bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Collaborative design: a learner‐centered library planning approach
Authors: Somerville Mary M. , Collins Lydia
Published: November 2008

Purpose

Information commons were introduced into libraries in the early 1990s. Now universities are building library learning commons and campus learning spaces. This paper sets out to present a participatory library (re)design approach for collaborative planning “for and with” faculty teachers, student learners, and campus stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

Collaborative design (co‐design) employs user‐centric investigations to produce products, applications, and environments aimed at advancing learning, sustaining communication, and building relationships. Examples from California Polytechnic State University and San José State University in California, USA, suggest the efficacy of this inclusive, learner‐centered (re)design approach for library facilities, services, and systems.

Findings

Inviting and enabling user input from the start offers a fruitful planning approach in which campus librarians, stakeholders, and beneficiaries “learn their way” to appropriate library (re)design decisions. Also, user involvement in information gathering and interpretation activities initiates the interactive relationships necessary for continuous improvement.

Practical implications

Collaborative design (co‐design) yields sustained interaction with user beneficiaries and campus stakeholders. It changes how library staff members think and what they think about, concurrent with enhancing libraries' appeal and value.

Originality/value

In development since 2002, the highly participatory design approach reflects theoretical and applied insights from researchers in Europe, Australia, and North America who have worked with US library practitioners to develop user‐centric processes for advancing organizational learning and enhancing user efficacy. Its practical application to planning for library learning commons and learning spaces contributes to the small but important literature on user‐centered library (re)design.
Digital libraries in the mirror of the literature: issues and considerations
Authors: Isfandyari‐Moghaddam Alireza , Bayat Behrooz
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature of digital libraries (DLs), explore some issues and indicate some considerations. The paper also demonstrates the current situation and orientation of research topics and priorities in DLs.

Design/methodology/approach

Keywords such as “DL research”, “DL evaluation”, “DL management”, “DLs”, “DL studies” and so on were searched for on the web as well as in some leading databases, including Emerald, Proquest, SagePub, ScienceDirect and Springer. The search focused on three main categories in relation to DL literature: evaluation or performance appraisal, management, and education.

Findings

The review demonstrates that a lot has been learned in a short time via DL studies. However, a number of issues are yet to be resolved. In other words, research in the arena of DLs is still growing and it is predicted that new horizons will emerge, along with a variety of issues.

Research limitations/implications

The review does not claim to be comprehensive.

Practical implications

It is hoped that matters such as legal issues, social issues, standards, metadata, management of intellectual and digital rights and interoperability, not included here, will be discussed in future works.

Originality/value

The paper can serve as a road‐map of digital library research for researchers, designers and users.
Alert services as an approach to satisfy researchers' current awareness needs
Authors: Jabr Naeema H.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

As the internet has become the biggest virtual library of digital libraries and publishers have become the e‐agents of online knowledge, large integrated online databases have been developed. On the other hand, most libraries put their library systems on their parent organizations' server to facilitate direct use by end‐users of the sytem to which libraries subscribe. With such a transformation, information services such as the SDI have been changed, becoming e‐type services using e‐mail to inform readers and databases' indexes when matching users' interests as reflected by searching subjects. Moreover, users themselves find from these e‐sources, specifically e‐journals, the most important, up‐to‐date sources of information where they can browse and retrieve the contents from their desktop connection through the organization's servers. The current study aims to explore the following: how far do researchers at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) use e‐journals and databases available at the University libraries? The paper also seeks to explore whether researchers are knowledgeable about these services and choose to use them.

Design/methodology/approach

To determine the respondents' experience with the main e‐journals features as related to alert services and whether or not they are using them, as well as the level of their usage, a questionnaire was adopted from the Stanford E‐Journal User Survey and modified to fit the purposes of the research. The questionnaire was then distributed to 100 SQU faculty members who were relatively familiar with electronic journals and the alert services available through the databases to which SQU libraries subscribed and its system on the local area network.

Findings

The results indicate that 50 percent of researchers depend on the University libraries' subscriptions, while only 19 researchers subscribe personally to e‐journals related to their field for free access to full‐text articles published in these journals. According to those who have not yet subscribed to new e‐journal functions (basically an alerting service), they would rather use general purpose search engines such as Google and Yahoo! This group of respondents suffers from numerous, irrelevant, and uninteresting results.

