Subject searching requirements : the HILT II experience

The HILT Phase II project aimed to develop a pilot terminologies server with a view to improving cross-sectoral information retrieval. In order to inform this process, it was first necessary to examine how a representative group of users approached a range of information-related tasks. This paper focuses on exploratory interviews conducted to investigate the proposed ideal and actual strategies of a group of 30 users in relation to eight separate information tasks. In addition, users were asked to give examples of search terms they may employ and to describe how they would formulate search queries in each scenario. The interview process undertaken and the results compiled are outlined, and associated implications for the development of a pilot terminologies server are discussed

Analysis of polarity

We develop a differential theory for the polarity transform parallel to that for the Legendre transform, which is applicable when the functions studied are "geometric convex", namely convex, non-negative and vanish at the origin. This analysis may be used to solve a family of first order equations reminiscent of Hamilton--Jacobi and conservation law equations, as well as some second order Monge-Ampere type equations. A special case of the latter, that we refer to as the homogeneous polar Monge--Ampere equation, gives rise to a canonical method of interpolating between convex functions

Query Expansion of Zero-Hit Subject Searches: Using a Thesaurus in Conjunction with NLP Techniques

The focus of our study is zero-hit queries in keyword subject searches and the effort of increasing recall in these cases by reformulating and, then, expanding the initial queries using an external source of knowledge, namely a thesaurus. To this end, the objectives of this study are twofold. First, we perform the mapping of query terms to the thesaurus terms. Second, we use the matched terms to expand the user’s initial query by taking advantage of the thesaurus relations and implementing natural language processing (NLP) techniques. We report on the overall procedure and elaborate on key points and considerations of each step of the process

Facets and Typed Relations as Tools for Reasoning Processes in Information Retrieval

Faceted arrangement of entities and typed relations for representing different associations between the entities are established tools in knowledge representation. In this paper, a proposal is being discussed combining both tools to draw inferences along relational paths. This approach may yield new benefit for information retrieval processes, especially when modeled for heterogeneous environments in the Semantic Web. Faceted arrangement can be used as a se-lection tool for the semantic knowledge modeled within the knowledge repre-sentation. Typed relations between the entities of different facets can be used as restrictions for selecting them across the facets

A note on Santal\'{o} inequality for the polarity transform and its reverse

We prove a Santal\'{o} and a reverse Santal\'{o} inequality for the polarity transform, which was recently re-discovered by Artstein-Avidan and Milman, in the class consisting of (even) log-concave functions attaining their maximal value 1 at the origin, also called geometric log-cancave functions. The bounds are sharp up to the optimal universal constants.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure. Section 5 from the previous version was deleted. A characterization of an equality case in Proposition 2 was adde

SPEIR: Scottish Portals for Education, Information and Research. Final Project Report: Elements and Future Development Requirements of a Common Information Environment for Scotland

The SPEIR (Scottish Portals for Education, Information and Research) project was funded by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC). It ran from February 2003 to September 2004, slightly longer than the 18 months originally scheduled and was managed by the Centre for Digital Library Research (CDLR). With SLIC's agreement, community stakeholders were represented in the project by the Confederation of Scottish Mini-Cooperatives (CoSMiC), an organisation whose members include SLIC, the National Library of Scotland (NLS), the Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU), the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries (SCURL), regional cooperatives such as the Ayrshire Libraries Forum (ALF)1, and representatives from the Museums and Archives communities in Scotland. Aims; A Common Information Environment For Scotland The aims of the project were to: o Conduct basic research into the distributed information infrastructure requirements of the Scottish Cultural Portal pilot and the public library CAIRNS integration proposal; o Develop associated pilot facilities by enhancing existing facilities or developing new ones; o Ensure that both infrastructure proposals and pilot facilities were sufficiently generic to be utilised in support of other portals developed by the Scottish information community; o Ensure the interoperability of infrastructural elements beyond Scotland through adherence to established or developing national and international standards. Since the Scottish information landscape is taken by CoSMiC members to encompass relevant activities in Archives, Libraries, Museums, and related domains, the project was, in essence, concerned with identifying, researching, and developing the elements of an internationally interoperable common information environment for Scotland, and of determining the best path for future progress

Visible 100-nm-bandwidth omni-resonant imaging through a planar Fabry-P\'erot cavity

We demonstrate broadband omni-resonant imaging through a planar Fabry-P\'erot cavity over a bandwidth of 100~nm in the visible. The omni-resonant bandwidth exceeds the bare cavity resonant linewidth of $\approx\!0.5$~nm and even its free-spectral-range of $\sim\!45$~nm. Rather than modifying the cavity structure, omni-resonance is achieved by judiciously structuring the incident field to couple to an achromatic resonance, thus enabling omni-resonant imaging over an unprecedented bandwidth ($200\times$ spectral broadening) using coherent or incoherent light, spatially extended or localized fields, and stationary or moving sources

Nitration of Substituted Phenols by Different Efficient Heterogeneous Systems

Nitration of substituted phenols were carried out by the mixture of sodium nitrite and wet SiO2 (50% w/w) in the presence of four different efficient heterogeneous systems: 1) oxalic acid dihydrate (I), 2) sodium hydrogen sulphate (II), 3) aluminum hydrogen sulphate (III) and 4) silica sulphuric acid (IV) in CH2Cl2 at room  temperature and high yields. Optimum conditions for theses systems and the regioselectivities of the reactions are reported.KEYWORDS: Nitration, nitrophenols, sodium nitrate, oxalic acid dihydrate, sodium hydrogen sulphate, aluminum hydrogen sulphate, silica sulphuric acid, wet SiO2