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This paper addresses a fundamental empirical question using data collected in a northeastern US city: does deliberation occur in online forums? While face-to-face deliberation is well documented, there are few empirical studies that address its online counterpart. Deliberation is supposed to foster an educative, rational, open and inclusive dialogue that leads to legitimate policy outcomes. In this paper, the authors develop and operationalize a measure of deliberation in order to investigate the extent to which it is manifested online. In particular, the authors study five regionally defined web forums hosted by the primary newspaper of a mid-sized northeastern US city. Drawing a two-week sample of posts from these forums, the authors then examine them for indicators of deliberation. Firstly, this paper addresses research about if and how the internet affects social life, including traditional notions of deliberation. Next, the authors argue that sociological studies of democratic participation require conceptualization of lived deliberation, and outline a Symbolic Interactionist approach to studying online, deliberative interaction in order to do so. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of this work for future theory and empirical investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the recent and ongoing information revolution gradually turns traditional library materials into electronic formats, many agricultural resources have become available online. This selective Webliography covers the major online resources for studying and conducting research in agricultural economics and related fields and includes associations and organizations, databases and articles, dictionaries, directories and search engines, government agencies, industry outlooks, market information, statistics, working papers, news, prices, and miscellaneous resources. Web sites were selected based on the quality of the information and their importance to researchers in the various areas of agricultural economics. Most of the sources are free, with many of them being produced by U.S. government agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite both scholarly and popular claims that citizen journalism (CJ) represents a growing democratizing force in the journalistic field, recent scholarship in the area has noted the decline of the organizational population of CJ. In this paper, we investigate how individual characteristics of sites and the dynamics of larger organizational population affect a CJ site’s risk of experiencing a mortality. Drawing on the largest sample to date of US-based English-language CJ sites, this study examines the risk of site mortality through an event history framework. Findings indicate that the strongest predictor of a site’s mortality is the age of the site, consistent with organizational population theory’s ‘liability of newness.’ We also find that for-profit and community-based sites have lower rates of site mortality, indicating that adopting legitimate conventions of journalism may serve as a protective buffer to site death. The results offer mixed evidence on whether CJ has become more professionalized via attrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting in 1996, the authors, Surya Vanka andJim Budd developed ID-Online, an Asynchronous Learning Network (ALN)for Industrial Design Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.The primary objective of ID-Online was to deliver enhanced designinstruction via asynchronous access to design resources and enhance network-basedcommunication between instructors and students. This paper provides an historicaloverview of the development of ID-Online. It discusses two yearsof development, use and evaluations. It then leads into the authors' recentinitiatives to advance the concept of a developing design community in thedigital realm. The paper concludes with reflections on the benefit, and pedagogicalpros and cons, of the use of asynchronous learning technologies in designeducation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of changes in the campaign landscape, candidates have several strategic options available to them, particularly when considering how to respond to voters’ gender stereotypes. The goal of this paper is to understand candidates’ use of strategies based on gender stereotypes by emphasizing either particular issues or particular traits that are commonly associated with one gender or the other. To do this, I developed hypotheses of why candidates might choose a trait or issues strategy based on gender stereotypes. I tested these hypotheses using a large-scale content analysis of candidate websites over four election cycles. I found that female candidates mostly pursued strategies that were consistent with gender stereotypes. Interestingly, female candidates were found to have different strategies on different pages of their websites. I discuss the implications of gender-based strategies for the election of female candidates and for representation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This case study examines online news framing of a group rape occurring in a Liberian refugee community in Phoenix, Arizona, where four boys sexually assaulted an eight-year-old girl. Specifically, the paper analyzes how the website of the Phoenix-based Arizona Republic newspaper, azcentral.com, constructed the assault and its aftermath, focusing on what framing suggested about the causes of the crime and the role of identity discourses about gender, class, race, nation, and age. Findings suggest two dominant frames that blame the crime and its aftermath on Liberian culture by mobilizing identity discourse to construct youthful male Liberian refugees as violent “others,” and by suggesting that gang rape and victim-blaming are alien to American culture. A less prevalent frame counters the cultural explanation, pointing instead to individual responsibility. To some extent, dominant framing implicates social structures as a cause of rape, but overemphasizes race and nation to mask how they intersect with gender and age, thereby constructing the story in ways that support public anxiety about refugees more than progressive reforms to alleviate gender violence. The conclusions suggest that the frames identified follow established patterns for news constructions of gender violence involving young perpetrators of color. Thus, the study adds a new dimension to recent research likening online newspapers to their print predecessors in ways that reveal a cautious approach to the embrace of the innovative possibilities of internet-based news. