Timely and reliable evaluation of the effects of interventions: a framework for adaptive meta-analysis (FAME)

Most systematic reviews are retrospective and use aggregate data AD) from publications, meaning they can be unreliable, lag behind therapeutic developments and fail to influence ongoing or new trials. Commonly, the potential influence of unpublished or ongoing trials is overlooked when interpreting results, or determining the value of updating the meta-analysis or need to collect individual participant data (IPD). Therefore, we developed a Framework for Adaptive Metaanalysis (FAME) to determine prospectively the earliest opportunity for reliable AD meta-analysis. We illustrate FAME using two systematic reviews in men with metastatic (M1) and non-metastatic (M0)hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (HSPC)

Using electronic information resources: a study of end-user training needs and methods in selected public university libraries in Malaysia

This research investigated the library end-users' perceptions of their training needs in relation to using the electronic information resources in selected public universities in Malaysia. It also investigated the training methods preferred by end-users in learning how to use electronic information resources. The subjects of the study were university students and academic staff from three selected public universities in Malaysia. They comprised 433 students and 223 academic staff. This study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. The main data was gathered through self-administered questionnaires, while the supplementary data was gathered through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Opinions from the librarians responsible for end-user training at the three university libraries were also sought through face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Comparisons were made between the two groups of end-users, namely, students and academic staff in areas related to the problems of the study. Appropriate non-parametric statistical techniques such as cross-tabulation, chisquare test, Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman correlation test were applied in analysing the data measured at both nominal and ordinal scales. Among the major findings were: (1) a statistically significant differences were found between students and academic staff in terms of knowledge and ability in using electronic information resources. Many academic staff were more knowledgable and able to use electronic information resources than students. However, concerning knowledge in using certain IT facilities, many more students than academic staff knew how to use them; and (2) both students and academic staff preferred one-to-one training methods as their first choice. With regard to the second choice of training method, students preferred computerassisted instruction (CAI), while academic staff preferred library workshops with hands-on training. Recommendations based on the research findings were made

Proceedings of the 18th Irish Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science

These proceedings contain the papers that were accepted for publication at AICS-2007, the 18th Annual Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science, which was held in the Technological University Dublin; Dublin, Ireland; on the 29th to the 31st August 2007. AICS is the annual conference of the Artificial Intelligence Association of Ireland (AIAI)

Learning object metadata surrogates in search result interfaces: user evaluation, design and content

The purpose of this research was to evaluate user interaction with learning object metadata surrogates both in terms of content and presentation. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to review the literature on learning object metadata and user-centred evaluation of metadata surrogates in the context of cognitive information retrieval (including user-centred relevance and usability research); (2) to develop a framework for the evaluation of user interaction with learning object metadata surrogates in search result interfaces; (3) to investigate the usability of metadata surrogates in search result interfaces of learning object repositories (LORs) in terms of various presentation aspects (such as amount of information, structure and highlighting of query terms) as a means for facilitating the user relevance judgment process; (4) to investigate in-depth the type of content that should be included in learning object metadata surrogates in order to facilitate the process of relevance judgment; (5) to provide a set of recommendations—guidelines for the design of learning object metadata surrogates in search result interfaces both in terms of content and presentation. [Continues.