Comments on David Throsby's paper

Journal of Cultural Economics -     

The idea of a normal university in the 21st century

The establishment of normal colleges and universities is an important component of building a modern country, which possesses different value ethos with the universities. The emergence of the école Normale Supérieure in Paris and the local normal schools has set a new model for teacher education around the world and promoted values and knowledge patterns promoted by them quite distinctive from those of the traditional European university. In order to improve the quality of teacher education, the models of teacher education in the U.S., Japan, U.K., etc., are being continually innovated. China has created the teacher education model different with the U.S., Japan, U.K. and France, which is a contribution to the development of international teacher education.     

Peer education in the commons: a new approach to reference services

In planning for a new library construction project for the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, graduate students enrolled in the University of Oklahoma (OU) School of Library and Information Studies collaborated in an innovative effort to develop a commons-based reference service. By first considering a philosophical approach to the need for a commons, blending in the experiences of other libraries that have created similar spaces, and focusing on the workflow issues likely to be encountered by the graduate assistants staffing the commons itself, this planning team developed an uncommon peer-to-peer approach to reference and education services, one focused on the patron as student.