Originality/value

The study provides a comprehensive overview of researchers' perspectives towards the use of e‐journals and e‐services provided by Sultan Qaboos University.
Total quality management in library and information sectors
Authors: Galyani Moghaddam Golnessa , Moballeghi Mostafa
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of total quality management (TQM) in the library and information sectors.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of the literature on TQM concepts was carried out. Focusing on TQM implementation in the library and information sectors, the experiences of libraries adopting this method are also reviewed.

Findings

TQM was initially applied as a management philosophy in the manufacturing sector. Following its enormous success, this philosophy is increasingly being applied in the service sector, including libraries.

Originality/value

The paper provides a useful overview of TQM implementation in the library and information sectors.
Establishing a baseline for assessing the frequency of auditors' comments concerning perceived client integrity
Authors: Bernardi Richard A.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether comments made by Big‐Six auditors about their post‐audit perceptions of the client's integrity were influenced by their firm's rating of the client's integrity prior to the start of the current audit.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses an established fraud detection case study with a manipulation of client integrity. The participants include 152 managers and 342 seniors from five of the then Big‐Six firms.

Findings

The findings indicates that auditors were insensitive to client integrity ratings in the audit planning/risk assessment stage of the audit.

Practical implications

The very foundation of corporate governance and the value of the audit are weakened when client integrity is questionable and may not result in implementing more rigorous audit procedures suggested by Mautz and Sharaf.

Originality/value

The existent literature cannot be used to determine whether or not Auditing Standards enacted since 1991 have had any effect on the practice of auditing in this area. Consequently, this paper contributes to the literature by establishing a 1991 (i.e. before Statement of Auditing Standards 82) baseline for evaluation purposes. (A baseline being a point of reference to compare the results of future research.)
A comparison of auditor and non‐auditor performance evaluations
Authors: Buchheit Steve , Pasewark William R. , Strawser Jerry R.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether audit professionals exhibit greater performance evaluation bias compared to non‐accounting professionals.

Design/methodology/approach

Both audit and non‐accounting professional subjects read a case study and evaluated the performance of a hypothetical subordinate. Two factors were manipulated the subordinate's work performance history and the subordinate's current performance relative to a budget.

Findings

It was found that reputation bias and hindsight bias are prevalent in both professional groups. The groups exhibit no difference with respect to reputation bias; however, it was found that public accountants exhibit significantly greater hindsight bias relative to non‐accounting professionals.

Practical implications

The paper provides evidence that accountants are relatively harsh critics of subordinate performance. Importantly, the paper investigates accountant vs non‐accountant comparisons where subordinates' ex ante decisions are consistent with superiors' ex ante guidance (i.e. ex post performance being either favorable vs unfavorable is purely outcome‐effect driven). If the findings are robust, this study provides a fundamental reason why employee retention in public accounting is relatively low.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to make direct comparisons of performance evaluation bias effects between auditors and similarly experienced working professions.
Risk reporting
Authors: Amran Azlan , Manaf Rosli Bin Abdul , Che Haat Mohd Hassan Bin
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the availability of risk disclosures in the annual reports of Malaysian companies by focusing on the non‐financial section of the reports. In addition, the paper aims to empirically test the sampled companies' characteristics and to compare the levels of risk faced by these companies with the disclosures made.

Design/methodology/approach

The method used in this study is content analysis. A total of 100 listed companies' annual reports were analyzed in order to trace the extent of risk disclosure and the relationship against firm characteristic and diversification strategy were tested. Stakeholder theory was used in explaining the linkages between the variables.

Findings

The total number of sentences dedicated for discussion of risk information by the sampled Malaysian companies is very much less when compared to a 2006 study done by Lisley and Shrives in the UK. Size does matter and proven significant by the regression results. This finding is expected and explainable from stakeholder theory.

Research limitations/implications

Future research is encouraged to look deeper into the different variables that may be involved. The development of a local risk measurement checklist will help researchers to better reflect on the findings in the local context.

Practical implications

Findings in regards of the current state of risk disclosure should be of concern to relevant reg ulatory bodies.

Originality/value

This paper provides an initial understanding of risk management disclosure practices in Malaysia. The government, through various relevant parties, should devise the means to enhance companies' involvement in risk management disclosure practices.
Management accounting practices in the Greek hospitality industry
Authors: Pavlatos Odysseas , Paggios Ioannis
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report the level of adoption and the benefits derived from traditional and contemporary management accounting practices in the Greek hospitality industry.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical survey via questionnaires was conducted on a sample of 85 leading hotels in Greece. Descriptive statistics on the adoption level, the relative benefits and future emphasis of individual practices provide the basis for discussion.

