Evaluation of options for a UK electronic thesis service: study report

The British Library (BL), JISC, UK HE institutions and CURL have funded an 18-month project to develop a national framework for the provision, preservation and open access to electronic theses produced in UK HE institutions. The project, called EThOS (Electronic Theses Online Service) was developed in response to a competitive tender invitation released by the JISC and proposes a service set up and run by the British Library. The British Library’s current service, the British Thesis Service, offers access to around 180,000 doctoral theses, predominantly from 1970 onwards, though it is estimated that overall some half million theses dating from the 1600s are in existence in the UK. Around 80% of requests are for theses published within the last 13 years and almost all of these exist only in hardcopy. Through this service, theses are acquired ‘on demand’ and delivered on microfilm at a cost of just over £60 to the user (and at this price the service runs at a loss). Whilst this service, coupled with the Index to Theses (Expert Information), enables the location of and access to relatively recent British theses by the determined seeker, no one could argue that the process is optimised. As a result, usage of theses is much lower than it might be and much research is going unnoticed and unused as a result. Conversely, it has been shown that when theses are easy to locate and access, usage is high: at Virginia Tech, a pioneer site in the provision of a formal, systematised ETD (electronic theses and dissertations) service, downloads have been shown to increase over 30-fold when a thesis is available free online and easily located. A national service for the UK that provides discovery and access to theses in electronic form via the Web will increase the utility of doctoral scholarship. A single interface that directs users to theses wherever they are held, and which addresses the issues of intellectual property, permissions, royalties, preservation, discovery, and other matters associated with the public provision of theses in electronic form, will be of great benefit to the scholarly community in the UK and across the world. The EThOS project (Electronic Theses Online Service) was commissioned to develop a model for a workable, sustainable and acceptable national service for the provision of open access to electronic doctoral theses. The EThOS project team have completed the task and UCL Library Services in partnership with Key Perspectives Ltd have been asked to undertake a consultative study to assess the acceptability of the proposed model to the UK higher education community in the context of other potential models. This document reports the results of this consultative study, including a set of recommendations to JISC and other stakeholders for setting up a UK national e-theses service. The stakeholders other than JISC are: The British Library University administrators (registrars) Graduate students and recent PhDs Librarians Institutional repository managers Other e-theses services including: DART-Europe DiVA DissOnline Australasian Digital Theses Theses Canada Networked Digital Library for Theses and Dissertations The EThOS tea

Organising music for movies

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine and discuss the classification of commercial popular music when large digital collections are organised for use in films. Design/methodology/approach - A range of systems are investigated and their organization is discussed, focusing on an analysis of the metadata used by the systems and choices given to the end-user to construct a query. The indexing of the music is compared to a checklist of music facets which has been derived from recent musicological literature on semiotic analysis of popular music. These facets include aspects of communication, cultural and musical expression, codes and competences. Findings -In addition to bibliographic detail, descriptive metadata is used to organise music in these systems. Genre, subject and mood are used widely; some musical facets also appear. The extent to which attempts are being made to reflect these facets in the organization of these systems is discussed. A number of recommendations are made which may help to improve this process. Originality/value - This paper discusses an area of creative music search which has not previously been investigated in any depth and makes recommendations based on findings and the literature which may be used in the development of commercial systems as well as making a contribution to the literature

A validated finite element model for predicting dynamic responses of cylinder liners in an IC engine*

Vibration of cylinder liners affects not only engine combustion performances but also tribological behaviour and noise radiations. However, it is difficult to characterize it experimentally due to multiple sources, strong background noise, and nonlinear transfer paths. Therefore, a finite element model is established in this study to predict the dynamic responses of cylinder liners under respective sources. The model takes into account both the characteristics of structural modes and nonlinearities of assembly constraints when selecting adequate elements for efficient computation of the responses under both the highly nonlinear combustion pressure excitations and subsequent piston slap impacts. The predictions are then evaluated against experimental results under different engine operating conditions. In addition, continuous wavelet analysis is employed to process the complicated responses for key response events and their frequency ranges. The results show agreeable correspondences between the numerical predictions and measured vibration signals, paving the way for investigating its effect on combustion and lubrication processes

