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This article provides information on the 1989 Gerd Muehsam Award being given by the Art Libraries Society of North America. The award is being given to students of a library science graduate program for their outstanding paper on art or visual resources librarianship. The winner will receive a one-year membership in the Society and a cash award.

Summarizes the proceeding of conferences and meetings of the International Federation of Library Associations & Institutions (IFLA) in Montreal, Quebec, from August 22-28, 1982. Meetings of the IFLA Art Section; Papers on art librarianship discussed; Business meetings of the IFLA Art Section.

Editorial. Focuses on the role of professional conferences in the American visual arts. Fixtures of modern professional life; Pressure to public academic papers; Acceptance of a conference topic or paper; Representation of the visual arts at the American Studies Association.

The article presents updates concerning the Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) as of December 1, 1987. It reports on the ARLIS/NA 15th Anniversary Fund Drive which aimed to raise $15,000, the proceeds of which will solely support the publication of the society's occasional papers. The fund drive which was officially launched at the society's membership meeting has as to date raised a total of $2,515. It also reports that the 1987 ARLIS/NA Handbook and List of Members is currently in production. The Western Regional Meeting of the society is scheduled for July 8 to 10, 1987.

This article focuses on a session during the 20th conference of the Arts Libraries Society which addressed the development and use of books by artists at the School of Art Institute and discussed the growth and relation of the collection to the curriculum at the Cleveland Institute of Art. The presentations in this panel discussion emphasized the specific needs of the student and working artist and clearly showed the conflict between easy access and the need for preservation.

Reports on the appeals made by the War Production Board to schools in the U.S. regarding its wastepaper campaign. Collection of wastepaper for the week ending July 15, 1944; Purpose of the organization; Efforts of other agencies to participate in the campaign.

This paper studies how communication allows for the specialized acquisition of knowledge. It shows that a knowledge-based hierarchy is a natural way to organize the acquisition of knowledge when matching problems with those who know how to solve them is costly. In such an organization, production workers acquire knowledge about the most common or easiest problems confronted, and specialized problem solvers deal with the more exceptional or harder problems. The paper shows that the model is consistent with stylized facts in the theory of organizations and uses it to analyze the impact of changes in production and information technology on organizational design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section offers updates on several conferences held in the U.S. on February 1983 which focused on art documentation. Conservators met in May and in September 1982 in the U.S. and addressed a number of areas of concern. The Tenth Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from May 26 to 30, 1982 and contained a wealth of information for those interested in book and paper conservation. The 1982 Congress of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, the parent of AIC, was held in Washington, D.C. from September 3 to 9, 1982. Over 700 delegates from around the world attended. Its theme was Science and Technology in the Service of Conservation, and papers focused on the collaboration between conservators and scientists. The Society of American Archivists met in Boston, Massachusetts from October 19 to 22, 2005. Its theme was Only One Among Many: Cooperation and Coordination among Allied Disciplines and Professions.

The article provides information on periodicals that focus on rock art studies. The premier periodical in the field of rock art studies is "Rock Art Research," published by the Australian Rock Art Research Association and the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations. "Rock Art Quarterly," from the Rock Art Association of Canada, features articles that tend to be theoretical in nature. "Sahara," edited by Alfred Muzzolini, is printed on heavy, glossy paper with reproduced illustrations.

The article presents a report concerning the activities of the publications committee of the Art Libraries Society of North America in 1987. The committee has published in July Occasional Paper No. 6, Authority Control Symposium, edited by Karen Muller and by October it has also published Occasional Paper No. 7, Procedural Guide to Automating an Art Library, edited by Patricia Barnett and Amy Lucker. Ars Libri Ltd. has assumed the printing costs for both publications. The committee is working on the Occasional Paper No. 8, Grant Development Strategies for Large and Small Libraries expected to be released in the spring of 1988.

Property rights are one of the most fundamental and highly robust institutions supporting economic performance. However, the channels through which property rights are achieved are not adequately identified. This paper is a first step toward unbundling the black box of property rights into a formal and aninformal component.We empirically determine the significance of both informal and formal rules in securing property rights. We find that when both components are included in the analysis, the impact of formal constraints is greatly diminished, while informal constraints are highly significant in explaining the security of property. These results are robust to a variety of model specifications, multiple instrumental variables, and a range of control variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces two awards given by the American Society of Naturalists to scientists including the Sewall Wright Award to biologist Dolph Schluter and the E. O. Wilson Award to ecologist Trevor Price.

