Overhyped Fad or Missed Opportunity? A History of Academic Libraries and the Social Web

The emergence of social media has radically transformed the way we create and consume information. These changes have in turn given rise to new models of librarianship centered on principles of participation, interaction, and collaboration. Over the last decade, academic libraries have eagerly adopted social media as a means of enhancing services and connecting with a new generation of users. But how exactly has this technology changed libraries? In what ways has the social web transformed library services or our relationships with users? This article attempts to assess the impact of social media on academic libraries in the United States through a review of the literature published since 2005. In particular, it looks at how academic libraries have used social media to improve or develop new services. By comparing published case studies with the theoretical literature, this article seeks to separate theory from practice and determine the extent to which the social web has transformed library practice. The author concludes that, despite several noteworthy examples, the majority of social library applications ultimately fail to live up to the transformative potential promised within the literature and that this failure may have more to do with philosophical rather than technical limitations.     

Back to the Future

The emergence of “fake news” during the Brexit referendum and Trump election campaign sent news organisations scurrying to establish teams of journalists to debunk deliberately misleading stories and verify facts. This paper examines steps to counter false stories and asks whether normative values of objectivity are about to enjoy a comeback. Typical markers of objectivity (freedom from bias, detachment and fact-based reporting) date back to the nineteenth century and, despite being ingrained in the Anglo-American news culture, have always been subject to challenge. Recently, the growth of partisan and populist media has illustrated deep distrust in traditional news outlets and is questioning whether it is time to jettison objectivity. But are we experiencing a backlash? Through interviews with senior UK-based journalists at legacy news organisations and analysis of editorial policy statements prompted by a UK parliamentary inquiry, the paper explores how fake news is rekindling debate about objectivity and its potential to make quality journalism stand out. It argues that legacy news organisations in the United Kingdom have seized the opportunity to highlight the value of normative practices that draw on familiar components of the objectivity paradigm. But few have the financial strength to bolster the rhetoric with additional editorial resources.     

Placing Facebook

Facebook is challenging professional journalism. These challenges were evident in three incidents from 2016: the allegation that Facebook privileged progressive-leaning news on its trending feature; Facebook’s removal of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Napalm Girl” photo from the pages of prominent users; and the proliferation of “fake news” during the US presidential election. Using theoretical concepts from the field of boundary work, this paper examines how The Guardian, The New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review and Poynter editorialized Facebook’s role in these three incidents to discursively construct the boundary between the value of professional journalism to democracy and Facebook’s ascendant role in facilitating essential democratic functions. Findings reveal that these publications attempted to define Facebook as a news organization (i.e., include it within the boundaries of journalism) so that they could then criticize the company for not following duties traditionally incumbent upon news organizations (i.e., place it outside the boundaries of journalism). This paper advances scholarship that focuses on both inward and outward conceptions of boundary work, further explores the complex challenge of defining who a journalist is in the face of rapidly changing technological norms, and advances scholarship in the field of media ethics that positions ethical analysis at the institutional level.     

高职院校"思想政治理论课"社会实践教学评估思考

加强对高职“思想政治理论课”社会实践教学效果的评估工作的研究，不仅能够更好地实现“思想政治理论课”教学目的，而且还能为社会提供所需要的合格的劳动者．     

高职水力学实验室开放实践与探索

根据高职院校的特点及其人才培养目标,建立并实施与之相适应的实训（实验）室开放运行机制。通过浙江同济科技职业学院水力学实验室开放过程的具体实践研究,加强实践育人功能及管理制度完善,成为实训教学完成的保障,不断实践促进实验室开放全面、深入地开展工作。     

