Pedagogical practices for information policy instruction

The Information Policy SIG will solicit panelists to come together and discuss pedagogical practices related to information policy. We understand that a strong grasp of information policy is crucial to shaping the next generation of LIS leaders, and this panel will be geared toward the design and application of meaningful curricula toward that end. Specifically, our call for papers will request panelists prepared to discuss their experiences as professors or other teaching faculty in which they describe a singular learning experience, assessment, or object that they used in their class. They will then be called upon to further explain the substantive value of this practice or element to their pedagogical mission. In addition, it is the hope of the SIG members that attention will be paid to the current change in climate brought on by the pandemic, and the required shifts in educational strategies that must occur in response. Regarding the element or strategy each panelist discusses, the panel presentations will clearly denote what the element is, why it is important or how it is motivating, or how it relates to assessment. Finally, the panelists will offer their own observations of the success of the pedagogical practice or instrument that they are describing. Likewise, the session attendees will have the opportunity to both ask questions and offer their own critiques of the practice or element being described. The ultimate goal of this dynamic, interactive panel is for the attendees to be able to walk away with fresh ideas for implementing new, vetted information policy pedagogical elements in their courses. Similarly, this is an outstanding opportunity for networking and partnerships for faculty that teaches in this area. If panelists agree, a repository could be created in which the products of the panel are stored for further use and dissemination

Causal Analysis of Disengagement Among Paid and Volunteer City Employees

This multivariate test of the full Mobley, Griffeth, Hand, and Meglino (1979) model of turnover used 184 volunteer and 202 paid workers employed as firefighters, library workers, and rescue squad workers. It addressed the issue of whether the motives and behaviors of volunteers could be accommodated by the same model that normally would be applied to paid workers. Little research exists on the characteristics of volunteer workers, and their worth and manageability are commonly denigrated. The study of volunteers is similar jobs to paid workers might reveal much about the disengagement process since the need to maintain a source of income will not mask their affective responses. Volunteers represent cost-reduction potential for the cities using them wisely. The Mobley et al. (1979) model included cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes as determinants of turnover. Path analysis, tested with the Specht (1975) procedure for goodness-of-fit, determined that the Mobley model fit the volunteer data as well as it did the paid worker data but with only a low goodness-of-fit index (Q =.20 for both samples). An augmented model, which included Organizational Commitment and Intent to Alter Involvement, was tested for the entire sample, the paid workers, and the volunteer worker sample, but its fit was unsatisfactory. Finally, a trimmed model which included just six outcome variables and 24 paths fit the paid worker data at Q =.77 and the volunteer data at Q =.80. No general conclusions about the validity of the trimmed model can be made prior to cross validation. The disengagement patterns of volunteers could be understood by the same models as were applied to paid workers although the weighting of variables varied somewhat as a function of pay. Fluctuations in the effects of job characteristics were tied to occupational category, demonstrating the pooling information from various occupations in research of this sort leads to the instability of relationships found across studies. Greater precision in specifying variables and paths in models is called for but must be based on occupation-specific empirical data

Improving the health literacy of refugee women: A pilot project

Refugees are at a heightened risk for a number of negative health outcomes including diabetes, obesity, and chronic disease. Due to displacement and acculturation stress, refugees are unlikely to be able to seek necessary information and care requisite to good health. The purpose of this project was to pilot a health literacy training for refugee women that will be delivered by library science students. The goal was twofold: to create a replicable curriculum designed to improve health literacy and outcomes of refugee women and their families, and to promote health librarianship and working with disadvantaged populations to library students. The program was developed by examining scholarly literature, collaborating with experts, and using resources from other programs. Materials were available in English, Spanish, and Swahili. Local refugee resource organizations were contacted to find women that were willing to participate. The students were recruited by the project leader from the Library and Information Science department where she is faculty. Participants were pre- and post-tested immediately before and after the program to demonstrate learning during the project period. Then, they were interviewed after the last class and asked for comprehensive feedback on the relevance and helpfulness of the program to their lives. This feedback will be incorporated heavily into the next iteration of this project, planned for the academic year of 2019 – 2020. The major accomplishments of this program were as follows: Ø Four LIS students participated, all of whom stated that they were more likely to consider health librarianship as a profession and felt that their understanding of programming geared towards disadvantaged populations was greatly increased. Ø Twelve immigrant and refugee women from four countries participated. The women reported an increased understanding of the content, increased self-efficacy regarding seeking medical information, and a statistically significant increase in health literacy test scores. Ø The participants provided robust feedback relevant to the further development of course content. Ø Most importantly, the participants enjoyed the program and seemed truly engaged with the materials. This project did much to increase the comfort of the refugee and immigrant women that participated in the pursuit of health informatio

Reproductive Healthcare Information-Seeking Behavior in Undeserved Women: An Exploratory Study

