Search

This article is the result of a 2009 survey of student usage of e-books at Royal Roads University (RRU) Library. The authors found that the proportion of students using RRU Library e-books has gone up since a similar 2003 survey, although only just above half of students are using RRU Library e-books. An almost identical number of student respondents (approximately 54%) said “no” to preferring a print version of the book over the e-book version of the book in both the 2003 and 2009 surveys. The majority of students rated the ability to download an e-book to a hand-held device as not important. There has been a notable increase in the use of e-books for course readings from 2003 to 2009. A lack of awareness of RRU Library e-books remains the top reason cited by students for not using them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern media are characterized by extraordinary diversification and derivatisation. Multimodality has become central to all factors of the communication process – sources, codes, messages, channels and networks, intermediaries and agents, as well as end recipients. The most serious collisions occur in the field of publishing and books. Object of the research: A formal reason for this article is the 550th anniversary from the death of Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400–1468) used to re–examine and re–define the book as the oldest and, at the same time, most promising media in the world of publishing. Purpose of the research: To revise the periodisation of the publishing evolution outside the four phases of the 560–year biography of the print format of the book: incunables or early– printed books, post– incunables or first–printed books, old–printed books, and new–printed books or contemporary printed books. Methodology/approach: The archaeological approach to the study of media reveals larger–scale reasoning behind the evolution of the book as a medium: Pre–Gutenberg, Gutenberg and Post–Gutenberg book. Results: Each of the three phases is governed by five principles that also pre–empt the future of the print medium in the 21st century: the principle of bureaucracy, the principle of antagonism, the principle of fanaticism, the principle of emancipation and the principle of “form follows function”. The perspective of media archaeology helps to correct the historical place and the evolutionary stance of the inventions pertaining to the Gutenberg Galaxy – the print medium, the printing press, the printed book, and paper as a printing resource. Implications: The conclusions may prove important for outlining the technological and ideological patterns affecting the invention and decline not only of the printed book but of every publication format before and after Gutenberg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the findings of a study which examined the readability of textbooks on organization behavior. Nineteen textbooks were sampled. Only the latest edition was used. Publication dates ranged between 1964 and 1974, with 70 percent of the books being published since 1972. The Flesch Reading Ease Score is used to measure readability. For the 19 textbooks, the mean sentence length was 22 words, with a standard error of the mean of 1.5 words. The mean syllables per 100 words was 180.5, with a standard error of the mean of 4.0. The average Flesch readability index score was 32.

The future of the book has been the subject of contentious discussion and debate for decades. As concepts and definitions of 'reading' and 'writing' continue to evolve, the general concept of literacy in a participatory culture is undergoing a paradigm shift. The subsequent revolution in reading will require examination by authors--particularly those who write for the generations of young adults (YAs) born into, and consumed by, technology--of the increasing demand for multimodal textual experiences, so that they may diversify their writing skill set and remain relevant to the demographic for whom they write. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective book search has been discussed for decades and is still future-proof in areas as diverse as computer science, informatics, e-commerce and even culture and arts. A variety of social information contents (e.g, ratings, tags and reviews) emerge with the huge number of books on the Web, but how they are utilized for searching and finding books is seldom investigated. Here we develop an Integrated Search And Recommendation Technology (IA), which breaks new ground by providing a generic framework for searching books with rich social information. IA comprises a search engine to rank books with book contents and professional metadata, a Generalized Content-based Filtering model to thereafter rerank books with user-generated social contents, and a learning-to-rank technique to finally combine a wide range of diverse reranking results. Experiments show that this technology permits embedding social information to promote book search effectiveness, and IA, by making use of it, has the best performance on CLEF/INEX Social Book Search Evaluation datasets of all 4 years (from 2011 to 2014), compared with some other state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including research of old Romanian books, documentary value of ancient books catalogues and inventories; and the steps of restoring a copy.

