Acknowledgment of victory and defeat: The reciprocal ritual

Acknowledgment of victory and defeat by presidential opponents is a reciprocal ritual that terminates the campaign for the mass audience. It is argued here that situational and substantive rules have evolved that govern these brief messages and that violation of these rules causes disruption in the transition of leadership. Rules are derived from examination of all presidential victory and concession statements from 1952–1976. These rules are then applied to the Carter‐Reagan statements made on election night, 1980.     

The impact of alternative approaches to comforting,closeness of relationship,and gender on multiple measures of effectiveness

The impact of 6 approaches to comforting (suggesting a diversion, expressing optimism, providing an external account, offering assistance, explaining the perspective of the offender, and a combination of the first 5), attributed to either a good friend or a casual acquaintance, was assessed for 2 situations by 394 students. Distressed individuals responded to comforting messages along two dimension: feeling less upset and feeling demeaned, with some indications that yet a third dimension (appreciating the concern of the comforter) may exist. The message that combined elements from the other 5 approaches yielded generally the most positive responses, but responses to specific message approaches varied with situation and dimension of response. Messages from good friends were more successful than those from casual acquaintances in helping the distressed individual to feel less upset.     

An assessment of methodological options for investigating the development of persuasive skills across childhood

This study compared two fundamentally different approaches to assessing the development of persuasive skills in children: asking them to generate messages versus having them select from preformulated messages or strategies. Also investigated was the approach of asking children to indicate their rationale for choosing a particular message. Using criteria of showing a developmental progression with age and positive correlation with social cognitive measures presumed to be relevant to persuasive skills, the present study suggests more success with message generation than with selection of preformulated messages. Elicitation of the rationale may prove a useful supplement to either of the former approaches.     

Information literacy for the information literate: A model and case study from the Wuhan UNESCO training the trainers in information literacy program

This article draws on the authors’ experiences in providing training for information seekers worldwide, from elementary school children to business professionals. Designed for the UNESCO Training the Trainers (TTT) in Information Literacy (IL) workshop in Wuhan, China in October 2008, the material offers a practical, structured framework for creating an information literacy program for trainers that is adaptable to changing learner needs and changing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools. It includes examples and a case study using a basic course for paraprofessionals and beginning librarians. Based on input from participants at the Wuhan workshop, the article enhances the assessment portion of the presentation. The UNESCO program document listed a target audience of the less information literate ((UNESCO, 2008) Training the trainers in information literacy portal http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25623&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html. Accessed 14.02.10). This paper, and in general the approach of the Wuhan session, focused on information literacy at an institutional rather than community level (Zhang, X. (Julia) (2009). Report of the UNESCO training-the-trainers in information literacy workshop, October 20–22, 2008, Wuhan, China. International Information & Library Review, 41(4) 273–276).     

The Consolidation of Two Campus Interlibrary Loan Units Into One: A Partnership Between Law and Main Campus

Until July 2009 Valparaiso University had two campus interlibrary loan units, one serving the main campus and the other serving the law school. In the wake of a projected 15–20% campuswide budget cut, the two campus libraries investigated ways to work together to reduce costs. The libraries came together with Online Computer Library Center and Atlas Systems, Inc., to consolidate the two separate units and ILLiad databases into one. This article discusses the reasons for merging two interlibrary loan units and the steps undertaken to combine two ILLiad systems.     

Film Books

Akira Kurosawa, SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982---$15.00)

Joseph McBride, HAWKS ON HAWKS (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982---$14.95/$6.95)

Ruth McCormick's (trans.) FASSBINDER(New York: Tanem Press, 1981---$15.95/$7.95)

“Twayne's Theatrical Arts Series”

G.K. Hall “Reference Publications in Film” series (Boston: G.K. Hall, l981---prices shown below)

Michael Haley, THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK ALBUM (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1981---$17.95)

James Curtis, BETWEEN FLOPS: A BIOGRAPHY OF PRESTON STURGES (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1982---$15.95)     

Successful Enquiry Answering Every Time by Tim Buckley Owen

No abstract available for this article.     

Richard Nixon and presidential mythology

Richard Nixon's rhetoric is analyzed according to four themes which have evolved in his public speaking. Together these themes comprise Nixon's view of Presidential Mythology.     

Improving preservice chemistry teachers’ content knowledge through intervention activities

ABSTRACT

The effect of intervention activities on the chemistry content knowledge of 92 preservice chemistry teachers (PSCT) was examined via a pre and post true/false with confidence level test focusing on ionisation energy values and the use of a common alternative conception (AC). Data were collected from three cohorts of PSCT each engaged in a one year full-time university-based teacher education programme. Comparison of pre-and post-test responses and discrimination differences between responses for each PSCT were used to identify the use of the AC and hence the efficacy of the intervention activities. Interviews with 14 of these PSCT allowed triangulation of the data. Findings suggest that the activities allow 71% of PSCT to identify this AC as non-scientific or become more confident in doing so. Interview data indicate that this rejection of this AC is sustained for 9 of the 11 PSCT whose test data indicated improvement. These data have implications for teacher education such that 2 hour intervention sessions can offer the opportunity for PSCT to develop their subject matter knowledge. As the accurate application of electrostatic concepts to electrons has wider application to bonding, these interventions offer PSCT more accurate chemical subject knowledge resources to draw on in their teaching.     

Nature education and science

Four-year-old Adrienne is on her hands and knees watching ants in one corner of the school yard. Her friend June is nearby with a magnifying glass and sifter. She's pouring dirt through the sifter and then using the magnifying glass to study the remains of what's left in the sifter. So far, she's found a small pebble, something that looks like a bone, and remnants of dried grass.Ruth A. Wilson is Director of Environmental Education for Preschoolers, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH.The author's work is supported, in part, through a grant from the Ohio Environmental Education Fund, a program of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.