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Office of the Federal Register introduced on January 20, 2009, the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents, a new serial that replaces its weekly counterpart and provides immediate coverage of presidential activities. This article examines its provenance, its predecessor, and the compilations in print and electronic editions. A portion of the article deals with presidential inaugural addresses, past and present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines two disturbing, post-2003 Iraq War representations of Saddam Hussein - the televised inspection of his disheveled body on his capture (December 2003) and television and internet footage of his execution (December 2006). These representations epitomize two very different examples of government control of information within the emergent tele-technological environment of Web 2.0. The portrayal of Saddam Hussein as a captured beast was controlled by the U.S. military, while sanitized footage of his execution was staged by the Iraqi government and intended to demonstrate that Saddam Hussein died “like all tyrants, frightened and terrified” (in the words of the Iraqi Prime Minister). While both official images intended to draw a line under the continued insurgencies in Iraq by depriving insurgents of their leader-in-hiding and leader-under-trial, the official version of his death was subverted through the distribution of illegally captured mobile phone video footage, which was subsequently retransmitted in mainstream news media. This raises questions about the nature and limits of strategic political communication in the context of Web 2.0 technologies where shocking but popular “sousveillant” content can reframe the ethical boundaries of mainstream news. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is now undisputed that information resources freely available on U.S. Internet sites can be valuable for answering appropriate ready reference inquiries. Such resources range from online directories (Switchboard.com and others) to online encyclopedias (Brittanica.com and others). How valuable are freely available Russian Internet resources for use in answering similar kinds of ready reference inquiries? This article makes an assessment by looking at a number of specific examples. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The USA has always prided itself on the defence of freedom for all its peoples, democracy as well as being on the leading edge of innovations. The USA, therefore, is a particularly unique setting for an examination of the rhetoric associated with the politics of adopting online learning technologies. This paper examines the context of the US on-line learning system with a particular focus on those aspects of the movement which appeal so keenly to Americans. Certain values are expressed in this movement which are almost uniquely American such as democracy, freedom, efficiency, independence, the vocational nature of education, and meritocratic schemes for education as a sorting mechanism for the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV/AIDS activists in the 1980s made up a significant cohort of early computer network users, who used Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) to create and circulate health information amongst PWA (People living with AIDS) communities. This article explores how these early adopters extended access to new computer networks by printing online information in newsletters. Their work bridged the sharing of text files over BBS – a novel-networked practice – with more traditional activist media tools familiar to readers trained in civil rights, homophile and feminist organizing. The article focuses on the Philadelphia-based organization Critical Path, led by Kiyoshi Kuromiya, who applied systems theories drawn from Buckminster Fuller’s work to the problem of HIV/AIDS. Critical Path’s print newsletter drew on BBS to put information in the hands of a wide constituency of PWAs and their allies. They targeted, in particular, PWA communities excluded from access to medical research trials based on race, gender, drug use or carceral status, and did so through a multimedia practice that recognized how access to emerging computer networks was similarly stratified. Through analysing Critical Path’s digital-to-print practice, I argue that HIV/AIDS activists approached new online networks as a fundamental equity issue shaped by their broader understandings of the structural violence performed by exclusion from good, up-to-date information. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An essay is presented regarding the presence of American labor history in the World Wide Web. It offers insights on the concerns about the future of labor history in the Internet as it creates a possibility to escape or imitate the anti-worker political biases that is commonly related to public history. It also analyzes several history sites that show the weak presence of labor history including the American Memory, Exhibit Hall, and Library of Congress' National Digital Library.