Perspectives from the private sector on the trade facilitation tools and instruments being implemented in SADC and COMESA : a case of Malawi

The researcher observed that little or no attention was being paid to the realities and experiences that the Malawian private sector faced when using various Trade Facilitation (TF) measures being implemented by Malawi within the context of Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and when trading within the SADC and COMESA regions. Notable gaps were identified in the overall TF management process in Malawi. This study made an assessment of each TF measure that Malawi introduced and implemented within the context of SADC and COMESA, analysing its benefits and challenges from a private-sector perspective. Questionnaires and interviews were used to get in-depth, objective and honest perspective from the private sector on these TF measures. The findings of the study revealed that the various TF measures implemented brought: universal and common tariff coding and measurement units for goods; certainty and predictability in the classification of goods; speedy release of goods; reduced delays in transit time; preferential rates of duty for the private sector. Other anticipated results include a further reduction in insurance and bond costs and faster sharing of information, once other measures are fully implemented. In brief, most TF measures reduced the cost of doing business. However, challenges were also found and they included: limited and selective awareness and involvement of the private sector during both consultation and implementation of the TF instruments; unharmonised implementation of the TF measures; notable lack of trust between customs and trade community; notable delays in implementation of some measures; no post-mortem and audit of the TF measures to check and confirm the successes and challenges that the TF measures have brought into the trade chain; poor selection and management of stakeholders to involve; secretive acts over TF information; and weaknesses in the legal frameworks of SADC and COMESA. A further analysis of these issues is presented in chapter four and chapter five

Current policy issues in the governance of the European patent system

The European Parliament has been working towards building a discussion platform and a resource for further policy actions in the field of intellectual property rights. The Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel has set the goal of further enlarging the area of investigation in light of recent policy developments at the European level. In particular, the current study covers current policy issues in the governance of the European patent system, such as the backlog issue, the enhancement of patent awareness within the European Parliament, patent enforcement, the regional dimension of intellectual property in Europe, patents and standardisation, the use of existing patents, and patents and competition. These issues were discussed in the conference with stakeholders from European to national patent offices, from private to public sector actors. As a result of the conference, it was stated the need for an IP strategy for Europ

Combining behavioural types with security analysis

Today's software systems are highly distributed and interconnected, and they increasingly rely on communication to achieve their goals; due to their societal importance, security and trustworthiness are crucial aspects for the correctness of these systems. Behavioural types, which extend data types by describing also the structured behaviour of programs, are a widely studied approach to the enforcement of correctness properties in communicating systems. This paper offers a unified overview of proposals based on behavioural types which are aimed at the analysis of security properties

Measuring the impact of research outputs from the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) on the scholarly domain and in social media, 1995-2015

Scholarly communication has changed with the growth in technology, particularly the internet and the social web. The changes include a broader definition of the scholarly communication format, and the role of social media in the research process, amongst others. This study sought to record the body of work that PLAAS had produced over a 20-year period (1995 to 2015) and to measure its visibility and impact through bibliometrics and altmetrics. It was the first time that such a study had been done. The Web of Science Citation Index and Scopus are two commercial databases that have recently been joined by Google Scholar, the first open database of scholarly items with citation counts based on the entire contents of the World Wide Web. Scopus and Google Scholar were used in this study. Methods used in the study included the compilation of a full bibliographic record of the outputs during that period. Citation analysis and publication counts were conducted, per author, within Scopus and Google Scholar. Altmetric analysis was achieved with the Altmetric Explorer database, and by studying three PLAAS grey literature outputs in more depth for altmetric indicators. The last method used was a small survey based on an online multiple-choice questionnaire of researchers at PLAAS to investigate their attitudes to a selection of the social media platforms commonly used by scholars. The full list of outputs, once compiled, showed a composition of 54% grey literature published by PLAAS and 46% journal articles and monographs. The results showed that bibliometrics, as a purely quantitative indicator, can be useful in measuring the impact of a body of work on the scholarly domain and in this study indicated high publication and citation rates. The authors of the highest number of PLAAS outputs and with the highest citation counts and h-indices, were found to be the same throughout the study. These authors are closely associated with the Institute and have contributed to the good academic reputation of its research. The study was inconclusive with regard to the impact on social media platforms as none of the grey literature from PLAAS had a unique identifier which made it difficult to track; in addition, the use of social media by the Institute and its researchers was intermittent and uneven in covering all the PLAAS-published outputs that were produced. Key recommendations for PLAAS to improve the visibility and impact of their outputs in scholarly and social contexts were to use unique identifiers, to track their social media activity and to keep author profiles up to date. Further use and application of the research design in other research units and departments at UWC will generate results that are useful to research management at UWC

