bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Comparison of Item Calibration Media in Computerized Adaptive Testing
Authors: Hetter Rebecca D. , Segall Daniel O. , Bloxom Bruce M.
Published: March 2007

A concern in computerized adaptive testing is whether data for calibrating items can be collected from either a paper-and-pencil (P&P) or a computer ad ministration of the items. Fixed blocks of power test items were administered by computer to one group of examinees and by P&P to a second group. These data were used to obtain computer-based and P&P-based three-parameter logistic model parameters of the items. Then each set of parameters was used to esti mate item response theory pseudo-adaptive scores for a third group of examinees who had received all of the items by computer. The effect of medium of adminis tration of the calibration items was assessed by com parative analyses of the adaptive scores using structural modeling. The results support the use of item parameters calibrated from either P&P or com puter administrations for use in computerized adaptive power tests. The calibration medium did not appear to alter the constructs measured by the adaptive test or the reliability of the adaptive test scores. Index terms: computerized adaptive testing, item calibration, item parameter estimation, item response theory, me dium of administration, trait level estimation.
The Number of Guttman Errors as a Simple and Powerful Person-Fit Statistic
Authors: Meijer Rob R.
Published: March 2007

A number of studies have examined the power of several statistics that can be used to detect examinees with unexpected (nonfitting) item score patterns, or to determine person fit. This study compared the power of the U3 statistic with the power of one of the sim plest person-fit statistics, the sum of the number of Guttman errors. In most cases studied, (a weighted version of) the latter statistic performed as well as the U3 statistic. Counting the number of Guttman errors seems to be a useful and simple alternative to more complex statistics for determining person fit. Index terms: aberrance detection, appropriateness measure ment, Guttman errors, nonparametric item response theory, person fit.
The Influence of Conditioning Scores In Performing DIF Analyses
Authors: Ackerman Terry A. , Evans John A.
Published: March 2007

The effect of the conditioning score on the results of differential item functioning (DIF) analyses was exam ined. Most DIF detection procedures match examinees from two groups of interest according to the examinees' test score (e.g., number correct) and then summarize the performance differences across trait levels. DIF has the potential to occur whenever the conditioning criterion cannot account for the multidimensional interaction between items and examinees. Response data were generated from a two-dimensional item response theory model for a 30-item test in which items were measuring uniformly spaced composites of two latent trait param eters, θ1 and θ2. Two different DIF detection methods— the Mantel-Haenszel and simultaneous item bias (SIBTEST) detection procedure—were used for three dif ferent sample size conditions. When the DIF procedures were conditioned on the number-correct score or on a transformation of θ1 or θ2, differential group perfor mance followed hypothesized patterns. When the con ditioning criterion was a function of both θ1 and θ2 (i.e., when the complete latent space was identified), DIF, as theory would suggest, was eliminated for all items. Index terms: construct validity, differential item functioning, item bias, Mantel-Haenszel proce dure, SIBTEST.
Extension's Future
Authors: PATTON MICHAEL QUINN
Published: March 2007

Cooperative Extension can no longer be understood primarily in terms of technology transfer approaches. The future Cooperative Extension model incorporates educational, developmental, and problem-solving mandates with technology transfer through “issues programming.” This has important political and substantive implications for Extension. The final section of this article contrasts the issues programming approach to the more traditional technology transfer model and considers the implications of this shift for the future of Cooperative Extension.
Program Evaluation within the Paradigms
Authors: RYAN ALAN G.
Published: March 2007

Social science research has become defined by the three paradigms first suggested by Habermas: empirical-analytic, interpretative, and critical-theoretic. This article examines, for the sake of argument, how program evaluation would be constituted if it were to be conducted within each of the pure paradigms in turn. Major emphasis is placed upon how the constraints of each of the paradigms would condition the type of information gathered and how that information would be used to improve programs. The main focus is upon the implications of how data gathered according to the rules of the paradigms would affect decision makers and participants in the programs being evaluated.
Portraying the New: Communication Between University Innovators and Potential Users
Authors: DEARING JAMES W. , MEYER GARY , KAZMIERCZAK JEFF
Published: March 2007

How do academics communicate their research to external constituents? As U.S. research universities seek to emphasize knowledge application through outreach, answers to this question increase in importance. This article describes an exploratory analysis of conversations between and perceptions of (1) nine university researchers investigating hazardous waste remediation and (2) sets of environmental consulting engineers, state government regulators, and industrial scientists. Implications for two types of outreach—university-based technology transfer and diffusion of innovations—are discussed.
College Textbook Publishing
Authors: SUAREZ JACINTO E.
Published: March 2007

