ACDC Newsletter – Page 46 – Funk Library

ACDC News – Issue 99-09

Posted on January 4, 1999 by Elizabeth Ray

Information sources of large producers.

A recent national study by the Gallup Organization shows how large U.S. producers are gathering and using information for their farming operations. During early 1998 about 1,200 respondents provided feedback such as:

Information sources that they use (farm publications, direct mail, meetings and seminars, farm shows, electronic information sources such as DTN, radio, television and the Internet)
Industry sources that they use (local or farmer dealers, local veterinarians, local cooperatives, regional distributors, manufacturers and others)
Use of computers, modems, e-mail, the Internet and home pages
Current issues and concerns on their minds

The study was funded by a grant from 11 participating members of the Agricultural Publishers Association. Here is the citation:

Gallup Organization, “Trends in Agriculture Study: Large Producer Scorecards: Technology Trends and Industry Ratings, Benchmark Wave.”” April 1998.

This document is on file in the Documentation Center. Also, you can see it online at: http://www.agpub.org/gallup

Selected highlights from four other studies about information sources are available on the Agricultural Publishers Association web site.

Brief summaries involve:

A 1993 study by Purdue University
A 1994 Farm Media Report
A 1995 survey by Rockwood Research Corporation
A 1996 Starch FARMS study conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide

A rural communicator from Australia reviewed hundreds of documents

At the Center during the first two weeks of July. The visitor, Liz Kellaway, is general manager of Turnbull Porter Novelli, a public relations firm in South Australia specializing in serving agricultural clients. A 1999 Churchill Fellow, Liz is studying rural communications through visits to seven countries. Her research in the ACDC collection emphasized communications techniques used to drive technology transfer in commercial and public sectors of agriculture. We enjoyed her visit and were pleased to support her studies.

Interested persons are welcomed at the Center

And can tap a variety of services. Users often report that within a few hours or days they can easily review more agricultural communications literature than they could find through longer searches by other means.

Condolences to the family of Francis C. Byrnes

81, a pioneering agricultural communicator who died July 5 at his home in Reston, Virginia. Frank’s international career involved work in nearly 60 countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. His leadership in educational communications traces back to the National Project in Agricultural Communication (NPAC), an initiative that had great impact in the U.S. and beyond. Even decades later, NPAC is cited as a landmark effort. In 1986 he received the first Award of Excellence in International Affairs ever presented by the Agricultural Communicators in Education organization.

The Documentation Center has benefited directly from Frank’s interest and support. During recent years he contributed a variety of agricultural communications documents from his personal library.

Do you know of a turntable that will play 16-inch acetate records?

If so, the National Association of Farm Broadcasters welcomes information from you. NAFB has received several 16-inch records that feature farm broadcasts aired as early as 1941. These historical recordings need to be dubbed to audiotape or other current format. If you know of an operating turntable, please get in touch with Jim Evans evansj@uiuc.edu at the Center.

Credibility of research information from land grant universities

Was on the mind of Jack Sperbeck, University of Minnesota, last month when he accepted the 1999 Professional Award of Agricultural Communicators in Education (ACE). In particular, he raised questions about the impact of private sponsorship that, increasingly, supports research at land grant universities. An example cited: How should communicators in those institutions respond to requests that they submit story drafts, scripts or publications to funding organizations for approval? He emphasized the importance of operating in ways that maintain public trust and confidence.

A copy of his presentation is being processed into the Center. Search online under author or title (1999 ACE Professional Award—Acceptance Speech).

Professional meetings approaching.

Here are the approaching meetings of several professional agricultural communicator organizations:

July 28-31
Agricultural Publications Summit at Denver, Colorado. Joint conference of American Agricultural Editors’ Association, Livestock Publications Council, Agricultural Publishers Association and Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow.
Information: http://www.ageditors.com/news/summit.html

August 1-3
East Region Meeting, National Association of Farm Broadcasters, at Decatur, Illinois.
Information: Jim Fleming at 217-428-1050

August 14-19
Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists in Copenhagen, Denmark. Theme of the Congress is “Producing for the world.”
Information: jetteholm@vip.cybercity.dk

September 16-19
Western Regional Workshop, Agricultural Communicators in Education, at Fort Collins, Colorado. Three tracks: educational design, marketing and the WWW.
Information: http://www.colostate.edu/Orgs/ace-wr99/

September 23-26
Conference ’99, Canadian Farm Writers Federation, at Laval, Quebec.
Information: http://www.uoguelph.ca/Research/cfwf/

Best regards and good searching.

Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.

