Digital Commons Network^™

A Checklist For Mortals: Preparing For Death’S Arrival, Becky Daniel

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

We learn everything from our parents—how to walk, talk and treat potential life partners. Yet our culture in the United States makes it difficult to talk to our parents about death and those consequences have a real impact. Closing a loved one’s estate can stretch from months to years without proper planning. While death is constant, the death industry is not. It is ever changing. And while all lives have equal value, there are many preparations that one person may need (veteran, parent, lotto winner) while another does not. The best way to prepare for death is to know its …

The Effects Of Culture On International Advertising Appeals: A Cross-Cultural Content Analysis Of U.S. And Japanese Global Brands, Dan Zhao

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

An international advertising campaign can be standardized in creative strategy, but localized in execution. As an integral part of the execution, advertising appeals should be tailored to local culture to maximize the effectiveness of international advertising campaigns while minimizing cost. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether advertising appeals mirror predicable differences in cultural values.

This study is based on the influential Hofstede model (Hofstede, 2001; Hofstede & Mooij, 2010), which distinguishes cultures according to six dimensions. While individualism and collectivism have been widely discussed in published studies, other dimensions that are also important indicators of advertising appeals …

Measuring The Impact Of Youth Leadership Development: An Evaluation Of Impacts, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Introduction

The research purpose of this collaborative study is to develop a psychometrically sound measure of youth leadership and examine its relationship to community outcomes such as retention, civic engagement, entrepreneurial activity and community attachment. This program, entitled the Rural Civic Action Program (RCAP), is designed to engage undergraduate “fellows” with rural middle or high schools to facilitate a service learning project intended to address locally identified needs.

12+ Years An Ir Manager, Paul Royster

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Conference Presentations and Speeches

Survey of the history of the UNL DigitalCommons institutional repository: background, mission, usage, contents, trends, popularity, segments by series type, relative performance, IR assets, voluntary participation, faculty trust, results vis-a-vis SSRN, ResearchGate & Academia.edu, allies, obstacles, complaints, collection vs. service, gatekeepers, inclusiveness, ease of participation, feedback, disorder, the joy of giving, supplemental files, watermarking, encryption, customizations, base expansion, alerts, tracking faculty productivity, student workers, "Putting lipstick on the post-prints," packaging, publishing, journals, monographs, opportunity, publisher propaganda, the future, asymmetric contests, Elsevier as T. rex, innovation, disruption, control, Borges on the unknowables, pie chart of the universe, the physics of information, …

Office Of Scholarly Communications, Annual Report Fiscal Year 2017 (July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017), Paul Royster, Sue A. Gardner, Margaret Mering, Linnea Fredrickson

Digital Commons / Institutional Repository Information

This report covers the Scholarly Communications team, and activities involving the institutional repository (IR), library publishing operations, outreach and advocacy, and copyright consulting.

Highlights include services, size, usage metrics, recognition (Ranking Web of World Repositories), Zea Books, journals, and appendices. (32 pages)

Introducing The Open Online Newspaper Initiative, Jessica Dussault, Laura Weakly, Karin Dalziel, Jeremy Echols, Karen Estlund, Andrew Gearhart, Sheila Rabun, Greg Tunink

Digital Initiatives & Special Collections

The Open Online Newspaper Initiative (Open ONI) is an open source collaboration whose goal is to lower the entrance bar for libraries, archives, historical societies, and other cultural heritage institutions to display digital newspaper content. Open ONI was formed in response to a need for free, easily deployed, flexible, plug-and-play software that is useful for collections large and small, local and national.

Taking A Stand By Kneeling: An Analysis Of National Anthem Protest Coverage, Vincent Pena

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers decided to protest the national anthem before a 2016 NFL preseason game because of systemic racial inequality and instances of police brutality, sparking a nationwide debate about the First Amendment, the national anthem in sports, and race, among other topics. His protest influenced many similar protests, including one by three members of the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team. This paper looks at the media coverage of the protests and the aftermath, examining both national and local print and broadcast news sources, to determine the degree to which the coverage adheres to the protest paradigm, …

Communication And Family Identity: Toward A Conceptual Model Of Family Identity And Development Of The Family Identity Inventory, Kaitlin Elizabeth Phillips

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Families serve as a primary socializing agent in the lives of individuals (Soliz & Rittenour, 2012), and the first social identity individuals have in their lives. Given the complexity and importance of identity—and family identity specifically, the goal of this study is to identify the various dimensions of family identity that scholars and practitioners should account for in their work. Through a two-study exploratory sequential mixed-method design I investigate what constructs comprise a conceptual model of family identity, and I develop a corresponding inventory of Family Identity. Through this process, I will also assess the relationships among these communicative processes, …