Following World War II, the popularization of higher education in the United States produced a mass market for college textbooks. This opportunity attracted business concerns quite remote from book publishing. In a parallel move, large book publishers began to diversify their operations to promote growth and profitability. What impact has such diversification had on the college publishing process? The author studied a sample of twenty two U.S. college publishers, classified them according to four levels of corporate diversification, and identified the association of corporate diversification with the rationalization of the publishing process. The findings suggest that the more diversified a publishing business entity is, the more rationalized its college publishing operation is likely to be.
The interface between computerized retrieval systems and micrographic retrieval systems
Authors: McMurdo George
Published: March 2007

This paper notes the benefits accruing from interaction between computerized retrieval systems and micrographic retrieval systems. It reviews current state of automated micrographic retrieval technology. The conclusion is that with a combination of advances in communications technol ogy, and sophisticated indexing input from librarians and information scientists, the new generation of automated micrographs devices may constitute the on-line document retrieval systems of the future.
A government publication index using direct NEPHIS coding of titles
Authors: Craven Timothy C.
Published: March 2007

NEPHIS is a system of computer-assisted permuted sub ject indexing designed to be easy for the indexer, the pro grammer, and the user; and to be economical. Titles of about 3000 publications of the Canadian Department of Energy, Mines and Resources were coded with NEPHIS tags to pro duce a 'quick-and-dirty' index. A brief manual of practice was built up, and problems and costs were analysed. An experiment using simulated queries supported the hypothesis that a NEPHIS index allows quicker location of items on specific subjects than does a KWOC index.
Information management packages on minicomputers
Authors: Ashford John H.
Published: March 2007

Minicomputers are both technically suitable and cost effective for information storage and retrieval systems. Soft ware packages for structured database management and for free text systems are well established and can reduce both the costs and the technical difficulties of setting up an informa tion management system. The particular requirements of designing minicomputer systems are described, and some practical consequences indicated. A number of commercially available free text systems are listed with their salient fea tures. It is expected that free text systems rather than struc tured databases will prove to be of most use to the informa tion scientist or librarian.
2.The International Translations Centre
Authors: van Bergeijk D. , Risseeuw M.
Published: March 2007

The language barrier in the dissemination of scientific information is felt more and more nowadays. Owing to increasing international contacts and co-operatin, and the on line use of databases, the influence of the language barrier makes itself felt twice. Firstly, it may impede the search for literature, and secondly, it may hinder the user from getting acquainted with the literature concerned. Three general solu tions to the problem of the language barrier are briefly discussed. Some solutions in relation to on-line searches are mentioned. Translating is the only way to get acquainted with a document written in a language of which one has no command. The increasing role of the computer in the process of translating is discussed. The need for clearinghouses for existing translations is advocated. Objectives and organisa tion of the International Translations Centre are described. Attention is paid to the World Transindex database and publication, and the publication Journals in Translation. The need for international cooperation providing access to litera ture, inaccessible because of the language in which it was published, is stressed.
Knowledge, information, and information science
Authors: Farradane J.
Published: March 2007

A fairly detailed 'picture' of the scope of information science is presented and discussed, to show the problems involved and the areas of research needed to develop the subject as a science. In particular, the processes occurring in thinking, memory and knowledge are considered as they arise in the production of information by an originator, and in the receipt of information by a user.
The role of information in science and technology transfer in Arab countries
Authors: Salem S.
Published: March 2007

This paper discusses the position of science and technol ogy in Arab countries and identifies the problems and obstacles in the transfer of science and technology from the developed countries to the Arab countries. It discusses the reasons for these obstacles and proposes solutions, distin guishing the information role in science and technology trans fer and the role of a national plan for information services.
Personal reference collections and online searching
Authors: Pollitt A.S. , Whitcombe A.C.
Published: March 2007

A massive number of personal collections of papers and reports exist in medicine and a wide number of other subject areas. The usefulness of these collections could be improved by providing a link with the large online collections, inform ing the user which retrieved references were held in his own collection. This link could be achieved with extra local pro cessing on the search terminal resulting in improved confi dence in online systems and increased utilisation of both remote and personal collections.
Database file normalization as an information science related activity
Authors: McMurdo George
Published: March 2007

