bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Read, Rhyme, and Romp
Authors: McNeil Heather
Published: March 2024

Designed to promote literacy in young children and to empower parents, educators, and librarians, this guide is filled with simple strategies, creative activities, and detailed instructions that help make reading fun.

Encouraging a love of reading in young children can be a source of both great frustration and immense joy. This handy resource provides essential tips, techniques, and strategies for making early literacy development fun and inspiring a lifelong love of reading.

Read, Rhyme, and Romp: Early Literacy Skills and Activities for Librarians, Teachers, and Parents explores the six basic pre-literacy skills that experts agree are necessary for a young child to be ready to learn to read. Special sections within each chapter are dedicated to the specific needs of preschool teachers, parents, and librarians, making the content relevant to different settings. Recommended book lists, personal anecdotes, and literacy-rich activities combine to create an effective and accessible plan for implementing an early literacy program.
Reading Barbara Kingsolver
Authors: Houston Lynn M. , Warren Jennifer
Published: March 2024

Best-selling author Barbara Kingsolver's life and works are explored in this comprehensive, unique reference guide. Ideal for book club members and essential for high school students, this valuable resource introduces the plot summaries as well as theme and character analysis for seven of Kingsolver's major works. Kingsolver's usual topics, primarily focusing on the working class, environmental issues, feminism, and Native American studies, are closely examined in relation to current events and contemporary popular culture. Also discussed are Kingsolver's presence on the Internet, as well as the media's reception of the author. Each chapter concludes with thought-provoking, analytical discussion questions, ideal for encouraging book club conversation as well as stimulating classroom discussion. The What Do I Read Next chapter will delight readers who enjoy Kingsolver's work. This guide is a must-have for public and high school library shelves!

Best-selling author Barbara Kingsolver's life and works are explored in this comprehensive, unique reference guide. Ideal for book club members and essential for high school students, this valuable resource introduces the plot summaries as well as theme and character analysis for seven of Kingsolver's major works. Kingsolver's usual topics, primarily focusing on the working class, environmental issues, feminism, and Native American studies, are closely examined in relation to current events and contemporary popular culture. Also discussed are Kingsolver's presence on the Internet, as well as the media's reception of the author. Each chapter concludes with thought-provoking, analytical discussion questions, ideal for encouraging book club conversation as well as stimulating classroom discussion. The What Do I Read Next chapter will delight readers who enjoy Kingsolver's work. This guide is a must-have for public and high school library shelves!
Reading Julia Alvarez
Authors: Trupe Alice L.
Published: March 2024

This comprehensive overview of Julia Alvarez's fiction, nonfiction, and poetry offers biographical information and parses the author's important works and the intentions behind them.

Reading Julia Alvarez reviews the author's acclaimed body of writing, exploring both the works and the woman behind them. The guide opens with a brief biography that includes the saga of the Alvarez family's flight from the Dominican Republic when Julia was ten, and carries her story through the philanthropic organic coffee farm that she and her husband now operate in that nation.

The heart of the book is a broad overview of Alvarez's literary achievements, followed by chapters that discuss individual works and a chapter on her poetry. The book also looks at how the author's writings grapple with and illuminate contemporary issues, and at Alvarez's place in pop culture, including an examination of film adaptations of her books. Through this guide, readers will better understand the relevance of Alvarez's works to their own lives and to new ways of thinking about current events.
Reading the Homeless
Authors: Min Eungjun
Published: March 2024

As one of our country's major social problems, homelessness is often in the news. The media tend to portray the homeless as drunk, stoned, crazy, or sick individuals—a portrayal that is only partly accurate and represents an obstacle to our understanding of the wider social implications of this complex issue. This edited collection examines the various ways—both verbal and visual—in which the homeless have been portrayed by the media from the 1980s to the present day. The contributors apply different frameworks, ranging from phenomenology to culture studies, to analyze the characteristics, implications, and consequences of the stories and images disseminated by the media.
The Receding Shadow of the Prophet
Authors: Takeyh Ray , Gvosdev Nikolas K.
Published: March 2024

The tragic events of September 11, 2001, in the United States renewed fears of an Islamist wave destabilizing the countries of the Muslim world. Yet the alarm raised over a previous wave of Islamism in the early 1990s, which threatened to overwhelm Egypt and Algeria and spill into the Balkans and Central Asia, proved to be unfounded. Takeyh and Gvosdev assert that while Islamism has been successful as an oppositional ideology of wrath, it has failed to provide Islamic societies with any feasible alternative to undertaking fundamental political and economic reforms. By detailing the defeat of Islamist movements in the Middle East, the Balkans, and Central Asia over the last decade, this book encourages us not to overestimate the Islamist threat in the current climate and the years to come.

