The sentimental novel as Trostschrift: Johann Martin Miller’s Siegwart. Eine Klostergeschichte (1776)

Late eighteenth-century consolatory texts for bereavement employed traditional consolatory arguments, but also set new emphasis on sympathy, on a recognition of the individuality of the sufferer and on the benefits of an entertaining or ‘playful’ approach. This essay suggests that the sentimental novel took on some of the functions of the Trostschrift in this period. As well as offering the reader providential accounts of bereavement and of the prospect of reunion beyond the grave, Miller’s popular novel Siegwart (1776) establishes the sense of a virtual sympathetic community and offers the reader the cathartic opportunity to indulge grief, then distracts him/her from it with the aesthetic pleasures of the text. The negative reception of the sentimental novel by enlightened consolatory authors is ascribed to their distrust of the apparent ‘instability’ of fiction—its lack of ‘real’ referents

An investigation into the viability of LibraryThing for promotional and user engagement purposes in libraries

Structured abstract: Purpose: LibraryThing is a Web 2.0 tool allowing users to catalogue books using data drawn from sources such as Amazon and the Library of Congress and has facilities such as tagging and interest groups. This study evaluates whether LibraryThing is a valuable tool for libraries to use for promotional and user engagement purposes. Methodology: This study used a sequential mixed methods 3 phase design: (1) the identification of LibraryThing features for user engagement or promotional purposes, (2) exploratory semi-structured interviews (3) a questionnaire. Findings: Several uses of LibraryThing for promotional and user engagement purposes were identified. The most popular reason libraries used LibraryThing was to promote the library or library stock, with most respondents using it specifically to highlight collections of books. Monitoring of patron usage was low and many respondents had not received any feedback. LibraryThing was commonly reported as being easy to use, remotely accessible, and having low cost, whilst its main drawbacks were the 200 book limit for free accounts, and it being a third-party site. The majority of respondents felt LibraryThing was a useful tool for libraries. Practical implications: LibraryThing has most value as a promotional tool for libraries. Libraries should actively monitor patron usage of their LibraryThing account or request user feedback to ensure that LibraryThing provides a truly valuable service for their library. Orginality : There is little research on the value of LibraryThing for libraries, or librarians perceptions of LibraryThing as a Web 2.0 tool

The gendered dynamics of ‘partygate’: leadership and hypermasculinity at the centre of Johnson’s administration

Anna Sanders and Dave Richards discuss the relationship between the number of fixed penalty notices issued to women in response to ‘partygate’ and the broader culture of hypermasculinity within the current government

What Works and for Whom? Outcome Evaluation of an E-mail Walking Program Delivered Through Cooperative Extension

Introduction: Get WalkIN’ is a 12-week, e-mail-based walking promotion program. The purpose of this study was to (1) compare sociodemographics of participants who enrolled versus completed the program; and (2) evaluate program feasibility/acceptability from perspectives of program participants and county-based Extension Educators who implemented the program. Methods: Participants (N = 875), recruited by county-based Extension Educators, were asked Likert-scale questions (eg, ease of reading the e-mails and frequency of e-mails) to assess program acceptability and open-ended questions regarding improvements. Educators (N = 55) were asked Likert-scale and open-ended questions regarding program training, recruitment, strengths, and areas for improvement. Descriptive statistics summarized participant characteristics, acceptability, and feasibility data. Open-ended responses were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: There were no significant sociodemographic differences between participants (N = 875) who started the program and completed the program (n = 438). Participants reported intervention e-mails were easy to read (mean = 4.5 ± 0.7), understand (mean = 4.5 ± 0.7), and encouraged more walking (mean = 4.1 ± 0.9). Participants would like to connect/interact with other participants/Educators, have more monitoring tools for accountability, and more visuals/videos embedded within e-mails. Educators reported program training was adequate, e-mail messages were helpful and easy to use, and requested more visuals (eg, videos) to help with recruitment. Educators thought adding a social component (eg, kick-off walk or walking group) would be helpful. Conclusions: This Extension-delivered walking program is acceptable to participants and feasible to deliver. However, participants and Educators reported they would like more interaction, even if virtual. Future e-mailbased programs should consider ways to incorporate social interaction among users as well as provide a wide variety of recruitment resources

