Aspects of Diversity in ASEEES National Conferences as a Reflection of the Field of Slavic and Eurasian Studies in North America: Case Studies of Gender,Location, Discipline,and Institution

ABSTRACT

This article is a series of four case studies that investigate diversity in Slavic and Eurasian (S&E) studies viewed through the lens of participation in national conferences of the Association of Slavic, East European, & Eurasian Studies (ASEEES). The case studies are based on data extracted from ASEEES convention programs, 1964–2014. Four categories are considered: gender diversity of conference participants, diversity of ASEEES conference locations, diversity of conference sessions by discipline, and diversity of institutions represented at ASEEES conventions. Over the past five decades, gender diversity of ASEEES conference session participants gradually advanced toward parity. Whereas in 1964 nearly 95 percent of the participants were men, in 2014 women comprised a slight majority (50.2%) of conference session participants. In contrast, diversity in the location of ASEEES national conventions has declined in recent years as the Association has evolved. Whereas the disciplines of history, political science, and language, literature, and linguistics continue to represent a combined majority (70%) of ASEEES sessions, in recent years anthropology and sociology have experienced the most growth, while library and information science has remained constant. ASEEES conference session participants come from a wider range of institutions than in the past, and institutions with Title VI National Resource Centers (NRCs) continue to have a strong presence at the ASEEES national conventions.     

Soviet Photography in America: An Introduction to the New York Public Library’s Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary Slavic,East European,and Baltic Collection

ABSTRACT

This article is an introduction to the New York Public Library’s revolutionary and post-revolutionary Soviet and East European photography holdings. It outlines the materials available to researchers from both the large and smaller collections, particularly those that are useful for studies of Revolutionary Russia and the History or World War II in Russia and Eastern Europe. Of particular note is the NYPL’s wealth of images documenting Poland during the Second World War and the Bessie Beatty album The Russian Revolution: An Album of Photographs.     

Editorial commentary

This article reports on researching “Middle East: Information Literacy awareness and indigenous Arabic World Wide Web content challenges”. The research reported upon was conducted in preparation for a training presentation which was delivered as a part of the UNESCO “Training the Trainers” (TTT) in Information Literacy workshop project that was held November 6–8, 2008 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt. Although the concept of Information Literacy is relatively new worldwide, by now it is fairly well understood, practiced and pedagogically supported in the developed world. But, it is still quite a mystery for developing countries, especially in the Middle East and North Africa regions. Therefore, the presentation the authors were invited to deliver at the workshop aimed at creating a much needed broader awareness concerning the concept of Information Literacy, including the somewhat differing definitions which are used in various world regions and cultures, and the concept’s relevance to the advancement of knowledge, research, and the general level of education in the Arabic speaking world. Special attention was paid to these problems in the context of challenges faced by higher education institutions in the Middle East and North Africa regions.

The authors discovered that the problem of the scarcity of indigenous Arabic content materials on the World Wide Web is inextricably related to the challenges of increasing the awareness of Middle East and North Africa audiences to the relevance of Information Literacy. The authors endeavor to explain in detail what this inter-relationship is, and why and how the increase of Arabic materials on the Web could then lead to an increase in the awareness of Information Literacy in those Arabic speaking regions.

The workshop presentation aimed at explaining and promoting Information Literacy skills, not only to students and researchers, but also to future Information Literacy trainers (the participants at the UNESCO workshop). The language barrier, the Digital Divide, and the lack of adequate Arabic digital content/resources relating to Information Literacy, were all reviewed with the workshop participants, illustrated by real world case examples, and discussed, in an effort to simultaneously try to work toward a consensus approach to teaching and learning the IL concept, and at the same time create a heightened Information Literacy awareness. Rather than simply amplify in detail the technical contents of the workshop presentations the authors made in this article, and with the encouragement of the Review’s editor and guest editor, the authors decided to “tell their story” in anecdotal fashion, sharing with the workshop participants tales of the many challenges they faced in just preparing materials for their presentations – and covering both the presentation format and the presentation content aspects, including explaining why they selected a specific teaching and learning approach, and how they dealt with various delivery and implementation challenges. By so doing, readers faced with similar teaching challenges might be better prepared to respond to the many challenges, both in the context of the preparations they will be required to make as well as in the context of their actual content delivery at their workshops.     

What Motivates Librarians to Share Knowledge?

