8 research outputs found
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Impact of digital information resources in the toxicology literature
Purpose â The purpose of the study reported here was to assess the degree to which new forms of web-based information and communication resources impact on the formal toxicology literature, and the extent of any change between 2000 and 2005.
Design/methodology/approach â The paper takes the form of an empirical examination of the full content of four toxicology journals for the year 2000 and for the year 2005, with analysis of the results, comparison with similar studies in other subject areas, and with a small survey of the information behaviour of practising toxicologists.
Findings â Scholarly communication in toxicology has been relatively little affected by new forms of information resource (weblogs, wikis, discussion lists, etc.). Citations in journal articles are still largely to âtraditionalâ resources, though a significant increase in the proportion of web-based material being cited in the toxicology literature has occurred between 2000 and 2005, from a mean of 3 per cent to a mean of 19 per cent.
Research limitations/implications â The empirical research is limited to an examination of four journals in two samples of one year each.
Originality/value â This is the only recent study of the impact of new ICTs on toxicology communication. It adds to the literature on the citation of digital resources in scholarly publications
44P. Search Engines and Academic Research Process
Information Technologies shape the way users retrieve information. The Internet has become one of the most important information resources where people look for various kind of information. Search engines are seen as a gateway to the online information. This paper describes a survey carried out on graduate students pursing Master or PhD to investigate the impact of search engines on their research process. Information quality, cost and copyright issue were examined to give an insight on how Internet was used as an information source. Overall, quality of information and time spent were the main influences when using search engines. Students are generally aware of copyright issues. However, most of them do not check copyright issue when downloading online materials. Nearly half of the participants also agree that search engines are biased towards English
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"An intensity around information": the changing face of chemical information literacy
The changing nature of chemical information literacy over 50 years is examined by a comparison of a number of guides to chemical literature and information. It is concluded that: an understanding of the world of information is the sole aspect to have remained important and essentially unchanged over time; that knowledge of sources, ability to access information and ability to organize information have been of importance throughout, but have changed their nature dramatically; and that evaluation of information has gained in importance since the advent of the World Wide Web. The link between chemical structure and corresponding substance information is the most significant threshold concept. Information literacy in chemistry is strongly subject-specific
Google vs. the Library (Part III): Assessing the Quality of Sources Found by Undergraduates
This study assesses and compares the quality of sources found by undergraduate students when doing research using both Google and a library (federated) search tool. Thirty undergraduates were asked to find four sources (one book, two articles, and one additional source of their choosing) related to a selected research topic. Students used both Google and a federated search (resource discovery) tool to find material they believed to be relevant. Each source was evaluated for topic relevance, authority, appropriateness, and date, and assigned a total quality score. Results showed that the books found via Google were slightly higher quality than those uncovered via the federated search tool. The articles and additional sources students found via the federated search tool were slightly to moderately higher quality, respectively, than those discovered via Google
A Welfare Consensus? Social Policy from Thatcher to Blair
Research Abstract
A Welfare Consensus?
Social Policy from Thatcher to Blair
This thesis examines two central aspects of asset management by central government with special reference to health and education. First, it analyses the nature, structure and procedural legacy inherited by New Labour after eighteen years of Conservative control, and carries this analysis forward to determine the influence that this has on New Labourâs policy orientation. Second, with a view to the significance of institutionalist theories, which underline the potential importance of âpath dependencyâ, the thesis seeks to determine what, if any, major policy differences developed with the transition from the Conservative governments of 1979-97 to the New Labour governments of 1997-2007.
From a wealth of documentary evidence this thesis concludes that New Labour, throughout its ten years period in office, while it softened the well entrenched Thatcherite policies inherited it did not reform the core objectives of ârolling back the stateâ which had led to the introduction of market-style competition designed to drive up standards, choice and availability accompanied by the driving down of unit costs. Over a time span of almost thirty years all governments have placed health and education as twin focal points of their policy initiatives. This thesis has therefore chosen these two political drivers as major examples of continuity and changes in social policy over that period, stretching from the late 20th century and into the 21st century.
New Labourâs pragmatic acceptance in 1997 of its Thatcherite legacy with its compounded bipartisan approach led to a new welfare consensus coupled to enhanced strategic public expenditure priorities. In doing so, New Labour, under Blair, set aside its traditional, historical policies and embedded its own legacy so deeply into the economic fabric and culture of the UK that any future government, of whatever political persuasion will find the forward momentum of these policies powerful inhibitors of change. Thirty years of rolling back the state has achieved its outcome.
John D Holland
St Cuthbertâs Society
School of Applied Social Sciences,
Department of Sociology
Durham University
November 200