Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D06823
Notes:
Pages 297-308 in Massimo Ragnedda and Glenn W. Muschert (eds.), The digital divide: the internet and social inequalities in international perspective. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, Abingdon, Oxon, UK. 324 pages.
33 pages, This study used an in-depth interview and information horizon maps to investigate information seeking behavior of 15 farmers in Central Taiwan. The results show that increased work roles led to more categories of information needed by farmers. Six types of information sources were used by farmers to obtain agricultural information. Interpersonal network was the most preferred information source by farmers. Especially, most farmers contacted other farmers first. Requesting agricultural organizations and farmer groups was the second preferred information source, followed by searching the Internet. Few farmers obtained information from libraries. Several factors affected farmers to select information sources. In addition, barriers to seeking agricultural information faced by farmers were identified. To strengthen the effect of agricultural information dissemination, some suggestions were made. Government agencies related to agriculture should focus the greatest influence of interpersonal network on disseminating agriculture information and improve the communication between agricultural extension agents and farmers. The content and time of agricultural courses were set based on farmers' needs. Improving farmers' information literacy is an essential issue as well.
Chang, Yuan-Yu (author), Su, Wei-Chia (author), Tang, I-Chun (author), Chang, Chun-Yen (author), and National Taiwan University
Chang Jung Christian University
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
2016-12
Published:
Taiwan: American Society for Horticultural Science
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 16 Document Number: D10451
10 pages., Via online journal., There is a growing body of literature that explores the benefits of school gardening for children, but few studies have been conducted in Taiwan. Even fewer studies have examined which factors influence the benefits that children derive from these activities. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the benefits of school gardening for children in Taiwan and also identify the factors influencing these benefits. This study used qualitative research methods, which consisted of interviewing 43 elementary school students who had extensive experience with gardening, and used a general inductive approach to analyze the data. The study also used a quantitative approach to statistically compare gender differences, which found that there were some differences in preference for gardening between boys and girls in Taiwan. The results also identify seven benefits children can derive from school gardening, including increasing life skills, producing pleasant feelings, improving relationships and having plants as companions, acquiring new knowledge, experiencing the aroma and flavor of fruits and vegetables, improving health, and increasing connection to nature. Some of these benefits of school gardening have not been mentioned in previous studies and can be considered to be new, such as having plants as companions. Additionally, this study found 20 factors that influence the benefits of school gardening. Of these, eight were about plants, seven about activities, two about outdoor environments, and three about other participants. Most of the factors provide more than one benefit. The factors with the greatest impact have the most number of benefits that influence children and include “appearance, odor and texture,” “hands-on,” and “outdoor natural elements.” These factors help us to realize the unique characteristics of gardening, highlight the distinctiveness, and increase the indispensability of gardening activities.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
233 p., Examines China's rise, its role in the greater China region, and its influence in other regions of the world. Includes William Vlcek's "Development--great and small: "Greater China," small Caribbean islands and offshore finance."