Telling Fire’S Story Through Narrative And Art, Stephen W. Barrett

Joint Fire Science Program Digests

Modern works by highly skilled narrative authors and artists have become increasingly useful for telling the story of wildland fire in the United States. Using unconventional means—and with partial funding by the Joint Fire Science Program—creative individuals have spawned some colorful and heartfelt messages that convey insightful information about wildland fire, climate, and other elements of nature to an increasingly receptive public. Recent narrative works by well-known authors, such as Stephen J. Pyne, and creative art pieces by well-established and emerging artists have helped depict fire in a new light to audiences that scientists may rarely reach. This issue of …

What They Don't Teach You In Library School: Using Emotional Intelligence To Succeed As Academic Librarians Of Color, Kiyomi D. Deards, Leo S. Lo

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Conference Presentations and Speeches

Librarians of color enter the workforce prepared to fulfill technical, interpersonal, service, or scholarship duties but are often blindsided by institutional, systemic, or social factors surrounding race, color, religion, or ethnicity. Experienced academic librarians of color will share personal anecdotes and use the frameworks of emotional intelligence and career capital to help participants learn strategies to succeed in their jobs, craft actionable plans to achieve their career goals, and connect with their peers.

Meeting Type: Program.

Content Area: Career Development

Interests: Career Advice, Equity Diversity & Inclusion, Librarianship, Networking.

Type of Library: Academic, Association, Community College, Library School, Research Library, …

The Academic Research Library And Science Education: A Roadmap For The Journey, Sue Ann Gardner

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Conference Presentations and Speeches

Science libraries are integral to the process of science inquiry.

Science education is facilitated within science libraries.

The future of science libraries is predicated on librarians maintaining a meaningful relationship with those engaging in scholarship.

Science libraries need to combine traditional and emerging service models, provide access to a wide array of materials, incorporate appropriate technology, and offer ergonomic work spaces to promote effective learning.

The science commons includes varied work spaces which encourage innovation and creativity, facilitate situated and active learning, and promote communities of practice.

The National Science Education Standards definition of science inquiry includes the diverse ways …

Can Public Diplomacy Survive The Internet? Bots, Echo Chambers, And Disinformation, Shawn Powers, Markos Kounalakis

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Report from a meeting held on the topic of disinformation, the Internet, and public diplomacy held at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, in 2017.

Executive Summary

Scientific progress continues to accelerate, and while we’ve witnessed a revolution in communication technologies in the past ten years, what proceeds in the next ten years may be far more transformative. It may also be extremely disruptive, challenging long held conventions behind public diplomacy (PD) programs and strategies. In order to think carefully about PD in this ever and rapidly changing communications space, the Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy (ACPD) convened a group of …

A City Room Of One's Own: Elizabeth Jordan, Henry James, And The New Woman Journalist, James Hunter Plummer

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis considers the portrayal of the female journalist in the works of Elizabeth Jordan and Henry James. In 1898, Jordan, a journalist and editor herself, published Tales of the City Room, a collection of interconnected short stories that depict a close and supportive community of female journalists. It is, overall, a positive portrayal of female journalists by a female journalist. James, on the other hand, uses the female journalists in The Portrait of a Lady, “Flickerbridge,” and “The Papers” to show his discomfort toward New Journalism and the New Woman of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. These …

The Demographic Profile For Female Textile-Design Bloggers, Khadijah Baaqil

Department of Textiles, Merchandising, and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A review of existing literature demonstrates the need for additional research on female home-based business owners. This study aimed to partially fill the literature gap by exploring the demographic profile of female home-based textile-design bloggers, a unique segment of the female home-based business world.

The findings of the qualitative content analysis of the 30 designers’ blogs and 138 blog posts included the findings of their age, nationality and ethnic identity, current place of residence, family status, educational background, occupation, and socioeconomic status. These findings were then reduced into numbers and percentages. Findings of the analysis show that designers vary from …

Who R U? Identity Theft And Unl Students, Marcia L. Dority Baker, Cheryl O'Dell

Information Technology Services: Publications

How can academic institutions help educate their students about the risks of identity theft? Or teach students to better understand how one’s online presence can hold so much joy and angst? For one campus, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the opportunity came from a middle school teacher engaging his students in a future problem-solving activity. UNL had the opportunity to create a 45-minute presentation on identity theft for local public school students who would be spending the day on campus researching this topic.

