bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Management criteria of automated order picking systems in high‐rotation high‐volume distribution centers
Authors: Caputo Antonio C. , Pelagagge Pacifico M.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To develop a decision support system (DSS) and improved management criteria for operating dispenser‐based single‐piece automatic order picking systems (AOPS) in distribution centers, able to reduce the need for manual decision making based on personal experience or subjective judgement.

Design/methodology/approach

Simulation was utilized to analyze the relationships between stochastic demand, setup parameters and performances of an AOPS. A set of rules was then defined to cost‐effectively select the values of setup parameters. A DSS was built incorporating the heuristic rules to dynamically update the equipment setup.

Findings

Manual management of an AOPS can be poorly efficient even if largely practiced. Significant economic benefits may result from rule‐based equipment setup instead of the traditional manual decision approach. This was verified resorting to a case study referring to the distribution center of a leading pharmaceuticals distributor in Italy. Major performances improvements resulted regarding manual operation by an experienced logistic manager, including a 40 per cent reduction of the cost per picked order line.

Practical implications

The proposed DSS is able to monitor the system behaviour over a specified time window and automatically set the values of the state variables for the next period. It is able to automatically define the set of items to be allocated on to the machine, to select the number of storage locations allocated to each item and set reorder levels and maximum picking quantities for each item, thus greatly simplifying the task of the logistic manager. Utilization of this DSS enables one to maintain a high level of picking automation efficiency while drastically cutting the required support personnel, thus significantly improving profit margins of high‐volume high‐rotation distribution centers.

Originality/value

The paper addresses, with original methodology, a practically relevant issue which is neglected in the literature. The paper is aimed at distribution centers managers seeking to improve the performances of AOPS and reduce their operating costs.
Absorptive capacity in European manufacturing: a Delphi study
Authors: Jung‐Erceg Petra , Pandza Krsto , Armbruster Heidi , Dreher Carsten
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper sets out to discuss the results of a specific part of a Europe‐wide Delphi study that considers issues of absorptive capacity in European manufacturing. Owing to the importance to competitiveness of increasing innovative capabilities in manufacturing it is highly relevant to explore how a wide community of manufacturing experts experience the phenomenon of absorptive capacity and sense future developments.

Design/methodology/approach

A two round Delphi method was designed in which more than 3,000 experts from 22 European countries assessed 101 statements. This paper discusses eight statements focused on the issue of absorptive capacity.

Findings

The results show a general consensus about the influence of different inter‐firm relationships in acquiring external knowledge and a diversified knowledge structure for assimilating the acquired knowledge. The study also indicates some potential challenges and contradictions in managing inter‐firm relationships and knowledge diversity as well as perceived barriers for future developments of absorptive capacity.

Research limitations/implications

Delphi survey is an empirical method subject to the limitation of testing or inductively building theoretical concepts.

Practical implications

The results of the Delphi study are predominantly centred on policy implication and on informing strategic decision‐making at manufacturing firms.

Originality/value

This paper discusses one of the biggest Delphi surveys ever conducted in Europe. Its comprehensiveness increases the value of the results.
Manufacturing strategies and innovation performance in newly industrialised countries
Authors: Prajogo Daniel I. , Laosirihongthong Tritos , Sohal Amrik , Boon‐itt Sakun
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a comparative study on the impact of manufacturing strategies and resources on innovation performance in two newly industrialised countries in the South East Asian region, Thailand and Vietnam.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative approach was employed. The survey data was drawn from 95 Thai and 44 Vietnamese middle or senior managers in manufacturing firms.

Findings

Three major findings were noted in this study. First, there were no significant differences between Thai and Vietnamese manufacturing firms with respect to manufacturing strategies, resources, and innovation performance. Second, differentiation strategy is shown to be the strongest predictors for both product and process innovation across both countries. Technology management, however, only shows a significant effect on both product and process innovation among Thai firms. The other three manufacturing strategies (leadership, people management, and R&D) did not show a significant relationship with any of product or process innovations. Finally, the results of the moderating regression analysis, using country as a dummy variable, confirm that the effect of technology on product innovation is significantly stronger among Thai firms than Vietnamese firms.

Research limitations/implications

Small sample sizes of both countries are the major limitation of the study. Future studies can advance this research by incorporating a larger sample size as well as focusing on more innovative industries, such as electronics, automotive and food industries.

