bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Is it appropriate to use structured abstracts in non-medical science journals?
Authors: Hartley James 
Published: December 2004

BACKGROUND. Structured abstracts (which use subheadings) have become widespread in medical research journals and are beginning to spread into other fields. AIM. The aim of this paper is to consider whether or not such structured abstracts can be used effectively in non-medical science journals. METHOD. This paper first reviews a selection of studies on structured abstracts from the medical and psychological literature. It then presents examples of structured abstracts published in non-medical science journals. Finally, it presents examples of how original abstracts might be written in a structured form for non-medical science journals. OBSERVATIONS. The results of the literature review suggest that structured abstracts are longer and more informative than are their traditional equivalents, that they are easier to search and to read and that they are generally welcomed by readers and authors. The examples of structured abstracts from non-medical science journals, together with the examples of the rewritten abstracts, allow the readers to judge these characteristics for themselves. CONCLUSIONS. The author recommends, in the light of the above, that editors of non-medical science journals consider the value of adopting structured abstracts.
Electronic journals: a study of usage and attitudes among academics
Authors: Tomney Hilary , Burton Paul F. 
Published: December 2004

This study assesses attitudes towards electronic journals and examines the current level of use of these publications by university academics in five faculties. Consideration is given to both users and non-users, examining why they use or do not use this medium. The perceived advantages and disadvantages of electronic publication are also examined. The results suggest that, although the actual number of academics using electronic journals at present may be low, academics are willing to try this new medium. There are more users among academics in the Science and Engineering faculties than in the Arts or Business, while the results from the Law Department, where some staff are involved in an electronic journal project, indicate how influential the atmosphere within a department can be on the level of usage. The principal limiting factor is that of time to find electronic journals: academics initially simply need time to come to terms with the new technology and to locate electronic resources.
Best of Health: evaluation of a high-street consumer health information shop in a rural area
Authors: Barker Anne L. , Polson Robert G. 
Published: December 2004

This study examines a consumer health information project, sponsored by the pnnHighland Health zBoard; based in Inverness, it caters for the health information needs of the widely dispersed population of the Scottish Highlands. The study investigates who is using the service and what they use it for, users’ opinions of the service and how they use the information obtained. Findings indicate that most people use the service to become better informed about a specific personal health problem. A wide range of socio-economic classes uses the facility and usage is spread across the whole Health Board region and beyond. Most users are highly satisfied with the service and the information obtained, but some areas which could be developed have been identified. Usage of Best of Health mirrors experience found in other studies: more women than men use such services, and higher socio-economic groups make greater use of such facilities than others, such as unemployed or retired people.
Building competitive advantage through information systems: the organizational information quotient
Authors: Service Robert W. , Maddux Henry S. 
Published: December 2004

Information systems (IS) have significant potential for making quantum leaps in productivity, increasing the ability to compete, and maintaining sustainable competitive advantage. However, much of that potential remains to be achieved. This paper uses dynamic case analysis and survey data to identify the critical success elements found in effective use of IS. These foundational elements are then integrated into a framework for innovatively deploying IS for sustainable competitive advantage. Common pitfalls are examined. Finally, a measure of the effective implementation of IS, information quotient (IQ), is proposed. Results of this analysis are five fundamental mandates that form the basis for effective and innovative IS deployment for sustainable competitive advantage through advancement of organizational IQ. The IS of the future as prescribed here will promote both environmental responsiveness and strategic cohesiveness by providing internal and external intelligence to information processing.
Who needs publishers?
Authors: Morris Sally 
Published: December 2004

Publishers are often confused with printers; in fact, even in the print-on-paper world, they carry out a number of important functions. Some of these are very practical, such as commissioning, editing, promotion, sales and distribution, as well as the management of typesetting and manufacturing. Some are less tangible, but in many ways more significant - understanding the market through editorial market research, selecting and collecting content, quality (and, perhaps surprisingly, quantity) control, providing the identifiable ‘envelope’ in which content resides, the publisher’s own ‘brand’ (not to be overestimated), making information as retrievable as possible and providing aids to navigation. Few of these functions disappear with electronic publishing and, in fact, some become much more complex. These functions add considerable value to published information, and specialist commercial organisations are best placed to carry them out; however, these will not necessarily be established publishers in the future.
Chaos theory, economics and information: the implications for strategic decision-making
Authors: Hayward Tim , Preston Judith 
Published: December 2004

