Thesis (M.I.St.)--University of Toronto, 2009. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 48-02, page: .

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Maryland at College Park, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisors: Philip Doty and Sanda Erdelez. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.)(Computer science)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Online memorials are an Internet phenomena of the 21st century which have been identified as a growing contemporary mourning practice mediated by online computer networks. Online memorials offer a logical discursive platform for a unique form of personalised yet communal virtual memorialising which is mirroring the needs of a fractured and geographically divided society and affords twenty four hour access to all those who use the internet. Online memorials have also been identified as a virtual location where stigma, disenfranchisement and loss of voice in bereavement can be publically noted and challenged. Current research surrounding the use of online memorials has identified that little is known about the creation and use of private memorial sites as they are problematical for researchers to access. This study aimed to address this gap in the research by exploring the creation and use of an online memorial which is both private and relating to a death by suicide which is often considered a socially stigmatised bereavement. The study used auto/biographical research methods utilising a single case study design to explore the narratives of a naturally occurring online memorial alongside an asynchronous email interview with the memorial author. Thematic analysis of the data provided insights into the motivating factors, creation and use of this example of an online memorial. The research also offered insights into the life of the deceased and that of a survivor of bereavement by suicide and in so doing has explored the distinctions between the life lived, the life experienced and the life as told through a form of cultural memorial expression increasingly prevalent in current society. The study also offers consideration of the potential for therapeutic benefit from creating and using online memorials as a mourning activity which could influence Occupational Therapy practice and in so doing identified areas that would benefit from greater research attention to explore further the use/therapeutic use of online memorials.

This practice-based PhD takes the institution of the archive as its primary locus, and the position of the photograph within it. This approach opens up an interdisciplinary and post-representational investigation into the photographic image and its relationship to the companion descriptive text, as well as instigating a consideration of the structure and the management of both objects and descriptions in an archive situation. More specifically, the model of the visual content-based archive description is taken out of the confines of the institution and into visual practice. Different kinds of sets and collections of photographs are examined here, as well as traditional archives, but all through techniques of archival description, listing and organisation. The restricted institutional language structure becomes a conceptual writing technique when employed within this archive-related art practice. Positioned outside of the field of hermeneutical image analysis, this writing system is a form of information management, and, following archival conventions, does not attempt to assign meaning to the objects with which it engages. The practice predominantly takes the form of moving image or performance, always with text present (written or spoken). The image itself, paralleling a common archival situation, is often hidden or obscured, and the description allows a novel exploration of the image to take place and to be discussed. The largely decontextualised type of visual content-based description used emphasises the discrete and atemporal nature of the photograph and the synchrony of the moment of capture. It is acknowledged though, that the message and meaning of the single image is located outside of this moment of capture, and so may be subject to some speculation. The spatiotemporal context of the image, denied by the visual contentbased description, is brought back through ‘reading’ the archived image in its natural habitat, the archive list or catalogue. This relational situation reveals the fixed associations between images themselves and between images and their wider organisational structures. The description is ultimately identified as a ‘narrative pause’ (Fowler: 1991, p.25), and is celebrated as such. Inside the indexical and diachronic arrangement of the archive, images and descriptions are viewed through something other than a narrative gaze, as lists, and the juxtapositions therein, expose the acutely shallow time and non-chronological advancement of the archive.

The thesis reviewed the changes to the role of teacher librarians and the implications of this for primary teachers. The study sought to explore the teachers’ views about information literacy skills, who should teach them and the role of the teacher librarian. This study took a mix-methods approach, i.e. quantitative and qualitative research, in which self-report data were collected through a questionnaire to classroom teachers followed by individual face to face interview with six questionnaire respondents. The findings of the study were that teachers associate information literacy skills with information technology skills. Though they said they understand information literacy skills, their understanding of information literacy skills was discrete and not systematic compared with the definition of information literacy skills in the literature. They agreed that information literacy skills were important and they have the responsibility to teach student such skills. They agreed that they have further professional development needs in terms of information literacy skills. Teachers who started teaching before 1998 reported some changes in teaching and learning made by the presence of the teacher librarian. They agreed with the provision of the teacher librarian post though they were not aware of the legislated role of the teacher librarian. They thought that awareness of the role of the teacher librarian and information literacy skills and the ability to develop students’ information literacy skills would help them utilize the skills of the teacher librarian. The findings have highlighted the implications for teacher education to train teacher information literacy skills, raise teachers’ awareness of the role of the teacher librarian especially in Cooperative Planning and Teaching with teachers to equip student information literacy skills. For serving teachers, piloting the role of the teacher librarian, Cooperative Planning and Teaching and flexible library timetable are necessary to facilitate implementation of the legislated role of the teacher librarian.

This research investigated the library end-users' perceptions of their training needs in relation to using the electronic information resources in selected public universities in Malaysia. It also investigated the training methods preferred by end-users in learning how to use electronic information resources. The subjects of the study were university students and academic staff from three selected public universities in Malaysia. They comprised 433 students and 223 academic staff. This study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. The main data was gathered through self-administered questionnaires, while the supplementary data was gathered through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Opinions from the librarians responsible for end-user training at the three university libraries were also sought through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Comparisons were made between the two groups of end-users, namely, students and academic staff in areas related to the problems of the study. Appropriate non-parametric statistical techniques such as cross-tabulation, chisquare test, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman correlation test were applied in analysing the data measured at both nominal and ordinal scales. Among the major findings were: (1) a statistically significant differences were found between students and academic staff in terms of knowledge and ability in using electronic information resources. Many academic staff were more knowledgable and able to use electronic information resources than students. However, concerning knowledge in using certain IT facilities, many more students than academic staff knew how to use them; and (2) both students and academic staff preferred one-to-one training methods as their first choice. With regard to the second choice of training method, students preferred computerassisted instruction (CAI), while academic staff preferred library workshops with hands-on training. Recommendations based on the research findings were made.

The way that historians do research has changed as more and more digitised primary sources have become available online. Whilst desktop access to historical resources is becoming the norm in the digital age, many historians prefer working with original sources. This observation triggered an investigation into the information needs and behaviour of historians with a view to identifying ways in which information retrieval system (IRS) might be enhanced to meet their specific needs. During the investigation it became apparent that the information-seeking behaviour (ISB) of historians involves a great deal of creative thinking and that IRS aimed at historians would benefit from features specifically designed to stimulate their creativity. The research described here follows a “mixed methods” approach in which quantitative and qualitative research techniques have been applied sequentially. The first, quantitative, phase of the study concerned the question of which format of primary sources (original or digitised) historians prefer to work with and why. Results from an online questionnaire, distributed to historians in the UK, revealed the historians’ preference for originals but with a very positive attitude towards digitised sources, which were considered to be more “useful”. This led the study to explore ways in which the “usefulness” of IRS could be further improved to support historical research. The exploration of these issues involved a qualitative analysis based on “grounded theory” techniques and led to certain specific recommendations to the designers of future IRS intended to support historical research.