Cable TV

Robert L. Steiner, Visions of Cablevision: The Prospects for Cable Television in the Greater Cincinnati Area (Stephen H. Wilder Foundation, 1017 Provident Tower, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202–free to residents of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana; $3.00 to others)

Cable TV: for the Neighborhood and For the Region (Citizens League, 84 South 6th St., Minneapolis, Minn. 55402–free on request)     

Motivating and improving attitudes to reading in the final years of primary schooling in five New Zealand schools

Teachers are influential in motivating and improving attitudes towards reading. This article reports on an investigation of eight teachers of 10‐ to 12‐year‐old students from five New Zealand schools and the strategies they used to improve attitudes to reading. Each school had been identified as implementing effective reading programmes by a panel of literacy experts and supported by standardised tests demonstrating overall improvements in reading achievement. A reading culture developed by using sophisticated picture books and novels for discussion and debate along with ready access to age‐related, high‐interest appropriate books in the classroom and school library. Teachers worked with children on a whole class, group and individually and demonstrated explicit teaching using texts that engage the reader. The research suggests that children need support by their teachers to negotiate them away from potential points of discouragement in learning to read. Also, teachers need to be aware that reading may not be considered ‘cool’ at this time of early adolescence and initiate strategies to make reading fun.     

Development and testing of a direct observation code training protocol for elementary aged students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Observational measures can add objective data to both research and clinical evaluations of children’s behavior in the classroom. However, they pose challenges for training and attaining high levels of interrater reliability between observers. The Behavioral Observation of Students in Schools (BOSS) is a commonly used school-based observation instrument that is well adapted to measure symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the classroom setting. Reliable use of the BOSS for clinical or research purposes requires training to reach reliable standards (kappa?≥?0.80). The current study conducted training observations in one suburban and one urban elementary school in the Greater Boston area. To enhance interrater reliability and reduce training time, supplemental guidelines, including 30 additional rules to follow, were developed over two consecutive school years. The complete protocol was then used for training in the third school year. To reach sufficient interrater reliability (kappa?≥?0.80) during training, 45 training observations were required in the first year while, in the third year, only 17 observations were required. High interrater reliability was sustained after training across all three school years, accumulating a total of 1,001 post-training observations. It is estimated that clinicians or researchers following this proposed protocol, who are naive to the BOSS, will require approximately 30 training observations to reach proficient reliability. We believe this protocol will make the BOSS more accessible for clinical and research usage, and the procedures used to obtain high interrater reliability using the BOSS are broadly applicable to a variety of observational measures.     

The Use of Web of Knowledge to Study Publishing and Citation Use for Local Researchers at the Campus Level

This paper provides information on a research project undertaken at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville to study publications by the campus researchers with an emphasis on the STEM (agricultural sciences, physical science, biological sciences, engineering and mathematics, etc.) disciplines at the macro level for a 3-year period. The overall objective of the study was to provide evidence-based data of periodical use to assist with collection decisions and to identify collection strengths at the university level. We used the Web of Knowledge database (Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, and Arts and Humanities Citation Index) to identify the periodical literature in which our researchers published and those that they cite in their publications. We also determined the extent to which our researchers are publishing in and citing periodicals from the Elsevier, Wiley, and IEEE journal packages. A methodology for extracting citations from Web of Knowledge into an Excel spreadsheet is also provided.     

Editorial

Moving images are essential resources for teaching and research in higher education. Libraries provide access to these resources in many formats such as U-matic tapes, 16 mm film, VHS, DVD, and streaming video. Changing moving image technologies and preferences of faculty and students present challenges for librarians in managing media collections, as libraries must make difficult decisions about weeding legacy moving image collections. The authors present a case study and practical advice on developing guidelines for collaborative, thoughtful withdrawal of 16 mm films, lessons learned, and scalable recommendations for how libraries and archives can best maintain media collections unique to their campus.     

Causality dilemma: creating a twenty-first century university archive

For its fifteenth anniversary, the Jay Sexter Library at Touro University Nevada (TUN) sought ways to capture its institutional history by founding an archive. Among many challenges, the library struggled to convince the administration of the importance of an archive. To generate interest in TUN''s history, a task force comprising library, executive administration, and advancement staff hosted and recorded a panel event with some of the university''s original faculty, staff, and administration. By having this event, new TUN employees were able to experience the shared knowledge of TUN''s early days, and the library was able to create and preserve its own institutional history.