Practical implications

The results provide insights on the status of several key managerial practices among manufacturing firms in Thailand and Vietnam. The study highlights the lack of R&D intensity in manufacturing firms as well as its non‐significant impact on innovation performance.

Originality/value

This is the first empirical study to compare two newly industrialised countries in the South East Asian region in regards to manufacturing/operational practices, innovation performances, and differentiation strategy.
The appearance of security zones in US cities after 9/11
Authors: Hollander Justin B. , Whitfield Crofton
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To review the development of the security zone concept and introduce an approach for transforming these spaces into more effective public places.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature review was conducted by examining major books and journal articles in the urban planning, urban design, and landscape architecture literature (1970‐2004).

Findings

The review found that an effective response to security zones is to initiate a strategic planning process utilizing local knowledge and design expertise.

Practical implications

Security zones have numerous negative socio‐cultural and aesthetic impacts on their neighborhoods. The findings of the literature review and the new approach introduced can be a good way to strike a delicate balance between providing for necessary security and mitigating against those negative impacts.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills a need in the property management community to understand and manage the openness/security dilemma.
Autoregressive analysis of Singapore's private residential prices
Authors: Chin Lawrence , Fan Gang‐Zhi
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of Singapore's private housing market with respect to its price movement using time series models.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper analyses the price dynamics in the Singapore private housing market using the integrated autoregressive‐moving average modeling coupled with outlier detection and autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity modeling techniques.

Findings

The paper finds that private house prices are better modeled as an ARIMA (1, 1, 0) model with corresponding dummy variables. This suggests that housing prices may be characterized as the combination of a stationary cyclical component and a non‐stationary stochastic growth component over the past almost three decades. This affirms that the Singapore's private housing market is characterised by the weak‐form inefficiency.

Research limitations/implications

The results show that even though ARIMA with dummy variables performs better to ARIMA with ARCH in dynamic performance, there is only marginal improvement on the original model. This suggests that the method for selecting intervention variables in the ARIMA modeling is worth further research with the aim of improving its predictive ability.

Originality/value

This paper incorporates the detection of outliers and intervention procedure in the modeling in order to analyse the impacts of extraordinary events such the recent Asian financial crisis and excessive market speculation on property prices and take them into consideration in forecasting price changes.
Impediments to the success of collective sales: lessons for the property consultant
Authors: Christudason Alice
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to consider how collective sales may be achieved more effectively and speedily in the Singaporean context.

Design/methodology/approach

Through an examination of Singaporean legislation, cases, market conditions and the residential price index, a range of factors has been identified as affecting the success rate of collective sales.

Findings

The paper shows that in the face of radical legislation that aimed to facilitate collective sales, there were various other factors that impeded the success rate of collective sales. Some of these factors were within the control of parties, whereas some were not.

Practical implications

The paper points to the flashpoints in the collective sale process which property consultants can be mindful of during negotiations. Suggestions are made for the property consultant to adopt mediation techniques to expedite the process. This will result in time and cost savings for the parties involved.

Originality/value

The paper highlights the interplay of various factors other than legislation to facilitate collective sales. The paper will be of particular value to property consultants involved in negotiating collective sales, and owners of strata titled properties who wish to engage in collective sale of their development.
Property transfers within the Scottish public sector
Authors: Andrew Anthony , Pitt Michael
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to explain the way the Scottish Executive, Scotland's devolved administration, transfers surplus property between its Departments, agencies and non‐departmental public bodies, which differs from the approach in England.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on government documents and professional standards to explain the revised administrative mechanism and the reasons for the way in which it is designed.

Findings

The paper explains the benefits the system is designed to bring about and its limitations.

Research implications/limitations

The paper is a professional practice paper designed to help practitioners who may be involved in such transfers of property, and to inform researchers in the field of public sector asset management of a new development designed to improve the efficiency of property transfer in the Scottish Executive's part of the public sector.

Originality/value

The paper will be of interest to practitioners involved in the transfer of public sector assets in Scotland, and those applied researchers with an interest in public sector asset management.
Automated valuation model: an application to the public housing resale market in Singapore
Authors: Faishal Ibrahim Muhammad , Jam Cheng Fook , How Eng Kheng
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to construct an appropriate automated valuation model to value Housing and Development Board resale flats in Singapore. The paper also aims to test the accuracy of the model by comparing the values generated with actual valuations performed by a property firm in Singapore. In addition, it seeks to examine whether models for the sub‐markets of Housing and Development Board resale flats based on location or type of flat are more “sufficiently accurate” than the general model.