The article reports on the activities that happened in 2006 for the American Society of Naturalists. The executive meeting held June 23, 2006 emphasized on the success of the three-editor system and electronic papers of the society's publication. The business meeting of the society focused on the presentation of the anti-wedge document to the Joint Council, which establishes medium-term and long-term goals to defend and promote the teaching of evolutionary biology. The next meeting of the joint committee pointed on the support of the Joint Council to the anti-wedge document.

The article focuses on the highlights of the Art Libraries Society of North America's (ARLIS/NA) membership meeting. James Griffith of the Southwest Folklore Center at the University of Arizona talked on the arts and crafts in the region. ARLIS/NA President Ann Abid read a letter supporting the passage of a bill encouraging the use of acid-free paper in publication and presented the results of the By-laws education. William Keller was introduces as Library Legislative Day representative. Beryl Smith was introduced as editor of "Art Documentation.

The article highlights the meeting of the Publications Committee of the Art Libraries Society of North America. Chairman Barbara Polowy gave the opening remarks. She thanked the members of the Publications Committee who have started a second year for their work and introduced the new members. She also announced that Paula Baxter will be the Publications Committee's new liaison to the Executive Board.

The article reports on issues discussed at the meeting of the Gerd Muehsam Award Committee of the Art Libraries Society of North America. The committee discussed several problems which include the solicitation of research papers on art librarianship and visual resources curatorship and the deadline for submission. It also discussed changes in the logistics of the awards, particularly the travel award. It also reconsidered its standards for judging research papers.

Features the 49th Council and General Conference of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions held in Munich, Germany in August 1983. Topics discussed at the conference; Speakers at the conference; Activities that were initiated as part of the event.

The article presents the report of the American Society of Naturalists (ASN)Secretary in 2009. It mentions that the society will conduct its annual election for its new set of officers such as president, vice-president, and secretary on March 12, 2009. It states that recording the committee membership, updating the ASN's website, and updating the ASN Officer's handbook are the major task of the secretary of the society. It notes that Robert Ricklefs has been elected as president, David Reznick as vice-president, and Daniel Bolnick as secretary in 2010. It also presents the minutes of the ASN executive committee meeting in Moscow, Idaho from June 19-16, 2009.

This paper examines the incentives of private actors to invest in cybersecurity. Prior analyses have examined investments in security goods, such as locks or safes, that have the characteristics of private goods. The analysis in this paper extends this analysis to examine expenditures on security goods, such as information, that have the characteristics of public goods. In contrast to the private goods case, where individual uncoordinated security expenditures can lead to an overproduction of security, the public goods case can result in the underproduction of security expenditures, and incentives to free ride. Thus, the formation of collective organizations may be necessary to facilitate the production of public security goods, and the protection of information produced by the collective organization should be a central feature of such organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the importance of "property rights institutions," which protect citizens against expropriation by the government and powerful elites, and "contracting institutions," which enable private contracts between citizens. We exploit exogenous variation in both types of institutions driven by colonial history and document strong first-stage relationships between property rights institutions and the determinants of European colonization strategy (settler mortality and population density before colonization) and between contracting institutions and the identity of the colonizing power. Using this instrumental variables approach, we find that property rights institutions have a first-order effect on long-run economic growth, investment, and financial development. Contracting institutions appear to matter only for the form of financial intermediation. A possible explanation for this pattern is that individuals often find ways of altering the terms of their formal and informal contracts to avoid the adverse effects of weak contracting institutions but find it harder to mitigate the risk of expropriation in this way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the comparative history of International Science Congresses under Adolf Hitler's Germany, Josef Stalin's Russia and the Cold War United States. Modern scientific internationalism and views of scientists; Role of states in international scientific relations.

