Beyond the “Like”: How People Respond to Negative Posts on Facebook

New features of social network platforms afford users the ability to navigate potentially sensitive situations in ways they could not before. This study surveyed 260 Facebook users to uncover how people are using this social media platform’s new “reaction” buttons to respond to others’ posts about negative topics such as traumatic life situations, catastrophic current or past events, and interpersonal crises. Results suggest that users do not perceive the reaction buttons as adequate tools to help them interact with those that are close to them. Instead, these new paralinguistic digital affordances seem to help users engage in social grooming.     

Critiquing Culture in the “Small House”: How Vic and Sade Brought the Mass Culture Critique to the Masses

The popular comedic serial Vic and Sade can be viewed in relation to the mass culture critique, a series of criticisms advanced by twentieth century public intellectuals for the benefit of other intellectuals against the alleged negative impacts of mass entertainment, particularly radio, and other aspects of mass culture. A close examination of Vic and Sade's depiction of mass entertainment, specifically film, periodicals, and popular fiction, demonstrates that the program advanced its own critique of mass culture, one coming from the perspective of the masses and directed toward a mass audience.     

“Disarticulations” in the Information Society: Barriers to the Universal Access to Information Highways in Developing Countries

The author supports the opinion that full benefit may be derived from the technological potential on condition that serious attention is given to the social, political and ethical aspects, which are often barriers to the free and multi-directional access to information, especially in developing countries. Causes of these barriers — “disarticulations” within a society — are listed and their importance in developing countries emphasized. Possible different communication structures in a society and their effects are examined. The author concludes that the traditional, principle of free flow of information is not sufficient in the advancing information society; there is a need for a, principle which deals more specifically with the “activation”, “mediation”, and “networking” of the needs and opinions at the different levels of society.     

“Boundaryless” in the creative economy: assessing freelancing on Upwork

This paper engages discourses about the nature of creative work through a case study of creative worker freelancing on Upwork, an online marketplace. The analysis begins by contextualizing the growth of freelancing in a transformation of capitalism to a mode of flexible accumulation. It is framed against neoliberal narratives about the creative economy, including promises of financial success and freedom from rigid Fordism. An exploration of the characteristics of technology-mediated work on Upwork, including contract structure, wages, consistency of work, risk-management strategies, and profiles of clients and freelancers follows. The findings suggest that despite the company’s emphases on efficiency, flexibility, and freedom from the physical office, freelancers face significant trade-offs in undertaking such work, notably its infrequency, barriers to high wages, and intense global competition. The discussion addresses structural drivers of precarity in the marketplace and of its ongoing success.     

Asian-Japanese: State Apology,National Ethos,and the “Comfort Women” Reparations Debate in Japan

Recent scholarship on apology has shifted its critical emphasis from the juridical use of apology as a means of self-defense to the moral value of apology as integral to specific reconciliation processes. This article examines the “comfort women” reparations debate in Japan in the 1990s as symptomatic of this change in how we think about apology and reparations. It illustrates how “comfort women” reparation lawsuits disrupted the symbolic economy of political apology in an inter-Asian political context and, thus, transformed the rhetorical force of apology from a past-oriented to a future-oriented technology of care.     

A “white elephant” in the library: a case study on loss of space from the Arizona Health Sciences Library at the University of Arizona

The Arizona Health Sciences Library is housed in a 4-story building that serves 4 University of Arizona colleges in Tucson. In October 2005, the dean of the college of medicine informed the library director that one floor of the library had to be converted to open classroom space by June 2006. Library staff planned and participated in the conversion of the space. Twenty thousand seven hundred square feet of library space (34% of public space in the building) was used briefly for large classes but is now rarely used. The space is now largely open and contains a variety of moveable seating and tables not suited for quiet study.     

Mathematics in VINITI RAS: From abstract journal to databases: Part 1. Development of the abstract journal (AJ) “Mathematics” from 1953 to 2007

The history of the establishment and development of the RAS VINITI AJ in mathematics from 1953 to 2007 is considered. Various classification systems are analyzed that were used in different periods of the creation of the AJ, as well as the subject indexes to the AJ. The structure of mathematical AJ problems is described. A statistical analysis of the cumulative flow of publications reflected in the cumulated volumes and special issues of AJ “Mathematics” from 1953 to 2007 has been performed.     

“Seeking Information from the Lips of People”: oral history in the archives of Qatar and the Gulf region

The turn to oral history in Qatar and the Arabian (also known as Persian) Gulf is not a rejection of traditional archival authority as has been the case in other parts of the world. In the Gulf, oral history has been embraced out of a desire to fill the silences of the largely unwritten record attributable to previous low levels of literacy and strong oral traditions in the region. Today, oral history is seen as the best method to capture details about traditional ways of life during the pre-oil era. After discussing archival concerns about the evidentiary nature of oral histories, this paper explores how it has come to be a crucial documentation tool in the Gulf, adapted to the specific nation building and cultural heritage priorities of the region.     

Enigma Variations: Parsing the Riddle of Main Entry and the “Rule of Three” from AACR2 to RDA

ABSTRACT

In the ten years since the International Conference on the Principles and Future Development of AACR, long-standing debates have continued as to whether or not to have a “main entry,” and whether or not to exercise the rule of three to limit the number of headings or access points in certain cases. Recent proposals from the Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA have recommended a change in “main entry” terminology to “primary access point,” and the elimination of the rule of three. This article explores how and why these shifts have occurred.     

