Meeting Information Needs through Global Partnerships: A Roadmap to Becoming a Global Health Sciences Library

Abstract

Supporting global health priorities through the development of robust health science librarianship partnerships is of significant importance. Increased demand for synthesizing evidence-based information, collating quality resources, and increasing research productivity to improve human health requires integration of library and information science skills and expertise. The Health Sciences Library (HSL) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), exists to be an indispensable partner in health information and knowledge, teaching and learning, and research. As global efforts at UNC expanded, the HSL sought to ensure that our global engagement strategy and integration were aligned with campus priorities and partner needs. The HSL created a global research partnership plan: identify resources that improve efficiency, increase access to information, build in-country capacity and expertise—all while strengthening collaborations across multiple countries. Creating a meaningful and sustainable engagement strategy was central to envisioning our path forward and can be used as a framework for consideration by librarians in similar settings.     

Technological capital: an alternative to the digital divide

This paper identifies individuals’ accumulated history with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as a replacement for the contested and outdated term ‘digital divide.’ We propose that an individual’s ability to benefit from their technological history consists of four factors: awareness, knowledge, access, and technological capacity of the user’s social collective. Together, these factors make up the individual’s level or amount of Technological Capital. The development of this construct was based on empirical research conducted in Soweto, South Africa, and through an analysis of the literature on assessing individuals’ accumulated histories. The concept of technological capital has the potential for application in fields in which ICTs are used for communication, capacity building, and identifying barriers to adoption of new technologies. The use of the concept may have implications for policy decisions, resource allocation, and future research into differences among individuals’ and communities’ ability to benefit from the introduction of new technologies.     

Against the current: A grounded theory study on the estrangement experiences of a select group of Filipino gay older persons

According to Healthy People (2011), in order to understand the health concerns of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT), the oppression and discrimination that they have faced must be scrutinized. Among the many issues they face, their estrangement experiences are one of the most understudied. However, little is known about how it is experienced by the gay elderly population, hence, this investigation. This grounded theory purports to describe the process by which estrangement is experienced among the Filipino gay older adults. Strauss and Corbin’s Grounded Theory (1990) design was utilized. A total of 10 gay older persons were purposively chosen to participate in semi-structured interviews. Field texts were subjected to thematic analysis involving open, axial, and selective coding. The study generated The Sailing Model of Estrangement. Remarkably, three phases relative to estrangement emerged, namely: sequestering, striving, and surviving. Primarily, the sequestering phase involves the gay persons’ need to express self, search for acceptance, and its subsequent reactions. The striving phase typifies the struggle in dealing with estrangement leading to either feelings of depression, remorse and shame or positivity, hopefulness, and motivation. Finally, in the surviving phase, gay persons may either feel contented and fulfilled or sad, lonely, and remorseful as they acquiesce aging with estrangement. Findings of the study offer an understanding of how Filipino gay older adults employ coping strategies in response to estrangement.     

Gesture as a window on children's beginning understanding of false belief

Given that gestures may provide access to transitions in cognitive development, preschoolers' performance on standard tasks was compared with their performance on a new gesture false belief task. Experiment 1 confirmed that children (N=45, M age=54 months) responded consistently on two gesture tasks and that there is dramatic improvement on both the gesture false belief task and a standard task from ages 3 to 5. In 2 subsequent experiments focusing on children in transition with respect to understanding false beliefs (Ns=34 and 70, M age=48 months), there was a significant advantage of gesture over standard and novel verbal-response tasks. Iconic gesture may facilitate reasoning about opaque mental states in children who are rapidly developing concepts of mind.     

Opportunities for educational innovations in authentic project-based learning: understanding instructor perceived challenges to design for adoption

Educational technology research and development - Authentic project-based learning (APBL) is a highly effective way for instructors to help students learn disciplinary skills, modes of thinking,...     

Perception of kinematic characteristics of tennis strokes for anticipating stroke type and direction

The purpose of this study was to determine the sources of visual information used by highly skilled tennis players in anticipating their opponent's shots. In Experiment 1, motion analysis of the strokes showed that the relative motion between the racquet and forearm was different between the ground strokes and lobs, but there were no reliable kinematic differences when shot direction was varied. In Experiment 2, 12 skilled tennis players observed the opponent hitting strokes in a normal video or in a point-light display with different segments occluded. Players' anticipation accuracy was not degraded by the use of the point-light display. Occluding the racquet and forearm significantly reduced the participant's ability to determine the type of stroke produced.     

The development of pattern recognition ability in children

Pattern recognition development was studied in high and low ability preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade youngsters. Pattern recognition was assessed by the administration of 96 pattern tasks which measured the ability of a youngster to find: (a) duplicate patterns and elements to a model; (b) the opposite pattern to a model; and (c) duplicate patterns but different elements than in the model. Aside from main effects for grade level, ability level, and pattern task, a significant three-way interaction was noted. This interaction was analyzed in terms of its component simple effects. The implication of these simple interaction effects for Piagetian theory and educational practice were discussed.     

Comparing the pre- and post-impact ball and racquet kinematics of elite tennis players' first and second serves: a preliminary study

The aim of this study was to compare the pre- and post-impact three-dimensional kinematics of the ball and racquet during first and second serves performed by elite tennis players. Data were collected from four male and four female right-handed professional players during competition using two high-speed cameras (200 Hz). For each player, one first serve and one second serve from the 'deuce' or right service court that landed within the specified target area were analysed. To test for significant differences between the first and second serves, Wilcoxon tests (P < or = 0.05) were performed on selected parameters. The results indicate that the ball travelled forward and to the left during the flight phase of the toss in all but one trial. The average pre-impact ball forward location for the first serve was significantly more in front and had a higher associated forward ball velocity than the corresponding values for the second serve. On average, the decrease in post-impact ball speed from the first to the second serve was 24.1%. No significant differences between the first and second serves were found in the pre-impact racquet head speed and orientation, which was represented as a unit vector perpendicular to the racquet face. The major adjustments made by the players when going from the first to second serve were a decrease in pre-impact ball forward location (P < or = 0.01) and an increase in the pre-impact racquet vertical and lateral velocities (both P < or = 0.05). This implies that the players tossed the ball closer to the body and imparted topspin and sidespin on the ball by changing the racquet vertical and lateral velocities when going from the first to the second serve.