Self-efficacy and the stages of exercise behavior change.

This study examined the application of constructs concerning stage of readiness to change and self-efficacy to exercise. We developed two scales to measure stages of change for exercise behavior. Prevalence information on a sample of 1,063 government employees and 429 hospital employees was then obtained. Next, the ability of a questionnaire measuring exercise self-efficacy to differentiate employees according to stage of readiness to change was tested. Results from both stages-of-change scales revealed that 34-39% of employees were regularly participating in physical activity. Scores on efficacy items significantly differentiated employees at most stages. Results indicated employees who had not yet begun to exercise, in contrast with those who exercised regularly, had little confidence in their ability to exercise. Continued work at understanding the stages of exercise behavior and exercise self-efficacy could yield important information for enhancing exercise adoption and adherence.     

Excellence and relevance-two sides of the same coin

Direct Government funding of higher education research began in 1965 with the establishment of the Australian Research Grants Committee. The emphasis was on (pure) basic research and excellence was the sole selection criterion. The emphasis shifted in 1988 with the establishment of the Australian Research Council and the enunciation by Government of a research policy which focused on the relevance of research to Australia's social and economic development. The Council's 1992 Mission Statement identified the five major benefits which the council's programs should deliver to the community. Two structural priorities, international links and higher education-industry links, were identified and new programs established. A third, research training, was given additional emphasis in an existing program. Thematic priorities will be addressed in all programs following an analysis of the balance of funding between research and research training strategies being developed jointly by researchers and research users.     

An Investigation of Title Ambiguity in the Health Sciences Literature

This research investigates what most catalogers already know—titles alone do not identify works sufficiently. Repetitive titles like “Annual Report” are just the tip of the iceberg. To explore the extent of ambiguity occurring in large sets of health science bibliographic data, the entire National Library of Medicine and Lane Medical Library catalogs and a sample from the PubMed database were analyzed. After measuring the uniqueness of titles, results were recalculated to determine the effect of appending date and/or edition. This initial evidence supports further exploration of whether such structured titles might serve as singular bibliographic identities.