ACDC News – Issue 99-08

Posted on January 4, 1999 by Elizabeth Ray

Rural Communication Colloquium goes online.

Professors Eric Abbott, Iowa State University, and Paul Yarbrough, Cornell University, recently announced a new web-based colloquium for those interested in rural communication research. They demonstrated it at a workshop on June 14 during the Agricultural Communicators in Education/National Extension Technology Conference (ACE/NETC) in Knoxville, Tennessee.

“The purpose of the Rural Communication Research Colloquium is to provide a forum to assist those interested in rural communication research,” they explained. “Colloquium members represent a global network of individuals actively involved in communication research related to rural areas, including agriculture, rural and community development, extension, telecommunications and rural areas, health and nutrition, forestry and other topics.”

You can see the new web site at: http://www.jlmc.iastate.edu/eabbott/colloquium/

Various pages on the site will feature news, reports of current research, special reports on major topics, access to databases and opportunities for dialogue. Organizers invite reactions and suggestions as this project gets under way.

Workshop also features tools and resources for communication planners.

Participants in the Knoxville workshop also learned about a new collaborative effort to support communication planners. Professors Yarbrough and Abbott described plans for a database that professionals can use for strategic planning in rural and extension communication.

“Most units are now under more pressure to justify their existence and approaches, and use of communication planning can enhance this,” the presenters noted. “Second, the Web provides a wonderful way in which resources can be made available to assist in the process.”

The online system will include tools for communication planners as well as links to various kinds of completed research: research reports and generalizations, tabulated data, data sets and others. The Agricultural Communications Documentation Center will serve as an information source and depository. Presenters report that at least three universities (Cornell, Iowa State, Illinois) will serve as pilot sites to explore effective ways to make this work.

“Angles of online advertising”

Is the title of a recent article by Jackie Freundlich on the American Horse Publications web site: http://www.americanhorsepubs.org/news.htm
She suggests seven ways in which to make the benefits of print and the Web work together.

New documents from ACE/NETC conference.

Following are authors and titles of some reports presented during the recent conference. Some of these presentations took the form of peer-reviewed papers organized through the Research Special Interest Group of ACE. Other documents involved research reports, executive summaries and discussion resources.

Sunae Jo and Lulu Rodriguez, “The sources Iowans trust: the impact of involvement on credibility perceptions and channels used for environmental issues.”
Diane Nelson and Elisabeth Schafer, “Social marketing research partners: using focus groups to design nutrition messages for low-income parents.”
Allan Schmidt and Eric A. Abbott, “Using scenario planning to develop long-range Internet strategies for agricultural communicators.”
Sharon B. Stringer and Joan S. Thomson, “Defining agricultural issues: daily newspaper editors’ perspectives.”
Ron Wilson and Kristina M. Boone, “Tangled WWWeb: reaching rural community leaders with information.”

You can get the full citation for each document by searching ACDC online, using either a “title” or “author” search. Let us know if we can help you get copies of specific documents to which you don’t have access locally.

Information about 15 Canadian agricultural periodicals is now available online.

The Canadian Farm Writers Federation web site recently posted a “publications” page that provides details such as audience, circulation, frequency, type of content, deadlines for copy submission and how to make contacts. The URL is: http://www.uoguelph.ca/Research/cfwf/

Farm broadcaster newsletter on the web.

Since April, readers of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters web site have been able to read their newsletter, Chats, online. The URL is: http://www.nafb.com

Professional meetings approaching.

Here are the approaching meetings of several professional agricultural communicator organizations:

July 17-20
Annual institute, Cooperative Communicators Association, at Omaha, Nebraska.
Information: http://www.CoopComm.com

August 1-3
East Region Meeting, National Association of Farm Broadcasters, at Decatur, Illinois.
Information: Jim Fleming at 217-428-1050

Staying focused in fast-paced times.

Thanks to Dix Harper for this “shortie” piece of philosophy that he collected somewhere along the line:

“There are two kinds of people: those who finish what they start, and so on . . .”

Best regards and good searching.

Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.

ACDC News – Issue 99-07

Posted on January 4, 1999 by Elizabeth Ray

Recent research about the roles of husbands and wives in farm decisions.

Thanks to Professor Lydia Zepeda, School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin, for providing several reports of research in which she has been involved recently on this subject. They include:

“The role of husbands and wives in farm technology choice”
“The results of four Wisconsin focus groups: roles of husbands and wives in farm decisions”
“Women on dairy farms: juggling diverse roles and responsibilities”

You can find the full citations for these documents by searching the collection online. Use either a title search or author search (Zepeda) to do so.

