E‐books in practice: the librarian's perspective

It has become unimaginable to provide information – particularly scientific information – without e‐books. They have become part of today's combination of media, which includes printed books and journals, e‐journals, e‐books, and databases. When e‐books first appeared on the market, librarians very quickly formulated their key requirements. The most important requirement is functionality: it must be possible to look through a book chapter by chapter, and also to get a quick overview of a comprehensive monograph. Usage arrangements, including concurrent usage and use for interlibrary loans, are also important. The use of uniform technical standards increases the acceptance of e‐books.     

E‐learning: new opportunities in continuing professional development

The growth in professional learning is opening up many new opportunities for the application of e‐learning to the world of continuing professional development (CPD). CPD programmes require professionals to engage in annual programmes of professional development, and in some cases revalidation or recertification. To date, most of this activity has been off‐line. Increasingly, CPD requirements will be satisfied through the use of learning resources available on‐line or packaged into specially tailored e‐learning courses. Societies and professional associations – as the primary managers and coordinators of CPD programmes – are in a strong position to expand upon their existing Web‐based initiatives to deliver a new generation of e‐learning services to their members.     

图书情报学现实研究中科学方法应用的调查分析——以2010年的期刊论文为样本

图书情报学研究中科学方法体系的形成是学科成熟的标志.为了了解图书情报学现实研究中科学方法的应用情况,文章以2010年的期刊论文为样本,选取本领域的五种核心期刊,对所刊载的学术论文的研究方法进行调查.调查发现,我国图书情报学研究方法的应用存在应用多样性、注重理性思维等特点,但也存在科学逻辑意识不强、缺乏实证程序等不足.文章提出完善图书情报学方法论的建议:(1)形成我国图书情报学研究特有的方法体系;(2)在不同类型的研究中科学使用相应的研究方法;(3)重视我国图书情报学研究方法的教育;(4)注重多种研究方法的协同运用.     

Microsoft Academic automatic document searches: Accuracy for journal articles and suitability for citation analysis

Microsoft Academic is a free academic search engine and citation index that is similar to Google Scholar but can be automatically queried. Its data is potentially useful for bibliometric analysis if it is possible to search effectively for individual journal articles. This article compares different methods to find journal articles in its index by searching for a combination of title, authors, publication year and journal name and uses the results for the widest published correlation analysis of Microsoft Academic citation counts for journal articles so far. Based on 126,312 articles from 323 Scopus subfields in 2012, the optimal strategy to find articles with DOIs is to search for them by title and filter out those with incorrect DOIs. This finds 90% of journal articles. For articles without DOIs, the optimal strategy is to search for them by title and then filter out matches with dissimilar metadata. This finds 89% of journal articles, with an additional 1% incorrect matches. The remaining articles seem to be mainly not indexed by Microsoft Academic or indexed with a different language version of their title. From the matches, Scopus citation counts and Microsoft Academic counts have an average Spearman correlation of 0.95, with the lowest for any single field being 0.63. Thus, Microsoft Academic citation counts are almost universally equivalent to Scopus citation counts for articles that are not recent but there are national biases in the results.     

The preferences of authors of Chinese library and information science journal articles in citing Internet sources

The preferences of the authors of Chinese library and information science (LIS) journal articles in citing Internet sources were investigated using eight premium Chinese LIS journals from Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (the observation group) and 10 journals in other disciplines (the control group) from the same database from 1999 to 2008. A total of 252,881 citations were analyzed in terms of count, domain name, and citing purposes. The results show that (a) in comparison to the disciplines in the control group, LIS articles in Chinese journals indicated a strong preference for citing Internet sources, and this preference is increasing; (b) LIS articles did not seem to discriminate against domain names when citing Internet sources; and (c) LIS articles cited more Internet sources as evidence to support research results and conclusions. Excessive dependency on Internet sources may raise concerns over the quality, research ethics, and credibility of research publications. Chinese LIS researchers should place more emphasis on the disadvantages of Internet sources as supporting material. Guidelines and criteria to help researchers, journal editors, students, and librarians assess information on the Web need to be developed.     