Reports on the availability of news items from the Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports on the Internet. Web site address; Exclusions in the electronic version; Subscription plans; Web browsers for the database; Regulations by the National Technical Information Service.

Osteoporosis burden is significant in cancer survivors. Websites providing health information abound, but their development, quality, and source of information remain unclear. Our aim was to use a systematic and transparent approach to create an educational website on bone health, and to evaluate its potential to improve knowledge, self-management, and awareness in prostate cancer (PCa) and breast cancer (BCa) survivors. Guided by the Health Belief Model, we created a website using international standards and evaluated it in 10 PCa and 10 BCa survivors with self-administered questionnaire before, after, and 1 month after navigating the website. The mean scores on the knowledge questionnaire at baseline, postintervention and 1 month were, respectively, 5.1 (±2.0), 6.9 (±2.5), and 6.7 (±2.4), p < .008, in PCa and 3.4 (±2.7), 7.6 (±3.0), and 6.5 (±3.8), p  = .016, in BCa survivors. Acceptability ratings ranged from 60% to 100%. Participants found the website useful, helpful, and able to raise bone health awareness. Our website improved bone health knowledge in both PCa and BCa survivors. A systematic and transparent approach to the development of online educational websites could result in a tool capable of meeting the educational needs of targeted consumers. Cancer survivors could benefit from proven online educational tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than 75,000 health care professionals worldwide share information and discuss treatments on Twitter, making it one of the most popular and influential social media sites for health. This engaging medium has enormous potential for establishing relationships and disseminating information among physicians, their colleagues, and patients. However, little is known about how physicians navigate Twitter and what challenges and benefits come from using the platform. By conducting in-depth interviews with 17 physicians who interact with Twitter at least once per week, it was revealed that physicians overcome concerns of privacy and time constraints to learn and share new research, connect with colleagues, manage online personas, and develop relationships with patients on a new level that goes beyond the typical office visit. Implications include the possibility of enriched patient-provider relationships due to physicians divulging opinions and personal information in a public forum to minimize established power structures and enable better communication. This exploratory study establishes that Twitter is fertile ground for future research to explore how the medium can influence patient behavior, alter attitudes, and influence communication between patients and providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charities seeking to increase donations are now offering charity gift cards (CGCs), which allow recipients to select how their gift card is allocated across various charitable projects. Supporting a model derived from self-determination theory, an experiment shows that U.S. consumers are more satisfied and more likely to donate to the card-sponsoring charity after using a CGC than after learning a donation has been made in their name, because CGCs enhance consumers’ felt autonomy, competence, and relationship with the charity and its projects, which predict a more charitable self-concept and satisfaction with the gift. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The narratives and images on websites of US hate groups that oppose undocumented immigrants represent and reproduce discourses that contribute to the subject formation of group members, who feel ethically obliged to counter unauthorized immigration. Left alone by the government, which is seen as unreliable and uncaring of patriotic values, they position themselves as heroic saviours of the nation. We argue that these hate groups’ ‘games of truth’ develop in response to the perception that irregular immigration threatens specific social orders and values, for instance about citizenship, national identity and otherness. This article helps to understand the ways in which anti-immigrant narratives serve the functions of countering these threats and of asserting the group members’ ethical obligation as a form of care of the self. In other words, from a Foucaultian viewpoint, we interpret the problematizations of ‘illegal’ immigration as discursive practices for the subject formation of hate group members. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a study which examined the ethical aspect of using Knowledge Discovery and Management (KDM) crowdsourcing in the intelligence community in the U.S. Topics discussed include the definition of crowdsourcing and its applications, crisis mapping web sites based on KDM crowdsourcing, and the definition of intelligence. A discussion on the concepts of human intelligence (HUMINT), open source intelligence (OSINT) and geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) is offered.

