Friday, May 31, 2013

Asbestos in the Home: Where to Find It, What to Do About It, and Associated Health Risks

If your home was built between the 1940s and the 1980s, there's a very good chance that it contains asbestos. And if you're planning on doing any kind of renovation in your home today, you need to understand the health hazards associated with asbestos, as well as how to protect yourself from this toxic substance.

Asbestos is an organically occurring fibrous mineral, which has long been prized for its extreme ability to resist heat and fire, as well as its strength, durability, and flexibility. Since it can be woven into cloth or mixed with other materials to create building products, asbestos was widely used during the mid-20th century in a variety of commercial, residential, automotive and maritime applications. It was considered so useful, in fact, that at one time the United States military actually mandated its usage on Navy ships.

Unfortunately, asbestos has become known as a carcinogen. Its microscopic, needle-like fibers are easily inhaled when the mat erial is damaged or crushed, and they can lead to devastating diseases such as mesotheliomaa cancer of the lining surrounding the bodily organslung cancer, asbestosis and pleural fibrosis. According to the EPA and OSHA, there is no safe level of asbestos exposure.

Most people, when they think about asbestos, think of insulation. Yet the material is used in many other places in the home, including door gaskets in furnaces, wood stoves or coal stoves; cement sheeting, millboard and paper used as insulation around furnaces and stoves; insulation for steam pipes, boilers and furnace ducts; cement roofing, shingles and siding; patching and joint compounds; textured paints; acoustical tiles used on the ceiling or walls; spray-on soundproofing or decorative material used on walls and ceilings; floor tiles, vinyl sheet flooring and floor tile backings and adhesives.

Because asbestos may lurk in many places, it is vital that you exercise caution when attempting a do-it-yourself home repair, construction or renovation project. First and foremost, if you know that asbestos exists in your home, it may be wise to leave its removal to the professionals. Asbestos abatement should be carried out by trained, qualified and well-equipped contra ctors. Even if you simply suspect the presence of asbestos, it is recommended that you have air samples taken by professionals.

Often, asbestos-containing materials are safe when they remain undisturbed. It's only when they become damaged that they pose a harm. If a material in your homesuch as flooringcontains asbestos, you may consider installing new flooring over it instead of removing it. Likewise, you should avoid drilling, sawing, sanding, scraping, or brushing asbestos materials. If there is debris present that may contain asbestoscrumbling insulation or flood-damaged building materials, for exampledo not attempt to sweep, vacuum, remove or clean the area. When in doubt, contact a trained asbestos abatement contractor to perform inspection and testing of your home. These professionals can advise you on proper renovation procedures in order to keep you and your family safe from the hazard of asbestos.





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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Factors Responsible For Growth Of Black Mold And Its Signs

You will notice that molds of different colors are found on different places. Usually, molds of black, white, pink, purple, grey or brown colours are seen. Whatever the colour of the mold may be, it can create many problems for you; so it is very important to have complete information about the different factors that can contribute towards the development of molds.

It is also very important for you to know the signs that give an indication of presence of molds at any place. You might have observed different factors that are responsible for the growth of black mold but the most important one is humidity. You can see that all factors are related to humidity either directly or indirectly.

Places that have greater level of humidity promote the growth of fungi and mold. Sometimes water pipes in your homes leak and they increase the level of moisture in your home.

You need to control the moisture in order to get rid of mold problems but the fact is that these sorts of water leakage problems do not appear in the beginning; therefore, it becomes difficult to detect and to resolve these problems quickly.

Another very important factor that can tell you about the presence of black mold in your home is the musty odour. If mold is growing on any place that is not in your view, even then its presence can be felt by its smell.

Another very significant sign that can let you know about the presence of black mold is the development of respiratory problems or allergies. If you are living somewhere or moving to a new place, then you can identify the presence of molds, if you suddenly develop allergic problems.

You might also have headache, dizziness or face some other problems because of the growth of molds in your home or office. You can also see the growth of black molds in some areas of your home more, as compared to other places. In basements, there are greater chances of growth of molds because there is less ventilation, so the level of humidity is greater over there.

You can also observe that bathrooms are the favourite places of molds and mostly, molds are grown on bathroom tiles. The most obvious and visible sign that you can observe is the appearance of biological molds that is visible at any place.





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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Basement Waterproofing in DE Fights and Kills Harmful Mold in Your Basement

Basement Waterproofing in Delaware is Important in Fighting the Dreadfully Harmful Effects of Mold

In DE basement waterproofing is extremely important in ridding your home of mold.

The Delaware Department of Health reccomends that you assume you have mold anytime you see moisture, dampness or a musty smell in your home or basement. "The most practical way to find a mold problem is by using your eyes to look for mold growth and by using your nose to locate the source of a suspicious odor. If you see mold or if there is an earthy or musty smell, you should assume a mold problem exists. Other clues are signs of excess moisture or the worsening of allergy-like symptoms." Basement waterproofing in DE is crucial once you find evidence of mold!

Why is Mold So Bad?

The long term presence of indoor mold growth may eventually become unhealthy for anyone. The following types of people may be affected more severely and sooner than others: infants and children, elderly people, individuals with respiratory conditions or sensitivities such as allergies and asthma, persons having weakened immune systems (for example, people with HIV infection, chemotherapy patients, organ transplant recipients).

Some types of mold can produce chemical compounds (called mycotoxins) although they do not always do so. Molds that are able to produce toxins are common. In some circumstances, the toxins produced by indoor mold may cause health problems. All indoor mold growth is potentially harmful and should be removed promptly, no matter what types of mold are present or whether it can produce some level of toxins. (Delaware Department of Health)

Checking the walls of your home or workplace for efflorescencea white, powdery or crystalline substance that accumulates on the surface of concrete, plaster, or masonrycan be a good initial indicator of the presence of molds or moisture that can lead to molds. Air sampling, in which trained professionals analyze a sample of the air in a building, is another way to determine the presence of molds.

Basement waterproofing prevents mold growth by cutting off moisture to your basement and home. When mold's food supply is cut off, it is killed off for good. Simply cleaning it will only fix the problem temporarily.





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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Free mold inspection - Why the molds are growing in houses??

Mold remediation: When you recently had water damage cleanup and suspect you have mold growing in the structure of your home then your flooding might have transpired into a bigger problem.Many reasons of flooding makes the mold grow and spread over your home. The water damage cleanup victims not only have to worry about the restoring of your home back to a livable condition but they need to worry about growth of the mold. The most important thing is to get all of the water out of the home and then make it dry entirely. Make sure that no moisture is seen in the home or the structure of the home because mold will grow on the moisture place.

Mold in a home can make it uninhabitable if the mold is too bad. Wisconsin water damage cleanup efforts need to consider mainly about the major problems of the mold. Molds are natural and they cannot be avoided if the home is still moist. Mold spores floats through the air, and spread indoors and outdoors. Spores cannot be seen with your eyes because they are so small and invisible. Mold is created by these spores floating in the air circulation. The spores spreads on wet surfaces and begin to multiply and create mold.

Mold has the property of growing only from moisture or water. When you need water damage cleanup, you need to be sure the job is done properly and your home is free of water and moisture. All the surfaces in your home should be completely dried quickly, within just a couple of days. You cannot afford to have mold grow in your home if the process of clean up is done without postponing. There are many different types of mold growing and the growth depends only upon the moisture in order to make the growth faster. If your home still has a lot of moisture content from flooding then you might have a risk from developing mold.Keep the kitchens, laundry rooms,bathrooms, windows, carpets free from the moisture for avoiding the Mold growth.

For more details about House mold inspection





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Monday, May 27, 2013

Garden Designers For English Gardens: Offering You Choices For English Garden Designs

Do you happen to be specifically looking for garden designers for English gardens? Well, if you are, then this article is meant for you. An English garden, as you already know is simply a garden that is made to appear as if it was in England! The typical English-themed backyards are those that give the look of a cottage garden filled with flowers or perhaps the looks of a formal estate backyard. Since designing one can be fairly easy on a small scale, you can actually design your English garden yourself. Do be aware that if you employ someone who has great knowledge in this are then the finsihed result will be much better. If you have the money to spend, it will be best to hire the services of a good garden designer one who is deemed an authority in English gardens would be the best prospect.

Choosing The Perfect Garden Designer
Two ways by which you can pin down the English garden designer you need is through; first, asking your relatives, family and peers for referrals. If you do not get any; or perhaps the referrals you got did not suit you, then there is always the option of checking out the countless websites online that cater services for garden designing. One of them may just be the garden designer you are looking for. Otherwise, you may just decide to do the designing yourself. But then before you decide to DIY, find below some garden designs that your chosen garden designer may recommend to you. Pick the one that will most suit your needs, preference and taste. That way, you will have your money's worth in the end.

1. The Formal Look
There are different looks of an English garden and one of which is that of the "formal" design. Keep in mind that maintaining this kind of garden is not easy on the budget. In fact, it is known to be a garden quite expensive to maintain. For one, you can expect that you will often need to put in various fixtures such as a gazebo, a pathway, stone walls and archways, fencing and a lot others to enhance the looks of your garden. Do not forget putting a fountain or water feature near or in the center of your garden area which is distinct of English garden designs.

2. The Informal Look
On the other hand, you can also try going for the informal English garden design which is about filling your backyard with flowers and shrubs planted close together. Likewise, you may try adding one or two traditional wooden benches to create an inviting, homely and calming ambience not just for your family but also for your guests and family friends. One thing good about these benches is that you present the practicality of having comfortable seat in your garden while at the same time exuding a touch of that 'welcoming home' feel.

3. The "Flower-Filled" Look
Another design you may adopt for your garden would be filling your backyard with loads and loads of flowers. You may not know it, but English gardens are actually known for being very verdant and crammed to the top with different kinds of flowers. Try looking for some plants as well which you can plant close to each other another distinct characteristic of the English garden.





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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Enliven Your Creativity With Your Garden Designs

Your garden can be a manifestation of your own creativity. It is no longer a place where you plant fruits and vegetables. If you would like to add a little more life and enhance the look of your garden opt for interesting garden designs.

Before you go ahead with some garden designs, you may like to keep some guidelines in mind to for better synchrony of your surroundings:

The Golden Rule

The key to innovative garden designs is a simple rule. THINK BEFORE YOU PLANT. Plan your garden in sync with the look of your house to make a cohesive unit that is in harmony with each other.

Discover The Purpose

Prior to finalizing your garden designs, you may like to consider how the garden would be used. Would you like to enhance the view of the house or would you like to entertain guests? Would little children be comfortable playing in your garden or would senior citizens love taking a walk there? Would your garden occupy private space or would it be in public view? It would really help if you finalized the main purpose of your garden, and then proceeded to design it.

Landscape Matters

Opt for garden designs that compliment the landscape and the house. It is important to remember that the house is the most important part of the landscape and the garden needs to be designed in harmony with the house and the surroundings. Then the different elements of the house and the garden can connect better to provide an interesting style to the house and the landscape.
Choose Your Garden

You have a choice of formal, a semiformal or natural garden designs. A formal garden has the plants and shrubs arranged symmetrically around two axis, which provide a cross with the pool or a gazebo at the center. These gardens are usually adorned with evergreens, hedges or walls and have a hard surface terrace. A semi-formal garden also works on the same axial plan as the formal one; however the garden designs are a little less rigid. In many instances, the hard surface terrace is replaced by grass or evergreen shrubs. Besides, you may also see flowers, vegetables or herbs spilling out of the beds.

Natural garden designs follow the intrinsic landscape. They usually meander around the surroundings and have a casual or softer look. The architectural style of the house, the budget and the personal preference of the owner may eventually decide upon the design of the garden.

Create A Theme

Most garden designs are usually creations of the owners or the gardeners mind, and you have a range of themes to choose from. Let your creativity decide the theme; just make sure that it compliments the overall landscape and the style of the house and garden.