“Since this is the editorial section I intend to express my opinion”: Inequality and expressivity in letters to the editor

This paper analyzes the argumentative style and the characteristics of writers of newspaper letters to the editor. Writers are more likely to be White, male, older, more politically active, and less likely to be politically moderate than the local population. Inequality in political participation persists in this forum. Gender and sense of local political efficacy influence how letter writers make their points. Letters to the editor mostly display inequalities similar to other forms of political participation.     

“Can We Get There from Here?” Negotiating the Washouts,Cave-Ins,Dead Ends,and Other Hazards on the Road to Research on Africa

SUMMARY

This introduction to Africana reference describes the populations of researchers, the kinds of questions they ask, and how librarians–both specialist and generalist–may respond. It explores issues in “known-item” searches, including name authority and access to material in collected works and series. Choices made by authors, publishers, indexers, librarians, and researchers themselves have an impact on topic searches. Terminology for African languages, ethnic groups, place names, and topics cause problems for novice researchers, but library policy decisions can also impede access. Errors of all kinds–minor or major–can block access to information. The speed of electronic desktop publishing seems to have encouraged reduced care with proofreading, indexing, and verification of quotations and citations. The need for accurate information about Africa is great, but the market for publications and electronic resources focused on Africa is relatively small. This low market share can result in less coverage of Africa in indexes and reference tools. Despite the difficulties encountered in researching Africa, researchers and the librarians who assist them benefit from the tools, services, and initiatives of specialist Africana librarians and from a number of commercially produced resources.     

“The King Is Dead,Long Live The King!”: Image of the United States as the Primary Enemy on the Pages of Krokodil from Stalin to Khrushchev

The relationship between the Soviet Union and United States during the early Cold War has been analyzed from many different angles, but the research's primary focus has been on the political events that occurred and the statements made by political figures. Many scholars have looked at the Khrushchev period of Soviet history; however, a lack of attention has been paid to the role of the media as a mirror of political processes. Even fewer studies compare media realities across the Stalin and Khrushchev periods. Although a strongly declared attempt to cooperate with the Western world was the key characteristic of Khrushchev's Thaw, this study assumes that the true approach of the Soviet political establishment toward the United States was even more radical than Stalin's approach. A semiotic textual analysis of the cartoons of the Krokodil illustrated satirical magazine has found a trend of negative visual portrayals of the United States as the primary enemy of the citizens of the Soviet Union.

This article alludes to dozens of cartoon images. Figures labelled with an ‘o’ are available for reference on vcquarterly.org.     

To talk or not to talk? From Telkom to Hellkom: A critical reflection on the current telecommunication policy in South Africa from a social justice perspective

With the development of new information and communication technologies, the right to communicate assumes new dimensions, since it is almost impossible to fully participate in the globalized world without access to modern information and communication technologies. South Africa held its first democratic elections in 1994 and has subsequently returned to the international arena. Its citizens should rightly expect to be able to participate in all that this return offers, not only politically, but also economically and socially. Telecommunications are vital to making such participation possible. In recognition of this fact, the newly elected government developed policies and enacted legislation to ensure that the telecommunications sector, and specifically the sole fixed line service provider Telkom, provides South African citizens affordable access to the telecommunications infrastructure whilst providing acceptable levels of service. However, rather than meeting its obligation to the government and the people of South Africa, Telkom has misused its monopoly. The social injustice that this situation creates is critically examined against the background of the right to communicate based on Rawls' principles of social justice and Sen's capability approach.     

“Nor Any Drop to Drink”: New Orleans Libraries in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

SUMMARY

Hurricane Katrina's winds and flood waters impacted nearly every library in the New Orleans metropolitan area. The author provides a brief commentary on the extent of damage at the academic libraries before describing in detail the destruction and recovery of the library at Xavier University. The article offers a series of questions that librarians in flood-prone areas might ask in order to prepare themselves and their staffs for the possibility of a major flood and its consequences.     

Analysis of broadcast literature: Broadcast Journalism in “education on the air” 1930–1953

During the past six years the Journal of Broadcasting has brought to its readers bibliographies on specific topics (audience measurement techniques, content analysis, etc.) and from publications devoted to a specific field (law, economics, journalism, etc.). The bibliography published below belongs to this second category. Education on the Air, the yearbook of the Institute for Education by Radio‐Television, is a continuous record of the deliberations of a convention devoted to exploring the informative and cultural uses of broadcasting. Under the direction of I. Keith Tyler, the IERT was for many years the only major association devoted exclusively to this subject area, and many of the present organizations now in the field are “spin‐offs” from these annual meetings hosted by the Ohio State University. Within the framework of the IERT, the subject of broadcast journalism has not been neglected. Over a period of almost 30 years, this use of radio for informing the public of the events of the day was discussed in various IERT sessions.

This bibliography was prepared to assist researchers and students interested in the growth and development of broadcast journalism as reflected in the IERT annual meetings. Dr. Heath is professor of journalism at Oklahoma State University, and is former chairman of the Council on Radio‐Television Journalism of the Association for Education in Journalism. Mr. Wolfson is working toward his doctorate at Michigan State University. They collaborated on this bibliography while at Iowa State University.