T.W. CALESS and D.B. KIRK
The UDC as a language for machine retrieval has been tested and found feasible using a collection of seismological literature. The system developed is flexible and can be adjusted…
Abstract
The UDC as a language for machine retrieval has been tested and found feasible using a collection of seismological literature. The system developed is flexible and can be adjusted to any desired level of exhaustivity of indexing. A description is given of the technique for handling UDC relationships, recording the input data, and searching the data file using an IBM 1401 computer.
It would indeed be pleasant to be able to begin this paper with the relation of many striking and significant advances made since I last spoke on the topic to Aslib, at the 1965…
Abstract
It would indeed be pleasant to be able to begin this paper with the relation of many striking and significant advances made since I last spoke on the topic to Aslib, at the 1965 Annual Conference at the University of Keele. Such, alas, is not possible; it would not be too much to say, of the social sciences as a whole, what R. B. Joynson has recently said of Psychology: ‘The present sub‐divisions of Psychology are not, for the most part, the fruit of any agreed and deliberate analysis. They are historical flotsam—a haphazard collection of topics … brashly inflated by a hand‐to‐mouth empiricism into one great blooming buzzing confusion.’ Although there are a few bright patches of orderliness, I fear that much of our subject presents something of the same confusion; while I am certain that the same hand‐to‐mouth empiricism is earnestly providing classification and indexing with more than its fair share of historical flotsam.
The Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) is able to provide a detailed description of the subject content of a document in any area. Its hierarchical and synthetic structure…
Abstract
The Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) is able to provide a detailed description of the subject content of a document in any area. Its hierarchical and synthetic structure, which is generally reflected in its notation, should enable computer searching for hierarchically‐related subjects and for the individual facets of a complex subject. The possibilities of using these features in automated retrieval are discussed, and attention is drawn to places where the UDC falls short. A number of online catalogues, databases, and information retrieval packages are discussed in terms of their ability to allow searching on UDC numbers. The most sophisticated ones, such as ETHICS at the ETH Library, use a separate file of verbal descriptors linked to the document file through UDC numbers. Suggestions are made for enhancing retrieval performance on UDC numbers in simple systems, and for ways in which the classification might be developed to improve automated searching.
The group has continued to meet regularly since the publication of the last bulletin and has welcomed a number of new members and visitors from both home and overseas. Many…
Abstract
The group has continued to meet regularly since the publication of the last bulletin and has welcomed a number of new members and visitors from both home and overseas. Many members who joined at the beginning or very early on in the Group's history still attend regularly, but several long‐standing members have also left, or ceased active participation, in the period under review. Towards the end of 1972 Mr Wells relinquished the chairmanship of the Group, due to pressure of work, and his place was taken by Mr Mills. Another departure, and one that robbed the Group of one of its most active and forceful members, was that of Jason Farradane. He left the country in 1974, and the Group presented him with a book as a memento of many enjoyable and provocative discussions stimulated by his presence at the meetings which he unfailingly attended. It was with great pleasure that he was welcomed back to a meeting while he was visiting this country in January 1976.
The purposes of a subject index in a small information service are examined and the organizational aspects of the Big information Centre and the Small Service in relation to the…
Abstract
The purposes of a subject index in a small information service are examined and the organizational aspects of the Big information Centre and the Small Service in relation to the descriptor level are analyzed. The advantages of co‐ordinate indexing versus the conventional hierarchical classification in meeting complex information needs are pointed out. Through an evaluation of the flexible structure of the thesauri, the lower‐level but otherwise similar vocabulary needs of the small service are discussed. The use of the UDC to effect the level transitions required to adapt the thesauri to the needs of the Small Service is examined. It is shown how an improved subject index for the Soreq book collection has been constructed by the combined use of the EURATOM Thesaurus and the UDC. Examples to illustrate the design of this index are given. In the interest of expanding the co‐operation between the small Service and big centre, the idea of a multi‐level thesaurus is proposed.
The speaker explained that the stimulus for the SRC proposal came partially from the UNISIST study report in which the working group responsible for subject specification had…
Abstract
The speaker explained that the stimulus for the SRC proposal came partially from the UNISIST study report in which the working group responsible for subject specification had drawn attention to the need for better tools for the control and conversion of information retrieval languages, such as UDC and to the need for further study and experiments. The working group had already considered a study undertaken at their request by a team from the Aslib Research Department under Mr B. C. Vickery in which, however, only the term content of different schemes, mainly in the English language and including UDC, were compared. When this investigation was carried out in 1969, only twenty of the expected one hundred parts of the English Full edition were available, whereas now there are eighty. Even so, UDC was less defective (including over 80 per cent) in content of terms than the other major general schemes of classification studied, i.e. BC, CC and DDC. The study also included a comparison between the classificatory relations used in some major thesauri, i.e. the EJC/TEST, NLM/MeSH and EURATOM thesaurus, with those used in the general classifications already mentioned. As far as UDC was concerned, this did not compare as favourably as more recent studies by Kara, Öhman and Ölivecrona, and Stueart, and Wellisch. This was partly because the Aslib study did not take into account the well‐known synthetic characteristics of UDC, i.e. the use of colon combinations and of common and special auxiliary subdivisions. He maintained that FID should not have embarked upon a programme of radical revision based upon the proposals for an SRC (see Aslib Proc., Vol. 24, no. 4, April 1972, p. 222–5) because:
Mary B. Sarver and Holly Miller
– The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership styles of police chiefs and how these styles related to demographic, personality, and effectiveness.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the leadership styles of police chiefs and how these styles related to demographic, personality, and effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants included 161 police chiefs in Texas who completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 5X-Short) leader form, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and a background characteristics form.
Findings
Results indicate that the police chiefs were fairly evenly classified across leadership styles with the Transformational leaders rated as most effective. Transformational leaders are characterized as confident, energetic, and open-minded. Although few of the demographic variables predicted leadership styles, several of the personality characteristics were significant predictors.
Originality/value
Few previous studies have reported the relationship between police leadership style, personality, and effectiveness. This study adds to the body of knowledge regarding the relationship between these variables by specifically targeting police chiefs.
Details
Keywords
Classification is so fundamental and pervasive an activity that care is needed to define its scope when discussing a particular application, such as information retrieval.
Ramya Yarlagadda, Catherine Bailey, Amanda Shantz, Patrick Briône and Ksenia Zheltoukhova
The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of purposeful and ethical leadership in a UK county police force – referred to by the pseudonym PoliceOrg. The paper also…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of purposeful and ethical leadership in a UK county police force – referred to by the pseudonym PoliceOrg. The paper also evaluates the extent to which officers feel their values fit with those of the organisation, and the outcomes achieved by purposeful and ethical leaders.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey, interviews and focus groups were conducted at PoliceOrg. The findings are compared with those from a public sector case study and with a representative sample of the UK working population.
Findings
Purposeful leaders at PoliceOrg have a positive impact on important outcomes for their direct reports and provide a sense of direction and guidance to those who do not feel a strong fit between their values and those of their organisation.
Research limitations/implications
The study focuses on a new construct (purposeful leadership) that has not previously been explored in the academic literature. Consequently, the findings cannot be directly compared with those of other studies. The survey focused on the views of police sergeants and constables, and only one police force participated as a case study; hence, the generalisability of the findings is limited.
Practical implications
Police organisations should nurture and sustain workplace environments where leaders can translate their personal moral code and ethical values into their role behaviours to address the policing challenges of the future.
Originality/value
This study elucidates the concept of purposeful leadership in the context of a police force.