This article presents an empirical study that tests a new concept, “issue ownership network,” which is based on the network agenda setting (NAS) model and the theory of issue ownership. Big data analytics and semantic network analysis were used to examine the large data set collected on Twitter during the 2012 U.S. presidential election. Results showed that the news media could determine the public's identification of a political candidate with not just individual issues but also entire networks of issues. Here we argue that traditional news media still set the public agenda in this new media environment, and do so in ways more complicated through constructing message networks. The study also demonstrates that the NAS model and its unique focus can potentially enrich the understanding of other communication and social science theories and concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While the frequency of overt racism has decreased in most public spaces, being replaced by more subtly racialized narratives, the Internet appears to be an exception where explicit racism continues to proliferate. Online message boards dedicated to US collegiate basketball are sites where groups dominated by white male users discuss the lives and performances of young, primarily black, student-athletes. Against this backdrop, the current study investigated the racialized nature of discourse on college basketball message boards in cases where players were involved in disciplinary incidents. We found that, although overt mention of race was rare in these spaces, racialized assumptions and expectations often still shaped interpretations of players' actions. Reasons for the presence of such ‘colour-blind’ discourse are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research note attempts to map the Al Qaeda movement's trajectory from the 11 September 2001 attacks to the stunning events of 2014—which saw the continued rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), its expulsion from the Al Qaeda movement, followed by ISIS's stunning thrust into Iraq, its declaration of a caliphate, and the re-engagement of American military forces in this region. It attempts to place in context the Al Qaeda movement's evolution to explain why the United States under President Barack Obama, despite hopes and expectations to the contrary, is still enmeshed in the war on terrorism proclaimed by George W. Bush over a decade ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural geography has always involved multiple, sometimes conflicting, dialogues about what the subfield includes and should address, about how research within it should proceed, and about what theoretical approaches best capture the complicated relationship between something called “culture” and the production of space and place. This article examines the ways that these questions shape the work of cultural geographers in the classroom, especially the undergraduate classroom. As cultural geographers draw from an increasingly complex set of theories and frameworks, how do, or howcan, these theoretical ideas inform pedagogy? What might recent debates about representational and nonrepresentational theories in cultural geography look like in the introductory classroom? Drawing on my own experience of teaching cultural geography, this article reflects on the relationship between theoretical debates over the doing of cultural geography and pedagogical practices in the undergraduate classroom. As it shows, the move from debating the doing of cultural geography in academic publications to teaching cultural geography in the undergraduate classroom requires a set of translations that, to date, are poorly developed in the subfield, as well as a potential reorientation of audience in cultural geographic writings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Due to several high profile suicides and increased social acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) persons in the United States, significant media attention has focused on the occurrence of and factors that contribute to sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) suicide. Although previous research has established an increased likelihood of suicidal ideation among SGMY, no data exist on completed SGMY suicides in the United States or subsequent media coverage. This study examines variables related to completed SGMY suicides in the United States from written electronic media (N = 78) reports from 2004–12 using a mixed-method content analysis. Qualitative results indicate the presence of three major content domains: warning signs, denial of the problem, and conflicting reports. Quantitative results suggest a lack of contextual information but also increased media citation of prevention resources between 2010 and 2012. Clinical and public health implications of SGMY suicide media coverage are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For campaign consultants, the success of the Obama campaign and his utilization of new media technology have posed new conundrums. Candidates witnessed the media hype generated by Obama's techniques and have likely heard of the lower cost in some cases. As such, some candidates have asked consultants to move toward new media-based campaigns—in many cases an implausible request. This article examines two main questions: (1) whether candidates must choose between a tech savvy, youth-oriented strategy and a more traditional one and (2) what factors dictate this choice. Three case studies highlight different variables that potentially impact the ultimate success of local candidates relying on technology-based campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most medical organizations recommend informed decision making before undergoing prostate cancer screening. The authors