ABC-CLIO
Press critics are the fifth estate; media watchdogs in America.
The history of media watchdogs and their contributions to the democratic process are explored in this book, which uses nine recent examples of press criticism to define the so-called "Fifth Estate." Hayes (Fordham U.) explores a wide range of political commentary from such disparate sources as The New York Times, CNN, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and even Internet bloggers, and discusses how a slightly irreverent attitude can be equally effective in dealing with such issues as corporate media and standards of journalism. Written for students and scholars of mass media, as well as general audiences, this book concludes with the author's "prescription" for establishing new standards for press criticism. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The presidential election resource book.
This guide contains lessons and activities relating to the presidential election, aiming to help educators use a current event to teach social studies. Classroom assignments, activities, homework, and independent research are included for lessons relating to voting, nominations, the general election, and the role of the media, as well as reproducible primary and secondary sources. Robert Saldin (Johns Hopkins U.) provides an introduction to the topic, and Kevin Fox and Oliver Beckwith, high school teachers, offer activities. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Princess Peacock; tales from the other peoples of China.
Yuan (library public services, Western Kentucky U.) offers a companion to his collection of tales from the Han Chinese with folk tales from the nine percent of the population representing the other 56 officially recognized ethnic minorities. They are arranged not by culture, but by such types as animals, magic, love and romance, creation and ethnic origins, and places. An appendix discusses motifs, sources, and the place of the particular tale in the culture. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Private sector, public wars; contractors in combat — Afghanistan, Iraq, and future conflicts.
Carafana (a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation) takes a look at the use of private contractors in state warfare. He begins with examination of armies for hire at the time of Machiavelli and the use of mercenaries throughout US history, but rather quickly turns to discussion of the current use of contractors by the US in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the end he finds that the use of contractors makes sense and will likely expand and that there is no contradiction between the use of contractors and good governance. However, he argues, they could have been employed more effectively in Iraq and Afghanistan if the government had more capacity to procure, oversee, and manage large-scale contracts and that there is a need to create military and other governmental institutions, doctrines, and practices that will enable the public sector to better manage private contracts. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Proposal planning & writing, 4th ed.
This professional school or undergraduate level text instructs readers on writing grant proposals addressed to government, foundation, and corporate sponsors. Chapters discuss the search for sponsors and proposal planning, writing conventions (including templates and examples), and the specific sections required on a government proposal (e.g. goals and objectives, methods, budgets, appendixes). The final chapter discusses grant review and funding decisions. Updates in this text mainly comprise more examples and discussion of how to sustain funding. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Protecting your business in a pandemic; plans, tools, and advice for maintaining business continuity.
While the media has long warned of the potential social disruptions that would occur if a flu pandemic occurred in this country, the practical considerations of business and commerce have not been fully explored. Sikich, an independent consultant on crisis management, addresses these concerns by helping business owners and corporate managers to implement a plan to maintain continuity throughout the event. From stockpiling personal protective gear to adopting an ethical human resource strategy, this book outlines how you should initially respond to each pandemic scenario, and eventually deal with the aftermath. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Psychology of champions; how to win at sports and life with the focus edge of super-athletes.
Educator, research and consultant Barrell and psychologist Ryback mine a rich collection of commentary from dozens of sports notables from golf, boxing, football, baseball, basketball, car racing and swimming to assemble a systematic approach to focusing energy on what really matters when the goal is to win. Most important, they find is motivation, confidence and concentration, traits all winners have and the second-tier seem to forget. Punctuated by anecdotes, this will entertain fans as well as educate them about how behaving like a sports legend can pay off in professional life. Includes a range of biographical sketches of sports figures and plenty of quotable moments. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The psychology of women at work; challenges and solutions for our female workforce; 3v.