Findings

The adoption rates for many recently developed practices were very satisfactory. Overall, traditional management accounting techniques (e.g. budgeting practices, profitability measures, product profitability analysis, customer profitability analysis absorption costing, and nonfinancial measures for performance evaluation) were found to be more widely adopted than recently developed tools. It is concluded that traditional management accounting is very much alive and well. Many hotels intended to place greater emphasis on more recently developed techniques in the future, particularly activity based costing techniques (activity based costing, activity based budgeting, and activity based management), balanced scorecard and benchmarking.

Research limitations/implications

The study, examined a large array of items since, as with all surveys, it is possible that respondents may have misinterpreted some elements. Second, the findings of this study should be interpreted bearing in mind that the survey included the largest Greek hotels and not the general population of hotel enterprises. Finally, this research was limited to the Greek hotel sector.

Originality/value

The survey provides a unique detailed examination of the management accounting practices and an indication of future trends.
Behaviour of electrochemical migration with solder alloys on printed circuit boards (PCBs)
Authors: Noh Bo‐In , Jung Seung‐Boo
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This study seeks to investigate the electrochemical migration (ECM) behaviour of printed circuit boards (PCBs) with Sn‐37Pb and Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu (wt.%) solders under various factors such as the distance between the electrodes and bias voltage.

Design/methodology/approach

This study investigated the ECM phenomena with different surface finishes of Sn‐37Pb and Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu solders using water drop (WD) and temperature and humidity bias (THB) tests. After the WD and THB tests, the dendrite phase was identified using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).

Findings

The ECM resistance of the conventional Sn‐37Pb alloy was lower than that of the Pb‐free Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu alloy. The dendrites grew at the cathode electrodes on the PCB and expanded to the anode electrode. The main elements in the dendrites on the Sn‐37Pb and Sn‐3.0Ag‐0.5Cu finished PCBs were tin and lead, respectively.

Originality/value

This study evaluates the ECM phenomena of representative solder alloys on PCBs.
Towards a PCB production floor metric for go/no go testing of lossy high speed transmission lines
Authors: Gore Brandon , Mellitz Richard , Loyer Jeff , Gaudion Martyn , Burnikell Jean , Carre Paul
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that root impulse energy (RIE) testing is a practical and robust “go/no go” test technique for PCB material losses that can be deployed on the PCB production floor.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used the RIE method, employing time domain reflectometry techniques on industry standard impedance test coupons modified to include short reference lines and longer test lines. Practical considerations for the use of the methodology on the production floor, such as coupon design, probe layout and environmental conditions were investigated.

Findings

RIE with a 250 ps reflected risetime appears suitable for discerning significant differences in material loss properties provided proper coupon design is incorporated into the panel design and frequencies of interest are limited to a limit commensurate with high reliability and repeatability.

Research limitations/implications

The RIE test proposed does not replace conventional impedance control techniques that are currently in use. However, a suitable standard for loss and cross test equipment calibration is key and will need to be established before this new measurement technique can gain widespread trust throughout the industry.

Originality/value

The paper shows RIE testing is a practical and achievable test method; it is easily deployed and offers repeatable, reliable discrimination between PCBs fabricated with a range of varying base material loss characteristics.
Application of a woodpile superstrate for directivity enhancement of antennas
Authors: Frezza F. , Pajewski L. , Paulotto S. , Ponti C. , Schettini G.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of electromagnetic band‐gap (EBG) materials in the enhancement of antennas' directivity.

Design/methodology/approach

An analysis of a woodpile EBG material is performed, which points out its band properties. Woodpile cavities are then considered, obtained by interrupting the periodicity of the crystal. A woodpile cavity is then superimposed to a double‐slot antenna, resulting in a compound radiating device. The behavior of the EBG and of the radiating structure are simulated through Ansoft HFSS V11.

Findings

The woodpile EBG, when used as a cavity, acts as a spatial filter for the radiation coming from the antenna. The directivity of the new radiator is considerably increased, since now the illumination covers an area larger than the antenna.

