Automated Classification to Improve the Efficiency of Weeding Library Collections

Previous studies have shown that weeding a library collection benefits patrons and increases circulation rates. However, the time required to review the collection and make weeding decisions presents a formidable obstacle. This study empirically evaluated methods for automatically classifying weeding candidates. A data set containing 80,346 items from a large-scale weeding project running from 2011 to 2014 at Wesleyan University was used to train six machine learning classifiers to predict a weeding decision of either ‘Keep’ or ‘Weed’ for each candidate. The study found statistically significant agreement (p?=?0.001) between classifier predictions and librarian judgments for all classifier types. The naive Bayes and linear support vector machine classifiers had the highest recall (fraction of items weeded by librarians that were identified by the algorithm), while the k-nearest-neighbor classifier had the highest precision (fraction of recommended candidates that librarians had chosen to weed). The variables found to be most relevant were: librarian and faculty votes for retention, item age, and the presence of copies in other libraries.     

They’re good blogs,Brent: (Mostly) painless branding for information professionals

ABSTRACT

Social media is a powerful tool for building an online presence, but it asks a lot. While it affords plentiful opportunities for professional development and networking, building a professional brand in an online space is not without its drawbacks and risks. By working from a set of actionable principles and benchmarks, users can minimize frustrations and setbacks to build a useful professional presence, all while imbuing the web with the tenets of good information stewardship.     

Mandatory Student Fees and the Academic Library

As academic libraries' budgets remain flat while their expenditures rise, library leaders must seek out alternative sources of funding. One option is a mandatory student fee dedicated to the library. This article presents the results of a survey of 152 deans and directors of public R1 and R2 research universities that were asked whether their libraries benefit from mandatory student fees. While a library-specific fee is unusual, nearly half of responding libraries are eligible to receive some portion of another mandatory student fee. Study results can serve as evidence for libraries preparing to make a case for the significant, positive impact possible through even a modest library fee.     

The Methodological Foundations of Standardization in the Field of Library and Information Support of Science

This paper characterizes the methodological foundations of national standardization in the Russian Federation, in particular in the library and information field. The activities of Technical Standardization Committee 191 Scientific and Technical Information, Librarianship, and Publishing are reported.     

The Blockchain Technology in Scientific and Information Activities

The basic properties of the blockchain technology are discussed to allow informed decisions on its selection and use in scientific and information activities. Specific examples are given and the efficiency of this technology is analyzed.     

The Information Nature of Culture

This paper explores the information nature of culture. It is represented as an extragenetic and nonorganizational information process and system. Information is regarded as a universal property of matter that is essentially associated with development processes and realizes various forms and ways of storage and circulation at various development stages of global evolution. The socio-cultural principle of exogenous accumulation, transmission, and transformation of information is analyzed in the context of the continuing growth of the information content of material systems on the superhighway of global-universal evolution. It is noted that the information concept of culture evolves into a new area of cultural studies, that is information and cultural studies, advancing our understanding of the nature of culture and cultural genesis.     

Russian Science Citation Index: Areas for Development Identified by Active Users

The current state of the Russian Science Citation Index is analyzed. Several areas for its further development identified by long-standing active users, such as data searching, refinement, and storage; current user alerts; data input with the Science Index license; patent information; and the application programming interface (API) are investigated.     

Narrative Persuasion in a New Media Environment: The Impact of Binge-Watching and Second-Screening

The study explored the role of second-screen use and binge-watching in moderating entertainment education (EE) effects. A pretest/posttest experiment of 273 viewers of East Los High measured the effects of exposure to three subplots, concerning alcohol abuse, abortion, and immigration. The effect of identification with characters on change in attitudes was significantly moderated by second-screen use and binge-watching. In particular, second-screening tended to enhance the positive impact of identification; whereas, among respondents who binge-watched the show, the effects of identification were weaker.     

Reasons for Student Engagement in Extra-Class Communication

This study extends instructional communication research on extra-class communication (ECC) by presenting an integrative analysis comparing the explanatory utility of student- and instructor-oriented reasons for student engagement in frequent ECC. Results from 495 college students suggested that student-oriented reasons, specifically the relational and functional student motives, were the only significant, positive predictors of students’ perceptions of frequent ECC engagement. Other student motives (excuse making, participation, sycophancy) and perceptions of instructor approachability did not significantly predict perceived frequency of ECC engagement.