Communication Commons^™

Discounting And Reciprocity In An Iterated Prisoner’S Dilemma, David W. Stephens, Colleen M. Mclinn, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

The Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma (IPD) is a central paradigm in the study of animal cooperation. According to the IPD framework, repeated play (repetition) and reciprocity combine to maintain a cooperative equilibrium. However, experimental studies with animals suggest that cooperative behavior in IPDs is unstable, and some have suggested that strong preferences for immediate benefits (that is, temporal discounting) might explain the fragility of cooperative equilibria. We studied the effects of discounting and strategic reciprocity on cooperation in captive blue jays. Our results demonstrate an interaction between discounting and reciprocity. Blue jays show high stable levels of cooperation in treatments with …

Technology, Libraries And The Internet: A Comparison Of The Impact Of The Printing Press And World Wide Web, Gentry Lankewicz Holbert

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

In thinking about technology and libraries, what struck me most is that we are living and experiencing a great turning point in history. "May you live in interesting times" is an ancient Chinese curse. Interesting times indeed, with all their glory, advantages, and pitfalls. We are still in the process of discovering what to do with new technology in the dissemination of information.

With the dawn of the Internet, computer automation, and intricate databases, I feel that, as a librarian, I am at the helm of the true information age. And how interesting to be here at the Vernadsky Library, …

“Married Widowhood”: Maintaining Couplehood When One Spouse Is Living In A Nursing Home, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

When a marital partner moves to a nursing home, how do community-dwelling spouses, labeled “married widows,” adapt and cope with changes in the relationship and their own marital roles? The first goal of this study was to explore the role additions and deletions for community-based wives whose husbands moved to a nursing home. The second goal was to examine how these women discursively represent their own self-identity and the relationship they have with their husband who is living in a nursing home. Data were drawn from in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 21 wives whose husbands resided in a nursing home. A …

Bending The Rules Of “Professional” Display: Emotional Improvisation In Caregiver Performances, Jayne M. Morgan, Kathleen J. Krone

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Organizational norms of emotional expression are open to negotiation through improvised performances, as employees may bend or break emotion rules to gain more leeway in expressiveness and participate in the development of their own role identities in the workplace. In this ethnographic study, a dramaturgical perspective is used to analyze the processes and outcomes of emotional improvisation as observed among nurses, technicians, and physicians in a cardiac care center. It was found that the emphasis on maintaining a “professional” appearance in caregiving largely constrains actors to perform along their scripted roles. Results are discussed in terms of practical implications for …

2001 Presidential Address: Do More With More, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

As I have listened to, and recently reread the addresses of our WSCA Presidents, I have been moved and challenged by their words and their wisdom. And their speeches are challenging. They have exhorted us to embrace quality discourse, to welcome change, to maintain the centrality of communication in the university of the 21st century, and to avoid becoming out-of-touch whiners. I wondered, what can I add to their words in my own address?

Over this past year, I have thought about my life as a communication professor. How are my times similar and different from those who have come …

Exploring The Emergent Identities Of Future Physicians: Toward An Understanding Of The Ideological Socialization Of Osteopathic Medical Students, Lynn M. Harter, Kathleen J. Krone

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This project brings contextual factors to the forefront of socialization research by investigating how medical ideology relates to the formation of the identities of students of osteopathic medicine. In particular, we investigate their attitudes toward, the role of communication in, and the expression of emotion in health care delivery. Through in-depth interviews with students about their vocational development experiences, we began exploring their emergent identities as future practitioners of osteopathic medicine. Three themes emerged from a constant comparative analysis of data, including (a) selecting osteopathic medicine, (b) encountering osteopathy, and (c) students’ emergent identities. These themes, and their respective subthemes, …

The Boundary-Spanning Role Of A Cooperative Support Organization: Managing The Paradox Of Stability And Change In Non-Traditional Organizations, Lynn M. Harter, Kathleen J. Krone

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This project provides an interpretation of how one cooperative support organization, the Nebraska Cooperative Council, discursively functions to help its constituent cooperatives consolidate resources in order to better intersect with organizations in a larger bureaucratic system. In analyzing qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews, surveys, and organizational documents, we found the paradox of stability and change a revealing prism through which to make sense of participants’ experiences. We work toward locating and describing how the Council, through its boundary-spanning activities, helps cooperatives manage the paradox of stability and change while protecting their core participatory ideologies. By providing networks of learning, …

“Becoming A Family”: Developmental Processes Represented In Blended Family Discourse, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Loreen N. Olson, Tamara D. Golish, Charles Soukup, Paul Turman

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

We adopted a process-focus in order to gain a deeper understanding of how (step) blended family members experiencing different developmental pathways discursively represented their processes of becoming a family. Using a qualitative/interpretive method, we analyzed 980 pages of interview transcripts with stepparents and stepchildren. We studied the first four years of family development, using the five developmental pathways developed by Baxter, Braithwaite, and Nicholson (1999). Three salient issues identified in the family experiences were boundary management, solidarity, and adaptation. While the negotiation of these issues varied across the five trajectories, there were commonalities across family experiences that helped determine whether …

Teaching Information Literacy In 50 Minutes A Week: The Crush Experience, Judith Faust

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

The development of information literacy is central to the academic success of undergraduates, yet few universities require formal, credit-bearing courses taught by librarians to ensure that students develop these lifelong learning skills and abilities. Where such courses do exist, they are often isolated in the curriculum and rarely linked to the General Education experience. This article describes a General Education program begun in 1998-1999 at California State University, Hayward (CSUH), in which a cohort of students and faculty spend the year exploring a common theme in a series of linked courses, which include an information literacy class. Librarians teach a …

Integrated Academic Student Support Services At Loyola University: The Library As A Resource Clearinghouse, Elizabeth Orgeron

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Higher education has seen the emergence of new models of student support services. These models vary greatly, ranging from those that, for example, simply streamline the registration process, to others that base new building construction on studies done about the information and service access needs of students.

