A bibliometric study of taxonomic botany

PURPOSE – The aims of this paper are to: investigate the citation-patterns of monograph books in taxonomic botany (looking mainly at publications and publishers, and the age of current literature); and make recommendations for collections management and reference services in libraries that hold botany materials. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH – In total, 454 citations were collected at random from 47 botanical monographs published in 2009; a Bradford distribution of cited journals was produced; age-distributions of citations were devised; and other bibliographical characteristics were tabulated. FINDINGS – A small Bradfordian core of highly-cited journals and important publishers of monograph books were identified; monographs are cited more often than journal articles; older materials are more important than in other sciences; monographs are used by botanists for current awareness purposes; coverage of botanical journals by citation indexes is poor. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS – The small size of the sample means that results were indicative. Further studies could: take larger samples; look at citations in journal articles, theses, conference proceeding; look at citations made over several years. PRACTICAL LIMITATIONS – Librarians should: note the core botanical journals identified here; continue to acquire botanical monographs and to retain older materials; display new botanical monographs prominently and include them in current awareness services. ORIGINALITY/VALUE – The bibliometrics of taxonomic botany have previously been little studied; likewise citations from monographs. This paper fills some of the gaps. Some of the bibliometric methods of J. M. Cullars were applied to botanical literature

3DIR: three-dimensional information retrieval from 3D building information modelling environments.

More and more information is being packed into Building Information Models (BIMs), with the 3D geometrical model serving as the central index to lead users to the many other types of building information. The Three-Dimensional Information Retrieval (3DIR) project investigates information retrieval from such environments, where information or documents are linked to a 3D artefact. In these situations, the 3D visualisation or 3D geometry of the building can be exploited when formulating information retrieval queries, computing the relevance of information items to the query, or visualising search results. Following reviews of literature in BIM/CAD and information retrieval, a clear gap was identified in the practice of information retrieval from BIM/CAD systems. End users were consulted to ascertain the precise user requirements in such an information retrieval system. Scenario-based design was adopted to design a software prototype. The 3DIR system was developed as an add-in under the Autodesk Revit BIM platform. The 3DIR prototype creates an index of all text data attached to the 3D model. The user is able to search for information by selecting specific 3D objects, by keyword and by specifying particular 3D regions of the model. Relationships between 3D objects are also used to rank search results. Search results are displayed by highlighting 3D objects in the 3D model. Findings from the evaluation of the prototype demonstrate its usefulness but suggest directions for future development. It is concluded that a tight coupling between text-based retrieval and the 3D model is extremely effective in 3D BIM environments

Using local citation data to relate the use of journal articles by academic researchers to the coverage of full-text document access systems

The methodology and findings are presented of an empirical study comparing local citation patterns with the holdings lists of a number of sources of journal articles. These sources were the British Library Document Supply Centre (BLDSC and the BL inside service, library holdings, ProQuest Direct, SearchBank, EiText and a linking system including both the Geobase database and the BLDSC. The value of local citation figures is discussed, as is the concept of a 'core' of journal titles, from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Using these figures to represent the local use of journal articles, the coverage of the document sources was found to vary widely. Unsurprisingly, the BLDSC was found to offer the widest coverage. Newer, electronic systems generally fared less well, but may offer other advantages

Effect of direct-to-consumer genetic tests on health behaviour and anxiety: a survey of consumers and potential consumers

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests can be purchased over the internet. Some companies claim to provide relative genetic risks for various diseases and thus encourage healthy behaviour. There are concerns that exposure to such information may actually discourage healthy behaviour or increase health anxiety. An online survey was conducted (n = 275). Respondents were composed of individuals who had purchased a DTC genetic test and received their results (consumers, n = 189), as well as individuals who were either awaiting test results or considering purchasing a test (potential consumers, n = 86). Consumers were asked if their health behaviour or health anxiety had changed after receiving their results. Respondents’ current health behaviour and health anxiety were queried and compared. In total, 27.3 % of consumers claimed a change in health behaviour, all either positive or neutral, with no reported cessation of any existing health behaviour. A change in health anxiety was claimed by 24.6 % of consumers, 85.3 % of which were a reduction. Consumers had significantly better health behaviour scores than potential consumers (p = 0.02), with no significant difference in health anxiety. This study points towards an association between receipt of DTC genetic test results and increased adoption of healthy behaviours for a minority of consumers based on self-report, with more mixed results in relation to health anxiety

E-commerce websites for developing countries – a usability evaluation framework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a methodological usability evaluation approach for e-commerce websites in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach – A multi-faceted usability evaluation of three Jordanian e-commerce websites was used, where three usability methods (user testing, heuristic evaluation and web analytics) were applied to the sites. Findings – A four-step approach was developed to facilitate the evaluation of e-commerce sites, mindful of the advantages and disadvantages of the methods used in identifying specific usability problems. Research limitations/implications – The approach was developed and tested using Jordanian users, experts and e-commerce sites. The study compared the ability of the methods to detect problems that were present, however, usability issues not present on any of the sites could not be considered when creating the approach. Practical implications – The approach helps e-commerce retailers evaluate the usability of their websites and understand which usability method(s) best matches their need. Originality/value – This research proposes a new approach for evaluating the usability of e-commerce sites. A novel aspect is the use of web analytics (Google Analytics software) as a component in the usability evaluation in conjunction with heuristics and user testing