Modelling and verifying land-use regulations comprising 3D components to detect spatio-semantic conflicts

L'utilisation du territoire est régie par différents mécanismes que nous pourrions nommer géorèglementations comme par exemples les plans d'urbanisme, les permis de construire ou le zonage. La géorèglementation, en anglais, on parle de Land-use Regulation (LuR), permet d'imposer ou d'influencer l'utilisation d'un territoire dans le but d'atteindre des objectifs de politique publique. Qu'on le veule ou pas, la géorèglementation est nécessaire car elle permet de consolider une saine gestion des ressources, elle aide à la conservation et au développement du territoire, elle fournit un cadre législatif important pour assurer la sécurité et le bon fonctionnement pour l'accès et l'utilisation harmonieuse du territoire. La géorèglementation s'applique donc sur un territoire, où les composantes spatiales, comme la géométrie des éléments, sont primordiales. Il faudra par exemple tenir compte des marges de recul (donc distance) lors de la construction d'une maison, d'une superficie maximale de construction, etc. Ces composantes spatiales du territoire et son occupation peuvent également faire intervenir la 3e dimension comme la profondeur, la hauteur ou encore le volume. La pratique et la littérature montrent que la géorèglementation est actuellement principalement décrite dans des documents de planification et des lignes directrices, dont certains peuvent inclure une représentation spatiale en 2D (i.e. des cartes). On retrouve parfois de coupes transversales en 2D pour représenter l'étendue 2D/3D des LuRs. Cette manière de travailler à partir de document manuscrit et de plans 2D présente des lacunes importantes. Elle limite la possibilité d'avoir une compréhension complète et adéquate de l'étendue 3D des LuRs et donc dans la prise de décision, comme par exemple, la détection de conflits potentiels dans la délivrance de permis de construire ou d'aménagement. De plus, l'application et donc la validation de ces géorèglementations à partir de documents descriptifs prend du temps et laisse place à la subjectivité, ce qui peut conduire à de mauvaises décisions. Les autorités en matière de planification territoriale devraient avoir accès à toutes les informations et à toutes les représentations spatiales requises pour évaluer les LuRs et détecter les conflits potentiels. Force est de constater, que ce n'est pas le cas actuellement, et que même si des modèles 3D de bâtiments (BIM) ou de ville (CityGML) ont vu le jour, ils ne sont pas intégrés dans ces processus de géorèglementation. Cette recherche doctorale est dédiée à la conception et au développement d'un cadre de référence pour la modélisation géométrique 3D des LuRs, leur intégration dans le contexte des modèles de ville 3D et la détection automatique des conflits spatio-sémantiques potentiels lors de la validation des LuRs. Ce cadre de référence vise donc à soutenir les autorités en matière d'application de géorèglementations. La recherche se décline en cinq sous-objectifs soit 1) proposer un inventaire des différents LuRs 3D en précisant leurs composantes 3D/verticales, 2) proposer une classification fonctionnelle basée sur l'ampleur des conflits potentiels des LuRs 3D pour soutenir la prise de décision des autorités, 3) modéliser les LuRs en 3D puis les combiner avec d'autres sources d'information (ex. BIM, CityGML et cartes de zonage), 4) détecter les conflits spatiaux et sémantiques potentiels qui pourraient survenir entre les LuRs modélisés et les objets physiques comme les éléments de construction et, 5) concevoir et développer une preuve de faisabilité. Parmi plus de 100 de géorèglementations 2D/3D passés en revue, 18 de géorèglementations 3D sont inventoriées et discutées en profondeur. Par la suite, pour chacune de ces géorèglementations, les informations et paramètres requis pour leur modélisation 3D automatique sont établis. L'approche proposée permet l'intégration de la modélisation 3D de ces géorèglementations à des modèles de villes et de bâtiments 3D (par exemple, BIM, CityGML et le zonage). Enfin, la thèse fournie un cadre procédurale pour vérifier automatiquement si les géorèglementations 3D viennent en conflit avec des éléments de bâtis planifiés. La preuve de faisabilité est un prototype Web basée sur une étude de cas axée sur le processus d'émission de permis de construire d'un bâtiment situé dans la ville de Melbourne, Victoria, Australie. Les