conducted a detailed evaluation of men's use of an interactive, Web-based prostate cancer screening decision aid. Participants (N = 531) were 57 years old (SD = 6.8), 37% were African American, and 92% had Internet access. Men completed 2 telephone interviews, pre- and 1-month post–Web site availability. Half of the sample (n = 256) accessed the Web site. Multivariate analysis revealed that users were more likely than nonusers to be White (OR = 2.37, CI 1.6–3.6), previously screened (OR = 2.13, CI 1.07–4.26), have Internet access (OR = 3.66, CI 1.15–11.58), and to report daily Internet use (OR = 2.58, CI 1.47–4.55). Agreement between self-reported and actual Web site use was moderate (κ = .67). Tracking software revealed a mean of 1.3 (SD = 0.5) log-ons and a median of 38 min per log-on. Of participants, 84% used the values clarification tool, and more than 50% viewed each video testimonial. Baseline screening preference was associated with values clarification tool responses and Web site feedback. This study revealed that, beyond the digital divide, Web site use depended on more than Internet access. Further, electronic tracking of Web site use demonstrated overestimation of self-reported use, high use of interactive features, and effect of baseline screening preference on men's response to the Web site. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study uses fantasy theme analysis to examine reader comments on news articles at foxnews.com in an attempt to unravel the rhetorical vision that Fox readers construct to help them make political and personal sense of Barack Obama's presidency. Results describe the dramatic forms that readers envision and re-enact when articles about the president—favorable, unfavorable, or tangential—are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how mainstream journalists who microblog negotiate their professional norms and practices in a new media format that directly challenges them. Through a content analysis of more than 22,000 of their tweets (postings) on the microblog platform Twitter, this study reveals that the journalists more freely express opinions, a common microblogging practice but one which contests the journalistic norm of objectivity (impartiality and nonpartisanship). To a lesser extent, the journalists also adopted two other norm-related microblogging features: providing accountability and transparency regarding how they conduct their work, and sharing user-generated content with their followers. The journalists working for national newspapers, national television news divisions, and cable news networks were less inclined in their tweets than their counterparts working for less “elite” news outlets, to relinquish their gatekeeping role by sharing their stage with other news gatherers and commentators, or to provide accountability and transparency by providing information about their jobs, engaging in discussions with other tweeters, writing about their personal lives, or linking to external websites. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents excerpts on topics relating to U.S. unemployment and mobile computing and applications, it reviews websites such as Internet Slang.com located at http://www.internetslang.com/SMS.asp and SearchReSearch located at http://searchresearch1.blogspot.com/, and it offers summaries of research on topics such as change in British libraries and how much electricity Internet product provider Google, Inc. uses.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is well known for the nucleotide sequence archive, GenBank, and sequence analysis tool BLAST (basic local alignment search tool). However, NCBI integrates many types of biomolecular data from a variety of sources and makes it available to the scientific community as interactive web resources as well as organized releases of bulk data. These tools are available to explore and compare fungal genomes. Searching all databases with Fungi [organism] at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ is the quickest way to find resources of interest with fungal entries. Some tools though are resources specific and can be indirectly accessed from a particular database in the Entrez System. These include graphical viewers and comparative analysis tools such as TaxPlot, TaxMap, and UniGene DDD (found via UniGene Homepage). Genome Project and BioProject pages also serve as portals to external data such as community annotation websites, BioGrid, and UniProt. There are many different ways of accessing genomic data at NCBI. Depending on the focus and goal of research projects or the level of interest, a user would select a particular route for accessing genomic databases and resources. This review article describes methods of accessing fungal genome data and provides examples that illustrate the use of analysis tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to add insight into the historical relationship between journalism and public relations by asking how professional publications "taught" news release writing to public relations professionals between 1945, when journalism and public relations entered the postwar years confronted by challenges to their credibility, and 2000, when the Internet, the World Wide Web and, later, social media, began changing the tools and trade of journalism and public relations. The authors found that through trade and scholarly publications, the field of public relations maintained a lively conversation about writing during this period, with a focus on six overarching themes: matching angles with editors; the importance of structure; the importance of style; the importance of facts, honesty, and credibility; the importance of press relationships; and the importance of strategy. Overall, the discussions on basic writing angles, structure, and style remained