Play With Colors

Colors play a very important role in garden designs. With practice and experimentation you will be able to understand the essence of combining colors. However, you may begin by referring to the color wheel, where colors are arranged according to their relationships with each other. Most color wheels contain 12 colors only, but you may be able to color coordinate the plants and flowers better a violet-red to red to orange-red, in the same order as they appear in the color wheel. Move Around.

Garden designs should be able to accommodate free movement. Designing walkways, pathways or driveways are very important aspects. To make the view of the garden interesting, you can expose vistas that would make a pleasant view. This may encourage visitors to get off the path or driveway and take a closer look at the garden.

Drainage

Drainage is another important factor in garden designs. A sound drainage system will ensure hygiene and maintain overall garden health. On the other hand an unsound drainage system will destroy your garden.

If you are not happy with your existing garden design, follow these guidelines and spice up your view! Add your imagination and creativity to these simple guidelines and create garden designs that will make you proud.





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Saturday, May 25, 2013

English Garden Design and Residential Engish Landscape Designers in Houston Texas

You know one when you see it. The English garden design is all about curved beds, winding paths, riotous color. The gardener's hand is light. There-but just barely. It lets nature do its own thing. You might even say that the English garden design is controlled chaos.

The history of English garden design began with the revolt against the constraints of formal landscape design and classic landscape design. These two forms, with their appreciation of balance, symmetry and geometry, sit on the opposing end of the spectrum from English garden design. Where formal gardens find beauty in linearity, English gardens use undulating lines. Where formal gardens seek right angles, English gardens use few, if any, angles. The words of the English poet Alexander Pope (1688-1744)-the "amiable simplicity of unadorned nature"-describe this style.

Impressionist painters were key influencers in the continuing development of the English garden design. Claude Monet (1 840-1926) claimed that painting and gardening were his only two interests in life. When he first moved to Giverny, where he would build his famous water gardens, his first concern was to arrange the garden in a rampant, naturalistic explosion of color.

The residential English garden design has since become hugely popular in the United States. Houston's semi-tropical climate is well suited for vine-covered pergolas, sunny rose gardens, dazzling azalea beds and bursts of seasonal color-all plant materials that fit well within the English garden's concept of abundance.

A Quick Study of English Gardens

The English garden design is the essence of an informal garden. The different colors and textures of the plant materials-the profuse wildness-draw the viewer in, creating a feast for the mind's eye. However, while it has elements of a naturalistic garden, it is not considered of this style. Instead, flowering plants are arranged in a seemingl y haphazard arrangement that merely recalls a natural landscape.
The general characteristics of an English garden design fall along these lines:

Plants are chosen out of personal preference or connection. It is common to find cuttings from the gardens of family and friends.

Regional plants have prominence because they enhance the naturalistic feel.

Plants, especially flowering ones, are grouped into smaller clumps-not drifts. The desired effect is for the garden to appear somewhat random, but not messy.

Many different kinds of plants are used-annuals, bulbs, herbs, perennials, shrubs and vines.

Scent is very important in an English garden design. Hence, the prevalence of roses and herbs.

Often the garden is enclosed by a picket fence or hedge to help bring some additional order.

Strong mix of colors.

Colors of an English Garden: Evoking the Emotions

English garden design uses plants to reach the viewer emotion ally rather than intellectually. Primarily, it is done with color.

Different colors affect people differently, but generally each color has its own psychological appeal. Green is the most restful color. Pale greens and yellow-greens are perfect for an English garden design because they feel lighter, brighter and more informal. White creates a sense of space in a garden. Red calls attention to itself or what it surrounds, making it perfect for planting near focal points. Apricot, salmon and peach tints are friendly and welcoming.

Space and Elements of the English Garden Design

The arrangement of elements within the English garden space is very important. Whereas the modern garden design uses a philosophy of "less is more", the English garden simply says "more."

Some elements to consider for an English garden:

Gates. The garden entryway can become an important element of an English garden design. Plants can softe n the garden gate, making it even more inviting.

Hardscapes. Hardscapes are non-plant material features of landscape design. Popular residential hardscape structures made of wood that work well in an English garden design include arbors, pergolas and gazebos. In an English garden, walkways meander through the landscape while providing easy access to your home and other structures. Perhaps a retaining wall, a short wall used to hold the soil in place, is needed as part of a proper landscape drainage system. If so, good landscape designers and landscape architects will construct it so that it fits the design.

Material choices. Just as flagstone and travertine work well in a Mediterranean garden design, brick and gravel complement an English garden design.

The Ever After of an English Garden

While English gardens are lower in maintenance than a formal landscape design, a landscape maintenance program is still required. Especia lly it will involve the systematic feeding of flowers, bushes and trees. Since trees are a vital part of the English garden, make sure proper tree preservation methods are used during installation. "A temporary irrigation system and hand-digging to minimize damage to trees and their root systems are a very important part of tree preservation," explains Jeff Halper with Exterior Worlds. For the longer term, a permanent irrigation system is also a plus for the entire landscape since it will increase the ease of the required regular watering.





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Friday, May 24, 2013

Gardening Design Easy As One, Two, Three!

Garden design defined- Many people wonder what garden design exactly entails. Well, its actually a very straight forward concept consisting out of an artful process which in turn comprises of design, creation and planning precise layout of not only garden plants but also as the landscape areas self. The owner of the garden or a professional such as a landscaper can undertake a garden design project, depending on the expertise required. Even if you decide on a professional, it's important to remember that his or her level of experience and expertise will vary from individual to individual.

Education- Most garden designers have been trained in both design and horticulture, with advanced know-how and experience on plants and their use. A Landscape Architect can also be considered part of a professional garden designer team, with formal training in the form of a degree, which includes state licensing.

Will only a pro succeed? -Its not only pro's that succeed in garden design. Amateur gardeners also have the to potential to gain immense levels of experience, expertise and know-how from working in their own gardens. Wanna-be designers can also get necessary knowledge from either part-time or full-time study in the form of a University or College Degree in Gardening. Gardening or garden design organisations or clubs are also a very popular choice for individuals who want to learn more about gardening. These clubs include The Gardeners of America, National Garden Club or American Horticultural Society.
Increased interest in garden design- The popularity of garden design has boomed substantially in resent years specifically during the last century, not only as a mere hobby for gardening fanatics, but also as an addition to professional garden designers' portfolio's.

Basic principles of design- It doesn't matter whether you are a garden designer by profession or an amateur trying your hand at something new, the basic principles of design will always remain the same if you want to ensure design effectiveness, resulting in a garden meeting the needs, goals and desires of the owner or user of the garden.

Elements of design- Essential garden design elements include, solid landscape layout such as paths, walls, water features, seating and decking; plant layout, with proper consideration to every plants individual requirements, the season, lifespan, habit in terms of growth including size and speed and lastly the combi of other plants and landscape characteristics.

Regular maintenance considerations- Regular maintenance considerations are also very important, this includes the time and costs spent to ensure the garden is properly maintained. This will have a direct impact on your plant choices, as special consideration needs to be taking in terms of plant growth speed, seeding, whether plants are annual, bi-annual or perennial, bloom-time and actual bloom duration, and numerous other factors.

Other considerations of importance- Of all the design considerations garden use is definitely regarded as the most important, desired style follows very close behind, and lastly the way the garden is intended to blend with your home or surrounding areas. Unfortunately, mentioned considerations are subject to two problems, namely budget and time limitations. Budget limitations are beaten chop-chop by a simple, basic garden design style with few and quick growing plants, inexpensive materials for landscapi ng and seeding instead sodding. Apart from this, garden owners can decide to design their gardens' over an extended period, in sections, with primary focus on each individual section instead of manage all at once.





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Thursday, May 23, 2013

The History Of Garden Design

The history of garden design starts from the basic use of agriculture then. This primarily means that gardens were not used for aesthetic purposes then but for practical reasons. As such, Bristol garden design or to garden design Bristol homes were non-existent. What existed was planting herbs and vegetables for food.

Although many believe Egyptian tomb painting were the first evidence of ornamental gardening, most of the credit in the origin of garden design goes to Persia or Iran as we now know it. In ancient times, medieval European gardens were a combination of planting herbs for medicinal purposes, planting vegetables for food and planting flowers for decorative purposes. Garden design in a purely aesthetic manner started with the renaissance gardens, most notably the Italian renaissance gardens and gardens of the French renaissance, evident in popularity in paintings of that era.

Italian renaissance gardens started from the late fifteenth century and were most known for much of the art of its era, a rediscovery of earlier roman descriptions of what a garden should be. There were however, early renaissance gardens, with the first ever being the Villa Medici in Fiesole in Florence. This was in the 14th century and owned by the Medici dynasty. In this period, many followed the philosophy that a garden should overlook what it could such as the city, a valley or the sea. Italian renaissance gardens were popular for symmetry, the use of fountains, installation of pathways and ramps for tiered gardens and the installation of patios or labyrinths. Gardens of the French renaissance in the meanwhile were largely influenced by the Italian renaissance gardens and mirrored the usual rules of proportion and harmony while being grander in scale. They were a way to symbolize power and wealth. The garden la franaise or the French formal garden was also largely inf luenced by the Italian renaissance gardens following the rules of proportion while garden designers, during this time, started considering the garden designing as a branch of architecture.

By the mid-eighteenth century, the French formal garden experienced a decline with the increasing popularity of the English garden. The English garden is largely influenced by choosing nature over architecture. Symmetry was brought to an end. Instead, gardens were inspired by landscape paintings that included a lake, spanning lawns, clumps of trees and building of beautiful architecture such as bridges and temples. In a sense, it aims to be more romantic by being the subject of paintings, art and poems. The French landscape garden, again, is similarly influenced by the English garden.

The last genre to gardening is the contemporary garden, the garden that we know today. A contemporary garden can be a revival of past garden styles, a present garden style and a modern garden style. The cottage garden is also an informal garden that encourages the growth of wild or natural grown plants in backyards. Though this was already existent even before garden styles were even known, it is currently being revived. Currently, private or residential gardens are not limited to certain genres but largely follow the interior design and architecture of homes such as Zen style gardens have become popular at the advent of Japanese platform beds and other furniture. Trends in garden design are first dependent on individual style while many try to harmonize the style house and the garden as naturally as possible.

Trends in interior design and architecture today promote eco-friendliness and environmental awareness. So expect garden design trends to follow suit. People who garden will focus more on the cause of saving the world rather than simply aesthetics while having a sustainable irrigation system to water plants from within the garden. In the same manner choosing a low maintenance Bristol garden design that need very minimal tending to will also become widespread this year compared to high maintenance gardens while choosing eco-friendly plants that do not need chemicals to keep them alive. The best garden design bristol homes could possibly have this year is a perfect blend of aesthetics, functionality and its contribution in helping save the environment. Basically, that is what a contemporary garden is a practical approach and adherence to the form follows function principle. Create it for what it is intended for.




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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Why Garden Design Courses Are Great For Beginner Gardeners

Only recently have garden design courses become available and in demand. This is partly because of the fact that the garden designing profession has been evolving over the years. As a result, many experienced and respected garden designers do not actually have formal and professional qualifications. The SGD (Society of Garden Designers) understands the increasing need for professional qualifications for upholding the high standards of design education and providing the best service for the public.

Garden design courses are essential for your success if you are interested in becoming a garden designer. There is a number of aspects of design that can be learned by booking yourself onto your choice of the many of such courses out there. Of course, designing your garden is a truly beautiful art form in itself through which you can increase the beauty and looks of your office premises or the garden outside your residence.

You need to find a good and experienced tutor for it. It is not only the information that you get to learn but an equally important aspect is exactly how you are taught. So their success can depend on the whole learning process. As you will recall from the topics we used to study in school, subjects not only needed to be interesting but also required to keep the attention of all the students too. If the topic is uninteresting and dull, nobody is going to waste their time studying it.

