Serials standards work: the next frontier

Serials, one of the more complicated areas of library technical endeavors, has lacked the benefit of standards for a long time. Even now, with standards beginning to be available, the majority of institutions are not working within standard serials formats. A survey to determine the use of serials standards in libraries was conducted in 1988 by the American Library Association, Resources and Technical Services Division, Serials Section, Committee to Study Serials Standards. In the spring of 1988 a survey was sent to a group encompassing the Association of Research Libraries members, CONSER participants, United States Newspaper Program participants, Microform Project libraries, and some vendors and librarians who attended the Committee meetings on a regular basis. The survey questionnaire assessed the current level of serials standards awareness of librarians and vendors. Topics included the type of serials systems used, standards relevant to serials control and union listing and whether or not they are implemented, types and levels of training staff received in the application of standards, benefits of the standards, and areas where standards are most needed.     

Physician information seeking: improving relevance through research

Health sciences libraries have considerable potential as resources for both formal continuing professional education, as well as the informal continuing education that results from the professional's efforts to solve problems in daily practice. While there is a growing interest in making the resources of health sciences libraries more accessible to practitioners on a routine, day-to-day basis, there also needs to be more awareness of how, when, where, and why professionals look for information in the context of practical problems. This paper reviews recent research that identifies the context in which physicians seek information and advice from external sources, the information sources that physicians access, and the factors that influence which particular sources are sought. The results indicate that physicians vary in their information needs, preferences, motivations, and strategies for seeking information. This diversity suggests that health sciences libraries, in their efforts to be more accessible, should consider "market research" to determine the needs, preferences, and use patterns of the library's targeted users. Libraries may also benefit from exploring alternative methods of improving access to their resources.     

基于属性值偏好矩阵的协同过滤推荐算法

传统的协同过滤推荐算法面临用户评分数据稀疏性和冷启动问题的挑战.针对上述问题,提出了基于属性值偏好矩阵的协同过滤推荐算法,首先采用奇异值分解(SVD)对用户-项目评分矩阵降维得到目标用户的初始邻居用户集,生成新的用户-项目评分矩阵;然后将用户评分映射到相应的项目属性值上,生成每个用户的属性值偏好矩阵,并基于属性值偏好矩阵进行用户相似性度量,从而缓解了评分数据稀疏性;将新项目的属性值与用户的属性值偏好矩阵进行匹配,从而找出匹配度最高的前N个用户作为新项目的推荐受众.实验结果表明了该算法的有效性.     

专业核心网站评价与识别方法研究

基于网络的无尺度特性,结合当前网络社区方面的研究,提出一种新的专业领域核心网站群的识别方法,即循环链接分析法CLAM,并对核心医药网站进行量化描述和分析;同时探讨核心医药类网站评价的改进方法.     

Expanding rural primary care training by employing information technologies: the need for participation by medical reference librarians

The use of rural sites to train badly needed primary care providers requires access to sophisticated medical information not traditionally available outside of academic health centers. Medical reference librarians can play a key role in the development of primary care training sites in rural settings. Electronic information technologies, with proactive support from medical reference librarians, can provide current and detailed information without concern for distance from the health science center library. This paper discusses recent developments in technology, describes current challenges to the application of this technology in rural settings, and provides policy recommendations for medical reference librarians to enhance rural primary care training.     

Reconciling rising serials costs, the serials budget, and reference needs in a medical library serials retrenchment program: a methodology

Devising a coherent serials retrenchment plan while maintaining quality reference service is a dilemma faced by increasing numbers of medical librarians. In 1991, the staff of the Shiffman Medical Library, Wayne State University, began to address increasing serials budget reductions that by 1994 amounted to a projected 20% maximum cut. The resulting retrenchment plan combined an ongoing serials use study, faculty and librarian reviews of cancellation lists, and systematic refinements in interlibrary cooperation and document delivery service. The Shiffman plan provides a constructive framework that can be adapted to other medical libraries facing immediate, major serials retrenchment.     

Analysis of the use of reference services in an academic health sciences library

In 1991, the Reference and Information Services staff of the Alfred Taubman Medical Library at the University of Michigan gathered data on the use of the reference desk, including the frequency and types of assistance requested by different user groups throughout the year. Recommendations based on the results of this study led to improved service as well as more efficient use of staff resources.