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The purpose of this paper is to summarize a library use study of the central and community branches of a Canadian public library. An exit survey documented the in-branch activities of users as a part of a library strategic planning process. Survey results were used in combination with branch statistics, postal code circulation statistics, neighbourhood demographics and other data sources to document the in-library use of the two facilities.

Questionnaires were administered to library users 15 years of age or older at the exits of the central and community branches. The survey collected data on their activities and services used during their current visit. Additional sources such as branch-level statistics, furniture tally sheets, photographs, Canada Census data and circulation analysis by patron postal code and lending branch were used during the analysis stage.

Both branches are heavily used but in different ways. Branch circulation and gate count per square foot of floor space were high relative to other Canadian libraries. Patron visits to the community branch were short in duration, in line with previous public library studies. User visit duration and in-library activities within the main branch somewhat resembled those of the central branch of a larger library system but likely for different reasons.

The study was exploratory. Data were collected during two coinciding days of library operation, a Thursday and a Saturday, and may not be representative of the underlying population. The study was limited in scope as it was a community service project for undergraduate university students.

Branch library use surveys, in combination with library statistics and demographics, can provide useful insights concerning in-library patron behaviour when the use of ethnographic techniques is not feasible.

The study explored differences and similarities in user behaviour in two types of library facilities, a central and a community branch. Few published studies make such a direct comparison. The study explored the perceived benefits received by patrons from public library use and incorporated branch statistics, circulation analysis and Census data.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on selected presentations from the 29th Computers in Libraries (CIL) conference that took place at Washington Hilton hotel, Washington, DC. In addition to its content, the CIL (2014) conference provided opportunities to discuss best practices and emerging issues with IT professionals, vendors and “techno” librarians, especially from North America. There was a conference within a conference – the Internet@Schools track integrated into CIL 2014 as Track E on Monday, April 7, and Tuesday, April 8.

Reports from the viewpoint of a first-time attendee of CIL (2014) present a summary of the selected presentations with more detail on networking events and the exhibition. The CIL (2014) conference attracted librarians from 13 countries other than the USA. It is difficult to document the entire conference happenings in a single report because of several tracks (A-E) and number of speakers; therefore, a selective approach is used.

The CIL (2014) in Washington, DC, is considered a major North American library technology conference for librarians and information managers. As a first-time attendee, the author found that CIL (2014) is informative; it covered technology applications in libraries and strategies to enhance communication – useful to librarians and information professionals both in the USA and internationally. The conference was full of innovative ideas and revealed the diversity of current developments in library service delivery, especially in North America.

Today, more and more library users are using various innovative technologies including mobile apps, data visualization, application programming interfaces, open-source and multimedia. Phones (smart phones) and tablets are emerging as popular choices to access content. This report is a summary of selected educational sessions/presentations in CIL (2014) on diverse technology-related topics, especially mobile technology in libraries that will be of particular interest to readers and useful for professionals who did not attend CIL (2014) in Washington, DC.

In 1967, Robert N. Bellah famously argued that there existed an “American Civil Religion,” which was distinct from churchly religion and captured the “transcendental” dimension of the American project. In this chapter, I revisit the civil religion concept and reconstruct it along more Weberian lines. Specifically, I argue that the civil religion tradition is one of three competing traditions for thinking about the proper relationship between religion and politics in America; the other two are religious nationalism and liberal secularism. Whereas liberal secularism envisions a complete separation of the religious and political value spheres, and religious nationalism longs for their (re)unification, civil religion aims for a mediating position of partial separation and productive tension. Following Bellah, I argue that the two central strands of the civil religion tradition have been covenant theology and civic republicanism. The body of the chapter sketches out the development of the tradition across a series of national foundings and refoundings, focusing on the writings of leading civil theologians from John Winthrop and John Adams through Abraham Lincoln and John Dewey to Martin King and Barack Obama. The conclusion advances a normative argument for American civil religion – and against liberal secularism and religious nationalism. I contend that liberalism is highly inclusive but insufficiently solidaristic; that religious nationalism is highly solidaristic but insufficiently inclusive; and that only civil religion strikes a proper balance between individual autonomy and the common good.

Today’s world of digital and mobile media does not require actual physical contact, between the suitable target and the motivated offender, as with traditional crime. In fact, as Mesch (2009) contended that the internet is not merely an information channel but it creates a new space of activities for children, where they are exposed to motivated offenders and the actors of fourth party. Therefore, for the sake of children’s safety, the practice of parental mediation control is increasingly becoming more pertinent everyday. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine how parental mediation control in Sri Lanka is influenced by their internet self-efficacy, their experience as online victims and their trust in online users.

This paper uses a unique data set of computer and internet users from Sir Lanka to examine parental intervention in their children’s online activities. Specifically, the data set contains 347 responses from computer and internet users. To analyze the data, the authors use a binary dependent (probit) model.

The results show that such factors alter the baseline probability of parental intervention. However, some differences are found between younger and older parents, with the latter group responding more to trust in online users and victimization experience while the former is mainly driven from computer self-efficacy. In particular, the older group is less likely to trust online internet users in terms of never adding unknown persons in the social media. Finally, being self-employed and an older parent has a positive effect on the likelihood of adopting parental controls, possibly because of the non-pecuniary attributes of self-employment.

This study adds to the emerging parental mediation control literature by looking at the likelihood of younger and older parents who were victims of cybercrimes, who have greater internet self-efficacy and lower online third-party trust to adopt parental mediation control behaviors. Also another contribution to the literature is the role of occupation type on parental monitoring behaviors.

The proliferation of recording technologies has increased the prevalence of police intervention videos in news media. Although previous research has explored the influence of such coverage on public opinion, the mechanisms underlying this impact have received limited attention. This study investigates the role of information credibility in the assessment of police interventions portrayed in news media videos.

A total of 634 participants were shown a mock-up TV news report that included a description and a brief clip of a police use-of-force event. A survey was conducted before and after the presentation of the report.

Camera perspective, anchor tone, viewer gender and pre-existing perceived TV news credibility were found to influence how credible the mock-up news report was perceived. Participants who judged the news report as complete and credible tended to have a more favourable opinion of the police intervention. Perceived credibility also acted as a moderator in the relationship between video and receiver characteristics and the assessment of the police intervention.

These findings offer valuable insights for law enforcement agencies and their public affairs units to develop effective strategies for managing public opinion.

This research highlights how important perceived credibility is in influencing public opinion and how different factors such as video and receiver characteristics can impact credibility assessment.

Surfactants have been reported to have high inhibition efficiencies for corrosion of steel. This paper aims to study the performance of a low toxic copolymer of polydimethylsiloxane and polyoxyalkylene (POA) surfactant named as POPS, as a corrosion inhibitor for mild steel (ASTM 1005) in hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution at 25°C.

To evaluate POPS efficiency as a corrosion inhibitor, the following techniques were used: surface tension measurements, weight loss measurements, open circuit potential monitoring, potentiodynamic polarization curves, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscopy and contact angle measurements.

Results indicated that POPS acted as a mixed corrosion inhibitor and led to a hydrophobic protector film on the metal surface. The adsorption process obeyed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm by chemisorption. The maximum efficiency of the surfactant studied was achieved in a concentration around the critical micelle concentration.

Surfactant (POPS) of low level of toxicity acts as a mixed corrosion inhibitor in HCl medium. Inhibitor film formation was characterized by EIS results. A mechanism for corrosion inhibition is proposed.