In this three-volume set, female scholars and experts in the field examine all aspects of women at work. In addition to scholarly reviews of research on the psychology of women at work, the set includes female contributors' personal accounts of their career development and their experiences in the labor force, in areas including law, medicine, and business. Volume I, "Career Liberation, History, and the New Millennium," provides an overview of research on comparisons of men and women in stereotypically masculine and feminine careers, and looks at women as bosses and as entrepreneurs. High school career preparation programs and sexual harassment are also examined. Volume II, "Obstacles and the Identity Juggle," discusses the double standard for women in the workplace, women and leadership, the glass ceiling and pay inequalities, the economics of women in the workplace, and women in traditionally male-dominated fields such as science and technology. Volume III discusses work and self-esteem, the impact of work on women's physical and mental health, and religion and women at work. The set will appeal to those who are interested in psychology, women's studies, education, law, business, and public policy. Paludi is president of Human Resources Management Solutions in the School of Management at Union Graduate College. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Race relations in the United States, 1980-2000.
Messer-Kruse (ethnic studies, Bowling Green U.) has written a thoughtful overview of a complex topic. The volume is divided into decades, and in keeping with the style of other volumes in the series, each decade is described in the same format, with an initial timeline and overview, description of key events, excerpted speeches and writings by influential figures, discussion of race relations by group, and sections on law and government, media and mass communication, culture, theories and views, concluding with a guide to resources. A sampling of the key events includes the Miami riot of 1980, the Tawana Brawley case, the confederate flag issue, and the 1992 Rodney King beating and riots. Among the figures whose writings and speeches are excerpted are César Chávez, Bill Clinton, and Toni Morrison. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Re-designing the high school library for the forgotten half; the information needs of the non-college bound student.
Thomas (library and information science, Louisiana State U.) is concerned that students who may not go on to college (or even finish high school) have less attention paid to their curriculum and their educational needs than those who are on the college preparatory track. She feels school librarians are responsible for preparing all students, regardless of eventual academic involvement, for lifelong learning. She describes how high schools had been restructured in the last century, models for reform and redesign and the role of the library, collaboration with the faculty in research and application, exploration of the information needs of the student going directly from school to work, applied information and technology literacy, resources to meet the needs of the students, marketing, and planning and organization for the redesigned high school library. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Reagan, Bush, Gorbachev; revisiting the end of the Cold War.
Graebner (emeritus, history and public affairs, U. of Virginia, US), Burns (emeritus, history, California State U. at Los Angeles, US), and Siracusa (international diplomacy, Royal Melbourne Insitute of Technology, Australia) present what they describe as "a contemporary, realist appraisal of the events leading up to the end of the Cold War" that focuses on assessment of the superpowers' policies and rhetoric. Their assessment credits Ronald Reagan for taking great political risk in dealing with the Soviet Union but finds that it was Mikhail Gorbachev who truly and deliberately ended the Cold War, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union being an unintended side effect. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Reality rules!; a guide to teen nonfiction reading interests.
Young adult librarian Fraser offers others in the same field this guide for advising students grade 6-12 on non-fiction titles that suits their age and interests. Bibliographic information and synopses for approximately 1000 titles are listed, most of which were published after 2000. The author also suggests age-appropriateness ratings. At the end of each section she briefly suggests other non- fiction titles and fiction books that read similarly. The 11 chapters treat the following genres and themes: true adventure; true crime; memoirs and autobiographies; biography; history; science, math, and the environment; sports; self-esteem and other personal issues; how to; the arts; and understanding and changing the world. Each contains a number of sub-categories. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Readers theatre for African American history.
This volume contains 20 scripts for use in teaching African American history to children in grades four through eight, covering Africa before the slave trade to current events. Scripts are meant to improve reading skills and provide literature-based learning about history. The scripts cover such topics as abolitionists, the Civil War, US Senators, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Harlem Renaissance, holidays, music, inventors, literature, visual arts, and the civil rights movement. After each script is a list of extension activities. Jeff Sanders is an elementary classroom teacher, and Nancy Sanders is a writer who specializes in African American history books for kids. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Religious schooling in America; private education and public life.