consistent and in line with traditional journalism standards. Generally, however, the articles examined for this study failed to make a connection between good news release writing in the broader context of effective public relations strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One popular intelligent transportation systems (ITS) element that has been deployed in various areas of the United States is variable-message signs (VMSs). Such signs are part of advanced traveler information systems, and they can help drivers make better en route decisions regarding their trips. Unlike most other ITS elements (e.g., ramp metering, advanced signals), VMSs are not supported by mandatory regulations. Consequently, the expected benefit from implementing VMSs largely depends on the response of drivers. This study explored the factors affecting alternative route choices of car drivers with VMSs on the interstate highway system. This study adopted a method called LOTUS to analyze driver-compliance behavior with VMSs. Driver behavior under information provision through VMS data has been collected using the stated-preference approach. The study showed that travel-time saving is not the single dominant factor for driver route choice under information provision. This article explores variables that are associated with driver compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research indicates that many local governments are doing little to provide information and services to their citizens via the Internet, so more needs to be known about the underlying reasons for governments' adoption of web technology. A two-stage research project, statistical analysis followed by qualitative investigation, of a stratified random sample of American counties reveals the importance of advocacy by motivated individuals, both appointed and elected. The findings from both stages of this research underscore the importance of motivated professionals who choose to actively promote web technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most people in business now recognize the need for effective workplace behavioral health support services. The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) has emerged as a prime resource to help address this need. However, due to the growth of the EAP field, it has become challenging for employers and the business consultants who advise them to determine what is the right kind of EAP program, how to confidently select the right provider of EAP services, and how to best implement an EAP program so it is effective and delivers value to the organization. There are now a variety of resources that can support EAP purchasers and program managers in making these kinds of decisions. This article identifies five employer guides for EAP and other guides for related topics of behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse and misuse. An in-depth summary is provided of the 2009 report from the Employee Assistance Society of North America (EASNA), called Selecting and Strengthening Employee Assistance Programs: A Purchaser's Guide. Also summarized are the first 10 issues of the new series of brief reports from EASNA called Research Notes. All of these publications from EASNA are available to the public at no cost from the association's Web site (www.easna.org). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The virtual laboratories developed by a life sciences department at a public university in the US were designed for use by college students enrolled in an introductory biology course. The results analyses conducted to examine their effectiveness indicated that self-selected users of the virtual laboratories outperformed non-users on laboratory practical exams and on items relevant to the laboratories included on the final practical exam but not on the final exam or other tests. A second comparison of two groups of users and non-users, matched by their results on the first hourly exam confirmed the findings. The finding that the users were more successful than the non-users could not be supported by a conclusion that the students had initial differences in quality. The results were replicated in a second semester, virtual laboratories-relevant final exam items, but not on the final exam or other tests. Users expressed positive attitudes toward the virtual laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This annotated bibliography is intended as a guide to faculty members teaching courses on Victorian women, or in which Victorian women feature prominently. To make it as valuable as possible to scholars around the world, online sources have been chosen that are easily accessible to those with Internet access. Primary materials are a focus as these are the foundation of courses in many disciplines and can be used by instructors in a variety of ways. Suggestions on how to access information through these websites have been included to speed navigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customer experiences with shopping have been found to vary across different national cultures. However, few empirical studies have examined the differences in the relationship of customer satisfaction in online shopping with its determinants across national cultures. This study employs Hofstede's cultural values to examine the relative influence of the determinants of customer satisfaction in online shopping across the US and South Korea. The results indicate that the levels of relationship of customer satisfaction with its determinants were influenced by national cultures. For example, time saved was found to be a more important factor for customer satisfaction for US customers, compared to Korean customers. Website aesthetic quality, risk, and customer support were found to be more critical factors for Korean customer