scholarly journals Undergraduates Prefer Federated Searching to Searching Databases Individually

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve Gore

A Review of: Belliston, C. Jeffrey, Jared L. Howland, & Brian C. Roberts. “Undergraduate Use of Federated Searching: A Survey of Preferences and Perceptions of Value-Added Functionality.” College & Research Libraries 68.6 (Nov. 2007): 472-86. Objective – To determine whether use of federated searching by undergraduates saves time, meets their information needs, is preferred over searching databases individually, and provides results of higher quality. Design – Crossover study. Setting – Three American universities, all members of the Consortium of Church Libraries & Archives (CCLA): BYU (Brigham Young University, a large research university); BYUH (Brigham Young University – Hawaii, a small baccalaureate college); and BYUI (Brigham Young University – Idaho, a large baccalaureate college) Subjects – Ninety-five participants recruited via e-mail invitations sent to a random sample of currently enrolled undergraduates at BYU, BYUH, and BYUI. Methods – Participants were given written directions to complete a literature search for journal articles on two biology-related topics using two search methods: 1. federated searching with WebFeat® (implemented in the same way for this study at the three universities) and 2. a hyperlinked list of databases to search individually. Both methods used the same set of seven databases. Each topic was assigned in random order to one of the two search methods, also assigned in random order, for a total of two searches per participant. The time to complete the searches was recorded. Students compiled their list of citations, which were later normalized and graded. To analyze the quality of the citations, one quantitative rubric was created by librarians and one qualitative rubric was approved by a faculty member at BYU. The librarian-created rubric included the journal impact factor (from ISI’s Journal Citation Reports®), the proportion of citations from peer-reviewed journals (determined from Ulrichsweb.com™) to total citations, and the timeliness of the articles. The faculty-approved rubric included three criteria: relevance to the topic, quality of the individual citations (good quality: primary research results, peer-reviewed sources), and number of citations. Data were then analysed using ANOVA and MANOVA. Finally, librarians at the ACRL 13th National Conference Presentation were polled about their perceptions of the time savings of federated searching, whether the method meets undergraduates’ information needs, undergraduate preference for searching, and the quality of citations found. Main Results – Seventy percent of all participants preferred federated searching. For all schools combined, there was no statistically significant difference between the average time taken using federated searching (20.34 minutes) vs. non-federated searching (22.72 minutes). For all schools combined, there was a statistically significant difference in satisfaction of results favouring federated searching (5.59/7 vs. 4.80/7 for non-federated searching, α = .05). According to the librarian-created rubric, citations retrieved from federated searching were a statistically significant 6% lower in quality than citations retrieved from non-federated searching (α = .05). The faculty-approved rubric did not detect a difference in the quality of the citations retrieved using the 2 methods. Librarians’ perceptions as assessed at the ACRL 13th National Conference Presentation generally matched the authors’ findings. Conclusion – Overall, students in this study preferred federated searching, were more satisfied with the results of federated searching, and saved time (although the savings were not statistically significant). The quality of citations retrieved via both methods was judged to be similar. The study provides useful information for librarians interested in users’ experiences and perceptions of federated searching, and indicates future studies worth conducting.

1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 209-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Wootton ◽  
J. Dornan ◽  
N. M. Fisk ◽  
A. Harper ◽  
C. Barry-Kinsella ◽  
...  

Six subspecialists with considerable experience in fetal ultrasound viewed a selection of pre-recorded ultrasound scans. Scans from 18 patients recorded on VHS video-tape were supplied from five centres in the UK and Ireland, each made on a high-resolution ultrasound machine by an experienced sonologist at a referral centre. Each observer viewed the scans on a large display monitor in an individual viewing booth. The scans were viewed in random order, at randomly selected bandwidths. Observers, who were blinded to both recording and bandwidth, assessed the technical quality on a five-point Likert scale. They also recorded their diagnosis. The six observers each carried out 32 viewing sessions, which gave a total of 192 viewings. There was no significant difference in the perceived technical quality of the scans between the two bandwidths used P 0.09 . Of the 84 recordings transmitted at 1920 kbit s, 71 85 were diagnosed correctly or half correctly' and 13 15 were misdiagnosed. Of the 95 recordings transmitted at 384 kbit s, 66 69 were diagnosed correctly or half correctly' and 29 31 were misdiagnosed. This difference was significant P 0.03. The results indicate that although there were no perceived differences in technical quality between recordings transmitted at 384 or 1920 kbit s, diagnostic accuracy was marginally worse at the lower bandwidth. This suggests that the higher bandwidth conveys more detail and information to the observer, which in turn enables more accurate diagnosis. However, further work is required before a definitive choice can be made about the optimum transmission bandwidth for remote fetal ultrasound studies.