This article seeks to delve more closely into the debate that took place in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century surrounding the introduction of open access shelving in London's public libraries. Described by The Sun as 'the battle of the books', Charles Goss, librarian of the Bishopsgate Institute in east London, took a clear stance against open access in favour of the Cotgreave Indicator (closed access). Scholars have focused on James Duff Brown, the pioneer of open access in the United Kingdom, but it is the focus of this article to explore the thoughts and findings of Charles Goss and his opposition to a system that was eventually welcomed by every public library up and down the country, something that has direct relevance to our library circuit as it exists today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We collected the tags associated with the American Library Association's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009 on Library Thing, Good Reads and Biblio Commons and examined the tags for terms that matched the reasons given for challenging the books, the general age ranges assigned to the books, and the subject matter of the books. User tags demonstrated an awareness of censorship issues related to banned or challenged books as well as an awareness of subject areas that were potentially controversial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frances Burney's novel Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress (1782) provides a crucial counter to studies of the marriage plot. Burney's novel, instead of accepting marriage as a convenient solution to the ills of a decadent, late eighteenth-century society, represents marriage as both mollifying and contributing to the oppression of women in a patriarchal society. Thus, Cecilia's representation of matrimony both subverts and preserves the ideological dominance of marital unions, demonstrating that the ultimate crisis therein is a crisis over women's self-possession and self-definition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. This study examined whether user ratings, expert ratings and the purpose of the use of a book on a user-generated site influenced the credibility of the book. It also examined whether the effects of user ratings and expert ratings on credibility judgments of the book varied according to the purpose of information use. In addition, this study examined whether the co-existence of user ratings and expert ratings influenced people's credibility judgments of user ratings, and vice versa, on a user-generated content site. Method. Data were collected using both an experiment and a survey. The experiment took the form of a 2x2x2 factorial design, involving user ratings of a book (high or low ratings), expert ratings (high or low ratings) and purposes (academic or casual reading). A total of 233 college students participated in the study. Analysis. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the research hypotheses and answer the research questions of the study. Correlation analyses were performed for the exploratory findings. Results. Expert ratings influenced the credibility of the book while user ratings did not. The effects of user ratings and expert ratings did not vary according to the purpose of information use regarding the credibility of the book. However, when expert ratings were high, the respondents perceived higher user ratings as more credible than lower ones. On the other hand, when expert ratings were low, the respondents perceived lower user ratings as more credible than higher ones. Conclusions. Expert opinions are important in the credibility judgments of the book and the credibility of user ratings on a user-generated site. The results provide practical implications for user-generated content designers and librarians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper situates current knowledge on family tourism with pointers to the future by drawing on multidisciplinary contributions to a recent consolidative book Research in family tourism is limited, fragmented and individualized, thus not accounting or t ie diversity of family forms, sociality of family groups and multidimensionality of family experiences. Integration of thinking about and understanding the changing nature of families in tourism is needed. The key concepts of change are captured through a cognitive mapping perspective. This research process allows an exploration and systemic tool for constructivism interpretation. The cognitive model resulted in nine main themes that represent emerging and changing trends in family tourism. The key purpose here is the identification of the slow moving changes and trends that are occurring in family tourism based upon cognitive modelling of current research and their significance for pie icting the future. This demonstrates connectivity between concepts providing a more holistic and critical interpretation of the future of families and tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal for Pedagogical & Educational Matters / Školski Vjesnik is the property of Hrvatski Pedagosko-Knjizevni Zbor, Ogranak Split and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Highlights: [•] I examine modes of self-help reading in a heterogeneous North American sample. [•] I consider combination effects of variables in generating modes of reading. [•] Two dominant modes of reading—targeted and habitual—are described and theorized. [•] Gender has a central but not exclusive influence on how consumers read. [•] Modes of reception generated through combinations of book-type & motive for reading. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

China-themed books published by foreign press convey cogitative opinions on China, which influences international public opinions effectively. This paper studies the China-themed books distributed on Amazon.com during 2008-2012, and discusses the characteristics of such publication based on a comprehensive analysis of 52 book samples. The researchers find that genres, contents and author identities are all factors affecting the popularity of China-themed books. Suggestions from an international communication perspective to Chinese publishing industries based on the study are given at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a project by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Germany Research Association) to publish electronically various scientific resources on Open Access, including scientific monographs and monograph series. The implications of the project for researchers and authors is discussed, including the possibility of wide dissemination of research work.

