of the key contemporary approaches to studying journalism and social order. It argues the need to step beyond a functionalist framework when considering the news media’s central role in shaping social connections, community and cohesion. To advance our understandings of social order, our paper suggests a greater emphasis of the significance of journalism’s relationship to the wider social sphere along with three other key considerations, including (1) a critical focus on the relationship between media, politics and social order, especially in defining and/or negotiating “anti-social” practices and social disintegration; (2) a more refined focus on the “imagined” and geographic boundaries of news audiences in digital spaces; and (3) the changing relationship to norms and conventions of journalism practice from trust and legitimacy to the role of journalists as arbiters and connectors across social spaces.