Some other recent acquisitions about farm decision-making.

During recent months we have added more than 25 new documents that relate to farm decision-making, diffusion and adoption. Here are titles of some:

“Economic effect of imperfect information on conservation decisions”
“Who are you going to call? As more and more university staff members work as paid consultants, it’s difficult to find ‘independent’ advice”
“Weather markets: U.S. corn and soybeans”
“Uncertainty and the regulation of nitrate pollution from agriculture”
“Predictors of the farm wife’s involvement in general management and adoption decisions”

Concerns aired about access to results of privately funded university research.

The May-June 1999 issue of Farm Industry News reports growing concern about research that is conducted at public universities but funded by private business. The article identifies some communications-related issues that may emerge from arrangements under which researchers agree to conduct industry-funded research. Among the issues: agreements that involve delays in publication of research results and/or allow sponsors to remove information from research at publication. Here is the citation for this article in the ACDC collection:

Dale B. McDonald, “Risky research: is corporate money compromising public research?” Farm Industry News 32,8 (May-June 1999), 8-9.

New literature about telecommunications for rural communities.

Thanks to Professor Eric Abbott, Iowa State University, for contributing a copy of the following proceedings during recent weeks:

Eric A. Abbott (ed.), “Telecommunications for rural community viability: making wise choices.” Proceedings of a workshop sponsored by the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, February 25-27, 1997, Kansas City, Missouri. 83pp.

Among the topics of keynote presentations made during the workshop:

“Electronic highways and byways: converging technologies and rural development,” by Heather Hudson, professor and director, Telecommunications Management and Policy Program, University of San Francisco.
“Information technologies and rural community viability: lessons from the past,” by Paul Yarbrough, professor of communication, Cornell University.

All keynote presentations are entered individually into the ACDC collection, along with a group of community case studies. You can locate them by using terms such as “community development” or “information technology” in your Subject search.

We look forward to seeing some of you

At the ACE/NETC conference in Knoxville, Tennessee (conference details below). Jim Evans will describe ACDC during a scheduled workshop, “Introducing a new agricultural and rural communication research database.”

Professional meetings approaching.

Here are the approaching meetings of several professional agricultural communicator organizations:

June 12-16
Joint conference, Agricultural Communicators in Education (ACE) and National Extension Technology Conference (NETC), at Knoxville, Tennessee.
Information: http://web.utk.edu/~utia/ace-netc99

June 17-19
South Region meeting, National Association of Farm Broadcasters, at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
Information: Chuck Zimmerman at czimmerman@learfield.com

July 17-20
Annual institute, Cooperative Communicators Association, at Omaha, Nebraska.
Information: http://www.CoopComm.com

Great news about handling hard times on the farm.

The farm owner and operator were talking about their cash rental arrangement for the coming year.

“I’m going to have to raise your rent,” the owner announced.
“Great!” the operator replied. “I sure haven’t been able to.”

Best regards and good searching.

Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.

ACDC News – Issue 99-06

Posted on January 4, 1999 by Elizabeth Ray

Thanks and best wishes to Laura Cheline

Student assistant in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center during the past year. Laura is completing her undergraduate degree in agricultural communications here at the University of Illinois this month and has accepted a position in marketing communications with AGCO Corporation in Georgia. She has contributed much to progress in the Center this year and will be missed.

National Agri-Marketing Association makes presentations available.

Twenty-five presentations made during the 1999 NAMA Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, are available in the form of audio cassettes for purchase. Here are some of the presentation titles:

“Creating marketing techniques that reach the global consumer”
“How do farmers and ranchers use farm media?”
“Food safety – answering consumer concerns”
“Data driven direct on-line marketing services”

Check with NAMA headquarters at www.nama.org for a list of presentations and details about how to order audio tapes.

In development, “the over-riding need is communication.”

A vigorous call for improved development communication appears in two recent journal articles by Professor Robert Agunga, Department of Human and Community Resource Development, Ohio State University. Thanks to Professor Agunga for providing copies of these articles for the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center:

“Talking it out: a communication-based approach to sustainable development,” Harvard International Review, 21(1), Winter 1998/1999.
“Communication for development in Africa: a clarion call,” Communicare, 17(1), June 1998.

University Library adds 9 millionth volume.

Somehow, it seems appropriate that the 9 millionth volume added recently to the University of Illinois Library involves agriculture. Published in 1616 as two works bound, it is an original German Baroque treatise, with illustrations, on the breaking and training of royal cavalry horses and on the fitting of their bits and bridles.