Bias in the composition of interest communities is often explained by reference to variations in the collective action constraint facing voluntary and nonvoluntary organizations. But with the exception of literature on PAC formation, studies of direct institutional mobilization are rare. More often than not, their mobilization advantages vis-à-vis problems of collective action are simply assumed. This paper fills this gap by testing the collective action hypothesis on direct institutional mobilization. We argue that the PAC studies are flawed as tests of this hypothesis; they study the wrong mode of political activity and use selective samples and limited research designs. We develop a new test using state data on seven types of institutions to solve these problems. We also compare the collective action problem facing institutions to the related problems facing voluntary organizations. We find strong evidence of collective action problems in institutional mobilization, problems that make interest populations of nonvoluntary and voluntary organizations appear far more similar than commonly thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides information on several decisions made by the board of the Art Libraries Society North America (ARLIS/NA) highlighted in an October 1989 issue of ARLIS/NA Update. They include the resolving of the transfer of inactive papers of all components of the society, initiate an oral history program and start support for research by ARLIS/NA members among others.

The article reports on the topics discussed at the meeting of the Publications Committee of the Art Libraries Society of North America. The committee had a brief discussion of its current projects which included the Grant Development Occasional Paper and the Space Planning Paper. The committee also discussed the proposal of Trudy Buxton Jacoby to publish the 8th edition of "Guide to Slide Resources to Illustrate Gardner's Art Through the Ages." It also reviewed its relationship with the Advisory Board of the "Art Documentation/Update."

The article presents a report from the president of the Art Libraries Society of North America. It provides information on a July 1987 Executive Board meeting which included discussions on conference programming, affiliation with other organizations, fundraising and restructuring of the society's organization. It reports on the success of the society's 15th Anniversary Fund Drive and the development by the membership committee of a survey designed to gauge the membership's attitudes towards a variety of topics concerning the society.

The article provides information on the meeting by the Professional Development Committee of the Art Libraries Society of North America. The meeting was called to order by Ray Anne Lockard, chair, who distributed a current list of members' names and addresses and welcomed new members Rosann Auchsteter and Linda Swieszkowksi. The formal change of name of the committee from Education Committee to Professional Development Committee was announced.

The article deals with the Gerd Muehsam Award Committee Meeting held at the Art Libraries Society of North America conference in Los Angeles, California on February 9, 1985. The announcement of the award itself and the qualifications of applicants were discussed. One of the papers was disqualified. The possibility of publishing winning papers was also discussed.

Information about the first conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists that was held in Coimbra, Portugal from August 31, 1990 to September 3, 1990 is presented. Anthropologist Ernest Gellner spoke about some of the challenges posed by the proposed reunification of Europe in his inaugural speech. About 450 social anthropologists from many European countries attended the conference.

This paper develops a theory of the allocation of formal authority (the right to decide) and real authority (the effective control over decisions) within organizations, and it illustrates how a formally integrated structure can accommodate various degrees of "real" integration. Real authority is determined by the structure of information, which in turn depends on the allocation of formal authority. An increase in an agent's real authority promotes initiative but results in a loss of control for the principal. After spelling out (some of) the main determinants of the delegation of formal authority within organizations, the paper examines a number of factors that increase the subordinates' real authority in a formally integrated structure: overload, lenient rules, urgency of decision, reputation, performance measurement, and multiplicity of superiors. Finally, the amount of communication in an organization is shown to depend on the allocation of formal authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers imperfect information about the agent's effort in a principal-agent relationship. It is shown that, under some smoothness conditions, the marginal value of such information, at the point of no information, is zero. This result is used to analyze the optimal level of monitoring in an organization and the nature of hierarchical organizations. In this paper, I have examined the nature of monitoring in a principal-agent model and its implications for organizational structure. I showed that, under some smoothness assumptions, there are initially increasing returns to information, and I explored the implications of this result for the hierarchical structure of an organization. In particular, I clarified some issues of decentralization: the distinction between a "factory" and "putting-out" system and the degree of decentralization of payment decisions. I focused on the determination of optimal monitoring and of optimal payment rules in a general framework. Specialization of assumptions, and hence more specific conclusions, remain a topic for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the projects of the North American Art Library Resources Committee of the Art Libraries Society of North America. The committee conducted a feasibility study for the projects, National Coordinated Cataloging Operation and the Getty Art History Information Program. The project motivated the committee to create a Strategic plan which would focus on the compilation of artists' register of artists' papers.

The article presents information on book publishing in the field of Anthropology in the U.S. The publishing of Anthropological books has been affected by the shrinkage of the market and financial shortage. The current situation of the book publishing in Anthropology can be determined by a study commissioned by the Association of American University Presses in 1988. In the U.S., university presses, academically oriented commercial publishing houses and the textbook divisions of commercial publishers publish Anthropology books. Despite the fragmentation of the field and the lack of anthropologists and students, book publishing in anthropology has remained healthy.