Normalization is a technique for determining the optimal logical design of an integrated database, based on the obser vation that certain groupings of entities exhibit better proper ties in storage operations than do other groupings containing the same data. The basic principles of normalization theory are reviewed and the advantages it offers are illustrated. The author concludes by discussing the feasibility and desirabil ity of a division of labour in database administration with information scientists and computer scientists respectively managing the logical representation of the database and the physical maintenance of the database.
Information utilization by policy-makers in Nigeria, Part III: Information packages preferred
Authors: Aiyepeku Wilson O.
Published: March 2007

The findings seemed to suggest that federal civil servants in Nigeria preferred full-length, onginal documents to summaries although there was a reported strong preference for reviews of such documents. These results would seem to contradict the findings reported for similar information users in other parts of the world. It was suggested that until more disaggregated data became available and more was known about the quality and vanety of information processors/disseminators available to Nigerian policy-makers, it would be dangerous to use the findings reported here as the basis for planning the nature and level of information services to Nigerian policy-makers.
Working with non-conventional literature
Authors: Posnett N.W. , Baulkwill W.J.
Published: March 2007

This topic of non-conventional (informally published or "grey") literature and associated information problems has been covered for more specialist audiences elsewhere, but the objective here is to bring these problems to the notice of a wider readership.

A definition for non-conventional literature is stated and discussed. The characteristics of the literature and their effects on library and information activities are described. It is ex plained how actions by originators of the literature and by documentation services can decrease the non-conventionality of a document, shifting it towards conventional status.

The volume of non-conventional literature worldwide is hard to quantify, although indicators show that it is widely dispersed and makes up a significant part of the total, which may be increasing with time.

Problems arise from the non-acquisition of non-conven tional documents by potential users and hence a loss of infor mation. These problems are described together with a range of solutions some of which are already implemented, although not uniformly. These solutions involve more effort by originators to make documents known and available, and greater coverage by secondary services. A number of other activities are described which can reduce the loss of information. These include estab lishment of collection centres, establishment of documentation centres particularly in developing countries, provision of printed copy by holders of the documents, special methods of acquisi tion and better bibliographic control. In the special case of loss of information about tropical land evaluation and rural devel opment the formation of agriculture documentation centres in developing countries is the most-favoured solution.
Data protection in the United Kingdom, Part 2
Authors: Crook Anne
Published: March 2007

Part I of this paper reviewed the issues which make up the subject of data protection and reasons for legislation. This second part examines in detail the development of legislative proposals in the United Kingdom, culminating in the Data Protection Bill currently before Parliament. The Committee on Data Protection (Lindop) recommended regulation by a Data Protection Authority enforcing statutory Codes of Practice for different data processing applications. This failed to find favour with the Conservative Government which preferred a scheme of registration enforced by an independent Registrar. The data protection lobby (including groups from the computer industry, trade unions, professions, business and civil liberties) were critical of the proposals; particularly those dealing with exemp tions from the law. Their comments are summarised and the response by the Government described.

Some of the underlying political reasons for the develop ment of data protection in the U.K. are discussed. It is by understanding the decision-making process relating to legisla tion that those involved with information technology can play an effective role in its regulation and development.
A citation study of significant papers in plate tectonics
Authors: Hodder A.P.W. , Balog C.
Published: March 2007

A consideration of the use made of selected papers in physical oceanography, magnetic stratigraphy, and earthquake distribution traces the development of the ideas necessary to the theory of plate tectonics, the presently accepted theory to explain geologic processes. The citation analysis undertaken of some thirty significant papers supports a previously proposed revolution m earth science thinking in the early 1970s. Al though the theory has enjoyed considerable success in unravell ing 'young' geology, its application to older rocks, particularly those that make up the continents, has been less successful. This may be because the 'revolution' has constrained earth scientists to think that present-day lateral crustal motions have been dominant throughout Earth history.
The valuing of management information. Part III: Estimation heuristics
Authors: Carter M.P.
Published: March 2007

This article is the third in a series of four articles concerned with the valuing of management information. The first three articles examine the major approaches to valuation, the final one summarizes and links together these methods into a practi cal approach to the valuing of management information.

This article examines three estimation heuristics and arrives at a suitable combination of them for use in the valuing of management information. The article also examines various ways of improving the efficiency of such subjective estimates.
Patent novelty; proposals for change and their possible impact on information scientists
Authors: Oppenheim Charles
Published: March 2007

Novelty is one of the most Important criteria an applicant must demonstrate for an invention before a patent can be granted. Its importance is not just crucial to patent agents, but also to information scientists, for any changes to the concept could have important implications for their work.