Traditionally, rational models of decision-making assume perfect information is available to the manager. In reality, the paradox of rationality is that full information relates only to the past; choices for the future must be of limited rationality as the future contains both risk and uncertainty. An analysis of rationality and uncertainty in relation to decision-making, therefore leads to a consideration of Chaos Theory. Whilst recognising that the future is unknowable, nonetheless, Chaos Theory allows for the possibility of an awareness of a range of future states. In addition, it suggests that complete and accurate information, so necessary for rational decision-making, is unobtainable, and the past is not an accurate guide to the future. Thus, the terms of reference for strategic management should be changed; conditions must be created whereby effective learning takes place, from which new strategies may or may not emerge. Managers should not problem-solve their way out of chaos, instead, generate bold solutions which integrate all the information. Information is thus activating a process by which strategy can emerge from across all levels of the organisation, to provide at least some structured futures thinking.
The role of electronic reserves in serving and shaping new teaching and learning environments in UK universities
Authors: Dugdale Christine 
Published: December 2004

Most UK academic libraries are currently facing increasing demands for scarce resources - often over relatively short timescales. This has arisen from the twin pressures of a growing and changing student population and the introduction of new pedagogic trends. The implementation of electronic reserves, such as the ResIDe Electronic Reserve at the University of the West of England, Bristol, addresses this issue. Electronic reserves, however, are much more than efficient library tools; managed effectively, they are able to support a range of teaching and learning styles. ResIDe staff are now examining a much wider and more important role of shaping and supporting more imaginative and innovative teaching and learning initiatives. Working together, librarians and lecturers from the Bristol Business School have developed a new module based upon ResIDe support. Harnessing the technological advantages of an electronic reserve, the module has been designed to develop students’ information technology, presentational, bibliographical, search and evaluation skills, as well as improving and reinforcing their understanding of, and critical approach to, their specialist subject.
What do we know about footnotes? Opinions and data
Authors: Hartley James 
Published: December 2004

Background: There is a scattered literature on various aspects of the design, use and information conveyed by foot-notes in academic text that can be considered under the three headings of sociological, psychological and typographical matters. Aims: The aims of this paper are: (i) to review this literature and (ii) to report the results from a small-scale enquiry into academics’ attitudes to footnotes and endnotes and their positioning in text. Method: In this enquiry, an eleven-item Likert-type scale was completed by two groups of academics. Group 1 (N = 52) typically reads journal articles with footnotes and Group 2 (N = 57) typically reads articles without them. Results: The result suggested that, despite wide variations, there were commonalties between these two groups of academics. Most people in both groups were positive towards footnotes and many thought that they could be easily ignored. In addition, most readers preferred footnotes, endnotes and references to be at the ends of the chapters to which they referred, rather than at the end of the book.
Presenting a model for the structure and content of a university World Wide Web site
Authors: Middleton Iain , McConnell Mike , Davidson Grant 
Published: December 2004

This paper proposes a model for the structure and content of a university World Wide Web site, by a process of: (1)identifying who the site is serving and the information needs of these individuals or groups; (2)identifying institutional information needs; (3)relating this data to the content provided; (4)presenting the content in a manner suited to the characteristics and information needs of the target user groups. Through an analysis of existing UK higher education institution (HEI) Web sites and an extensive literature review, a case is made for a non-static approach to Web design which identifies users and makes extensive use of themes to promote currently relevant information at the top level. The authors propose a link-rich environment which does not rely on user categorisation and exploration of long sequences of links and is not constrained by traditional boundaries between departments. The authors contend that such an approach is yet to be adopted in UK HEIs, but is beginning to occur at HEIs in the USA.
Another fine MeSH: clinical medicine meets information science
Authors: O’Rourke Alan , Booth Andrew , Ford Nigel 
Published: December 2004

Introduction: evidence-based medicine (EBM) requires clinicians to tackle patient management by making more systematic use of databases like MEDLINE and using more sophisticated search strategies, to optimise the retrieval of relevant papers. Aim: to collect empirical data on genuine requests for information and search strategies. Methods: collection of literature search requests for staff using computerised biomedical databases at the libraries in district general hospitals, teaching hospitals and a research unit; the ‘intervention’ of introducing a common structured form explicitly asking about the patient/intervention/outcome/comparison axis; comparison of the structured and unstructured forms for completion of these four components; coding of the requests, using a modified Scott Richardson classification. Results: the structured form promotes the use of components from the EBM anatomy and increases the total number of these in each search. Conclusion: building prompts, like an EBM anatomy, into request forms improves the precision of literature searching without impairing recall. For clinical problems, rather than educational environments, the Scott Richardson classification needs modification.
Searching Institute for Scientific Information databases at the Deutsches Institut für Medizinische Dokumentation und Information, Cologne
Authors: Alloro Giovanna , Ugolini Donatella 
Published: December 2004

