Since the start of its operations the National Lending Library, now Incorporated in the British Library Lending Division, has provided a translation service for scientists and…
Abstract
Since the start of its operations the National Lending Library, now Incorporated in the British Library Lending Division, has provided a translation service for scientists and technologists resident in the United Kingdom. The service was extended to include social science in 1970 and the humanities in 1973. Under this scheme the library will arrange for a translation of a Russian, a Japanese, or in some cases an East European, article or book provided that the following conditions are satisfied:
DN Wood and J Ferguson
Many papers have appeared during the last 40 years which show how usage of, and citations to, scientific and technical literature is concentrated on a few journals (the so‐called…
Abstract
Many papers have appeared during the last 40 years which show how usage of, and citations to, scientific and technical literature is concentrated on a few journals (the so‐called core literature). However, very little information has been published on the proportions of articles which are contained in what number of journals. In conjunction with citation and use data, information on this should be of great value to librarians concerned with periodical collections.
BP Thompson and DN Wood
Interlibrary loan/photocopy systems can be compared on several grounds including speed, cost and satisfaction rate. This paper looks at the first and examines the viability of one…
Abstract
Interlibrary loan/photocopy systems can be compared on several grounds including speed, cost and satisfaction rate. This paper looks at the first and examines the viability of one or more international centres providing back‐up services to national library resources. The study was carried out at the British Library Lending Division and is based on the time taken for requests to be received from all over the world and for items to be despatched to the same places. Figures are presented which enable total turn‐round times to be calculated for each country. They show for instance that requests from Western Europe can be dealt with in less than two weeks and that requesters in Australia can hope to receive photocopies 15 days after despatching their requests.
DN Wood and Frederick G Kilgour
The Lending Division of the British Library continues to assemble at Boston Spa as comprehensive a collection as possible of the world's worthwhile serial literature in all…
Abstract
The Lending Division of the British Library continues to assemble at Boston Spa as comprehensive a collection as possible of the world's worthwhile serial literature in all languages and subject fields. Its current holdings are listed in its annual directory Current Serials Received. For the last few years there has been a remarkably uniform net increase of 4% in the number of titles received, and in August 1978 the total exceeded 50,000 for the first time. The graph (Figure 1) shows how the collection of current serials has grown over the years. The relatively steep parts of the curve around 1967 and 1972 are the result of a broadening of the library's scope to include firstly social science and secondly humanities. 37% of the titles come from just two countries — the USA (20.3%) and GB (16.8%). Only two other countries, Germany (8.3%) and the USSR (6.4%), are responsible for more than 5%. The complete breakdown is shown in the following table.
A survey of indexing and abstracting tools held at the University of Tasmania's library was conducted to determine the amount of foreign language materials available to…
Abstract
A survey of indexing and abstracting tools held at the University of Tasmania's library was conducted to determine the amount of foreign language materials available to researchers working at the University. The research workers themselves were also surveyed in order to ascertain the effects of the foreign language barrier on their ability to access information relevant to their fields of study. The data suggests that there is a considerable barrier which adversely affects information dissemination and that there exists a need for the development of library services especially designed to confront this barrier.
The British Library has recently reviewed its role in the provision of short courses. Courses that the Library currently provides are described and future plans discussed. It will…
Abstract
The British Library has recently reviewed its role in the provision of short courses. Courses that the Library currently provides are described and future plans discussed. It will concentrate on two types of course a) user education and b) disseminating its special library/information knowledge and experience to others in the library/information field. Little is known about the need for user education amongst different classes and level of user. The Library will therefore develop initially a programme of courses which extends its experience and aims to discover the needs of a range of different users.