While preparing the presentation, we realized a top 10 list on identity theft for UNL students would be …

Scholastic Journalism Adviser's Guide, Mark Hilburn

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

With a passion for scholastic (high school) journalism, I want my professional project to tailor to that. I hold multiple degrees and certifications in journalism, which have no doubt helped me in the classroom, but not all high school journalism teachers do. Instead, many are taking teaching positions and are told at the time of their interview, or later, that journalism classes (mainly yearbook and newspaper) are part of their teaching schedule. Wanting a job in such a competitive market, these teachers are agreeing and then left scrambling to teach themselves the curriculum before they can teach it to students. …

Investigating Preferences For Patriarchal Values Among Muslim University Students In Southern Thailand, Mahsoom Sateemae, Tarik Abdel-Monem, Suhaimee Sateemae

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Recent research on Muslim populations has offered interesting but limited insights about values preferences. This mixed-methods study examines the prevalence of support for patriarchy among a sample of religious Muslim university students in Southern Thailand using items from the World Values Survey. It also investigates the durability of these preferences by examining correlations between support or opposition to patriarchal values with preferences towards courtship practices, and elements that influence respondents’ views on gender roles, particularly related to the contemporary socioeconomic and political situation facing the Muslim minority of Southern Thailand.

A Longitudinal And Experimental Study Of The Impact Of Knowledge On The Bases Of Institutional Trust, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Christopher D. Kimbrough, Ellie Shockley, Tess M. S. Neal, Mitchel Herian, Joseph A. Hamm, Brian H. Bornstein, Alan Tomkins

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This study examined a knowledge-centered theory of institutional trust development. In the context of trust in water regulatory institutions, the moderating impact of knowledge was tested to determine if there were longitudinal changes in the bases of institutional trust as a function of increases in knowledge about a target institution. We hypothesized that as people learn about an institution with which they were previously unfamiliar, they begin to form more nuanced perceptions, distinguishing the new institution from other institutions and relying less upon their generalized trust to estimate their trust in that institution. Prior to having specific, differential information about …

Investigating Layers Of Identity And Identity Gaps In Refugee Resettlement Experiences In The Midwestern United States, Gretchen Bergquist, Jordan Soliz, Kristen Everhart, Lee Kreimer, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Post-migration, refugees experience changes within personal and community relationships that have dramatic effects on their sense of self and, in turn, well-being.

§ During resettlement, refugees are forced to reconceptualize identity as they encounter and integrate into a new host country and culture.

§ Tensions emerge when integrating one’s self-concept into a web of new personal and social networks while simultaneously managing and adapting to larger social norms and public attitudes in the host country.

§ The epicenter of tensions and experiences that create turbulence in the lives of refugees is the negotiation and reconceptualization of identity within relationships and …

[University Of Nebraska-Lincoln] Digital Commons Ranked Among World's Best, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Digital Commons, a collaborative service provided by the University Libraries, was recently ranked among the best digital repositories in the world (as of March 2017).

The Toxic Screen: Visions Of Petrochemical America In Hbo’S True Detective (2014), Casey Ryan Kelly

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This article argues that the use of toxic visual and narrative tropes in contemporary dramatic television can expand our capacity to envision and critique the deadly effects of industrial pollution. The HBO series True Detective is an exemplary case study in how evocative toxic images can be integrated into familiar television narratives to animate society’s deadly relationship with toxic chemicals. The petrochemical mise-en-scène of True Detective enlivens the toxic image with inferential power, or visual enthymemes, that invite audiences to draw connections between traumas that unfold through narrative action and omnipresence of toxic iconography. Developing a concept of the toxic …

Negotiating Refugee Empowerment(S) In Resettlement Organizations, Sarah Steimel

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

In-depth interviews with both organizational staff and refugee-clients in two American refugee resettlement organizations explore how empowerment is communicated to and understood by refugees being “empowered.” This study found that while organizational staff professed empowerment focused on self-sufficiency as self-determination, in practice their communication to clients defined self-sufficiency a priori in economic terms. Refugee-clients instead constructed empowerment(s) in economic, educational, personal, and family terms. These findings highlight the need for changes in US resettlement policy and for theoretical and practical understandings of refugee empowerment to recognize polysemic and conflicting empowerments in different life arenas and from different positionalities.

Stepchildren’S Communicative And Emotional Journey From Divorce To Remarriage: Predictors Of Stepfamily Satisfaction, Sandra Metts, Paul Schrodt, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study explores the emotional and communicative profiles of young adults who have experienced a parental divorce and the emergence of a stepfamily to better understand influences on stepfamily satisfaction. Results of regression analyses indicate that strong negative emotions experienced at the time of the divorce are a negative predictor of current stepfamily satisfaction, even after controlling for age at the time of the divorce. In addition, level of open self-disclosure to a stepparent, although not parents, is a positive predictor of current stepfamily satisfaction. Finally, the extent to which the father has now fully explained the circumstances of the …

Understanding And Addressing The Gaps: Generational Perspectives On Public Relations Leadership Development In The United States, Michele E. Ewing, David L. Remund

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This qualitative study is the first known effort to define the differing perceptions of public relations leadership at three distinct career points and explore the leadership development gaps and needs from these varied perspectives. Semistructured interviews with senior public relations practitioners, young professionals, and current students in the United States bring needed depth and clarity to prior scholarship on leadership development, a growing concern within the public relations industry around the world. Additionally, the findings pinpoint leadership development best practices for better infusing leadership development into undergraduate public relations education and into training and development programs for young professionals.

