The Professional Career and Life of Valerie Bross

ABSTRACT

The career path and significant professional accomplishments of librarian Valerie Bross (1954–2016) are described in this article. The awards and recognition she received are recounted and the influence of outside activities on her career is assessed. An attempt is made to capture what she was like as a professional, as well as what her unique characteristics were. A bibliography of her writings and a photograph are included.     

Assessing the Benefits of Content Notes Enhancements for Digital Audio Resources

Our library has previously investigated the potential impact the addition of contents notes on circulation. In a subsequent study, we found contents notes were the second metadata element most heavily linked to circulation (title was first). Since there has been a marked decline in the use of print resources at our library and a corresponding increase in digital resources, we wanted to know if the addition of contents notes to records for online streaming audio files would result in a similar increase in usage. After enhancing the records, we tracked usage for a period of three months.     

Information-seeking behavior of economics graduate students: If you buy it,will they come?

The information-seeking behavior of social science graduate students has been the subject of many studies, but none have concentrated only on the economics graduate student population and their unique needs. The purpose of this focus group study was to use group discussions to understand the actual online behavior of graduate economics students when conducting research. The results provide insight and information about the skills and characteristics of economics graduate students, their first steps in conducting research online, their use of publicly available and library resources, challenges to finding information, and resources used to overcome these challenges.     

Preparing for Practice: Strengthening Third-Year Medical Students’ Awareness of Point-of-Care Resources

This column describes the development and implementation of a responsive library course designed to train third-year medical students as they begin their clerkships. The course design consisted of a brief face-to-face introduction during third-year orientation and an online course developed in Canvas, an online learning management system. The objective of the course was to not only introduce students to the resources but also to teach them how to effectively use those resources at the point-of-care. Students evaluated the course to assess the overall effectiveness of the instruction. Course development and content, feedback provided by students, as well as suggestions for improvement are discussed.     

OER evaluation as a means of teaching information literacy in individual and small group settings

ABSTRACT

Open education resources represent a great opportunity to reduce textbook costs, but many of them have not been evaluated for quality. Librarians and former students in an introduction to engineering course collected and evaluated open education resources to supplement the course textbook in future semesters. Both searching for and evaluating these resources created opportunities for the librarians to evaluate information literacy skills of these students and to provide instruction to improve these skills.     

改革开放40年高等体育教育资源优化配置的社会学审视

摘要：我国高等体育教育资源优化配置研究引入社会学视角理论与方法，理论与实践均取得专家的认同。运用文献资料法、专家访谈法和实地考察法等方法发现，在计划经济体制下我国高等体育教育资源配置主体单一性、手段行政化和政治倾向性强，凸显出高等体育教育资源配置缺乏激励机制和市场竞争机制的问题，造成高等体育教育资源配置成本最大化和社会效应的最小化问题较多。自改革开放以来,随着我国市场经济体制的建立为高等体育教育资源优化配置提供了难得的发展机遇，我国高等体育教育资源配置取得了明显成效，但仍然存在高等体育教育资源配置机制滞后、体制机制改革创新步伐缓慢、高等体育教育资源配置不合理以及民办普通高校体育教育资源配置严重不足等问题。据此，从社会学研究的视角，提出了构建多主体推动高等体育教育资源优化配置创新的发展模式、多元化高等体育教育资源优化配置资金投入的保障体系、高等体育教育资源优化配置均衡发展的运行机制和大学城体育教育资源“共建共享”的创新发展模式的新时代我国高等体育教育资源优化配置的发展策略，旨在服务新时代全民健身与全民健康深度融合发展，“推动构建人类命运共同体”发展目标的实现。     

教师教育U-S合作的结构性障碍与路径选择

大学与中小学(U-S)合作是当前教师教育的一条有效出路。但目前我国教师教育U-S合作过程存在严重的结构性障碍,主要表现为合作中的异质性资源依赖感不强,合作主体的合法性认同严重不足,合作协调机制缺位。因此,我们需要充分挖掘U-S合作中的异质性资源,增强双方异质性资源依赖程度;赋予中小学教师教育义务并提升合作双方的利益共识,增强合作主体的合法性认同;构建政府统筹的U-S合作管理体制,规范合作行为。     

Intercultural contacts and acculturation resources among International students in Australia: A mixed-methods study

This paper explores the impact of acculturation conditions, orientations and outcomes on international students in Australia’s tertiary education sector. Specifically, we investigate the factors that facilitate or hinder acculturation of international students within a multidimensional acculturation context (Arends-Tóth & van de Vijver, 2006). We used a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design in two studies to investigate acculturation of international students at an Australian university and test how these factors are related to psychological and sociocultural outcomes. In Study 1, we conducted a generic qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with a conventional content analyses approach,which compared the experiences of international students who on average had high numbers of positive experiences versus those who had high numbers of negative experiences. We found that a support network of mixed-nationals, and especially host locals, facilitates positive psychological and sociocultural adjustment, and buffers acculturative stress. Study 2 quantitatively tested the association of factors found in Study 1 (perceived stereotypes, intercultural and ethnic network/resources) with psychological and sociocultural acculturation outcomes. Study 2, shows that perceived negative stereotypes loosen ties with the dominant (host) culture and reinforces ties with the ethnic (non-host) culture. The social resources associated with either culture was found to be useful for acculturation, with both independently contributing to participant well-being. Contact with host locals played a particularly crucial role in developing these resources. Our findings provide foundations for pragmatic policy implications, suggesting value in the development of formally organized contact programs in the early sojourn experience of international students.     

Green inclusion: biophilia as a necessity

This article argues that there is a strong link between the pedagogy for inclusion and the pedagogy of environmental education and tries to identify any benefits that could be acquired by pupils when the school system tries to use environmental educational programmes to promote inclusion. The idea of promoting a school yard into a school garden is given as an example. The article suggests that outdoor education experiences can facilitate positive development of self‐esteem, peer to peer socialisation as well as teacher–student relationships and a positive attitude towards school. One might conclude that the rationale behind environmental education has much to offer to all of our pupils.     

江西省学前教育事业发展研究——基于1995-2008年数据

自1995年以来,受国家宏观教育政策等因素影响,江西省学前教育事业发展也经历了起伏。与湘鄂皖三省相比,江西省学前教育事业发展相对平稳,在每万人拥有幼儿园数量、生师比和3-6岁适龄儿童毛入学率几个方面取得了较大进步,但也存在学前教育供给不足、师资力量薄弱、学前教育普及与公平相冲突及教育功能退化等新矛盾和新问题。