Digital Commons Network^™

Frank Anthony Renkiewicz, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Frank Renkiewicz was a historian who wrote on Polish-American topics.

The Role Of Audiobooks In Academic Libraries, Catherine Stern

Publications and Research

The decision by the library of LaGuardia Community College to add audiobooks to its collection led librarians to examine the scope and the nature of audiobook use at other college and university libraries. The author created, distributed, and tabulated a survey that recorded a number of traditional uses for these materials as well as a number of interesting new possibilities and challenges.

Evidence-Based Practice Mentors: Taking Information Literacy To The Units In A Teaching Hospital, Carlos Arguelles

Publications and Research

This article describes Evidence-Based Mentors, an integrated strategy with librarian participation, aimed to motivate and assist nurses in the search and use of literature and evidence-based information for nursing practice in a teaching hospital. The librarian's role goes beyond searching the literature to involvement in teaching critical appraisal of information. It details the evidence-based process, including the use of the PICO model, the categorization of resources, and the synthesizing that lead to the change of nursing practices that impact on outcomes directly related to patient recovery, organizational effectiveness, and nursing competency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Henryk Archacki, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Henryk Archacki was a journalist and artist who not only preserved the memory of various Poles and Polish-Americans by illustrating and writing about them, but who was involved in honoring and preserving the mortal remains of some of them.

Byron Janis, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Byron Janis is a pianist and composer, and whose performing career was interrupted by the effects of psoriatic arthritis. Janis was Vladimir Horowitz's first student.

Jerzy Jan "George" Lerski, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Jerzy Jan "George" Lerski was a historian who had served as a courier, emissary, and representative of the Polish Government-in-Exile during World War II. He was honored by Yad Vashem as one of the "Righteous Among Nations" for his wartime activities.

Polish Anti-Defamation Committee, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Polish American Congress Anti-Defamation Committee of California (later renamed the Polish American Defense Committee) successfully advocated for the inclusion of the treatment of Poles during World War II in California's model curriculum on Human Rights and Genocide. The group was also vocal in criticizing authors, films, subject, and newspaper articles which they felt presented a biased view of Polish-Jewish relations.

Robert Prosky, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Robert Prosky was an actor best known for his role on Hill Street Blues.

Book Review: Social Problems: A Service Learning Approach By Corey Dolgon And Chris Baker, Benjamin C. Shepard

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Geography Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Within Urban Areas Of India, Jochen Albrecht, Peter Marcotullio, Andrea Sarzynski

Publications and Research

This paper examines the patterns of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from urban areas in India—a rapidly growing and urbanizing nation. It uses a new dataset, Emission Dataset for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) to estimate the urban share of national GHG emissions. It presents a geographic picture of emission variation by urban form (urban population size, area size, density, and growth rate), and economic (GDP and GDP per capita), geographic (location of emissions released: 20, 40, and 80 km from urban areas), and biophysical (ecosystem and climate: cooling degree days) characteristics. Dependent variables include emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), …

A Bulk Inflaton From Large-Volume Extra Dimensions, Brian Greene, Daniel N. Kabat, Janna Levin, Dylan Thurston

Publications and Research

The universe may have extra spatial dimensions with large volume that we cannot perceive because the energy required to excite modes in the extra directions is too high. Many examples are known of such manifolds with a large volume and a large mass gap. These compactifications can help explain the weakness of four-dimensional gravity and, as we show here, they also have the capacity to produce reasonable potentials for an inflaton field. Modeling the inflaton as a bulk scalar field, it becomes very weakly coupled in four dimensions, and this enables us to build phenomenologically acceptable inflationary models with tunings …

Ssgss: The Spitzer-Sdss-Galex Spectroscopic Survey, Matthew J. O'Dowd, David Schiminovich, Benjamin D. Johnson, Marie A. Treyer

Publications and Research

The Spitzer-SDSS-GALEX Spectroscopic Survey (SSGSS) provides a new sample of 101 star-forming galaxies at z < 0.2 with unprecedented multi-wavelength coverage. New mid- to far-infrared spectroscopy from the Spitzer Space Telescope is added to a rich suite of previous imaging and spectroscopy, including ROSAT, Galaxy Evolution Explorer, Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Two Micron All Sky Survey, and Spitzer/SWIRE. Sample selection ensures an even coverage of the full range of normal galaxy properties, spanning two orders of magnitude in stellar mass, color, and dust attenuation. In this paper we present the SSGSS data set, describe the science drivers, and detail the sample selection, observations, data reduction, and quality assessment. Also in this paper, we compare the shape of the thermal continuum and the degree of silicate absorption of these typical, star-forming galaxies to those of starburst galaxies. We investigate the link between star formation rate, infrared luminosity, and total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon luminosity, with a view to calibrating the latter for spectral energy distribution models in photometric samples and at high redshift. Last, we take advantage of the 5-40 micron spectroscopic and far-infrared photometric coverage of this sample to perform detailed fitting of the Draine et al. dust models, and investigate the link between dust mass and star formation history and active galactic nucleus properties.

