Understanding user needs for citation management program support

Abstract

Citation management programs are tools used to organize references and to create citations and bibliographies. Libraries are often the central point for providing training and support in using these tools. To determine how we could improve our support and training services, we surveyed users to determine what software in being used, why they chose that particular program, what features are important, and how they use citation management programs to collaborate. Results indicate that users chose a particular program because it was freely available or recommended to them by others and that they thought that importing references and creating citations were important features. We also found a majority of respondents used citation management programs to collaborate and turned to the library for training and support.     

Personal and systems‐level factors that limit and facilitate school psychologists' involvement in school‐based mental health services

The common path through which youth with mental health problems actually receive treatment is the education system. The current study used qualitative methodology to explore why school psychologists are not providing the level of mental health services that children need, leaders in the field call for, and practitioners desire. Thirty‐nine school psychologists participated in 11 focus groups; they responded to structured questions regarding the range of mental health services they currently provide, as well as the personal and systemic factors that facilitate and limit their provision of these mental health services. Analysis of themes that emerged across focus groups indicated that school psychologists provide a broad variety of mental health services with an emphasis on group and individual counseling as well as crisis intervention. The factors most often mentioned as prohibiting the delivery of such services included problems inherent to using schools as the site for service delivery, insufficient training, and a lack of support from department/district administration and school personnel. The enabling conditions that emerged most involved perceptions of ample support from administration and school personnel, sufficient integration into the school site, and particular personal characteristics, such as the desire to provide counseling and the ability to maintain personal boundaries. Implications for practitioners, administrators, and trainers are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

“There's going to be community. There's going to be knowledge”: Designs for learning in a standardised age

Using the case of a secondary English department in Ontario, Canada, this article examines the constraints that academic departments face in transforming themselves from communities of practice into learning communities. This distinction between a community of practice and a learning community has taken on heightened importance as increasing curriculum standardisation and high stakes assessments further narrow the historically fragile opportunities for deep and collaborative teacher learning within the traditionally structured academic department. The paper proposes some theoretical considerations and concrete strategies to assist academic departments in overcoming constraints to learning within an era of increasing standardisation and accountability. It further explores how the international movement of educational post-standardisation promises greater opportunities for the development of teacher learning communities within academic departments.     

The Perspectives of Women and Their Health-Care Providers Regarding Using an ECA to Support Mode of Birth Decisions

This study used focus groups to assess the feasibility and acceptability of adapting an Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA) to support decision-making about mode of birth after previous cesarean. Twelve women with previous cesareans, and eight prenatal providers at an academic, tertiary-care medical center, viewed a prototype ECA and were asked to share feedback on the potential role in helping women prepare for decision-making. Both groups felt that although it was somewhat “robot-like,” the ECA could provide easy access to information for patients and could augment the visit with providers. Future work is needed to improve ECA visual appeal and clarify the role and timing for utilization of decision aids using ECA technology to enhance the shared decision-making process.     

Coaching Sales Performance: A Case Study

Century 21 International, like so many sales organizations, suffered lower productivity and higher attrition from new sales associates than they judged to be acceptable. The answer, Century 21 executives believed, was to develop a twenty-one module, multimedia training program. An external consultant urged them to study the situation prior to committing to any one solution. The results were clear. While new sales people certainly needed to have their field skills “buffed” after going through pre-licensing training and entering the office, that was not their most critical need. Far more important was an in-office support system, someone to tell them how to think through inevitable rejections, how to approach recurring challenges, how to maintain confidence even when sales do not occur, how to prospect portions of the community and how to integrate into the real estate community. The data revealed the need for a solution system comprised of training, incentives, performance support materials, the introduction of a new position, a coach, into each office, and a selection method for that coach. This article describes the front end study, the program, and some of its results in real estate offices across the United States.     

Stroop color-word test: A screening measure of selective attention to differentiate LD from non LD children

The Stroop Color-Word Test was used to measure selective attention in LD (N = 45) and nonLD (N = 50) children. Results indicated that LD children have a significant weakness in the process of selective attention when compared to nonLD children. On the Stroop, no significant sex differences were noted with nonLD children, although LD boys tended toward greater interference proneness in a trend that approached significance. Findings suggest that the Stroop is a parsimonious and effective screening measure in differentiating LD from nonLD children.