Originality/value

Using new materials to obtain high‐directivity and compact radiators.
Analysis and design of photonic crystal fibers
Authors: Selleri S. , Cucinotta A.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to show the effectiveness of the finite element method (FEM) to study the properties of different kinds of photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), presenting results which highlight the FEM flexibility, exploited according to the particular PCF feature under investigation.

Design/methodology/approach

The FEM has been applied to a new emerging class of optical fibers, the so‐called PCFs, also known as microstructured or holey fibers.

Findings

It has been shown how to design and customize the PCF cross‐section to achieve desired values of dispersion, confinement loss, nonlinear or amplification properties. Reported examples prove the FEM ability to deal with complex geometries, arbitrary refractive index steps and distribution, and to be integrated with other approaches for a better and accurate analysis of the considered fiber.

Research limitations/implications

Limitation in the FEM use can be given by the required computation effort in terms of memory occupancy and time, even if computational power of modern workstations can attenuate this aspect.

Practical implications

The FEM can be a very powerful tool to investigate and design actual structures to be used in several fields, as telecom, sensing, fiber lasers, spectroscopy.

Originality/value

The novelty of the paper is given by the exploitation of the FEM feature to design a new emerging class of optical fibers, considering all numerical aspects given by the unusual characteristics of the domain and problem under investigation.
FE‐DD based permittivity tolerance analysis in microwave waveguide filters
Authors: Guarnieri Giacomo , Pelosi Giuseppe , Rossi Lorenzo , Selleri Stefano
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The paper's aim is to devise a fast method for microwave waveguide filter permittivity tolerance analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

A 2D finite elements (FEs) formulation is combined via a Schur complement‐based domain decomposition (DD) technique to reduce the tolerance affected part of the analysis to a smaller domain.

Findings

The paper shows how to combine FEs and DD in an efficient way for material parameters tolerance analyses in microwave waveguide filters, showing speedup results.

Research limitations/implications

The formulation here presented is 2D but can be easily extended to 3D.

Originality/value

The application of DD to solve numerically large problem is well‐known, the idea and organization of the algorithm to allow iteration on parameter values on a single sub‐domain is here proposed.
Numeric simulation of a therapeutic processing
Authors: Bisceglia Bruno , De Vita Assunta , Sarti Maurizio
Published: November 2008

Purpose

A complete analysis for illustrating the various factors responsible for electrical stimulation can provide insight about some interaction effects relationship. The paper aims to evaluate the electric field and current density distributions inside the various tissues of two simplified models of arm and spine, when a external electric signal is applied using external electrodes in contact with the skin.

Design/methodology/approach

Electrical stimulation is a widely used clinical method in which fracture non‐unions are treated with low‐level electric fields and currents in order to stimulate fracture repair. The physical methods for bone growth stimulation discussed in this paper is referred to technique with capacitively coupled electric fields (CCEF) at the fracture site.

Findings

A series of experiments demonstrated that bone is piezoelectric, electro stimulation is often used to promote and expedite healing. The results of numeric simulation improve the understanding of healing mechanism and bone rebuilding.

Originality/value

Electric and magnetic fields can influence biological functions. The algorithm should be useful in calculating the response of biological materials subject to excitation including modelling and electrical stimulation.
An assessment by a commercial software of the accuracy of electromagnetic finite element simulators in the presence of metamaterials
Authors: Oliveri Giacomo , Raffetto Mirco
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The paper's purpose is to deduce additional information on the accuracy of finite element simulators for electromagnetic problems involving effective models of metamaterials.

Design/methodology/approach

The objective is achieved by solving, with a well known commercial simulator, many different configurations of two types of electromagnetic problems: a free‐space scattering by a sphere and a waveguide discontinuity problem. Such problems are known to be able to point out the difficulties of numerical simulators. On the other hand, they are representative of two important classes of problems and can provide indications on what can happen in other cases.

Findings

This analysis confirms that the numerical errors can be important just in close proximity of the interface between metamaterials and standard media. Small values of loss tangents can be sufficient to obtain very accurate results. Adaptive mesh generators should not be used in the presence of negligible values of the loss tangents. For more uniform meshes the results are satisfactory, with sufficiently fine meshes. When the magnitude of the real parts of the effective dielectric permittivity of a metamaterial and of the adjacent standard media are significantly different, the accuracy is satisfactory in any case.

Research limitations/implications

The results are obtained by considering problems of two types. There is no guarantee that all the deductions apply to other models.

