Digital Commons Network^™

Responsive Web Design: A Future-Friendly Web Strategy, Christine Tawatao

Online Northwest

In just a few short years, the range of web-enabled devices on our campuses has exploded. The University of Washington Libraries has adopted responsive web design (RWD) as a way to provide our content on whatever device comes our way. Learn why this is a good strategy for us, what tradeoffs are involved, why concise content is more important than ever, and strategies for conducting user research/testing to inform every step in the design process.

The Mobile Playground: Can Databases And Ipads Play Nice?, Kelly Meadow, Ngoc-Yen Tran

Online Northwest

Tablets present many opportunities to enhance and increase library instruction, but it is unclear if library databases can rise to the challenge of tablet use. In our study, we used an iPad and tested the functionality of specific tasks that may be used in a library instruction setting: presentation of the page, access to multimedia content, database specific tools, email full text, and separate app/installation requirements. This session will explore the nitty gritty of using tablets for library instruction, leading to a better understanding of the future of mobile tablet classrooms

Open Badges Open Doors - Digital Workshop, Meggie Wright, Nate Otto

Online Northwest

Our vision for this workshop at Online Northwest was to embrace the Mozilla Foundation’s MozFest slogan of "Less Yack, More Hack," by introducing participants to Open Badges via hands on experience and starting a dialog on how libraries might use this new educational technology. While the change in format and venue makes this more difficult, we sincerely hope that you’ll contact us with your questions, comments, inspirations, and ideas for using Open Badges in libraries.

Information Literacy, Privacy, & Risk: What Are The Implications Of Mass Surveillance For Libraries?, Gabe Gossett, Brian Davidson, Rebecca Wilder

Online Northwest

In light of new revelations about government warrantless wiretapping and electronic surveillance what role do librarians have in educating our patrons about digital privacy and security issues? Given that digital privacy is further complicated by for-profit Internet companies services, such as those provided by Facebook and Google, are our users savvy enough to understand threats to their information in this increasingly complex digital landscape? This presentation will explore issues related to current events and information security with an eye towards the implications for information literacy standards; brief examination of tools used to enhance information privacy; and discuss how librarians might …

The Charleston Conference Continues – Getting To No: Calling For An End To Contention, James Bunnelle, Jill Emery, Michael Levine-Clark, Emily Mcelroy, Anne Mckee, Mary Page

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

The authors reflect on Thirty-third Charleston Conference.

Looking To The Future Of Deaf-Blind Services And The Role Of Interveners: A National Webinar Co-Sponsored By Ncdb And Nfadb, Amy T. Parker, Peggy Malloy

Special Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Peggy provides an overview of the Recommendations for Improving Intervener Services that were published by NCDB in 2012. The recommendations were developed in response to a request from the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs and are intended to improve the availability and quality of intervener services throughout the U.S.

Amy discusses the process for developing the Open Hands Open Access learning modules and the ways that parents are being included as creators, reviewers, and disseminators of information. The modules are a part of implementing the broader recommendations.

Jim Rockford Or Tony Soprano: Coastal Contrasts In American Suburbia, Carl Abbott

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Both in television shows such as The Rockford Files and The Sopranos and in the fiction of writers such as John Updike, Richard Ford, and Douglas Coupland, popular culture draws a distinction between Atlantic Coast and Pacific Coast suburbs. The differences revolve around two themes. The first concerns the roles of place and space. The second is the varying weight of history, often as manifested through families and social ties. Eastern suburbs and suburbanites are commonly depicted as embedded in place, rooted in time, and entangled in social networks. Western suburbs and suburbanites are often imagined as the opposite—isolated in …

How Disparities Research Can Influence Public Policy, Ann Curry-Stevens

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Presentation providing a overview of the partnered research between the Coalition of Communities of Color and Portland State University.

