Book Reviews by the Numbers

In the fall of 1985, four rural Illinois public libraries were weeded as part of a research project funded by the lllinois State Library. In each library, ten percent of the collection was removed by identifying books with low circulation rates in the circulating adult collection. Shelf time period and subjective opinion were used as weeding criteria. Although this cooperative weeding approach accurately identified books that would remain unused, weeding was not met with a corresponding increase in circulation.     

Investigating the participation of business librarians in academic program reviews using corpus-based methods

Prior research into the role of business librarians in academic program reviews has relied on surveys and interviews, revealing that librarians perceive that they are marginalized in the review process. Using a collection of program review documentation produced for the reviews of nine graduate programs offered at a Canadian business school, this study employs corpus-based techniques to obtain direct measures of librarian involvement. The findings provide objective confirmation that business librarians are not well integrated into program reviews overall, and that their contribution to the reviews of professional programs is even more limited than their contribution to the reviews of research-oriented programs. Based on best practices and missed opportunities observed as part of this study, seven strategies are suggested for integrating business librarians more fully in the program review process for the benefit of all program stakeholders.     

Pan-African solidarity in South Africa: An empirical public opinion analysis

Social cohesion issues, such as xenophobia and racism, are major societal challenges for South Africa. What can be put forward to address these challenges? By drawing together separate threads of literature from Pan-Africanism and common ingroup identities, the study puts forward the Pan-African Solidarity thesis: low levels of supranational identification with Africa undermines social cohesion in South Africa and low supranational identifications are caused by local ideational/socio-psychological factors as well as cluing from political elites. This thesis is unique, mass identifications with Africa are understudied and little is known about how people in the country identify with the continent. In order to validate this Pan-African Solidarity thesis, the article will answer three important questions: (i) are mass identifications with Africa in South Africa low?; (ii) are attachment to an African identity associated with anti-minority views?; and (iii) what is driving mass identifications with Africa? An IPSOS funded attitudinal dataset fielded in four of the country’s nine provinces was used to answer these questions. Results provide empirical support for the Pan-African Solidarity thesis and found that a continental identity was related to intolerance of different outgroups (e.g., racial minorities, refugees and cross-border migrants). This is consistent with the expectations of the Common Ingroup Identity Model. But the study also makes original contributions to the literature, finding that the formation of continental identifications is informed by South Africa’s history of white settler colonialism. Cross-border contact, retrospective sociotropic evaluations, pro-black sentiment and trust in national elites were identified as determinants of citizens' identification with Africa.     

Does service learning affect the development of intercultural sensitivity? A study comparing students’ progress in two different methodologies

Numerous studies have highlighted Intercultural Sensitivity (IS) as a key competence in an increasingly multicultural society. This study examined the extent to which a cohort of first year undergraduate students enrolled on the same Didactics course, and in two different training modalities – Service Learning (SL) and non-Service Learning (non-SL) – developed IS. It was based on a quasi-experimental design of repeated pre-test and post-test measures, comparing the two groups. The sample consisted of 233 Spanish students at higher education institutions, and data was collected using the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). The SL group displayed significantly higher levels of IS in all factors except in the denial/defence and minimization stages. Results indicated the effectiveness of SL regarding specific subscales within the IDI instrument. The findings add new depth to our understanding regarding which teaching methodologies contribute to the development of IS and to the training of active citizens in Spanish university students. The discussion focuses on the need for intercultural service experiences to promote IS. The results have broad implications for policymakers and educators who are interested in enhancing transformative educational experiences and effective teaching methodologies for developing students’ IS in higher education.     

A new route towards more harmonious intergroup relationships in England? Majority members’ proximal-acculturation

Although the ways that immigrants relate to UK culture has been a hot topic since the EU-referendum, little attention has been given to how majority group members such as Host Country Nationals (HCNs) relate to immigrants’ culture. Thus, we explored English HCNs’ globalisation-based proximal-acculturation – the extent to which they prefer to adopt aspects of immigrants’ cultures and/or maintain their national culture. Using two-step cluster analysis, a pilot study (N = 63) revealed a separated, integrated, and undifferentiated cluster, with separated HCNs perceiving cultural diversity more as a threat and less as an enrichment. Using latent profile analysis in a second study (N = 220) also revealed a three strategy-solution, identifying assimilated, integrated and separated profiles. Again we examined how these strategies differed across perceptions of cultural threat and enrichment as well as other psychosocial characteristics: identifying with fellow English citizens, recognizing cultural differences whilst not being culturally embedded (constructive marginalization), and various forms of intergroup contact. Separated HCNs identified more with fellow English citizens, endorsed less constructive marginalization, perceived less cultural enrichment yet more cultural threat than HCNs following some of the other strategies. These results stress that the onus of cultural adoption lies with both groups – minorities and majority members – with English HCNs showing distinct proximal-acculturation strategies. Lastly, when exploring a variable-centred approach, proximal-acculturation orientations (cultural maintenance/adoption) mediated the relationship between cultural threat, cultural enrichment, and intergroup contact on positive feelings towards immigrants. Thus, the ways that HCNs acculturate may provide a new route towards harmonious intergroup relations.     