New methods for an old debate: Utilizing reader response to investigate the relationship between collaboration and quality in academic journal articles

There has been a longstanding debate about the merits of collaborative research, with most studies focusing on the citation advantage of such research. However, citation studies provide only one lens on the issues. New methods of inquiry are necessary to incorporate other audiences of scholarly literature. Reader response surveys were used to evaluate the quality of collaborative versus single-authored research. Graduate students in three sections of the same library and information science course during the 2010 academic year used surveys to rate each week's assigned readings according to overall quality, usefulness for class discussion, and enjoyability. Students voted whether to keep each article in the reading list for the following semester. Data were analyzed to compare results for single-author versus multi-author works. Multi-author works were favored over single-author. These findings provide another layer of empirical support for the benefits of collaborative research and inform both scientometricians and educators.     

Bibliography of Bioethics and Index Medicus: comparison of coverage, publication delay, and ease of recall for journal articles on bioethics

Citations selected from the bibliographies of recent texts, a specialized subject bibliography, and review articles were checked in both Cumulated Index Medicus (IM) and the Bibliography of Bioethics (BB) to compare coverage, publication delay, probable causes of indexing and retrieval failure, and the ease with which relevant citations were retrieved. The study also attempted to determine whether BB included appropriate articles from the MEDLINE database in a timely and systematic manner. While 98% of the IM citations appeared within a year of publication, 79% of the BB citations appeared two to three years after their publication dates. The average citation appeared twice as frequently in IM as in BB.     

A semiautomated journal check-in and binding system; or variations on a common theme

The journal check-in project described here, though based on a computerized system, uses only unit-record equipment and is designed for the medium-sized library. The frequency codes used are based on the date printed on the journal rather than on the expected date of receipt, which allows for more stability in the coding scheme. The journal's volume number and issue number, which in other systems are usually predetermined by a computer, are inserted at the time of check-in. Routine claiming of overdue issues and a systematic binding schedule have also been developed as by-products.     

Internet‐based information‐seeking behaviour amongst doctors and nurses: a short review of the literature

Background: Reviews of how doctors and nurses search for online information are relatively rare, particularly where research examines how they decide whether to use Internet‐based resources. Original research into their online searching behaviour is also rare, particularly in real world clinical settings. as is original research into their online searching behaviour. This review collates some of the existing evidence, from 1995 to 2009. Objectives: To establish whether there are any significant differences in the ways and reasons why doctors and nurses seek out online information; to establish how nurses and doctors locate information online; to establish whether any conclusions can be drawn from the existing evidence that might assist health and medical libraries in supporting users. Methods: An initial scoping literature search was carried out on PubMed and CINAHL to identify existing reviews of the subject area and relevant original research between 1995 and 2009. Following refinement, further searches were carried out on Embase (Ovid), LISA and LISTA. Following the initial scoping search, two journals were identified as particularly relevant for further table of contents searching. Articles were exclused where the main focus was on patients searching for information or where the focus was the evaluation of online‐based educational software or tutorials. Articles were included if they were review or meta‐analysis articles, where they reported original research, and where the primary focus of the online search was for participants’ ongoing Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The relevant articles are outlined, with details of numbers of participants, response rates, and the user groups. Results: There appear to be no significant differences between the reasons why doctors and nurses seek online Internet‐based evidence, or the ways in which they locate that evidence. Reasons for searching for information online are broadly the same: primarily patient care and CPD (Continuing Professional Development). The perceived barriers to accessing online information are the same in both groups. There is a lack of awareness of the library as a potential online information enabler. Conclusions: Libraries need to examine their policy and practice to ensure that they facilitate access to online evidence‐based information, particularly where users are geographically remote or based in the community rather than in a hospital setting. Librarians also need to take into account the fact that medical professionals on duty may not be able to take advantage of the academic model of online information research. Further research is recommended into the difference between the idealised academic model of searching and real world practicalities; and how other user groups search, for example patients.     