Design/methodology/approach

Using transacted data of 1,483 HDB resale flats, a hedonic price model is used to estimate housing price. The variables adopted include floor area of the housing unit, floor level of the housing unit, age, distance from central business district and distance from the mass rapid transit station.

Findings

The study found that the general model provides sufficient accuracy when producing valuations. The models based on sub‐markets, namely, “location” and “type of flats” produced reasonable levels of accuracy, although more variables could be added to the “type of flats” model to improve its reliability.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited to a few locations in Singapore. Future studies can include data from all over the island to provide better coverage.

Practical implications

The automated valuation model could bring time and cost savings, which could result in higher profit margin for property firms. Thus, valuers could spend more time on complex valuations and issues. The model can also be modified to fit other property markets with appropriate characteristics (for example, high volume transactions).

Originality/value

This paper represents an initial attempt to apply the automated valuation model in the valuation of Housing and Development Board resale flats.
The importance of tenure to retirement housing purchasers and the impact of culture upon their attitudes to tenure
Authors: Livette Martin
Published: January 2007

Purpose

In this paper culture is considered by marketers to have a profound influence on consumer behaviour, yet explanations of tenure preference ignore or dismiss culture as a factor underlying such preferences. This paper therefore aims to examine the attitudes of retirement housing purchasers to tenure, the effect of culture on these attitudes, and contrast some of the results of the research.

Design/methodology/approach

In the paper data were collected by questionnaire. A sample of about 200 respondents was selected from all purchasers of retirement housing in the West Midlands region of the UK.

Findings

The findings in this paper demonstrate that culture is an important factor affecting retirement housing purchasers' attitudes to housing tenure and that home ownership is part of their way of life.

Originality/value

It is argued in this paper that culture cannot be dismissed or ignored when debating the tenure preferences of older people and the factors affecting these preferences; and that it is probably the prime factor underlying a “natural preference” for home ownership.
Lessons from real estate partnerships in the UK
Authors: Dixon Timothy J. , Pottinger Gaye
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper seeks to summarise the main research findings from a detailed, qualitative set of structured interviews and case studies of Real Estate Partnership (REP) schemes in the UK, which involve the construction of built facilities. The research, which was funded by the Foundation for the Built Environment, examines the evolution of REPs in the UK and in Europe. The paper also aims to analyse best practice, critical factors for success, and lessons for the future.

Design/methodology/approach

The research in this paper is based around ten semi‐structured interviews conducted with senior representatives from corporate occupiers, property consultants, legal practices and REP service providers.

Findings

The research in the paper demonstrates that REPs are particularly suited to the UK, where lease lengths are relatively long, and the level of corporate real estate owner‐occupation is often higher than elsewhere. It also shows that further research is needed to examine the future shape and form of the UK REP market.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is based on a limited number of in‐depth case study interviews. The paper shows that further research is needed to find better ways to examine REPs empirically.

Practical implications

The paper is important in highlighting a number of main issues in developing REPs: identifying with occupier's objectives; risk transfer and size of contract; and developing appropriate innovation and skills.

Originality/value

The paper examines the drivers, barriers and critical success factors (at strategic and operational levels) for REPs in the UK in detail and will be of value to property managers, facilities managers, investors, financiers, and others involved in the REP process.
Innovation in practice: redeveloping the Australian national bibliographic service
Authors: Missingham Roxanne , Boston Tony
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to report on the redevelopment of the Kinetica service. The first phase of redevelopment is based on innovatively using new technology to enable searchers to find and get resources through a single resource discovery interface.

Design/methodology/approach

The new search service will be launched in late 2004. The structure of the project and deliverables are described, together with details of the “get” component of the search service.

Findings

The Kinetica service provides Australian libraries with access to the Australian National Bibliographic Database, and international resource discovery services. Kinetica is currently being redeveloped with a new architecture based on a combination of a bibliographic data management system and a resource discovery system. With around 6 million searches a year, it is at the heart of resource sharing and cooperation between Australian libraries.

Practical implications

Innovative use of a software toolkit is enabling the library to achieve its goals for a national online service to support the Australian library network and allowing Australians to access resources in the nation's collections.