Inter-ethnic preferences and ethnic hierarchies in the former soviet union

One-thousand two-hundred and ninety university students from twenty-seven ethnic?national groups across six locations in the former Soviet Union (Novopolotsk in Byelorussia, Kharkov in the Ukraine, Moscow and Nizniy Novgorod in Russia, Ufa in the Bashkir Autonomous Republic and Ulan-Ude in the Buryat Autonomous Republic) participated in 1991–1992 in a survey investigating the existence of ingroup preference in inter-ethnic contact, ingroup consensus on an ethnic hierarchy of outgroups and the measure of intergroup consensus on an ethnic hierarchy among the ethnic?national groups in each location. Hypotheses about ingroup preference, ethnic hierarchies and consensus were derived from realistic group conflict theory, social identity theory and from the assumption that outgroup preferences reflect considerations of the status effects of intergroup contact. It appeared that the last type of hypothesis could explain most of the results.     

Shared future – shared values? Taking stock of the peace process in Northern Ireland: teenagers’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

Although preceded by years of political and policy developments, the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (or Belfast Agreement) in 1998 is generally regarded as marking the end of conflict and the beginning of the transition to peace. However, this transition has been neither linear nor straightforward. Divisions, both physical and symbolic, reflecting collective identities and ‘otherness’, remain resistant to change and continue to foster sectarianism, mistrust and outbreaks of violence. Despite some positive change, not least of which is the absence of sustained violence, the majority of neighbourhoods and schools remain either Protestant or Catholic. Drawing on data from the Young Life and Times (YLT) survey, an annual attitudinal survey of 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland that has been running since 2003, this article explores what young people's perspectives reveal about the complexities and the challenges involved in transitioning to a more shared society. Where relevant and possible, their attitudes are compared with those expressed by adults in the annual Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey. A primary focus on tracking teenagers' attitudes is important for a number of reasons. While often regarded as a ‘post-conflict’ generation, segregation and polarisation remain features of teenagers' everyday lives and the political landscape. Children and young people are one of the four key strategic priorities in the latest government strategies to build united communities and achieve change and are embedded in the Programme for Government 2016–2021. If these government commitments are to be realised, the voices of young people must become central rather than peripheral. It is important, therefore, that their opinions are not only sought, but also interrogated and fed into policy.     

Fiḍḍa l-Nūbiyya: The Woman and her Role in Early Shīՙite History

The purpose of the present study is to analyse the role played by an important female figure in early Shī?ite history. The person in question is Fi[ddot][ddot]a l-Nūbiyya, the servant-girl of Fā ?ima, the Prophet's daughter. After a long period of neglect by scholars, who have focused on what to their mind were figures of greater import, we shall here attempt to describe the role played by Fi[ddot][ddot]a in early Shī?ite history by way of analysing her biography and her close relations with Fā ?ima and members of the latter's family (?Alī, [Hdot]asan and [Hdot]usayn). We shall further describe what has been reported of Fi[ddot][ddot]a's personality, her family, her admiration for the Prophet's family, Qur?ānic verses which supposedly mention her, and the great respect in which she was held by Fā ?ima's family.     

Teacher and child talk in active learning and whole‐class contexts: some implications for children from economically less advantaged home backgrounds

This paper reports the experiences of 150 children and six primary teachers when active learning pedagogies were introduced into the first year of primary schools. Although active learning increased the amount of talk between children, those from socio‐economically advantaged homes talked more than those from less advantaged homes. Also, individual children experienced very little time engaged in high‐quality talk with the teacher, despite the teachers spending over one‐third of their time responding to children's needs and interests. Contextual differences, such as the different staffing ratios in schools and pre‐schools, may affect how well the benefits of active learning transfer from pre‐school contexts into primary schools. Policy‐makers and teachers should pay particular attention to the implications of this for the education of children from economically less advantaged home backgrounds.     

对大学生情绪稳定性和性格倾向与体育课考试成绩关系的研究

从提高教学质量出发,旨在为教师正确指导学生如何调控体育考试的心理状态,正常发挥应有的水平,以及探讨在教学和考试测验中,师生双边关系的最佳结合点,以利于教学质量的提高。作者以593名大学生作为研究对象,分期分批,进行了为期近7年的教学实践和考试实验研究。研究结果表明：情绪稳定性对个体的运动技能及考试成绩的影响关系密切;性格倾向不影响个体的运动能力,但考试成绩表现为性格外向型的平均成绩优于性格内向型的平均成绩,并与运动项目关系密切;教师在考试时,使用不同的考试指导语,创设不同的考试情景氛围,在一定程度上影响着学生的应试情绪及运动技能的发挥。