Introduction

This issue of Library Trends, on the theme of Research Into Practice, has been designed with two aims in mind. Published in 2013, it marks the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Information School (iSchool) at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom by presenting a selection of papers that demonstrate the creativity and variety of research undertaken in the field of librarianship and share a unifying concern to make links, as well as establish meaningful connections, between research and practice. The issue is dedicated to Bob Usherwood, now an emeritus professor in the school, whose work and legacy at Sheffield are distinguished by an exemplary commitment to putting research into practice, and it is especially pleasing for us to be able offer this tribute to Bob in the year when he is due to celebrate his seventieth birthday. We also believe that an issue on this theme is timely and important for our profession. There has been a strong drive lately to promote evidence-based practice in library and information work and to develop a research culture in the practitioner community, exemplified in the United Kingdom by the DREaM project, amid continuing concerns about the disconnect between the research and practitioner communities

Dr. Biman Bagchi a bibliometric portrait

Analyses bibliometrically 226 publications [Papers Published in journals-220, thesis [others 4] by Biman Bagchi, a renowned physical chemist from India, published during 1981 to 2002. The first contribution of the author was in 1981 at the age of 27. The number of his contributions in a year peaked in 1999 and 2002 when it touched 19. The author is highly productive in as much as on average the author has produced 10 papers per year. In the byline of authorship, Bagchi occupies the first authorship position in 69 cases. His collaborator A. Chandra occupies the first authorship position in 30 papers thus becoming Bagchi's closest collaborator. The journal has been the most preferred channel of communication of the author in as much as 220 papers out of 226 have been praced in journals. J. Chem. Phys. is found to be the most preferred journal that carried 91 papers of the author, followed by Chem. Phys. Lett. (21 papers). J. Phys. Chem. (19 papers), Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. - Chem. Sci. (13 papers), and others. Of the papers, 179 received 4030 citations and 47 received no citations. It is expected that more than 20 uncited papers till 2002 will receive citations in future. Three papers of the author have received more than 200 citations each, and another three received between 100-200 citations each. The number of papers receiving 10 citations or more total 92. On four different years the scientist has received more than 300 citations and his citation rate per paper has peaked at 18.98. The article shows with a concrete example the growth, peaking and declining of citation rate. A few new terms such as citation gain, citation loss, gaining citation rate and losing citation rate have been introduced and described

High Temperature Asymptotics of Orthogonal Mean-Field Spin Glasses

We evaluate the high temperature limit of the free energy of spin glasses on the hypercube with Hamiltonian $H_N(\sigma) = \sigma^T J \sigma$, where the coupling matrix $J$ is drawn from certain symmetric orthogonally invariant ensembles. Our derivation relates the annealed free energy of these models to a spherical integral, and expresses the limit of the free energy in terms of the limiting spectral measure of the coupling matrix $J$. As an application, we derive the limiting free energy of the Random Orthogonal Model (ROM) at high temperatures, which confirms non-rigorous calculations of Marinari et al. (1994). Our methods also apply to other well-known models of disordered systems, including the SK and Gaussian Hopfield models.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figur

Majorana Fermion Representation For An Antiferromagnetic Spin-1/2 Chain

We study the 1-dimensional Heisenberg antiferromagnet with s=1/2 using a Majorana representation of the s=1/2 spins. A simple Hartree-Fock approximation of the resulting model gives a bilinear fermionic description of the model. This description is rotationally invariant and gives power-law correlations in the ``ground state'' in a natural fashion. The excitations are a two-parameter family of particles, which are spin-1 objects. These are contrasted to the ``spinon'' spectrum, and the technical aspects of the representation are discussed, including the problem of redundant states.Comment: 24 pages in LaTeX, no figures; some clarifications/additions have been made following the referee's comments; to appear in Phys. Rev.

Loop Variables and Gauge Invariant Interactions - I

We describe a method of writing down interacting equations for all the modes of the bosonic open string. It is a generalization of the loop variable approach that was used earlier for the free, and lowest order interacting cases. The generalization involves, as before, the introduction of a parameter to label the different strings involved in an interaction. The interacting string has thus becomes a ``band'' of finite width. The interaction equations expressed in terms of loop variables, has a simple invariance that is exact even off shell. A consistent definition of space-time fields requires the fields to be functions of all the infinite number of gauge coordinates (in addition to space time coordinates). The theory is formulated in one higher dimension, where the modes appear massless. The dimensional reduction that is needed to make contact with string theory (which has been discussed earlier for the free case) is not discussed here.Comment: 40 pages, Latex. Revised version: some typos corrected. Final version to appear in Int. J. of Mod. Phys.

Background Independent Algebraic Structures in Closed String Field Theory

We construct a Batalin-Vilkovisky (BV) algebra on moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces. This algebra is background independent in that it makes no reference to a state space of a conformal field theory. Conformal theories define a homomorphism of this algebra to the BV algebra of string functionals. The construction begins with a graded-commutative free associative algebra \C built from the vector space whose elements are orientable subspaces of moduli spaces of punctured Riemann surfaces. The typical element here is a surface with several connected components. The operation $\Delta$ of sewing two punctures with a full twist is shown to be an odd, second order derivation that squares to zero. It follows that (\C, \Delta) is a Batalin-Vilkovisky algebra. We introduce the odd operator $\delta = \partial + \hbar\Delta$, where $\partial$ is the boundary operator. It is seen that $\delta^2=0$, and that consistent closed string vertices define a cohomology class of $\delta$. This cohomology class is used to construct a Lie algebra on a quotient space of \C. This Lie algebra gives a manifestly background independent description of a subalgebra of the closed string gauge algebra.Comment: phyzzx.tex, MIT-CTP-234

Acknowledgement Patterns in Research Articles: a Bibliometric Study based on Journal of Natural Rubber Research 1986-1997

Analyses the acknowledgements included in the research articles and short communications published in Journal of Natural Rubber Research (1986-1997) in respect of types, frequency of occurrence, individuals acknowledged, etc. Results indicate that 74% items contain acknowledgements; an average acknowledgement per item is 2.2; the most common type of acknowledgments relates to technical support. Peer interactive communication accounts for 44% of the total acknowledgements. The result of the study substantiates the earlier findings that a small number of individuals are highly acknowledged and the rest are acknowledged infrequently