satisfaction. The results of the study will be useful in understanding the role of culture in customer satisfaction and help provide guidelines for developing online stores with a global reach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of endorsements in the 2004 presidential campaign by analyzing the Web sites of candidates and endorsing organizations. Because the Web sites are controlled by the respective organizations, examining their content provides objective information about the use of endorsements by candidates and endorsing organizations. The study finds that endorsements in the 2004 presidential election had very different roles and prominence for the Democratic and Republican nominees: there were very few publicized endorsements of President Bush. Analysis of the postings by 75 organizations, 71 of which supported Senator Kerry, shows that these organizations allocated more space to their endorsements than did the candidates. The candidates' Web sites tended to publicize the endorsements of larger organizations and more generous donors. Union endorsements tended to be posted by both the candidates and the organizations, but issue group endorsements were more often found only on the endorsing organizations' sites. Similarly, endorsements by organizations focused on the economy/jobs tended to be posted on both candidate and endorsing organization sites, whereas endorsements by organizations focused on social issues tended to appear only on endorsing organization Web sites. The Kerry Web site's emphasis of endorsements from organizations concerned with homeland and national security was not reciprocated on the Web sites of the organizations themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the extent to which U.S. campaigns are adapting traditional campaign strategies to the Web and/or developing innovative strategies that employ some of the particular affordances of Web technologies and on how well campaign characteristics, such as incumbency and major party affiliation, and/or race characteristics, such as statewide office and competitiveness, explain the level of a campaign's adaptation of or innovation with Web technologies. Adapting traditional campaigning proved to be far more common than developing innovative strategies. The findings suggest that additional aspects of campaigns' structure and organizational processes need to be studied in order to understand campaigns' Web technology adoption strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the potential utility of the Internet as a health promotion medium, relatively few studies have been devoted to online health promotion strategies and appeals in cross-cultural settings. This study explores how theory-based health promotion strategies and appeals are used differently in US and South Korean weight-loss websites. The findings of this study indicate that collectivistic culture-bound health promotion strategies are more prevalent in South Korean weight-loss websites than in their US counterparts. Furthermore, testimonials were the most dominant appeals shared by the two countries' websites while the use of advertising appeals (i.e., comparison, caricature/animation, demonstration, threat, and sex appeals) is significantly different between the two countries. Practical implications for both health communication and international advertising are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Availability of online Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations is contributing to a shift in medical writers' organizational role from a peripheral to a central role where their responsibilities for the persuasiveness of documents and compliance with evolving regulations have increased dramatically. Therefore, curricula for medical writers should include instruction in persuasion, collaboration, strategic and project management, the drug development process, and the location and interpretation of FDA regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computerized markets do not work the way the old securities markets once did. In the past, there were always market makers who stood between the buyer and the seller. Today, this is an antiquated system, relegated to such ancient institutions as the New York Stock Exchange. But this economist argues they are of far more than symbolic importance. Efficient markets will not guarantee liquidity, he says. The theory is wrong. And Keynes himself provides an important insight for how to proceed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Courts are citing to websites within reported judicial opinions-primary authority that attorneys rely on. If a website no longer exists-or has been updated so as to no longer reflect the content the court reviewed-what does that do to an attorney's ability to make an argument or analogize and distinguish? This article reviews published Washington and New York opinions, noting the types of websites cited, examining the viability of links, and analyzing how websites are used in opinions. The author contends that website permanence is not the only problem; lawyers and courts need to be trained in information literacy so that only authentic and credible Internet sources are cited as authority, and encourages librarians to aid in this effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines how social bookmarking technology on the Internet can assist national intelligence services to more accurately analyze and forecast events. Social bookmarking creates metadata with little cost and effort. It is a recognized failure of U.S. intelligence that the responsible agencies are poor at sharing and co-ordinating information. Social bookmarking software allows informal networks to be created across organizational boundaries, a crucial step towards better coordination.

