Using the literature to quantify the learning curve: a case study

Objective: To assess whether a literature review of a technology can allow a learning curve to be quantified. Methods: The literature for fibreoptic intubation was searched for studies reporting information relevant to the learning curve. The Cochrane Librar y, Medline, Embase and Science Citation index were searched. Studies that reported a procedure time were included. Data were abstracted on the three features of learning: initial level, rate of learning and asymptote level. Random effect meta-analysis was performed. Results: Only 21 studies gave explicit information concerning the previous experience of the operator(s). There were 32 different definitions of procedure time. From 4 studies of fibreoptic nasotracheal intubation, the mean starting level and time for the 10th procedure (95% confidence interval) was estimated to be 133s (113, 153) and 71s (62, 79) respectively. Conclusions: The review approach allowed learning to be quantified for our example technology. Poor and insufficient reporting constrained formal statistical estimation. Standardised reporting of non-drug techniques with adequate learning curve details is needed to inform trial design and costeffectiveness analysis

Forming Bodies and Reforming Healthcare: The Co-Construction of Information Technologies and Bodies through the Imperative for Self Care

Care work and technological work are markedly striated by sex; the sites where they overlap are few. What happens when the labor of care meets up with information technologies? It makes good methodological sense to look at largely feminized environments that are also increasingly technological. Gender, Health, and Information Technology in Context, edited and with contributions by Ellen Balka, Eileen Green, and Flis Henwood, is a welcome contribution to the body of evidence about the socio-technical co-construction of technology, health, and gender. The volume houses nine studies, bookended by an astute introduction and conclusion by the editors. Each study brings empirical research to bear on technology and gender in health contexts. The studies originate from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, and from multiple sites of practice, including clinics, hospitals, community centers, libraries, and health outreach. Each of the nine chapters is based on theoretically grounded qualitative research. The represented theoretical approaches make connections between computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), science and technology studies (STS), feminist epistemology, feminist science studies, labor studies, library and information science, and care work. Thus this volume is of interest to multiple audiences. It is equally appropriate to nursing, health sciences, information studies, and labor studies. It is also a helpful resource for those looking at the labor of care, both in nursing and in other care-based or feminized professions, and particularly those facing transformation of work routines through new information technologies. Informants include patients, nurses, health intermediaries, social workers, and other hospital workers. This collection will be valuable to anyone looking for empirical examples and studies of the intersection of women’s labor and technology, labor of care and technology, or gender and technology more broadly construed

Troubling binary codes. Studying information technology at the intersection of science and technology studies and feminist technoscience studies

This dissertation provides a study of Information Technology (IT) as professional and technical culture by drawing together the theoretical lenses of Feminist Technoscience Studies (FTS) and Science and Technology Studies (STS). This central topic has been investigated through an empirical research that focuses on two distinct issues: the gender gap and underrepresentation of women in IT educational and professional paths (computer science, computer engineering, computing); the role of digital artifacts and materiality in the process of organizing within an Italian telecommunication company. With regard to the first field, I have carried out a historical analysis of the experience of the first female coders in early digital computing era and I have conducted a set of interviews with contemporary Italian female IT professionals and practitioners who form and participate to networks and campaigns that promote women’s presence and gender awareness in computing. Drawing on contributions from STS and feminist socio-constructivist approaches in science and technology, I shall argue that the analysis of gender divide in IT should go beyond the issues of female discrimination in order to call into question the gendered nature of computer artifacts and technical knowledge (Faulkner, 2001; Misa, 2010). In the second field site, I have gone beyond the visible issues of gender asymmetries in organization in order to challenge the alleged neutral character of technical artifacts and materiality (Latour, 1992) by drawing on contributions from STS and Workplace Studies. Starting from this body of knowledge which calls into question the very boundaries between the social and the technical (Heath & Button, 2002), I have employed analytic sensibilities from FTS and the recent debate on new materialism in feminist theory (Barad, 2007; Alaimo & Hekman, 2008; Hekman, 2010; Dolphijn & van der Tuin, 2012) to trace out the agential role of materiality and technical objects in producing marginal and invisible positions (Haraway, 1988; Star, 1991; Star & Bowker, 2007). In this respect, I shall argue that technical knowledge and non-human actors take part in politics and practices of boundary-making, sustaining divisions and hierarchies (Hughes & Lury, 2013)

Emerging technologies useful for working in digital humanities

Paper completed for Emerging Technologies, 9410 Seminar in Information Science and Learning Technology, Fall 2015, School of Information Science & Technologies, University of Missouri.Digital Humanities is a rapidly growing field focused upon the relationship between technology and the humanities. This includes tools to research, access, explore, explain, collect data, document, and/or archive content related to human culture including: history, philosophy, ancient & modern languages, literature, classical studies, semiotics, archeology, area studies, linguistics, anthropology, musicology, law, politics, & international relations. Digital humanities work encompasses many fields and a variety of developing technologies. Here are ten technologies of note.Includes bibliographical references (page 4)

Searching Data: A Review of Observational Data Retrieval Practices in Selected Disciplines

A cross-disciplinary examination of the user behaviours involved in seeking and evaluating data is surprisingly absent from the research data discussion. This review explores the data retrieval literature to identify commonalities in how users search for and evaluate observational research data. Two analytical frameworks rooted in information retrieval and science technology studies are used to identify key similarities in practices as a first step toward developing a model describing data retrieval

Catalog for 1987-1988

This University of Maine catalog for the 1987-1988 academic year includes sections for the Academic Calendar, Correspondence, General Information, Academic Information, Financial Information, Admissions, Abbreviations and Symbols, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Performing Arts, College of Business Administration, College of Education, College of Engineering and Science, Aerospace Studies (Air Force ROTC), Pulp and Paper Technology, School of Engineering Technology, Naval Science (Navy ROTC), College of Forest Resources, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, Division of Life Sciences, School of Human Development, Division of Agricultural Sciences, Special College-wide Courses, Programs, and Minors, Military Science (Army ROTC), Technical Division, School of Nursing, University College, Continuing Education Division, Summer Session, Canadian Studies Program, University Honors Program, Administration, Faculty, and Staff

The Dangers of Dance for the Information Systems Discipline

Neil McBride (2018) asks if information systems (IS) is a science. He perceives several problems with current research practice and attitudes in information systems and proposes that we should treat it as a discipline in the humanities akin to dance studies. However, his proposal does not recognize that IS deals with both technology and humans. Further, he does not consider the different views of science and that one can view information systems as a science of the artificial in which one develops actionable knowledge in accordance with available evidence and uses scientific techniques in part. Failure to apply well-founded knowledge in building and applying technology can have significant adverse societal consequences, and professionals would see it as unethical. Since these considerations scarcely apply to dance studies, it appears a poor model for information systems

Information sciences experiment system

The rapid expansion of remote sensing capability over the last two decades will take another major leap forward with the advent of the Earth Observing System (Eos). An approach is presented that will permit experiments and demonstrations in onboard information extraction. The approach is a non-intrusive, eavesdropping mode in which a small amount of spacecraft real estate is allocated to an onboard computation resource. How such an approach allows the evaluation of advanced technology in the space environment, advanced techniques in information extraction for both Earth science and information science studies, direct to user data products, and real-time response to events, all without affecting other on-board instrumentation is discussed