Identifying ECIP Partner Needs: Survey Results on ECIP Set-Up

Abstract

The Electronic Cataloging in Publication (ECIP) Cataloging Partnership Program began in 2004. It is a collaboration between the Library of Congress (LC) Cataloging in Publication (CIP) Program, publishers, and libraries across the United States. System set-up for the program proved challenging for library partners. A survey was conducted during February 8–March 6, 2018 to learn about ECIP partners’ ECIP set-up experience. The findings show that communication and training documentation are two key elements for the program to be effective and successful. The survey results helped the LC CIP program develop a new and improved ECIP system.     

The Literate “Illiterates” of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa—an Empirical Account

This paper discusses the concept “literacy” from an African perspective, with particular reference to the Xhosa culture. The community of Nonzwakazi Township of De Aar in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa is taken as a case study. Thc conventional Western definitions of literacy are debated within the African constructs. Three themes are explored in the paper, namely: (i) The impact of past Apartheid laws on literacy levels in the area, with special reference to the Bantu Education Act of 1953, (ii) The definition of the concept of African traditional literacy, compared to the Western definitions and (iii) An inter-disciplinary definition of literacy using Strauss' 15 Aspects of Life as a guideline.     

Expressions of Identifications: The Nature of Talk and Identity Tensions Among Organizational Members in a Struggling Organization

This study investigates how organizational members communicatively enact identification and more specifically how tensions in identification are expressed through members’ talk and behaviors. Using a case-study approach, we explored the experiences of members in an organization in turmoil. Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires given at two times, and observations of organizational events were used to understand the identification tensions these individuals negotiated and ways that identification, disidentification, and ambivalent identification were enacted. The study provides empirical evidence of changing identifications and articulates their communicative manifestations. The findings not only support the notion that identification is a complex and dynamic process but also contribute to the identification literature by illustrating specific ways that various forms of identification tensions are enacted and communicated in response to organizational change.     

Foreign and Internation Communications

Control of the Direct Broadcast Satellite: Values in Conflict (Aspen Institute Program on Communications and Society, 770 Welsh Rd., Palo Alto, Calif. 94304—$3.00, paper)

Alex S. Edelstein's The Uses of Communication in Decision-Making: A Comparative Study of Yugoslavia and the U. S. (New York: Praeger Special Studies, 1974—$18.50; and available in paperback from School of Communications, University of Washington, Seattle 98195 for $5.00, which is also the source for examination copies)

Victor Ergert's 50 Jahre Rundfunk in Osterreich: Band 1, 1924-1945 (Vienna: Residenz Verlag, 1974—price not known)

Henry Delfiner's Vienna Broadcasts to Slovakia: 1938-1939, A Case Study in Subversion (New York: Columbia University Press, 1974—$10.00)

Journal of the Centre for Advnaced Tevision Studies (The Centre, 15 Prince of Wales Crescent, London NW1 8HA—about $12.00 per year to individuals, but write for their full price list which is complicated and in English pounds)

Independent Broadcasting (Independent Broadcasting Authority, 70 Brampton Rd., London SW 3) may be free (no price is listed)

Raymond Williams' Television: Technology and Cultural Form (London: Fontana/Collins, 1974—$1.75, paper)     

Structure and competition in the U.S. home video game industry

Abstract

The video game industry has continued to grow dramatically over the past decade, cutting into mainstream media in participation and revenues as it becomes part of mainstream media culture. Following the industrial organization model, this paper conceptualizes and systematically analyzes five vertical stages and the key market segments of consoles, handheld and PC‐based games. Genre‐based measures of content show that the different game platforms have varying levels of product diversity, driven by differing levels of risk and rewards. Comparisons in production and distribution are made with other major media. The main conclusion is that the industry is reaching a mature phase with concentration and integration beginning to be found in its stages. A mainstreaming of content is partially countered by a vibrant community of developers, mostly for PC games. As a standard‐based industry, non‐interoperability and network effects continue to play a key role in preserving competition in a field with a shrinking number of firms.     

Trust or Bust?: Questioning the Relationship Between Media Trust and News Attention

This article establishes the theoretical significance of media trust and explores the relationships between individuals' levels of media trust and news attention. Three distinct types of media trust are introduced: 1) trust of news information, 2) trust of those who deliver the news, and 3) trust of media corporations. The findings indicate that these different types of media trust relate to news attention in distinct ways, specifically when examined across medium. The theoretical significance of the findings are discussed and contextualized in light of an evolving media environment.     

Graduate teaching assistant perceptions of training programs

This study sought to identify how Communication GTAs rank the importance of various issues and components of GTA training programs. Speech communication GTAs were asked to rate the importance of 12 different non‐instructional concerns and 22 different issues regarding classroom management. GTAs were also presented with an open‐ended question which asked GTAs how training programs could provide the most effective training. Survey results were used to formulate suggestions for how GTA training programs can be organized and conducted.     

Instability in students' use of intuitive and Newtonian models to predict motion: the critical effect of the parameters involved

This study reports how children switch from intuitive to scientific models of explanation of motion when the numerical conditions in the presented problem are changed. Previous studies have suggested that student knowledge of mechanics may be compartmentalized: their everyday intuition serves in everyday contexts and their scientific model is activated, if ever, in academic contexts. In this study we investigate a case where significant numbers of students appear to draw on different models of motion in what is essentially the same, academic context, i.e. the prediction of the motion of a block on a smooth surface under the action of horizontal forces. Many students exhibit combinations of Aristotelian-like intuitions and Newtonian conceptions depending on the magnitudes of the quantities involved. The students' experience of being taught Newtonian theory in mathematics and physics has small but significant effects on the explanations they offer. The notion of anchoring and bridging is re-examined as a teaching strategy in such situtions.     

It's Not Effect Sizes So Much as Comments About Their Magnitude That Mislead Readers

The authors investigated the influence of effect size and comment inclusion on readers' perceptions of research results. In three experiments, undergraduates, graduates, and faculty read a journal article that either included or did not include an effect size and commentary about the effect size. Contrary to a previous study by Robinson, Fouladi, Williams, and Bera (2002), which concluded that including effect sizes causes readers to overestimate result importance, the authors found that including a comment about the magnitude of the effect size was more important than simply including the effect size in influencing undergraduates' perceptions of research results' importance. Graduate students and faculty members were less influenced by inclusion of either effect sizes or comments. Recommendations concerning effect size and comment inclusion polices are discussed.     

The Effect of Goal-Line Presentation and Goal Selection on First-Grader Subtraction Fluency

Math proficiency is related to math calculation fluency. Explicit timing provides repeated practice for math fluency. It is enhanced through goal setting, graphic feedback, and rewards. Self-selected goals have potential to increase performance for math fluency. This study compared the effect of goal lines, and researcher goals versus self-selected goals. The authors compared three groups: (a) researcher-selected goals only, (b) researcher-selected goals with goal lines, and (c) self-selected goals with goal lines. First-grade students completed subtraction probes and colored in a bar graph with their performance. When participants met or exceeded their goals, participants received rewards twice per week. Results indicated that the researcher-selected goals with goal lines procedures with explicit timing had the greatest effect on subtraction fluency for first-grade students. The researcher-selected goals with goal lines and self-selected goals with goal lines groups outperformed the researcher-selected goals-only group.