Juggling competing activities: academic staff as doctoral candidates

ABSTRACT

This article explores the experiences of a group of established academic staff in New Zealand and the UK, as they undertake a doctorate in their home institutions. Our interest is in how individuals negotiate this dual status from a cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) stance that explores how rules, tools, community and divisions of labour, and interacting activity systems, shape doctoral experiences. The focus in this article, having analysed their detailed narrative accounts, is on how academics experience three interdependent activity systems: those surrounding the thesis, the institutional context, and the home-life spheres. Issues related to time, workload and supervision issues, variability in collegial support and impact on personal priorities and time emerged. There is a range of particularities – from easy access to resources/supervisors to inflexible institutional regulations – applicable to this group of doctoral candidates. Negotiating life as an academic with concurrent doctoral candidature provides positive outcomes in terms of teaching, research confidence and general personal and professional development. However, a range of difficulties can also be encountered, particularly in relation to personal and professional relationships, and workload management.     

谈高职院校计算机专业毕业论文（设计）的改革

当前,我国高校毕业论文（设计）存在抄袭、拼凑成风的不良现象,结合高职院校计算机专业毕业论文指导工作的现实情况,有针对性地提出了基于工作过程的改革方法,在实践中让学生自主选题,形式上不拘一格,并且规范写作与指导流程,使得毕业论文（设计）真正地为学生服务。     

新时代中原特色体育产业发展研究*

新时期我国社会主要矛盾已经转化为人民日益增长的美好生活需要和不平衡不充分的发展之间的矛盾，这将对体育产业发展提出更高的要求。现阶段，河南省体育产业现状还不能满足人民日益增长的健身需要。因此，我们应理清现阶段体育产业发展的主要矛盾并积极探索体育产业创新发展的路径，为缓解新时期社会主要矛盾而贡献体育智慧。 采用文献资料法、专家咨询法、实地调查法、逻辑推理等研究方法，深入探析现阶段河南省体育产业发展现状与人民日益增长的健身需要还存在的矛盾，并在充分认识河南省体育产业发展优势、理清体育产业发展的矛盾基础上，提出中原特色体育产业创新发展路径：积极推进中原特色“体育+旅游”融合发展模式，满足人民群众体育旅游需求；大力发展中原特色户外健身休闲产业，满足人民群众的休闲健身需求；以中原特色体育竞赛活动带动体育产业发展，满足群众观赏赛事需求；积极建设中原特色传统体育文化传承核心区，带动传统体育文化产业发展，满足人民群众的体育文化精神需求；合理开发公共体育服务场地资源，满足人民群众健身场地需求；积极培育社会性组织管理体系，缓解政府体育组织管理体系管理职能压力。     

Correlates of staff motivation,satisfaction, and job performance of library staff in selected Nigerian University libraries

Abstract

This study examined staff motivation, satisfaction, and job performance among the librarians and library staff in six selected university libraries in Nigeria. The target population for the study includes the professionals and nonprofessional library staff. A total enumeration sampling technique was used to select 180 respondents, which represent the sample for the study. Data was collected using a self-designed questionnaire titled “Staff Motivation, Satisfaction and Job Performance Questionnaire” (SMSJPQ). Six research questions were developed and answered by the study. The results indicate that librarian and library staff are highly motivated with regular pay while the least motivational factor is frequent interaction with their friends. Library staff are primarily satisfied with their jobs when they are in constant link with their friends. Professional library staff significantly experience better work motivation than their nonprofessional counterparts. Significant correlation exists between staff motivation and job performance and between job satisfaction and job performance. In addition, the two factors (motivation and satisfaction) exert significant contribution to the determinant of librarians and library staff job performance. Based on the findings, the study recommended improvement in the level of motivation of nonprofessionals so that the significant difference with the professional counterpart would not be so much pronounced.     

医学检验专业教学与检验技士资格考试对接的探索与实践

临床医学检验技术资格考试系测评是否为合格专业人才的有效措施,这为检验专业教学指明了以资格考试为切入点,以行业需求为标准的导向。在专业教学中围绕资格考试大纲体现的专科教育教学“必需、够用”的原则,突出实用性和针对性,我院从人才培养、教师队伍建设、实践平台搭建等三个方面对医学检验专业的教学进行了探索与实践。