Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Was Feinstein’S Response To Netanyahu’S Speech Too Blunt?, Debra Johanyak

The Actual

No abstract provided.

Worksheet For Collection Microclimates Poster, Ian Mccullough

Research, Publications, and Presentations

How to sheet for the data collection method used in the Collection Microclimates poster

Collection Microclimates – Citation Study Of Journal Usage Differences At Department And Research Group Level, Ian Mccullough

Research, Publications, and Presentations

Citations from journal articles and dissertations from the Department of Polymer Science (DPS) at the University of Akron from 2006–2011 were examined and journals ranked in order of usage frequency. Journal usage of dissertations and articles was also ranked within research groups. 85 dissertations and 464 faculty publications that included 378 publications from 16 dissertation advisors were examined. Citations to 1422 journals were counted and recorded. Findings demonstrate that individual groups vary wildly in journal usage representing microclimates for collection development purposes.

Is Moldova Next For Putin’S Russia?, Andrew R. Thomas

The Actual

Will Moldova be the next in line for Russian action?

Journal Impact Factor - The Worst Metric In Science, Ian Mccullough

Research, Publications, and Presentations

Presentation on the origins and proper use of the journal impact factor, followed by a critical look at the deficiencies and misuses of the metric - specifically the use for evaluating individual research output.

Governing Controversies: A View From The Ohio Public, John C. Green

Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics

This report updates Ohioans’ views on four controversies concerning state government: legislative redistricting, early voting, term limits, and length of a single legislative term. To one degree or another, these “governing controversies” reflect a tension between the role of popular opinion and professional opinion in the operation of state government, especially the state legislature. These issues may be addressed by the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission, currently convened to study and propose possible changes to the state constitution (http://www.ocmc.ohio.gov/ocmc/home).

2014 Ohio Election: Labor Day Akron Buckeye Poll, John C. Green

Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics

This report describes the state of the 2014 Ohio election on Labor Day, the traditional beginning of the general election campaign. It also documents the underlying patterns in these results and provides a baseline for change as the campaign develops. Like all survey findings, this report is a snapshot of public opinion at one point in time.

The General Public’S Weather Information-Seeking And Decision-Making Behavior During Tornado Outbreaks In The Oklahoma City Metroplex In May 2013, Chen Ling, Michelle Madison, Jessica Adams, Kevin Warren, Michael Mudd, Kim Graves Wolfinbarger, Lans Rothfusz

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Severe weather impacts the lives of many people. Today's technology allows weather information to be distributed to the general public in many ways. However, it is not clear how people obtain information regarding severe weather, and how they make decisions based on the information. This study surveyed people in the Oklahoma City metroplex about their weather information–seeking and decision-making behaviors during the May 2013 tornado outbreaks. The preliminary results based on 124 survey responses show that people used and trusted television news most to obtain the severe weather information, followed by siren, weather radio, radio, looking at the sky, and …

Improving Engagement By Creating A Peer Environment, Tammy Stitz

Research, Publications, and Presentations

It is well documented in literature that engineering students seek information by asking their peers before seeking information from other sources, such as asking a professor or performing a literature search. Social networking and other technologies, such as short message service, instant messaging, and even e-mail can be used to foster a peer type of relationship between educators and students. An online student survey can be used for this purpose as well. Assessment of library instruction sessions is important to ensure that students are learning what is intended. Surveying students can ensure instructional relevancy, reveal missing lecture information, and highlight …

Slaves To Contradictions: 13 Myths That Sustained Slavery, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

People have a fundamental need to think of themselves as “good people.” To achieve this we tell each other stories – we create myths – about ourselves and our society. These myths may be true or they may be false. The more discordant a myth is with reality, the more difficult it is to convince people to embrace it. In such cases to sustain the illusion of truth it may be necessary to develop an entire mythology – an integrated web of mutually supporting stories. This paper explores the system of myths that sustained the institution of slavery in the …

Elizabeth Cady Stanton And The Notion Of A Legal Class Of Gender, Tracy A. Thomas

Akron Law Faculty Publications

In the mid-nineteenth century, Elizabeth Cady Stanton used narratives of women and their involvement with the law of domestic relations to collectivize women. This recognition of a gender class was the first step towards women’s transformation of the law. Stanton’s stories of working-class women, immigrants, Mormon polygamist wives, and privileged white women revealed common realities among women in an effort to form a collective conscious. The parable-like stories were designed to inspire a collective consciousness among women, one capable of arousing them to social and political action. For to Stanton’s consternation, women showed a lack of appreciation of their own …

A Path To Providing User-Centered Subject Guides, Tammy Stitz, Shari Laster, Frank Bove, Casey Wise

Research, Publications, and Presentations

The experience at the University of Akron illustrates a transitional path from static Web sites to dynamic, user-centered Web design. Starting with Web-based subject resource guides that were difficult to maintain and navigate, University Libraries migrated to a content management system that solved existing maintenance issues and created the opportunity for interactive resource lists. Subsequent usability testing found that users needed librarian-designed subject guides to understand and access resources. Consequently, University Libraries redesigned its Web site functionality. In the course of this article, it is shown that ease of maintenance and ease of use need not be mutually exclusive.