Radical Islamists have been successful in mobilizing opposition to corrupt regimes, yet they have failed to translate their utopian vision into reality. Furthermore, their emphasis on violence alienates and frightens the middle class and other potential allies. Iran's revolution failed to create a model Islamic republic, and its government is increasingly losing legitimacy to demands for genuine democracy. Islamist governments in Afghanistan and Sudan relied upon violence to remain in power and ultimately collapsed. Islamist movements proved unable to dislodge the existing regimes in Egypt and Algeria. In the Balkans and Central Asia, Islamism has had little attraction for Western-oriented populations. Indeed, throughout the entire Islamic world, former radicals are seeking a new accommodation between Islamic values and liberal democracy. Takeyh and Gvosdev succinctly and accessibly explore the rise of radical Islam, as well as its ultimate demise in various nations.
The Recognition of States
Authors: Grant Thomas D.
Published: March 2024

Thomas D. Grant examines the Great Debate over state recognition, tracing its eclipse, and identifying trends in contemporary international law that may explain the lingering persistence of the terms of that debate. Although writers have generally accepted the declaratory view as more accurate than its old rival, the judicial sources often cited to support the declaratory view do not on scrutiny do so as decisively as commonly assumed. Contemporary doctrinal preference requires explanation. Declaratory doctrine, in its apparent diminution of the role state discretion plays in recognition, is in harmony, Grant asserts, with contemporary aspirations for international law. It may seem to many writers, he believes, that international governance functions better in a conceptual framework that reduces the power of states to legislate what entities are states.
Recognizing Women’s Leadership
Authors: Lennon Tiffani
Published: March 2024

According to recent data on women leaders across all major sectors in the United States, women are outperforming men but earning less and still hitting the glass ceiling. This book uncovers the best practices to remedy these inequities, optimize performance, and benefit both genders.

In compiling and analyzing 2011–2012 data on women leaders across all major sectors in the United States, author Tiffani Lennon, JD, uncovered proof that women are outperforming men–yet salaries and positional leadership roles are disproportionate to the performance and accomplishments of women in nearly all sectors. Recognizing Women's Leadership: Strategies and Best Practices for Employing Excellence presents a comprehensive look at agencies and organizations with the smallest pay gap and the largest percentage of female positional leaders to reveal best practices and strategies that ensure gender parity and optimal business performance, including impact, revenue, and efficacy.

The study examined in this book included approximately 1,500 for-profit companies, not-for-profit businesses, and other organizations and associations throughout the country to establish the number of women leaders among the top echelon in each industry. Researchers also calculated leadership performance by identifying the frequency with which women received industry distinctions and awards, were top revenue generators, and achieved best-sellers list status, among other sector-specific criteria. The ramifications of the study's findings portend the future of the United States as a global competitor and as such need to be part of the public discourse surrounding the state of the American economy.
The Remnant Spirit
Authors: Cowan Douglas E.
Published: March 2024

Over the past few decades, mainline Protestant denominations in North America have been experiencing a significant decline in membership, active participation, and financial contributions. In the midst of this decline, these denominations have been caught up in a variety of controversial religious, ecclesiastical, and social issues—a shift from neo-orthodox to liberal theology, the advent of inclusive liturgical and biblical language, denominational support for often controversial social issues, and heated debates around human sexuality, particularly the place of homosexuals in the church. To address these issues and concerns, and to recapture the traditionalism many feel their churches have abandoned, the remnant faithful, those who choose to stay in their churches, have formed a number of reform and renewal movements. Cowan examines these emergent social movements, providing anecdotal and lively examples of their activities, their arguments, their identities, and their approaches to strengthening their churches.

Rather than leave denominations which they regard as increasingly hostile to theological and ecclesiastical traditionalism, many mainline Protestants have chosen to stay and fight for their churches, forming reform and renewal movements intended to address hot-button issues in the way their churches function and practice. These conservative reform movements, however, are often vilified by their more liberal co-religionists, and not infrequently regarded as theologically immature, doctrinally stagnant, and ecclesiastically belligerent. The Remnant Spirit demonstrates that these are simplistic and reductivist analyses that only serve to avoid the very issues around which reform movements emerge and evolve. The author provides an in-depth examination of four major North American denominations, and the various conservative reform and renewal movements taking place in each, while acknowledging that every mainline Protestant Church in the U.S. and Canada is contending with similar issues and addressing them in similar fashions. Here, the voices of the remnant faithful, those that contribute to denominational discussions as they are experienced by ordinary church members and leaders alike, are presented and discussed in a thoughtful and lively manner.
Reorganizing the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Authors: Lederman Gordon
Published: March 2024

The Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 is the most important legislation to affecting U.S. national defense in the last 50 years. This act resulted from frustration in Congress and among certain military officers concerning what they believed to be the poor quality of military advice available to civilian decision-makers. It also derived from the U.S. military's perceived inability to conduct successful joint or multi-service operations. The act, passes after four years of legislative debate, designated the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the principal military advisor to the President and sought to foster greater cooperation among the military services. Goldwater-Nichols marks the latest attempt to balance competing tendencies within the Department of Defense, namely centralization versus decentralization and geographic versus functional distributions of power.

As a result of the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has achieved prominence, but his assignment is somewhat contradictory: the spokesman and thus the advocate for the Commander in Chief, while simultaneously the provider of objective advice to the President. While the act did succeed in strengthening the CINCs' authority and in contributing to the dramatic U.S. achievements in the Gulf War, the air and ground campaigns revealed weaknesses in the CINCs' capability to plan joint operations. In addition, the increased role of the military in ad hoc peacekeeping operations has challenged the U.S. military's current organizational structure for the quick deployment of troops from the various services. Rapid technological advances and post-Cold War strategic uncertainty also complicate the U.S. military's organizational structure.
The Retail Revolution in Health Care
Authors: Fottler Myron D. , Malvey Donna M.
Published: March 2024

This book unveils and demystifies a revolution occurring in health care in the United States and beyond and how it will reform the health care system.

There is something new in health care. Retail clinics, sometimes partnering with prestigious health-care institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic, offer an affordable, accessible solution for delivering primary-care services to underserved populations. The Retail Revolution in Health Care presents an overview of the retail health trend and its implications for consumers, employers, health care providers, health care companies, insurers, and health policy makers.

The authors examine the phenomenon of retail health care from an entrepreneurial perspective, discussing the growth of retail care beyond traditional retail establishments and possible performance indicators to assess health outcomes. They report on the differing perspectives of retail care from a variety of experts, including doctors, nurses, patients, and insurers. Finally, they address business realities in the United States and globally as they affect the clinics. Retail clinics will almost certainly play a key role as either an alternative to national health insurance or a component of health reform. This important book explores their part in furthering the availability of health care for all Americans.
Rethinking Information Work
Authors: Dority G. Kim
Published: March 2024

A state-of-the-art guide to the world of library and information science that gives readers valuable insights into the field and practical tools to succeed in it. As the field of information science continues to evolve, professional-level opportunities in traditional librarianship―especially in school and public libraries―have stalled and contracted, while at the same time information-related opportunities in non-library settings continue to expand. These two coinciding trends are opening up many new job opportunities for LIS professionals, but the challenge lies in helping them (and LIS students) understand how to align their skills and mindsets with these new opportunities.The new edition of G. Kim Dority's Rethinking Information Work: A Career Guide for Librarians and Other Information Professionals gives readers helpful information on self-development, including learning to thrive on change, using key career skills like professional networking and brand-building, and how to make wise professional choices. Taking readers through a planning process that starts with self-examination and ends in creating an actionable career path, the book presents an expansive approach that considers all LIS career possibilities and introduces readers to new opportunities. This guide is appropriate for those embarking on careers in library and information science as well as those looking to make a change, providing career design strategies that can be used to build a lifetime of career opportunity.
Right Brain/Left Brain President
Authors: Décosterd Mary Lou
Published: March 2024

This intriguing analysis examines an aspect of President Obama that falls outside of his ethnic background, his political career, or policies: how his unique leadership style comes from his extraordinary ability to use both halves of his brain to maximum potential.

Right Brain/Left Brain President: Barack Obama's Uncommon Leadership Ability and How We Can Each Develop It is an inspirational guide to leadership as it should be practiced, conveyed through an up-close look at the man who sets the new leadership bar. Author Mary Lou Décosterd uses her Right Brain/Left Brain Leadership Model to frame Barack Obama's leadership skill sets. Her book shows that Obama's unique brand of leadership is the result of his extraordinary ability to leverage full-brain potential in the ways he thinks, decides, and acts.