What Qualitative Research Has Taught Us About Occupational Stress, Joseph J. Mazzola, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Paul E. Spector

Publications and Research

While many reviews of job stress and the stressor–strain relationship have been conducted, such reviews typically focus exclusively on quantitative data. In the current paper, we review qualitative studies on occupational stress that met two criteria: (1) the studies employed qualitative methods; (2) the stressors, strains and/or coping strategies were grouped into identifiable, higher-order categories. Results indicated that the nature of the stressors experienced varied by (a) occupation, (b) country, (c) seniority and (d) gender. The review further revealed that organizational constraints, work overload and interpersonal conflict were relatively universal stressors. Anger and annoyance were the most frequently reported psychological …

Twitter: A Collection Development Discovery Tool For And By The People, Daisy V. Domínguez, Steven Ovadia

Publications and Research

The article discusses the use of Twitter as an identification tool for both print and online collection development material.

Diagnosing Water Variations Within The Amazon Basin Using Satellite Data, Marzieh Azarderakhsh, William B. Rossow, Fabrice Papa, Hamidreza Norouzi, Reza Khanbilvardi

Publications and Research

The components of the Amazon water budget and their spatiotemporal variability are diagnosed using monthly averaged remote sensing‐based data products for the period September 2002‐December 2006. The large Amazon basin is divided into 14 smaller watersheds, and for each of these sub‐basins, fresh water discharge is estimated from the water balance equation using satellite data products. The purpose of this study is to learn how to apply satellite data with global coverage over the large tropical regions; therefore several combinations of remote sensing estimates including total water storage changes, precipitation and evapotranspiration. The results are compared to gauge‐based measurements and …

Transnational Languages: Beyond Nation And Empire? An Introduction, José Del Valle

Publications and Research

This article discusses changes in the conditions under which linguistic repertoires are conceptualized as nationalist paradigms come to co-exist with post-nationalist ones. It discusses the persistence and demise of linguistic nationalism, linguistic imperialism and linguistic commodification.

The Port Of Livorno And Its "Nazione Ebrea" In The Eighteenth Century: Economic Utility And Political Reforms, Francesca Bregoli

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Jewish Studies Book Awards: A Collection Development Strategy For Non-Sectarian Academic Libraries, Izabella Taler

Publications and Research

Article provides an alternative method of building quality collections for Jewish Studies collection development professionals in small and medium-sized academic libraries

Six Titans Of The Cambridge School: A Review Article, Harvey Gram

Publications and Research

Six volumes in the Great Thinker in Economics Series were chosen by the Editors for this review, which focuses on The Cambridge School of Economics, so very different from the mainstream theory of general economic equilibrium which gives formal expression to Lionel Robbins’ famous definition of the subject as the allocation of scarce means among alternative uses. In recognition of a distinct Cambridge School, the authors of these volumes present a variety of arguments within which three overlapping themes can be discerned: the relationship between ethics and economics; the role of stocks and flows in economic analysis; and the epistemic …

Nafta, Cafta And The Environment: The Role Of Institutions, Sherrie Baver

Publications and Research

This essay examines the institutionalization of environmental concerns, primarily focusing on NAFTA, and argues that the 1994 agreement should be seen as a positive first attempt to raise the profile of environmental concerns within discussions of expanding global trade. More specifically, NAFTA and subsequent U.S. FTAs have contributed to the growth of procedural environmental rights that have the potential to deepen democracy in the wider political system. Given that free trade agreements represent the U.S. approach to world trade at present, this paper takes the practical position that building on NAFTA’s foundation, opportunities exist to continue promoting environmental sustainability within …

Italian Militants And Migrants And The Language Of Solidarity In The Early-Twentieth-Century Western Coalfields, Stephen Brier, Ferdinando Fasce

Publications and Research

This article uses the life and experiences of an Italian immigrant and labor militant, Carlo Demolli, to examine a range of issues, including: the intersection of ethnic and national identity and labor militancy and solidarity in the organizing efforts of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) among the ethnically diverse workforce of coal miners in the American West at the turn of the 20th century; the role of a "language of solidarity" as expressed in an Italian language version of the UMW Journal, Il Lavoratore Italiano, in sustaining a militant Italian immigrant workforce in the coal mines; and the …

Beyond Friending: Buddypress And The Social, Networked, Open-Source Classroom, Matthew K. Gold

Publications and Research

Classrooms have always been networks, of a sort, with professors and students forming an interlaced series of nodes that take shape over the course of a semester, but tools like BuddyPress and WordPress can make those networks more open, more porous, and more varied. In very useful ways, the classroom-as-social-network can help create engaging spaces for learning in which students are more connected to one another, to their professors, and to the wider world.

