Communication Policy

Fair Use and Free Inquiry: Copyright Law and the New Media edited by John Shelton Lawrence and Bernard Timberg (Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing, 1989~$59.50 institutions/$32.50 personal, ISBN 0-89391-484-3)

Media Freedom and Accountability edited by Everette Dennis, Donald Gillmor and Theodore Glasser (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1989~$39.95, ISBN 0-313-26727-8)

An Economic and Legal Analysis of Undue Price Discrimination by J. Stephen Henderson and Robert E. Burns (August 1989, NRRI 89-12, 224 pp.)

Implementation of Open Network Architecture: Development, Tensions, and Strategies by Robert J. Graniere (September 1989, NRRI 89-13, 216 pp.)     

Chinese whispers? Investigating the consistency of the language of assessment between a distance education institution,its tutors and students

Ensuring the fairness of assessment is important in all areas of higher education. It is particularly so in distance education, where the communication around assessment and feedback is a principal method of supporting learning, and even more so when the students are at the entry point into higher education. This research explores the nature of the language used in explaining the purpose and process of assessment on an access programme at The Open University, UK, from the perspective of the module team, the tutors and the students. It takes a qualitative approach to examine the clarity and consistency of assessment tasks, assessment guidance and TMGs. Analysis revealed inconsistencies in the language used in relation to assessment, which has led to a revision of how assessment tasks and guidance are communicated to students and tutors.     

UX and Your Library: A Scalable Model

User experience is immeasurably important for your patrons as they access your Web site. This article presents tips and strategies for testing user experience, suggests a number of different popular technologies and tools that are used in the UX field, and lays out a plan for sharing and utilizing data to make improvements on your Web site. It is the goal of this article to present a model for improving Web site usability that can be scaled up or down depending on the resources available at your institution.     

Managing Bibliographic Data Quality in a Consortial Academic Library: A Case Study

This article presents a case study of quality management for print and electronic resource metadata, summarizing problems and solutions encountered by the Cataloging and Discovery Services Department in the George A. Smathers Libraries at the University of Florida. The authors discuss national, state, and local standards for cataloging, automated and manual record enhancements for data, user feedback, and statewide consortial factors. Findings show that adherence to standards, proactive cleanup of data via manual processes and automated tools, collaboration with vendors and stakeholders, and continual assessment of workflows are key to the management of biblio-graphic data quality in consortial academic libraries.     

Tutoring primary trainee teachers through E-conferencing

This article explores issues for developing primary teacher trainee mathematics subject knowledge from a tutor perspective, and ways of working together in an e-environment that can promote quality learning. It focuses on the design of the e-environment, the methods of working and the advantages and disadvantages for developing mathematics subject knowledge through an e-environment from a tutor perspective.