Right Brain/Left Brain President examines Obama's life and the Obama phenomenon, analyzing how he rose to prominence so quickly and what that teaches us. The president is used as an example of the ten full-spectrum behaviors—the must-have leadership skills—that make one an extraordinary leader. To help readers emulate the Obama model and become the most consummate leaders possible, Décosterd discusses how each of us can learn to lead from both right and left brain abilities.
The Rise and Fall of American Public Schools
Authors: Franciosi Robert J.
Published: March 2024

This volume provides a comprehensive and balanced survey of the state of American public education. It examines the trend in the quality of the public schools over the past 100 years, and reviews the possible reasons for a decline in quality. The work focuses on the importance of local control in American public education and how it has been steadily eroded. Franciosi advocates school choice as a way of restoring greater control by parents over their children's schools. This work is distinct among calls of reform in that it takes a skeptical attitude towards the centralized school reform movement that has culminated in the No Child Left Behind Act. It discusses important topics that have been the subject of research including the effect of teachers unions, Tiebout competition and local control, and school finance reform.

Franciosi follows the many trajectories taken by America's public schools over the past century. It shows that the United States has been a world education leader in both access for all children and resources spent. Despite this there are still some worrisome trends. While school spending has steadily increased, student achievement has fluctuated, and remains below that of students in other developed nations. Initiatives to close the gap in achievement has fluctuated and remains below that of students in other developed nations. Initiatives to close the gap in achievement and resources among students of various socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds have been only partially successful. Past efforts to reform public education have led to increasingly centralized control over public schools. This piece will be important to those who are active on both sides of the school reform debate. It will also be useful to students who are researching education policy, the economics of education, or public policy.
Russia, 1762-1825
Authors: Hartley Janet M.
Published: March 2024

A study of the Russian Empire at the peak of its military power and success (1762-1825), this important book examines how a country with none of the obvious trappings of modernization was able to significantly expand its territory. Russia's military and naval victories culminated in the triumphal entrance of Russian forces into Paris in 1814 in celebration of the defeat of Napoleon. Hartley's treatment is wide-ranging and discusses many aspects of the nature of the Russian state and society-not merely issues such as recruitment, but also institutional, legal, and fiscal structures of the state, the unique nature of Russian industrialization and social organization at the urban and village level, as well as the impact on cultural life. She covers the reign of two of Russia's most prominent rulers: Catherine II (1762-1796) and Alexander I (1801-25).

How could a country lacking modernized structures-political, institutional, social, fiscal, economic, industrial, and cultural-sustain this level of military effort and support the largest standing army in Europe? What impact did the strain of this commitment of men and money, including the invasion of 1812, have on the state and society-particularly on those who were either conscripted or the dependents they left behind? Despite the success of the Russian state, by 1825 the strains would become almost unsustainable.
Salsa
Authors: Falcón Rafael
Published: March 2024

The daily routines, habits, beliefs, and values of the Hispanic culture that create unique human interactions in this society are revealed in this book. The book consists of 26 chapters relating to different themes that collectively provide an understanding of cultural responses. An anecdote is placed at the beginning of each chapter to assist the reader in understanding the more pedagogical information that follows. Reflected in this book is the reality that the Hispanic world covers a vast geographical area, and as such, is a mosaic of ethnic, religious, and historical backgrounds. Examples of diversity—the salsa, the taste of this culture—that makes this culture so unique are illustrated throughout the text. This book has been written with a wide range of readers in mind and will be of use to students on the secondary as well as undergraduate levels, teachers, social workers, and travelers.
Same-Sex Marriage
Authors: Newton David E.
Published: March 2024

Same-sex marriage continues to be a polarizing subject in the United States and other parts of the world. This new edition of Same-Sex Marriage: A Reference Handbook brings readers up to date on the status of same-sex unions from social, legal, political, and historical perspectives.

According to Pew Research poll data, in 2001, the majority of Americans opposed same-sex marriage 57 percent against, 35 percent in support. As of 2015, a majority of Americans (55 percent) supported same-sex marriage, with 39 percent expressing opposition. The landmark Obergefell v. Hodges case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 54 decision that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples, is likely further influencing opinions among U.S. citizens. Still, controversy and heated debate continues to ensue on the social, legal, and political implications of same-sex marriage.

The second edition of Same-Sex Marriage: A Reference Handbook presents thorough coverage of recent changes in the legal status of same-sex marriage in the United States as well as essays that provide historical perspectives on same-sex marriage; an extensive, up-to-date bibliography; a collection of primary source documents; a glossary; and a chronology that will serve readers studying the topic. New material includes a detailed discussion of the 2015 Supreme Court of the United States decision as well as coverage of issues that have arisen as a result of the Obergefell case, such as the debate over "religious freedom" and LGBT civil rights legislation.
Saudi Arabia
Authors: Cordesman Anthony H. , Strategic Center for , Studies International
Published: March 2024

A thorough examination of the nation of Saudi Arabia, focusing on the current state of affairs and potential future challenges.