The aim of the paper is to illustrate the retrieval methods used to count the number of citations in the Institute for Scientific Information online databases (SciSearch and Social Sci-Search) made available by the Deutsches Institut für Medizinische Dokumentation und Information host computer. Citation analysis is a bibliometric measure increasingly applied to evaluate the publication quality of individual scientists or research groups. Therefore, it is very important to know, and to use correctly, the search methods made available to retrieve the number of citations. Different search methods and their specific features and limits are discussed, and practical problems in working with the online citation indices are described, highlighting the pivotal role of information specialists to make accessible, and to better use, the database data and the retrieval techniques, thus providing vital information to institutions and research activity.
An investigation of the impact of information and communication technologies in sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Adam Lishan , Wood Frances 
Published: December 2004

Information and communication technologies (ICT) have been in use for over three decades in different settings in Africa, but the impact of ICT on users in the region is not well documented. This paper attempts to examine the impact of ICT in sub-Saharan Africa, based on a study using a grounded theory approach. It was aimed at understanding users within their ICT applications context. Four main aspects of the impact of ICT were identified: ‘Actual impact’, ‘Potential impact’, ‘Constraints’ and ‘Actions centred around users and their reactions’. The research indicates that an understanding of ICT users’ iterative and adaptive behaviour and their day-to-day pains in coping with problems of ICT in the local context is necessary for impact assessment. The constructionist behaviour in which individuals, organisations, professionals and groups map their world and situation, and the complex action and interaction between them, imposes the structure of ICT use. This paper discusses the impact of ICT in the context of its use and the concrete circumstances of the individuals involved and the tasks undertaken, together with historical and environmental perspectives.
European Survey of Information Society (ESIS): the Portuguese experience
Authors: Correia Ana Maria R. , Costa Maria Alexandre 
Published: December 2004

As we approach the millennium, our society is undergoing profound and rapid changes as a result of the development of the information superhighways. These changes are evident in the economic, social, cultural and political aspects of our society. Governments, all over the world, are seeking the most appropriate responses to this situation, responses which will bring maximum advantage for their countries through the introduction of information strategies and policies to shape the development of information societies. In this context, the Information Society Project Office (ISPO), at the European Union, decided to compile an inventory of European Information Society projects and actions to support the decision-making process for Information Society initiatives. The initial development period was set at two years, starting in February 1997. This paper outlines some of the more important land-marks in the creation and development of an Information Society in Portugal. Analysis of the European Survey of Information Society (ESIS) questionnaire returns is limited to the Portuguese experience and does not attempt to cover the complete survey. These are early days in the development of ESIS; the aim of this paper is to promote awareness and to widen discussion concerning the identification of trends and possible candidates for progress indicators.
The change from French to English and its effect upon the impact factor and ranking of the Pasteur journals
Authors: Bracho-Riquelme Rodolfo L. , Pescador-Salas Nazario , Reyes-Romero Miguel Arturo 
Published: December 2004

Objective: to determine the effect that the change from French to English had on the impact of the Annales de l’Institut Pasteur. Theoretical reference: the Pasteur Institute journals have a prestige of over 100 years of existence and eight Nobel Prize winners in physiology and medicine. Changes through time on the impact of these journals can be monitored, as they are included in databases of the Institute for Scientific Information. Method: a year-by-year analysis from 1974 to 1992 was effected, using simple regression between percentage of articles published in English and (i) their impact factor and (ii) their ranking among journals of the same field. Results: the overall determination coefficient between the percentage in English and the impact factor was 0.108. By series, the coefficient factor between percentage in English and the journal’s rank among similar publications was 0.178 for Annales de Microbiologie, 0.045 for Annales d’Immunologie and 0.122 for Annales de Virologie. Conclusions: the change of language did not increase the impact factor of the French journals nor improve their ranking among publications of the same discipline.
Dynamic Nonprehensile Manipulation: Controllability, Planning, and Experiments
Authors: Lynch Kevin M. , Mason Matthew T. 
Published: December 2004