This study explores the reproductive health-related information-seeking of low-income women which has been found to be affected by digital divide disparities. Included in this is an assessment of what reproductive health-related information needs they have, which sources they consult most frequently, if they trust the sources that they use, and how their information-seeking interacts with the variables of perceived risk and perceived barriers. While there have been many studies on the end effects of a lack of accurate and accessible reproductive health information little research has been conducted to examine the reproductive healthcare information-seeking patterns of women who live in poverty. This study employs a previously validated pregnancy information-seeking survey and adapts it to reproductive health. The survey is then piloted twice and revalidated. It is then administered to 70 low-income women in Charlotte, NC. Data analysis includes chi square, ordinal regression analysis, Spearman\u27s rank and percentage. The qualitative section, added to the end, is coded and evaluated for themes. The findings of this research implicate the significance of information literacy to compel efficient information-seeking for women of low-income regarding their reproductive health

Library and Information Science across Disciplines

At the heart of library and information science (LIS) is the process of seeking information, gathering and storing it, and then putting it to use - often by its dissemination to others. LIS is a field that immerses itself in the continual improvement of this process- which consequently is also the lifeblood of every academic domain. Using concrete examples, this panel proposes to discuss how LIS as an interdisciplinary field threads through other fields. Just as information is fundamental to knowledge, the processes regarding information retrieval, storage, and use that LIS is constantly seeking to refine are integral to all academic domains. The five members of this panel represent five institutions and five disparate areas of LIS research. What they have in common is their expertise in developing collaborative research partnerships with outside areas. Each panelist will discuss their experiences in seeking out and creating these productive collaborative relationships and how they see the interdisciplinary nature of LIS impacting their work. In addition to the panelists presentations, the audience will be polled on their research and professional collaborations with outside disciplines and the results will be displayed using data visualization software. Finally, the panelists will solicit crowd participation and open the floor for a discussion on experiences significant to the theme

Youth Savings in Developing Countries: Trends in Practice, Gaps in Knowledge

Youth Savings in Developing Countries: Trends in Practice, Gaps in Knowledg

Evaluation of receptorâ ligand mechanisms of dualâ targeted particles to an inflamed endothelium

Vascularâ targeted carriers (VTCs) are designed as leukocyte mimics, decorated with ligands that target leukocyte adhesion molecules (LAMs) and facilitate adhesion to diseased endothelium. VTCs require different design considerations than other targeted particle therapies; adhesion of VTCs in regions with dynamic blood flow requires multiple ligandâ receptor (LR) pairs that provide particle adhesion and disease specificity. Despite the ultimate goal of leukocyte mimicry, the specificity of multiple LAMâ targeted VTCs remains poorly understood, especially in physiological environments. Here, we investigate particle binding to an inflamed mesentery via intravital microscopy using a series of particles with wellâ controlled ligand properties. We find that the total number of sites of a single ligand can drive particle adhesion to the endothelium, however, combining ligands that target multiple LR pairs provides a more effective approach. Combining sites of sialyl Lewis A (sLeA) and antiâ intercellular adhesion moleculeâ 1 (aICAM), two adhesive molecules, resulted in â ¼3â 7â fold increase of adherent particles at the endothelium over singleâ ligand particles. At a constant total ligand density, a particle with a ratio of 75% sLeA: 25% aICAM resulted in more than 3â fold increase over all over other ligand ratios tested in our in vivo model. Combined with in vivo and in silico data, we find the best dualâ ligand design of a particle is heavily dependent on the surface expression of the endothelial cells, producing superior adhesion with more particle ligand for the lesserâ expressed receptor. These results establish the importance of considering LRâ kinetics in intelligent VTC ligand design for future therapeutics.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133573/1/btm210008-sup-0007-suppinfo07.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133573/2/btm210008_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133573/3/btm210008.pd

Finding the Needles in the Haystacks: High-Fidelity Models of the Modern and Archean Solar System for Simulating Exoplanet Observations

We present two state-of-the-art models of the solar system, one corresponding to the present day and one to the Archean Eon 3.5 billion years ago. Each model contains spatial and spectral information for the star, the planets, and the interplanetary dust, extending to 50 AU from the sun and covering the wavelength range 0.3 to 2.5 micron. In addition, we created a spectral image cube representative of the astronomical backgrounds that will be seen behind deep observations of extrasolar planetary systems, including galaxies and Milky Way stars. These models are intended as inputs to high-fidelity simulations of direct observations of exoplanetary systems using telescopes equipped with high-contrast capability. They will help improve the realism of observation and instrument parameters that are required inputs to statistical observatory yield calculations, as well as guide development of post-processing algorithms for telescopes capable of directly imaging Earth-like planets.Comment: Accepted for publication in PAS

Referral Patterns Between Allopathic Physicians and Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practitioners: A Followup Study

Introduction: • Despite the high prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) usage, several recent surveys suggest that the vast majority of patient visits to CAM practitioners are self-referred and that communication between conventional and CAM practitioners is limited. • There is a need for a better understandingof factors influencing referral patterns across these two groups of practitioners. • Network analysis provides a useful tool to quantify relationships between members of an interrelated social network. • The goal of this follow up study was to quantify the cross-class referral patterns between conventional and CAM classes of practitioners in Chittenden County Vermont as well as gather additional information on the basis of referrals for future studies. • This study was a preliminary examination of possible reasons for the referral patterns.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1039/thumbnail.jp