The relation between the category of the ‘need’ and the category of the ‘demand’ for information

This paper examines the terminological confusion underlying the study of information use, and reviews the major studies in the field. The conclusion is that confusion in research methods is inextricably linked to a lack of clarity in terminology. Attention is drawn to the significance of different social and cultural contexts in shaping ‘information needs’, and a research scheme is evolved for the study of users of ‘professional information’ in Poland.     

学术期刊出版运营的“术”与“道”

【目的】 帮助学术期刊把握出版运营的原则与本质,打破运营误区,提升运营能力,为期刊出版的有效运营提供参考。【方法】 针对学术期刊出版运营中的误区和不良现象,剖析期刊发展“术”与“道”的差异及关系,揭示学术期刊出版运营的本质。【结果】 “道”是根本,以“道”驭“术”,以“术”促“道”,不仅是学术期刊出版初心和本原的回归,更是学术期刊生存发展的需要。【结论】 学术期刊需要牢记初心使命、坚守学术定力,科学认识期刊出版运营的影响因素,系统调用运营全要素,不为“名”所困扰,不为评价指标所羁绊,实现有效运营与可持续发展。     

Understanding the emergence and deployment of “nano” S&T

As an introduction to the special issue on “emerging nanotechnologies”, this paper puts in perspective contemporary debates and challenges about nanotechnology. It presents an overview of diverse analyses and expectations about this presumably revolutionary set of technological, scientific and industrial developments. Three main lines of argument can then be delineated: first of all, the degree of cumulativeness of science and technologies and the respective roles of newcomers and incumbents in the industrial dynamics; second the knowledge dynamics in nanotechnologies, especially the linkages by science and technology and third the role of institutions (network, geographic agglomeration and job market). It finally discusses methodologies to delineate the field of nanotechnologies and to collect data.     

Articulating the ‘three-missions’ in Spanish universities

The present paper elaborates a critical reflection on the ‘one-size-fits-all’ model which conceptualizes universities as centres of excellence in education, research and third mission. It is argued that the shortcomings of this perspective are twofold: first, HEIs are treated as homogeneous institutions with equal capacity to perform and contribute to social engagement; and second, missions are undistinguishable from each other. Both features lead to mischaracterizations concerning the role of universities and their contribution to society. In the view proposed here missions are university strategies linked by complex relationship of compatibility, and the paper puts in perspective the persisting gap concerning the nature of and the relations across them.     

风险投资“抑制”还是“放纵”内部控制缺陷?

文章基于风险投资的"认证监督假说"和"道德风险假说",利用我国创业板上市公司2010—2014年的数据,实证检验风险投资对上市公司内部控制缺陷的作用是"抑制"还是"放纵",结果发现:(1)风险投资能"抑制"被投资企业内部控制缺陷,且随着风险投资持股比例的增加,其"抑制"作用更加显著;(2)采用分组检验的办法,发现在风险投资持股比例高的样本中,其对内部控制缺陷有显著的"抑制"作用,在风险投资持股比例低的样本中,风险投资对于内部控制具有不显著的"放纵"作用;(3)文章还发现股权集中度越高,会削弱风险投资对于内部控制缺陷的"抑制"作用;(4)不同背景风险投资对内部控制缺陷的作用不同,政府背景和企业背景风险投资对企业内部控制缺陷具有"抑制"作用,其中企业背景风险投资的"抑制"作用显著,而独资背景的风险投资对内部控制缺陷具有不显著的"放纵"作用。     

Exploring the emerging knowledge base of ‘the knowledge society’

Science, technology and innovation have grown in importance over the last 50 years as we have moved towards a more knowledge-intensive society (the ‘knowledge society’). A number of new research fields have emerged in an effort to understand these developments and to offer advice to decision-makers in government, industry and elsewhere. This special issue focuses on studies of three relatively distinct though thematically related research fields (innovation studies, entrepreneurship studies, and science and technology studies). The first three articles use a particular methodology based on analysis of the references cited in the chapters to authoritative ‘handbooks’ to identify the core contributions in the three fields. A fourth article examines the relationship between the core literatures in three fields and how this has evolved over time. Other articles look at the evolution of innovation studies as reflected in highly cited papers, at the development of entrepreneurship as seen by a key ‘insider’, and at the creation of new centres in these fields and the difficulties they face. The last article in this special issue shows how interdisciplinary centres in innovation studies suffer from research assessment systems that are intrinsically biased against interdisciplinary research. This introduction presents a synthesis of the articles in this special issue, discusses similarities and differences between the three fields and their development over time, and considers challenges for policy and governance arising from the research presented here.     