Surface Plasmons Of A Graphene Parallel Plate Waveguide Bounded By Kerr-Type Nonlinear Media, H. Hajian, A. Soltani-Vala, M. Kalafi, Pui T. Leung

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The exact dispersion relations of the transverse magnetic surface plasmons (SPs) supported by a graphene parallel plate waveguide (PPWG), surrounded on one or both sides by Kerr-type nonlinear media, are obtained analytically. It is shown that if self-focusing nonlinear materials are chosen as the surrounding media, the SPs localization length (LL) is decreased, while their propagation length (PL) remains unchanged, as compared to those of a typical graphene PPWG. Moreover, PL and LL of the SPs are considerably affected by adjusting nonlinear parts of the dielectric permittivities of the nonlinear media. It is found that using an appropriate defocusing nonlinear …

Dead Newspapers And Citizens’ Civic Engagement, Lee Shaker

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using data from the 2008 and 2009 Current Population Survey conducted by the United States Census, this article assesses the year-over-year change in the civic engagement of citizens in America’s largest metropolitan areas. Of special interest are Denver and Seattle, where the Rocky Mountain News and Seattle Post-Intelligencer closed during the intervening year. The data from the CPS indicate that civic engagement in Seattle and Denver dropped significantly from 2008 to 2009 – a decline that is not consistently replicated over the same time period in other major American cities that did not lose a newspaper. The analysis suggests that …

Project Nano: Will Allowing High School Students To Use Research Grade Scanning Electron Microscopes Increase Their Interest In Science?, Leslie Teneyck Smith

Dissertations and Theses

In this study, one AP Biology curriculum unit and one general Biology curriculum unit that included tabletop Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) technology provided by Project NANO, a grant-funded, collaborative initiative designed to integrate cutting-edge nanotechnology into high school classrooms were implemented at a public high school in rural Oregon. Nine students participated in the AP unit and 52 students participated in the general Biology unit. Each student completed an opinion-based pre and post survey to determine if using the SEM as a part of the curriculum unit had an impact on his or her interest in science or in nanoscience. …

Impact Of Sustainable Cool Roof Technology On Building Energy Consumption, Prem Kiran Vuppuluri

Dissertations and Theses

Highly reflective roofing systems have been analyzed over several decades to evaluate their ability to meet sustainability goals, including reducing building energy consumption and mitigating the urban heat island. Studies have isolated and evaluated the effects of climate, surface reflectivity, and roof insulation on energy savings, thermal load mitigation and also ameliorating the urban heat island. Other sustainable roofing systems, like green-roofs and solar panels have been similarly evaluated. The motivation for the present study is twofold: the first goal is to present a method for simultaneous evaluation and inter-comparison of multiple roofing systems, and the second goal is to …

Peer Conversations About Inter-Racial And Inter-Ethnic Friendships, Lana Lee Buckholz

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand how early adolescents talk about cross-racial and cross-ethnic friendships. Gordon Allport's intergroup contact theory provided the framework for studying the elements needed for inter-racial and inter-ethnic friendship formation. Qualitative data were drawn from four separately recorded peer group conversations. Participants (n=18) were recruited from Parrish Middle School in Salem, Oregon. Patterns that emerged from the data were sorted, categorized and identified according to the tenets of intergroup contact theory or extensions of intergroup contact theory. Analysis also looked at the use of metaphors and storytelling among adolescents. Results showed that while intergroup …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet January 2014, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The January 2014 Monthly packet includes the January agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held December 2013. Appendix B3 of the packet document includes the Provost's response to the question about status and future of tenure at PSU.

Model Lessons About Geography And The United States Civil War, Amy Fifth-­Lince, Tabitha M. Richards, Alan Town, Jack Gordon, Julie Johnson, Sean Stewart, Mark S. Walls, Margaret Skyberg, Melanie Mays, Merx Lavine, Steve Reeves, Ryan Mcwayne, Colleen Pallari

Instructional Materials

Model lessons about geography and the United States Civil War to use with The Student Atlas of Oregon.

A Qualitative Study Of Rural Primary Care Clinician Views On Remote Monitoring Technologies, Melinda M. Davis, Jillian M. Currey, Sonya Howk, Molly R. Desordi, Linda Boise, Lyle J. Fagnan, Nancy Vuckovic

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: Remote monitoring technologies (RMTs) may improve the quality of care, reduce access barriers, and help control medical costs. Despite the role of primary care clinicians as potential key users of RMTs, few studies explore their views. This study explores rural primary care clinician interest and the resources necessary to incorporate RMTs into routine practice.

