Concept Term Repurposing: Framing Shifts in Domains and Terminology

As language is our primary means of communication, the words we choose to use are critical to conveying meaning. Dahlberg (2006) explains how knowledge can be shared by means of language through space and time. Time, space, and educational background can all play parts in a loss of intended meaning. Shared conceptualizations between domains may be represented by different terminology, but when the concepts align and are used to communicate across multiple disciplines, they are referred to as boundary objects (Bowker and Star 1999). Disciplines evolve, and new disciplines are formed as science and our understanding of the universe change and new knowledge is produced (Zhang and Jacob 2013). Understanding how disciplines form and select terminology to reflect shared epistemological stances and nuanced understandings of new concepts requires domain knowledge. The way in which we communicate our understanding of knowledge we have created is in both language and symbology, but information systems do not allow for the mutability and evolution of language without human intervention (Tennis 2002). Repurposing concept terms from other disciplines may aid in understanding of the implications of newly described concepts in new fields, but may also cause concept ambiguity for both humans and information systems. In this paper, I explore the relationship between disciplinary formation, human understanding, and terminology. Pieces cited in this paper are classic to the foundations of knowledge organization (KO). Contributing a theoretical framework for understanding how these three pieces of the communication puzzle are formed will create a basis on which to study the phenomenon of the creation and reuse of concept terms

Exploring the factors related to academic publication productivity among selected Malaysian academic engineers and scientists

This is an exploratory study, which aims to examine the factors affecting the research publication productivity of academic engineers and scientists from the National University of Malaysia (UKM) and University of Malaya (UM). This study aims to identify problems, as well as increase the understanding of factors conducive for a productive academic research environment. [Continues.

Inligtingsverspreiding en -gebruik in tegnologie-oordrag, toegepas op besproeiingstegnologie

In hierdie studie word die probleem van die onbevredigende verspreiding en gebruik van toegepaste navorsingsresultate oor besproeiingstegnologie in Suid-Afrika, ondersoek. Die probleem is uit 'n inligtingkundige hoek benader, met inagneming van die rolspelers in die verspreidingsproses, asook faktore wat hul optrede beinvloed. 'n Kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering is aangewend in 'n verkennende ondersoek na die verspreiding van twee navorsingsverslae oor besproeiingskedulering. Deur middel van onderhoudvoering met die vernaamste groepe rolspelers is vasgestel hoe die verspreidingsproses werklik verloop het. Daar is bevind dat verspreiding nie plaasgevind het soos deur die verspreider aangeneem is nie, waarskynlik as gevolg van 'n verskeidenheid faktore binne die sosiale stelsels van die rolspelers. Laastens word daar voorgestel dat verspreiders die bevindings van hierdie studie by die beplanning van toekomstige verspreidingstrategiee in ag behoort te neem.This study addresses the problem of unsatisfactory dissemination and utilisation of applied research results irrigation technology in South Africa. The problem is approached from the Information Science point of view, taking into account the various role players in the dissemination process, as well as the factors which influence their behaviour. A qualitative research approach is applied to an exploratory investigation of the dissemination of two research reports on irrigation scheduling. In order to establish the exact way in which the dissemination process took place, the major role players were interviewed according to a semi-structured interviewing schedule. It is concluded that dissemination did not take place as assumed by the disseminator, probably as a result of the various factors within the social systems of the different role players. Finally it is proposed that disseminators take cognisance of the recommendations of this study when planning dissemination strategies in future.Information ScienceM. Bibl. (Inligtingkunde

Information-seeking behaviour of physicists and astronomers: an interdisciplinary study.

The study of information-seeking behaviour of scientists has been one of the main concerns of librarians and information scientists since mid twentieth century and yet we need to improve our understanding of their information behaviour in order to maximise the efficiency of information services provided. This thesis studies the information-seeking behaviour of physicists and astronomers with an intradisciplinary approach in order to look at similarities and dissimilarities among the subfields within physics and astronomy. The study also looks at the information-seeking behaviour of people with different academic status and investigates the information-seeking activities of physicists and astronomers in different stages of research projects with the focus of the thesis being research related information-seeking behaviour. Moreover, the research investigates reading behaviour and publishing patterns of physicists and astronomers. The study is a mixed-methods study that uses both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The population of the study included the staff and PhD students in the Department of Physics and Astronomy of University College London. Fifty-six face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted, an online questionnaire survey of 114 respondents (out of 242 sample, 47% response rate) was carried out and 88 information-event cards were completed by participants. The findings of the study showed that although some similarities exist in information-seeking behaviour of people in the different subfields of physics and astronomy, each subfield has its own characteristics. Variations were found with regard to different aspects of information-seeking behaviour including the reliance on e-print archives and journal articles, methods used for keeping up-to-date and methods used for identifying articles. The study showed the importance of human information sources and informal communication in the information-seeking behaviour of physicists and astronomers and highlighted the need for and the value of looking at narrower subject communities within disciplines for a deeper understanding of the information behaviour of scientists