Funding public computing centers: Balancing broadband availability and expected demand

The National Broadband Plan (NBP) recently announced by the Federal Communication Commission visualizes a significantly enhanced commitment to public computing centers (PCCs) as an element of the Commission's plans for promoting broadband availability. In parallel, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has channelized part of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) funding to PCCs. However, BTOP funding was the result of an unprecedented economic crisis, and is unlikely to be repeated. Future programs will need to evolve criteria for selecting projects for funding that maximize their cost-effectiveness. We argue in this paper that basing funding for PCCs on broadband availability (or non-availability), is not as cost-effective as considering a broader array of factors related to demand for internet access at public computer centers. We use data on public libraries from the National Center of Educational Statistics to identify factors predicting high demand for internet access at PCCs. Based on this analysis, we argue that low demand markets may benefit more from consumer outreach and digital literacy programs, than from infrastructure deployment. Also, we argue that markets with high availability, should receive more funding if there is high demand as well, as predicted by our model.     

Modeling Web-based library service quality

Studies of e-service quality have consistently used adaptations of service-quality measurement tools that have been adopted and extended from traditional service-quality frameworks. However, a fresh insight into the investigation of key determinants of Web-based library service quality, with an emphasis on how library customers perceive service quality, has much to offer. Key determinants were identified, and contributed to the development and empirical testing of a proposed conceptual model of service quality that encompasses environment, delivery, and outcome quality. Unlike the disconfirmation approach, the performance-only measure was used. Participants included postgraduates and academic staff from four research intensive universities in Malaysia. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling was carried out in order to develop and validate a measurement model for Web-based service quality, which included three second-order dimensions and eight first-order dimensions. Insights into the conceptualization of Web-based library-service quality as a multidimensional hierarchical construct are provided. The emergence of specific determinants specific to the Web services supports the notion that measurement of electronic-service quality is different from traditional services, though they may share some common factors.     

Use of library space and the library as place

Citizens' use of the public library in their local community is explored, focusing on social activities and how the libraries function as meeting places. The findings are important because of the need for meeting places across cultural, ethnic, generational, and social lines in a complex multicultural and digitized society. How library visitors use the library space and services, so that the overall societal goals of the library and the local community are obtained, is still rarely examined. An in-depth observational study was conducted in three library branches of Oslo, combined with interviews with patrons to establish the context and purpose of their library activities and to which life spheres they are linked. The research used concepts from social theory. The overall finding is that the public library use is very diverse. Patrons move easily between high and low intensive activities and float between life spheres and roles—student, family member, friend, neighbor, and citizen. The library is a complex arena. It is a public realm, in the sense that most of the visitors are strangers to each other; most of the individual uses belong to a private realm, and the library's community activities constitute it as a parochial realm. In the library, users are exposed to the plurality of the community and learn about otherness. People are not categorized by profession or as being unemployed, a patient or a client, but are all library users. This quality of the library contributes to social inclusion.     

Further Testing of a New Model of Intercultural Communication Competence

Recently, a new model of intercultural communication was proposed and later empirically tested (Arasaratnam, 2004 Arasaratnam , L. A. ( 2004 ). Intercultural communication competence: Development and empirical validation of a new model . Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association , New Orleans , LA . [Google Scholar]; Arasaratnam & Doerfel, 2005 Arasaratnam , L. A. & Doerfel , M. L. ( 2005 ). Intercultural communication competence: Identifying key components from multicultural perspectives . International Journal of Intercultural Relations , 29 , 137 – 163 . [CSA] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The present study was designed to further test the model and address the limitations of the previous test. Survey data were collected from participants (N = 400) and analyzed using regression analyses. The results mostly supported the previous model. These results plus some new findings in the relationship between empathy and intercultural communication competence are discussed.     

Study Abroad Partnerships: Librarians,Business Faculty,and In-Country Facilitator Develop an Innovative Experiential Learning Program

This article profiles the development and implementation of an undergraduate study abroad program developed by librarians and a finance professor at the University of Maryland (UMD). The authors collaboratively developed and taught, in 2012, 2013, and 2014, an innovative short-term course to Nicaragua, BMGT 448N: Doing Business in Nicaragua: Microfinance in Action, in which UMD students provided hands-on consulting to Nicaraguan entrepreneurs, an international microlending organization, and small business start-ups affiliated with a Nicaraguan University. In keeping with the UMD's mission of internationalization this course provided students with a service-learning and a study abroad experience.     