Originality/value

The paper is significant in outlining issues in developing a seamless national resource discovery and resource access service.
Challenges and issues in terminology mapping: a digital library perspective
Authors: McCulloch Emma , Shiri Ali , Nicholson Dennis
Published: January 2007

Purpose

In light of information retrieval problems caused by the use of different subject schemes, this paper provides an overview of the terminology problem within the digital library field. Various proposed solutions are outlined and issues within one approach – terminology mapping are highlighted.

Design/methodology/approach

Desk‐based review of existing research.

Findings

Discusses benefits of the mapping approach, which include improved retrieval effectiveness for users and an opportunity to overcome problems associated with the use of multilingual schemes. Also describes various drawbacks such as the labour intensive nature and expense of such an approach, the different levels of granularity in existing schemes, and the high maintenance requirements due to scheme updates, and not least the nature of user terminology.

Originality/value

General review of mapping techniques as a potential solution to the terminology problem.
The use of electronic resources at IIT Delhi Library: a study of search behaviours
Authors: Ali Naushad
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper seeks to examine the use of electronic information services (EIS) among the users of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Library in Delhi, India.

Design/methodology/approach

Both questionnaire and observational methods were used for data collection where 300 valid samples were collected. The analysis of data collected covers awareness of EIS services, use of e‐journals, advanced search facilities, acquaintance with electronic information sources, the purpose of using e‐information, problems faced by the users while using EIS, infrastructure facility available and satisfaction level of users.

Findings

The study found that Boolean logic and truncation are the most often used search facilities by IIT users. Lack of printing facilities, terminals and trained staff are the major reasons that would discourage users from accessing the EIS. The survey also reveals that some 60 per cent of users face difficulties while browsing e‐information.

Originality/value

The paper provides suggestions for the further improvement of EIS to fulfill the information needs and requirements of users at the IIT Library, Delhi.
Knowledge‐based mobile learning framework for museums
Authors: Hsu Tien‐Yu , Ke Hao‐Ren , Yang Wei‐Pang
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to propose a knowledge‐based mobile learning framework that integrates various types of museum‐wide content, and supports ubiquitous, context‐aware, personalized learning for museums.

Design/methodology/approach

A unified knowledge base with multi‐layer reusable content structures serves as the kernel component to integrate content from exhibitions for education and collection in a museum. The How‐Net approach is adopted to build a unified natural and cultural ontology. The ontology functions as a common and sharable knowledge concept that denotes each knowledge element in the unified knowledge base, and associates each learner's learning context and usage with a content and usage profile respectively. Data mining algorithms, e.g. association mining and clustering, are applied to discover useful patterns for ubiquitous personalization from these content and usage profiles.

Findings

A pilot project based on the proposed framework has been successfully implemented in the Life Science Hall of the National Museum of Natural Science (NMNS), Taiwan, demonstrating the feasibility of this framework.

Originality/value

This study proposes a mobile learning framework that can be replicated in many museums. This framework improves learners' learning experiences with rich related content, and with ubiquitous, proactive and adaptive services. Museums can also benefit from implementing this framework through outreach services for educational, promoting and usability needs from combining mobile and Internet communication technologies and learning services.
E‐books access models: an analytical comparative study
Authors: Anuradha K.T. , Usha H.S.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Though electronic books (e‐books) are not new, they are slow in their uptake compared to other types of e‐publications such as journals, newspapers. The possible reasons for this could be because the technology for creating/accessing e‐books (both hardware and software) is not yet matured. However, the recent involvement of many commercial publishers and aggregators in publishing and marketing of e‐books has triggered their use. This trend suggests making an analytical comparative study of the e‐book access model. The main purpose of this study is to analyse and compare offline and online e‐book access models.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper an attempt is made to analyse and compare three offline and three online e‐book access models by identifying various specific e‐book access model features. The access models are evaluated based on three‐point scale.

Findings

It is observed that among offline access models Microsoft Reader has most of the features well defined and among online access models, Ebrary has most of the features well defined.

Originality/value

Many publishers and aggregators have started producing and marketing e‐books using different types of access models. There are several access models available and each one has its own merits and demerits. However, there has been no study carried out in comparing and analyzing these models. Hence this study is useful for all the stakeholders of e‐book industry viz., creator (author), publisher, aggregator, librarians and users of e‐books.
ICT literacy among the staff of West African university libraries
Authors: Olu Adeyoyin Samuel
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the information and communication technology (ICT) literacy level among the staff of anglophone (English‐speaking) university libraries staff and their counterparts in francophone (French‐speaking) university libraries in West Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted among the professionals, paraprofessionals and “other” members of staff of 28 university libraries comprising 24 anglophone university libraries and four francophone.