In the recent past, colleges and universities have felt the impact of significantly higher drop out rates among freshman, and they have made attempts to assuage these rising attrition rates. Through extensive study of college campus culture and student needs, many institutions are changing long-standing protocols and adding a technology rich, user friendly …

Making Good Tenure Decisions, Samuel L. Becker, Kathleen M. Galvin, Marsha Houston, Gustav W. Friedrich, Judy C. Pearson, William J. Seiler, Judith S. Trent

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Whether to recommend the granting or denial of tenure to a faculty member is the most important decision a department makes. It not only has an effect on the professional life of a colleague, it has a major influence on the direction and long-term quality of the department. Therefore, it is essential that the decision be a good one. Although there is no way to absolutely ensure it, since some faculty members greatly improve with time and experience, while others fall apart, we believe the criteria and procedures we suggest can help to substantially increase the probability of a good …

Malcolm Maclean, Jr.: Ahead Of His Time And Ahead Of Our Time, Will Norton

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

In a recent essay Stephen Reese (1999, 70), chair of the Department of Journalism at the University of Texas, assessed the media today and analyzed the condition of journalism education and concluded that foundations and media corporations are having more influence on journalism programs than at any time in the history of journalism education. As I read the essay by Reese, I noted many observations that Malcolm MacLean made three decades ago, but nowhere was MacLean cited. In fact, I do not believe Reese could have described the influence of media as a new problem if he had known about …

Finding The Meanings Of College Drinking: An Analysis Of Fraternity Drinking Stories, Thomas Workman

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

College drinking has traditionally been studied from a public health perspective that attempts to quantify behavior as a means toward description, explanation, and intervention. This article offers a critical and cultural approach to understanding the meanings and functions of high-risk drinking and the ways in which those meanings are reproduced within the culture. Data were collected via an ethnographic study of fraternity members at a large midwestern university to explore the communication of excessive drinking norms. Viewed from various narrative and structural theories, the study examines collected drinking stories as a source for analyzing the construction of meanings surrounding drunkenness …

Technology As The Representative Anecdote In Popular Discourses Of Health And Medicine, Lynn M. Harter, Phyllis Japp

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Using a Burkean framework (1969), this article approaches medical dramas as cultural texts to be read for dominant meanings of health and health care. Burke’s representative anecdote illuminates the melding of science, technology, and healing in popular discourses of health, establishing technological intervention as the norm and marginalizing nontechnological (i.e., alternative) forms of health care. Popular entertainment reinforces this anecdote in narratives of healing as technological competence triumphing over nature.

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 …

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

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (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 …

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

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (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 …

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: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (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.

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

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (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.

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 …

Cataloging Expert Systems: Optimism And Frustrated Reality, William Olmstadt

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (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, …

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

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (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 …

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

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (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 …

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

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (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, …

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 …

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 …

Flyer By Night: A Cautionary Review, Richard Defoe

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

Review of Bio-rhythms, Biological Clocks and Periodicity: Index of New Information with Authors & Subjects by Preston G. Parke. ABBE Publishers Association of Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. 1996. $49.50.

The flyer piqued our interest: a hot topic that students were trying to find pre-packaged for their reports and essays. One hundred and sixty pages full of the most recent articles on bio-rhythms -- with index. A reasonable price, for this day, was demanded. The book was ordered, cataloged, prepped and placed on the new books for reference truck. Twenty minutes later, the book had been withdrawn and a note made …

A Great Teacher [Willie Morris], Will Norton Jr.

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Although most of his friends think of Willie Morris as a successful writer and creative editor, to me he was a great teacher. His journalism classes at The University of Mississippi were not devoted to details of how to write. Rather he read examples of good writing and explained to students why the writing was good. He read samples of writing by students in the class, and his students improved by applying the techniques to their own writing. In his classroom on the Oxford, Miss., campus, Willie also demonstrated his great ability as an editor. He knew a good story, …

Turning Points In The Development Of Blended Families, Leslie A. Baxter, Dawn O. Braithwaite, John H. Nicholson

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

A modified retrospective interview technique (RIT) was employed with members of 53 blended families to determine the types of turning points they reported experiencing and the developmental trajectories of their respective blended family’s first 4 years. Findings revealed 15 primary types of turning points, of which “Changes in Household Configuration,” “Conflict,” “Holidays/Special Events,” “Quality Time,” and “Family Crisis” were the most frequent. A cluster analysis revealed five basic trajectories of development for the first 48 months of family development: Accelerated, Prolonged, Stagnating, Declining, and High-Amplitude Turbulent. The trajectories differed in the overall positive-to-negative valence ratio, the frequency of conflict related …