Educational courses also have to attend to all the different personality types. Some people easily learn with the how to' approach, some with the step-by-step procedures while others ask questions regarding the topic and like to interact with the class.

While choosing your own course, you need to be sure that you would be getting a lot of opportunities to practice the material of the course yourself. Another important aspect which needs to be considered is your availability and time for taking the them. Because of the advanced media and technology, you can now learn more about this online from the comfort of your own living room.

These courses are particularly advantageous if there is not a good college in the vicinity or you don't have the ability or time for attending weekly scheduled course events. The last but the most important thing to consider is exact kind of these design course which you think is most suitable for you. A lot of these courses offer a diploma through which you could set up like a professional.

As easy as it might sound, garden designing is not an easy task and requires great expertise. The procedure in these professional courses needs to be absolutely functional. If you are required to design any garden, then it should be designed how the owner of garden needs it to be done. You cannot just put racks of single plant species, because you like them.

You need to consult with the owner and start designing it accordingly. The proper sunlight, available garden space and effortless upkeep and management all need to be carefully noted. This is some of the finer details of what you will learn. A well designed garden should unfold, revealing some surprises or revelations at every corner.

A good gardening course should always come with money back guarantee. If you are following your desire to decorate your own garden or to start garden designing as your career, taking courses about designing your garden will give you a clear picture in your mind whether garden designing is the perfect field for you or not. This way, if you feel that your chosen courses are not working well for you, then you can at least get back your money.

Of course, some city courses are better than others regarding the actual level of tuition that you receive. It might be a good idea to first have a look at the actual work of other students before you actually pay out for a professional garden designing course. If you want to take garden designing courses just so you can change the look of your own garden, or if you are considering taking up designing gardens as a career, then city garden design courses represent the ideal place to start.





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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Tips on Garden Design

People use different gardening designs according to their own imagination. The garden, after all, is an important part of the home. This is the place that offers your visitors their first impression of your home and also shows the personality of the owner. They introduce plants, flowers and different related items. Some people take help from the professionals while others want to decorate their home's gardens themselves. Those people can sometimes give all their attention to their gardens.

Gardening lovers can follow the different tips and techniques of designing a garden. The first idea is that you can build a small pond or swimming pool in the middle of the garden and install flowers of different colors around the pool. That design will create the natural look. That design will also provide you a place of relaxation where you can sit in that atmosphere to escape those tough stressful times of your day to day life.

That design will not only give relaxation but also increases the beauty of the home which in turn will help those who come into your home to make their mind cool should they come back home in an angry mood. Your gentle gardening design will play its part in creating a pleasant calming effect on the human minds.

The installation of a fountain in the corner of the garden with combination of lightings of different colors will enhance the look of the garden. The fountain may need a little bit of extra care but it gives an awesome look. You can install a small waterfall as one option of many different unique designs.

You might want to position the waterfall in front of a small canal from where the water will pass to plants or waste. In the middle of the canal, why not make a bridge like we see on rivers. A small bridge will give you that natural look. Around the bridge you can plant flowers of different types. That is an example of garden design at its best.

The best thing about designing your garden is that we can use stones and other materials like different rocks in the designing of your garden. The stones and rocks are put to good use when we make waterfalls in the garden. The rocks give a natural look implying the water is falling naturally in different mountainous areas.

You can put the rocks at that place from where water is falling or at where water falls and other, different looking stones can be used around the water fall area. You can also fix the stones in the making of the waterfall instead of using bricks. That kind of gardening designing is known as civilized gardening due to the natural look that the gardener creates.

A very important aspect of many garden designs is the careful use of lighting. Subtle lighting allows people to enjoy the beauty of the garden in the evening or at night time. It also enhances the beauty of the garden, so the garden looks more awesome compared to morning time. If your garden is designed properly it should give you the kind of relaxation that no one other place on earth can match. Ideally, it should be a kind of paradise for you and your family, a place you will want to spend your free time as a place of leisure and relaxation.

The selection of furniture for your garden is another vital element. You need to choose your garden furniture opting for the very best type for sitting in the garden that gives you the most amount of comfort whilst still being sturdy enough to resist the elements of the changing seasons. So you have to focus on the design of the furniture.

Select the design which you think will best suit you and your garden. Different types of furniture are available in your local gardening stores. If possible, only select the very best of furniture that uses quality wood iron and steel. Those three types are best because they are durable and the rain will not affect those types. So, you can possibly leave the furniture outside overnight without any worries.

For gardening design, you can get help from some professionals. If you want to design it yourself then you can get help from one of Andrew Dumbleton's city garden design courses. He has an online site that offers a quality course that provides you with all the help you need for guiding you about gardening designs. The pictures of different designed gardens are available on his site so you can get the basic ideas. However, his gardening design courses will take you to the next level.





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Monday, May 20, 2013

Garden Design

If you are looking for some useful tips on elegant garden design, look no further than egardendesign.eu for every bit of useful information on your flower and garden as well as great garden accessories. Egardendesign.eu will provide you with excellent ideas on garden design that you can use to make your garden seem like the most beautiful part of your house. You will get handy hints and authentic information on various aspects of garden design, including garden furniture, herb selections, garden accessories and toys, flower ideas, garden games and leisure activities centered round your garden, irrigating your garden to ensure that you use water efficiently without endangering the health of your flowers and plants. In addition, you will also find information on garden furniture, garden lighting, garden tools, and even tips on how to build a swimming pool in your garden! Here we discuss some of the most notable features of egardendesign.eu.

The basis of a beautiful garden is garden design. On egardendesign.eu you will learn about the various principles of garden design that professional landscapers use in their own garden design projects. You will learn through clear and lucid descriptions of popular garden designs from all over the world. These garden designs include zen garden designs, English garden designs, Italian garden designs, hanging gardens, water gardens. You will also be able to read on various commonly used structures in garden design.

On egardendesign.eu you will also find an incredible volume of information on beautiful flowers for your garden. Instead of giving instructions on how to grow these flowers in your garden, the flower section gives detailed information on the varieties and growing conditions of several garden flowers including the rose, tulip, daisy, lilac, orchid, and many more. Beginners will find the flower section very helpful as it provides information on flower and garden in an easy to understand manner. This does not mean that the flower section is not useful for expert gardeners. For the more experienced gardeners and hobbyists, the flower section will tell you how you can extend your passion for flowers further by making flower selling your business.

Another useful section of egardendesign.eu is the garden accessories section. Like garden flowers, garden accessories also have an important function in garden design. They make the garden a comfortable place to be and enjoy the beauty. Garden toys can especially make the garden inviting to children. In the garden accessories section, you will find valuable the different types of garden accessories you can use to enhance your garden design, depending on the size of your garden. For instance, there are separate links to flower pots and planters for your flowers, barbecue grills and fountains. Each of these garden accessories has a specific role in your overall garden design. They provide a focal point where you and your family can come together and enjoy the natural beauty of your garden.

Apart from sections on garden design, flowers, and garden accessories, there are also sections on garden tools, recipes using flowers, flower decorations, centerpiece flowers, bouquet flowers, and even the special meanings associated with different flowers.





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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Flower Garden Design Concepts: How To Create An Amazing Garden!

A flower garden can be a peaceful and beautiful refuge from the rest of the world. Sitting in the midst of fragrant flowers while reading a book or strolling along paths lined with flowers in cheerful colors can help you to wind down after a busy, stressful day. With some planning and work, a lovely flower garden can be yours to enjoy.

Planning Flower Garden Designs

Creating beautiful flower garden designs takes much planning and consideration. You will need to consider the types of flowers and combinations of colors you desire for the garden. You will also need to think about the placement of borders and shrubs as well as seating and ornaments. It is a good idea to choose an overall style for the garden and stick with it. When you begin your flower garden designs project, you should make a scale drawing of the design to help visualize your concepts.

Shapes in Flower Garden Designs

Decide upon the shape and pattern for your flower garden designs. Rectangular flower garden designs are a traditional shape and always popular. Circular shaped gardens add interest to the standard rectangular lawn. Flower gardens planted on a diagonal to the house can make a lawn appear larger than it actually is.

Styles of Flower Garden Designs

There are a number of styles of gardens that you can plant, and many of them are not too difficult to achieve. Some favorite flower garden designs are listed here.

Rose Flower Garden Designs

Rose Gardens are easy to plant and beautiful to see. In addition to modern roses, include fragrant, old-fashioned varieties of roses whose scent will delight. Plant bulbs in the beds and border them with seasonal flowers to keep the garden full of color during the blooming seasons.

Cottage Flower Garden Designs

Informal cottage gardens have an old-fashioned, rustic look about them. These flower garden designs incorporate the use of flowers, plants and vegetables.

Shade Flower Garden Designs

Shade gardens are good flower garden designs for spaces with many trees blocking the sunlight. There are many flowers that do well in shady areas, including impatiens, begonia, azalea, hosta and viola. The lack of leaves on the trees in spring allows spring bulbs to grow, filling the space with color.

Wildflower Flower Garden Designs

Wildflower gardens are flower garden designs that feature plants indigenous to the area where the garden is located. These gardens tend to require less pampering than some of the other types listed here, usually not requiring much weeding or amendments to the soil.

Butterfly Flower Garden Designs

Butterfly gardens are delightful flower garden designs, planted with flowers known to attract butterflies. Plants such as marigold, lilac, coreopsis,lavender, black-eyed susan and goldenrod are all good choices for butterfly gardens.

Hummingbird Flower Garden Designs

Likewise, hummingbird gardens are a good choice for those who enjoy spotting these small birds. Hummingbirds like richly colored flowers with sweet nectar and a tubular shape. Red and fuschia flowers in particular tend to attract hummingbirds. Some hummingbird garden favorites are morning glory, petunias, azalea, rose of sharon, delphinium and honeysuckle.





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Saturday, May 18, 2013

Home Based Business Ideas - How to Start an Earn From Home

Home based businesses are the trend of the future with the growth of the Internet. It has enabled us to constantly connect with friends, family, schoolmates or co-workers, and also has allowed us to work from the comforts of home. The internet, allow people to access and research for information needed. There are number of home based business ideas around. Earning money online can actually be done, and that's required from you is a lot of time and effort Here are a number of helpful tips for starting an earn-from-home opportunity.

Which Business Should You Start?

There are actually a lot of options, from operating an e-commerce store, to selling information products, article marketing, affiliate marketing, or starting your own foreign exchange or stock market trading, or opening an online auction business. You need to at least spend a few days analyzing and mulling over your options. If you still can't make up your mind, there is a lot of free information on the Internet regarding starting a home-based business. You may also wish to drop by discussion boards and forums, where you can ask for advice, and see what others recommend.

Here are thebest home based business ideasthat can help you to earn at home:

1. Find the home based business entrepreneurs who have experience, so that you can use their recommendations efficiently.

2. Write review of products including their benefits by creating pre selling web pages, as people go online searching for information before buying products.

3. Add a sign up form to your pre selling web pages and promise to give freebies to those who will give their name and email addresses. This will help you to build your big list of subscribers.

4. Provide useful online information to the visitors by writing articles. This will increase meaningful traffic to your website on a consistent basis.

5. Build a theme oriented website having various business options for opportunity seekers in general etc.

Unless you have thebest home based business ideasto know from where to start and how to earn at home, it is difficult to set a good foundation for your business.If you're still searching for a good business on the internet, then pick up the right business for you without wasting time, depending on your passion. To begin with find one that fits your talent and your budget. Know your audience and stick to it. The sooner you do, the sooner you will be on your way to get what you want in life.

If you are having trouble creating home based offline and online business ideas that will work, do not despair. When you think of creating home based business ideas, these normally can fall under a few broad categories. You can sell through online auctions such as eBay, you can sell tangible goods on the Internet, or you may sell a service to customers. You could also serve as a business to business product or service provider.

