Charles H. Davis

This book explores the evolution of audience receptions of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy (2012-14) as an exemplar of the contemporary blockbuster event film franchise. Drawing on findings from a unique cross-cultural and longitudinal study, the authors argue that processes and imperatives associated with Hollywood ‘blockbusterisation’ shaped the trilogy’s conditions of production, format, content, and visual aesthetic in ways that left many viewers progressively disenchanted. The chapters address public and private prefigurations of the Hobbit trilogy, modes of reception, new cinematic technologies and the Hobbit hyperreality paradox, gender representations, adaptation and the transformation of cinematic desire, and the role of social and cultural location in shaping audience engagement and response. This book will appeal to audience researchers, Q methodologists, scholars and students in film and media studies, Tolkien scholars, and Hobbit fans and critics alike.

This is the first book to provide detailed analysis of the relationship between higher education and scientific research in key Third World countries. Focusing on four of the most successful of the newly industrializing countries--Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore--the authors examine the intersection between outstanding economic development in these four countries and the higher education and research establishments they have developed. The study combines careful analysis of the current status of scientific research in higher education with detailed ethnographic case studies of scientific work. Based upon a two-year research effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the study presents a multifaceted approach to the subject, evaluating for each country: the organization of the universities and other scientific institutions; the scientists and administrators who work in these institutions; the research productivity and the relationship of basic research to applied uses in industry and commerce; the interactions of these institutions with scholars from Western Europe, Japan, and North America. The authors demonstrate that the nations under study are rapidly building a sophisticated scientific infrastructure and clearly recognize the importance of science for development. The book concludes with an enlightening discussion of how scientists publish their findings in these countries.

Pascal Programming for Libraries is a practical introduction to computer programming designed specifically for library and information center applications. A graded text, this book provides detailed examples of straightforward programs, each fully illustrated and clearly explained. The examples begin with relatively simple computer code and progress to more complex examples using the highly acclaimed language TURBO Pascal, now widely used on personal computers. The applications illustrated deal with such operations as document retrieval, sorting, keyword indexing, selective dissemination of information, and rudimentary technical processes in libraries.

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Describes the history and methodology of computer system evaluations which were examined in order to determine the best way to conduct the evaluation of PROBE, the ERIC computer retrieval search service.

Lists and briefly describes more than twelve hundred monographs and articles dealing with the organization of technical services, serials, and the acquisition, organization, maintenance, and circulation of materials.