Etta J. Vinik and Aaron I. Vinik
We review the conceptualization of quality of life (QOL) past and present, providing a new definition that transcends the traditional approach. We discuss the importance of QOL as…
Abstract
We review the conceptualization of quality of life (QOL) past and present, providing a new definition that transcends the traditional approach. We discuss the importance of QOL as a mandatory assessment in patient care and clinical trials, concurring with the need for disease-specific tools and focusing on a nerve fiber-specific tool for assessing impacts of diabetic neuropathies on QOL and activities of daily living (ADLs) used in multi-center clinical trials and translated into different languages. By relating neuropathic disabilities to different nerve fibers, the Norfolk Quality of Life – Diabetic Neuropathy (QOL-DN) is able to measure impacts of nerve-fiber-specific neurotrophic therapies, providing pertinent endpoints to changes in health status and QOL.
PHILIPPE HRYCAJ, SERGE CESCOTTO and J. OUDIN
Inside the finite element framework of LAGAMINE code, the contact conditions are introduced with specific two‐node interface elements and four‐node quadrangular elements or…
Abstract
Inside the finite element framework of LAGAMINE code, the contact conditions are introduced with specific two‐node interface elements and four‐node quadrangular elements or four‐node one point quadrature elements. A non‐associated flow rule is involved for sliding unilateral contact modelling. Two methods of penalty factor computations in the penalty contact algorithms are presented. These methods are then used for contact modelling of two isothermal examples: axisymmetric tube expansion and asymmetric slab bending, the material bulk constitutive equation being isotropic and elasto‐plastic.
Details
Keywords
Brou Ettien Fulgence, Xuhua Hu, Otu Larbi-Siaw, Siele Jean Tuo and Franck Edouard Gnahe
This study builds on knowledge-based view (KBV) research and the natural resource-based view of the firm (NRBV) to examine the effect of knowledge absorptive capacity on…
Abstract
Purpose
This study builds on knowledge-based view (KBV) research and the natural resource-based view of the firm (NRBV) to examine the effect of knowledge absorptive capacity on innovative performance. It also investigates the mediating role of three dimensions of the cluster environment: degree of network, institutional environment and access to factors of production.
Design/methodology/approach
By means of partial least squares-based structural equation modelling method, the study validated and analysed the responses of 503 owners and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the wood industrial cluster of Cote d'Ivoire, a developing economy.
Findings
The analysis and results reveal that knowledge absorptive capacity strongly predicts cluster environment and innovation performance. Moreover, the cluster environment emerged as a powerful determinant of innovation performance and a mediator of the effect of knowledge absorptive capacity on innovation performance. Unequivocally, institutional support has no significant impact on knowledge absorptive capacity (KAC) and innovative performance mediation relationship and is not a key determinant of innovative performance.
Originality/value
This study offers a key departure from past studies by linking knowledge absorptive capacity to innovative performance and the cluster environment in SMEs. It also extends knowledge concerning the role of KBV, NRBV and relational theory in innovation performance.
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Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to examine how contemporary fact-checking is discursively constructed in Swedish news media; this serves to gain insight into how this practice is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how contemporary fact-checking is discursively constructed in Swedish news media; this serves to gain insight into how this practice is understood in society.
Design/methodology/approach
A selection of texts on the topic of fact-checking published by two of Sweden’s largest morning newspapers is analyzed through the lens of Fairclough’s discourse theoretical framework.
Findings
Three key discourses of fact-checking were identified, each of which included multiple sub-discourses. First, a discourse that has been labeled as “the affirmative discourse,” representing fact-checking as something positive, was identified. This discourse embraces ideas about fact-checking as something that, for example, strengthens democracy. Second, a contrasting discourse that has been labeled “the adverse discourse” was identified. This discourse represents fact-checking as something precarious that, for example, poses a risk to democracy. Third, a discourse labeled “the agency discourse” was identified. This discourse conveys ideas on whose responsibility it is to conduct fact-checking.
Originality/value
A better understanding of the discursive construction of fact-checking provides insights into social practices pertaining to it and the expectations of its role in contemporary society. The results are relevant for journalists and professionals who engage in fact-checking and for others who have a particular interest in fact-checking, e.g. librarians and educators engaged in media and information literacy projects.