As mentioned when it comes to finding the right home based business idea for you there is plenty of information and advice available on the internet. Once you have chosen a number of ideas that you are interested in then you need to carry out further research to see if they really do suit you.





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Friday, May 17, 2013

How To Find Out Home Based Business Ideas - Finally A Quick Answer

Thinking of home based business is the trouble-free way to acquire sizable amount while stay at home with your children. But then again I suppose that it is not an uncomplicated task for each person. Everybody cannot fine-tune himself with small but difficult circle of self employment. I will try to point out you some mandatory requirements to come out your home business. Here you will also acquire some helpful ideas to choose the type of business to come out. You need a good planning as anyhow as plenty of fundamental information to tackle down the obstacle on the way of a promising home-based business.

While setting your home-based business you take every the major decisions plus feel proud when you acquire the better findings of it. Now you are the boss along with doing the job on the time table formed by your self. You can conserve the extra effort with getting assist from your children. For of course you have tactics to pop out your home business. Simply ex plore it once again along with sort out any uncertain query if exist. Many newspaper and commercials are showing the ideas making fast cash but indeed they are mostly crap. You need to plan the home based business on true findings if you do not want to be failed.

Getting proper advice is significant to your home based business success. If you don't have the skills or the knowledge you need to pop out and run your home based business then chances of your success are very little. Here are some ideas you can use to prevent home-based business failure. Before you pop out your home business, you must consider your personality and your preferences of work. Working at home can reduce your contact with colleagues. Many individuals find hard to work alone for long stretches of time especially those who like to work in busy office environments surrounding by lot of workers.

You must think of your folks when starting business at home. They will be part of your bus iness in either case weather you want or not. Put the plan of your home based business in front of your relatives along with acquire the thoughts of all member. The other problem is your neighborhood. You have to choose the business that does not affect the people second door. If any body complaint against you in municipal office then you might have to change or finish your work. Register your business in the related office plus usage advertisement to acquire the consumer at your door.

Do you understand that eBay is also a brilliant business thought? Make sure the items that are mostly demanded are proper for being sold online and shipped to the customer, eBay might be the way to go. It can be a inexpensive alternative than establishing your very own e-store plus eBay can give you every type of information to help out you to sell your stuff successfully. Home Renovation Services is also the hottest home based business now a day. Individuals like to repair every th e rooms according to the wish of the individual using them. They consume a massive amount to repair the house in order to the fulfillment of their beloveds. You might have improved luck if you are anyhow mannered along with organized individual. Catering Services is also a good way to get money in your pocket without spending much time. Many factory workers and a number of families love to obtain the hot along with delicious food from any person able to supply in time. Happy Searching for your home based business ideas and good luck.





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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Home Based Business Ideas: There are quite a few techniques that you could earn a living proper in the comfort of your family home

You've heard of all of the productive home based organization ideas and wonder if you could come up with some thing as fresh and innovative in order to gain your own independence and career freedom. You can. There are many home based business ideas running around your head. You just require to learn to focus them to locate the correct home based organization idea for you.

Before you run off with one of those a lot of home based company ideas, consider if a home based company is proper for you. It may seem great to not have to make that morning commute every day and to be your own boss, but making those home based organization ideas prosperous takes a good deal of work and focus. You need to be ready to put in a whole lot of work to commence your company and far more work to create it prosperous. Also, you need to have to know that you can balance the work it'll take to turn those home based organization ideas into a reality with your personal life.
Still, if you feel you have the focus and desire to be your own boss, then it's time to look at those home based business ideas. Not positive what to do? Commence off by thinking about the things you love to do. You know, those things that you get involved in and you hate to walk away from. Home based organization ideas come out of the things you adore, so make a list. Then take those ideas and narrow them down to a few things you could turn into an enterprise.

Once you know what you adore and have some home based enterprise ideas, don't fret if you think they have been completed just before. They may well have, but you may perhaps do it greater. Or, there could only be a few corporations that give the identical services your home based business ideas would offer. If you have broad home based enterprise ideas, attempt to narrow them down to a couple of niches. Figure out how you can make those home based business ideas just a little unique from the competitio n.

Research becomes your buddies when you are going via your home based company ideas. Take a look at the competition on the net or in your area. See how you can take your concept and make it work for clients. Maybe talk to some consumers to see what aspects of your home based company ideas they could be interested in or will need. This details will guide you through your list of home based business ideas until you discover the one that will work ideal for you.





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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Easy To Earn Money with Home Based Business Ideas

Start your home based business, click here!

In the today's era, internet brings a cluster full of opportunity to make money from your through the home based business. You can earn money from your home even without requiring any investment with just a little bit knowledge of computer and fluent English. Home based business is a new form of business successfully going on all around the world and many people are now earning thousands through it in just few hours. To make money from your home based business is one of the best ideas as in this you can enjoy being your own boss.

The rapid growth of internet has made it a fruitful medium for people earn money without spending hours in the boring office. Different kinds of works are available online. It is quite easy to start home based business, however it always requires proper home based business plan, and proper efforts for becoming successful in your business. It's entirely up to your capability and hard work, which will lead you to the success.

There are various ideas for a home based business which can be implemented anywhere and anytime with a nominal setup with 100% proven ways.

Affiliate products are also known as CPA(Cost per Action) or CPL (Cost Per Lead)which is an affiliate program, where you advertise others company product via various advertising mediums including banner, Pay Per Impression(CPM),Pay Per Click(PPC), Pay Per View(PPV)etc. you can create your own SEO optimized website where you can add their product reviews. Here the profits earned are based upon the counts of the visitors to your website. So you must have understood the importance of Search Engine Optimization in online home based business. If you hire a SEO practice for your site then it would give you the traffic to help you earn a lot of money. Freelancing is another widely grown home based business concept now days. There are various websites which provide freelancing like elance, odesk, freelancer etc. It is one of the most practiced and easiest methods to make money from home. It provides various aspects according to your interests like graphic design, Web design, writing or anything, so you can imply with that Ecommerce is another flourishing home based business idea of making money. The foremost example of it is eBay, which makes simplest way for constant earning. Online survey offer it is one of another interesting ideas for a home based business. All you have to do is to fill up the forms. But be careful so that you won't get scammed as there are many large numbers of scammers over the internet. Networking originally it was offline MLM but now it is popularly known as social media marketing.

The opportunities to make money from your home based business depend entirely upon the time you devote in this business. You can make this business either as a part time job or you can spend your full time in this. Anyone from a school going child to an old retired person can start with the home based business. So start with it and earn extra income for you and your family.

Start your home based business, click here!





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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Best Home Based Business Ideas - 4 Lucrative Ideas

Through this article, you are provided a quick overview of some great home based business ideas that you can get into in order to gain some extra income.

One of the home based business ideas that you will want to keep in mind involves establishing a travel agency. In this day and age, thanks to the internet, it is very easy to run a travel agency from the comforts of your own home.

Another home based business idea that may be of interest to you is a pet daycare service. This can either be done on your premises or you can develop a system whereby you and your staff can take care of pets at their own homes.

A third idea, which is one of the best home based business ideas in my opinion, involves designing custom greeting cards. A number of individuals have established very successful custom greeting card design businesses from their own homes. This is currently a hot business idea and many individuals are going into this at the moment.

Finally, one of the best home based business idea that you might want to take a look at is a business based upon search engine optimization consultation. In this day and age, the demand for qualified experts in the field of search engine optimization is extreme. Therefore, if you can educate yourself in this field, and if you can become professionally qualified in the area of search engine optimization, it can be the foundation for a very profitable business enterprise for you.

Of course there are many other work from home business ideas that you can venture into as well. In a nutshell, the best home based business ideas usually fit your character, desires and skill level the most. So the best thing to do is choose an idea that suits you best. If you take this approach, you can guarantee your success in running a home business.

Melvin Perry is an internet entrepreneur that specializes in building large email lists within a matter of weeks. He currently teaches marketers via free step by step videos how to earn thousands monthly through a home business model known as the list building model. You can snatch these 2+ hours videos at no cost by visiting FREE Home Business Videos







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Monday, May 13, 2013

What-is-An-Air-Purifier

What is An Air Purifier?

Air purifiers; there is a good chance that you have heard of them before. Despite the fact that you may have heard of air purifiers before, do you know what they are or what they do? A large number of individuals do not. Air purifiers can greatly benefit you and you family, but before the benefits can be felt, you must familiarize yourself with air purifiers, namely what they are and what they do.

Air purifier, also commonly referred to as air cleaner, are electronic devices. The goal of these electronic devices is to clean the air. This is done by eliminating harmful air contaminants. Air contaminant is another word that is used to describe air particles. No matter what they are called, they could be harmful to your health or to those who visit your home. That is why it is recommended that all homes have an air purifier in them. In fact, in addition to be recommended, some homeowners are actually urged to have an air purifier for their home.

If you are wondering why someone would be urged to have an air purifier in their home, you may be wondering who those individuals are and just who it is that is doing the urging. Well, the truth is that there are a fairly large number of individuals who are urged to have air purifiers. These individuals may be those who have pets or who have in-house smokers. It has been said, and actually proven in multiple studies, that pets and cigarette smoke causes unhealthy air particles to form. With an air purifier, those particles will either be completely eliminated or reduced.

In addition to those who have a house with pets or a cigarette smoker, it is also advised that those with allergies purchase an air purifier for their home. Air purifiers work to eliminate common dust particles, which is a common cause for allergies. As previously mentioned, air purifiers are also recommended for those with pets. In addition to keeping your home





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Sunday, May 12, 2013

What-is-An-Air-Purifier

What is An Air Purifier?

Air purifiers; there is a good chance that you have heard of them before. Despite the fact that you may have heard of air purifiers before, do you know what they are or what they do? A large number of individuals do not. Air purifiers can greatly benefit you and you family, but before the benefits can be felt, you must familiarize yourself with air purifiers, namely what they are and what they do.

Air purifier, also commonly referred to as air cleaner, are electronic devices. The goal of these electronic devices is to clean the air. This is done by eliminating harmful air contaminants. Air contaminant is another word that is used to describe air particles. No matter what they are called, they could be harmful to your health or to those who visit your home. That is why it is recommended that all homes have an air purifier in them. In fact, in addition to be recommended, some homeowners are actually urged to have an air purifier for their home.

If you are wondering why someone would be urged to have an air purifier in their home, you may be wondering who those individuals are and just who it is that is doing the urging. Well, the truth is that there are a fairly large number of individuals who are urged to have air purifiers. These individuals may be those who have pets or who have in-house smokers. It has been said, and actually proven in multiple studies, that pets and cigarette smoke causes unhealthy air particles to form. With an air purifier, those particles will either be completely eliminated or reduced.

In addition to those who have a house with pets or a cigarette smoker, it is also advised that those with allergies purchase an air purifier for their home. Air purifiers work to eliminate common dust particles, which is a common cause for allergies. As previously mentioned, air purifiers are also recommended for those with pets. In addition to keeping your home





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Saturday, May 11, 2013

The Different Types Of Stoves And Cooking

In this article will study about different methods of cooking food and different utensils and devices used for cooking. We will also learn ow cooking was done in earlier times. Cooking is means preparing food. It makes the food soft and tasty. Cooked food is easy to digest. Cooking kills germs in the food. But food should not be overcooked or undercooked. Some food items can be eaten raw, that is, they do not require cooking. We must wash raw food items with water before eating. Some food items can be eaten either raw or cooked. Some can be eaten both cooked and raw.

The way cooking has changed over the years. In earlier times, cooking was done on angithi or chulha. Coal, wood or cow dung were used cooking was done on angithi or chulha. Coal, wood or cow dung was used as fuel. People used earthen, copper or iron utensils in the kitchen for cooking food. After some time, stoves were invented. People started cooking food on stoves. Now- a- days, cooking is done using gas stove, cooking range or microwave oven. It is faster method of cooking. Pressure cookers and other utensils are used for cooking. In ovens, untraceable ceramic ware is used for cooking.