The paper describes the major requirements for patent novelty, i.e. the concepts of prior publication, prior use (also known as prior user) and prior claiming. The major groupings of patent novelty requirements in the world—local novelty, relative novelty, and the increasingly important absolute novelty are considered.

The paper then examines some variants on the concept of novelty. The best established of these variants is the novelty grace period, used in the USA. Finally, the paper looks at one of the most interesting suggestions for changes in patent law, the concept of the innovation or investment patent. This idea sweeps away the traditional concept of novelty. Innovation patents would not be granted unless there is evidence of commercial use. If such a system were adopted, the numbers of patents applied for and published would drop dramatically, and patents would become much less important as sources of information. At the moment, the concept of an innovation patent remains theoretical, as no country has seriously pro posed changing its patent law in that direction.
Uncertainty models in information and database systems
Authors: Buckles Billy P. , Petry Frederick E.
Published: March 2007

Information systems have evolved to the point where it is desirable to capture the vagueness and uncertainty of data that occurs in actuality. Approaches have been taken using various fuzzy set concepts such as degree of membership, similarity relations and possibility distributions. This leads to the concept of generalized information systems which are typically char acterized by heterogeneous data representations, weakly typed data domains and the requirement for semantic knowledge during query interpretation. A generalized information system is more likely to have a direct representation for larger classes of information at the cost of more complex data management and query processing. In general the various fuzzy database approaches that have been developed are overviewed in the paper and characterized with respect to the concept of a generalized information system.
A history of the Department of Information Science of The City University
Authors: Rennie Janet S.
Published: March 2007

A review is presented of the developments from the found ing of the original course in 'Collecting and Communicating Scientific Knowledge' for the Certificate of the Institute of Information Scientists in 1961, to the work of the present day Department of Information Science of The City University which now runs five postgraduate courses. The expansion of the teaching includes not only scientific and technical informa tion but also courses on biomedical and pharmaceutical infor mation, business information, legal and community informa tion and research and development in information systems. The latter topic has given rise to a new part-time postgraduate course in Information Systems and Technology. A wide rang ing research programme includes work on information retrieval systems and the user interface and information flow and dissemination. It is concluded that further progress of the Department will depend on policy developments.
Biomedical information: education and decision support systems
Authors: Kostrewski Barbara
Published: March 2007

Biomedical information, a distinctive and important compo nent of the total information scene, is particularly well suited to the application of information technology. It is therefore beginning to assume a pioneering role in the development of information systems as, for example, in the provision of oper ating expert systems. The paper outlines current developments in this field.
A characterization of distributions which satisfy Price's Law and consequences for the Laws of Zipf and Mandelbrot
Authors: Egghe L. , Rousseau R.
Published: March 2007

The distributions satisfying Price's Law are characterized. From this it is seen that the Laws of Zipf and of Mandelbrot can satisfy Price's Law only approximately. The form that Price's Law takes for these two distributions is then explicitly calculated. In the case of the Law of Mandelbrot, the same Law of Price is discovered as in "L. Egghe. An exact calcula tion of Price's Law for the Law of Lotka" (to appear in Scientometrics). This was expected, since the Laws of Lotka and of Mandelbrot are equivalent. The method used in this paper however is simpler.
Synchronous versus diachronous methods in the measurement of obsolescence by citation studies
Authors: Stinson E. Ray , Lancaster F.W.
Published: March 2007

Using the literature of human and medical genetics, the results of a synchronous citation study of obsolescence over a 19-year period were compared with the results of a di achronous citation study. If the first two years of synchronous data are excluded, the rate of obsolescence measured synchro nously is statistically equivalent to the rate of obsolescence measured diachronously.

