The professionalization of health librarianship in the UK between 1909 and 1978

Many strands exist within health information work and during the last century librarians in this field identified themselves through special groups or associations. This paper focuses on the key role of the Library Association Medical Section in the professional development of medical librarians in the United Kingdom up to 1978 when it merged with the Library Association Hospital Libraries and Handicapped Readers Group to create the Medical, Health and Welfare Group. Uniting to form a stronger organization, under the ultimate designation of the Health Libraries Group, was part of an evolutionary process. The invention and promotion of co-operative schemes, networking and educational opportunities for members, the publication of specialized material and the fostering of international relationships during the first three-quarters of the century are illuminated by personal reminiscences from some of the major participants in the field.     

Prospective Elementary Teachers’ Analysis of Children’s Science Talk in an Undergraduate Physics Course

We investigated how prospective teachers used physics content knowledge when analyzing the talk of elementary children during special activities in an undergraduate physics content course designed for prospective teachers. We found that prospective teachers used content knowledge to reflect on their own learning and to identify students’ science ideas and restate these ideas in scientific terms. Based on this research, we inferred that analyzing children’s ideas through videos provides a meaningful context for applying conceptual physics knowledge in physics courses. Activities that are embedded within a disciplinary curriculum, such as those studied here, may help prospective teachers learn to use disciplinary knowledge in exactly the type of activity in which their content knowledge will be most useful: listening to and interpreting children’s science ideas.     

Performance evaluation of the high sensitive troponin I assay on the Atellica IM analyser

IntroductionThe Fourth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction Global Taskforce recommends the use of high sensitive troponin (hs-Tn) assays in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. We evaluated the analytical performance of the Atellica IM High-sensitivity Troponin I Assay (hs-TnI) (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., Tarrytown, USA) and compared its performance to other hs-TnI assays (Siemens Advia Centaur, Dimension Vista, Dimension EXL, and Abbott Architect (Wiesbaden, Germany)) at one or more sites across Europe.Materials and methodsPrecision, detection limit, linearity, method comparison, and interference studies were performed according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute protocols. Values in 40 healthy individuals were compared to the manufacturer’s cut-offs. Sample turnaround time (TAT) was examined.ResultsImprecision repeatability CVs were 1.1–4.7% and within-lab imprecision were 1.8–7.6% (10.0–25,000 ng/L). The limit of blank (LoB), detection (LoD), and quantitation (LoQ) aligned with the manufacturer’s values of 0.5 ng/L, 1.6 ng/L, and 2.5 ng/L, respectively. Passing-Bablok regression demonstrated good correlations between Atellica IM analyser with other systems; some minor deviations were observed. All results in healthy volunteers fell below the 99th percentile URL, and greater than 50% of each sex demonstrated values above the LoD. No interference was observed for biotin (≤ 1500 µg/L), but a slight bias at 5.0 g/L haemoglobin and 50 ng/L Tn was observed. TAT from was fast (mean time = 10.9 minutes) and reproducible (6%CV).ConclusionsReal-world analytical and TAT performance of the hs-TnI assay on the Atellica IM analyser make this assay fit for routine use in clinical laboratories.     

Differentiation and its Problems: the views of primary teachers and curriculum support staff in Northern Ireland

This paper identifies a range of problems associated with putting differentiation into practice. The opinions of head teachers, subject co‐ordinators, and teachers were sought, as well as those of the curriculum support staff in the Education and Library Boards on the extent to which these problems affected primary schools in Northern Ireland, and case‐studies illuminated these views. The results showed that the curriculum support staff regarded most problems in differentiation in a more serious light than the schools themselves did, but there was agreement on the acute lack of time to deliver a differentiated curriculum, on the shortage of human resources and on the difficulties with new assessment methods.     

The Evolution of the UK’s Research Assessment Exercise: Publications,Performance and Perceptions

This article examines how the UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), along with the development of performance indicators, fits into the production of research within a changing policy context. The historical evolution of the RAE from 1985–2001 is considered, before looking specifically at how research output (in the form of journal publications) was, and is, assessed. Changes in process and output measurements necessitated a move from quantitative to quality evaluation, which affected both academic publishing and the role of journals within the RAE. The issue of quality – in terms of perceptions and performance – as applied to both is explored.     

Is politics the problem and markets the answer? An essay review of Politics, Markets, and America's Schools

Politics, Markets, and America's Schools is an ambitious book that draws eclectically on concepts from political science, the sociology of organizations and educational learning theory. Chubb and Moe employ an extensive array of data seeking to link the mechanisms that control school operations to student achievement. They conclude that a total restructuring of the governance system of American education — from democratic to market control — is necessary. Our review scrutinizes a set of critical decisions made by Chubb and Moe in defining their key concepts and in the analytical models employed in this research. We argue that many of these decisions are not justified on either theoretical or methodological grounds. Moreover, the cumulative effect of the decision tends to tilt the empirical evidence toward supporting the authors' a priori beliefs. As a result, we conclude that Politics, Markets, and America's Schools is best viewed as a policy argument, where extensive, but not always solid empirical evidence has been artfully employed to advance the authors' preconceived notions about American schooling.