Practical implications

To design practical devices involving metamaterials reliable electromagnetic simulators are necessary. The reported results seem to indicate that it is possible to adopt some countermeasures against the possible lack of accuracy of finite element simulators in the presence of effective models of metamaterials.

Originality/value

For the first time, to the best of authors' knowledge, an extensive analysis on the accuracy of finite element simulators for critical problems involving metamaterials has been carried out. Some simple suggestions to improve their reliability in these cases are provided.
BEM analysis of electromagnetic components filled with unconventional materials
Authors: Emanuel Lauro Sebastian , Bilotti Filiberto , Toscano Alessandro , Vegni Lucio
Published: November 2008

Purpose

To devise a parametric study using a new application of the boundary element method (BEM) and to propose an efficient approach for speeding up the computation time of the BEM based on neural networks (NNs).

Design/methodology/approach

A 3D finite elements formulation is combined with radial basis function NNs to speeding up the computation time.

Findings

The paper shows how to estimate the role of thin slabs filled with unconventional media in order to increase the coupling values when placed between two metallic strips in a coupled microstrip line layout or to improve the shielding properties when used as absorber.

Research limitations/implications

The numerical results here presented are not bianisotropic but can be easily extended to take into account bianisotropic media.

Originality/value

The formulation is one of the only with the potential for investigating unconventional bianisotropic media like Chiral materials which are seen as one possible route to achieving double negative media.
Hybrid finite element/finite difference (FE/FD) model to analyze thermal transients in biological vascularized tissues
Authors: De Santis Valerio , Feliziani Mauro , Maradei Francescaromana
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The aim of the paper is to apply a numerical dosimetry procedure to a biological tissue with an embedded discrete vascularisation in order to evaluate the temperature increase produced by radio‐frequency (RF) exposure.

Design/methodology/approach

The blood temperature inside thin vessels is analysed by a 1D finite difference procedure to solve the convection‐dominated heat problem. The tissue temperature inside the remaining 3D domain governed by the heat diffusion equation is calculated by the finite element method. Then, the two separate numerical methods are coupled by an iterative time domain procedure.

Findings

The main advantage of the proposed hybrid method is found to be the considerable reduction of the number of unknowns respect to other traditional numerical techniques.

Research limitations/implications

In this paper, only the numerical model of the new hybrid procedure has been proposed. In future work realistic biological regions will be examined and the proposed model will be improved by considering the artery/vein coupled structure.

Originality/value

The originality of the proposed method regards the solution of the bio‐heat equation by means of a new hybrid finite element/finite difference procedure. This procedure is applied inside a vascularized region considering a discrete blood vessel structure.
Large‐signal device simulation in time‐ and frequency‐domain: a comparison
Authors: Bertazzi Francesco , Bonani Fabrizio , Donati Guerrieri Simona , Ghione Giovanni
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to compare the most common time‐ and frequency‐domain numerical techniques for the determination of the steady‐state solution in the physics‐based simulation of a semiconductor device driven by a time‐periodic generator.

Design/methodology/approach

The shooting and harmonic balance (HB) techniques are applied to the solution of the discretized drift‐diffusion device model coupled to the external circuit embedding the semiconductor device, thus providing a fully nonlinear mixed mode simulation.

Findings

The comparison highlights the strong and weak points of the two approaches, basically showing that the time‐domain solution is more robust with respect to the initial condition, while the HB solution provides a more rapid convergence once the initial datum is close enough to the solution itself.

Originality/value

The contribution compares two numerical techniques for the determination of the steady‐state solution of nonlinear dynamical systems, popular in the area of RF circuit analysis but rarely applied to device simulation. In particular, this is the first application of the shooting method to forced devices.
Symmetrical and Clarke‐Park transformations for four‐phase systems
Authors: Della Torre Francesco , Leva Sonia , Paolo Morando Adriano
Published: November 2008

Purpose

To provide a unified analytical tool for the theoretical and practical analysis of four‐phase systems under sinusoidal condition but also under dynamic condition and to understand the contribution of each sequence components on the energy and air gap field points of view.

Design/methodology/approach

Starting from the general procedures of analysis for then‐phase symmetric systems, the analysis of four‐phase system is first developed in the phasorial domain, then, with reference to the asymmetrical sinusoidal conditions in terms of symmetric components. As a complement to what is already present in the literature, finally a formalization of the four‐phase systems in an instantaneous form based on the Lyon and Clarke‐Park vectors is proposed. Furthermore, a particular emphasis will be given to the physical meaning of the involved quantities, to their link with the three‐phase quantities and to the instantaneous energetic interpretation.