Online travel agencies face increasing levels of competition and, thus, experience an ever greater need to evaluate the effectiveness of their Web sites. This study examines the influence of perceived Web site quality on willingness to use online travel agencies. Six core dimensions were identified and empirically tested regarding their impact on behavioral intentions using a survey of 311 local residents in the United States. Ease of Use was found to be the most important dimension in determining Willingness to Use, followed by Information/Content, Responsiveness, Fulfillment, and Security/Privacy. No significant relationship was found for Visual Appeal. Implications of the results for online travel agency Web sites and future research are discussed. doi:10.1300/J073v23n01_02 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The number of nonprofit religious organizations continues to grow in the United States, and most of them now operate an organizational Web site. However, the organizations surveyed for this research were found to be underutilizing their Web sites. Most of the organizations surveyed gave the Web sites less attention than other types of media contact with members, did not view their Web sites as recruiting tools, did not know how many members were using the sites, and few of them employed Internet professionals to oversee and maintain the sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, candidates and other political actors have dramatically increased their presence and activities online. Although the notion of these activities reaching beyond a limited set of early-adopters is relatively new, younger citizens have long been at the forefront of new developments on the web and continue to make up a substantial proportion of those seeking political information online. Given longstanding concern over levels of civic and political engagement among young people, questions concerning what young people seeking information and opportunities for political involvement online might find there are particularly relevant. In particular, we explore political websites that are directly targeted at younger voters (e.g. Rock the Vote and similar sites), websites produced by candidates and political parties, and possible linkages between these two web spheres. Based on content and hyperlink analyses spanning the 2002 and 2004 US election cycles, we find a complex evolution of the online political information environment offered to youth. Although the youth engagement web sphere experienced dramatic growth during this time period, our data also identify a reluctance of many mainstream political actors to speak directly to young people through the web, and a surprising underdevelopment of linkages between youth politics websites and the wider web of political information online. We conclude by considering the implications of these patterns for future research on the role of new media in processes of political communication and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pathfinder lists print and electronic resources for locating federal administrative law and related materials produced by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The author specifically notes which electronic resources are free to all users and which are available only to paying subscribers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Outlines key online information resources for business statistics in the U.S. Government and private companies Web sites; Web site which provides free copies of articles related to business statistics; Highlights on the information contained by each Web site.

US newspapers that publish electronic editions on the internet do not appear to reinvent themselves online. Instead the web versions reproduce the substance of their print editions in a way that relates similarly to readers. Reaching stories online can be a process involving multiple screen jumps and scrolls but only a few stories have added features, such as hyperlinks to additional information, images, or interactive resources. Newspaper stories online differ very little from those printed in the originating newspapers. The internet versions do not usually add to or change the text of the stories, and their presentation is visually meagre, especially compared with print, which has a richer typographical range and presents many more images. The results suggest that print publishers use their internet presence as a low-cost place holder that guards their US market position and erects a barrier to the entry of geographical competitors and ideological alternatives in the US news arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arizona's 20-20 Challenge is a web site for hikers, created for the Arizona Office of Tourism. The web site lists the 20 highest summit trails and the 20 deepest canyon trails of Arizona, and provides maps and information for each. The Challenge offers a southwestern twist on the increasingly popular concept of 'peak bagging', which is extended here for the first time to canyons. Developing the list proved to be more challenging than expected, in part because of the difficulty of determining what qualifies as a summit or canyon, whether the summit or canyon is independent of its neighbours and whether an open trail exists. Recreational, cultural and environmental factors were taken into account in addition to geo morphological criteria. The design and content of the web site is described and compared to other peak-bagging sites, which vary greatly in their emphases. Two such web sites, for Scotland and the Adirondacks, indicate that peak-baggers have completed at least 800,000 hikes in the two regions combined and that the activity is accelerating in popularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]