The evolution of local production systems: the emergence of the “invisible mind” and the evolutionary pressures towards more visible “minds”

The aim of this paper is to propose an explanation of the changes of dynamic matching between systemic properties of local production systems (LPS) and characteristics of the competitive environment. An evolutionary sequence travelled during the last three decades by Italian LPS is identified and an explanation of long-term dynamics is based on how information flows and knowledge are structured within a local environment. The “traditional” pattern of interlocking behaviours of different agents is defined as cognitive architecture, which evolutionarily emerges as invisible mind. Evolutionary pressures lead new patterns of relationships and interlocking behaviours, which we define as a tendency for more visible “minds” to assert themselves.     

科技论文“影响”的测度

可通过利用同行评议、被引频次、期刊的影响因子（IF）等方法来评估科技论文 ，但这些方法本身都有不同程度的缺陷。不能利用期刊的影响因子来评判论文的学术水平，这是因为影响因子本身具有较大的不确定性，尤其是对美国的期刊比较有利。近年来由因特网全文下载论文的频次急剧上升，作者认为论文下载次数和影响因子的联合作用，可以更准确地评价论文和期刊的学术影响。     

农民视角下的农村农业信息化综合服务平台评价研究

文章从信息内容、信息技术、信息利用三个维度构建评价指标体系,依据2771名农民体验评价调查数据,运用因子分析、聚类分析和熵值法相结合的方法,实证测算了湖南省14市（州）农民对农村农业信息化综合服务平台评价。结果表明,各市（州）农民对农村农业信息化综合服务平台评价表现出一定差异,信息内容维度指标差异最大,信息利用维度指标差异其次,信息技术维度指标差异最少。农村农业信息化综合服务平台未来建设应该瞄准各地农民实际需求,以信息资源整合开发提升服务质量,以先进适用技术利用创新服务方式,以农民信息能力培养激发服务需求。     

“Follow the Water”: Steve Squyres and the Mars Exploration Rovers

Steve Squyres was responsible for assembling the team of scientists, engineers and instruments that formed the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Squyres developed a vision that small-scale observations made by a robotic geologist on Mars would be the key for resolving the mystery of water on Mars. Prior to the MER missions, planetary scientists were divided between groups holding that ancient fluvial-like surface features on Mars were formed by water and those holding that the erosive and depositional forces were tied to liquid and gaseous CO₂. At issue was a fundamental understanding not only of early Martian geological processes and early solar luminosity, but also the possibility of life on Mars. To resolve these questions, Squyres and his team developed a new breed of rovers that were capable of identifying minerals and collecting textural observations. The resulting twin rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, have successfully resolved the single most important question about Mars that scientists have been debating for the past 30 years, providing compelling evidence for the action of water on the Martian surface. Squyres and the MER team have also initiated a new era in planetary exploration and inspired a new generation of students to become scientists and explorers. Steve Squyres and the MER team produced fundamental insights into the geology and climatology of Mars. These have resulted in major advances in our understanding of the potential for life on other planets and of life’s evolution on Earth. For the discovery and elucidation of water on Mars through the “robotic geologists” of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Steve Squyres was awarded the 2007 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science.     

Research groups as ‘quasi-firms’: the invention of the entrepreneurial university

Academic entrepreneurship arose from internal as well as external impetuses. The entrepreneurial university is a result of the working out of an “inner logic” of academic development that previously expanded the academic enterprise from a focus on teaching to research. The internal organization of the Research University consists of a series of research groups that have firm-like qualities, especially under conditions in which research funding is awarded on a competitive basis. Thus, the Research University shares homologous qualities with a start-up firm even before it directly engages in entrepreneurial activities.