Types of stoves

We use different types of stoves for cooking food. Each stove uses a different kind of fuel/ source of energy. 1) Chulha fire- wood and coal fuel used. 2) Tandoori fire-wood and coal fuel use. 3) Kerosene stove kerosene fuel used 4) gas stove liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). 5) Hot plate is source of energy by electricity. 6) Microwave oven- source of energy by electricity. 7) Solar cooker- source of energy by sunlight.

Methods of cooking food-tasty food and health food

With time, the utensils were used and the ways of cooking have changed. Now a days, utensils are made of stainless steel. Utensils of earthen pots, iron, and copper and aluminum utensils have been used till now. Today, people use non-stick ware and ceramic ware for cooking food. The utensils are used in kitchen room.1) Pressure cooker 2) pan 3) wok (kadahi) earthenware pot 4) griddle (tawa) 5) rolling pin 6) sieve.

A) Boiling is means to cook in water. B) Roasting is means to cook food over direct fire. C) Steaming means to cook with the help of steam heat or in an oven. D) Deep frying is means cook in boiling oil. E) Baking is means cook food in an oven.

a) Rice is made by boiling. Meat, fish and eggs can also be boiled. b) Chicken and Paneer tikka are prepared by roasting. Papad and popcorn are often roasted. c) Idli and dhokla are made by steaming. d) Pakoras and samosas are made by frying. e) Bread, cookies and cakes are baked.

Importance of water in cooking

Water is need for cooking most of the things. We need water for-kneading dough for making chapattis, making pulses, making rice, making halwa sweet, washing fruits or vegetables.





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Friday, May 10, 2013

News-seeking Patterns of Academicians & Administrators of AIOU

NEWS-SEEKING PATTERNS OF ACADEMICIANS AND ADMINISTRATORS OF ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY

BY MALIK TARIQ MALIK

INTRODUCTION

Media play a major role in the lives of people all over the world in this global age. Print media is more worthy and trustful source of information in Pakistan. In the Pakistan the readership of daily newspapers is higher.

The researcher of this study is interested in investigating news-seeking patterns of both the communities i.e. academicians as well as administrators in the areas of national and international affairs, politics, education, economic, health, sports etc. Nobody reads the whole newspaper but he or she tries to look for the news they are interested in. They get and update their knowledge and information about their particular field of interest. Some of the readers read only political news; others may go to economy page as well because they want to invest their money and are interested in knowing a countrys political and economic situation. Proper economic and politics condition is a motivating factor for investors to make investment. Some other readers are getting only information on education and health.

NEWS CONCEPT

Man can subsist without newspaper but no newspaper can subsist without news. News is a regular part of life. Definition of News is not an easy task. News is a simple word easily understood by those who deal with it. In a way it is one of the most complex words in our vocabulary, for it is endless in variety. Although most of the definitions are familiar by now yet News is certainly more than the Webster definition that is a report of recent events, fresh information concerning something that has recently taken place.

News is recent events and happening, especially those that are unusual or notable. According to Microsoft Encarta Dictionary a report of any recent event or situation and as the report of events published in a newspaper or information about current events printed in newspapers or broadcast by the media is called news. Therefore, according to this definition, news is what happens and what people feel, think, say and do. So, that news consists chiefly of unpublished reports of those activities of people which interest, inform, educate or entertain the public.

News is infact a communication between human beings. From the earliest period of human civilization, when people started exchanging ideas, the information or ideas started flowing from one person to another. With the organisation and development of the society, the transfer of ideas and information also increased and the process became more accurate and scientific.

IMPORTANCE OF NEWS

News to define its meaning is information provided to the public about the world around them. This information is important to them because equipped with the latest information about an issue; the public is a ble to decide their course of action. News is the accurate, timely and to the point report of an event. It is not the event itself, but the description of the event by a reporter. The importance of news has increased rapidly. It is the newspaper where we can find the news in more detail, and can be preserved and retained for any period of time. Today the press has become a social instrument, whether it wishes to be or not. As a social instrument, the newspaper finds place permanently in thousand of homes, and thus influences every member of the family indirectly.

PRINT MEDIA

Newspaper, publication usually issued on a daily or weekly basis, the main function of which to report news. Many newspapers furnish special information to readers, such as weather reports, television schedules, and listings of stock prices. They provide commentary on politics, economics, and arts and culture, and sometimes include entertainment features, such as comics and crosswor d puzzles. In nearly all cases and in varying degrees, newspapers depend on commercial advertising for their income.

Like division of media in Pakistan, people also enjoy both the urban and rural culture. It is very much obvious in Pakistan that national newspapers have their own monopoly. Print media is more worthy and trustful source of information in Pakistan as compared to Television which is in tight control of government. The reason may be to buy a newspaper is cheaper than to have a television set in home, and secondly people can see more news as compared to television bulletin. A newspaper is universally expected to perform four functions, in a democratic society.

? It must collect and disseminate objectively the days news.
? It must interpret and explain news in order to assist the readers in forming intelligent opinions.
? It must guide public opinion after presenting impartially both sides of every issue and point out the way to th e greatest good for the greatest number. Thus essentially a newspaper is an institution of society aiming at public welfare.
? It should perform the duty of entertaining to the public.

However, there is another side to the picture, too vital to be ignored. A newspaper is a commercial enterprise that naturally seeks profit. For that it has to mould itself in such a way that it could be an acceptable commodity for a large number of people sufficient for its sustenance. Thus a newspaper in order to survive has to strike a balance between its position as an institution of society and as a commercial enterprise.

HISTORY OF NEWSPAPER

Like all other human fields of improvement, newspapers also had a systematic, slow but steady growth. Mehdi Hassan and Dr. Abdus Salam wrote in their book Journalism for All (1988, p. 6780). According to Mehdi and Salam news was started in early 60 B.C. the history of the modern press is closely linked up with th e invention of printing and the printing press. According to S. Natarjan; the art of printing from negative reliefs was known in China around 594 A.D., and from there spread along the caraven routes to the west where taking impressions from wooden blocks became quite common. In 1768, William Bolts was deported from Calcutta to Madras enroot to Europe, because he dared to set up a printing press in Calcutta. James Augustus Hickys, at any rate, was the proprietor of the Bengal Gazette, or Calcutta General Advertiser, the first newspaper to be published in India. The first issue appeared on Saturday, January 29, 1780, announcing itself as a weekly political and commercial paper open to all parties but influenced by none, Much of its pages were devoted to advertisements. It was a two sheet paper, about 12 inches by 8 inches, with three columns printed on both sides. Warren Hastings, in which the pioneer journalist of Indo-Pakistan subcontinent scored some success, it was finally crushed.

However, in recent years the standard of newspaper, which could survive in existing circumstances, has considerably improved both content wise and in appearance. Especially the Urdu newspapers have changed altogether and can now be compared with any advanced newspaper.

This was a bulletin Printing, name used for several processes by which words, pictures, or designs are reproduced on paper, fabrics, metal, or other suitable materials. These processes, sometimes called the graphic arts, consist essentially of making numerous identical reproductions of an original by mechanical means, and the printed book has thus been called the first mass product.

Before the invention of printing machines, people spread news by word of mouth, written letters, or public notices. As more people learned to read and write, news reports gained added reliability. Newspaper publishers estimate that nearly six out of ten adults in the United States and Ca nada read a newspaper every day, and seven out of ten read a paper each weekend. By the time they see a newspaper; most people have already learned about breaking news stories on television or radio. Readers rely on newspapers to provide detailed background information and analysis, which television and radio newscasts rarely offer. Newspapers not only inform readers that an event happened but also help readers understand what led up to the event and how it will affect the world around them.

Newspapers trace their roots to handwritten news sheets posted daily in the public marketplaces of ancient Rome. The first printed newspapers appeared in China during the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907). These newspapers were printed from carved wood blocks. Precursors to modern papers first appeared in Venice, Italy, in the middle of the 14th century. Newspapers as known today, complete with advertising and a mixture of political, economic, and social news and commentary, emerged in Britain in the mid-18th century.

In modern times, newspapers that share a similar structure and function are published all over the world. This global press traces its origin to British papers of the 18th century. Though threatened by censorship in the years proceeding, during, and following the world wars, the global press maintained the tradition of freedom of the press first established in London.

Newspapers clearly state the journalistic salience of an item through its page placement, headline and length. In short we say that mass communication and newspapers is a process through which the social reality is transmitted. Newspaper, publication usually issued on a daily or weekly basis, the main function of which is to report news. Many newspapers also furnish special information to readers, such as weather reports, television schedules, and listings of stock prices. They provide commentary on politics, economics, and arts and culture, and sometim es include entertainment features, such as comics and crossword puzzles. In nearly all cases and in varying degrees, newspapers depend on commercial advertising for their income.

HISTORY OF SUB-CONTINENT NEWSPAPERS

Like all other human fields of improvement, newspapers also had a systematic, slow but steady growth. A short history of the press as it began in early times can help us in understanding the dimensions of its growth. The history of the modern press is closely linked up with the invention of printing and the printing press.

The institute of newsletters came much later. Dr. Abdus Salam Khurshid pioneering work on Newsletters in the Orient throw light on the origin of newsletters in the sub-continent. It was the Ghaznavide Muslim rulers who are said to have introduced the system in India towards the end of the 10th century. The newsletters played the major role in satisfying this quest for news and moulding public opinion before the pri nted newspapers became a reality.

Bengal, a part of which is now Bengla Desh, was the forerunner in modern journalism in the whole of the sub-continent. It was in Bengal that the first newspapers in India made there appearance and then the seeds of awakening were spread over the length and breadth of the rest of the country, beginning of course, with some pockets of British colonies such as Madras and Bombay. Since, modern newspapers in India had their origin in the needs of the small but growing European colonies sprinkled over the capitals of the presidency towns.

Journalism in those days was hardly considered a profession for decent men. The government of Bengal, under the Company rule, once contemplated the publication of a newspaper of their own so that, among other things, they may put out of existence and needy indolence a few European adventures who were found unfit to be emerged in any creditable method of subsistence. It is stated about C. H. Clay, the editor of the Madras Courier, that he had the entry of good society, because he was clerk of the Chief Justice. In 1768, William Bolts was deported from Calcutta to Madras enrooted to Europe, because he dared to set up a printing press in Calcutta. In 1780, James Augustus Hickys weekly political and commercial paper open to all parties but influenced by none, the Bengal Gazette, or the Hicky Gazette as it was popular and known, was refused transmission through the post office, and, after a historical struggle with Warren Hastings, in which the pioneer journalist of Indo-Pakistan subcontinent scored some success, it was finally cursed. William Duan of the Bengal Journal, was expelled from India, went to America and established himself as a newspaperman. Almost from its birth, the all absorbing interest of the Indian press had been politics. James Augustus Hickey started the Bengal Gazette in 1780; some eighty years after the first daily newspaper in England had com menced publication.

Even before Indian editors used their pens to fight for the freedom of their homeland, there was a strong political flavour to the press and very soon censorship of one kind or another was enforced, even though the people on whom it was imposed belonged to the ruling race. Editors in madras and Bombay soon followed their Calcutta forerunner into trouble with authority, which then of course was the company, very jealous of its position and highly intolerant of criticism by what were regarded as outsiders.

James Augustus Hickey, at any rate, was the proprietor of the Bangal Gazette or Calcutta General Advertiser, the first newspaper to be published in India. The first issue appeared on Saturday, January 29, 1780, announcing itself as a weekly and commercial paper, open to all parties, but succeed by none, many of its pages were devoted It was a two sheet paper, about 12 inches by 8 inches, with three columns printed on both sides. The second newspaper to be started in the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent was The Indian Gazette or Calcutta Public Advertiser published in 18th century. This was launched by Mr. P. Reed and Mr. B. Messink in November 1780.