Jones (sociology, Grove City College) examines the debate over the place of faith-based schooling in American social and political life. Within thematic chapters, he recalls voices in debates at various times in the country's history. His topics include the place of schooling in religious communities, undermining democracy, fulfilling democracy, civil religion, and Islam. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The Richard Wright encyclopedia.
This encyclopedia collects information about the life and works of Richard Wright (1908-1960), noted author of Black Boy, Native Son, and other works. Given the importance of politics in Wright's life, the volume includes entries concerned with the cultural and political environment influencing Wright's career. The approximately 400 alphabetical entries discuss important works of Wright, as well as such topics as Horatio Alger, James Baldwin, Black Marxism, Albert Camus, the Chicago school of sociology, the Federal Theater Project, Marcus Garvey, the Great Depression, the House Committee on Un- American Activities, lynching, Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul Robeson, Seventh Day Adventism, John Steinbeck, and Emile Zola, to cite a few examples. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The rise of the Wehrmacht; the German armed forces and World War II; 2v.
Mitcham, who has written extensively on the military of Nazi Germany, presents an ambitious history of the activities of the German military from the exile of Kaiser Wilhelm through the end of WWII. Tactics, materiel, troops, training, strategy, battles, marches, and defeats are described in succinct prose, with the different theaters of Nazi military action described in separate chapters. The military's organization and leadership are described in tandem with the narrative of the military operations and several appendices contain tables and lists of comparative ranks, staff positions, the chain of command, characteristics of the tanks, and Luftwaffe units. Two chapters provide a detailed discussion of the decisions, personnel, and operation of the Holocaust, with first-hand descriptions that convey the cold-blooded cruelty of its perpetrators and the suffering of its victims. An index of German military units as well as a subject index and bibliography are provided. Two sections of b&w plates are contained in each of the two volumes. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The rise of true crime; 20th-century murder and American popular culture.
The advent of such magazines as True Detective prompted a public fascination with high-profile murder cases, and this book examines the tenuous relationship between forensic investigation and sensationalism in the American media. Murley (City U. of New York) uses famous examples of "true" crime reporting to reveal the educational value of such journalism, dispelling the myth that these publications catered to more prurient interests. Written for anyone interested in so-called "pulp" journalism and its effects on the culture of the '50s, '60s and '70s, this volume also dissects the notion of pure evil, and what forces could lead an individual to perform truly monstrous acts of violence. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Sacagawea; a biography.
Intended for students in high school and up, this biography gives an account of the life of Sacagawea, the Native American interpreter and guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition, and looks at the myths surrounding her and the role she has played in the American psyche over the years. The book draws on the journals of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, as well as journals by three other members of the expedition. An introduction recounts the history of the publication of the expedition's journals to explain why some editions left out references to Sacagawea. A timeline and b&w illustrations are included. Summitt teaches history at Arizona State University's Polytechnic Campus. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
The school library media manager, 4th ed.
In its fourth edition, this text has been updated with new information including the impact of new technology on the management of the library media center. Woolls (director, School of Library and Information Science, San Jose State U.) covers first a brief history of the technology and the position, and further writes chapters on becoming a school library media specialist, managing the program, managing the facility and personnel, managing access to information and budget, school library media centers and the reading program, advocacy and the media center, and program evaluation and assessment. Each chapter presents an exercise for use in the classroom or a workshop setting. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
Scorecards for results; a guide for developing a library balanced scorecard.
Evaluation expert Matthews has taken the basic model of business scorecards and applied them to public libraries in order to show how they can more effectively focus their resources. As a practical guide to designing and using a scorecard, the title first explains the balanced scorecard method, then outlines a suggested process followed by the mission and vision, strategy and strategy maps, selecting performance measures, indentifying targets and initiatives, integrating the scorecard, and communicating the scorecard. An appendix lists selected resources. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