The assumption that synchronous studies need to be cor rected to account for the growth of the literature was tested. The data collected support the hypothesis put forward by Brookes that the growth of the literature and the growth of the number of contributors to that literature have opposite effects in the measurement of obsolescence. The results of a synchro nous study corrected for the growth of the literature and also for the growth in number of contributors were statistically equivalent to synchronous data with no corrections whatever.
A decision support system for face-to-face groups
Authors: Lewis L. Floyd
Published: March 2007

Several recent trends have converged to make the concept of Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) important at this time. This paper describes the design, development, and testing of one GDSS tool as an initial step toward building a compre hensive system. A network of microcomputers was used to implement this tool, then the author studied its use by a large number of groups in a controlled laboratory setting. The GDSS proved to have some beneficial impacts on the group process as well as on the final product (decision) for the groups using the computers, as compared to groups using a booklet, or groups with no help. Suggestions for future experimental inves tigations are offered, as well as potential techniques for impro ving and expanding the GDSS.
A review of bibliometric and other science indicators and their role in research evaluation
Authors: King Jean
Published: March 2007

Recent reductions in research budgets have led to the need for greater selectivity in resource allocation. Measures of past performance are still among the most promising means of deciding between competing interests. Bibliometry, the mea surement of scientific publications and of their impact on the scientific community, assessed by the citations they attract, provides a portfolio of indicators that can be combined to give a useful picture of recent research activity. In this state-of-the- art review the various methodologies that have been developed are outlined in terms of their strengths, weaknesses and par ticular applications. The present limitations of science indica tors in research evaluation are considered and some future directions for developments in techniques are suggested.
Voice input/output interface for online searching: some design and human factor considerations
Authors: Philip G. , Smith F.J. , Crookes D.
Published: March 2007

Speech is rapidly evolving as a very important Man-Ma chine interface in information retrieval applications, and the British Library has recently awarded a grant jointly to the Departments of Information Studies and Computer Science, The Queen's University of Belfast, to investigate the use of a voice input/output interface for online searching. In this paper we describe the aims and background of our project as well as the feasibility, benefits and human factor issues involved in the development and implementation of speech-based interfaces.
Efficiency of text scanning in bibliographic databases using microprocessor-based, multiprocessor networks
Authors: Cringean Janey K. , Manson Gordon A. , Willett Peter , Wilson George A.
Published: March 2007

This paper reports an evaluation of the efficiency of text scanning achievable from a microprocessor-based, multi processing system which uses Inmos transputers. The Boyer-Moore pattern matching algorithm was used to search 35 natural language quenes against a file of 1000 titles and abstracts taken from the Library and Information Science Ab stracts database. A model of searching using a singly-linked chain containing up to 11 transputers was carried out: the maximum speed-up obtained with this size of network was 10.4 with a processor utilization of 0.95, both figures being close to the ideal of 11.0 and 1.0. Expenments with a nearest neighbour searching algorithm for serial document files demonstrate the need to keep the processors fully occupied with computational work if a high degree of speed-up is to be obtained.
The Searcher/Information Interface Project-final report
Authors: Rowley J.E. , Butcher D.R.
Published: March 2007

The Searcher/ Information Interface Project (SIIP) explores the interface between an information searcher and the sources that the searcher uses in order to gather information. The methodology models most closely the interfaces experienced by an intermediary in searching for information on behalf of a user, and concerns itself with the search for, and the identifica tion of, information where it is necessary to consult secondary information sources, such as abstracting and indexing services, bibliographies and databases. A hypothesis is formulated: dif ferent search intermediaries with similar training and using the same search tools should obtam similar results when conduct ing an information search, and all searchers can be expected to trace and report core documents. The methodology involves making comparisons between the search output of a number of searchers working with the same topics, user profiles and searches. It is shown that there are significant differences between the bibliographies produced by the different searchers. The project proceeds by establishing models for identifying the extent of scatter of references retneved by different searchers.
Evaluations using test queries of chemical hazards databases and databanks
Authors: Wood Frances E. , Berrie Andrew T. , Plampin Helen R. , Wilkinson-Tough Margaret L.
Published: March 2007

This paper consists of short reports on three projects which evaluated online chemical hazards services. Two were studies of bibliographical databases and one a study of databanks. Test queries were used in the evaluations.

The chemical hazards bibliographic databases studied were HSEline, CISDOC, Laboratory Hazards Bulletin (LHB), Chemical Hazards in Industry (CHI), Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH), Safety Science Abstracts (SSA), EMBASE, BIOSIS, MEDLINE and CASearch. The main conclusion reached was that whilst all the databases included relevant references none provided comprehensive coverage for the test queries. HSEline produced the highest number of relevant references and LHB and CHI also performed well, but most of the other databases were useful for some of the queries.

