The Access/Impact Problem and the Green and Gold Roads to Open Access

The research access/impact problem arises because journal articles are not accessible to all of their would-be users; hence, they are losing potential research impact. The solution is to make all articles Open Access (OA; i.e., accessible online, free for all). OA articles have significantly higher citation impact than non-OA articles. There are two roads to OA: the “golden” road (publish your article in an OA journal) and the “green” road (publish your article in a non-OA journal but also self-archive it in an OA archive). Only 5% of journals are gold, but over 90% are already green (i.e., they have given their authors the green light to self-archive); yet only about 10–20% of articles have been self-archived. To reach 100% OA, self-archiving needs to be mandated by researchers' employers and funders, as the United Kingdom and the United States have recently recommended, and universities need to implement that mandate.     

Best Practices for Presentation of E-journal Titles on Provider Web Sites and in Other E-content Products

As a result of inaccurate displays of journal metadata in e-content access tools and on Web sites, researchers and readers do not find the content they are seeking, and the full value of e-content services is not realized. A group will be formed later this year to develop a set of NISO best practices for presentation of e-journal titles, provision of correct ISSN information, and other basic bibliographic data on provider Web sites and in other e-content products.     

Portrayal and betrayal: Bourdieu, photography and sociological life

Through an examination of Bourdieu's Algerian fieldwork the article raises general questions regarding the place of photography in sociological research. In the midst of a colonial war Bourdieu used photography to make visual fieldnotes and record the mixed realities of Algeria under colonialism. Bourdieu also used photography to communicate to the Algerians an ethical and political commitment to their cause and plight. It is argued that his photographs do not simply portrayal or communicate the realities of Algeria. They are, paradoxically, at the same time full of information and mysterious and depthless. In order to read them it is necessary to ethnographically situate them in their social and historical context. It is suggested that the photographs can also be read as an inventory of Bourdieu's attentiveness as a researcher, his curiosity and ultimately his sociological imagination. They betray his concerns as a researcher but also can be used to raise ethical and political questions beyond Bourdieu's own attempts at reflexive self-analysis. The article concludes with a discussion of how Bourdieu's sociological life might contribute to the craft of sociology today.     

Solving the Labour Problem Among Professional Workers in the UK Public Sector: Organisation Change and Performance Management

This paper draws together evidence from across the UK public services to present an analysis of public sector organisational change that has been observed and experienced since the 1980s. The argument is that the pattern of persistent change, packaged as a myriad of reform measures, has been centrally concerned with solving the labour problem—low worker productivity and managers not being able to manage—in what are labour intensive services. The now familiar managerial discourse of empowerment and high commitment working practices is highlighted and express linkages are drawn between such themes and the day-to-day practices of performance and human resource management, seen here to be key levers in solving the same labour problem through a reduction in the quality of working lives of many public service workers.     

Electronic Journal Forum: Update on CONSER Summit Recommendations

Abstract

The CONSER Summit, held in March 2004, was a meeting of representatives from all library service areas, the serials industry, and standards communities. It was organized as an opportunity for the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) to shape strategies on the provision and sharing of metadata for electronic resources. This column is an update on actions taken on some of the summit recommendations     

Perceived discrimination,traditional practices,and depressive symptoms among American Indians in the upper midwest

American Indian adults are thought to experience significant depressive symptoms at rates several times higher than adults in the general population, yet we know very little about factors associated with depressive symptoms among this under studied group. Many researchers have argued that depressive symptoms are associated with conflicts between American Indian traditional cultural values, practices, and beliefs and those of the majority culture. This report, based on a sample 287 American Indian adults from the upper Midwest, takes into account two measures of cultural effects: perceived discrimination, as one indicator of culture conflict, and traditional practices, as a measure of cultural identification. The results indicate that discrimination is strongly associated with depressive symptoms among American Indian adults and that engaging in traditional practices is negatively related to depressive symptoms. Moreover, interaction effects between perceived discrimination and traditional practices indicate that engaging in traditional practices buffers the negative effects of discrimination among those who regularly participate in them.     

CORRECTING FOR MEASUREMENT ERROR IN AN EXPOSURE-RESPONSE RELATIONSHIP BASED ON DICHOTOMISING A CONTINUOUS DEPENDENT VARIABLE

Random error in a continuous outcome variable does not affect its regression on a predictor. However, when a continuous outcome variable is dichotomised, random measurement error results in a flatter exposure-response relationship with a higher intercept. Although this consequence is similar to the effect of misclassification in a binary outcome variable, it cannot be corrected using techniques appropriate for binary data. Conditional distributions of the measurements of the continuous outcome variable can be corrected if the reliability coefficient of the measurements can be estimated. An unbiased estimate of the exposure-response relationship is then easily calculated. This procedure is demonstrated using data on the relationship between smoking and the development of airway obstruction.     

Marital Therapy: Beyond Evaluation

This discussion on the use of evaluation research by policy makers was stimulated by Hartin's article Evaluating Marital Therapy (this issue). Problems arise because evaluation research and accountability reporting are often confused, and because evaluation researchers tend to communicate with each other rather than with policy makers and program managers.