The article offers news briefs about library preservation in the U.S. as of December 1984. Carla Montori of the Yale University Preservation Department has participated in the Library Preservation: Implementing Programs conference sponsored by the Resources & Technical Services Division of the American Library Association with cooperation of the Library of Congress. Ellen McCrady was hired as preservation librarian at Brigham Young University Library. A grant was presented by Steelcase Inc. to Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio Foundation.

Presents updates on activities related to library material preservation in the U.S. as of December 1982. Factors to consider when packing and mailing books; Proceeding of the 1982 American Library Association Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Theme of the Manuscript Society meeting in Williamsburg, Virginia.

The article highlights the joint session of the Art Libraries Society of North America and the College Art Association that was held at the Omni-Shoreham Hotel in Washington on February 21, 1991. Alfred E. Willis, the moderator of the session, introduced the subject "The Art History Information System," to build on the 1990 joint session which was entitled "Anticipating Art History's Needs: The Role of Art Research Institutions in Interdisciplinary Study." Willis stated that art historians participate in a complex social system that includes artists, curators and a variety of information professionals. Papers that were submitted for the session offered different perspectives on the art history information system in mutation.

The article presents a report from the treasurer of the Art Libraries Society of North America. It shows the income and expense figures for the society's 1987 budget with fiscal year ending in September 30. It reports a revenue of $33,429.13 over expenses. It discusses factors that were considered in drafting the 1988 tentative budget for fiscal year that runs from October 1 to September 30.

The article presents reports related to the American Society of Naturalists (ASN) chronicling the activities of the society. The secretary's activities this year were focused on conducting the annual election. Balloting was strictly electronic. Michele Dudash presented the 2004 Treasurer's Report. She reported that the ASN's investments, now managed by Betsy Etges of Morgan Stanley, are performing as well as can be expected given the current financial market and the size of the funds. Kari Roane of the University of Chicago Press presented the business report. Circulation of the journal "The American Naturalist" is on a downward trend and has fallen 10% this past year, reflecting the trend in other membership-based societies. Michael Whitlock presented the 2005 American Naturalist editor's report. Betsy Etges of Morgan Stanley presented an ASN financial report. The society's previous arrangement involved multiple investments and eroding finances; ASN now has a consistent and committed broker and CPA, and fees have been halved. The issue of student travel awards was revisited. Michele Dudash proposed that for 2006 and future domestic meetings, ASN will offer 10 awards of $300 each to students.

This paper interprets John Dewey's understanding of the political function of local associations in terms of his aesthetic theory. Through this analysis it becomes clear that Dewey saw the spatio-temporal, or aesthetic, fragmentation of modern institutions, media, and ideas as undermining citizens' ability to perceive the relationships between themselves and society. This phenomenon causes the individual to become "lost" and unaware of how public events impact his/her individual life. It then shows that Dewey's concern with social aesthetics is shared by an increasing number of contemporary empirical and theoretical works. Finally through analyzing the unique aesthetic characteristics of American pioneer life, it claims Dewey suggests that the construction of associations would assist the individual in locating himself/herself in fragmented society and therefore realizing the public implications of his/her seemingly isolated actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the international calendar of events. The 9th International Oral History Conference will be held on June 13 to 16, 1996 at Göteborg, Sweden. The 1996 Conference of the International Society for Comparative Study of Civilizations will be held on June 21 to 23, 1996 at Pomona, California. The 13th International Congress of the Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences will be held on September 8 to 14, 1996 at Forlì, Italy.

The article focuses on the meeting of the Travel Award Committee of the Art Libraries Society of North America. The meeting was attended by members of both the 1986 and 1987 Committees and was presided by Lynette Korenic over the beginning of the meeting. The meeting was turned over to the 1987 Chair James Carmin who raised issues that the committee should pursue in 1987, including the establishment of additional guidelines addressing eligibility requirements that restrict Travel Award Committee members from applying for an award while serving on the committee.