3DIR: exploiting topological relationships in three-dimensional information retrieval from BIM environments

An increasing amount of information is being packed into Building Information Models, with the 3D geometrical model serving as the central index leading to other building information. The Three-Dimensional Information Retrieval (3DIR) project investigates information retrieval from such environments, where information or documents are linked to a 3D artefact. Here, the 3D visualization/geometry can be exploited when formulating information retrieval queries, computing the relevance of information items to the query, or visualizing search results. Following reviews of literature in BIM and information retrieval, a clear gap was identified in the practice of information retrieval from BIM systems. The practical need for such a system was further specified using workshops with construction professionals as end users. A software prototype was developed, built on a commercial BIM platform. The 3DIR prototype creates an index of all text attached to the 3D model. The user can search for information by selecting specific 3D objects, specifying a spherical volume of the model and/or entering search keywords. This paper focuses on the exploitation of model topology. Relationships between 3D objects are used to widen the search, whereby relevant information items linked to a related 3D object (rather than information linked directly to a 3D object selected by the user) are still retrieved but ranked lower. Several such relationships between 3D objects were tested, whether explicitly encoded in the BIM information architecture or inferred from geometrical computations. An evaluation of the software prototype which exploits such topological relationships demonstrates its effectiveness but highlights the challenges to software users of added complexity. The system is subjectively rated comparably favorably. It is concluded that care needs to be taken when exploiting topological relationships, but that a tight coupling between text-based retrieval and the 3D model is generally effective in information retrieval from 3D BIM environments

Three-Dimensional Information Retrieval (3DIR): exploiting 3D geometry and model topology in information retrieval from BIM environments

In building modelling environments, more and more information is being crammed into 2D/3D building and product models. This is particularly true given the rise of Building Information Modelling (BIM, Eastman et al., 2011). The Three-Dimensional Information Retrieval (3DIR) project investigates information retrieval from these environments, where information or documents are linked to a 3D building model. In these situations, the 3D visualization or 3D geometry of the building can be exploited when formulating information retrieval queries, computing the relevance of information items to the query, or visualizing search results. Managing such building information repositories in this way would take advantage of human strengths in vision, spatial cognition and visual memory (Lansdale and Edmonds, 1992; Robertson et al., 1998). Information retrieval is associated with documents, and a critic might argue that documents are relics from the pre-BIM age that are no longer relevant in the era of BIM. However, the challenge of information retrieval is pertinent whether we are dealing with documents which are coarse grains of information or building object parameters/attributes as finer grains of information. Demian and Fruchter (2005) demonstrated that traditional retrieval computations can be applied with good results to 3D building models where textual or symbolic data are treated as very short documents. In this sense, it is almost a question of semantics whether the information being retrieved comes from object properties embedded in the BIM, or from external documents linked to the BIM. The challenge remains of retrieving non-geometric or textual information. This paper describes the findings of the 3DIR project whose aim was to improve information retrieval when retrieving information or documents linked to a 3D artefact, or non-geometric information embedded in the model of the artefact. The central objective was to develop an information retrieval toolset for documents/information linked to 3D building models which exploits 3D geometry and model visualisation. Such a toolset is essentially a search engine for retrieving information with a BIM platform. As a further objective, the toolset should leverage topological relationships in the 3D model to enhance information retrieval

Electronic books in public libraries: a feasibility study for developing usage models for web-based and hardware-based electronic books

This final report considers the background and implementation of a project that introduced electronic book (ebook) collections to Essex Public Libraries in 2004. The research considered ebook collections available for borrowing on a PDA (HP iPAQ) and collections downloadable on to the borrower’s PDA or PC (OverDrive, ebrary). The project, a partnership consisting of Loughborough University, Essex Public Libraries, and the Co-East Management Team

Economic implications of alternative scholarly publishing models : exploring the costs and benefits. JISC EI-ASPM Project. A report to the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)

A knowledge economy has been defined as: “…one in which the generation and exploitation of knowledge has come to play the predominant part in the creation of wealth. It is not simply about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge; it is also about the more effective use and exploitation of all types of knowledge in all manner of economic activities” (DTI 1998). In a knowledge economy, innovation and the capacity of the system to create and disseminate the latest scientific and technical information are important determinants of prosperity (David and Foray 1995; OECD 1997). Scholarly publishing plays a key role, as it is central to the efficiency of research and to the dissemination of research findings and diffusion of scientific and technical knowledge. But, advances in information and communication technologies are disrupting traditional models of scholarly publishing, radically changing our capacity to reproduce, distribute, control, and publish information. The key question is whether there are new opportunities and new models for scholarly publishing that would better serve researchers and better communicate and disseminate research findings (OECD 2005, p14)

Public libraries – challenges and opportunities for the future [Keynote address]

Public libraries were established by means of taxes and overseen by governing bodies to provide equitable, optional, access to books or physical artefacts free of charge for everyone. Their basic characteristics have not changed but the services and how they are provided has been reinvented many times since the 19th century. Today the challenges facing libraries are profound. Continued technological advances, increased competition, demographic transformations, and financial constraints are putting huge pressures on libraries to innovate and to re-examine the services they offer. This paper examines these and the opportunities for future public library provision