The contents of the press in the 18th century reveal the influence of James Augustus Hickey. Foreign news, parliamentary debates of England, extracts from English newspapers, social news, letters to the editors and poets corners furnished most of the reading material. The second stage of Indian journalism started when the Baptist missionaries at Serampur, a Dutch settlement, started bringing out a monthly magazine in Bengali, the first of its kind to be published in a native language. The Friend of India a monthly periodical was also launched by the Serampur missionaries in April, 1818.

The first Indian-owned newspapers did not come out till the beginning of the 19th century. These newspapers were brought out to counteract the English and missionary influence on the local population. It is significant to note, therefore, the first such newspaper that was to come out was neither in the language of the area where it originated, that is, Bengal, nor in the language that was still deeply entrenched in the soil and in the courts and other official dealings, Persian. It was in English. Within the space of a few years, many other local owned newspapers were on the scene. The first Urdu newspaper in the subcontinent was Jam-i-Jahan Numa appeared in 1822. Bengal also claims the rare distinction of being the home of the first Hindi newspaper as well, Qodunt Martund launched in Calcutta in 1826. Calcutta, which was first to fall under British colonial rule of the three English colonies other two being Madras and Bombay remained the most important and largest press centre during 19th century.
1.7 GROWTH OF MUSLIM PRESS IN SUBCONTINENT

The tempo of political agitation was quickened by the Muslim Press in particular in 1919 which set up new traditions of sacrifice. The Zamindar reappeared in December 1919; its circulation was 6145 in 1920. Another was Paigham by Abdul Kalam Azad from Calcutta in 1921 and Sabah by Qazi Abdul Ghaffar from Delhi. Al these newspapers made their contribution to the success of the non-cooperation movement. In 1922, the Press Act was withdrawn after the movement stopped under directive from Mahatma Gandhi.

The pro-league Muslim Press during 1924 1937 was spear-headed by the Muslim Outlook and Inqilab whose lead was accepted by Muslim papers all over the sub-continent. During 1938 1947 the Muslim press grew rather rapidly. A number of English language newspapers sprang up while Urdu Press too had new additions. Together with the old newspapers, they voiced Muslim political aspirations with still greater force and played the major role in mobilising public opinion in support of the Pakistan movement.

After the Lahore Resolu tion was passed, the Quaid-i-Azam sponsored a create Muslim Press campaign and collected funds for that purpose. He founded the Dawn in October 1942 as a daily from Delhi and placed it under a trust of which he was the Managing Trustee. Quaid-i-Azam also started Manshoor and Urdu daily from Delhi which was the official organ of the Al India Muslim League. This bright and fancy daily was edited by Syed Hassan Riaz.

HISTORY OF PAKISTANS NEWSPAPERS

When journalism crossed the borders of Pakistan, it had made considerable progress both intellectually and technically. Lahore had the distinction of having not only the oldest Paper in Punjab but that in the whole of Pakistan. It is ironical to note that there was no devoted and influential Press in Indo-Pakistan sub-continent to voice Muslim opinion during the days of struggle for independence. The majority of first class English dailies such as The Statesman, The Times of India, The Pioneer, The Hindu, The B ombay Chronicle and The Hindustan Times used to appear in Province which now apart of India. In Pakistan, Karachi at best could boast of three English newspapers. The Daily Gazette, The Sindh Observer and the Karachi Gazette all of them Hindu-owned. Peshawar had only one English newspaper, Khyber Mail, while Rawalpindi, Multan, Quetta, Sialkot and other big cities had none. In the Punjab, during the pre-Partition days, The Civil and Military Gazette and The Tribune were the most prominent English dailies.

As had been stated earlier, the territories now forming Pakistan were never the centre of prominent English dailies. The reason may be due to the political and educational backwardness of the majority of the Muslim population of these regions. The Muslim League could hardly have expected any positive contribution to its stand from these Papers. The founder of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam says, The role of newspapers in voicing and moulding public opinion cannot be over emphasised. The press has played an important role not only in the creation of Pakistan by mounding and expressing Muslim Public Opinion in support of the idea of Pakistan but, also in the development of this new state.

OBJECTIVES

This study has been aimed to investigate the following:

? To study the news-seeking patterns of the Academicians and administrators of AIOU readers with respect to the selected aspect namely gender, age, and qualification.
? To investigate the news-seeking patterns of the Academicians and administrators of AIOU readers with respect to the selected aspect namely selected medium of newspapers as well as their time of reading newspaper.
? To find out differences in news-seeking patterns among Academician and administrators of AIOU readers with respect to the selected aspects, namely purpose of reading newspapers i.e. reading newspaper for just gathering updated information, job hunting, entertainment, time killing etc.
? To find out differences in news-seeking patterns among academicians and administrator of AIOU readers with respect to the selectedg aspects, namely National and international affairs, educational, political, economics news, articles and editorials etc.

HYPOTHESIS

In this study the hypothesis is that:

? The Academicians are more interested in the news related to international and national affairs, articles, editorials, political and educational developmental news.
? The administrators are more interested in the area of national affairs, city news, political, job hunting, sports time-killing, etc.

RESEARCH QUESTION

What are the different patterns of news-seeking of academicians and administrators of Allama Iqbal Open University?

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

The researcher should examine and analyze the news-seeking patterns of two groups i.e. academicians and administrators communiti es. The researcher also discuss potential effects highlighting from print media i.e. newspaper. The specification of such effects should be contained within the hypothesis that link elements or concepts in each of the phases.

News is a form of communication. The present age is rightfully called age of information, observation, and reasoning revolution. (Pavlik, J. V., 1996). These revolutions began with the wish to remember important events or happening by writing them down. With a few scratches, our inventive ancestors set in motion the never ending story of recording information, the communication and the storage of knowledge outside the brain. Information, observation and reasoning are the main sources of human knowledge. Over ninety percent of our knowledge comes through this first source, i.e. newspapers.
LITERATURE REVIEW

It is understood that information needs arise when an individual finds himself in a problem situation, when he or she no longer can manage with the knowledge that he or she possess, (Talja 1992, P. 72). There are a lot of studies on mass media or mass communication throughout the world done but a few research studies conducted on news-seeking patterns throughout the world, and especially in Pakistan. The present study is significant not only for the newspapers industries and readers, but it is also important for educational point of view. This study will help to newspaper readers, media practitioners, academicians as well as administrators of different disciplines and planners of print media.

We, as individuals and groups, repeatedly find ourselves in situations where information is needed, gathered, sought, organized, retrieved, processed, evaluated, and used (Solomon 1996, P. 292). Reading of newspaper is part of daily routine for many consumers. The paper version provides tactile pleasure of turning pages and the portability of tucking the newspaper in a briefcase or book-bag for later or recycling it by leaving it on the break or breakfast table for someone else to enjoy. Newspaper, publication usually issued on a daily or weekly basis, the main function of which is to report news. Many newspapers also furnish special information to readers, such as weather reports, television schedules, and listings of stock prices. They provide commentary on politics, economics, and arts and culture, and sometimes include entertainment features, such as comics and crossword puzzles. In nearly all cases and in varying degrees, newspapers depend on commercial advertising for their income.

INFORMATION SEEKING

The close to topic of this research related researches made by the renowned researchers are given below:

Suriya, Sangeetha and Nambi (2004) carried out a research work on "Infor mation seeking behaviour of Faculty Members from Government Arts Colleges in Cuddlier District." The purpose of their study was to investigate, how faculty members seek information from the library. It mentions that most of the respondents 61 (38.12 percent) visited the library several times a week to meet their information needs. Regarding the type of search made by the respondents the majority of the respondents 91 (56.87 percent) made their search by subject.

Shokeen and Kushik (2002) studied about information seeking behaviour of social scientists working in the universities located in Haryana. They reported most of the social scientists visit the library daily. The first preferred method of searching the required information by the social scientists followed by searching through indexing and abstracting periodicals, and citations in articles respectively. The social scientists use current journals followed by books.

Challener (1999) investigated artists and art historians teaching in five liberal arts colleges and three universities. Results found that they need information for teaching. The participants almost all subscribe to art journals, and many read newspapers. They visit libraries frequently, usually more than one library, and unlike previous reports, the majority is willing to ask the librarian for help. A large percentage of both art historians and artists are using computers for teaching. All 27 participants use slides extensively in the classroom, supplemented in most cases by textbooks.

Reneker (1992) investigated the information seeking activities of 31 members of the Stanford University Academic community were examined over a two-week period during the 1990-91 academic year. She adopted the naturalistic approach and employed qualitative techniques for data collection using mainly personal interviews. Informants perception of their information environment expressed in positive terms and ther e a close relationship between knowledge, information, environment and the sources used. Information seeking embedded in the day-to-day activities and relationships of participants and triggered both by articulation of need and availability of information. A large number of needs are satisfied by the sources informants created or organized themselves and by interpersonal information sources. The findings of the study indicated that the action of information seeking originated from a wide variety of needs like personal, professional, entertainment, etc.

Althaus and Tewksbury (2000) wrote in his article Online News-seeking Patterns of first and second year college students: Academic research continues to show that online news users are not representative of the average rational voter. Althaus and Tewksbury's study of Online News-seeking Patterns of first and second year college students reminds us that those who seek news and information online are qualitatively di fferent from the general population. Not only do they have greater access to, and familiarity with, computer technology than non-Internet users, they also have different demographic and attitudinal profiles than the general adult population. "News habits developed within this community result not from an uneven social distribution of computer skills and access but, rather, from the unique needs that are better satisfied by on-line or traditional news media."

Daniela Lesley Evans (1978, p. 96) write in his article entitled A Critical Examination of Claims Concerning: The Impact of Print he wrote So much that we think of as characteristic of the modern world economic, social, religious, political is built on the foundation provided by newspaper as a medium of communication. From the sixteenth century it became impossible for the illiterate to obtain either wealth or influence, and this has largely occurred due to the invention of print as a medium of communication i n the fifteenth century. This had widespread consequences, allowing large numbers of copies of a work to be made rapidly. The further availability of information provided enabled greater scientific advancement as it meant that other peoples ideas were more readily available. Similarly the development of the printing press encouraged religious reform, as it was a major factor in allowing the writings of Erasmus, Luther and later Calvin to achieve high levels of circulation.

Febvre and Martin (1976, p. 278) It is safe to assume that printing makes knowledge accessible to all, although it needs to be accompanied with the necessary cultural and political conditions making literacy compulsory for all. However, this does not necessarily lead to a society that is much more knowledgeable than one that uses oral communication as its foundation. In a non-literary society, where information is conveyed orally, to avoid the information it is necessary to avoid the whole of s ociety. The only possible way by living a completely solitary life, by contrast, reading and writing are predominantly silent and solitary activities. Consequently, in a literary society, information is easy to avoid, simply by choosing not to read what is available.

USES AND GRATIFICATIONS MODEL OF THE MEDIA

The mass media is a huge phenomenon. Through the various different platforms, print or broadcast, the media is able to reach millions of people like no other force. Without media, powerful speeches by politicians would no affect, local events would remain local, and performances by great actors would be seen only by the people in the immediate audience. The media overcomes distances, and builds a direct relationship with audience.

The model looks at motives of the people who use the media, asking why we bother to read newspapers, why we find ourselves so compelled to keep up to date with our favourite soap.

Surveillance

The surveillance need based around the idea that people feel better having the feeling that they know what is going on in the world around them. One of the genres this often applied to news. By watching or reading news, we learn about what is happening in the world, and as the news is usually bad news, this knowledge leaves us feeling more secure about the safety of our own lives. This idea might seem a bit strange, that we know about tragedies and we feel safer, but sociologists argue that ignorance seen as a source of danger, and so the more knowledge we have the safer we feel.