Findings

Four phase system presents the existence of the pseudozero‐sequence component which is an additional descriptive variable of the four‐phase configuration, absent in the three‐phase system. Pseudozero‐sequence component results completely independent on the need for a neutral wire. Knowledge of the Park vector is as much as necessary to generate the field in the air gap.

Practical implications

The four‐phase systems methodological analysis presented in this paper is very helpful for the formalization of the theoretical and applicative methodologies necessary for the development of four‐phase systems in a systematic and unified way.

Originality/value

The four‐phase systems analysis is presented in this paper both for the sinusoidal and the variable conditions. Furthermore, the role of the pseudozero‐sequence component, not present in three‐phase case, and its implications in circuital terms have been investigated with attention. Finally, the energetic side and the definition of the correspondent instantaneous and average powers have been investigated as well.
Adaptive neural network based controller for direct torque control of PMSM with minimum torque ripples and EMI noise reduction
Authors: Gulez Kayhan
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The paper aims to provide an adaptive neural network controller for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) under direct torque control (DTC) algorithm to minimize the torque ripple and EMI noise.

Design/methodology/approach

The design methodology is based on vector control used for electrical machines. MATLAB simulations supported with experimental study under C++ are used.

Findings

The simulated and experimental results show that considerable torque ripple as well as current ripple and EMI noise reduction can be achieved by utilizing adaptive neural switching algorithm to fire the inverter supplying the PMSM.

Research limitations/implications

This research is limited to PMSM, however the research can be extended to include other AC motors as well. In addition, the following points can be studied: the effects of harmonics in control signals on the torque ripple can be analyzed; the actual mathematical relation between the torque and flux ripple can be studied to set the flux and torque bands width in reasonable value; different neural network algorithms can be applied to the system to solve the similar problems.

Practical implications

Based on existing DTC control system, it is only required to change the software switching algorithm, to provide smooth torque, given that the switching frequency of the inverter module is more than or equal to 15 MHz and the system is supplied with timers. In addition a relatively higher DC voltage may be required to achieve higher speed compared with the traditional DTC.

Originality/value

In this paper, the stator flux position, and errors due to deviations from reference values of the torque and stator flux are used to select two active vectors while at the same time the absolute value of the torque error and the stator flux position are used neural network structure to adapt the switching of the inverter in order to control the applied average voltage level in such a way as to minimize the torque ripple, so instead of fixed time table structure, a neural network controller is used to calculate the switching time for the selected vectors and no PI controller is used as the case in the traditional space vector modulation. This work is directed to motor drive system designers who seek highly smooth torque performance with EMI noise reduction.
Novel Padé‐based algorithms for numerical integration of ODEs
Authors: Condon Marissa , Dautbegovic Emira , Xu Tao
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The paper aims to propose several new approaches for the discrete‐time integration of stiff non‐linear differential equations.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed approaches build on a method developed by the authors involving Padé approximates about each function sample. Both single‐ and multi‐step methods are suggested. The use of Richardson extrapolation is recommended for increasing efficiency.

Findings

The efficacy of the methods is shown using two examples and results are compared to a standard integration technique.

Originality/value

The paper shows that the methods are suitable for application in any field of science requiring efficient and accurate numerical solution of stiff differential equations.
Locally coupled magneto‐mechanical model of electrical steel
Authors: Belahcen A. , Arkkio A.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find out how to model the effect of mechanical stresses on the magnetic properties of electrical steel used in electromagnetic devices and especially in electrical machines. Further, the effect of these stresses on the operation of the machines should be studied.

Design/methodology/approach

The constitutive equation of the electrical steel is usually modeled as a non linear relation between the magnetic flux density and the magnetic field strength. In this research, this constitutive equation is developed to account for the mechanical stresses through a parametric relationship, the parameters of which are estimated from measurements. Further, the constitutive equation is used in a magnetomechanically coupled numerical simulation of an induction machine.

Findings

The mechanical stresses degrade the properties of the electrical steel and increase the magnetization current in electrical machines. This leads to a decrease in the efficiency of these machines.

Research limitations/implications

The effect of mechanical stresses is studied from the point of view of magnetization properties. This work does not model the effect of stresses on the specific losses of the material. Such a research is still going on.