No, we aren’t identifying it as a piece of agricultural communications literature. All documents in the ACDC collection involve some aspect of communications as well as some aspect of agriculture. At the same time, this milestone reminds us that the large University of Illinois Library provides a remarkable source of literature for ACDC.

New documents about information technology for agriculture and rural areas.

Here are the titles of some documents that we have added recently on this subject:

“Row crop producers’ perceptions of the Internet as a preferred and valid source of information for their enterprises”
“Effective use of new media communications systems in remote places” (Japan case)
“Using computers to improve farm management decisions”
“Food marketing in an electronic age: implications for agricultural producers”
“County agents’ perceptions of the new media mix: a Missouri perspective”
“How to achieve value from information technology investments (wood industry)”
“The role of agricultural research networks in small countries”
“Economic effects of information technology on dairy farms in the Netherlands and Israel”
Information fax centers for farmers”

Professional meetings approaching.

Here are the approaching meetings of several professional agricultural communicator organizations:

June 17-19
South Region meeting, National Association of Farm Broadcasters, at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.
Information: Chuck Zimmerman at czimmerman@learfield.com

July 17-20
Annual institute, Cooperative Communicators Association, at Omaha, Nebraska.
Information: http://www.CoopComm.com

July 29-31
Agricultural Publications Summit at Denver, Colorado. Joint conference of American Agricultural Editors’ Association, Livestock Publications Council, Agricultural Publishers Association and Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow.
Information: http://www.ageditors.com/news/summit.html

No winner.

A man entered a pun contest sponsored by his local newspaper. He sent in ten different puns in the hope that at least one would win. Unfortunately, no pun in ten did.

Best regards and good searching.

Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.

ACDC News – Issue 99-05

Posted on January 3, 1999 by Elizabeth Ray

Welcome to Hui Liu, new Graduate Research Assistant

In the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. Hui brings excellent credentials to the Center. His experience includes computer work with the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), which administers a Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education at the University of Illinois. So he is familiar with gathering and processing information from varied sources, updating databases, maintaining web sites and providing information services to clients. His interest and experience in computer science and electronic information systems, processes and services have developed since 1995.

Please feel free to get in touch with Hui at liuhui@uiuc.edu when you have questions and are interested in help from the Documentation Center.

Recent conference papers are available online.

The Agricultural Communications Section of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists has posted nine papers from the recent annual meeting of SAAS. This event took place January 31-February 2 in Memphis, Tennessee. The papers involved topics such as research magazine readership, outsourcing graphic design services, streaming media for instructional delivery and developing effective program success stories for enhanced accountability.

You can review the papers at http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas/

Thanks to Professor Kris Boone

Kansas State University, for contributing seven documents recently to update our collection of scholarly material of which she is author or co-author. These refereed documents were published between 1995 and 1998.

We welcome materials that you have written

About agriculture-related communications. Here’s how you can check quickly to see which of your journal articles, reports and other documents already are in the collection:

On the search page of this web site, type your last name in the “Author” field. Press “Search.” The search will produce a list of documents under your name. We recommend searching only on your last name because of varied ways in which first names or initials often appear in citations.

New web site for communications managers.

The communications management special interest group of Agricultural Communicators in Education (ACE) recently added a web site to the ACE server. URL: http://www.aceweb.org/com_sig/ace_mgt.htm. It includes a list of good reading about management in organizations and communications units.

Agricultural publications in Canada.

The Canadian Farm Writers Federation is creating a comprehensive database of Canadian agricultural publications to be posted on the CFWF web site. Information is available from Owen Roberts at owen@ornet.or.uoguelph.ca

Keen interest in public reactions to biotechnology.

One of the fastest-growing parts of our collection these days involves the communications aspects of biotechnology, genetic engineering and related developments, globally. We are working hard to collect current literature about these topics. For example, you can now identify more than 100 of such documents by searching under subject terms such as “biotechnology” and “risk communication.” You can identify nearly 150 documents about food safety communications by searching under the subject term “food safety.”

Please let us know when you see gaps and can help strengthen the collection in this important area of interest. The human, interactive aspects of biotechnology are as important as the technological aspects.

Universities producing problems?

“The split between nature and culture as institutionalized in universities is producing a lot of problems,” according to an author in issue 39:1 (1999) of the Sociologic Ruralis journal. The comment by P. Kaltoft appeared in an article entitled, “Values about nature in organic farming practice and knowledge.”

Your thoughts?

Professional meetings approaching.

