Self-concept assessment for young children: Development of a self-report, peer comparison measure

The present investigation concerned the development of the Primary Self-Concept Inventory (PSCI), a group-administered self-report self-concept inventory for children of ages 5 through 8. Replicated analysis of the factor structure of the PSCI data indicated that a seven-component pattern provides an appropriate fit. As a result of this analysis, seven subscales were formed. Acceptable test—retest reliability estimates were obtained for administrations separated by a 6-month interval. On the basis of these results, the PSCI was accepted as a research tool, and recommendations for further investigation of the inventory were made.     

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.     

Illinois Initiatives and Referenda

SUMMARY

This article explains Illinois' restricted use of initiatives and referenda. Statewide initiatives are advisory only except for those amending the constitution; there is no process for creating statutes via initiatives. Advisory initiatives have been historically ignored by the legislature and therefore become less common over time. There are no statewide referenda in Illinois. Both binding and advisory referenda and initiatives are used by local governments enacting ordinances, and the former are often statutorily mandated. Because of Illinois' strong home rule system and the scattered nature of statutes addressing initiatives and referenda, research in this area can be difficult. An appendix of resources is included.     

Meeting Changing Information Needs of Illinois Firefighters

Abstract

The Illinois Fire Service Institute (IFSI) Library, established in 1990 to support instructional teaching and research, continued to support the academic programs in the Institute while initiating and developing its Outreach Program in 1998. This program provides library and information services to Illinois fire departments and firefighters throughout the state. Since establishing the Outreach Program, the IFSI Library has accumulated more than 7,000 entries in a “Reference Request Database.”

This paper reports and analyzes the data, including request methods, delivery methods, types of requests, and types of resources. Trends indicate a change over time in request and delivery methods. Different regions of the state and different user groups have begun to use the library. The research can serve as a model for designing, developing and evaluating outreach reference service in a special or small library dedicated to meeting the information needs of remote library users.     

Study of the factors influencing sex differences in the career motivation of Iranian high school students

The purpose of the study was to investigate some factors thought to influence sex differences in the Career Motivation of Iranian high school students. Subjects (n = 206) were balanced on sex, ages 17–18 and attending schools in Tehran, Iran. Measures included the criterion career motivation and six predictors: Sex, Social Class, Early Family Socialization, Religious Orientation, Community Resources and Community Discrimination against women 's careers.Multivariate regression analyses with partial correlations were used to test hypotheses. Hypotheses were that males would score higher than females on career motivation; upper middle class students would score higher than lower middle class students on career motivation; Scores on Early Family Socialization, Community Resources and Religious Orientation would be positively correlated with Career Motivation; and Community Discrimination would be negatively correlated with Career Motivation. Interactions were expected for Sex, Religious Orientation and Social Class. Main effects found in the regression analyses supported hypotheses related to Sex, Social Class, Community Discrimination and Early Family Socialization. It remained for the interpretation of three significant interaction effects to shed light on the contribution of Religious Orientation to Career Motivation. The three significant interactions found were Sex × Social Class; Sex × Religious Orientation; and Religious Orientation × Community Discrimination. It appeared that the religion measure was confounded by the new movement within Islam led by the Mojahedin Khalgh group that is supportive of women 's careers, in contrast to the dominant Shia Islam group. The Community Resources measure was significantly (p<.05) and positively related to career motivation but it did not contribute importantly to the prediction equation. The equation derived including interaction terms accounted for 41% of the variance. It was concluded that the analysis used provided an important addition to understanding complex phenomena such as career motivation in a changing social context.     

综合性大学中师范教育资源的配置与整合——美国伊利诺大学的师范教育模式及启示

美国伊利诺大学(厄巴纳—香槟学区)为了充分整合综合性大学中的各种资源用于师范教育,设立了以教师教育理事会为首的组织系统,合理地安排了教育学院和其他学院的分工和协作,形成了比较成熟的在综合性大学中办师范教育的模式,这些做法值得我们借鉴,尤其是教学内容型教师培养模式、组织领导机构模式和通过加修“小专业”实现专业方向灵活转换的做法对我国的师范教育改革有重要的借鉴意义。     

Project 12-ways: Measuring outcome of a large in-home service for treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect

Described here is Project 12-Ways, a large service project employing an ecobehavioral approach to the treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect. By ecobehavioral it is meant that multifaceted in-home services are provided to clients, and that in-home data are collected on as many variables related to these services as possible. Four levels of research, data collection, and assessment are used to evaluate these services: Included here is a discussion of these levels of assessment. They are: data collected for clinical purposes; data from single-case experiments; research through the use of single-subject design logic applied to several subjects or groups of subjects, or by group statistical research designs; and program evaluation. The particular focus here is the program evaluation data which compare incidents of abuse and neglect during and after treatment between 50 families served by Project 12-Ways and 47 comparison protective service families. The data showed significantly fewer combined abuse and neglect incidents among the families served by Project 12-Ways. Suggestions for additional program evaluation data are provided along with a discussion of the limitations of the current analysis.     

上海和伊利诺伊州中老年妇女体力活动与体质健康关系的对比研究

文章采用问卷调查法、数据统计和形态、机能测试等方法,对中国上海和美国伊利诺伊州中老年妇女体力活动情况及形态机能情况进行调查、测定、对比,探讨不同地域、不同人种的体力活动特征及其对中老年妇女体质健康的影响。