Originality/value

The effect of mechanical stress on the magnetic properties of the materials used in electrical machines is modeled in an easy and original way, which allow for its application in numerical simulation and analysis of these machines.
Determining the range of real eigenvalues for the interval generalized eigenvalue problem
Authors: Kolev L.
Published: November 2008

Purpose

To suggest a polynomial complexity method for determining the range of real eigenvalues in the case of the generalized eigenvalue problem when the elements of the matrices involved are independent intervals.

Design/methodology/approach

The basic approach is to make use of approximate interval solutions as regards the right and left eigenvectors of the eigenproblem considered, the so‐called outer solutions, in order to determine the range.

Findings

First, a new method for computing the outer solutions has been suggested. The main result of the paper, however, is the development of a simple method for determining the range of the real eigenvalues. Unlike the known general‐purpose methods that have exponential complexity, the present range determination method is much simpler as its complexity is only polynomial.

Research limitations/implications

The method is applicable if certain sufficient conditions reported in the paper are satisfied (an incomplete quadratic system is to have a positive solution and the signs of the outer solutions should satisfy a complete or partial invariance).

Practical implications

The method guarantees reliable numerical results when the original eigenproblems contain interval uncertainties as is, strictly speaking, most often the case in practice.

Originality/value

To the best of the author's knowledge, the present paper suggests, for the first time, a simple method of polynomial complexity for solving the problem considered which is inherently a NP‐hard problem (of exponential complexity).
Jumping in at the deep end: young professionals and peer‐reviewed journals
Authors: Greifeneder Elke
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss research articles from authors who have just left school.

Design/methodology/approach

This is an opinion piece.

Findings

Bad research should not be accepted just to help young professionals get published, but the best can be offered opportunities like this special issue with explicit invitations to publish their research via a peer‐review process.

Originality/value

This paper identifies the potential of young professionals and peer‐reviewed journals.
Talking, looking, flying, searching: information seeking behaviour in Second Life
Authors: Ostrander Margaret
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This research seeks to answer, “How do everyday Second Life users go about finding needed information?” as the primary research question.

Design/methodology/approach

A virtual ethnographic approach couched in grounded theory was utilized to conduct semi‐structured interviews with everyday users of Second Life, accompanied by participant observation.

Findings

Information seeking behaviors within the virtual world of Second Life were found to be rich, complex interaction with multiple facets. Five themes emerged to illuminate how users seek information.

Research limitations/implications

This research took place over a six‐week period, although most enthographies last at least one year. Conclusions were drawn solely from interviews because participant observation did not penetrate a given community with enough depth to adequately address the research question.

Practical implications

Virtual worlds offer the promise of becoming an integrated part of the information seeking landscape for an increasing number of users. Understanding the factors influencing information seeking behavior that are outlined in this article will equip librarians and information professionals to best utilize virtual worlds and continue to create innovative, user‐focused services there.

Originality/value

This article extends current scholarship by offering a practical, five‐factor approach to understand how people seek information in virtual worlds. The literature is robust in description about library services and the nature of information in virtual worlds. Yet, investigation into information seeking behavior in this environment is in its nascent stages.
Facebook as a social search engine and the implications for libraries in the twenty‐first century
Authors: Scale Mark‐Shane
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The primary objectives of this research paper are to explore the concept of social search, evaluate the performance of Facebook as a social search engine, and to understand the relationship between social networking sites (SNS) and social search. The author's intention is to examine the possibility that Facebook presents as the future of on‐line search and the implications for libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

This study reviews the literature on SNSs, Facebook studies, and the concept of social search. It then explores Facebook as a social search engine through participant observation, personal experience and experiment. The experiment is based on two identified search queries. Both queries are performed, wherein the results retrieved are displayed using tables and evaluated.

Findings

Facebook as a people search engine, yields irrelevant results in response to search queries for unknown persons or groups. Facebook may also fail to provide timely and relevant results when attempting to get information from persons with whom the user has a weak relationship. Findings also indicate the limitations of users functioning as quasi‐librarians as it relates to the quality of information retrieval.

Practical implications

The findings are relevant for library and information science academics and professional practitioners.

Originality/value

The author provides an approach for evaluating the quality of information retrieval in social search using the traditional information retrieval evaluation methods of library and information scientists. He also revisits old arguments on the importance of the profession to web information in light of new trends and data.
Collaboration as a wave of future: exploring experiences from Croatian archives
Authors: Faletar Tanackoviæ Sanjica , Badurina Boris
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report on research that examined the relationship between, and collaboration of, Croatian archives, libraries and museums.