The chemical hazards databanks compared were RTECS (Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances), HSDB (Hazardous Substances Data Bank), OHMTADS (Oil and Hazardous Materials - Technical Assistance Data - system), BAKER, CHRIS (Chemical Hazards Response Information System) and CESARS (Chemical Evaluation Search and Re trieval System). The main conclusions of the evaluation were that HSDB gives the widest subject coverage and has the longest datasheets. Its coverage of animal toxicology is as good as that of RTECS. HSDB is the best source for human toxicity information and has the same amount or more information than BAKER and CHRIS on emergency actions. RTECS concentrates on toxic effects and has little information on physical/chemical properties, manufacture, emergency han dling, chemical reactions or explosive properties. OHMTADS does not contain first aid procedures but gives concise infor mation on other emergency actions. BAKER and CHRIS are useful for substance identification, waste management and emergency spill procedures.
The duality of informetric systems with applications to the empirical laws
Authors: Egghe L.
Published: March 2007

Informetric systems are formalized in order to make them suitable for mathematical dual analysis: the duality of sources vs. items (sources being the objects that produce while the items are the objects that are produced). The special place of empirical laws, such as those of Bradford, Leimkuhler. Mandelbrot and Lotka, in this framework is indicated.

The paper closes with a section on some of the fundamental problems in informetric systems: higher dimensions, time de pendence and fractal aspects.
Theory in information science
Authors: Meadows A.J.
Published: March 2007

Information scientists often see their subject as severely practical. However, the range of theory being applied in infor mation science has expanded considerably over the past thirty years. The basic question now is not whether applicable theo ries can be found to fit the various branches of information science, but rather whether the existing range of theories can be brought together to provide an integrated theoretical picture of the whole subject.
Writing, literary work and document in United Kingdom copyright
Authors: Warner Julian
Published: March 2007

Copyright would seem to be an appropriate subject for study by the discipline of social epistemology envisaged by Shera. Social epistemology was to be concerned with the intel lectual processes of society as a whole, rather than primarily of the individual. This paper traces the development of significant terms in United Kingdom copyright: of writing, of a literary work representing intellectual skill or labour in which intellect ual property can inhere, and of a document for legal deposit. The analysis is undertaken with a tnple intention: first, to support the thesis that wnting and the faculty for intellectual labour are unifying principles for documents and computers; secondly, to place the Copyright. Designs and Patents Act 1988 in its historical context; and, thirdly, to develop the divergence between a work in which copyright can subsist and a document for deposit into a measure for the diminishing proportion of published information captured by legal deposit.
From data analysis to neural networks: new prospects for efficient browsing through databases
Authors: Lelu Alain
Published: March 2007

Querying documentary systems in natural language appears today to be the high road for success. Of course, a high degree of tolerance of these systems to typographical and spelling mistakes, to the use of synonyms, is extremely useful in the man-machine relationship, especially when our goal is to make these systems available to ever wider groups of users. But it appears that the search for a somewhat anthropomor phic dialogue with the computer is premature as long as a certain number of representational problems are not resolved: how to supply the human interlocutor with an overall view of the editorial position(s) adopted by the administrators and indexers of the documentary database, whether implicitly or not? This human interlocutor must have a sure idea of what he might find, of what he will not find. In short, he must know with whom and with what he is dealing! What tools should he be given to find his way all through his search and make it progress at all times in the directions that are most relevant from his point of view?
Hierarchical bibliometry: a new objective measure of individual scientific performance to replace publication counts and to complement citation measures
Authors: Trenchard Paul M.
Published: March 2007

A new bibliometric indicator, the hierarchically-ad justed author proportiometric index. is described. It is a much improved indicator ot individual scientific output, over that provided by publication number. This index is obtained by multiplying the number of pages in any publication of original research by a real, or suitably derived, weighting factor that acknowledges each author's proportional or absolute contri bution to the work. This method, its logic and its analytical advantage are illustrated by a suitable hypothetical example. and by comparative bibliometric analyses of real data: the method dramatically improves individual assessments relative to publication counts in some cases, and vice tersa in others. Future uses for the method may mclude research budgetary analysis, research audit and the monitoring of personal re search performance The method may complement, but is clearly separate from, citation bibliometry.
Covering the vocabulary of technical abstracts using standard and specialized dictionaries
Authors: Haas Stephanie W.
Published: March 2007