When looking at the news it's easy to spot news items that give us this reaction. For example if it wasn't for watching the news we might be unknowingly left with five rupees notes that are worthless, or become vulnerable to the latest computer virus, or end up in a hospital with an awful track record also we have not knowledge about new world record in cricket which set by South A frican cricket team against worlds best team i.e. Australia. So, the surveillance models then all about awareness. We use the mass media to be more aware of the world, gratifying a desire for knowledge and security.

Using the Media within Relationships

Another aspect to the personal relationships model is how we can sometimes use the media as a springboard to form and build upon relationships with real people. The EastEnders strapline 'Everyone's talking about it', despite being a clever marketing tactic, does hold up when looking at social uses of the media. Having a favourite TV program in common can often be the start of a conversation, and can even make talking to strangers that much easier.

The Advantages and Limitations of Media

Texts need audiences in order to realise their potential for meaning. So a text does not have a single meaning but rather a range of possibilities which are defined by both the text and by its audienc es. The meaning is not in the text, but in the reading. (Hart 1991, 60)

Andrew Hart, many other theorists and researchers who identify and give value to the existence of audience in relation to the media. At the most basic level, audiences are vital in communication. It is for the audience that media constructing and conveying information, and, if it were not for the audiences, the media would not exist. The exact relationship between the media and their audiences has been the subject of debate since media were first seriously studied and emphasises the importance of audience and of their relationship with the media.

The Effects model is considered to be an inadequate representation of the communication between media and public, as it does not take into account the audience as individuals with their own beliefs, opinions, ideals and attitudes:

Audiences are not blank sheets of paper on which media messages can be written; members of an audie nce will have prior attitudes and beliefs which will determine how effective media messages are. (Abercrombie 1996, 140)

A new approach to the dynamics of audience/text relationship was suggested in the Uses and Gratification model. In this model, theorists were not asking how the media effects audiences, but how were audiences using media. They suggested that audiences had specific needs and actively turned to the media to consume various texts to satisfaction of these needs. The audience in Uses and Gratifications were seen as active, as opposed to passive audience in the Effects model. Uses and Gratifications acknowledged that audience had a choice of texts from which to choose form and satisfy their needs, Bulmer and Katz (1974).

The model still implies that messages are packages of information that all audience will read same. It does not consider how he messages are interpreted or any other factors affecting audiences interpretation.

An other criticism is that of the tendency to concentrate solely on why audiences consume media rather than extending investigation to discover what meanings and interpretations are produced and in what circumstances, i.e. how media are received. (OSullivan, Dutton & Rayner 1994, 131)

In other words, media receivers want to use information in some way or to obtain satisfactions that they anticipate (Lowery & DeFleur, 1995).

A number of studies on audiences uses and gratification of various media (Berelson, 1949; Kimball, 1959, etc), early 1970s scholars in this area turned to audience motivations, developing typologies of uses people made of media to gratify social and psychological needs (Katz et al. 1973). Such typologies included such needs as strengthening understanding of self, friends, others, or society; strengthening status of self or society; and strengthening contact with family, friends, society, or culture (Lowery & DeFleur, 1995).< br />
It's likely has been found in the uses-and-gratification research from the West, that an individual uses media for different purposes at different times under different circumstances; and different people may seek different gratifications from media. A question for researchers is how to meaningfully and effectively categorize (typologies) those different needs and objectives.

According to Chang, Chen and Zhang study in (1993): Early studies of Chinese media focused on propagandistic and persuasive aspects of mass communication. Since mid-1880s, various social factions have used newspapers mainly as tools in their political struggles. The Chinese communists have always recognized value of mass media (Robinson, 1981). For example, the government has emphasized use of mass media for China's social, political, and economic development (Yu & Sears, 1996). As a powerful tool of opinion and perceptions, news media are supposed to unite the people, to eleva te their consciousness and spirit.

ROLE OF PRINT MEDIA

To keep abreast of what's happening in the world around us we need information. Without information we won't know a threat exists until it is too late. But just being offered information is not enough. We also need to be willing to take that information on board while there is still time to avoid threat.

Public information will be just one of many issues officials will have to address, and media are often perceived as being a nuisance or hindrance to response activities. However, it is essential that communicating with media is made a priority in any response planning because the media will be among first responders at the scene and will be a vital information mechanism for government bodies. The media will therefore share a significant amount of responsibility for relaying vital information to public. Although newspapers makes knowledge more accessible to all, and has had dramatic effec ts on our culture and society, it does not necessarily follow that a literate society is greatly more knowledgeable than a non-literate one.

NEWSPAPERS READERSHIP IN PAKISTAN

Newspaper publishers estimate that nearly six out of ten adults every day, and seven out of ten read a newspaper each weekend. By the time they seen; mostly people have already learned about breaking news stories on television or radio. Readers rely on newspapers to provide detailed background information and analysis, which television and radio newscasts rarely offer. Newspapers not only inform readers that an event happened but also help readers to understand what led up to the event and how it will affect on the world around them. Media scholar Philip J. Hanes (1996) wrote his article entitled The Advantages and Limitations Focus on Audience in Media Studies:

Audiences are not blank sheets of paper on which media messages can be written; members of an audience will h ave prior attitudes and beliefs which will determine how effective media messages are. (P.140)

Veblen, (1994) wrote in his article entitled Newspaper Readership and Informational/Cultural Processing: Newspaper readership is an instance of cultural participation in regard to which information-processing. Reading newspaper is more straightforward form of information processing than various other cultural activities and at the same time choice of newspaper could scarcely count as very effective kind of status-oriented `conspicuous consumption' on account both of relatively low price even expensive newspapers and of the fact that reading likely to take place in privacy of home as in public. Consequently, evidence of a connection between newspaper readership and status, independent of information-processing capacity, would, for our present purposes of particular significance.

Most people read only one (daily) newspaper, at least on a regular basis. This mean s that we can here avoid complications that arise with forms of cultural participation, such as, say, listening to music, where there a wide variety of genres and an individual may have a range of preferences. As we noted above, such instances have of late given rise to debates over whether distinction of greatest relevance in regard to status is that between those participating in `high' as opposed to `low' (or popular) culture or that between cultural `omnivores' and `univores'.

According to Pakistan Readership Report (2002-03) issued by Gallup survey of Pakistan, newspaper readership ratio among adults (18 years+) is only 33% and among youth (10-17years) is 21%. Province wise this ratio is: for Punjab 31%, For Sindh 49%, for N.W.F.P. 25%, and for Baluchistan 28%. Among youth (10-17years), this ration is: for Punjab 16%, for Sindh 34%, For N.W.F.P 16% and for Baluchistan 19%. Apparently the situation is, to some extent satisfactory for Sindh province but this is due to high rate of readership in Karachi, which is among adults 69% and among youth 44% .By excluding Karachi, the ratio remains very poor for interior Sindh. The table and graph elaborate the province-wise ratio of newspaper readership in Pakistan.
Ratio of Newspaper Readership
Province Among Adults
(+18 Years) Among Youth
(10 17 Years)
Punjab 31% 16%
Sindh 49% (Karachi 69% &
Interior Sindh 29%) 34% (Karachi 44% & Interior Sindh 24)
N.W.F.P. 25% 16%
Baluchistan 28% 19%
Average 33 21


Newspaper readership and buyer-ship are two different concepts. Every reader is not a buyer of newspapers. One newspaper read by a lot person at homes, offices, shops and libraries. According to Pakistan Readership Report 2002-03 of the Gallup Survey, in Punjab 10.17 readers read one copy, while in Sindh this ratio is 5.57, in N.W.F.P this ratio is 8.47 and in Baluchistan this ratio is 13.98.9 Considering the economi c peculiarities and rural character of the region, it is understandable that the number of readers per copy in Baluchistan is substantially higher than the national average of 7.7 It is necessary to mention that after including the ratio of readership per copy in FATA/FANA and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the national average of readers per copy is 7.7.

NEWS SEEKING PATTERNS

In general, the amount of news reading tends to increase with age, education, and administrative status. News reading increases very rapidly through the academicians and administrators. Summarizing reading patterns by education appears that readers on lower end of educational curve tend to use newspaper for entertainment, sensational news, and political. Newspaper readership often measured by quantifying a particular indicator of newspaper-reading activity, readership tends to be viewed far too simplistically.

Qamar (2002, p.18) said in his thesis of M.Sc. Mass Communication entitled The comparison of Different Newspaper Reading habits of Male & Female. His comparative study of different newspaper reading habits of men and women in Pakistan meant to find out that; to what extent newspaper reading habits differ from each other. The researcher wrote in his research study that women are interested in reading newspaper. It was found that 56 percent female readers read newspaper daily. The survey indicated that high percentage of women read newspaper although not more than men.

It is found that men spend more time for reading newspaper per day than women, as 40 percent men read newspaper more than an hour, while there are no women spend more than an hour for reading newspapers. Men read newspaper more than women in terms of reading large volume of newspapers material. Men like to read hard news while women like to read soft news.

According to Herald Media Survey (1997) in Scotland revealed in an article What they Read? The s urvey showed that newspapers are still popular with young teenager in Scotland. More than three quarters of boys said they spent on average ten minutes a day for reading newspaper with sports page being the most popular only 13 percent of boys read the whole newspaper. Although girls spend slightly less time for reading newspaper, they are reading more widely.

Media researchers Mehta and Paralikar (1999) investigated through conducting a study that news-seeking pattern of the selected media were studied in relation to spent time, news language, news area, kind of news and news aspects. The overall findings of their study revealed that majority of respondents described to two English newspapers, because those newspapers give complete news and have good coverage of events. Overall and sex wise newspaper used as medium for seeking news most frequently. The kinds of news sought through newspaper were political, social, health educational, etc. Highly significant diffe rences existed in the news-seeking patterns of female respondents with respect to spent time for seeking news, kinds of news and news aspects.

The kinds of news sought through this media with highest intensity indices were political, social, national and international current affairs, educational, sports, science, economics and business news. The other indices were headlines, detailed news, news briefs, articles, and editorials. The researcher conducted research on assessing the importance of news, to explore where news fits in daily life.

James (2004, p.34) Thus, we risk misunderstanding its true nature. As we become comfortable employing automatic processing with its focus on efficiency, we let our skills of meaning construction atrophy. With weaker skills, we come to depend more and more on the media to tell us what is important and who we should be. For centuries, getting access to information was a major problem for virtually all human. With rise of the mass media throughout the 20th century, the barriers to access were substantially reduced, especially with spread of Radio, Television and then Computer. Today, not only information easily available to almost anyone; information keeps getting produced at an ever increasing rate. The information problem is no longer about how to get access. The much more pressing problem is how to keep up with all the news-seeking patterns.

PRACTICAL USAGE OF NEWSPAPERS INFORMATION

Andersen says in his article entitled Communicating Information across Cultures: Understanding How Others Work published on September 2002. There are specific communications differences between scientists and humanists that are created by their information-seeking patterns. An excellent example of academics cultural differences in the field of information seeking and uses, information-seeking research looks at how individuals go about finding materials that they need in order to satis fy informational needs both professional and recreational. In the ethnographic experience of an unfamiliar worship service, an individual might gather clues about standing-sitting-kneeling through watching others, through listening for directions from an authority, or through written materials available somewhere in the place of worship.

The academicians of AIOU usually follow the patterns established by their peers, relying upon mentors in their fields to guide them in graduate school and early professional development. Differences of style come from both individualhis or her own personal traits, predispositions, and biases, and from training that he or she has received in a particular discipline. Thus, culture including ways of individuals seeks information passed on through apprenticeship and practice.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND NEWSPAPER

The relationship between education and newspaper readership is far from simple. First, newspap er readership correlates positively with information seeking, including information about civic responsibilities, and need for cognition, the pursuit of higher level reasoning. A body of research correlates interest in information about political, public policy and social issues to news seeking. For example, a panel study by Hugh Culbertson and others found that focused attention, interest and involvement in political issues correlated positively with news seeking. The study found that attention either to newspapers or to television news content predicted provide knowledge. However, the study of newspaper readers were more cognitively involved than television viewers.