Between "Voluntary Migrants" And War Refugees: The Health Of The Shan Burmese Migrant Workers In Northern Thailand, Nishant Verma, Celina Su, Coralie Chan, Peter Muennig

Publications and Research

The Shan are a large migrant group from Burma (Myanmar) found within Thailand. While some Shan migrate to escape the civil war within Burma, others migrate for economic opportunity. Despite the size of this population, little is known about their health. Our study highlights the need for expanded access to primary care among this Shan population. Despite the arduous and trying journeys of these Shan migrants, they do not display the level of health sometimes attributed to health selection among immigrant groups.

Securitizing Gender: Identity, Biometrics, And Transgender Bodies At The Airport, Paisley Currah, Tara Mulqueen

Publications and Research

It is widely assumed that the more information surveillance apparatuses can collect about an individual, the less risk she poses. In this article, we examine how gender figures into and potentially disrupts the link between identity and security. Our analysis centers on one very particular event: the confusion that erupts at the airport when US Transportation Security Administration agents perceive a conflict between the gender marked on one's papers, the image of one's body produced by a machine, and/or an individual's perceived gender presentation. Gender has been so deeply naturalized—as immutable, as easily apprehended, and as existing before and outside …

The C.R.E.A.T.E. Approach To Primary Literature Shifts Undergraduates’ Self-Assessed Ability To Read And Analyze Journal Articles, Attitudes About Science, And Epistemological Beliefs, Sally G. Hoskins, David Lopatto, Leslie M. Stevens

Publications and Research

The C.R.E.A.T.E. (Consider,Read, Elucidate hypotheses, Analyze and interpret data, Think of the next Experiment)method uses intensive analysis of primary literature in the undergraduate classroom to demystify and humanize science. We have reported previously that the method improves students’ critical thinking and content integration abilities, while at the same time enhancing their self-reported understanding of “who does science, and why.” We report here the results of an assessment that addressed C.R.E.A.T.E. students’ attitudes about the nature of science, beliefs about learning, and confidence in their ability to read, analyze, and explain research articles. Using a Likert-style survey administered pre- and postcourse, …

The (Coming) Social Media Revolution In The Academy, Jessie Daniels, Joe R. Feagin

Publications and Research

A revolution in academia is coming. New social media and other web technologies are transforming the way we, as academics, do our job. These technologies offer communication that is interactive, instantaneous, global, low-cost, and fully searchable, as well as platforms for connecting with other scholars everywhere.

War Don Don And Fambol Tok, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

Reviews two documentary films about the aftermath and reconciliation of the Sierra Leone Civil War 1991-2002.

Working Memory In Simultaneous Interpreters: Effects Of Task And Age, Teresa Signorelli, Henk Haarmann, Loraine Obler

Publications and Research

This study examines whether interpreters have better working memory (WM) than noninterpreters, taking into account different WM components and the potential modulatory influence of age. Younger and older interpreters and non-interpreters were tested on reading span, nonword repetition, and order- and category-cued recall, using English, second-language materials. Articulation rate was also assessed. Interpreters outperformed non-interpreters in reading span and nonword repetition, but not cued recall and articulation rate. These results suggest that interpreters have better ability to manipulate information in working memory and process or store sub-lexical phonological representations, but have no advantage in short-term retention of words and their …

Trends In The Clinical Characteristics Of Hiv Infected Patients Initiating Antiretroviral Therapy In Kenya, Uganda And Tanzania Between 2002 And 2009, Elvin H. Geng, Peter W. Hunt, Lameck O. Diero, Sylvester Kimaiyo, Geofrey R. Somi, Pius Okong, David R. Bangsberg, Mwebesa B. Bwana, Craig R. Cohen, Juliana A. Otieno, Deo Wabwire, Batya Elul, Denis Nash, Philippa J. Easterbrook, Paula Braitstein, Beverly S. Musick, Jeffrey N. Martin, Constantin T. Yiannoutsos, Kara Wools-Kaloustian

Publications and Research

Background: East Africa has experienced a rapid expansion in access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIVinfected patients. Regionally representative socio-demographic, laboratory and clinical characteristics of patients accessing ART over time and across sites have not been well described.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of characteristics of HIV-infected adults initiating ART between 2002 and 2009 in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and in the International Epidemiologic Databases to Evaluate AIDS Consortium. Characteristics associated with advanced disease (defined as either a CD4 cell count level of less than 50 cells/mm3 or a WHO Stage 4 condition) at the time of ART initiation …

Librarianship Presence In Virtual Worlds, Jenny M. Baum, Kate Lyons

Publications and Research

Librarianship has stereotypically been about books, communities, and the connection between the two. With the emergence of new media and technology, the concept of books has expanded to include information of all types and in multiple formats: eBooks, DVDs, videogames, electronic databases, et cetera. Meanwhile, the idea of community has stayed the same. For example, public libraries primarily serve communities defined by geographic lines; academic libraries serve their campus communities. In non-profit, medical or corporate libraries, communities are defined by their organization’s particular mission. However, now that virtual worlds are becoming mainstream, librarians are redefining community, just as they redefined …