We are interested in using low-degree-of-freedom robots to perform complex tasks by nonprehensile manipulation (manipulation without aformorforce-closure grasp). By notgrasping, the robot can usegravitational, centrifugal, and Coriolisforces as virtual motors to control more degrees of freedom of the part. The part s extra motionfreedoms are exhibited as rolling, slipping, and free flight. This paper describes controllability, motion planning, and implementation ofplanar dynamic nonprehensile manipukltion. We show that almost any planar object is controllable by point contact, and the controlling robot requires only twvo degrees of freedom (a point translating in the plane). We then focus on a one-joint manipulator (with a two-dimensional state space), and show that even this simplest of robots, by using slipping and rolling, can control a planar object to a fulldimensional subset of its six-dimensional statespace. We have developed a one-jointrobotto perform a variety of dynamic tasks, including snatching an object ftom a table, rolling an object on the surface of the arm, and throwing and catching. Nonlinear optimization is used to plan robot trajectories that achieve the desired object motion via coupling forces though the nonprehensile contact.
Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaotic Motions in Feedback-Controlled Two-and Three-Degree-of-Freedom Robots
Authors: Ravishankar A. S. , Ghosal Ashitava 
Published: December 2004

The dynamics of a feedback-controlled rigid robot is most commonly described by a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. In this paper we analyze these equations, representing the feedback-controlled motion of twoand three-degrees-of-freedom rigid robots with rnvolute (R) and prismatic (P) joints in the absence of compliance, friction, and potential energy for the possibility of chaotic motions. We first study the unforced or inertial motions of the robots, and show that when the Gaussian or Riemannian curvature of the configuration space of a robot is negative, the robot equations can exhibit chaos. If the curvature is zero or positive, then the robot equations cannot exhibit chaos. We show that among the two-degrees-of-freedom robots, the PP and the PR robot have zer Gaussian curvature while the RP and RR rohots have negative Gaussian curvatures. For the three-degrees-offireedom robots, we analyze the two well-known RRP and RRR configurations of the Stanford arm and the PUMA manipulator, respectively, and derive the conditions for negative curvature and possible chaotic motions. The criteria of negative curvature cannot be usedfor the forced or feedback-controlled motions. For the foired motion, we resort to the well-known numerical techniques and compute chaos maps, Poincard maps, and bifurcation diagrams. Numerical results are presentedfor the two-degreesf-ffreedom RP and RR robots, and we show that these robot equations can exhibit chaos for low controller gains and for large underestimated models. From the bifurcation diagrams, the mute to chaos appears to he through period doubling.
Programmable Force Fields for Distributed Manipulation, with Applications to MEMS Actuator Arrays and Vibratory Parts Feeders
Authors: Bohringer Karl-Friedrich , Donald Bruce Randall , MacDonald Noel C. 
Published: December 2004

Programmable force vector fields can be used to control a variety of flexible planar parts feeders such as massively parallel microactuator arrays or transversely vibrating (macroscopic) plates. These new automation designs promise great flexibility, speed, and dexterity—we believe they may be employed to position, orient, singulate, sort, feed, and assemble parts. However, since they have only recently been invented, programming and controlling them for manipulation tasks is challenging. When a part is placed on our devices, the programmed vector field induces a force and moment upon it. Over time, the part may come to rest in a dynamic equilibrium state. By chaining sequences of force fields, the equilibrium states of a part in the field may be cascaded to obtain a desired final state. The resulting strategies require no sensing, and enjoy efficient planning algorithms. This paper begins by describing new experimental devices that can implement programmable force fields. In particular, we describe our progress in building the M-CHIP (Manipulation CHIP), a massively parallel array of programmable micromotion pixels. Both the M-CHIP and other microarray devices, as well as macroscopic devices such as transversely vibrating plates, may be programmed with vector fields, and their behavior predicted and controlled using our equilibrium analysis. We demonstrate lower bounds (i.e., impossibility results) on what the devices cannot do, and results on a classification of control strategies yielding design criteria by which well-behaved manipulation strategies may be developed. We provide sufficient conditions for programmable fields to induce well-behaved equilibria on every part placed on our devices. We define composition operators to build complex strategies from simple ones, and show the resulting fields are also well behaved. We discuss whether fields outside this class can be useful and free of pathology. Using these tools, we describe new manipulation algorithms. In particular, we improve existing planning algorithms by a quadratic factor, and the plan length by a linear factor. Using our new and improved strategies, we show how to simultaneously orient and pose any part, without sensing, from an arbitrary initial configuration. We relax earlier dynamic and mechanical assumptions to obtain more robust and flexible strategies. Finally, we consider parts feeders that can only implement a very limited ”vocabulary” of vector fields (as opposed to the pixel-wise programmability assumed above). We show how to plan and execute parts posing and orienting strategies for these devices, but with a significant increase in planning complexity and some sacrifice in completeness guarantees. We discuss the trade-off between mechanical complexity and planning complexity.