Publisher and author partnerships: a changing landscape

This article discusses the changing relationships of authors and publishers, the current trends and challenges they face, and the direction of these relationships in the future. As the STM publishing industry finds itself in the midst of significant technological and economic changes, this article provides background to these changes and looks at the key elements, including open access business development, institutional repository trends, and emerging public financing policies in the future.     

Maintaining Discipline in the Kaiser Wilhelm Society during the National Socialist Regime

In responding to incidents of internal ‘indiscipline’, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society many times asserted its authority, sometimes in cooperation with agencies of the Nazi regime. Following the Second World War, however, the KWS represented itself as having been intrinsically anti-Nazi. This essay describes the assumptions inherent in this view, and points to its wider implications for post-war German science.     

Sport as a Valued Human Practice: a basis for the consideration of some moral issues in sport

ABSTRACT It is argued that sport, like science or medicine, is a valued human practice and is characterised as much by the moral manner in which its participants conduct themselves as by the pursuit of its own skills, standards and excellences. Virtues, such as justice, honesty and courage, are not only necessary to pursue its goals but to protect it from being corrupted by external interests. After explicating the practice view of sport in contrast to the sociological view, the nature of competition in sport is discussed before examining two related issues: winning at all costs and the taking of performance-enhancing drugs. The importance of practices to education and the good life is also outlined.     

Meta-analysis: a tool for medical and scientific discoveries.

Medicine has made increasing use of meta-analysis, largely as a quantitative procedure for combining results of clinical trials. Meta-analysis begins with a comprehensive review of the literature. The next step is a systematic analysis of the quality and content of each study. Finally, results are combined statistically and conclusions are drawn from this new overview of the data. This paper presents a brief historical perspective on the use of meta-analysis in medicine with emphasis on the medical library. The authors conclude that in the future, medical librarians will play a significant role in the application of this useful technique.     

A first introduction to archival science

This first introduction, written for educational purposes, is meant to be a concise basic text in which the core concepts of archival science are coherently defined and explained, in a non-polemical way and departing from a de-institutionalised point of view. It is not intended to support or reject any single theory, but to provide an overview. It should be read as a synthesis of a variety of shared ideas and views, not as a manifesto of a new approach to archival science. If there is anything new to it, it might be located in the coherent and integrated presentation. In this primer of archival science annotation has been avoided. The first of several versions of this First Introduction was written in August 1995. It was meant to meet the need of the Netherlands Archiefschool for a basic text on archival science which could support its different programs for archival education and training. After ample discussion with the archival science teachers of the Archiefschool, it was introduced in the 1995/1996 courses. From then on, it has been used in almost all courses and classes on archival science on the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels and in several training and retraining programs of the Archiefschool. The design of the first version has been maintained in all subsequent versions, including this last one. Still, the text has frequently been adapted as a result of discussions with students and colleagues, in and outside the school. This first English version can almost be deemed as a collective product. Of the numerous colleagues who were engaged in this discussion and contributed to the text, special mention has to be made of Peter Horsman, Hans Scheurkogel, Hans Hofman, Eric Ketelaar, Herman Coppens and Kent Hayworth, who commented the English version. For the final text and all imperfections that may still cling to it I am, of course, responsible. An earlier version in Dutch has been published as: Theo thomassen, “Een korte introductie in de archivistiek”, in: P.J. Horsman, F.C.J. Ketelaar en T.H.P.M. Thomassen (red.),Naar een nieuw paradigma in de archivistiek ('s-Gravenhage, 1999), pp. 11–20.     

Pre-season physiological characteristics of English first and second division soccer players.

This investigation was undertaken in an effort to establish physiological characteristics of soccer players and to relate them to positional roles. A total of 135 footballers (age 24.4 +/- 4.6 years) were assessed for body mass, % body fat, haemoglobin, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max), leg power, anaerobic capacity and speed prior to an English league season. The sample included 13 goalkeepers, 22 full-backs, 24 centre-backs, 35 midfield players and 41 forwards. The goalkeepers were significantly heavier (86.1 +/- 5.5 kg; P < 0.01) than all groups except the centre-backs, had significantly higher estimated body fat percentages than centre-backs, forwards, midfield players (P < 0.01) or full-backs (P < 0.05), significantly lower estimated VO2 max values (56.4 +/- 3.9 ml kg-1 min-1; P < 0.01) and were slowest over 60 m (12.71 +/- 0.42 s). The midfield players had the highest predicted VO2 max values (61.4 +/- 3.4 ml kg-1 min-1), this being significantly greater (P < 0.05) than for the centre-backs. The forwards were the fastest group over 60 m (12.19 +/- 0.30 s), being significantly quicker than goalkeepers or centre-backs (P < 0.01) and full-backs (P < 0.05). Anaerobic power, as well as knee extensor torques (corrected for body mass) and extensor-flexor ratios, were similar between groups. No difference in estimated body fat percentage was observed between any of the outfield players, and haemoglobin concentrations were similar among players of all positions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

The Model American Foundation Officer: Alan Gregg and the Rockefeller Foundation Medical Divisions

From 1919 to 1951, Alan Gregg and his mentor, Richard Pearce, directed the Medical Education and Medical SciencesDivisions of the Rockefeller Foundation. Although they oversaw the expenditure of millions of dollars, today they are forgotten. Yet, the system that Gregg administered became the model for the funding of biomedical research after the Second World War. This paper draws on the records of the Rockefeller Foundation to assess Gregg and his impact on biomedicine and philanthropy.