Bibliographical Projects in Polish-Jewish Studies Since 1989

SUMMARY

Over the last two decades, interest in the field of Polish-Jewish studies has grown, in Poland as well as in North America, Western Europe, and Israel. One aspect of this is that bibliographic projects have begun, with the goal of tracking and making generally available information about publications in this field. This article describes in particular the ongoing project that the author manages with the Israeli journal Gal-Ed: On the History of the Jews in Poland, which includes plans to make available as an online resource the information in the printed installments of the bibliography.     

Encoded Archival Description: Are Finding Aids Boundary Spanners or Barriers for Users?

ABSTRACT

The article reports the results of a usability study of an EAD interface. Findings indicate that subjects had trouble understanding archival terminology and how best to search for information in finding aids. Furthermore, they were not familiar with the structure or contents of finding aids. In addition to building interfaces that minimize archival jargon and rely heavily on users' prior understanding of hierarchical finding aids, this study indicates that users require new forms of virtual reference assistance in the online environment.     

Describing Anything That Walks

ABSTRACT

Anchored on the Vietnamese American Project (VAP), this essay presents the documentation of the Vietnamese American Experience through the voices of ethnic Vietnamese in Orange County, California, home to the largest concentration of this ethnic group outside Vietnam. Groundbreaking in its approach and method, VAP is an open forum that enables community assessment, self education, public memory preservation, and the first step toward understanding Vietnamese America and the Vietnamese diaspora. The cross-sectional narratives encompass transcontinental accounts of first and 1.5 generations of Vietnamese refugees and their children, and subsequently focus on their coming to terms with their second home in America, dwelling on how ethnic Vietnamese have negotiated with political turmoil, socioeconomic changes, and cultural identity. The paper, as the VAP, bridges cultural and linguistic barriers, connecting the native land and the adopted country. In short, the paper through its synthesis of the VAP: (1) gives a timely response to the urgent needs to understand and study the ethnic Vietnamese community in Orange County, providing much-needed primary data on the respective population for the ethnic communities and interdisciplinary scholarship; (2) serves as a healing process for members of the Vietnamese American community in Orange County and other victims of war; (3) sheds light onto intra- and inter-ethnic relations, fostering community consolidation, forging cross-cultural collaborations, and nurturing racial harmony; (4) contributes to an important period in American history with perspectives that are lacking in the extant literature; and (5) will conduce peace by bringing out the human experience in America's longest war.     

Standard Generalized Markup Language and the Transformation of Cataloging

Standardized General Markup Language (SGML) provides a syntax and a meta-language for defining the logical structure of documents, and conventions for naming the components of documents. The author discusses how widespread adoption of SGML might transform what and how we catalog. If adopted by all components of the information industry, SGML would provide an opportunity to build an integrated information environment in which the catalog would provide a clearly marked path to both traditional and electronic information formats.     

A Library Staff Becomes a Team

Abstract

The staff of the Management & Economics Library of the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University used group problem solving techniques developed by The Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) to redesign the floor plan of the circulation, periodicals, and reference areas of the library to best utilize the space. The ToP^tm (Technology of Participation) planning process utilizes visualizing, brainstorming, and clustering of ideas. Its planning process consists of five workshops: mapping out the practical vision; analyzing the underlying contradictions; setting the strategic directions; designing the systematic action plan; and drawing up the implementation timeline. Each of these workshops is described in part one of this article. Part two describes the implementation of the changes and includes a list of changes, their associated costs, and goals they accomplished. The appendix includes before and after floor plans     

Competition and the decline in Western television program popularity in Indonesia during the 1990s

Despite the country's population base of 240 million, Indonesian television has not been widely explored in academic and professional venues. This paper examines the impact of competition on the popularity of foreign programs in the Indonesian market during the mid-1990s. Analyzing recently released ratings data from a television ratings service, this paper suggests that competition has given rise to the popularity of local programs, while foreign program popularity has declined steeply during the same three year period. The findings also suggest that cultural proximity is a factor of the popularity of programs. By 1997, Asian programs outnumbered Western programs on the top 100 highest rated program lists in Indonesia. We explore implications of study findings for filling this void in the literature.     

Putting community first: mainstreaming CSR for community-building in India and China

Community-building is studied as a multidimensional process that leads to sustainable improvements in the well-being of individuals, families, communities, and society as a whole. The study looks at the role organizations play in developing countries as an integral function of inter-connectedness between organizations and community. A total of 100 Indian and Chinese organizations were analyzed for the available corporate social responsibility (CSR) information and initiatives using quantitative content analysis. The sample was drawn from the 2011 Forbes Global 2000 list. Significant differences were found between Indian and Chinese organizations in the levels of community-building. Findings also revealed information on the most common CSR terms, issues, and modes used by the organizations and how those differ culturally. Cultural scores on collectivism were also looked at for each country to analyze the relationship between organizations and community-building.     

Le Livre,l'Edition et la Librairie en France Aujourd'hui

No abstract available for this article.     

Black Studies Scholarship and Its Coverage in Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science

This study analyzes the coverage of black studies journals as compared to women's studies journals in Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, and ArticleFirst. This study also examines black studies bibliographies and directories to identify journals that are suitable for inclusion in Journal Citation Reports and consequently Web of Science and evaluates seven black studies journals using the Thomson Reuters journal selection process.     

Public Library Services For Wheelchair-Bound Young People In Singapore

This is an exploratory study of public library services in Singapore for young people (defined as those people between thirteen to nineteen years of age) who are wheelchair bound. The research was carried out originally in 2000, but the study still informs policy makers in the Singapore system. Three main research questions are explored:

• What are the information needs of wheelchair-bound young people?

• What are their perceptions of libraries and library services?

• What are the problems they face in using library facilities and services?

The study involves eleven wheelchair-bound people between the ages of twelve and twenty who were selected by means of a purposive sample.

Findings indicate that most participants enjoyed reading books but did not read newspapers. The computer was used primarily as a recreational tool, and the convenience of the Internet appealed to them. There were, however, problems in using computer equipment in the libraries. School libraries were generally inaccessible. There were also problems in using public library services and facilities as well as being in public places. Their use of public libraries was infrequent. They were unaware of the full range of library facilities and services.

The study concluded that there was a need and demand for library services by wheelchair-bound young people. Their information needs and reading habits were no different from those of any young person. Current library promotions were inadequate in stimulating or sustaining their awareness and interest. Transportation was the main obstacle in getting to libraries. The problems faced in using libraries were mainly related to architectural and physical access to library facilities and services.