Findings

The result of the findings showed that out of about 370 professional librarians, only 179 of them were ICT literate while the remaining 191 professional librarians were ICT non‐literate. This constitutes an overall percentage of 48.38 percent for the literate professionals as against 51.62 percent for ICT non‐literate professionals. Also, out of 526 paraprofessionals, only 84 of them were ICT literate while the remaining 442 were ICT non‐literate. This also constitutes 15.97 percent for the literate paraprofessionals as against 84.03 percent for ICT non‐literate paraprofessionals. Other staff totaled 1,471. Only 190 of them were ICT literate while the remaining 1,281 were ICT non‐literate. This also constitutes 12.92 percent for the literate other members of staff as against 87.08 percent for ICT non‐literate other members of staff.

Research limitations/implications

Only two categories of skills, “literacy” and “illiteracy”, without gradations between these categories could be considered. The questionnaires were not design to catch the grades of these two categories of skills.

Practical implications

The paper concludes that of all the 28 university libraries surveyed, only the 40 Senegal university professional librarians have an ICT literacy level of 100 percent. Thus other West African university libraries should encourage all their professional librarians, as well as other staff, to become ICT literate.

Originality/value

The paper contains original work relating to the differences between English and French‐speaking university staff as regards ICT literacy and as such will be useful for library technology planners and educators.
Back to basics: A‐literacy, the Boolean gene, convergence and the long tail
Authors: Law Derek G.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Based on a paper given at the Fiesole Retreat held in Lund in July 2006. This article seeks to explore issues on the future relevance of libraries in a world dominated by the web and how far “off‐web” resources will have any relevance to users.

Design/methodology/approach

The article combines narrative and analysis.

Findings

Libraries are slow to respond to external competitors and cultural changes, but their own practices paradoxically leave them well equipped to make such responses.

Originality/value

Challenges libraries to build on existing experience and skills in the Web 2.0 world.
Scholarly communities, e‐research literacy and the academic librarian
Authors: Genoni Paul , Merrick Helen , Willson Michele A.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper aims to explore the way in which the internet and e‐research are changing the nature of scholarly communities and the relationship between researchers and libraries; and to suggest how librarians can become more engaged with the e‐research process.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey and focus groups investigating internet use by academic staff and research students at Curtin University (Western Australia) for e‐research and scholarly communication purposes. The survey questioned respondents on their formal and informal scholarly communication practices and the extent to which these have changed due to internet access. Further questions explored the extent to which respondents' use of the library had been impacted by internet access to services.

Findings

The survey and focus groups indicate that research users are positive regarding the usefulness of the internet for research purposes and for expanding their scholarly community, but their attitudes are also marked by ambivalence. In particular they report that the internet may not replace the need for some more traditional forms of scholarly communication. Respondents report making less personal use of the library, but greater use of library services.

Originality/value

The paper concludes with observations about changes to scholarly communities and the opportunity offered for academic librarians to develop the concept of e‐research literacy as a means of enhancing their engagement with scholarly communities.
Online journals: their impact on document delivery
Authors: Echeverria Mercedes , Barredo Pilar
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To examine some of the ways in which electronic resources have made an impact on traditional interlending practices and how some user‐practices have begun to change.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses both quantitative and qualitative data. The qualitative data were gathered through a questionnaire about the impact of electronic resources and the use of ILL. Comparisons of change were made with document suppliers.

Findings

The electronic full‐text is as yet unable to fully meet the needs of the researchers. Until full‐text can approximate what is available in print both in journals and in monographs, the need for document delivery services will remain.

Originality/value

An insight into the state of e‐journal penetration and its impact on document delivery in Spain – a country where few studies have been carried out in this area.
Report of the 21st International Learned Journals Seminar, held at The Royal College of Nursing, London, April 2 2005
Authors: McGrath Mike
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Seeks to provide a review of the 21st International Learned Journals Seminar, held at The Royal College of Nursing, London, April 2 2005.

Design/methodology/approach

Seminar report.

Findings

Overall, an excellent and thought‐provoking seminar for the well over 100 information professionals present.

