The Uncertain Future for Digital Visual Collections in the University

Digital documents in the networked information environment fundamentally change the ways that visual materials can be used in education and scholarly discourse. These new uses raise questions about research library strategies with regard to digitized visual materials as a part of their collections, challenge assumptions underlying intellectual property rights for images and their scope, and offer ways in which visual literacy can become a more integral part of the common educational experience.     

Gardening as a cognitive activity

Gardening and children are a natural combination; children love to play in the dirt, and are fascinated by growing things. The benefits of having a garden can go beyond the fresh vegetables and flowers, a lot can be learned in the process. Although skills involved in planting and caring for the garden and acquiring a rudimentary knowledge of biology are obvious benefits, many other cognitive skills can be introduced or reinforced with a garden project.Deborah G. Ventis is Associate Professor of Psychology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburgh, VA.     

The Technical Quality of Performance Assessments: Standard Errors of Percents of Pupils Reaching Standards

How accurate is the reported percent of students’reaching standards at the school level? How are standard errors for these statistics computed? How do estimates vary with choice of generalizability model?     

Academic libraries and university presses

In recent years university presses have undergone some significant changes, such as expansion of their scope to include materials that may have appeal beyond the scholarly market. This article investigates, through the use of a survey of university libraries, the acquisition of university press products by libraries. In general, recent years have been changes in the relationship between university presses and libraries that have resulted in fewer items being purchased by the libraries.