Comm 454: Communication And Health Disparities—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The current portfolio examines the second iteration of a new course in the Department of Communication Studies, Comm 454: Communication and Health Disparities. The primary goal of the course is for students to understand what health disparities are and how communication (on micro, meso, and macro levels) helps to create, reinforce, and improve these health disparities. Student learning was measured through the evaluation of the above course objective through four assignments: a short reflection paper, 2 teaching lessons, a research paper, and a health disparities communication campaign/intervention. The short reflection paper was examined through thematic analysis, while the latter three …

Communicatively Constructing The Bright And Dark Sides Of Hope: Family Caregivers’ Experiences During End Of Life Cancer Care, Jody Koenig Kellas, Katherine M. Castle, Alexis Johnson, Marlene Z. Cohen

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

(1) Background: The communication of hope is complicated, particularly for family caregivers in the context of cancer who struggle to maintain hope for themselves and their loved ones in the face of terminality. In order to understand these complexities, the current study examines the bright and dark sides of how hope is communicated across the cancer journey from the vantage point of bereaved family caregivers; (2) Methods: We analyzed interviews with bereaved family caregivers using qualitative thematic and case oriented strategies to identify patterns in the positive and negative lived experiences when communicating about hope at the end of life; …

“Love Needs To Be Exchanged”: A Diary Study Of Interaction And Enactment Of The Family Kinkeeper Role, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Jaclyn S. Marsh, Carol L. Tschampl-Diesing, Margaret S. Leach

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Family kinkeepers enact an important role centered on interaction and maintaining family relationships. The researchers studied kinkeeping communication in light of mediated communication, topics engaged, and kinkeepers’ assessments. Thirty-four self-identified kinkeepers kept an interaction diary over 2 weeks. Their 275 reports represented 1,487 interactions using largely mediated communication channels (text, telephone, e-mail, social media), centered on everyday activities, rituals, and health and safety. Despite potential complications of the role, kinkeepers reported high agreement and openness with family members, little conflict, and overall satisfaction with their interactions. Implications of these findings, new directions for researchers, and the important mediated role of …

Perceived Benefits And Challenges Of A Multiethnic-Racial Identity: Insight From Adults With Mixed Heritage, Jordan Soliz, Sierra Cronan, Gretchen Bergquist, Audra K. Nuru, Christine E. Rittenour

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this inquiry was to explore the lived experiences of multiethnic-racial individuals (i.e., individuals with parents from different ethnic-racial groups). In-depth interviews were conducted with 29 adults from the United States with mixed ethnic-racial backgrounds ranging in age from 18 to 52 (female n = 20, male n = 9). We identified a number of themes related to perceived benefits (e.g., pluralistic world views, stronger sense of self) and challenges (e.g., identity tensions, communal concerns) of having a mixed heritage. Findings are discussed in terms of four considerations for ethnic-racial identity of individuals with mixed ethnic-racial backgrounds: emphasizing …

The Role Of Health Care Provider And Partner Decisional Support In Patients’ Cancer Treatment Decision-Making Satisfaction, Angela L. Palmer-Wackerly, Janice L. Krieger, Nancy D. Rhodes

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Cancer patients rely on multiple sources of support when making treatment decisions; however, most research studies examine the influence of health care provider support while the influence of family member support is understudied. The current study fills this gap by examining the influence of health care providers and partners on decision-making satisfaction. In a cross-sectional study via an online Qualtrics panel, we surveyed cancer patients who reported that they had a spouse or romantic partner when making cancer treatment decisions (n = 479). Decisional support was measured using 5-point, single-item scales for emotional support, informational support, informational-advice support, and appraisal …

It Follows: Precarity, Thanatopolitics, And The Ambient Horror Film, Casey Ryan Kelly

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

In the 2014 horror film It Follows, a teenage woman is terrorized by a fatal curse that passes from victim to victim via sexual intercourse. The subject of the curse is relentlessly pursued by vacant-minded assassins that take the form of friends, loved ones, and strangers. The film is set near the infamous dividing line of Detroit’s 8 Mile Road, between what remains of the suburban working-class and the sacrifice zone of post-industrial urban triage. I argue that It Follows confronts audiences with the spectral manifestation of precarity: the deliberate and unequal redistribution of human fragility to populations who …