Undercounting File Downloads from Institutional Repositories

ABSTRACT

A primary impact metric for institutional repositories (IR) is the number of file downloads, which are commonly measured through third-party Web analytics software. Google Analytics, a free service used by most academic libraries, relies on HTML page tagging to log visitor activity on Google's servers. However, Web aggregators such as Google Scholar link directly to high value content (usually PDF files), bypassing the HTML page and failing to register these direct access events. This article presents evidence of a study of four institutions demonstrating that the majority of IR activity is not counted by page tagging Web analytics software, and proposes a practical solution for significantly improving the reporting relevancy and accuracy of IR performance metrics using Google Analytics.     

The effects of nonverbal reinforcement and interviewee‐interviewer relationship on interviewee's verbal response

Utilizing survey data from 99 nursing home residents in nursing home facilities serving Medicaid patients, this study investigated the relationship of interpersonal network involvement to perceived life satisfaction and perceived need accommodations. Each subject completed three survey instruments developed to measure (a) resident's perceived quality care, (b) residents’ satisfaction with personal need accommodation and (c) interpersonal network satisfaction. Residents’ perceptions of quality care (i.e., attitude of staff, food, and self‐selected social activities) and satisfaction with roommates are significant predictors of perceived needs being met. Further, residents are more satisfied with self‐selected relationships than with institutionally‐selected roommates.     

Book reviews

The Fiscal Administration of City School Systems. By J. R. Mcgaughy. A report reviewed and presented by the Educational Finance Inquiry Commission under the auspices of the American Council on Education, Washington, D. C. New York: Macmillan Co., 1924.

Child Accounting. By A. B. Moehlman (University of Michigan). Detroit: Courtis Standard Tests, 1924. Pp. 205. Price, $1.85.

Principles of Teaching Practically Applied. By Ruby Minor. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1924. Pp. xiii + 281. Price, $1.90.

Sex, for Parents and Teachers. By William Leland Stowell. New York: Macmillan Co., 1924. Pp. xx + 204. Price, $1.50.

The Child, His Nature and His Needs. Edited by M. V. O'Shea. Valparaiso, Ind.: The Children's Foundation, 1924. Pp. xi + 516.

Measuring Intelligence. By H. C. Hines (University of Washington). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1924. Pp. xii + 146. Price, $1.20.     

RECALL SCORES OF OLD AND YOUNG PEOPLE AS A FUNCTION OF REGISTRATION INTERVALS

The subjects, 24 old (mean age, 69 yr) and 24 young (mean age, 19 yr) people, were given one learning trial on paired associate lists under each of four temporal conditions: (1) 3 sec study (association) interval; (2) self‐paced study interval; (3) self‐paced study interval and 4 sec registration interval; (4) self‐paced study and registration intervals. The response interval for the single recall trial was self‐paced for all conditions. The subject was instructed to use the registration interval to ensure that the association between the paired items was “fixed” in his or her mind. The recall scores of the elderly subjects but not the young subjects improved significantly as a function of the registration interval. The results suggest that with advanced age more time is required for information processing, and specifically for the registration of an association and/or its transfer from primary to secondary memory. The significant improvement of the older subjects from the paced‐study‐interval condition to the self‐paced‐study‐and‐registration‐intervals condition supports the contention that modification of conditions under which the older person is expected to perform can result in substantial performance increments.     

Community college students’ views on learning mathematics in terms of their epistemological beliefs: a Q method study

The purpose of this study was to explore the views of students enrolled at a small United States Midwestern community college toward learning mathematics, and to examine the relationship between student beliefs about mathematic learning and educational experiences with mathematics using Q methodology and open-ended response prompts. Schommer’s (Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 495–504, 1990) multidimensional theory of personal epistemology provided the structural framework for the development of 36 domain specific Q sort statements. Analysis of the data revealed three distinct but related views of learning mathematic which were labeled Active Learners, Skeptical Learners, and Confident Learners. Chi-square tests of independence revealed no significant differences based on gender. Additionally, there was no evidence for differences based on level of mathematics completed, age, or college hours accumulated. Student’s previous experiences in instructional environments, however, were closely associated with beliefs. Results are discussed in view of the implications for establishing learning environments and considerations in implementing Standards-based curricula in higher education.     

Gender ratio in dyslexia

This paper is based on a study carried out in Great Britain on a national sample of 11,804 ten-year olds. The first section describes an attempt to pick out cases of “specific developmental dyslexia” (Critchley 1970), a constellation or syndrome of difficulties which some believe to be recognizable clinically. When specified criteria for dyslexia were used, 269 children qualified as dyslexic (2.28 percent of the sample). These included 223 boys and 46 girls, for a ratio of 4.51 to 1. Two possible difficulties in interpreting these data are discussed, and a defense is offered of the criteria used. Since some recent research papers report a gender ratio much nearer 1:1 (Shaywitz et al. 1990; Wadsworth et al. 1992; Lubs et al. 1993), those papers were examined for possible differences in procedure; it was found that the definition of dyslexia they used was “poor reading in relation to intelligence.” We carried out a further analysis on our own data using the same criterion. Of the 494 children who qualified as dyslexic on the basis of discrepancy criteria alone (4.19 percent of the sample), 314 were boys and 180 were girls for a ratio of 1.69 to 1. It seems, therefore, that the apparent differences in gender ratio reported in the literature have arisen because different criteria for dyslexia have been used. We argue that the definition based on clinical criteria leads to a more powerful taxonomy and that the widespread equation of “dyslexia” with “poor reading” is a hindrance to progress.     

A comparison between the WISC and WISC-R among educable mentally retarded students

The study compared differences and similarities between WISC and WISC-R scores for 48 ten- and thirteen-year-old EMR students, who were matched according to sex and race. The WISC-R yielded significantly lower VS, PS, and FS IQ scores than the WISC for this predominantly rural Georgia population. The FS IQ scores from the WISC-R averaged 7.5 points lower than the WISC FS IQs, with similar differences noted for VS and PS scores. There was no significant difference in FS IQs between the two age groups. Results suggest that many children classified as “Borderline” or slightly above by the WISC will be classified as “Mentally Deficient” by the WISC-R.     

Effect of the addition of hydroxyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane to TEOS-based stone consolidants

Hybrid stone consolidants prepared from tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and α,ω-hydroxyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS-OH) have been considered as one of the most promising approaches to improve the effectiveness of traditional alkoxysilane-based formulations. They have emerged as response to the negative reports commonly found in the literature: the resulting silica gel phase (SiO₂) tends to develop fractures and fissures inside the stone as the gel shrinks during the drying stage. In this work, we employed SEM, solid-state ²⁹Si NMR spectroscopy and compressive tests to characterize SiO₂-PDMS hybrid gels. We report the morphological characteristics exhibited by gels prepared in vitro and in situ. It was found an appreciable reduction of gel fracture for hybrids prepared from 5% w/w of PDMS. As TEOS polycondenses, PDMS-OH is chemically incorporated into the gel matrix via Si-O-Si bonds. The inclusion of these elastic chains provides the necessary flexibility to resist the stress imposed by capillary pressure. Additionally, an important hydrophobic character is imparted to the stone.