Studying Pub M ed usages in the field for complex problem solving: Implications for tool design

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97504/1/asi22796.pd

Transcending Knowledge Gaps in Virtual Teams: Social Processes of Rapid Problem-Solving Bounded by Terminology

Virtual and distributed collaboration are increasingly important for organizations. This paper presents episodes of negotiated term definitions used to complete tasks in a voluntary, ad hoc game forum of an Alternate Reality Game (ARG). Episodes analyzed focus on specialized language used during problem solving. Terminology analysis reveals that players do not explicate definitions and construct shared mental models or knowledge. Instead, they transcend knowledge gaps in order to achieve action-oriented objectives. By focusing social processes on negotiated terminology for the purpose of task completion, the team rapidly meets goals

CONTRA Project report #1: Requirements identification and system mapping

The research project “COVID-19 Network Technology-based Responsive Action” (CONTRA), funded by the Research Council of Norway, commenced in June 2020. The CONTRA project develops a decision support system (DSS) based on mathematical modeling and stochastic optimization, and machine learning tools for designing a robust COVID-19 vaccine distribution network. The project follows two main objectives within two phases. In response to the on-going COVID-19 outbreak, rapid analyses will provide actionable advice to public health authorities in Norway regarding vaccine distribution and delivery to responders. This phase involved a systematic study of vaccine distribution system actors in Norway and their decision-making needs. Based on such insights, the project will develop a DSS based on mathematical models to support designing the vaccine distribution network. The DSS should contribute to the effectiveness, efficiency, equity, and sustainability of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution. The proposed solution will also support vaccine distribution in future pandemics. The report describes the results of the first work package (WP) in the CONTRA project. The WP1 aims to identify the key actors in the vaccine distribution network in Norway, map their relation to each other, and distinguish critical decisions in the system. Moreover, the report presents an overview of related research on vaccine distribution networks, related decision support systems, and the progress in the literature about the COVID-19 pandemic. Through preliminary interviews, document review, and a workshop with multiple representatives from Norwegian public health authorities, the current vaccine distribution system is analyzed, and its actors have been mapped. This system map is the basis for further discussion both within the project team and with stakeholders. It should be noted that this map will change throughout the project due to the additional insights from other validation opportunities and the fact that the COVID-19 context is dynamic and is changing permanently. However, the system map has served as a basis for the problem definition in the CONTRA project. Based on our findings from the stakeholder workshop and system mapping, we have decided to focus on defining and studying the central vaccine allocation problem (CVAP), which is faced by Public Health Institute (FHI). As such, the CONTRA will investigate the problem of determining the amount of each vaccine to be shipped to every municipality. CVAP is challenged by the scarce amount of vaccines, the current immunization level, population, and priority groups in each municipality. In our project, CVAP will be formulated as a multi-objective resource allocation problem. Specifically, we will define and formulate objectives related to the following performance dimensions: efficacy (e.g., total coverage, coverage per priority group, etc.), efficiency and sustainability (e.g., logistics costs, waste), and fairness (e.g., distribution of efficacy among municipalities). The next step in the project will be to validate the problem definition and develop the mathematical model (second work package). Moreover, two individual reports for the actors map and system map will be published in the upcoming months by project partners.submittedVersionacceptedVersionpublishedVersionpublishedVersio

Mass data exploration in oncology: An information synthesis approach

New technologies and equipment allow for mass treatment of samples and research teams share acquired data on an always larger scale. In this context scientists are facing a major data exploitation problem. More precisely, using these data sets through data mining tools or introducing them in a classical experimental approach require a preliminary understanding of the information space, in order to direct the process. But acquiring this grasp on the data is a complex activity, which is seldom supported by current software tools. The goal of this paper is to introduce a solution to this scientific data grasp problem. Illustrated in the Tissue MicroArrays application domain, the proposal is based on the synthesis notion, which is inspired by Information Retrieval paradigms. The envisioned synthesis model gives a central role to the study the researcher wants to conduct, through the task notion. It allows for the implementation of a task-oriented Information Retrieval prototype system. Cases studies and user studies were used to validate this prototype system. It opens interesting prospects for the extension of the model or extensions towards other application domains

Variables As Currency: Linking Meta-Analysis Research and Data Paths in Sciences

Meta-analyses are studies that bring together data or results from multiple independent studies to produce new and over-arching findings. Current data curation systems only partially support meta-analytic research. Some important meta-analytic tasks, such as the selection of relevant studies for review and the integration of research datasets or findings, are not well supported in current data curation systems. To design tools and services that more fully support meta-analyses, we need a better understanding of meta-analytic research. This includes an understanding of both the practices of researchers who perform the analyses and the characteristics of the individual studies that are brought together. In this study, we make an initial contribution to filling this gap by developing a conceptual framework linking meta-analyses with data paths represented in published articles selected for the analysis. The framework focuses on key variables that represent primary/secondary datasets or derived socio-ecological data, contexts of use, and the data transformations that are applied. We introduce the notion of using variables and their relevant information (e.g., metadata and variable relationships) as a type of currency to facilitate synthesis of findings across individual studies and leverage larger bodies of relevant source data produced in small science research. Handling variables in this manner provides an equalizing factor between data from otherwise disparate data-producing communities. We conclude with implications for exploring data integration and synthesis issues as well as system development

