Digital Commons Network^™

Bridging Physics And Communications: Experimental Detection And Analysis Of Web Site Users’ Paths In An Environment Of Free Choice, David M. Frye

Open Access Master's Theses (through 2010)

A role for professional communicators to play in a postmodern context is to work as an experimentalist, designing a system that supports users’ free engagement with the content of the system, inviting people to engage that system, observing the ways in which those engagements proceed, and from those observations, learning how to refine the system to support more fruitful future engagements.The role serves to cultivate an environment in which users’ conversations with one another and their interaction with the system’s content may thrive.This thesis purposes that the experimentalist is a useful and practical role for a communicator in the current …

The Americans With Disabilities Act And Academic Libraries In The Southeastern United States, Linda Lou Wiler, Eleanor Lomax

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Individuals with disabilities are one of the fastest-growing segments of United States society. In 1970, 11.7% of the United States population was limited in activity, a major factor in measuring and identifying people with disabilities. In 1990, because of the aging of America, 13.7 % of the population could be so identified. By 1994, 15% of the population fell into this group. During this latter period, the older population stayed fairly stable but children and younger adults with disabilities increased greatly. Many different figures, depending upon the method of counting, e.g., age groups included, or whether residence was in a …

Undergraduate Full Text Databases: Bell And Howell Medical Complete And Infotrac Health Reference Center-Academic, Lutishoor Salisbury, Bryan Davidson, Alberta Bailey

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

This study compares and contrasts InfoTrac and ProQuest primarily as full-text resources to supplement retrieval of references contained in the CINAHL database. These databases are analyzed by examining their scope in terms of the number and types of serials covered within specific areas using Ulrich's subject headings. Another important aspect of this study relates to the effectiveness of the two search engines for end-user retrieval and collection development.

A Survey Of Four Libraries In Kunming: Library Automation And Modernization In A Far Removed Province In China, Jianli Li, Mary Francis Marx

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

As of 2000, over the last fifteen years, in a major effort at modernization and with an increasing investment by the Chinese government, China established more than twenty national information systems. The libraries we visited were member of some of those national information systems. These national information systems have been charged with setting up the basic foundations of an information industry. They belong to, respectively, the Education System, the Cultural Ministry, the Science and Technology Committee System, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Nordinfo: Research And Academic Library Cooperation Across National Borders, Sigrún Klara Hannesdóttir

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

NORDINFO, the Nordic Council for Scientific Information was founded as a bridge between research libraries and the growing information and documentation sector. NORDINFO’s secretariat was set up in Helsinki, Finland, and some permanent staff 6 was appointed to coordinate the activities. The full name behind the acronym was “The Nordic Cooperative Council for Research Libraries and Scientific Information and Documentation.”

When looking at the history of Nordic research library cooperation, it is clear that the members of the committee that suggested the establishment of an institution that would combine librarianship, documentation and information were people that understood what developments were …

Before You Say Yes: A Planning Guide For Speakers, Charles A. Francis, Heidi Carter, Cris Carusi, James W. King

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

We need guidelines to help us decide whether to accept invitations to speak, whether to a class on campus or a special interest group outside. As educators and workshop organizers, we could also use suggestions on how to approach potential speakers. This article describes a single-page format that can be used to guide the planning process. Essential elements include contact information, location and organization of the activity, audience, learning goals, expected content, conclusions, and evaluation. Use of this planning sheet can give organization to an often haphazard process of planning, and enhance the potential of achieving the learning goals of …

Younger And Older Adults’ Schematic Representations Of Intergenerational Communication, Jake Harwood, Jordan Mckee, Mei-Chen Lee

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

The current paper examines younger and older adults’ cognitive representations of intergenerational conversations. In interviews, younger and older adults were asked to imagine various types of conversations with older and younger targets. They were prompted to provide a wide variety of information about the targets and the conversations. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed to uncover types of conversations commonly reported. Through a combination of coding and hierarchical cluster analysis, a hierarchical arrangement of types of conversations emerged in younger and older adults’ descriptions. Each of the types is described in detail. In a second study, exemplars of each type …

