Analysis of the Russian,Eastern European,and Eurasian Studies Collection at Miami University Libraries

A collection analysis project was carried out on the Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian studies collection at Miami University Libraries. The collection serves a diverse population of scholars and students. These constituents vary in discipline and in reading level of Russian and other Slavic languages. The goal for collecting for this area is to reflect this diversity of disciplines and languages, as well as to follow the collection development policy. The project thus had two objectives: to determine how well the collection supports users’ needs and how well it reflects the collection development policy. A very simple process for data gathering was used to determine the number of items in each subject, the items’ language, and the number of checkouts and in-house uses. The results showed some discrepancies between the policy and the predominant language of the collection, as well as a lack of use among materials in languages other than English.     

Disciplinary Duality: The Contested Terrain of Book Studies

Book Studies is an emerging field, which encompasses Book History and Book Arts. Because of this duality it is not always clear whether it is a free-standing discipline or merely an interdisciplinary academic program. This article attempts to investigates its disciplinary identity through an in-depth analysis of Book Studies' history, discursive field, major stakeholders, and scholarly communications. In addition, the article identifies and explores a few major academic programs in Book Studies in the United States and abroad. Based on the evidence gathered from the syllabi of the academic programs and the scholarly communication of the participants, some of the implications of the article are: the discursive field of Book Studies is developing around two very different centers, Book History and Book Arts; Book Studies’ acquired dual disciplinary identity is not a “birth defect” but rather a goal of including sociocultural, historic and aesthetic aspects of the book. The potential future of Book Studies as a field is also discussed.     

Problems of the Socialization of Today's Young People

Data from survey research on intergenerational cultural continuity in Russia shows that there is a growing gap between values and understanding of Russian ethnicity over time as links between generations become weaker.     

Disciplinary Points of Departure: How Area Studies Librarians Fit Within the Subject Paradigm

Area Studies librarianship is a unique, interdisciplinary field, faced with an infrequently researched disciplinary-identity crisis. Although its place among traditional subjects creates many challenges, its unique appeal provides many promises as well. In the traditional, subject-based librarianship model, Area Studies librarians have to make very different decisions regarding collection development, liaison, and instruction than their subject specialist colleagues. The article identifies some challenges and promises of the unique position of being responsible for a geographic area rather than any one subject. It also describes the experience of Area Studies librarians at Miami University and their efforts to work together with their subject colleagues toward satisfying the needs of their users.     

e-Learning for depth in the Semantic Web

In this paper, we describe concept parsing algorithms, a novel semantic analysis methodology at the core of a new pedagogy that focuses learners’ attention on deep comprehension of the conceptual content of learned material. Two new e‐learning tools are described in some detail: interactive concept discovery learning and meaning equivalence reusable learning objects. These semantic technologies were developed at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and Adaptive Technology Resource Centre of Faculty of Information Studies (ATRC/FIS) at the University of Toronto; they were tested since 2001 in several academic institutions in Canada and at the Russian Academy of Sciences (patents pending: US patent 6,953,344 B2, USPO ?20050149510; Copyright 2005, PARCEP Inc.). We describe the rationale for developing these instructional tools, their main characteristics and results of several evaluative implementations that show their potential to enhance learning outcomes and to provide authentic, credible, evidence‐based formative assessments of learning processes.     

Art collections and taste in the Spanish <Emphasis Type="Italic">Siglo</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">de Oro</Emphasis>

We analyze art pricing in a unique dataset on Madrid inventories between 1600 and 1750. We estimate a price index for the Spanish art market that is used for a general historical analysis of art during this period, showing a large increase in the real price of paintings during the XVII century. Then we examine the price differential between domestic and foreign paintings: At the beginning of the century domestic production was priced substantially below imported paintings, but the price gap was gradually reduced during the century. We argue that such a price convergence was not the fruit of variations in real exchange rate, relative supply or home bias, but was associated with increasing prices for the new domestic painters of the XVII century. Increasing remuneration for painting may have induced artistic innovations by domestic producers and created the conditions for the development of the Siglo de Oro of Spanish art.     

Peer Learning and Support of Technology in an Undergraduate Biology Course to Enhance Deep Learning

This study offers an innovative and sustainable instructional model for an introductory undergraduate course. The model was gradually implemented during 3 yr in a research university in a large-lecture biology course that enrolled biology majors and nonmajors. It gives priority to sources not used enough to enhance active learning in higher education: technology and the students themselves. Most of the lectures were replaced with continuous individual learning and 1-mo group learning of one topic, both supported by an interactive online tutorial. Assessment included open-ended complex questions requiring higher-order thinking skills that were added to the traditional multiple-choice (MC) exam. Analysis of students’ outcomes indicates no significant difference among the three intervention versions in the MC questions of the exam, while students who took part in active-learning groups at the advanced version of the model had significantly higher scores in the more demanding open-ended questions compared with their counterparts. We believe that social-constructivist learning of one topic during 1 mo has significantly contributed to student deep learning across topics. It developed a biological discourse, which is more typical to advanced stages of learning biology, and changed the image of instructors from “knowledge transmitters” to “role model scientists.”