Transitioning From Marketing-Oriented Design To User-Oriented Design: A Case Study, Shari Laster, Tammy Stitz, Frank Bove, Casey Wise

Research, Publications, and Presentations

The transition to a new architecture and design for an academic library Web site does not always proceed smoothly. This case study describes the experiences of a library at a large research university that hired an outside Web development contractor to create a new architecture and design for the university’s Web site using dotCMS, an open source content management system. The library participated in the design and development process along with other campus units. Because the university-wide process focused on marketing the university to prospective students, parents, and donors, the fact-finding process that the contractor used for the library’s site …

Sex V. Race, Again, Tracy A. Thomas

Akron Law Faculty Publications

In this book, feminists speak out on race and gender in the 2008 presidential campaign. Who should be first? With Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as frontrunners, the 2008 Democratic primary campaign was a watershed moment in U.S. history. Offering the choice of an African American man or a white woman as the next Democratic candidate for president, the primary marked an unprecedented moment—but one that painfully echoed previous struggles for progressive change that pitted race and gender against each other. Who Should Be First? collects key feminist voices that challenge the instances of racism and sexism during the presidential …

Learning From Personal Experience What’S Needed In Information Literacy Outreach: An Engineering Student Returns To Her Alma Mater As An Engineering Librarian, Tammy Stitz

Research, Publications, and Presentations

An engineering background may not be required for successful outreach projects, however, when coupled with a review of the relevant literature of sci-tech librarianship; it can certainly facilitate “buy in” from the faculty in a way that promotes the American Board of Engineering and Technology mandates to foster lifelong information literacy skills in their students. After having established rapport with the faculty through providing them with specially tailored research and current awareness support, library outreach was then directed towards their graduate students. Success with these two influential groups is now being used to expand both in-person and wireless opportunities to …

Bush V. Boumediene: The Court Is Back, Jay Dratler

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This short article is a follow-up to a piece I wrote two years ago on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, SSRN No. 913822. While applauding the result in Hamdan, I critiqued the Supreme Court for missing a “teachable moment” and obscuring the great issues at stake in prolixity and mind-numbing technical detail.

In this article, I applaud the Boumediene v. Bush Court not only for its result—that the Constitution’s Suspension Clause can require habeas corpus for aliens held abroad under certain circumstances—but for its reasoning and style as well. This time, the majority of five did not miss its “teachable …

Improving The Flow Of Materials In A Cataloging Department: Using Addie For A Project In The Ohio State University Libraries, Melanie Mcgurr

Research, Publications, and Presentations

The Cataloging Department at the Ohio State University Library continuously reviews workflow to see which areas need improvement. In 2004, the Cataloging Department began receiving complaints about the time it took to locate unprocessed materials within Technical Services. Locating these materials was difficult and time consuming, causing problems for both patrons and staff. The author reports on a project that examined the workflow of unprocessed materials in the Cataloging Department at Ohio State. Using the instructional design ADDIE model, a new workflow was designed and implemented to ensure that items could be located, processed, and delivered to patrons in a …

“Statistical Judo”: The Rhetoric Of Senate Inaction In The Judicial Appointment Process, E. Stewart Moritz

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article first briefly summarizes the issues that arise in the lower-court judicial confirmation process, and examines how the issues differ from those that arise during the confirmation of Supreme Court justices. The article considers constitutionally-based differences as well as practical differences in Senate and Executive behavior that have developed during more than two centuries of judicial confirmations.

The body of the article offers a chronological history and critique of the rhetoric of both Republican and Democratic senators in discussing lower-court confirmations during the 107th Congress. This congressional session, spanning the years 2001 to 2002, was a particularly interesting one …

Bush V. Gore And The Distortion Of Common Law Remedies, Tracy A. Thomas

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The book The Final Arbiter addresses the legal and political consequences of the Bush v. Gore decision. This article presented as Chapter 4 addresses the lasting impact of Bush v. Gore on the law of remedies. While others have focused on what the Court should or could have done in the case, this article focuses on what the Court actually did by analyzing the text of the decision and the remedial platform that formed the Court's consensus. The Court in Bush adopted a new model of prophylactic relief that provided too much, not too little relief. Yet this prophylactic remedy …

Students In The Field: Linking Service-Learning And Undergraduate Research, Carolyn Behrman

Anthropology Faculty Research

No abstract provided.