Electronic journal provision in a health-care library: insights from a consultation with NHS workers

Objective: This study determines the current awareness journal reading requirements of the users of Stockport National Health Service (NHS) Trust's library. The overlap between requirements and the provision of the NHS Core Content resources, four major electronic journal bundles, and the holdings of North West health libraries is also investigated. Methods: A survey of both hospital and Primary Care Trust staff was conducted, and respondents were required to provide a list of their favourite journal titles. Each requested title was assigned a subject code, and the impact factor was noted. Results: From 135 survey responses, 217 journal titles were identified and 33 category codes were utilized. There was little overlap between the request list and the NHS Core Content titles, but substantial correspondence existed between the request list and the print holdings of North West health libraries. Conclusions: Current awareness journal reading requirements will not be met by the Core Content provision alone. Bundles of titles offer value‐for‐money solutions, but may be at the expense of popular titles. Furthermore, the success of regional document supply schemes may be compromised if large numbers of health‐care libraries replace print holdings with similar electronic journal bundles.     

Applying findings from a systematic review of workplace‐based e‐learning: implications for health information professionals

Objectives: To systematically review the UK published literature on e‐learning in the health workplace and to apply the findings to one of the most prolific UK e‐learning initiatives in the health sector—the National Library for Health Facilitated Online Learning Interactive Opportunity (FOLIO) Programme. Methods: Sensitive searches were conducted across assia , Australian Education Index, British Education Index, cinahl , CSA Abstracts, Dissertation Abstracts, Emerald, eric , ibss , Index to Theses, lisa , medline , Psyc Info and Social Science Citation Index. Additional citations were identified from reference lists of included studies and of relevant reviews; citation tracking and contact with experts. Twenty‐nine studies met the inclusion criteria and were coded and analysed using thematic analysis as described by Miles & Huberman (Qualitative Data Analysis: A Sourcebook of New Methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1984). Results: Five broad themes were identified from the 29 included studies: (i) peer communication; (ii) flexibility; (iii) support; (iv) knowledge validation; and (v) course presentation and design. These broad themes were supported by a total of eleven sub‐themes. Components from the FOLIO Programme were analysed and existing and proposed developments were mapped against each sub‐theme. This provides a valuable framework for ongoing course development. Conclusion: Librarians involved in delivering and supporting e‐learning can benefit from applying the findings from the systematic review to existing programmes, exemplified by the FOLIO Programme. The resultant framework can also be used in developing new e‐learning programmes.     

Use of electronic journals in astronomy and astrophysics libraries and information centres in India: A users' perspective

The purpose of this study was to create a substantial body of knowledge about the factors that influence the success of electronic journals, and to share this knowledge with that in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics in order to help facilitate change.

Structured questionnaires for users (Academic Members, Post-Doctoral Fellows and Research Scholars) containing 40 different questions, many of which were further subdivided and framed in order to get information on various aspects of the usage of electronic journals. The purpose was to identify the basic minimum infrastructure necessary to provide users access to electronic journals and to facilitate easy response in all major A&A organizations in India.

The increasing use of the electronic information-seeking environment has produced changes in the practice of science. Significant research has been conducted already on the impact of new information and communication technologies on scholarly work.

This study was limited to astronomy and astrophysics libraries and information centres in India.

This paper identifies the information needs of the users. Each community and discipline has its own specific legacy of journal structure, reading, publishing, and researching practices, and it will take trial and error to establish which kinds of e-journals are the most effective and useful.

Case study.     

Building a set of standards for use of regression in the journal of broadcasting & electronic media

Our use of regression has evolved over the last quarter century, much of which should be applauded. This article is meant to begin the process of setting standards for using regression in JOBEM while still allowing room for the evolution to continue. Some uses of regression are commendable — such as the increased use of hierarchical regression. Other practices are inconsistent, and some practices — such as ignoring assumptions — may need to change. Precise use of regression still does not make up for poor study design or measurement.