Discovery Tools and Local Metadata Requirements in Academic Libraries

As the second decade of the twenty-first century commences, academic librarians who work to promote collection access must not only contend with a vast array of content available in a wide range of formats, but they must also ensure that new technologies developed to accommodate user search behaviors yield satisfactory outcomes. Next generation discovery tools are designed to streamline the search process and facilitate better search results by incorporating metadata from proprietary and local collections, then by providing relevancy-ranked results. This paper investigates the implications of discovery tool use for accessing materials housed in institutional repositories and special collections, in particular, how the discovery of these materials depends on local metadata creation practices. This paper surveys current research pertaining to metadata quality issues that may put unique local collections at risk for being overlooked in meta-search relevancy rankings, and considers ways in which academic libraries can address this issue as well as areas for future research

Weighted and metric surface networks - new insights and an interactive application for their generalisation in Tcl/Tk

The idea of characterising the different forms of natural topographic surfaces by a topologicalmodel based on their fundamental surface features has attracted many proposals. In this paper, adetailed discussion and new proposals on various issues related to the concept, generation, andvisualisation of two graph theoretic based surface topology data structures ? Weighted SurfaceNetworks and their improved version, Metric Surface Networks - are presented. Also presented isan interactive Tcl/Tk application called Surface Topology Toolkit, which has been developed tosupport the discussion on aspects of their generalisation and visualisation. The highlight of theSurface Topology Toolkit is the utility to allow arbitrary contraction unlike the usual verteximportance based criterion. This paper proposes that effective automated surface topologymodelling based on these surface networks requires (a) further research in the development of?computing? algorithms that will accurately locate critical surface points, be able to establishtopological links, and also check topological consistency, (b) transforming their 2D straight linegraph like appearance to 3D to improve visualisation and contraction, and (c) assessment and userawarenessabout the effects of each type of contraction criterion on the topography

Lines of Flight: Everyday Resistance along England’s Backbone

The visual and the cultural impact of ‘social industry’ has made a permanent impression on the landscape and on individual minds, whether for ill or for good, particularly in the Peak and Pennines region of northern England. In the current research we examine this impact and consider how both its visible and less apparent effects took hold and how they set in motion an ongoing process of productive/consumptive estrangement from life’s primordial forces, which continue to be alien and obscure, or else appear arcane and overly nostalgic to present-day life. Drawing on the methodology of a short film (incorporating narrative and verse) and using rock climbing as an illustration, we will invoke several, radically dynamic ‘lines of flight’ to open up and articulate an aesthetic appreciation of concrete experience in the fight against coding and to engender a call for action and passion so that we might come to a renewed belief in free activity, which can prompt us, in turn, to think about how we live and work and how we might change things

Human resource management as a substitute for trade unions in British workplaces

The authors use British workplace data for 1980–98 to examine whether increased human resource management (HRM) practices coincided with union decline, consistent with the hypothesis that such practices act as a substitute for unionization. Two initial analyses show no important differences between union and non-union sectors or between newer workplaces (which are likelier to be non-union) and older ones in the pattern of HRM practices over time; and the study’s longitudinal analysis picks up no evidence of faster union decline in workplaces or industries that adopted HRM practices than in those that did not. Not only is the hypothesized substitution effect thus not supported, but the authors even uncover some evidence of a complementarity between unions and HRM practices. The authors conclude that increased use of HRM practices is probably not an important factor underpinning union decline in Britain

Walking the Talk: A Guide to Assessment Using the CAPRA Community Problem Solving Model

CAPRA is a community problem-solving model with five stages: C = Clients, A = Analysis, P = Partnership, R = Response, and A = Assessment. CAPRA was the problem-solving method used by the Alaska Native and Technical Resource Center (ANTARC). This guide describes the final stage of the CAPRA model—assessment—including the reasons for conducing an assessment, the documentation needed and why it is needed, and methods for evaluation. Discussion is with a particular focus on assessment methods for community problem-solvers in rural Alaska Native villages. Some background about CAPRA is assumed.What is Assessment? / Why do we do Assessment? / Assessment = Documentation + Evaluation / Documentation / Evaluation / How Do We Deal With those Who Object to Assessment? / What DO We Do With Our Assessment? / Conclusio

The Pinhole/Occulter as a tool for X-ray astronomy

The two X-ray transform telescopes on the Pinhole/Occulter Facility (P/OF) will provide sub-arcsecond angular resolution, high sensitivity imaging in hard X-rays for the first time, as well as improved capabilities for timing studies and spectroscopy. Although the design was driven by solar observing requirements, the result is an instrument of major importance for astronomical as well as solar observations. Fundamental astrophysical measurements could be made on supernova remnants, clusters of galaxies, active galaxy cores, accreting binary systems, and active coronae of nearby stars. Ways in which astronomical observations will benefit solar research are discussed

Simulations of satellite Doppler wind observations

This study will involve two objectives: (1) to develop, through computer simulations, optimal satellite-based sensor scanning techniques for direct measurement of tropospheric winds on the meso- and synoptic scales; and (2) to construct simulations of remotely measured wind fields for assessing impact of such fields on the diagnosis and prognosis of atmospheric phenomena through the use of Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSE). Using the LAWS Simulation Model (LSM), various global coverage scenarios have been investigated as part of an effort to define the optimal orbit, configuration and sampling strategies for observations of winds for use in global circulation models. Simulated data sets have been provided to GSFC, FSU and several LAWS team members. Particular emphasis has been on providing realistic cloud cover, cirrus backscatter, aerosol distribution and wind variance on scales less than 600 km. Progress is currently being made to incorporate other remote sensors (AIRS/AMSU, STIKSCAT) into the global OSSEs