Natural language applications such as information retrieval systems will increasingly rely on standard dictionaries (in machine-readable form) as a source of lexical information. It is therefore important to determine how well the dictionar ies cover the text that such systems are likely to encounter. Data gathered from an examination of computer science and library and information science abstracts show that the techni cal terms from the domains are not well covered by standard dictionaries Coverage improves with the use of specialized computer science and library and information science dictio naries, although there is great variation in their performance However, these dictionaries were not designed for automatic text processing, and so this paper concludes with a discussion of the difficulties of incorporating such dictionaries into natu ral language processing systems.
Legal issues for information professionals, Part III: Data protection and the media—background to the Data Protection Act 1984 and the EC Draft Directive on Data Protection
Authors: Ellis Sarah , Oppenheim Charles
Published: March 2007

British law recognises no statutory right to privacy The Data Protection Act 1984 was the first Act to address this right, albeit in the limited area of the automatic processing of personal data. The debate over the opposing requirements of privacy and freedom of expression, especially with reference to the media has, over the last decade, generated a lot of discussion and disagreement. This paper addresses the at tempts to balance the conflicting concerns of individual pri vacy and freedom of expresion and the rights of the individ ual vis à vis those of economic and political needs This paper examines the background to both the 1984 UK Data Protec tion Act and the EC Draft Directive on data protection, and also considers the balance between privacy and the need for public disclosure in the media.
A graphical retrieval system
Authors: Bovey J.D.
Published: March 2007

Prism is a retrieval system that provides an online catalogue for a collection of original cartoon drawings at the University of Kent. The article starts with a general discussion of graphical user interfaces for retrieval systems and then describes the Prism system itself. Prism is unusual in that it has a largely Direct Manipulation graphical user interface and also in that it stores and displays digitised images of the cartoon drawings along with conventional textual catalogue records.
Source use by Nigerian civil servants and their organisational and information exposure characteristics
Authors: Tiamiyu Mutawakilu A.
Published: March 2007

Investigated were the relationships between the extent of use of human and documentary sources and certain organisational and source-exposure characteristics of senior civil servants in Nigerian ministries It was found that gener ally, source use was invariant to the civil servants' level or status. It was also established that the use of some external documentary sources was inversely related to civil servants' level of experience; and that the use of consultancy reports. newspapers/magazines and conference/workshop papers was directly related to the extent of civil servant's exposure to inter-ministerial meetings, conferences/ workshops, and courses of study, respectively.
Some comments on Zipf's law for the Chinese language
Authors: Shtrikman S.
Published: March 2007

While the frequency distribution of Chinese characters is known to deviate markedly from Zipf's law, the author found the frequency distribution of Chinese words to follow Zipf's law. The similarity of the distribution of Chinese characters to that of Hebrew and English is also considered.
User sensitisation and orientation: a case study of postgraduates in the medical sciences
Authors: Tadesse Taye , Neelameghan A.
Published: March 2007

A programme to sensitise and orient postgraduates in the medical sciences regarding certain aspects of information and information systems in the medical sciences is described. The programme placed relatively greater empha sis on efficient and effective use of computer-based systems, especially on the user interface; medical personnel develop ing personal databases, particularly of case records of patients, discussion papers, reports, etc, and networking through exchange of specialised information. Topics pre sented and discussed: (i) working definition and scope of data, information and knowledge; (ii) health professionals as generators, recorders, communicators, disseminators and users of information; (iii) information needs in problem solving, decision making, planning, research, teaching, com munication with people at large and awareness of develop ments; (iv) necessity for a detailed analysis, structuring, precise expression of information to be stored in informa tion systems and of users' queries; (v) framework for analysis of information need; (vi) data and information generation by medical professionals; (vii) information transfer channels; (viii) institutional information potential: records and people; (ix) information system capabilities and user problems; (x) information communication: oral and written; barriers to effective communication; (xi) infor mation technology and its role; (xii) user-machine interface: problems and solutions; (xiii) user participation in in- house information system design and development; (xiv) computer-based information systems: overview; (xv) types of databases: functions and contents; (xvi) design and development of databases by medical professionals, demon stration and practice: case records of patients, biblio graphic, factual, etc, using MicroIsis; information retrieval; searching CD-ROM Medline; full-text CD-ROM databases. The presentations included lectures, case studies, discus sion, demonstrations and hands-on exercises; use of over head transparencies and data show pad for computer output projection, a variety of local object-oriented and bibliographic databases and CD-ROMs. Course evaluation: almost all participants responded positively to every ques tion, indicating that the topics covered and the methodology used were quite acceptable and useful to them.
Labour and the information society: trades union policies for teleworking
Authors: Horner David , Day Peter
Published: March 2007

