Testing the Benefits of Blended Education: Using Social Technology to Foster Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing in Face-To-Face LIS Courses

Blended education, which mixes elements of face-to-face and online educational delivery, can occur at the activity, course, program, or administrative level. This study examined the use of student blogs to test the benefits of course-level blended educational delivery for LIS students enrolled in a face-to-face course. Data collected from students' blogs were also used to assess whether Zach and Agosto's (2009) framework for maximizing student collaboration and knowledge sharing in online courses can be applied to face-to-face courses. The study found that blogs successfully supported collaboration and community building because they were well-suited to sharing course-related knowledge and because students encountered few technical barriers. These findings support Zach and Agosto's proposed criteria for selecting technologies to foster increased collaboration and knowledge sharing, e.g., low learning curves and easily facilitated student interaction. The results suggest that blended education can bring many of the educational benefits of online learning to face-to-face students

Envisaging young adult librarianship from a teen-centered perspective

Young adult library services were founded on the idea of meeting teens' needs and interests, yet an adult-centered perspective dominates both the research and practice in this area. This chapter presents a small-scale content analysis of recent professional literature as proof of the prevailing adult-centered perspective. It is then suggested that a teen-centered perspective for public library research and practice is a better approach in terms of benefits to the target population. A truly teen-centered perspective means that we must change our thinking to (1) conceptualize adolescents as "teens" instead of"young adults"; (2) focus on teen development; (3) focus on teens as individuals first and foremost, and as members of their age and other demographic groups second; and (4) make teens -- not information resources -- the center of our work.This chapter appears in A. Bernier (Ed.), Transforming young adult services (pp. 33-52). Chicago: Neal-Schuman, all rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or printed without permission in writing from the publisher

Application and validation of dynamic Poisson models to measure credit contagion = Applicazione e validazione di modelli di Poisson dinamici per misurare il contagio nel credito

La diffusione di piattaforme finanziarie digitali, basate sull\u2019interconnessione, rende necessario lo sviluppo di modelli per il rischio di credito che tengano in opportuna considerazione il contagio. A tale scopo proponiamo di utilizzare un modello per il rischio di credito che permette di studiare il contagio attraverso processi di Poisson autoregressivi. Applicando il modello alle serie trimestrali del numero di prestiti a default nel sistema bancario italiano, troviamo evidenza di effetti di contagio in diversi settori economici. Per calcolare l\u2019accuratezza del modello utilizziamo una nuova misura, il cui principale vantaggio risiede nella non dipendenza dalla tipologia di variabile risposta considerata.The growing importance of financial technology platforms, based on interconnectedness, makes necessary the development of credit risk measurement models that properly take contagion into account. To this aim, we propose to use a credit risk model that allows to investigate contagion through Poisson autoregressive stochastic processes. We apply this model to the quarterly count of defaulted loans in the Italian banking system, finding evidence of contagion effects in several economic sectors. To calculate the accuracy of the model we use a new measure, whose main advantage is being not dependent on the type of predicted variable

Whatever happened to "always cite the source?" a study of source citing and other issues related to telephone reference

Reference & User Services Quarterly, 47(1): pp. 44-54.This article presents a study of source citing in telephone reference service at the twenty-five largest public library systems in the United States and Canada. The results showed that in eighty-six out of the 125 total reference transactions analyzed (68.8 percent of the cases), respondents gave no sources for their answers. The article also discusses a number of additional issues uncovered during the study that are not related to source citing but that have important itnplications for reference services. The authors conclude that best reference practices are not being followed in many instances of public library telephone reference, and they close with a number of simple suggestions for improving telephone, face-to-face, and digital reference services

Stem Cell Niche Dynamics: From Homeostasis to Carcinogenesis

The stem cell microenvironment is involved in regulating the fate of the stem cell with respect to self-renewal, quiescence, and differentiation. Mathematical models are helpful in understanding how key pathways regulate the dynamics of stem cell maintenance and homeostasis. This tight regulation and maintenance of stem cell number is thought to break down during carcinogenesis. As a result, the stem cell niche has become a novel target of cancer therapeutics. Developing a quantitative understanding of the regulatory pathways that guide stem cell behavior will be vital to understanding how these systems change under conditions of stress, inflammation, and cancer initiation. Predictions from mathematical modeling can be used as a clinical tool to guide therapy design. We present a survey of mathematical models used to study stem cell population dynamics and stem cell niche regulation, both in the hematopoietic system and other tissues. Highlighting the quantitative aspects of stem cell biology, we describe compelling questions that can be addressed with modeling. Finally, we discuss experimental systems, most notably Drosophila, that can best be used to validate mathematical predictions

Information behavior of online small groups engaged in math problem solving

At the Virtual Math teams (VMT) project, we are designing and experimenting online collaborative environments where small groups of students discuss about math together and solve interesting math problems using a chat program along with a shared whiteboard. During the problem solving process, students seek information for various purposes and from various resources. They share information and construct meaning of it through interactions within the group. Understanding their information behavior helps us to design information resources and learning environments to suit their needs. We have examined and analyzed students’ interactions using conversation analysis. We report here our findings on how small groups of students negotiate information needs, seek information, and use information to solve their problem. We then discuss the implications and make suggestions for design of digital libraries that can support collaboration and learning

Qualitative trends in library & information science (LIS) research

Background Over the past two decades, theorists have noted an increase in the use of qualitative research methods within library and information science (LIS). However, no recent study has sought to provide rigorous evidence of this increase. This ongoing study seeks to address two research questions: 1. How widespread is the use of qualitative data collection and analysis methods in the recent LIS research literature? 2. What are some common themes and trends within the body of recent LIS studies that have used qualitative methods? Data Collection The researchers mined the Web of Science database for abstracts from the top four LIS research journals for the period 2001-2006. Next, they designed an automated program to search the resulting pool of abstracts for set of 14 keywords. Manual analysis was then used to remove false drops. Data Analysis The study includes two data analysis stages. For Stage 1, the researchers used statistical methods to generate a quantitative snapshot of the data. The study is currently in Stage 2, which entails the use of qualitative data analysis techniques to search for themes and patterns within the pool of abstracts. Expected Findings The quantitative results will provide concrete evidence of the frequency of qualitative research methods within these top-ranked LIS research journals. The qualitative analysis will point to possible trends within LIS studies that use qualitative methods, such as dominant data collection or data analysis methods. Together, these results will help to provide a better understanding of the current face of LIS research