Collecting and storage of foreign books have a long tradition in this town, dating back to 1430, to the court library of Despot Đurađ Branković, which was placed in Smederevo, the last capital of the Serbian medieval state. Until the establishment of this Department as a specific unit within the organizational scheme of the Library, the collection of books in foreign languages was located within the Scientific Department, physically separated from its primary fund. The books were kept in inadequate conditions, with incomplete catalogs and inventory. The Foreign Book Department of the Public Library of Smederevo was opened in 2002, in response to numerous users' requests for literature in foreign languages. In a short period, thanks to the purchase, donations made by international cultural institutions and citizens, the initial book collection, consisted of a small number of outdated books, reached a rate of 10.000 volumes of contemporary, current library material in 17 foreign languages. Promotional activities and various cultural programs, designed for all categories of users of this Department, increase their number, as well as the amount and complexity of their requirements, from year to year. Within the basic fund there are special collections containing material interesting for children and young teens. Various programs that are being organized here on a regular basis are also intended to them, which in recent years made children and young adults the most numerous visitors of this Department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study done at Colorado State University that researched the attitudes toward and use of electronic books, or e-books, by graduate students and instructors. According to the article, student preferences of e-books versus printed texts varies depending on field of study. Reported positive aspects of e-books include availability, convenience, and research ease. Negative aspects covered include eyestrain, discomfort, and the need for stable Internet access. Other topics discussed in the article include patron-driven library acquisitions, the use of books versus academic journals, and how students and teachers learn about books.

The X-Ray feature available on new editions of Amazon's ereaders could be viewed as a replacement for an index. Comparisons of the details available to readers in X-Ray and in a traditional index show that X-Ray is missing a lot of valuable information, and does not show us, as Amazon claims,"the bones of the book.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article, based on various Lithuanian and foreign publications as well as on the author's empirical material, deals with the concept of book monuments in the today's situation in Lithuania. The author examines whether the current talks about the Lithuanian book monuments is actual, what we are winning or losing from the legally validated book monuments, what is being done in the field of book monuments in Lithuania. To UNESCO activities at issue in the documentary heritage identification and protection are analysed. The conclusion is done that in this networking century when the preeminence of cultural heritage rather than monumentalism is declared, one cannot avoid an active discourse on book monuments. The research of book monuments remains relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We constructed a corpus of digitized texts containing about 4% of all books ever printed. Analysis of this corpus enables us to investigate cultural trends quantitatively. We survey the vast terrain of 'culturomics,' focusing on linguistic and cultural phenomena that were reflected in the English language between 1800 and 2000. We show how this approach can provide insights about fields as diverse as lexicography, the evolution of grammar, collective memory, the adoption of technology, the pursuit of fame, censorship, and historical epidemiology. Culturomics extends the boundaries of rigorous quantitative inquiry to a wide array of new phenomena spanning the social sciences and the humanities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is foreign language coursebook studies in Applied Linguistics in Brazil. The role such research plays in the field is considered. (CORACINI, 1999; FRACALANZA; SANTORO, 1989; MOITA LOPES, 1999; among others) and an overview of Brazilian studies developed between 1998-2008 is outlined, in an attempt to show the most recent focused themes. In order to do that some websites of Graduate Programs in Applied Linguistics, Language Studies and Foreign Language at Brazilian universities were accessed as well as some journals in the field, and also two specific events on language coursebooks were considered - I SILID and II SILID / I SIMAR at PUC-Rio. We conclude by suggesting new themes and trends for future studies and the need for dialogue between researchers and teachers (KRAMSCH, 1995; CORACINI, 1999). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a research conducted by Bonifatius Fischer on the text of the Stockholm Codex Aureus. It states that a computer was used in the research to create tables of the 462 witnesses' textual affiliations in Fischer's selected gospel variants. It reveals that the Stockholm Aureus text is Vulgate. It also delineates the linkage between Aureus text and pre-Carolingian continental texts.

Copyright of Réseaux (07517971) is the property of Editions La Decouverte and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents information about the development of book studies at the University of Leipzig in Leipzig, Germany. Note is taken of the contributions of German economics scholars Karl Bücher and Gerhard Menz, who built up the German study of books, newspapers, and periodicals as cultural phenomena at the university. Influences on the scholars' work are described, including the teachings of German sociologist Max Weber and German cultural historian Karl Lamprecht. Further aspects of the historical development of book studies at the University of Leipzig are treated, such as the impact of World War II and National Socialism on the department.