The paper examines whether unionization by workers discourages the adoption of labor-saving techniques. This is done in the context of an oligopolistic industry with a small number of firms, some of which are unionized. We find that unionization can actually encourage the adoption of labor-saving technology, provided that the technological improvement is mild and that demand is sufficiently high (or demand elasticity sufficiently low). If there is an effective threat of entry that causes the union to moderate its wage demands, then unionization may encourage the adoption of new technology even at low levels of demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how measurement error biases longitudinal estimates of union effects. It develops numerical examples, statistical models, and econometric estimates which indicate that measurement error is a major problem in longitudinal data sets, so that longitudinal analyses do not provide the research panacea for determining the effects of unionism (or other economic forces) some have suggested. There are three major findings: (1) The difference between the cross-section and longitudinal estimates is attributable in large part to random error in the measurement of who changes union status. Given modest errors of measurement, of the magnitudes observed, and a moderate proportion of workers changing union status, also of the magnitudes observed, measurement error biases estimated effects of unions downward by substantial amounts. (2) Longitudinal analysis of the effects of unionism on nonwage and wage outcomes tends to confirm the significant impact of unionism found in cross-section studies, with the longitudinal estimates of both nonwage and wage outcomes lower in the longitudinal analysis than in the cross-section analysis of the same data set. (3) The likely upward bias of cross- section estimates of the effect of unions and the likely downward bias of longitudinal estimates suggests that, under reasonable conditions, the two sets of estimates bound the "true" union impact posited in standard models of what unions do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section offers updates from the different committees of the Art Libraries Society of North America as of June 1991. The 1990 Art Documentation and ARLIS/NA Update Advisory Board focused on a review of the past activities of this group. The purpose and goals of the board were covered at the 1991 business meeting of the group. On March 12, 1991, the Cataloging Advisory Committee held its annual meeting, in which the committee discussed several important issues. One of which was the proposed use of the Cataloging Section column in "ARLIS/NA Update" as a forum for a collective tracking project focused on local subject headings.

This paper is concerned with certain criticisms commonly leveled at the practice of high school tracking. Specifically, we are interested in knowing whether students are actually assigned to the tracks they select for themselves, whether low-SES pupils are more likely to be "cooled out" of choosing a college track, and whether the net effect of the tracking procedure is to increase the relationship between SES and track placement. We found little evidence to support critics' positions on these matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Harsanyi has provided an intriguing argument that social welfare can be expressed as a weighted sum of individual utilities. His theorem has been criticized on the grounds that a central axiom, that social preference satisfies the independence axiom, has the morally unacceptable implication that the process of choice and considerations of ex ante fairness are of no importance. This paper presents a variation of Harsanyi's theorem in which the axioms are compatible with a concern for ex ante fairness. The implied mathematical form for social welfare is a strictly quasi-concave and quadratic function of individual utilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the meeting of the Northern Illinois Teachers' Association. The topic of the meeting was "Nature-Study and Geography." In the meeting teachers strongly supported elimination of old way of teaching geography. A discussion was held on "Criteria for the Selection of Material in Geography and Nature-Study." A paper titled "An Outline for a Course of Study in Nature-Study and Geography for the Period of Adolescence," was also discussed by Zonia Baber. For adolescents study should be extensive and cover a wide range of topics. For them it is necessary to include fieldwork in their curriculum.

Information about several papers discussed at a meeting of the parent's association is presented. The topics discussed include "Would a More Elastic Curriculum Better Serve the Interests of the School and the Children?," "How Far Should the Policy of Special Teachers for Specific Subjects be Carried, Especially in the Lower Grades," and "Home Work." The meeting was opened by James H. Tufts, who had prepared the program.

The article presents news relevant to members of the American Society of Naturalists (ASN). The 2006 annual meeting of ASN will be held on June 23-27, 2006 in Stony Brook, New York. "The American Naturalist" periodical announces the revival of the "Naturalist History Miscellany," which appeared in the periodical from 1867 to 1872. The nominations for the 2006 Edward O. Wilson Naturalist Award is open. Meanwhile, the 86th annual meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists will be held on June 17-21, 2006 at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts.

The article reports on acceptance of papers and important documents by the West Coast Regional Center of the Archives of American Art in the United States. These include papers of Elmer Bischoff, Nathan Oliveira, Glenn Wessels, Col. C.E.S. Wood, Albert Elsen, Irma Engel Grabhorn, and records of The Sketch Club and Quay Gallery. It also reports on the conclusion in June of Northwest Asian American Art Project and the direction of its second phase towards acquiring papers and conducting taped interviews.