Originality/value

Highlights some of the outstanding issues and challenges for the future facing librarians in a digital age.
The open access movement in China
Authors: Fang Conghui , Zhu Xiaochun
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the current status of open access (OA) in China, including problems and possible solutions and to introduce the role of the academic library in OA.

Design/methodology/approach

This research paper analyzes several successful OA projects with a focus on the user requirements and the role of the academic library. The paper also analyzes the current status of OA in three areas. First, publishers. The paper will introduce some Chinese OA websites in detail, and point out the problems facing Chinese OA. Second, OA users (both writers and readers) requirements will be investigated. Third, the role of libraries will be analyzed.

Findings

The libraries goal of sharing resources is similar to that of the OA movement. The paper will recommend some Chinese OA resources set up by libraries. The paper will also describe OA promotion by China libraries. Some suggestions for the way forward are also described.

Research limitations/implications

The paper will analyze OA development and problems in China from a librarian perspective. The paper does not have a deep understanding of the publishing business. Most of the best Chinese academic papers are published in foreign commercial academic journals, which costs Chinese writers their intellectual property rights since their rights of communication through the internet is then owned by foreign publishers. As a result, most products based on public investment in China become a foreign publisher's exclusive property, earning exclusive profit for them rather than for China. This situation exists not only in China, but also in other developing countries. This “problem” is worth researching.

Practical implications

A comprehensive introduction to the current state of OA in China will be useful to those who are unfamiliar with, or seek deeper knowledge of, the Chinese situation. The constructive suggestions to be offered should be useful to Chinese administrators, OA publishers and librarians.

Originality/value

This may be the first research paper describing the status of OA in China in summary and in detail, with an analysis of the problems in OA development and offering recommendations.
Interloan services in New Zealand: what do the research results reveal?
Authors: Reid David
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper is based on Interlibrary Loan Services in New Zealand: An Environmental Scan and National Survey, a research report produced by the School of Information Management at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. The paper aims to summarise these recent research findings that identify trends in interloan in New Zealand. Additional information is offered to confirm trends or as evidence of divergence from the research results.

Design/methodology/approach

This article measures the current state of interloan and considers how it may develop in the future.

Findings

The paper concentrates on five major themes. They are: a state of change; user‐initiated interloans; satisfaction levels; co‐operative resource sharing; and the advantages of the New Zealand model of interloan.

Research limitations/implications

The research report is a beginning. Ongoing data gathering is underway to help identify interloan trends and determine future service directions.

Practical implications

The traditional model of interloan is changing and affected by several factors. Its ongoing health is underpinned by three significant characteristics: a national interloan system (Te Puna Interloan), a strong National Bibliographic Database and National Union Catalogue, and the key role of the National Library of New Zealand.

Originality/value

The research report provides a building block for an ongoing longitudinal study of interloan in New Zealand, plus a base for ongoing discussion and debate.
SUNCAT rising: UK serials union catalogue to assist document access
Authors: Burnhill Peter , Law Derek
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article it to investigate the design, and to implement the set‐up of the national union catalogue for those serials which can be accessed at the research libraries of the UK, the aim being to: enable researchers to locate serials held; to assist upgrade of library OPACs; and to provide a component within the UK digital library.

Design/methodology/approach

This article builds upon the RSLP‐funded and JISC‐funded scoping and feasibility studies. It makes best use of extant data in OPACs on serials holdings information, by a mixture of collaborative action by contributing libraries, ISSN‐IC and CONSER; and makes best use of extant software (Aleph 500) and national data services (EDINA).

Findings

Today, knowing who has which journals online has become as important as knowing who has which journals on‐shelf. Knowledge of both is critical for a researcher in her quest to discover, locate and access that key article. Knowledge of both is also critical for the library profession, as help staff and as curators of quality bibliographic records for serials in their OPACs. SUNCAT has over four million records, describing the “print and electronic holdings” of over 20 of the largest UK libraries – thought to cover 90 per cent or more of the journal titles held across the UK as a whole. The extension of coverage to up to a further 50 research libraries is in progress. So too is development activity to meet the challenge of the digital, investigating how SUNCAT can offer an important link in the access/supply chain, as the focus shifts from document supply to document access.

Originality/value

This article is of significance to researchers and librarians in the UK; there is wider significance for the international serials community.
Prediction of the formation of backdraft in a compartment based on large eddy simulation
Authors: Weng W.G. , Fan W.C. , Hasemi Y.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To investigate the fluid structure of gravity current in backdraft consisted of the hot gas and the ambient air, to predict the ignition time for backdraft and to study the effect of opening geometries on the ignition time.

