PROSPECTIVE MEMORY TRAINING IN OLDER ADULTS

This study evaluates the results of a training program for prospective remembering. The goal of the training was to improve prospective memory by associating cues from the retrieval situation with the to be remembered information. The training group consisted of 20 participants, aged between 45 and 81 years. The effects of strategy training were compared with those of an educational training group (N = 23 , age range 45-84) directed at reducing worries about forgetfulness, and a retest control group (N = 22 , age range 46-74). The educational training and retest control groups did not differ in demographic characteristics and test performance and were combined into one control group. Subjective evaluations revealed that subjects were very satisfied with the effects of training. This also was true for subjects in the educational training condition. The objective effects of training were evaluated with a telephone task which had to be performed in the daily life situation, and a prospective categorization task performed in the laboratory. Despite the low reliabilities of the prospective tasks, a significant but small effect of training compared to the combined control group was found on the sum score of prospective tests. The training effect was not related to age or pretraining performance level. At the three months follow-up, however, performance of the control group had increased to the level of the trained group. As expected, training effects did not generalize to other memory measures (assessed with tests for remembering names) or control measures (assessed with visuo-motor reaction time tests).     

Circulation of core collection monographs in an academic medical library

Academic medical librarians responsible for monograph acquisition face a challenging task. From the plethora of medical monographs published each year, academic medical librarians must select those most useful to their patrons. Unfortunately, none of the selection tools available to medical librarians are specifically intended to assist academic librarians with medical monograph selection. The few short core collection lists that are available are intended for use in the small hospital or internal medicine department library. As these are the only selection tools available, however, many academic medical librarians spend considerable time reviewing these collection lists and place heavy emphasis on the acquisition of listed books. The study reported here was initiated to determine whether the circulation of listed books in an academic library justified the emphasis placed on the acquisition of these books. Circulation statistics for "listed" and "nonlisted" books in the hematology (WH) section of Indiana University School of Medicine's Ruth Lilly Medical Library were studied. The average circulation figures for listed books were nearly two times as high as the corresponding figures for the WH books in general. These data support the policies of those academic medical libraries that place a high priority on collection of listed books.     

Book reviews

Authors and Electronic Publishing, a report produced by Alma Swan and Sheridan Brown, Key Perspectives Ltd Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) 2002. Members, £50 (US$100); Non-members £100 (US$200). ISBN 090734123-3 My Life in Science by Sydney Brenner BioMed Central Ltd, 2001; rev. edn including personal photos, 2002. Pp. 199. Paper, £14.99 recommended retail price; £10.49 for BioMed Central users ( www.biomedcentral.com/info/brenner.asp ). ISBN: 0-9540278-0-9 Understanding Copyright… in a Week by Graham P. Cornish Institute of Management, published by Hodder & Stoughton, 2000. £6.99. ISBN 0-340-78241-2 Towards Consensus on the Electronic Use of Publications in Libraries – Strategy Issues and Recommendations by Thomas Dreier Gottinger Bibliotheksschriften, 2001. Pp. 120. Paperback. Available at: http://gdz.sub.uni-goettingen.de/tecup/towacons.pdf . ISBN 3-930457-16-4. ISSN: 0943-951X     

Book reviews

Gaining Independence: A Manual for Planning the Launch of a Nonprofit Electronic Publishing Venture, version 1.0 by Howard Goldstein Published by SPARC, available online: http://www.arl.org/sparc/GI Indexers and Indexing in Fact and Fiction edited by Hazel K. Bell The British Library, London, 2001. Pp. 160. Paper, £16. ISBN 0-7123-4729-1 Preservation Management of Digital Materials: A Handbook by Maggie Jones and Neil Beagrie The British Library, Nov. 2001. Pp. 145. Spiral bound, £15.00. ISBN 0 7123 0886 5. Copies can be ordered from Turpin Distribution Services Ltd. Publishing Law, 2nd edn by Hugh Jones and Christopher Benson Routledge, 2002. Cased, £65.00, ISBN 0-415-26153-8; paper, £24.99, ISBN 0-415-26154-6 How to Survive Peer Review by Elizabeth Wager, Fiona Godlee and Tom Jefferson London: BMJ Books, 2002. Pp. v + 62. £12.95. ISBN 0-7279-1686-6     

Differences between the sexes in the three-dimensional angular rotations of the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex during treadmill running

The aims of this experiment were to determine whether there are differences between the sexes in the three-dimensional angular rotations of the lumbo-pelvic-hip complex during running and, if such differences exist, to establish whether factors other than sex can explain the observed differences. A cohort of 44 non-injured runners (22 males, 22 females) who usually ran more than 20 km per week were voluntarily recruited. All trials were conducted on a treadmill at a running speed of 4.0 m x s(-1). Reflective markers were placed over specific anatomical landmarks of the thoraco-lumbar spine, pelvis and femur. Data were captured using a VICON motion analysis system. Females tended to display a greater peak-to-peak oscillation for most of the angular rotations. An offset was the main difference between the male and female group mean waveforms for pelvis anterior-posterior tilt. Forward stepwise regression analysis revealed that sex was the most common variable related to the amplitudes of the angular rotations. Given these results, sport scientists conducting future biomechanical studies using angular data to test hypotheses are advised to be extremely cautious about averaging across male and female participants.     

The Literacy Early Action Project (LEAP): exploring factors underpinning progress with literacy for a child in his first year of school

In this article, Anthony Feiler, senior lecturer in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Bristol, and Elaine Logan, lecturer in early years education at the City of Bristol College, present a case study of a child who made strong progress with literacy during his first year at school. The child and his family participated in the Literacy Early Action Project (LEAP), a home-visiting scheme for children judged by school staff to be at risk of struggling with literacy. A teaching assistant made weekly home visits during the year and developed literacy support activities with the child's mother and grandparents. Five key factors underpinning the child's progress are identified here: the flexibility in the teaching assistant's approach that enabled extended family members to become engaged in literacy support; the teaching assistant's sensitivity to family culture; the playful approach to learning adopted by the teaching assistant; putting the child at the centre of the intervention; and the existence of a school culture that strongly promoted involvement for parents. Anthony Feiler and Elaine Logan conclude that teaching assistants in the UK might be given more scope to develop support strategies for early childhood education that involve collaborative work with parents.