Design/methodology/approach

Online survey and unstructured interviews with archivists from across Croatia were used to investigate collaborative activities in Croatian archives.

Findings

Archivists see libraries and museums as their natural partners and believe that collaboration facilitates their mission and leads to better service to patrons. However, they all believe that there is room for more intensive inter‐institutional partnerships. Apart from numerous benefits, they also indicated a number of challenges they face in collaborative activities.

Research limitations/implications

A larger sample for qualitative methodology would greatly serve to clarify and expand upon the findings.

Practical implications

The results of this survey are useful to cultural heritage professionals in planning and organisation of collaborative projects. Also, government and authorised institutions can learn about what kind of support archives would need to embark on a more intensive collaboration.

Originality/value

To the author's knowledge, this is the first work that looks in detail into collaborative activities of archives. As far as the authors are aware, similar investigations have been carried out regarding library and museum collaboration only.
Reappraising archival practice in light of the new social history
Authors: Van Wingen Melinda , Bass Abigail
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the relationship between historiography and archival practices. It takes the new social history approach to history as a case study for examining how historians' changing theories and methods may affect solicitation, acquisition, appraisal, arrangement, description, reference, outreach, and other aspects of archival administration.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper presents a review of the archival and historical literature since the late 1970s.

Findings

The paper finds that many aspects of archival administration have been and continue to be affected by the new social history trend in historical scholarship. The paper suggests that archivists and archival educators be trained in historiography as a way to understand historians' craft and develop strong documentation strategies to anticipate future archival needs.

Research limitations/implications

Because the paper is primarily a literature review, it does not test real‐life examples or case studies that would be useful in understanding the relationship between historians and archivists.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the development of archival administration and education strategies.

Originality/value

The paper draws from a range of literature to consider the impact of scholarly practices on professional archival work.
Exploring access in the developing world: people, libraries and information technology in Morocco
Authors: Lea Moulaison Heather
Published: November 2008

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the information technology environment in a developing country, Morocco, through a discussion of the people, their information environment, and libraries. Concepts of modern library and information studies (LIS) education and the new role of the library professional in this context are also to be explored.

Design/methodology/approach

Largely based on a review of literature on the people, their information environment, and technology in Morocco, this paper incorporates both synthesis and discussion from an LIS point‐of‐view.

Findings

Basic elements of the culture make library work difficult in Morocco. In reflecting on other cultures and participating in the international LIS dialogue, librarians can develop new perspectives on difficulties they experience at their home institutions while contributing to solutions of problems abroad.

Practical implications

By supporting library work in developing countries, western librarians can have a positive impact on users both at home and abroad.

Originality/value

Third world librarianship is not a phenomenon happening “over there” in a vacuum – real librarians trained in library and information science in countries like Morocco are helping users to access information. Their work contributes to the international conversation taking place in LIS, a discussion that is ultimately of benefit to all involved.
Digital rights description as part of digital rights management: a challenge for libraries
Authors: Böhner Dörte
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to answer the question of whether digital rights management (DRM) can be useful to libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper provides a legal and technical description of DRM and its current and future opportunities.

Findings

The paper finds that digital rights management has possibilities that can be useful for libraries. But it is important that librarians become more active in the standardization and development of new ideas. Some examples are given.

Originality/value

The paper offers a realistic approach to DRM for libraries.
Recruiting for diversity: strategies for twenty‐first century research librarianship
Authors: Dewey Barbara , Keally Jillian
Published: November 2008

Purpose

The paper aims to focus on organizational and institutional strategies, including a case study from the University of Tennessee, concerned with recruiting librarians from diverse backgrounds.

Design/methodology/approach

Programs from the Association for Research Libraries, the American Library Association, OCLC, and IFLA for recruiting librarians from diverse backgrounds are reviewed. An in‐depth case study of the University of Tennessee Diversity Libraries Residency Program is included to provide a detailed example of a successful program and its contributions locally and to the research library field.

Findings

The paper provides strategies and a catalyst for other organizations and institutions to develop robust recruitment programs for a diverse workforce in academic libraries.

Originality/value

This paper lays out strategies for robust diversity recruiting activities at the organizational and institutional level using the University of Tennessee's experiences as a basis for discussion.