Here are the approaching meetings of several professional agricultural communicator organizations:

April 25-27
Washington Watch, sponsored by National Association of Farm Broadcasters, Washington, D.C.
Contact: Kelly Lenz at 785-272-3456.

May 3-4
“Communicating creatively,” D.C. Regional Workshop of Agricultural Communicators in Education, Washington, D.C.
Information: http://www.aceweb.org

May 14-16
West Regional Meeting, National Association of Farm Broadcasters, at Rochester, Minnesota.
Contact: Donna Schmidt at 507-477-2577.

June 12-16
Joint meeting of Agricultural Communicators in Education and National Extension Technology Conference (NETC) at Knoxville, Tennessee.
Information: http://web.utk.edu/~utia/ace-netc99

Would you like for us to help announce future meetings related to agricultural communications? We will be glad to do so.

Best regards and good searching.

Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.

ACDC News – Issue 99-04

Posted on January 3, 1999 by Elizabeth Ray

Special thanks go this month to Jianhua Dong

Who has provided valuable service in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center as graduate research assistant during the past 3½ years.

Jianhua is completing his doctorate in Library and Information Science this semester and already has taken a new Internet-related position in California. The position fits nicely with his dissertation research, which centers on the capabilities of search engines. And this Documentation Center has benefited greatly from his expertise, interest and dedication. The collection has grown 25 percent during his period of service and has become available to many more users, through the searchable web site that he helped develop. We are most grateful to Jianhua, wish him the best and will miss him.

A new Agricultural Communication Case Study web site is now online.

Professor Ricky Telg of the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, University of Florida, has developed it to serve as a resource for students, teachers, researchers and practitioners. You can view it at: www.ifas.ufl.edu/~agcommcase/.

First two case studies deposited here.

This month Professor Telg deposited hard copies of the first two case studies in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, which is serving as repository. These two include:

“Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner” Case Study. April 1995, 59 p. Summarizes efforts by the U.S. Beef Industry and Leo Burnett Company to plan and carry out a campaign of “improving target consumer attitudes about beef and halting declines in their beef usage.” A national beef media plan for 1992-1995 involved a media budget of more than $75 million. Study includes strategic research, objectives and marketing solutions through advertising, direct marketing, retail marketing and foodservice.
“Building an Environmental Writing Resource.” This writing case study is posted on the Case Study web site. A final report is available in printed form here at the Documentation Center: Nancy Riggs and Peggy Britt (eds.), Exploring Science Writing: An Environmental Focus. Illinois-Indiana and Michigan Sea Grant College Programs, December 1998. 75 p.

Another new document about commodity promotion.

Thanks to Noel Blisard of the Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, for providing a copy of Evaluation of Fluid Milk and Cheese Advertising, 1984-96. Researchers estimated that gross returns to dairy farmers increased by $5.33 for each dollar spent on generic advertising.

Get a full view of the NAFB Archives.

A new web site permits you to see an index of all materials in the National Association of Farm Broadcasters Archives, which are maintained at the University of Illinois. Here is the URL of this new site: www.library.uiuc.edu/ahx/. Scroll to the NAFB collection.

In addition, you can identify more than 700 articles and reports from the NAFB Archives by searching the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center web site. Use “NAFB” or other broadcast-related subject terms.

We suspect that, through these services, NAFB offers one of the most accessible, user-friendly organizational collections in existence. As one broadcaster put it this week after reviewing the results of a “broadcasters” subject search, “WOW! I am impressed.”

Professional meetings approaching.

Here are the approaching meetings of several professional agricultural communicator organizations:

April 7-9
Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show involving National Agri-Marketing Association and Agricultural Relations Council. Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia.
Contact: www.nama.org

April 25-27
Washington Watch, sponsored by National Association of Farm Broadcasters, Washington, D.C.
Contact: Kelly Lenz at 785-272-3456.

May 3-4
“Communicating Creatively.” Workshop sponsored by the D.C. Region, Agricultural Communicators in Education. White House Conference Center, Washington, D.C.
Contact: www.aceweb.org

May 14-16
West Region Meeting, National Association of Farm Broadcasters, Rochester, Minnesota.
Contact: Donna Schmidt at 507-477-2577.

Notes from grade school English class. Ah, the memories.

“Here is some English to be known. Whom instead of who. Never ain’t. Diagramming also.” (Response from a youngster in English class, cited in: Harold Dunn, The World According to Kids. Spectacle Lane Press, Georgetown, CT, 1992, p. 59)

Best regards and good searching.

Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.

ACDC News – Issue 99-03

Posted on January 3, 1999 by Elizabeth Ray

Prof. Claron Burnett contributes documents.