Methods: We conducted 15 in-depth interviews with rural primary care clinician members of the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network (ORPRN) from November 2011 to April 2012. Our multidisciplinary team used thematic analysis to identify emergent themes and a cross-case comparative analysis to explore variation by …

The Design And Use Of Forest Decision Support Systems In The Usa, Sean N. Gordon, Keith M. Reynolds

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Computer-based tools for supporting forest management. The experience and the expertise world-wide answers a call from both the research and the professional communities for a synthesis of current knowledge about the use of computerized tools in forest management planning. According to the aims of the Forest Management Decision Support Systems (FORSYS) (http://fp0804.emu.ee/) this synthesis is a critical success factor to develop a comprehensive quality reference for forest management decision support systems.

The emphasis of the book is on identifying and assessing the support provided by computerized tools to enhance forest management planning in real-world contexts. The book thus identifies the …

Higher Education Reform In Oregon, 2011-2014: A Policy And Legislative History, Sean Pollack

Public Administration Dissertations and Final Research Papers

When the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) was first convened in the summer of 2012 its first topic of conversation among its members was, “why we here, and what are we supposed to be doing?” The Commission was a body created by legislation but convened with no formal authority, no clearly defined role, no staff, and no budget. The state education agencies such as the Oregon University System (OUS) and the Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development (CCWD) were barely paying attention. The Commission members were all distinguished education professionals and student activists with a range of experience …

Planning On The Map: National Awards For Newberg & Lake Oswego, Michael D. Harrell

Metroscape

Since its inception, the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning has produced nearly 700 graduates in the Master of Urban Studies and Planning program who have made their mark on the nation and the world. It should not be surprising, therefore, that four of them were involved, one way or another, in the award-winning projects described in this article. They are Sarah Selden and Laura Weigel, associate planners in Lake Oswego, Clackamas County Commission Chair Lynn Peterson, and Steve Olson, Associate Planner with the City of Newberg.

A Family-Friendly Study Room For Student-Parents And Their Children At Portland State University Library, Joan Petit

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

The article focuses on the history and use of the Family Study Room at Portland State University Library.

Judy Malloy's Seat At The (Database) Table: A Feminist Reception History Of Early Hypertext Literature, Kathi Inman Berens

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

When Robert Coover anointed Michael Joyce the ‘granddaddy’ of hypertext literature in a 1992 New York Times article, it could scarcely have been imagined that this pronouncement would come to define the origin of electronic literature. This short article examines the human and machinic operations obscuring Judy Malloy's Uncle Roger, a hypertext that predates afternoon. Malloy's reputation was stunted because Uncle Roger was algorithmically invisible, a factor that became increasingly important as the Web's commercial capacities matured. afternoon's endurance can be traced to its ISBN, which made afternoon easy for readers to find and united disparate stewards in preserving access …

Reviews Of Thunder: A Film About Ferron, Sarabah, And The Punk Singer: A Film About Kathleen Hanna, Sarah Dougher

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Sarah Dougher reviews three films in this issue of Films for the Feminist Classroom: Thunder: A Film about Ferron. Directed by Bitch and Billie Jo Cavallaro; Sarabah. Directed by Maria Luisa Gambale & Gloria Bremer; and The Punk Singer: A Film About Kathleen Hanna. Directed by Sini Anderson.

From Food Desert To Food Mirage: Race, Social Class, And Food Shopping In A Gentrifying Neighborhood, Daniel Monroe Sullivan

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

New supermarkets in previous “food deserts” can benefit residents by improving their access to healthful, affordable food. But in gentrifying neighborhoods characterized by the inflow of middle-class, white residents and the outflow of working class, minorities, who benefits from a new supermarket that emphasizes organic food and environmental sustainability? This paper contributes to the food access literature by examining the food shopping behavior of diverse residents by using survey data and probability sampling in the Alberta neighborhood in Portland, Oregon (USA). Regression results show that college-educated (62%) and white residents (60%) are much more likely to shop there weekly, regardless …