Design/methodology/approach

Numerical models based on large eddy simulation in fire dynamics simulator are adopted to study the ignition time.

Findings

The density (temperature) profiles and velocity fields from the numerical simulation show the typical fluid structure of gravity current, i.e. the slightly raised head, the billows formed behind the head and the lobes and clefts at the leading edge. The increased mixing of gravity current by the ceiling opening geometries comparing to the mixing by the end opening geometries is a result of the three‐dimensional flow. The non‐dimensional velocity presented here is independent of the different normalized density differences, and only depends on the different opening geometries. From this result, it is feasible to predict the ignition time for backdraft in a compartment.

Originality/value

This paper provides a method for predicting the ignition time for backdraft, and offers helps for people, especially firefighters, avoid the hazard from backdraft.
Unstructured triangular surface grid generation and intrinsic grid analysis using rational triangular patches
Authors: Sharma R. , Sha O.P.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To focus on grid generation which is an essential part of any analytical tool for effective discretization.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper explores the application of the possibility of unstructured triangular grid generation that deals with derivationally continuous, smooth, and fair triangular elements using piecewise polynomial parametric surfaces which interpolate prescribed R3 scattered data using spaces of parametric splines defined on R2 triangulations in the case of surfaces in engineering sciences. The method is based upon minimizing a physics‐based certain natural energy expression over the parametric surface. The geometry is defined as a set of stitched triangles prior to the grid generation. As for derivational continuities between the two triangular patches C0 and C1 continuity or both, as per the requirements, has been imposed. With the addition of a penalty term, C2 (approximate) continuity can also be achieved. Since, in this work physics‐based approach has been used, the grid is analyzed using intersection curves with three‐dimensional planes, and intrinsic geometric properties (i.e. directional derivatives), for derivational continuity and smoothness.

Findings

The triangular grid generation that deals with derivationally continuous, smooth, and fair triangular elements has been implemented in this paper for surfaces in engineering sciences.

Practical implications

This paper deals with the important problem of grid generation which is an essential part of any analytical tool for effective discretization. And, the examples to demonstrate the theoretical model of this paper have been chosen from different branches of engineering sciences. Hence, the results of this paper are of practical importance for grid generation in engineering sciences.

Originality/value

The paper is theoretical with worked examples chosen from engineering sciences.
Estimation of degraded composite laminate properties using acoustic wave propagation model and a reduction‐prediction network
Authors: Roy Mahapatra D. , Suresh S. , Omkar S.N. , Gopalakrishnan S.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To develop a new method for estimation of damage configuration in composite laminate structure using acoustic wave propagation signal and a reduction‐prediction neural network to deal with high dimensional spectral data.

Design/methodology/approach

A reduction‐prediction network, which is a combination of an independent component analysis (ICA) and a multi‐layer perceptron (MLP) neural network, is proposed to quantify the damage state related to transverse matrix cracking in composite laminates using acoustic wave propagation model. Given the Fourier spectral response of the damaged structure under frequency band‐selective excitation, the problem is posed as a parameter estimation problem. The parameters are the stiffness degradation factors, location and approximate size of the stiffness‐degraded zone. A micro‐mechanics model based on damage evolution criteria is incorporated in a spectral finite element model (SFEM) for beam type structure to study the effect of transverse matrix crack density on the acoustic wave response. Spectral data generated by using this model is used in training and testing the network. The ICA network called as the reduction network, reduces the dimensionality of the broad‐band spectral data for training and testing and sends its output as input to the MLP network. The MLP network, in turn, predicts the damage parameters.

Findings

Numerical demonstration shows that the developed network can efficiently handle high dimensional spectral data and estimate the damage state, damage location and size accurately.

Research limitations/implications

Only numerical validation based on a damage model is reported in absence of experimental data. Uncertainties during actual online health monitoring may produce errors in the network output. Fault‐tolerance issues are not attempted. The method needs to be tested using measured spectral data using multiple sensors and wide variety of damages.

Practical implications

The developed network and estimation methodology can be employed in practical structural monitoring system, such as for monitoring critical composite structure components in aircrafts, spacecrafts and marine vehicles.

