Use of libraries and electronic information resources by primary care staff: outcomes from a survey

OBJECTIVES: To assess the use of existing libraries; usage of the Internet and biomedical databases; and need for training on use of the Internet and biomedical databases for primary care staff. METHODS: A postal survey of general practitioners (GPs), practice nurses (PNs) and practice managers (PMs) in Nottingham and Rotherham, UK. RESULTS: Overall, 243 questionnaires were used. The response rate in Nottingham was 24%, in Rotherham it was 34%. Reported use of libraries was low (30%), with PNs reporting significantly higher usage (65%) than others (P < 0.01). Most respondents reported using the Internet (81%), but fewer (44%) reported using databases. GPs and PNs were significantly more likely to report using databases than PMs (P < 0.01). Lack of training was the most reported barrier to using the Internet (67%) and databases (52%). Overall, 52% of respondents reported wanting Internet training, 64% wanted database training. The percentages requesting training on databases were high among GPs and PNs, but significantly lower for PMs (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: There are differences in the usage of libraries and electronic resources among the primary care team, and in reported training needs. While the reported levels of usage of the Internet and biomedical databases are encouraging, our study identified a training need. If met, this could increase usage further.     

Commemorating a whole story of woman suffrage

ABSTRACT

To tell the whole story of the struggle for woman suffrage, we need to begin the story well before 1848 and continue it long after 1920. For those teaching about woman suffrage, this essay offers resources that enable you to situate the 19th Amendment within a richer narrative of woman suffrage.     

The art of self-concretization as a necropolitical embodiment: The self-immolation of Chun Tae-il

This essay examines Chun Tae-il's self-immolation as an exemplar that showcases how a life deprived of public appearance can enter the public sphere through the willful destruction of one's body. Far from being a strange and curious deviation, self-immolation, I argue, is a necropolitical form of public embodiment for those who have been marginalized and excluded from the space of appearance. Chun Tae-il's self-immolation illustrates that there is an alternative form of self-suspension practiced by subaltern subjects: the art of self-concretization. While all subjects of publicity are required to bracket their self-interests when entering the public realm, Chun Tae-il's self-immolation indicates that the entrance fee for minoritized subjects can be life itself, thus epitomizing the limit condition of self-purgation in the public realm.     

Supporting the Teaching of Information Literacy with First Year Bsc Nursing Students: The Case for a Printed Workbook

Information literacy (IL) is increasingly considered to be an important life skill and there are a number of challenges that librarians face in implementing an effective IL program. This article examines the experience of library staff at Birmingham City University (BCU) and how they developed a printed workbook to be embedded within sessions attached to a first year Nursing degree academic skills module. Previous approaches to IL input with Nursing students will be discussed. The changes that were made and the impact of these changes on students, academic and library staff are then considered. Since the implementation of the workbook, feedback from students and staff has been encouraging concerning its purpose and value. Possible future developments are then suggested.     

Organizational Change and Renewal: Can Strategic Communication Methods Ease the Pain? A Case Study from the University of Southern Queensland

ABSTRACT

Strategic communication is not solely the remit of library managers and directors, but is the product of internal culture and engagement with the organization's brand. Libraries need to communicate strategically, in order to demonstrate to individuals across the organization that their message is on point, and that they understand, are committed to, and actively support the university's goals. Much of this work happens via the myriad of interactions library staff at all levels have with students and staff (and indeed community members) of all kinds. When the attitude and behavior of library staff does not truly reflect the library's and the university's branding or goals, this undermines more explicit measures of value. It is important for the leadership of academic libraries to understand and influence how every library staff member views his or her role in the organization, so that their communication is reflective of a confidence in themselves and their profession, and a solid understanding of their institution and the higher education landscape. In large-scale organizational change, both intellectual and emotional buy-in to the organization can wane. We seek to show how a people-centered change process, rather than adversely affecting staff buy-in, could instead increase buy-in to the organizational change.     

KVOS in the Local,Public Interest: Early Broadcasting and the Constitution of the Local

This article contributes to scholarly literature on local stations in early radio broadcasting history. Taking KVOS in Bellingham, WA as a case study, it attends to how regional geography in conjunction with station operators, broadcasting policy, and audiences helped to define localism in relation to broader national, regional, and international identities forming at the beginnings of early radio and between 1930–1953. KVOS’ history demonstrates how radio was always bound up with the production of locality and how local identity was constituted in and through its relation to broader collective sensibilities taking shape at the time.