Considerations for the review process of manuscripts submitted to the International Journal of Exercise Science are presented. Initial steps to evaluation include reading the abstract to determine your ability as a reviewer, becoming familiar with the journal requirements, and formulating an initial impression of the manuscript. At this point an assessment is made to determine how the reviewer should treat the manuscript. If it is determined that the manuscript is acceptable with minor revisions, or may be acceptable with major changes, a full review should be performed. A full review of the manuscript requires a thorough examination of the major headings including the Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. The written review is composed of two parts, a section with the decision that is composed of comments only for the editor, and a section that provides feedback to the authors. Specific comments to the authors should include an honest critique that aids in improving the manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this article is to report on a large-scale survey that was tarried out to assess academic users awareness, perceptions and existing levels of use of e-books. The survey also seeks to find out about the purposes to which electronic books were put, and to obtain an understanding of the most effective library marketing and communication channels. Design/methodology/approach -- An e-mail invitation to participate in the survey was distributed to all UCL staff and students (approximately 27,000) in November 2006, and 1,818 completions were received, an effective response rate of at least 6.7 per cent. Statistical analyses were carried out on the data using Software Package for social Sciences (SPSS). Findings -- The survey findings paint to various ways in which user uptake and acceptance of e-books may be encouraged. Book discovery behaviour, a key issue for publishers and librarians in both print and electronic environments, emerges as a critical focus for service delivery and 1 enhancement, Originality/value -- The survey is part of an action research project, CIBER's SuperBook, that will further investigate the issues raised in this initial benchmarking survey using deep log analysis and qualitative methods. The paper partly fills the gap in the literature on e-books which has mainly focused on usage and not the users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the production of introductory financial accounting textbooks in the UK. Despite being a pervasive pedagogical device (see Brown and Guilding, 1993, Accounting Education: an international journal , 4(2) pp. 211–218), there has been little research carried out which examines the role or contents of textbooks in accounting education. This is a surprising gap in the literature when one considers the numerous concerns that have been expressed regarding the content of accounting education, the values which it projects and the type of student which it produces. Drawing on contemporary research into textbooks, this paper considers accounting textbooks to be ‘cultural artifacts’ which may reflect the cultural, ideological, and political interests of particular groups in society. In this regard, introductory financial textbooks have the potential to reinforce cultural homogeneity through the advancement of shared attitudes. This study is based upon 12 semi-structured interviews with both textbook authors and commissioning editors. Results indicate that the contents of textbooks are the product of complex social and cultural relations. Whilst conflicts and negotiations may characterize the production process, the knowledge that is considered most ‘legitimate’ tends to be mandated, either directly or indirectly, by professional accounting bodies through course accreditation requirements. Furthermore, this knowledge reflects wider cultural issues and assumptions regarding the structure of society and of how it should be organized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHER EDUCATION: A SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH. Margaret R. Hawkins (Ed.). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. Pp. ix + 204. $89.95 cloth, $39.95 paper.This book, according to the editor, “took shape from discussions among language teacher educators” who were interested in “reconceptualizing and redefining their practices” (p. 3) in order to reflect a shift from viewing language learning as an object to be dissected on paper to a view of language learning as discourses embedded in and shaped by situated social situations. It was, therefore, not surprising to discover that the chapters in this edited volume are all framed within a common sociocultural perspective that views language not as monolithic but as composed of many different social languages or discourses. Traditionally, language instruction, whether it be the teaching of traditional foreign languages, English as a foreign language or English as a second language, has focused on teaching grammatical structures and has been centered around teaching one correct form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presenting a wide range of literature, this article explores the state of art in book research, paying particular attention to John B. Thompson's interpretation of digital transformations within the book industry, as depicted in Books in the Digital Age (2005). Claiming that Thompson's analyses are one-sided, the article applies alternative perspectives and a model of a text cycle, contending that the diminishing role of paper in text production and text distribution makes the dominant position of printed books particularly vulnerable to advances in digital reading technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information about the result of the study conducted by The Lost Book Working Group of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Memorial Library about books reported as missing. Number of books reported as missing on the first and second search; Reasons for the misplacement of the books.