Special thanks go this month to Claron Burnett, professor emeritus of agricultural journalism, University of Wisconsin USA. Professor Burnett is co-author of several widely used references, including Agricultural News Writing and Writing for Agriculture: A New Approach Using Tested Ideas. He recently contributed 10 of his documents (published 1957-1990) that were missing from our collection. Examples of his recent contributions:

“Differential knowledge gain among Wisconsin dairymen”
“Highlights of agricultural writing,” a paper tracing the development of agricultural writing in the United States.
Leader guides and member manuals for a popular four-unit 4-H photography series.
Instructional Improvement Handbook for the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

New reference on science writing.

An attractive new 75-page teaching reference, Exploring Science Writing: An Environmental Focus,” came off the press in December. It is published by the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Michigan Sea Grant programs and co-edited by Nancy Riggs of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Peggy Britt of the University of Michigan.

The purpose of the reference is to “introduce students to writing for the lay public about a few of the many public issues that affect the ecosystems in which we live.” Chapter 1 introduces readers to science writing techniques. Four following chapters offer writing samples and assignments about environmental topics such as water quality, exotic species, fishery problems and coastal economic development. Contact: Nancy Riggs at nriggs@uiuc.edu

Familiar advice from media.

Not much has changed in 28 years. Science information still isn’t getting the coverage some feel it deserves. Arthur J. Snider, science editor of the Chicago News, addressed this issue in 1971 at the National Seminar on Agricultural Science Communications. His topic: “How the media make decisions regarding science information.”

The same intrinsic qualities that made news in 1971 make news today. As Snider stated, science information is no exception. His reasons for lack of media acceptance also sound familiar. Here are a few examples:

Space is limited and science news gets no special privileges from media gatekeepers who demand some element of applied
science.
Scientific jargon deadens reader interest, however sacred it may seem to scientists.
Citizens “will not subject themselves to an effort to understand science simply as a bugle cry to duty.”

For more information about media use of science information, contact us at the Center or search the database. Use subject terms such as “scientific communication” or “writing skills.” (by Laura Cheline)

Sample requests for assistance.

During recent weeks a university faculty member invited help from the Center in getting access to documents about courses and curricula in agricultural journalism and agricultural communications. Documents of interest also involved trends in agricultural communications and education, internationally. We were able to make photocopies and forward them.
A student working on a history project asked for information about the impact of farm broadcasting during the early years of radio.

Public attitudes about ethanol for fuel.

Here’s a new survey report in the Center that sketches attitudes of U.S. citizens toward the use of alternative fuels such as ethanol. Findings are based on 1,003 telephone interviews conducted during September 1998.

“America speaks out on energy: foreign oil dependency.” Published by the Sustainable Energy Coalition, Takoma Park, Maryland. October 1998. 101pp

Tracking farmer adoption of information technologies.

A recent national survey among more than 2,300 U.S. corn growers helps track their growing use of new technologies. The survey, conducted by Novartis Seeds, Inc., reveals the extent to which growers were using GPS mapping systems, yield monitors on combines, personal computers and the internet for agricultural information during 1998. Results of a similar survey conducted during 1997 show trends in adoption. If you are interested in the results, inquire about:

“Summary of Novartis Seeds Farm Technology Survey Findings”

Professional meetings approaching.

Here are the approaching meetings of some agricultural communicator organizations:

March 4-5
“Marketing to agriculture: building the essential foundation.” Conference sponsored by National Agri-Marketing Association at Westin O’Hare, Chicago, Illinois.
Details: www.nama.org

April 7-9
“Brave new world.” Agricultural Relations Council annual meeting at Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia.
Contact: Donna French Dunn, ARC president, at donna@aaea.org

Best regards and good searching.

Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.

ACDC News – Issue 99-02

Posted on January 3, 1999 by Elizabeth Ray

You will find a new link

On our page of web sites related to agricultural communications and agricultural communicators. It’s the site of American Horse Publications, a non-profit association dedicated to promoting better understanding and communications within the equine industry.

Here are some topics featured in recent communicator newsletters:

“Risk Communication 101” by John Phipps. American Agricultural Editors’ Association
ByLine, November/December 1998.
“Consumer demands driving ag journalism” by Antonina Ni Dhuinn. International
Federation of Agricultural Journalists News, December 1998.
“Improve your graphic design skills” by Glennon M. Scheid. Cooperative Communicators
Association News, January 1999.
“Top 10 rules for better photography” by Jeff Joiner. Cooperative Communicators
Association News, January 1999.
“Useful websites for communicators” by Brenda Fellhoelter. Cooperative Communicators
Association News, January 1999.

