The information seeking behaviour of the users of digital scholarly journals

The article employs deep log analysis (DLA) techniques, a more sophisticated form of transaction log analysis, to demonstrate what usage data can disclose about information seeking behaviour of virtual scholars – academics, and researchers. DLA works with the raw server log data, not the processed, pre-defined and selective data provided by journal publishers. It can generate types of analysis that are not generally available via proprietary web logging software because the software filters out relevant data and makes unhelpful assumptions about the meaning of the data. DLA also enables usage data to be associated with search/navigational and/or user demographic data, hence the name ‘deep’. In this connection the usage of two digital journal libraries, those of EmeraldInsight, and Blackwell Synergy are investigated. The information seeking behaviour of nearly three million users is analyzed in respect to the extent to which they penetrate the site, the number of visits made, as well as the type of items and content they view. The users are broken down by occupation, place of work, type of subscriber (“Big Deal”, non-subscriber, etc.), geographical location, type of university (old and new), referrer link used, and number of items viewed in a session.     

The Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test: a field test that simulates the activity pattern of soccer

The aims of this study were to describe and determine the test-retest reliability of an exercise protocol, the Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test (the LIST), which was designed to simulate the activity pattern characteristic of the game of soccer. The protocol consisted of two parts: Part A comprised a fixed period of variable-intensity shuttle running over 20 m; Part B consisted of continuous running, alternating every 20 m between 55% and 95% VO2max, until volitional fatigue. Seven trained games players (age 21.5+/-0.9 years, height 182+/-2 cm, body mass 80.1+/-3.6 kg, VO2max 59.0+/-1.9 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1); mean +/- s(x)) performed the test on two occasions (Trial 1 and Trial 2), at least 7 days apart, to determine the test-retest reliability of the sprint times and running capacity. The physiological and metabolic responses on both occasions were also monitored. The participants ingested water ad libitum during the first trial, and were then prescribed the same amount of water during the second trial. The 15 m sprint times during Trials 1 and 2 averaged 2.42+/-0.04 s and 2.43+/-0.04 s, respectively. Run time during Part B was 6.3+/-2.0 min for Trial 1 and 6.1+/-1.3 min for Trial 2. The 95% limits of agreement for sprint times and run times during Part B were -0.14 to 0.12 s and -3.19 to 2.16 min respectively. There were no differences between trials for heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, body mass change during exercise, or blood lactate and glucose concentrations during the test. Thus, we conclude that the sprint times and the Part B run times were reproducible within the limits previously stated. In addition, the activity pattern and the physiological and metabolic responses closely simulated the match demands of soccer.     

Understanding Head Start children's problem behaviors in the context of arrest or incarceration of household members

Using data from the nationally representative Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES), the relationships between living in a household where a household member had been arrested or incarcerated and conduct problems of preschool children enrolled in Head Start were examined. Children who lived in such households showed more aggressive, hyperactive, and withdrawn behaviors than children who lived in households with no such exposure. These associations remained statistically significant after controlling for other family background characteristics. Parental involvement in Head Start, less use of spanking, and more time spent by the child in Head Start were associated with less problem behaviors.     

From abbey to archive: managing texts and records in early modern England

This article investigates the long-term transformations in England’s documentary storage regime wrought by the Reformation. Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries famously resulted in the dispersal and destruction of many medieval texts and records, but he and his successors sponsored efforts to retrieve lost materials, which they then used in the formation of ecclesiastical policy. Elizabethan counselors expanded the scope of this project, applying their expertise in gathering records to secular issues and assiduously preserving their own documents. During James I’s reign, the Earl of Salisbury’s patronage gave new authority to the State Paper Office, encouraging the consolidation of a centralizing archive that integrated earlier methods of collection, preservation, and indexing in its operation and construction. The article thus offers an analytic trajectory tying the practices of Reformation to the development of expanding national archives in the seventeenth century.     

Intellectual property protection mechanisms in research partnerships

A set of US-based companies is investigated regarding the effectiveness of intellectual property protection mechanisms (IPPMs) in the formation of research partnerships. Patents are the most frequently used IPPM to protect both background and foreground knowledge in partnerships. Other IPPMs are used to protect know-how, especially in the early, forming stages of a partnership. Existing IP titles are quite useful when negotiating new partnerships. IPR negotiations are reported to be more complex in horizontal partnerships and when universities are involved.     

Post-secondary Science Students’ Explanations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Randomness</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Variation</Emphasis> and Implications for Science Learning

The concepts of randomness and variation are pervasive in science. The purpose of this study was to document how post-secondary life science students explain randomness and variation, infer relationships between their explanations, and ability to describe and identify appropriate and inappropriate variation, and determine if students can identify sources of variation. An instrument designed to test statistical concepts was administered to 282 college students from three universities, ranging from introductory non-science majors to science graduate students. Students readily distinguished between causes of variation. A naïve no-pattern concept of randomness persisted from first-year non-science majors to senior-level science majors, contributing to incorrect responses on the variation instrument. Students’ expressions of randomness were better predictors of performance on the variation instrument than their expressions of variation. It is argued that inclusion of everyday language uses of randomness in instruction can bridge the gap between vernacular and scientific uses of this term.