E-mentoring: The adoption process and innovation challenge

The innovative nature of e-mentoring along with its ongoing adoption process provided the reasons for conducting an innovation–adoption study on e-mentoring. A sample of 234 mentors that have been employed by Ergani Center, a well respected Greek mentoring organization, were asked to identify with the use of an online questionnaire the factors that influence the adoption of e-mentoring. Gender, age, personal innovativeness, relative advantage computer self-efficacy, problems and pressures from mentees emerged as predictors of the innovation process.     

Taking a stance through visual texts: novice teachers as educational agents

Drawing on qualitative methodologies that integrate verbal and non-verbal texts, this study investigated novice teachers’ attributions of their experiences of internship, as conveyed through a visual text. Novices were invited to design a visual text that represented their experience during internship, as part of a national call entitled ‘Novices in Poster.’ The posters submitted yielded the publication of 127 published posters, which constituted the data for our study. The visual data were analyzed using a multilayered approach to the analysis of visual texts, drawing on Lemke’s analysis of visual and verbal data as complementary channels for obtaining an integrative interpretation of the expressed experience. Findings indicate that novices expose critical stances in relation to activism, collegiality, and leverage, making public their unique potential to improve the educational system. The visual texts underscored novices’ strong social–professional stances towards teaching, positioning them as delegates and agents striving for professional justice.     

ADP-ribosylhydrolases: from DNA damage repair to COVID-19

Adenosine diphosphate(ADP)-ribosylation is a unique post-translational modification that regulates many biological processes,such as DNA damage repair.During DNA repair,ADP-ribosylation needs to be reversed by ADP-ribosylhydrolases.A group of ADP-ribosylhydrolases have a catalytic domain,namely the macrodomain,which is conserved in evolution from prokaryotes to humans.Not all macrodomains remove ADP-ribosylation.One set of macrodomains loses enzymatic activity and only binds to ADP-ribose(ADPR).Here,we summarize the biological functions of these macrodomains in DNA damage repair and compare the structure of enzymatically active and inactive macrodomains.Moreover,small molecular inhibitors have been developed that target macrodomains to suppress DNA damage repair and tumor growth.Macrodomain proteins are also expressed in pathogens,such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2).However,these domains may not be directly involved in DNA damage repair in the hosts or pathogens.Instead,they play key roles in pathogen replication.Thus,by targeting macrodomains it may be possible to treat pathogen-induced diseases,such as coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19).     

The treatment of culture in the foreign language curriculum: an analysis of national curriculum documents

Teaching culture in the foreign language classroom has been widely debated ever since its importance was recognized. Current research suggests that centralized ‘top down’ curricular policies can become potential constraints to teaching culture and points to the need for adapting curricula for culture-integrated language learning. This study analysed official curriculum documents published in 14 different countries to identify how the sociocultural component to Teaching English as a Foreign Language is reflected in the document. To date, there is scarce research on the place of culture in English as a Foreign Language curricula; hence, the present study aims at filling in a gap in this area. The study points to the following findings: curricula state the importance of culture in language learning and promote an integrative view of teaching language and culture; cultural objectives focus on appreciating cultural diversity, raising cultural awareness and reinforcing students’ positive cultural identity; teachers are portrayed as facilitators (rather than transmitters) of cultural knowledge yet, learners are described as acquiring (rather than discovering) cultural knowledge; curriculum documents focus on cultural knowledge and attitudes towards foreign cultures, rather than on the skills needed for successful interaction. These findings are elaborated and discussed, with potential implications for practice.     

When style meets pattern in mentoring talk: implications for student teacher community learning environments in practice teaching

This study investigates how mentor talk unfolds in a community of learners during an entire school year in the context of practice teaching in university teacher education. Specifically, it focuses on how emergent styles and patterns of mentor’s talk shaped power relations in the discourse, promoting different kinds of learning environments. Data collection included 23 video-recorded meetings of the learning community of 11 student teachers and a university mentor and 25 semi-structured interviews with all participants including the mentor. Findings show that styles and patterns of mentor talk are central to how a particular learning environment in a community develops. Implications for pre-service mentors’ roles in the context of student teacher learning in a community are discussed.