Teaching and Learning Information Synthesis: An Intervention and Rubric Based Assessment

The purpose of this research was to determine how information synthesis skills can be taught effectively, and to discover how the level of synthesis in student writing can be effectively measured. The intervention was an information synthesis lesson that broke down the synthesis process into sequenced tasks. Researchers created a rubric which they used to assess a student’s level of information synthesis demonstrated in their final research essays. A form of counting analysis was also created to see if other methods could help in measuring synthesis.Findings from the rubric analysis revealed that students appear to benefit from the synthesis lesson. The level of synthesis, however, remains low overall. In addition, the study also showed that the different measures of synthesis established were able to identify different levels of information integration. Discovering effective ways to measure and teach synthesis continues to be essential in helping students become information literate

An examination of Canadian information professionals' involvement in the provision of business information synthesis and analysis services.

The present study investigated the processes information professionals, working in a business environment, follow to meet business clients information needs and particularly their involvement in information synthesis and analysis practices. A combination of qualitative and quantitative data was collected via a survey of 98 information professionals across North America and follow-up interviews with eight Canadian information professionals. It was found that there is an increasing need for value-added services, which incorporate synthesis and analysis but the level of information professionals involvement differs depending on a range of factors such as clients needs and attitudes, information professionals knowledge of the subject area and their length of time working in a particular organization. Information synthesis and analysis in a business context is mostly a collaborative process and principles of analysis are required throughout the entire cycle of information seeking. For the effective transition of information professionals to information synthesists and analysts more effective support may be required to develop a set of essential skills and knowledge

Researchers’ green Open Access practice: a cross-disciplinary analysis

The EC-funded Publishing and the Ecology of European Research (PEER) project (http://www.peerproject.eu/) is an unprecedented collaboration between stakeholders involved in scholarly research and scholarly publishing, looking into specific aspects of the complex relationship between Open Access (OA) and scholarly communication. The project includes publishers and representatives, libraries, open access repositories (OARs) and researchers themselves, both as authors of journal articles and as readers (or consumers) of journal literature. The behavioural research is one of three strands that form the PEER Observatory, which was set up to investigate the effects of the large scale deposit of stage-two manuscripts (also known as authors’ final peer-reviewed and accepted manuscripts) on reader access, journal visibility and viability, and the broader ecology of European research (Shepherd & Wallace, 2009). The PEER behavioural research project was carried out in two phases, between April and September 2009, and from September 2010 to August 2011. Researchers at Loughborough University examined the behavioural aspects affecting self-archiving of stage-two manuscripts in OARs as well as the use of these manuscripts by fellow researchers. Most discussion of Open Access recognises the two main mechanisms to achieving open access. The gold route, often referred to as the ‘author pays’ route, involves payment of an article processing charge to publishers enabling the article to be made available to all without subscription or charge barriers. The alternative green route, often referred to as the ‘self archiving’ route, entails authors submitting manuscripts to traditional journals but maintaining the right to mount a version of their work on an open access repository. Much debate has focussed on the most effective way to achieve Open Access. There are many advocates of the green self archiving route to OA; subject-based repositories containing both stage-two manuscripts and preprints of research articles are a widely accepted development in certain disciplines such as physics and economics. Alongside this, many institutions are developing their own open access repositories and some are mandating deposit into these respositories. ROARMAP (http://roarmap.eprints.org/) and OpenDOAR (http://www.opendoar.org/) outline the extent of these developments worldwide. On the other hand, the recent report by the Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings, chaired by Professor Dame Janet Finch (Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings, 2012) recommended developing clear policies in support of publication in Open Access journals. In recommending gold OA, the Finch report requests that repositories carefully consider the balance between the aims of open access and possible risks ‘to the sustainability of subscription-based journals during what is likely to be a lengthy transition to open access’, however the report does recommend the continual development of the infrastructure surrounding subject and institutional repositories, though primarily for the purposes of research data and grey literature. In the lights of current policy developments in favour of the different routes to Open Access, a cross disciplinary analysis of researcher’s views and attitudes towards green (self archiving) OA practice is timely. Based on Phase 2 of the project, this article extends the preliminary results from phase 1 reported in Creaser et al (2010), and further develops understanding of researchers’ green OA experience both as authors and readers of peer-reviewed journal articles by looking in greater detail at their reported use of OARs and the context of that use. The article identifies disciplinary patterns of behaviour at the level of the Medical sciences, Life sciences, Physical sciences & mathematics, and Social sciences, humanities & arts in order to better understand the role of OARs in the scholarly communication landscape

Evidence-based discovery

Both data-driven and human-centric methods have been used to better understand the scientific process. We describe a new framework called evidence-based discovery, to reconcile the gulf between the data-driven and human-centered approaches. Our goal is to provide a vision statement for how these (and other) approaches can be unified in order to better understand the complex-decision making that occurs when creating new knowledge. Despite the inevitable challenges, the combination of data and human-centric methods are required to understand, characterize, and ultimately accelerate science.ye