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the effects of social and individual factors of strength of ties, perceived benefits, extrinsic rewards, recognition, reciprocity, and perceived cost on sharability. A survey was sent to 170 librarians at special, public, and academic libraries across Kuwait; 139 responses were received for a response rate of 80%. It was found that the strength of ties and perceived benefits had a positive effect and perceived costs had a negative effect on sharability. The findings can help libraries identify the opportunities and barriers to motivate librarians to share their knowledge. This study is a useful contribution to knowledge management literature, especially concerning the library context.     

Digital Reference in Slavic and East European Studies with an Examination of Practice at the University of Illinois and the Library of Congress

SUMMARY

This article presents a survey of digital reference trends in the United States with an emphasis on services for Slavic and East European studies. It is based on the author's experience as a Slavic reference librarian at the University of Illinois (Slavic Reference Service) and the Library of Congress (European Division). Topics include the conflict between print and digital resources, coping with electronic serials, full-text databases and websites, digital communication tools such as e-mail, chat, and web forms, the proliferation of websites from Eastern Europe and the NIS, and opportunities for bibliographic instruction via the web. The article concludes with suggestions for keeping current and ideas for possible reference collaboration among Slavic and East European studies librarians.     

Iltimos,bizga kitoblar yuboring! U.S. Libraries' Collecting Strategies for Central Asian Publications

SUMMARY

There are between fifteen and twenty U.S. libraries that collect publications from Central Asia, defined here as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Collection development responsibility for these countries tends to rest with the Slavic selector, the Middle East selector, or both, divided by language. Vendors who can supply this material mostly also supply publications from other countries of the former Soviet Union. The author briefly discusses the history of collecting from this region and the results of a survey conducted in 2004. She presents evidence indicating that the main reason U.S. libraries are not receiving more books from the region is most likely because they are not being published, not because vendors are doing an inadequate job.     

The Systems Approach in Education with Special Consideration of Environmental Education: A Review

Abstract

The Ministry of Education of Israel—through its Center of Curriculum Development—commissioned the development and implementation of environmental education curriculum for grades eleven and twelve in the national educational system. The aim of the curriculum was as follows: “This curriculum will deal with the interrelationships between man and his environment and will develop within students the readiness and the capability for personal contribution and social activity towards the improvement of the environment they are living in.” This aim has been translated and crystallized into a new innovative curricular model which, in turn, determines the characteristics, the processes, and the products of the Israeli Environmental Education Project (IEEP). This interdisciplinary, science-, student-, and value-oriented model is based on our contention that environmental education (EE) is problem-oriented education about the environment, in the environment, and for the environment and the human being as part of it, in which the wholistic, interdisciplinary system approach is used for the analysis of issues and the working out of possible alternative solutions. IEEP is currently in the stage of massive development, field testing, and initial implementation.     

Gender differences in behavioral regulation in four societies: The United States,Taiwan, South Korea,and China

The current study investigates gender differences in behavioral regulation in four societies: the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. Directly assessed individual behavioral regulation (Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders, HTKS), teacher-rated classroom behavioral regulation (Child Behavior Rating Scale, CBRS) and a battery of school readiness assessments (mathematics, vocabulary, and early literacy) were used with 814 young children (ages 3–6 years). Results showed that girls in the United States had significantly higher individual behavioral regulation than boys, but there were no significant gender differences in any Asian societies. In contrast, teachers in Taiwan, South Korea, as well as the United States rated girls as significantly higher than boys on classroom behavioral regulation. In addition, for both genders, individual and classroom behavioral regulation were related to many aspects of school readiness in all societies for girls and boys. Universal and culturally specific findings and their implications are discussed.     

Special education in Jordan

The purpose of this article is to provide a brief background about special education system in Jordan and particularly describes the present types of programmes and legislation provided within the country to students with special needs, as well as integration movement. Jordan has historically provided a limited number of educational opportunities for individuals with disabilities, but has recently demonstrated a movement toward a more comprehensive educational system that includes students with disabilities in general education classrooms. Nevertheless, special education in Jordan still faces many problems and challenges. Barriers to implementation, as well as recommendations to improve special education services in Jordan are also discussed.     

Transnational Asia: Dis/orienting Identity in the Globalized World

This article provides a phenomenological analysis of the author's transnational migratory experience situated in historical and ideological contexts. Using vertigo as a metaphor, I theorize Althusser's ideological interpellation as a process and practice of dis/orientation. Focusing on several phenomenological moments, I politicize and historicize my sense of orientedness at the intersection of my “being Japanese” and “becoming Asian” within the dialectical tension between Asia and the West. I argue that the power of ideological interpellation lies not only in the discursive logic of identity politics but more importantly in the embodied, subjectively lived, and phenomenologically significant experiences in which an individual is hailed by multidirectional ideological forces.