Saudi Arabia: National Security in a Troubled Region provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of Saudi Arabia's strategic security efforts, both within the country and as a stabilizing regional presence. In this meticulously researched book, acclaimed geopolitical scholar Anthony Cordesman, well-known for his role as ABC News's national security analyst, takes readers inside the Saudi security structure for an unprecedented look at its internal and external forces, policymaking, and careful balancing of regional and East/West relationships.

In Saudi Arabia, Anthony Cordesman shows how the Kingdom is responding to an unstable Iraq, a potentially nuclear Iran, the needs of its fellow Southern Gulf states, and the ongoing threat of terrorism inside its borders. Cordesman also considers a number of socioeconomic and demographic factors that could bring dramatic changes within the Kingdom in the near future. Nonpartisan, unbiased, and based on the author's unparalleled access to high profile Saudi officials, the book offers a level of expertise and insight no other consideration of the subject can match.
School Library Management
Authors: Messner Patricia A. , Copeland Brenda S.
Published: March 2024

Written in clear, simple language, this book provides information that will help an aide or paraprofessional manage a school library.

Setting up and managing a library media center is a complex task best handled by a certified and experienced librarian, but the fact of the matter is that many school districts have had to cut librarian positions and are attempting to fill the gaps with aides. School Library Management: Just the Basics describes the step-by-step process of setting up the management processes in a school library and outlines easy management concepts that will guide aides through challenges like setting up activity centers and establishing rules for behavior.

With over three decades of experience in librarianship between them, the authors cover topics such as student incentives and rewards; scheduling and supervising computer usage; circulation procedures; training materials for volunteers; passes, book marks, and other patterns; and privacy issues. This book can also serve as an effective training guide for district librarians responsible for training aides who are running multiple centers.
School Library Spaces
Authors: Messner Patricia A. , Copeland Brenda S.
Published: March 2024

This easy-to-use guide will be invaluable to school librarians and district library professionals in training library aides and paraprofessionals to help set up and run a school library.

In this era of school libraries being set up and operated by paraprofessionals, volunteers, and other individuals with limited or no professional library training, this book provides invaluable information and guidance.

School Library Spaces: Just the Basics answers all of the "where do I begin?" questions in clear and simple language, covering library setup fundamentals such as organizing the space, placement and labeling, and the use of different types of shelving. Numerous diagrams, check lists, and resource lists that are invaluable for the novice professional are provided, as are management recommendations for those training and helping aides.
Science Fiction Television
Authors: Booker M. Keith
Published: March 2024

Science fiction series have remained a staple of American television from its inception: classic programs such as The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Star Trek, along with recent and current series including Babylon 5 and Stargate SG-1, have been some of the most enduring and influential of all television shows. In this chronological survey, author M. Keith Booker examines this phenomenon and provides in-depth studies of the most important of these series. Science Fiction Television traces the development of the genre as a distinct cultural phenomenon within the context of broader developments in American culture as a whole.

In the process, it offers a unique and informative guide for television fans and science fiction fans alike, one whose coverage is unprecedented in its scope and breadth. A must-read for anyone interested in its subject or in American popular culture, Science Fiction Television is a perceptive and entertaining history of one of television's most lasting forms of entertainment.
Sexual Attraction
Authors: Giles James
Published: March 2024

How and why does sexual attraction happen? This book is an exploration of the universal yet highly individualized experience of being sexually attracted to another person. Incorporating interviews, research findings, and excerpts from romantic and erotic literature, lyrics, and film, Sexual Attraction: The Psychology of Allure explores a subject that is central to the human experience and highly relevant not only in personal, intimate interactions but also other relationships as well. Although the causes and effects of sexual attraction have been studied, sexual attraction itself-how we experience others in terms of their sexual attractiveness-remains a neglected, rarely researched topic. Scholar James Giles presents jargon-free information that is accessible and fascinating to the general reader as well as highly useful and informative to students and researchers in social psychology, sexology, sex and marital therapy, and relationship counseling. The book explores subjects such as how sexual attraction is fundamentally different from other forms of interpersonal attraction and how at the heart of sexual attraction lies the experience of allure-something that makes one feel helplessly drawn towards an intimate physical joining with the sexually attractive person. The allure of strangers, cross-sex friends, sexual friends (“friends with benefits”), and romantic partners are all addressed, revealing the often subtle heterosexual attraction that typically exists between males and females in all their relationships, including between those who are ostensibly “just friends.”
Sexualized Media Messages and Our Children
Authors: Shewmaker Jennifer W.
Published: March 2024

This provocative book takes a look at children's consumption of sexualized media messages while providing parents, teachers, and professionals with strategies for abating their influence.