Originality/value

A new method is reported in the paper, which employs the previous works of the authors on SFEM and neural network. The paper addresses the important problem of high data dimensionality, which is of significant importance from practical engineering application viewpoint.
A discrete particle model and numerical modeling of the failure modes of granular materials
Authors: Li Xikui , Chu Xihua , Feng Y.T.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To present a discrete particle model for granular materials.

Design/methodology/approach

Starting with kinematical analysis of relative movements of two typical circular grains with different radii in contact, both the relative rolling and the relative sliding motion measurements at contact, including translational and angular velocities (displacements) are defined. Both the rolling and sliding friction tangential forces, and the rolling friction resistance moment, which are constitutively related to corresponding relative motion measurements defined, are formulated and integrated into the framework of dynamic model of the discrete element method.

Findings

Numerical results demonstrate that the importance of rolling friction resistance, including both rolling friction tangential force and rolling friction resistance moment, in correct simulations of physical behavior in particulate systems; and the capability of the proposed model in simulating the different types of failure modes, such as the landslide (shear bands), the compression cracking and the mud avalanching, in granular materials.

Research limitations/implications

Each grain in the particulate system under consideration is assumed to be rigid and circular. Do not account for the effects of plastic deformation at the contact points.

Practical implications

To model the failure phenomena of granular materials in geo‐mechanics and geo‐technical engineering problems; and to be a component model in a combined discrete‐continuum macroscopic approach or a two‐scale discrete‐continuum micro‐ macro‐scopic approach to granular media.

Originality/value

This paper develops a new discrete particle model to describe granular media in several branches of engineering such as soil mechanics, power technologies or sintering processes.
Three dimensional numerical simulation and analysis of the airside performance of slotted fin surfaces with radial strips
Authors: Zhou Jun‐Jie , Tao Wen‐Quan
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To provide some heat transfer and friction factor results for fin‐and‐tube heat transfer surfaces which may be used in air conditioning industry.

Design/methodology/approach

Numerical simulation approach was adopted to compare the plain plate fin and three types of radial slotted fin surfaces.

Findings

It is found that at the same frontal velocity (1.0‐3 m/s) the plain plate fin has the lowest heat transfer rate with the smallest pressure drop. The full slotted fin surface has the highest heat transfer rate with the largest pressure drop penalty. The partially slotted fin (where the strips are mainly located in the rear part of the fin) and the back slotted fin are some what in between. Under the identical pumping power constraint, the partially slotted fin surface behaves the best.

Research limitations/implications

The results are only valid the two‐row fin surface.

Practical implications

The results are very useful for the design of two‐row tube fin surfaces with high efficiency.

Originality/value

This paper provides original information of slotted fin surface with radial strips from the field synergy principle.
Computational methods for planning and developing flexible manufacturing systems
Authors: Callahan Richard N. , Hubbard Kevin M. , Strong Shawn D.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

To develop a decision framework for the planning and development of a flexible manufacturing system (FMS).

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic weighted property index approach for FMS development decisions is developed to evaluate various design options. This methodology converts design property values of differing orders of magnitude into a unitless system where an overall evaluation of the options can be made.

Findings

Major design choices related to the implementation of an educational FMS are identified, and considerations affecting each choice are discussed. A methodology for the selection of the appropriate FMS is then developed and demonstrated.

Practical implications

Provides a useful framework for evaluating various options in FMS development and selecting an appropriate system for a given environment and situation.

Originality/value

Identifies the major design choices related to the implementation of an educational FMS, provides practical examples taken from the development of FMSs at Southwest Missouri State University and the University of Missouri‐Rolla, and presents a systematic methodology for FMS design decision making.
Local estimation of the error in the von Mises' stress and L2‐norm of the stress for linear elasticity problems
Authors: Gallimard L.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to focus on the local quality of outputs of interest computed by a finite element analysis in linear elasticity.

Design/methodology/approach

In particular outputs of interest are studied which do not depend linearly on the solution of the problem considered such as the L2‐norm of the stress and the von Mises' stress. The method is based on the concept of error in the constitutive relation.

Findings

The method is illustrated through 2D test examples and shows that the proposed error estimator leads in practice to upper bounds of the output of interest being studied.

Practical implications

This tool is directly usable in the design stage. It can be used to develop efficient adaptive techniques.

Originality/value

The interest of this paper is to provide an estimation of the local quality of L2‐norm of the stress and the Von Mises' stress as well as practical upper bounds for these quantities.