Fundamental scientific problems in UDC structure and multiple-aspect indexing function

The distribution of fundamental scientific problems according to UDC classes is considered. The necessity of multiple-aspect indexing of documents by composite indices, which reflect interrelated scientific problems, is observed. The principles for the analysis of composite and complex indices for the completeness and accuracy of an information search are suggested.     

Problems of information support of scientific innovation and industrial spheres: New conceptual approaches

The discrepancy between national information infrastructure capabilities and the present-day requirements of the new economic institutional environment is one of main causes of the gap between the significant volume of fundamental and applied innovation research results that have commercialization potential, and the actual abilities of our domestic industry to assimilate these results, which exists in Russia. The purpose of this article is to form at least a rough conceptual look at an effective information infrastructure for innovation and scientific and technical activities, which corresponds to the present-day requirements of the new economic institutional environment in Russia. To solve the problem of overcoming inertial trends in national information system development, new ideas and new conceptual approaches are required. The presented conceptual approaches are oriented toward solving the problems of modernization and the development of a qualitatively new structural and substantial organization of the national information system. Most of the critical phases of information support of the stages of technology transfer and the basic principles of information infrastructure development are shown. A brief enumeration of the set of key actions on the development of the information infrastructure of the scientific, technical, and industrial spheres is provided.     

Intellectuals and intelligentsia in the pages of library periodicals

Analysis of the publications of the journals “Biblioteka” and “Nauchnye i tekhnicheskie biblioteki” helps to compare the value guidelines of modern library journals. As a result of the research, it has been revealed that the first journal adheres to the values of the intellectuals, and the second óne adheres to the values of the intelligentsia.     

Hierarchical Models of Social Competence in Preschool Children: A Multisite,Multinational Study

The generality of a multilevel factorial model of social competence (SC) for preschool children was tested in a 5‐group, multinational sample (N = 1,540) using confirmatory factor analysis. The model fits the observed data well, and tests constraining paths for measured variables to their respective first‐order factors across samples also fit well. Equivalence of measurement models was found at sample and sex within‐sample levels but not for age within sample. In 2 groups, teachers’ ratings were examined as correlates of SC indicators. Composites of SC indicators were significantly associated with both positive and negative child attributes from the teachers’ ratings. The findings contribute to understanding of both methodological and substantive issues concerning SC in young children.     

Tracking students’ progress through the Spanish university school sector

From individual longitudinal data for a full cohort of first-entering students who embarked on short programs in Spain and were observed over a 7-year period ending in 2003, we analyze the probability that an individual will drop out, transfer, or graduate from a university school program. The statistical analysis is carried out in a competing-risks framework. We find that the system’s internal efficiency is low, with dropout and completion rates averaging 50 and 36%, respectively. However, we find considerable variability in the probabilities of withdrawal, transfer, and graduation among students. In this regard, our results show that preenrollment academic ability, age at enrollment, family characteristics, and secondary educational experience are major influences on student progress.     

Justification and Persuasion about Cloning: Arguments in Hwang’s Paper and Journalistic Reported Versions

We examine the argumentative structure of Hwang et al.’s (2004) paper about human somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT, or ‘therapeutic cloning’), contrasted with four Journalistic Reported Versions (JRV) of it, and with students’ summaries of one JRV. As the evaluation of evidence is one of the critical features of argumentation (Jiménez-Aleixandre 2008), the analysis focuses on the use of evidence, drawing from instruments to analyze written argumentation (Kelly et al. 2008) and from studies about the structure of empirical research reports (Swales 2001). The objectives are: 1) To examine the use of evidence and the argumentative structure of Hwang et al.’s Science, 303: 1669–1674 (2004) original paper in terms of the criteria: a) pertinence of the evidence presented to the claims; b) sufficiency of the evidence for the purpose of supporting the claims; and c) coordination of the evidence across epistemic levels. 2) To explore how the structure of Hwang’s paper translates into the JRV and into university students’ perceptions about the evidence supporting the claims. The argumentative structure of Hwang’s paper is such that its apparently ostensible main claim about NT constitutes a justification for a second claim about its therapeutic applications, for which no evidence is offered. However, this second claim receives prominent treatment in the JRV and in the students’ summaries. Implications for promoting critical reading in the classroom are discussed.