Matching MARC to a picture collection: Development of a computer format for medical illustrations

The national standard machine-readable bibliographic format for films was expanded and modified for use in cataloging a collection of medical illustrations at the University of California, San Francisco. SNOMED and MeSH subject terms are stored in the computer catalog records and used to produce precoordinated entry terms for an Anatomic Index and a Disease/Procedures Index to the collection.     

Memory for number of light flashes in the pigeon

Two groups of pigeons were trained to perform symbolic delayed matching-to-sample at a 0-sec delay with sample stimuli that consisted of sequences of light flashes. The sequences varied in number but not time for one group (number group) and in time but not number for the other group (time group). When retention was tested at delays up to 10 sec in Experiment 1, a choose-small effect was found in the number group, and a choose-long effect was found in the time group. Transfer tests between number and time samples in Experiment 2 supported the hypothesis that pigeons were discriminating between the number of light flashes at the end of sample sequences in Experiment 1. It was concluded that pigeons in both the number and the time groups were discriminating between number of flashes and that the apparent choose-long effect was actually a choose-small effect. The implications of these findings for the mode-control model of counting and timing (Meck & Church, 1983) were discussed.     

Foraging for covered and uncovered food on a radial maze

Rats were trained to forage for food on a four-arm radial maze. Each arm of the maze was defined as a patch and contained four feeding stations. Each patch contained a total of 20 45-mg food pellets, with the first feeding station in each patch baited with 1 pellet and the remaining stations baited with 1, 5, or 13 pellets. In Experiment 1, one group of rats was tested with feeders open and food readily accessible, and another group was tested with metal covers on the feeders, which necessitated extra time to gain access to food. With open feeders, the rats visited each feeder in a patch in the order in which they encountered the feeders, from the center of the maze to the end of the arm. The rats in the group with the covered feeders often visited the feeders containing 5 or 13 pellets first and the feeders containing 1 pellet last. In Experiment 2, it was found that the rats switched readily between these two foraging strategies when tested with covered and open feeders on alternate sessions. The extra time and effort required to uncover food appeared to produce selective foraging in rats.     

‘The bar is slightly higher’: the perception of racism in teacher education

The education and training of teachers is an issue of national concern. In this paper we analyse the findings of an in‐depth investigation, undertaken by means of semi structured interviews, of a group of minority ethnic teacher trainees who withdrew from Initial Teacher Training courses in England, and a smaller group of those who completed these courses. We focus, in particular, on trainees' perception of the manifestation of racism during their training. Though none of the minority ethnic withdrawers perceive racism as the determining factor for their withdrawal, some mention instances of covert and even overt racism, while others note subtle forms of discriminatory obstacles to successful completion of the course, which they are reluctant to label as racism. The paper concludes by pointing to the complexity of categorizing phenomena as racism. It also draws attention, on the one hand, to the vulnerability of those who view themselves as being racially abused, and, on the other, to those who are disinclined to dwell on barriers to success as forms of racism and are more predisposed to regarding them as failures of the system.     

Networks of innovators: a longitudinal perspective

This paper investigates how evolutions of complex technologies and networks of innovators affect the development of emerging innovations. Building upon the theories of technological evolution and socio-organizational dynamics, we develop propositions to examine the stability and change of networks punctuated by successive technological changes. We argue that incumbents who are early advocates of standards in complex technological environments are more likely to survive via alliances. Based on 150 firms and 319 alliances in the US data communications industry from 1985 to 1996, we found support for our propositions and the characteristics of central-periphery structure best describe the patterns of industry networks.     

“Simultaneous immersion”: How online postgraduate study contributes to the development of reflective practice among public service practitioners

This paper examines how the process of engaging simultaneously in study and work – through online distance-based study – affects students’ capacity to apply their learning in and for the workplace. The paper takes as its starting point the importance of extending notions of “educational effectiveness” beyond course-based attainment to encompass the impact of learning within the workplace. It explores the interface between study and work, focusing on the case of online postgraduate programmes in public management at the University of York. It finds that simultaneous immersion in study and work can create the conditions for “public reflection” that underpin work-based learning and that a key factor is the student-practitioner's ability to mobilise “episodic power.” The paper suggests ways in which existing approaches to online postgraduate learning might be enhanced in order to capitalise on these conditions of simultaneous immersion.