In this eye-opening book, experienced child psychologist Jennifer W. Shewmaker contends that the manner in which a child is raised influences how they respond to media messages, particularly those shaded by sexual overtones. This text takes a hard look at the impact of advertisements, products, and entertainment on a child's psyche and offers strategies for helping kids become critical, active media consumers.

Drawing from research in a wide variety of disciplines, this book explores the interpersonal factors within children's lives that impact how they learn to process sexualized media messages. The book argues that an increase in marketing to children along with media-based fabrications of beauty, masculinity, and femininity impact the confidence and character of young children who are often greatly affected by what they see and hear. The author shares invaluable tips for promoting strengths in children and adolescents of both genders and presents the protective influence of communities to help children dismiss distorted media images.
Silent Voices
Authors: Ayres Brenda
Published: March 2024

Some of the greatest English novels were written during the Victorian era, and many are still widely read and taught today. But many others written during that period have been neglected by scholars and modern readers alike. A number of these novels were written by women and were popular when published. Moreover, they reveal perspectives of 19th-century British culture not present in canonized works and therefore revise our understanding of Victorian life and attitudes. With the increasing interest in revising Victorian history and gender scholarship, especially through the rediscovery of lost texts written by women, this book is a timely and much needed study.

The expert contributors to this volume argue the value of novels by such Victorian women writers as Grace Aguilar, Catherine Crowe, Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna, Annie E. Holdsworth, Ella Hepworth Dixon, Flora Annie Steel, Anne Thackeray, Sarah Grand, Marie Corelli, and others. Most of the chapters address numerous works by a particular writer. Each focuses on different social issues as well, though most of them share an interest in gender politics. Topics discussed include a 19th-century Jewish novelist's navigation through Protestant spirituality, the relationship of noncanonical governess novels to class and gender issues, and forgotten works by women crime writers. Other chapters analyze how women writers impelled social reform and subverted patriarchally defined religious issues.
So Much, So Fast, So Little Time
Authors: Clair Michael St.
Published: March 2024

This book examines the extraordinary changes that technology brings and how these affect all of us and our families—at home, at school, and at our work places—with profound consequences for society.

Twenty-first-century technology opens up fabulous opportunities, but also changes how we relate to each other and warps our sense of time, reality, duty, and privacy. Technologies and time-saving devices make everything happen faster, with the result that we feel busier than ever before. "Free time" seems in danger of extinction. So Much, So Fast, So Little Time: Coming to Terms with Rapid Change and Its Consequences provides fascinating insights about how our changing world is changing our families and our personal relationships; how we travel, behave as consumers, and communicate; and how we entertain ourselves and deal with our anxieties.

Written in a popular, accessible style, this book describes seven areas of significant societal change, providing concrete examples and engaging stories to illustrate how drastically our right-now mindset has shifted our perception and experience of the world. In the last chapter, the author makes some practical suggestions on how to take thoughtful action to respond to the onslaught of inevitable change.
Social Media Playbook for Business
Authors: Funk Tom
Published: March 2024

This practical guide can help any business or organization make sense of the social media buzz and build a successful online community.

Social media can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool that brings a company or organization huge rewards. But for beginners in this new world, the potential risks are also high. Consumers are particularly passionate in the online world; the most active social networkers are poised to be your brand's gushing fans—or your most scathing critics. Both multimillion-dollar profits and self-inflicted PR fiascos are possible via social media.

This guidebook begins by defining "social media," "social networking," and other terms that may be ambiguous, then details what recent market research reveals about the scope and growth rate of the social media landscape. Real-world examples of both large and small organizations who have successfully implemented social media strategies are showcased, and the hype and failed promise of famous flash-in-the-pan social networks are examined. The author outlines a comprehensive strategy for success with social media, including practical information on watching metrics, establishing beachheads, determining your driver, building a checklist of driver "amplifications," and combating the "what now?" factor.
Sojourner Truth as Orator
Authors: Fitch Suzanne P. , Mandziuk Roseann
Published: March 2024

This work is an in-depth analysis of the full breadth of Sojourner Truth’s public discourse that places it in its proper historical context and explores the use of humor and narratives as primary rhetorical strategies used by this illiterate ex-slave to create a powerful public persona. The book provides a comprehensive survey of the life of Sojourner Truth, and includes a unique and authoritative compilation of primary rhetorical documents, such as speeches, songs, and public letters.