We join others in noting with sadness the passing of Joe Marks

A widely respected educational communicator in the U.S. A professor and science writer at the University of Missouri, he died January 4 from internal injuries sustained in a fall in his home. He served as president of the International Association of Agricultural Communicators in Education and earned respect through his leadership, professional skills, generous service and good spirit.

An online “clearinghouse” of case studies

In agricultural and natural resource communication is taking shape. Prof. Ricky Telg, University of Florida USA, is developing this collection as an aid to students and professionals.

“It would be a place where university students can access the real-life situations you have faced,” he explains. He invites case studies for this collection. You can learn more about it on the web site www.ifas.ufl.edu/~telg/openletter.html or check with him by e-mail at rtelg@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu.

A tip on searching by subject matter.

As you search the Documentation Center online, remember that every document in the collection involves communications related to agriculture. So the collection lends itself to cross-subject searches.

For example, if you want to identify documents about public attitudes toward pesticides, you might enter two terms under Subject in the search form, as follows:

attitudes AND pesticides

Here are a few other examples of strategies for cross-searching, by subject:

advertising AND dairy
adoption AND computers
listenership AND farmers AND india
“traditional media” AND africa

Further details and examples are available through Helps. Simply click the “Subject” button on the left side of the search box. And call on us if we can help you search.

Here are some new documents about diffusion, adoption and decision making.

We have added them to the Center during recent weeks. You can get the full citations of those that interest you by searching under “Title” on the search page.

“Using ecolabeling to encourage adoption of innovative environmental technologies in agriculture”
“Environmental policy and technology adoption in animal agriculture”
“Compensating for information externalities in technology diffusion models”
“Technology use increasing in agriculture, still shopping locally”

A closing tribute – to old fence posts.

We close this issue with a poem by John Robertson of New South Wales, Australia. He was recognized for it in the 1998 Rural Poetry Competition in celebration of National Poetry Day, an initiative of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Our thanks to Mr. Robertson and ABC Rural Online.

AN OLD POST ODYSSEY

Was young and strong, have aged since milled.
Been barked and treated, stapled, drilled.
The heat, the freeze, the rain, the dust,
Do blunt the barb, the wire rust.
Last strainer snapped, still upright, free,
But oh to be a Christmas tree.

Best regards and good searching.

Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.

ACDC News – Issue 99-01

Posted on January 3, 1999 by Elizabeth Ray

Happy new year from all of us in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center. May you have a fine year ahead.

New study on attitudes about biotechnology in Japan.

We recently received the following report of a study designed and analyzed by a researcher at North Carolina State University:

“Japanese consumers’ awareness and attitudes about biotechnology”
June 1998. 20pp.

The project, sponsored by Monsanto, involved telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,000 Japanese consumers. It paralleled a similar study conducted three years earlier. Among the results:

Support for agricultural biotechnology tends to have risen between 1995 and 1998.
Awareness of biotechnology among Japanese consumers remains low.
Overall, consumers continue to trust independent, scientific experts. Trust of government agencies has dropped since 1995.
Japanese consumers who were better educated were more positive about biotechnology.

“Connecting the Country” conference in Australia.

Several Australian organizations sponsored a rural communications conference on September 28-29, 1998. It explored the uses and potentials of new communications technologies and services in rural and regional Australia.

Organizers included the National Farmers Federation, the Communications Law Centre and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. Here are some of the topics addressed:

“Rural and regional communications: the debate”
“Agriculture and the Internet”
“The future: key questions for rural and regional communications”
“Launch of the National Landcare Information Service”

You can view some of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation coverage of this conference at the following web site: www.abc.net.au/rural/connect

U.S. farm broadcasters really gathered.

More than 1,000 people attended the National Association of Farm Broadcasters convention on November 11-15 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The December issue of NAFB Chats newsletter reports that highlights included “a full house at Trade Talk, professional improvement sessions, marketing and promotion activities, and lively voting member business sessions.”

More survey reports available on food safety.

We reported in Issue 98-15 having received a copy of the “1998 CMF&Z Food Safety Survey.” The survey is conducted each year in conjunction with the Industry Council on Food Safety, a restaurant and food service industry coalition.

Now, through help from CMF&Z Public Relations, the Documentation Center also has copies of the national food safety surveys conducted during 1995, 1996 and 1997.