Maxwell McCombs and Paula Poindexter found a positive correlation between the frequency of newspaper readership and perceived civic duty to keep informed. (Civic duty encompasses perceived obligation to vote and to support fundamental liberties, including free expression.) Similarly, in a comparison study of nonreaders, single newspaper readers and multiple newspaper readers conducted by Wayne Wanta and others, nonreaders demonstrated particularly weak motivation to use newspapers to understand events or to known informed about civic affairs.

One study found that highly educated are more tolerant of others' freedom of expression than less well-educated, regardless of whether the issue in question supported by left or right-wing groups. The same study found that increased cognitive sophistication was even more predictive of support for free expression than level of education alone. Other studies using cognitive variables such as need for cognition have produced similar findings.

Rather than examine the possible multi-faceted link between education on free-expression issues and news seeking, research has tended to focus on differences among newspapers that may explain differences in civic knowledge among and between readers and nonreaders. For examp le, one study suggests that "not all newspapers are created equal." The study measured differences in civic knowledge among readers of different types of newspapers and found that all newspapers may not benefit equally from increased interest in civic affairs among potential readers. Because readers tend to gather information about local affairs from local newspapers and information about national issues from metropolitan papers, the selection of news source was predictive type of civic affairs knowledge possessed by the reader. Therefore, desire for increased knowledge of national events would not be correlated with increased reading of local newspapers. However, research by Dan Drew and David Weaver found, to the contrary, that readers of local newspapers sought and were knowledgeable about both local and national civic affairs.

FACULTY MEMBER AND NEWSPAPER READERSHIP

Tak Wing Chan & John H. Goldthorpe (2004) writes their research article entitle d Social Status of Faculty Member and Newspaper Readership. They write an instance of cultural participation in regard to which the information-processing might be thought especially favoured news for newspaper readership. More straightforward form of information processing of newspaper reading than various other cultural activities and at the same time choice of newspaper could scarcely count as very effective kind of status-oriented `conspicuous consumption', on account both of relatively low price of even the most expensive newspapers and facts that reading at home to take place in privacy as compare in public.

Consequently, evidence of a connection between faculty member and newspaper readership, independent of information-processing capacity, would be our present purposes of the study. Most people read only one (daily) newspaper, at least on regular basis. This means that we can here avoid complications that arise with forms of cultural participation, such a s, say, listening to music, where there is wide variety of genres and an individual may have a range of preferences.

However, we see how far the association between faculty member and readerships status may be accounted by individuals' educational attainment serving as proxy for their information-processing capacity. Although all newspapers are available and read throughout UK, Scotland has it own broadsheets (Herald, Scotsman) and tabloids. Their readers are grouped with those who read other regional newspapers under Regional category, local and others.

It may be noted that control variables do have some significant association with newspaper readership. The significant coefficients for sex, being generally positive, indication that women more liking than men to fall into other readership categories than broadsheet reader, while those for age, being generally negative, indicate that older persons are more liking than younger ones to read broadsheets t han to fall into other categories.

The coefficients for income cannot be so straightforwardly interpreted but, as anticipation, they are in-fact less often significant, and especially when education brought into analysis. Scots appear less likely than others to read broadsheets, but this is probably an artefact due to omission of Scottish broadsheets in the response categories.

However, the effects of status and education are interesting variables of research study. Having demonstrated that there are strong and systematic association between faculty members status and newspaper readership, while status and class are clearly correlated in contemporary British society as status gradient runs, as it were, across the class structured status stratification within classes may still be quite extensive.

Today, the cultural level of lifestyle is chief way in which status expressed and recognised, then, since newspapers generally regarded as being cult urally stratified, the status of individuals should show a close relation to the type of newspaper that they read.

The probability of individuals reading high-brow broadsheets rises with status, and at an increasing rate; the probability of their reading low-brow redtop tabloids falls with status in more or less linear fashion; and the probability of their reading middlebrow tabloids first increases with status and then decreases.

We have, moreover, considered the possibility that more basic relationship exists between individuals' educational level, information-processing capacity, and their consequent preference for more or less demanding kinds of reading newspapers. We find that although education does indeed influence of newspaper readership and on lines that would be predicted under information-processing and education does not remove the effect.

The association between faculty member and newspaper readership persists within different levels of education. The information-processing can be reckoned as at least more immediately involved in reading newspapers that in many other forms of cultural participation, while choice of newspaper is not the most obvious vehicle of conspicuous consumption. The cultural level of newspapers readership does grooming their status within their community.

ACADEMICIAN AND ADMINISTRATIVE USAGE OF NEWSPAPERS

Everyone knows information is a form of power. Daily millions of peoples gain their knowledge of national and international affairs from the pages of newspapers all over the world. The Third World countries know this more than ever. That why they are calling for the establishment of new international information order and they feel this is just as urgent as the establishment of new international economic order.

All medium of communication play a main role in the field of information, but the print media plays a key role in focusing public att ention, and news patterns influence, public perception of important issues of the day. The academicians and administrators are main source of ideas about needy changes in the University structure and managements. Discretionary behaviour by academicians and administrators who deliver services characteristics of most studies by the implementation research.

The modern newspaper plays several roles for its readers. From the analysis of intensive interviews, the researcher has attempted to construct a typology of such roles, or functions, of newspaper. Obviously the types enumerated here, while discrete, are not necessarily mutually exclusive for any one newspaper reader. Undoubtedly, different people read different parts of the newspaper for different reasons at different times. A group of readers seem to use newspaper because it enables them to appear informed in social gatherings, thus the newspaper has conversational value. Readers not only can learn what has happ ened and then report it to their associates but they can find opinions and interpretations for usage and discussions on current affairs with colleagues.

The newspaper readers predispositions are involved in effects of reading in two ways. They condition the readers selection of publications and the condition of his interpretation of what he reads. Almost any phase of readers personality may be involved in reading experience. Their personal traits, subject interests, and reading ability may determine which accessible publications they would choose to read. The difference can be explained only by differences in predispositions which may be fundamental or merely a temporary mood. The same predispositions are often involved in both selection and interpretation of reading, but they need not to be. The reader may select their reading from one set of conditions and respond to it from a totally different set.

Their methods of reading, which may range from a h asty skimming to close analysis, naturally affect both their response to publication and its effects on them. The more highly educated readers are attracted to more mature newspapers because their wider intellectual experiences enable them to share publishers more mature attitudes in the life. As the central fact in most peoples lives, occupation has an important role in selection and interpretation of reading, its importance, of course, varies with their occupation. Occupational differences such as clearly revealed in many subject classifications of publications. Reader motivated by need for greater social security may seek to improve their status within their family or social class or may try to exchange their social class for another social class.

News-seeking Patterns of Academicians

According to previous researches of news reading habits academicians or University teachers are interested to read the news according to their professional status. The y want to read news of national and international affairs, educational, economics, editorial and article. They want to update their knowledge because they deliver a lot of lectures in the different institutions and topics.

Newspapers are most prominent media which are providing the current information to educationist according to their requirement. To produce well-informed citizens who can make their own judgements on the basis of available evidence. In so far as educationist deals with value judgements, it does so in the ways which encourage their students to explore the range of value judgements and to examine the sources of such judgements (including their own) and their effects. They seek to impose ideas on what constitutes good or bad through newspapers.

News-seeking Patterns of Administrators

The administrators use a wide variety of sources, both informal and formal, to obtain the needed information as do their colleagues in other coun tries. However, in addition to giving preference to human sources, as was found by Campbell (1997), they place more emphasis on the press releases. They seem to be more satisfied with the information that they receive from the sources that they prefer than those that they do not. It is interesting to note that these respondents are least satisfied with the print media.

The information gathered by these respondents appears to be mainly used for getting job opportunities, personal knowledge, and less so for preparing personality profiles, editorials, and columns. This was expected because a limited amount of items mentioned in the later group are actually needed and are written by a limited number of individuals.

There are some interesting usage patterns of administrators because administrative personalitys almost choose same news for reading like as academicians but some differences exist i.e. they give priority to; job hunting, sports politics, featur es and burning issues of the country. As compared to academicians administrators are spend a lot time regularly to read newspapers, might be have spare time for in-depth reading of newspapers.


DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

In this chapter the researcher analyzed the data in response of respondents awareness/knowledge, personal identification, and confirmation of their news-seeking patterns. The data on the News-seeking Patterns of academicians and administrators of AIOU were collected through a questionnaire which was designed for this study with the help of supervisor. Primarily, cross-tabulation and correlation coefficient statistical procedure was applied to investigate exposure of newspapers readership, their demography and news-seeking patterns dimension; viz Reading English/Urdu language newspapers, purpose of reading newspapers, national and international current affairs, editorials and articles, economics, health and sport news, educat ional development news, information seeking on political news, and reading newspapers supplements.

Theoretical frame work for all the variables of this study was based on Uses and Gratification model. The data was analyzed with the help of SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 12.0. Details of the data analysis are given below:

Table 4.1: Cross-tabulation of Professions Gender and
Age of the respondents

Professions Gender and Age Age of the respondents Total
30 to 40 41 to 45 46 to 50 51 & above
Academicians Gender of the respondents Male Count 22 15 1 10 48
% Age 64.7% 68.2% 50.0% 83.3% 68.6%
Female Count 12 7 1 2 22
% Age 35.3% 31.8% 50.0% 16.7% 31.4%
Total Count 34 22 2 12 70
% Age 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Administrators Gender of the respondents Male Count 14 14 10 20 58
% Age 73.7% 77.8% 83.3% 95.2% 82.9%
Female Count 5 4 2 1 12
% Age 26.3% 22.2% 16.7% 4.8% 17.1%
Total Count 19 18 12 21 70
% Age 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Table 4.1 shows the samples age of Academicians and administrators of the AIOU. The sample comprises the 50% Academicians and 50% administrators communities. As evident from the table, greater numbers of male Academicians 83.3% as well as male administrators 95.2% are falling in the age category of 51 and above. Whereas, the numbers of female Academicians 31.8% and female administrators 22% are falling in the age category between 41 to 45. Similarly, there is quite a good number of both Academicians and administrators falling in the young age category; i.e. 30 to 40 years.

To sum up, comparatively young male Academicians are working in the AIOU. However, the age group between 30 to 40 of female Academicians is younger than the age group of female administrators. Similarly, overall, there are young people ranging from the age between 30 to 50 employed in the U niversity.


Table 4.2: Cross-tabulation of Professions Gender and
Qualification


Graph 4.2 documents that there are greater numbers of both male and female Academicians having M. Phil and PhD qualification 68.5%. Whereas, the administrating positions are mostly having masters degree qualification 91.7%. Thus the Academicians community is highly qualified as compared to the administrators in the AIOU.


Table 4.3: Cross-tabulation of Professions Gender and
Reading Newspaper


Graph 4.3 refers to the reading habits of faculty members and administrators. As evident from the table both male academicians and administrators read newspaper very greatly. However, the female academicians are less inclined toward reading newspaper as compare to female administrators i.e. 63% and 83% respectively. The overall result shows that reading newspaper by the administrators is higher than the academician community.
< br />Table 4.4: Cross-tabulation of Professions Qualification and Reading Newspaper
Professions Qualification and Reading Newspaper Reading Newspaper Total
Yes No
Academicians Qualification of the respondents Master Count 21 8 29
% of Total 30.0% 11.4% 41.4%
M Phil Count 15 4 19
% of Total 21.4% 5.7% 27.1%
PhD Count 21 1 22
% of Total 30.0% 1.4% 31.4%
Total Count 57 13 70
% of Total 81.4% 18.6% 100.0%
Administrators Qualification of the respondents Master Count 39 6 45
% of Total 55.7% 8.6% 64.3%
M Phil Count 4 1 5
% of Total 5.7% 1.4% 7.1%





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