Connecting experiences to employability through a meaning-making approach to learning

A key part of the student experience in the higher education context is employability. There is an expectation that universities will contribute to their students’ employability and indeed they are measured on this contribution and are allocated funding based on it. Despite the importance of employability in higher education, it remains a complex and contested concept, often conflated with employment – graduates in jobs and the roles they occupy – and seen as a quantifiable outcome of the student experience. Where employability is understood as an individual’s knowledge, capabilities, and personal attributes that make them more likely to gain employment and be successful in their professional lives, it is often framed by the discourse of skills. There are some employability models, however, that champion a more holistic view of employability and highlight the role that experiences play in individual employability development. This paper reports on the development of an institutional employability framework and reflective process in an Australian research-intensive university. The paper discusses the experiential learning theories that underpin the reflective process that supports students to understand and articulate employability learning, for framing narratives around the potential to contribute to an organisation for employment, and for the transfer of this potential to professional contexts. The framework and reflective process represent employability as a learning process through which students make meaning from their experiences and learning opportunities. This involves understanding the value of their experiences, how to articulate that value, and how to transfer it to workplace performanc

Statewide Dissemination of an Evidenced-Based Email Walking Program Delivered Through Cooperative Extension

Using the RE-AIM framework, this study evaluates the statewide dissemination of an evidenced-based, email-delivered physical activity intervention implemented through Cooperative Extension. The Get WalkIN\u27 program is comprised of 16 email messages sent over 12 weeks. Email messages target social cognitive theory constructs of self-efficacy, goal-setting, self-monitoring, and social support. Program reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance were assessed with quantitative measures in a pre-post design. Findings indicate that within the Extension system, program adoption was high and program maintenance was moderate. Program effectiveness was demonstrated with an increase of 77.1 ± 49.9 min in weekly walking post-program. This increase in walking was maintained 3 months post-program. Capturing data on the implementation process was challenging. Overall, the results indicate success in program adoption and maintenance with further efforts needed to improve follow-up data collection from participants

Is Marital Quality Related to Physical Activity Across the Life Course for Men and Women?

Objectives: Although physical activity is linked to multiple health outcomes, a majority of Americans do not meet physical activity guidelines, often with precipitous declines among older adults. Marital quality is a less-explored, but important, factor that may influence physical activity, as spouses often influence each other’s health behaviors. Methods: We use nationally representative panel data to investigate whether positive and negative dimensions of marital quality influence physical activity, and whether age and gender moderate these relationships. Results: We find that both marital support and strain are related to higher odds of more frequent active exercise and walking, pointing to the complex influence of marital quality. Marital support became increasingly important to higher levels of walking frequency as men aged. Discussion: This study provides new information on the ways in which both positive and negative dimensions of marital quality may contribute to trajectories of physical activity across the life course

'Ob Mädchen oder Hunde': women and animals in Karen Duve's "Regenroman"'

Karen Duve’s "Regenroman" is read here as a fictional exploration of the intersection between animal studies and feminism. As feminism has challenged the polarity male/female, in this novel Duve undermines the traditional dualism human/animal by endowing human characters with ‘animal’ attributes and vice versa. The narrative voice inhabits several different perspectives, including that of animal characters. The novel illustrates the ways in which women and animals are both victimised under a patriarchy which constructs masculinity against a female or animal ‘other’, and the affinity between them which is a result. Male characters abuse and kill women and animals for sexual gratification, for food, or to exercise power, in almost parodic displays of masculinity. I argue that, although Duve links feminism and animal rights, fiction allows her to imagine individual experiences and to avoid ‘instrumentalising’ one cause in the interest of the other