géorèglementations 3D suivantes ont été modélisées et vérifiées : 1) limites de construction en hauteur, 2) exposition au soleil pour estimer l'efficacité énergétique du bâtiment, 3) limite des zones d'ombrage, 4) limites de l'impact sonore, 5) zonage de vue, 6) marges latérales et arrières, 7) marges de rue (côtés et frontaux), et 8) limites d'inondation.The use and developments of land are regulated by utilising different mechanisms called Land-use Regulation (LuR) in various forms such as planning activities, zoning codes, permit requirements, or subdivision controls of cities. LuR makes it possible to impose or influence the use and development of land in order to achieve public policy objectives. Indeed, LuR is essential since it allows the appropriate reinforcement of resource management, contributes to the land protection and development, and provides a tangible legal framework to ensure safety and proper functioning for the harmonious access and use of land. LuRs applies to land, where the spatial components, such as the geometry of the elements, are essential. For example, setback and height limits (i.e., the distance) or different floors' gross area should be considered when owners/developers propose a new construction on their property. These spatial components of the land, its occupied elements (e.g., building elements), or LuR itself can comprise the third dimension (i.e., depth, height, or even volume). Literature and related works show that LuR is currently mainly described in planning documents and guidelines, some of which may include 2D spatial representation (i.e., maps) or 2D cross-sections to represent the LuRs' 2D/3D extent. This method (i.e., working on textual documents and 2D plans) has significant shortcomings in understanding the LuRs' 3D extent and in decision-making (e.g., detecting potential conflicts in issuing planning/building permits). Moreover, checking LuRs' descriptions inside the textual documents is time-consuming, and subjective which might lead to erroneous decisions. Planning authorities need to have access to all information and the spatial representation that is required to assess LuRs and detect their potential conflicts. Clearly, it is generally lacking and even if 3D models of buildings (e.g., BIM designs) or cities (e.g., CityGML) have emerged, they do not incorporate the concept of LuRs. This Ph.D. research follows qualitative engineering type of method that generally aims to propose a conceptual framework for modelling 3D LuRs geometrically as part of 3D city models and formalising geometric and semantic requirements for detecting LuRs' potential conflicts automatically to support planning authorities in the statuary planning phase. To achieve the general objective, five specific objectives are defined as: 1) to formulate an inventory of various 3D LuRs specifying their 3D/vertical components, 2) to propose a functional classification based on the magnitude of 3D LuRs' potential conflicts for supporting planning authorities' decision-making goals, 3) to model LuRs in 3D and then combine them with other sources of information (e.g., BIM, city models, and zoning maps), 4) to automate the detection of potential spatio-semantic conflicts that might arise between the modelled LuRs and physical objects like building elements, and 5) to design and develop proof of feasibility for modelling and verifying 3D LuRs automatically. Among more than one hundred 2D/3D reviewed LuRs, eighteen 3D LuRs are inventoried and discussed thoroughly. For each of these LuRs, the research work identifies and proposes the required information (as level of information need) by considering both geometries and semantics to combine modelled LuRs with other sources of information (e.g., BIM, CityGML, and planning maps). Finally, the thesis proposes the level of information need considering requirements to verify 3D LuRs automatically for detecting potential conflicts using analytical rules (e.g., clash detection). The proof of feasibility is a web-based prototype based on a case study located in the City of Melbourne (where planning activities are under the control of authorities in the state of Victoria, Australia) focusing on the planning permit process. The following 3D LuRs were modelled and verified: 1) building height limits, 2) energy efficiency protection, 3) overshadowing open space, 4) noise impacts, 5) overlooking, 6) side and rear setbacks, 7) street setbacks (side and front), and 8) flooding limits