The Effect of Digital Indexing Systems on the Accessibilityof Photographic Collections

This Digital Image Archive (DIA) project involves the production of adigital archive of a collection of Nineteenth Century photographicimages and equipment. The DIA was designed to operate as a public accesscatalogue, to aid curators with information retrieval and to reduce theneed to handle some original material. Much of the William Henry FoxTalbot collection at the Royal Photographic Society can no longer beexhibited due to damage caused by handling and light. Access to thecollection is restricted because of preservation concerns over a growingpercentage of the collection and insufficient resources forreproductions and supervision. These problems led to investigations intothe possible advantages that digital technology might offer.Cross-referencing, administrative cataloguing and recording ofpreservation techniques are ideally suited to digital technology. Theshort life span of digital storage media and concerns over systemcompatibility requires the development of a complex long-term digitalstrategy that must be standardized if the archival material is tosurvive. Construction of the DIA involved investigations into softwareand hardware configurations concentrating on the ability to customizefactors such as indexing from recognized standards and practices. Thispaper concentrates on the results of a survey into standards withindigital indexing systems, which indicates that although there is growingawareness of standardization within digital cataloguing and multimedia,many organizations continue to devise independent systems.     

Does Audience Participation on Facebook Influence the News Agenda? A Case Study of The Rachel Maddow Show

Social media have been theorized as being able to break the press' monopoly on agenda-setting, giving the public greater influence over which stories are covered in the news. This study uses a cross-lagged panel analysis to determine to what extent audience conversations on The Rachel Maddow Show's Facebook Page may have influenced the selection of issues covered in the TV broadcast. Results show a positive correlation between stories discussed on Facebook and the subsequent airing of similar stories on TV. The evidence also suggests that social media may enable many factors that influence both the media and the public agendas.     

The Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters Program's Relationship with Mother and School Outcomes

Research Findings: This study investigated the relationship of the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program to mothers' involvement in education at home and school, student school readiness in kindergarten, and student academic outcomes at 3rd grade. HIPPY serves a mostly minority, low-income family population and employs home visitors that are mostly female and Spanish speaking. Using a within-group analysis, we found that HIPPY mothers increased educational activities in their home with their children after 1 year of home-based intervention. The majority (84.8%) of HIPPY kindergartners were rated as “ready for school” by their kindergarten teachers according to a within-group analysis. In addition, between-group analyses showed that HIPPY kindergartners had higher attendance rates, higher prekindergarten enrollment, and higher promotion to 1st grade compared to other kindergartners in the school district. HIPPY 3rd graders scored significantly higher on a state-mandated math achievement test than their matched peers. Practice or Policy: The results suggest that HIPPY had a positive relationship with families and schools through improved parent involvement and student school outcomes.