Reference management software (RMS) in an academic environment: a survey at a research university in Malaysia

Reference Management Software is used by researchers in academics to manage the bibliographic citations they encounter in their research. With these tools, scholars keep track of the scientific literature they read, and to facilitate the editing of the scientific papers they write. This study presents the results of a quantitative survey performed at a research university in Malaysia. The aims of the survey were to observe how much these softwares are used by the scientific community, to see which softwares are most known and used, and to find out the reasons and the approaches behind their usage. Manually questionnaire was distributed to the Master and PhD students at all faculties in Jun 2014. The data collected were analysed through a constant comparative analysis, and the following categories were drawn: a basic practical approach to the instrument, the heavy impact of the time factor, the force of habit in scholars, economic issues, the importance of training and literacy, and the role that the library can have in this stage. Describing the present situation, the study gives final directions to the libraries to better perform effective tasks about the matter. This study presented here is the first survey of the actual distribution and usage of Reference Management Software in a research university in Malaysia. This picture can give an important glance to Reference Management Software as one of the elements in the academic digital librarie

BIM in the construction industry

En las últimas décadas, el término modelado de información de construcción (BIM) se ha mencionado en una amplia gama de esfuerzos de investigación de la construcción. BIM es una nueva solución para la recesión sin precedentes en la industria de la construcción, es decir, pérdida de productividad, escasez de mano de obra, sobrecostos y competitividad severa. La tecnología BIM proporciona muchos beneficios: detección rápida de conflictos de diseño, regulación automática de diseño algoritmo de verificación, visualización de realidad virtual/aumentada y entorno de trabajo de colaboración. BIM los expertos, así como los profesionales de la industria, enfatizan la importancia de las aplicaciones BIM en el campo de construcción. Dado el rápido desarrollo y adopción de BIM en la arquitectura, ingeniería, y construcción (AEC), están surgiendo nuevas tendencias relevantes para la investigación de BIM, siendo sumamente útil no sólo para los académicos sino también para los profesionales.In recent decades, the term building information modeling (BIM) has been mentioned in a wide range of construction research endeavors. BIM is a new solution for unprecedented recession in the construction industry, i.e., productivity loss, labor shortage, cost overrun, and severe competitiveness. BIM technology provides many benefits: prompt design clash detection, automatic deign regulatory check algorithm, augmented/virtual reality visualization, and collaboration work environment. BIM experts as well as industry practitioners are stressing the importance of BIM applications in the field of construction. Given the rapid development and adoption of BIM in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, new trends relevant to the research of BIM are emerging, being exceedingly helpful not only for academics but also for practitioners

Tagalog bestsellers and the history of the book in the Philippines.

The thesis is a study on the history of the book in the Philippines with a focus on literary publishing and Filipino literary bestsellers of the twentieth century. It begins with a survey on the publishing of books in the Philippines from 1593 when the first book was printed in the country to 2003 when the first nationwide study on reading attitudes and preferences was conducted. The survey pays special attention to literary forms and texts that have played a significant role in the development of Philippine culture and history. It is followed by an examination of literary publishing in the Philippines, in which the local bestselling literary forms of the twentieth century are identified. These types of literary texts are subsequently taken up in case studies that explore the publishing, manufacturing, distribution, reception, and survival of the bestselling books and their relation to the conditions and circumstances in Philippine culture, society, politics, and economics during their time. The case studies, which are centred on specific publishers who were particularly successful in producing the literary bestsellers, are on Tagalog metrical romances (in awit and corrido forms) published by Juan Martinez during the 1900s to the 1920s; on Tagalog novels published by Palimbagang Tagumpay (Victory Publishing) under the Aliwan (Entertainment) series from 1945 to 1947; on the comic books (komiks) series published by the group of companies owned by Ramon Roces from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s; and on Filipino romance novels published by Books for Pleasure and by Precious Pages Corporation from 1985 to 2000. This thesis seeks to introduce the History of the Book to Philippine scholarship, where the discipline is still a largely unexplored if not totally unheard of area of study