The current interest in teleworking is seen as the focal point of a wider debate relating to the diffusion of flexible work patterns facilitated by the networking of information communication technology and the development of the Information Society. The development of telework as a means of organising work is mapped and the trades union response outlined. An historical perspective to trades unions attitudes is provided by comparison with the Micro Electronics Revolution debate of the late 1970s and early 1980s, which focused on new technology agreements. The paper concludes by promoting a legislative framework to ensure best employment practices, and by urging trades unions to develop policies that meet both the challenges and opportunities of the Information Society.
The 'information society' as paradigm: a bibliometric inquiry
Authors: Duff Alistair S.
Published: March 2007

It has been claimed that the 'information society' constitutes a new paradigm. The paper describes the use of online bibliometrics to investigate this claim. The methodology involved systematic searching of the databases Information Science Abstracts, Social SciSearch, INSPEC and Arts & Humanities Search. Results showed the remarkable extent and range of journal citations over a ten-year period, at least in the information, social and engineering sciences. The wide range of disciplinary, organisational and national affiliations is commented upon. Title and sample contextual analysis of papers suggests that a majority of researchers regard the concept of the 'information society' as a para digm, more or less assuming the validity of the dogmas of 'information society' theorists such as Daniel Bell. However, the searches also revealed an apparent decline in frequency of use of the term. Judged by its bibliometric behaviour, it is not yet possible to say with any certainty that the 'infor mation society' has achieved paradigmatic status. Some suggestions for further research are included.
Information access behaviour and expectation of quality: two factors affecting the satisfaction of users of clinical hospital information systems
Authors: Lee Matthew K. O. , Pow Jacky
Published: March 2007

Although the use of clinical hospital information systems (HIS) has been gaining some acceptance in the health care industry, cases of successful implementation are rare. Many clinical HIS users (who are primarily medical practitioners) are still experiencing a low level of user satisfaction with their systems. This paper argues that, in order to improve user satisfaction for clinical HIS users, due attention must be paid to the non-functional aspects of user requirements.
Automatic extraction of citations from the text of English-language patents - an example of template mining
Authors: Lawson Matthew , Kemp Nick , Lynch Michael F. , Chowdhury Gobinda G.
Published: March 2007

Methods for automatically isolating and extracting biblio graphic references from the full texts of patents are described and evaluated; these include citations both to patents and to other bibliographic sources. Patents are unusual as citing documents in that citations occur princi pally in the text of the abstracts or description parts of the documents, rather than as footnotes or in separate sections. A template mining approach has been developed for this purpose, to relieve patent examiners of the chore of doing this manually.
From bibliometrics to diversity- a personal view
Authors: Simon H.-R.
Published: March 2007

In a short report, the personal view of the author on descrip tive bibliometrics and the methods used are given. The paper illustrates with seven graphs the different results and gives some interpretations of the development of systematic zool ogy as a descriptive science and a basic knowledge base for biodiversity research. Methods of descriptive bibliometry can be used in both fields of research. Professor R.T. Bottle has presented masterpieces in bibliometrics [1, 2, 3] which have stimulated, and will continue to stimulate, research for many years.
Exit, Voice, and Silence: Consumers' and Managers' Responses to Organizational Decline
Authors: Kolarska Lena , Aldrich Howard
Published: March 2007

Albert Hirschman's contribution in Exit, voice, and loyalty provided a framework within which investigators could simultaneously examine people's responses to deteriorating organizational performance and administrators' responses to members' or customers' responses. Traditional analyses focussed on exits — people ceasing to buy a firm's products or leaving the organization — and on competition between organizations as remedies for declining performance. Hirschman added the concept of voice — people expressing dissatisfaction through some form of overt protest. Underlying his model was an implicit assumption of administrators' responsiveness to exit and voice, whereas we posit that there are many conditions under which managers and leaders are highly unresponsive. These conditions are highlighted in nonmarket economies, and we draw illustrative material from Poland to support our arguments.
Data Aggregation in Organizational Research: The Temporal Dimension
Authors: Kimberly John R.
Published: March 2007

This article focusses on an important but often overlooked dimension of aggregation in organizational research, the temporal dimension. As more researchers begin to appreciate the dynamic quality of their subject matter, longitudinal studies will become more common. Lacking fully developed research paradigms, however, such studies are likely to encounter a number of problems. In this paper, three particular problems, the interval problem, the differential period problem, and the morphogenetic problem, are discussed in the context of two concrete studies. The kinds of issues each problem poses are identified and possible solutions are proposed.