This is the only major work to date that analyzes the breadth of Sojourner Truth’s public discourse. The volume includes a complete and authoritative compilation of her extant rhetoric, including several versions of the same speech, reports of her speaking appearances, public letters published by Truth in newspapers, and songs written and performed by her as part of her public lectures. Three chapters address the rhetorical dimensions of Truth’s public persona. First, an historical survey contextualizes her life and speaking from slave to reformer, placing into perspective the variety of experiences that comprised her background. Second, an analysis of Truth’s use of humor focuses upon how she employed the strategies of superiority and incongruity in her refutation of opponents and the establishment of her own credibility. Third, a critique of Truth’s use of narratives in her discourse reveals how both her speeches and songs rely upon three fundamental stories for their persuasive impact: her slave life and religious conversion, her use of the black jeremiad to portray race differences, and her tales of woman’s strength and moral conviction. The volume concludes with a consideration of Truth’s status as a folk legend and how she wished to be remembered.
Soldiers of Conscience
Authors: Castelnuovo Shirley
Published: March 2024

Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor unleashed rampant racism and distrust towards all things alien, and it raised perplexing questions of national identity that still reverberate. Persons of Japanese ancestry were the victims of racist acts and governmental loyalty investigations, and, finally, of exclusion and imprisonment. The majority of Japanese Americans complied with government actions, including the drafting of Japanese Americans into military service, often viewing such service as an opportunity to display their allegiance to the United States. However, some 200 Japanese Americans drafted into the Army refused to serve in combat while their families languished in internment camps. Here, for the first time, the resisters' story is told in vivid detail, following many of them into the post-war years and assessing the ramifications of their actions on their lives.

The history of Japanese Americans in World War II does not record the stories of these resisters. It does not mention the War Department Special Organization to which many of them were transferred or the individuals who were tried and sentenced by military courts to long prison terms. The 200 conscientious military resisters felt betrayed by the government and viewed the decision to imprison Japanese Americans as an immoral acquiescence to West Coast racism.

Castelnuovo does not abandon the narrative with the end of World War II. Instead, she follows many of the resisters into the post-war years, assessing the ramifications of their actions on their lives as individuals and within the broader context of the Japanese American community. Happily, most of the resisters were eventually re-embraced by their community, but, until now, they have been forgotten by students of World War II. That is an oversight Soldiers of Conscience will certainly remedy.
South Sea Maidens
Authors: Sturma Michael
Published: March 2024

From the first European contact with Tahiti in 1767, the myth of the South Sea maiden has endured through many incarnations. Although the maiden frequently provided an idealized antidote to Western women's self-assertion, the South Pacific also afforded a space where boundaries between the sexes could be relaxed and transgressed. From James Cook and Captain Bligh to James Michener and Margaret Mead, the Island girl has occupied a special place in the erotic imagination of the West. In a sweeping study that embraces history, literature, visual arts, anthropology and film, this study gives fresh insight into the myths and reality of a Western icon.

While women from far off lands have always been presented as exotic and alluring, the South Sea maiden has come to symbolize feminine sexuality, as an integral part of the adventure, sensuality, and romance of the South Pacific. Everyone from early explorers to 19th century writers and artists to latter day anthropologists, film makers, and tourism promoters have extolled their virtues and their bodies. Sturma looks behind the popular clich D'es to reveal how the myth-making process reflected not only Western desires, but the cut and thrust of changing sexual politics. The result is an intriguing look at both South Sea image-makers and the women whom they found so seductive.
Spanish Film and the Postwar Novel
Authors: Mínguez-Arranz Norberto
Published: March 2024

The novel and the film are two modes of representation based on different aesthetic tools, but both are capable of articulating narrative discourses. In Spanish Film and the Postwar Novel, author Norberto Minguez-Arranz offers a comparative analysis of the methods and mechanisms with which the novel and the film build their stories. A theoretical framework that that puts into perspective such concepts as specificity, representation, and point of view gives way to a comparative study of five Spanish postwar novels and their respective film adaptations: The Family of Pascual Duarte, Time of Silence, The Hive, El Bosque Animado, and Nuevas Amistades.