Subject Librarians Relations With Faculty At The University Of Botswana: A Review Of Liaison Activities, Edwin Qobose

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Conclusion

Liaising at the University of Botswana Library (UBL) is at the heart of all subject librarian activities. It is therefore absolutely essential that we make an effort to maintain a liaison program which will ensure effective communication with all the academic departments for all of the library's services. As liaison librarians, we are academic partners, and should actively participate in the promotion of excellent teaching and research activities. By monitoring curricular and research developments in assigned subject fields, subject librarians develop and maintain library collections for their respective faculties. It is vital that we should always be proactive, and …

Cataloging Expert Systems: Optimism And Frustrated Reality, William Olmstadt

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

There is little question that computers have profoundly changed how information professionals work. The process of cataloging and classifying library materials was one of the first activities transformed by information technology. The introduction of the MARC format in the 1960s and the creation of national bibliographic utilities in the 1970s had a lasting impact on cataloging. In the 1980s, the affordability of microcomputers made the computer accessible for cataloging, even to small libraries. This trend toward automating library processes with computers parallels a broader societal interest in the use of computers to organize and store information. Following World War II, …

This State Has "Boundries" (Sic), But No Focus: A Review, Richard Defoe

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Review of Louisiana Biographical Dictionary: People of all Times and Places Who Have Been Important to the History and Life of the State. Somerset Publishers, St. Clair Shores, MI, 1999. $87.50.

Review:

Somerset Publishers produce biographical dictionaries of some of these United States. The Louisiana volume does not instill confidence in their efforts. Sloppy printing, sloppy proof-reading and sloppy and turgid writing are just the beginning of the problems with this book – the title of this review features one of their glaring spelling errors from the foreword.

But the major problem with this book seems to be focus, …

Are Transaction Logs Useful? A Ten-Year Study, Julie Banks

E-JASL 1999-2009 (Volumes 1-10)

Introduction

Transaction log analysis has long been a staple in academic libraries. Recently, for example, authors have reported on transaction logs and their use in identifying access point use, re-engineering the online public access catalog (OPAC), improving search retrieval, utilizing flip charts at terminals, and employing log data for general personnel management. There are still questions left unanswered, however, about the usefulness of transaction log analysis in marshalling personnel resources. One is whether the logs have predictive value over a span of time, and another is whether any useful trends can be discerned from the logs' data. To answer these …

Women Managers And Gendered Values, Diane Kay Sloan, Kathleen J. Krone

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

In this study we interviewed 30 women managers to better understand ways in which they experience gendered values and behavior in organizational leadership and their responses to those experiences. The results, based on a constant comparison, thematic analysis, indicate the emergence of surprisingly strong and similar perceptions among the 30 women that there are distinct feminine and masculine power orientations in leadership communication with corresponding sets of gendered values: (a) open/closed and (b) supportive/intimidating. Their most common responses were: (a) rejection of masculine power, (b) self-doubt and blame, (c) competence, (d) confrontation, (e) isolation, and (f) resignation. These women judge …

Overcoming The Dichotomy: Cultivating Standpoints In Organizations Through Research, Debbie S. Dougherty, Kathleen J. Krone

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Feminist standpoint theories are seldom used by researchers. One possible reason is the ongoing debate between postmodern theorists and feminine standpoint theorists. The debate has been constructed in bipolar terms such that the issues are perceived as mutually exclusive. However, bipolar assumptions are damaging to women, both in general and in organizations. We contend that feminist standpoint theories should theorize similarities, material reality, and communal agency while being sensitive to differences, multiple realities, and individual agency. A study of academic women is used to illustrate how standpoints can develop around similarities while respecting differences. Using a creative narrative, participants’ organizational …