Reports a survey of three top U.S. academic library holdings of the U.S. telecommunications periodical press. Shows a dramatic decrease in the proportion of telecommunications titles during a time when these publications were increasing in number and price. Suggests that the research library-centered information system is being bypassed. (SR)

Traces the theoretical significance of using names as titles for situations, and applies this analysis to the United States' intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) programs. Argues that the names given to ICBMs preserve their utility as weapons by linking them to the myths of the nineteenth-century western frontier. (MM)

Sets bibliometrics in the context of the sociology of science by tracing the influences of Robert Merton, Thomas Kuhn, and D. J. Price. Explores the discovery of strong empirical relationships among measured communication and information that capture important features of social process and cognitive change in science. (SR)

Argues that there is an inextricable link between scholarly productivity and instructional quality. Discusses implications of divorcing "Speech" from the discipline of communication. Proposes an 11-point plan to separate departments that wish to participate in an emerging discipline of communication. (SR)

Determines which oral communication skills are necessary for success in business, and which communication skills are in greatest need of improvement among persons in business. Reports that listening, message, and emotional behaviors stand out as the most important to success. (MM)

Examines the history of business communication principles. Concludes that principles supposedly developed for business communication can be found in turn-of-the-century composition textbooks and can be traced to a 2000-year-old tradition of epistolographic writings. Questions the viability of principles whose validity depends on rhetorical…

Investigates the impact of varying levels of time compression on comprehensive, interpretive, and short-term listening. Finds that comprehensive listening performance deteriorates significantly as speech compression levels increase, while interpretive and short-term listening performance remain stable until a high degree of time compression is…

Examines conflict between supervisors and "difficult" subordinates. Reports four patterns of difficult subordinate behavior: apparent compliance, relational leverage, alibis, and avoidance. Suggests that these behaviors differ markedly from those assumed by most models of conflict resolution. (MM)

Discusses the function of media nihilism--the rhetoric of "crisis and failure"--in the 1988 Presidential Debates. Examines journalists' debate questions, noting that they painted an almost wholly negative portrait of America. Suggests that the candidate who effectively "skewers" the media on its own hypocrisy should be declared…

Describes a two-part research project examining conversation memory organization packets (MOPs) at both cognitive and behavioral levels. Explores the nature of the informal initial conversation MOP, and examines whether discourse structures correspond to cognitive structures. Finds evidence that scenes in the conversation MOP are topic-centered.…

Explores a method of combining convention and intention by representing conversation structure with conversation MOPs (schematic structures that store conversation rules as generalized episodes associated with goals the episodes achieved). Discusses how conversation MOPs process the opening portion of a dialogue in an interactive advice-giving…

Examines whether communication apprehension mediates the effect of nonverbal involvement cues (head nods, eye contact, body orientation, etc.) on state anxiety, interpersonal attraction, and speech duration in information gathering interviews. Finds that nonverbal cues affect loquacity and liking, but that a speaker's communication apprehension…

Considers Walter Fisher's criticisms of the "rational-world" paradigm, as well as his defense of the narrative paradigm. Concludes that a useful argumentative tradition, best represented by the informal logic movement, avoids the dangers identified by narrative proponents. Notes that the narrative paradigm largely fails to fulfill its…

Surveyed 110 owner/managers of independent restaurants to assess the communication attributes of information sources used for operational decision making. Finds that owner/managers of small firms use sources that are rich (providing added understanding), informal, and accessible both at startup and at stability levels. (MM)

Examines strategies that students use to signal comprehension problems in classrooms, specifically, requests for clarification. Finds strategies differ with regard to the type and amount of communicative effort required of participants. (MS)