Region-Urbanicity Differences In Locus Of Control: Social Disadvantage, Structure, Or Cultural Exceptionalism?, Dara Shifrer, April Sutton

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

People with internal rather than external locus of control experience better outcomes in multiple domains. Previous studies on spatial differences in control within America only focused on the South, relied on aggregate level data or historical evidence, or did not account for other confounding regional distinctions (such as variation in urbanicity). Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study, we find differences in adolescents' loci of control depending on their region and urbanicity are largely attributable to differences in their social background, and only minimally to structural differences (i.e., differences in the qualities of adolescents' schools). Differences that persist net …

Curriculum Change 2014-2015, Portland State University

Bulletin & Curriculum Change Documents

No abstract provided.

Talk To The Gun, Pedro Reyes, Portland State University Art And Social Practice

Reference Points

"Talk to the Gun is a collaboration between Pedro Reyes and students in the PSU Art and Social Practice MFA program exploring issues around gun control and violence. The book was used as a tool to stir conversation during a meme-athon, an interactive workshop addressing these issues at Assembly, and a social practice get-together.

This book is part of the Reference Points series published through Portland State University Art and Social Practice MFA Program. The series is an evolving pedagogical framework in which graduate students formulate and research a significant topic or practitioner(s) related to socially engaged art. Because …

Past Tense, 2014, Retirement Association Of Portland State

Past Tense columns of the RAPS Sheet

January 2014: "Looking Back: Success as a Student, Professional, and Alumna": Cathy Bostwick Williams, B.S. Education 1956

February 2014: "The Beginning: Urban Studies at Portland State," 1959-2014

March 2014: "Lasting Artistic Impressions of Portland State Presidents": John F. Cramer and Branford P. Millar by Florence Saltzman-Heidel (1917-1972); Gregory B. Wolfe by Vera Prasilova Scott (1899-1996); Joseph C. Blumel by Sally Haley (1908-2007)

April 2014: "Vanport Extension Center: Portland State's Beginnings"

May 2014: "Vanport Extension Center Becomes Portland State College"

Summer 2014: "Art in the Park Blocks: Farewell to Orpheus" by Frederic Littman, PSU Professor of Art 1960-1973

Theoretical Approach In A Case In Diachronic Phonetism: Betacism And Its Repercussions In Modern Spanish (Acercamiento Teórico A Un Caso De Fonetismo Diacrónico: El Betacismo Y Sus Repercursiones), Eva NúÑEz-MéNdez

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research deals with the loss of distinction between the bilabial and labiodental sounds, /b/and /v/, in Spanish using a theoretical and linguistic diachronical perspective. The phonetic evolution of these sounds and their confusion dates back t0 the roots of the Spanish language in the Peninsula territories, especially in the north, in close geographic contact with the Basque. This confusion was already taking place in Vulgar Latin and, specifically, in the Vulgar Latin spoken in the Peninsula. This lack of distinction evolved slowly until the seventeenth century when both sounds lost their phonemic contrast. Differences between the …

Wider Dissemination Of Household Travel Survey Data Using Geographical Perturbation Methods, Kelly J. Clifton, Steven R. Gehrke

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Public agencies spend vast amounts of money collecting information about passenger travel in household travel surveys. These data are valuable for the rich and detailed information they provide, which contribute to regional and statewide travel demand models. These data have utility beyond travel demand modeling in their application to transportation policy and travel behavior research. As the demand on these data increase, so have the quantity of information collected. Detailed geospatial referencing of the home, work and other travel destinations are common practice and permit the integration with other spatially archived data sources, such as land use characteristics, transportation system …

3d Printing & Open Access Databases For Crystallographic College Education, Peter Moeck, Jennifer Stone-Sundberg, Trevor J. Snyder, Werner Kaminsky, Saulius Grazulis, International Advisory Board Of The Crystallography Open Database

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Presentation gives an overview of available open access databases of crystals and crystal structures, as well as discussions of how newly developed 3D printing technologies can be used to teach crystallography at the college level. Offers advice regarding conversion of crystallographic information files to 3D printing files, and shares news from the 3D printing of crystallographic models community.