Special thanks to Carol Bodensteiner

President of CMF&Z Public Relations, for this contribution to our growing collection of literature about food safety communications. And congratulations to Carol. The Business and Professional Women of Des Moines, Iowa, recently honored her as “Business Woman of the Year.”

Congratulations to Frank Byrnes

Senior associate of Winrock International and widely recognized leader in international agricultural communications. The College of Agriculture at Iowa State University honored him during October with the Henry A. Wallace Award for outstanding service to agriculture at the national and international levels.

You can find some of his professional literature in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, using an “author” search. He recently contributed materials to the Center, as a way in which to make them more widely available.

Let us know if we can help you announce a meeting or event related to agricultural communications.

Contact: Jim Evans at evansj@uiuc.edu

Unforgettable letters to Santa.

The U.S. Postal Service features on its web site what it describes as “unforgettable Dear Santa” letters that come to its attention. We close this issue of “News and Announcements” with a letter written to Santa by a six-year-old:

“I want a racecar.
I want a electronic motorcycle racecar.
I want a lot of love.”

Best regards and good searching.

Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.

ACDC News – Issue 98-16

Posted on January 3, 1998 by Elizabeth Ray

How accurate are the market advisory services for crops?

Two recently added reports in the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center help answer that question. They come from the Agricultural Market Advisory Service (AgMAS) and include:

“1995 pricing performance of market advisory services for corn and soybeans” (published in March 1997)
“1996 pricing performance of market advisory services for corn and soybeans” (published in January 1998)

AgMAS is a collaborative effort of agricultural economists at Ohio State University, Purdue University and the University of Illinois. It began during 1994 and, since then, has tracked the pricing performance of about 25 advisory services to which it subscribes.

Results may hold special value for communicators interested in topics such as risk communications and the quality, accuracy and economic value of agricultural information. Details are available from the AgMAS web site, which you can view at: www.aces.uiuc.edu/~agmas/

Other recent additions about risk communications.

Here are the titles of some other documents that we have added recently to the collection of literature about risk communications, as related to food and agriculture:

“Cognitive determinants of risk perceptions associated with biotechnology”
“Effect of risk perception on willingness to pay for water quality”
“Farmer willingness to pay for herbicide safety characteristics”
“Determinants of unsafe hamburger cooking behavior”
“Voluntary economic and environmental risk tradeoffs in crop protection decisions”
“Farmers’ decision processes and adoption of conservation tillage”

Feedback about the “News and Announcements” page.

We’re pleased to hear from some readers who find useful information in this news page. Recent examples of feedback:

“Thank you for sending this to me. …. The capsulized reports of other meetings about what’s going on in our business are very, very helpful.”
“Great idea. Now I just need to tap into this resource.”

History of NAFB now online.

The National Association of Farm Broadcasters web site recently added a page entitled, “History of NAFB.” Written by NAFB Historian Dix Harper, it describes the development of NAFB during the past 55 years, from its origin in 1943 to its most recent technological development (a 1998 CD-ROM presentation about farm broadcasting).

Actually, this report traces back to the origins of broadcast information for farmers, more than 20 years before NAFB formed. It begins with weather and grain reports aired during 1921, then briefly sketches some highlights in farm broadcasting throughout the U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s.

You can see this history page on the NAFB web site: www.nafb.com

Here are calls for papers to be presented at two approaching conferences related to agricultural communications:

Agricultural Communications Section, Conference of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists, January
31-February 2, 1999, at Memphis, Tennessee USA. Suggested topics: practical applications of new communications
technology; publications, videos and special projects; measurement and accountability; and media relations. December 7 is
the deadline for abstracts, to be sent by e-mail. For details contact: Ned Browning, Mississippi State University, at
nedb@ext.msstate.edu
14th Annual Red River Valley Student Communication Conference, “Communication, Culture and Change,” April 18-20,
1999, at Fargo, North Dakota USA. Keynote speaker is Everett M. Rogers, noted communication scholar who will
respond to a panel presentation about his research in health communication. Undergraduate and graduate students are
encouraged to submit essays and proposals for papers. Information: Dr. Deanna Sellnow, Department of Communication,
North Dakota State University, at: dsellnow@badlands.nodak.edu

Let us know if we can help you announce a meeting related to agricultural communications.

Contact: Jim Evans at evansj@uiuc.edu

Spelling?

It’s quite easy. “Most words are easy for me to spell once I get the letters right.” (Response from an elementary student in English class, cited in: Harold Dunn, The World According to Kids. Spectacle Lane Press, Georgetown, CT, 1992, p. 59)

Best regards and good searching.

Please let us know if we can help you find information and/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.