Revealing the existence of cinematic features of the novel and literary features of the cinema, the author examines the ways in which this interdependence has become a permanent aspect of both arts, with mutual influences and a great deal of nonexclusivity of properties. By using this particular time and place as his locus of analytical thought, Minguez-Arranz provides an invaluable examination of two of this century's major creative forms.
Spiritual Weapons
Authors: Gunn T. Jeremy
Published: March 2024

While some may argue that religion has & continues to influence U.S. foreign policy, others would argue that foreign policy has significantly influenced an American National Religion after 1947. Here, Gunn shows that in the wake of World War II, Americans quickly returned to their traditional peacetime suspicion of the military & engaged in disputes over capitalism. When Churchill delivered his Iron Curtain speech in 1946, the American press & American politicians panned it. Only one year later, the United States began to identify itself in reaction to the Soviet Union & its growing power and influence on the world stage. If the USSR promoted governmental affirmations of atheism, so the United States would respond with its public declarations of God. This was the origin of under God in the Pledge of Allegiance (1954), In God We Trust on paper money (1955), and other public declarations about God and religion. Tracing the development of this influence on American religion, Gunn reveals a new way of looking at how public faith has been transformed by world events and the U.S.'s reaction to them.

Covering topics such as American national religion, government sponsorship of God and prayer, military activities, the Vietnam war, and current views on religion and foreign policy, the author underscores the ongoing influence foreign affairs and foreign policy have on religion and how it is practiced, both privately and publicly, in the United States. The post-WWII backlash to events occurring around the world, he contends, continues to shape and inform our notions of God and country, public faith, and the U.S.'s position in the global village. Taking the reader through this history to the present day, the author sheds new light on this important topic.
Staffing the Contemporary Organization
Authors: Caruth Donald L. , Caruth Gail D. , Pane Stephanie S.
Published: March 2024

It includes a number of human resources topics not usually covered in one volume-HR planning, legal aspects of staffing, recruiting, selecting, performance appraisal, career development, and many others-in an integrated system.
Storytimes for Children
Authors: Bauman Stephanie G.
Published: March 2024

This text presents a compilation of the best of ideas from a group of library science graduate students, providing creative and engaging programs geared especially for children ages 0-12.

What are the concepts, activities, and topics that will hold the attention of today's children? And what are the best ways to provide a valuable learning experience while they're having fun and being entertained?

Many of the most original, creative, and wildly effective ideas in storytime are contained in Storytimes for Children, a collection of fresh and vibrant programs created to be relevant, interesting, and fun for today's youngest generations. This collection of themed storytimes includes suggestions for opening and closing sessions; crafts and activities; songs, poems, fingerplays, and movements; as well as the accompany literature. Several of the included storytimes comprise a series of programs, allowing for related activities that build upon each other. The text is organized into six chapters, each prefaced by an introduction that clarifies the strengths of the programs within. Each chapter covers a highly targeted age range to give practitioners the ability to easily choose the most appropriate storytimes for any given audience.
The Strange Career of the Black Athlete
Authors: Wigginton Russell T.
Published: March 2024

Few realize that some sports were integrated, or even dominated by blacks, before becoming dominated by whites, for example, horse racing, golf, hockey, and tennis. This book provides a lens through which to view the historical context and specific circumstances of African Americans' presence in various sports. The author asks why sport has at times challenged the status quo with regard to race and civil rights, and at other times reinforced it. To that end, he analyzes various sports and asks why and when has each sport responded differently.

Wigginton asks how did blacks break the color barrier? Were they able to maintain representation in the particular sport? And did the entrance of blacks in these sports change the public's perception of the sport? The answers to these questions shed light on why America remains preoccupied with sports, race, and the seemingly integral relationship between the two.
Strategic Planning
Authors: Simerson B. Keith
Published: March 2024

In this book, an expert in business strategy shows how to create and evaluate a strategic plan and execute that plan successfully.

When it comes to strategic planning, B. Keith Simerson knows from experience what works and what doesn't. Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide to Strategy Formulation and Execution weaves that knowledge into a roadmap for anyone charged with creating a strategic plan, evaluating a strategic planning process, or executing resulting strategies in an effective and efficient way. Not a one-size-fits-all solution, the book offers a menu of information and options based on a broad view of strategic planning and offers correspondingly broad applicability.

The guide focuses on two major aspects of the planning process: the multitude of factors contributing to an effective strategic planning framework and the multitude of drivers and enablers of successful execution. Armed with concrete information, readers will learn to create and execute a business strategy, a personal strategic action plan, or strategies for any kind of for-profit or nonprofit organization. Specific methodologies, tools, and techniques will guide readers to successful strategy formation—and execution.