The Public Library as an Information Dissemination Center: An Experiment in Information Retrieval Services for the General Public

A decade ago, on-line access to large bibliographic data bases was restricted to large governmental organizations that had the financial assets needed to prepare large data bases and to access them in an efficient manner. As a result of reduced computer and communications costs, this access broadened to industrial users and to universities over the past several years' and now, finally, an experiment is being conducted which brings such access directly to the public through the public library system. If the use of on-line services for reference retrieval is to continue to grow, the next potential user group is the general public who, in fact, paid for much of the creation of these data bases through taxes. It is appropriate that an attempt be made to allow the general public to benefit from the vast research and development expenditures of the 1960s through convenient computer access to these files of bibliographic material. The first part of this paper summarizes the experi- ment to date; the second part provides individualized insight into its operation through the eyes of one of the participating librarians in the study.published or submitted for publicatio

AUDITORY SNAPSHOTS FROM THE EDGES OF EUROPE

ABSTRACTThis article presents thirty ‘auditory snapshots’ from a wide variety of geographical locations and contexts in order to elaborate several points. First, we believe that the study of history cannot be separated from the study of sound, whether in the form of ‘soundscapes’ or pieces of music. Second, we find that considerations of edges, into which we fold such things as provinces, peripheries and frontiers, can be greatly enriched by looking at a broad range of musical phenomena, from the liturgy of Ugandan Jews to reggae-infused Polish mountain songs and from the sounds of Mozart's Black contemporary Saint-Georges toSilent Nighton the Southern Seas. Finally, drawing on certain ideas from James C. Scott'sThe Art of Not Being Governed, we argue that paradoxically, in music, the middle often has unusual properties. In other words, musical structure mimics the ongoing battle between those in positions of authority and those who wish to evade that authority. Beginnings and endings, then, tend to be sites of power and convention, while middles attempt to subvert it. While culturally and geographically we may contrast centres and peripheries, in music the centre is often the edge.</jats:p

Acquisition, Analysis, and Sharing of Data in 2015 and Beyond: A Survey of the Landscape

BACKGROUND: A 1.5‐day interactive forum was convened to discuss critical issues in the acquisition, analysis, and sharing of data in the field of cardiovascular and stroke science. The discussion will serve as the foundation for the American Heart Association's (AHA's) near‐term and future strategies in the Big Data area. The concepts evolving from this forum may also inform other fields of medicine and science. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 47 participants representing stakeholders from 7 domains (patients, basic scientists, clinical investigators, population researchers, clinicians and healthcare system administrators, industry, and regulatory authorities) participated in the conference. Presentation topics included updates on data as viewed from conventional medical and nonmedical sources, building and using Big Data repositories, articulation of the goals of data sharing, and principles of responsible data sharing. Facilitated breakout sessions were conducted to examine what each of the 7 stakeholder domains wants from Big Data under ideal circumstances and the possible roles that the AHA might play in meeting their needs. Important areas that are high priorities for further study regarding Big Data include a description of the methodology of how to acquire and analyze findings, validation of the veracity of discoveries from such research, and integration into investigative and clinical care aspects of future cardiovascular and stroke medicine. Potential roles that the AHA might consider include facilitating a standards discussion (eg, tools, methodology, and appropriate data use), providing education (eg, healthcare providers, patients, investigators), and helping build an interoperable digital ecosystem in cardiovascular and stroke science. CONCLUSION: There was a consensus across stakeholder domains that Big Data holds great promise for revolutionizing the way cardiovascular and stroke research is conducted and clinical care is delivered; however, there is a clear need for the creation of a vision of how to use it to achieve the desired goals. Potential roles for the AHA center around facilitating a discussion of standards, providing education, and helping establish a cardiovascular digital ecosystem. This ecosystem should be interoperable and needs to interface with the rapidly growing digital object environment of the modern‐day healthcare system