Development of methodologic tools for planning and managing library services. II. Measuring a library's capability for providing documents

A method of measuring a library's capability for providing the documents its users need has been developed. The library is tested with a representative sample of such documents to determine how long would be required for users to obtain these documents. Test results are expressed in terms of a Capability Index, which has a maximal value of 100 only if all the sample documents are found "on shelf." Specific tests employing samples of 300 documents have been developed that are appropriate for academic and for "reservoir" biomedical libraries. Realistic field trials have demonstrated that these two tests are practical to administer and that test results are adequately reproducible. When strict comparability is not important, a library can test itself. In assessing a reservoir library, test results are supplemented by data on its typical processing time for interlibrary loan requests. Currently these tests are being used in a national survey. The general method is applicable to other types of libraries, provided appropriate test samples are established. If their limitations are clearly understood, these "Document Delivery Tests" can be valuable tools for planning and managing library services.     

Ka Pō, Ka Ao,Ka Awatea: The Interface between Epistemology and Māori Subject Headings

Cataloging and classification provide intellectual access for organizing resources in libraries. In New Zealand, bibliographic control is largely through the application of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). LCSH provide a sense of context and order. In Indigenous frameworks this sense of order can be found in the link between epistemology and knowledge structure. This article argues that the development and application of Māori subject headings is directly related to the natural order that is pivotal to a Māori worldview. The impact of this worldview and its associated values are explored in the context of the construction of Ngā ūpoko Tukutuku.     

TEACHER DISTRESS AND THE ROLE OF EXPERIENTIAL AVOIDANCE

Teachers’ psychological well‐being is important for teachers and students, but teaching is highly stressful, particularly in special education. We examined the role of experiential avoidance (EA) in the well‐being of 529 middle and elementary school teachers. EA involves the tendency to avoid thoughts, feelings, and other internal experiences, even when doing so causes long‐range consequences. Using a teacher‐specific measure, we investigated EA's relationship to stress associated with student misbehavior and limited social support. We also assessed EA's relationship to burnout and depression, finding EA significantly and moderately correlated with depression and all scales of Maslach's Burnout Inventory. Mediation analyses showed EA mediated the relationship between stress associated with student behavior and measures of well‐being. We found 26.8% of teachers to be mildly, 8.9% moderately, and 2.8% moderately severely or severely depressed. This evidence concurs with studies showing the value of mindfulness‐based interventions and points to the utility of implementing interventions aimed at decreasing EA in teachers.     

National qualifications in Scotland: A lightning rod for public concern about equity during the pandemic

Scotland, traditionally, has high levels of confidence in teachers. Fairness and justice are key concepts in policy and practice in Scottish education. For more than 100 years, the high-stakes assessment system in Scotland, with the Scottish Higher qualification at its heart, has been crucial to that sense of opportunity and justice. However, in 2019–2020, public confidence in high-stakes assessment in Scotland, as in other United Kingdom countries, was dented. In Scotland, the Covid-19 pandemic meant that schools were closed, teachers provided online learning opportunities for pupils working at home and, for the first time in 130 years, it was not possible to run national examinations. To ensure that learners were not further disadvantaged, alternative approaches to gathering evidence for qualifications were instigated. However, these results were challenged as socially unjust and the results that had been nationally moderated were replaced by results based on locally moderated teachers' professional judgement. As Scotland looks to qualifications beyond Covid-19, trust must be re-built. This article reports on a participative research project that sought to understand public perceptions of standards and fairness across a range of key communities following this experience. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data, we analyse factors which affected trust in National Qualifications under the pandemic. The evidence suggests that when considering what matters for qualifications to be trusted, technocratic solutions are likely to be rejected by stakeholders. Understanding and responding to what led to the mistrust of qualifications in Scotland will be crucial to inform its future qualifications system.