2007 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 472-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Jeffrey Belliston ◽  
Jared L. Howland ◽  
Brian C. Roberts

Randomly selected undergraduates at Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University-Idaho, and Brigham Young University-Hawaii, all private universities sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, participated in a study that investigated four questions regarding federated searching: (1) Does it save time? (2) Do undergraduates prefer it? (3) Are undergraduates satisfied with the results they get from it? (4) Does it yield higher-quality results than nonfederated searching? Federated searching was, on average, 11 percent faster than nonfederated searching. Undergraduates rated their satisfaction with the citations gathered by federated searching 17 percent higher than their satisfaction using nonfederated search methods. A majority of undergraduates, 70 percent, preferred federated searching to the alternative. This study could not ultimately determine which of the two search methods yielded higher citation quality. The study does shed light on assumptions about federated searching and will interest librarians in different types of academic institutions, given the diversity of the three institutions studied.


Author(s):  
R.S. Sonwane ◽  
S.B. Sonkamble

Background: The recent market trend of Diabetic products is increasing very fast due to awareness in consumers about the benefits of the products for sound health. It is estimated that around 8-12% of the global population buys diabetic products on regular basis. Shrikhand is fermented dairy product prepared by blending chakka, a semi-solid mass obtained after draining whey from dahi, with sugar, and other ingredients. In the preparation process of both sugar and Jaggary powder, sweeteners are different. While manufacturing White Sugar, harmful chemicals like Phosphoric acid, Sulfur Dioxide, Calcium Hydroxide, Polyacrylamide and Bone Char are used. Jaggery is far better than white sugar, Jaggery is far better than white sugar, because of its nutritional significance of sucrose (C12H22O11), with traces of mineral salts, iron, and some fiber. Shrikhand is a highly refreshing and energy dense dairy dessert due to its high fat, protein and carbohydrates content. Hence, the current study aimed at evaluating the effect of Jaggery powder on the sensory quality and Nutritional quality of shrikhand in order to manage and control eating calorie-rich food like sugar increases the risk of diabetes.Method: In this study Laboratory investigation during 2019-2020 conducted. The experiment was carried out in the Department of Dairy science Research Centre, Yeshwant Mahavidyalaya Nanded, MS. To utilize jaggery powder in place of sugar, value added shrikhand prepared by replacing 45 % sugar replaced with three levels of sugar i.e. 31, 41, and 51% Jaggery powder was used and study was laid in Completely Randomized Design with three replication. The effect of all treated samples and their interaction were studied on the sensory quality of Shrikhand. Conclusion: In present investigation the effect of Jaggery powder on the sensory and nutritional quality of value added Shrikhand was studied, on the basis of sensory and chemical qualities. There was a significant difference (P less than 0.05) in overall acceptability scores observed between all treatment combinations. Higher acceptability score (7.99) indicating superior acceptability among experimental samples. The mean liking was in the following trend: SO greater than S2 greater than S1 greater than S3 .The present work showed that Shrikhand (S2) prepared with 41% Jaggery powder had more acceptable quality characteristics among all the experimental samples. The nutritional parameters were significantly (p less than 0.05) differ except protein. It is acceptable that sugar can be replaced with Jaggery powder on an equal weight basis in preparation of shrikhand.


2009 ◽  
pp. 132-143
Author(s):  
K. Sonin ◽  
I. Khovanskaya

Hiring decisions are typically made by committees members of which have different capacity to estimate the quality of candidates. Organizational structure and voting rules in the committees determine the incentives and strategies of applicants; thus, construction of a modern university requires a political structure that provides committee members and applicants with optimal incentives. The existing political-economic model of informative voting typically lacks any degree of variance in the organizational structure, while political-economic models of organization typically assume a parsimonious information structure. In this paper, we propose a simple framework to analyze trade-offs in optimal subdivision of universities into departments and subdepartments, and allocation of political power.


2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Geethanjali N ◽  
Parveen Roja M ◽  
Lavanya D

Quality of work life is the major factor to be considered in working environment of any organization. The performance of employees and the organization lies on the ability of the employees based on working environment. The QWL leads to better working environment which improves the performance of organization. The present study has made an attempt to find the level of factors causing QWL and the impact of outcome of QWL in banks. Since the profile of the banks may be associated with the level of outcomes of QWL, the present study has made an attempt to examine it with the help of one way analysis of variance and t-test. The included outcomes of QWL are job satisfaction, job stress, organizational climate, organizational commitment, employees retention behaviour, service quality employees and service productivity of employees. The highly associated determinants of QWL and the significant difference among the PUSBs and PRSBs have been noticed. The significantly associating important profiles of the banks regarding the existence of outcome of QWL are identified.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 76-81
Author(s):  
Chu Cao Minh ◽  
Thang Vo Van ◽  
Dat Nguyen Tan ◽  
Hung Vo Thanh

Background: The criteria set of assessing hospital quality in Vietnam in 2016 was revied from the criteria set in 2013 by the Ministry of Health in order to help hospitals to self-assess towards improvinge quality of hospitals in the international integration context. The study aimed to assess the quality of public hospitals in Can Tho City according to the revised criteria set of the Ministry of Health in 2016 and compare the quality among three hospital ranks (including grade I, grade II, and grade III) via to 5 groups of quality criteria. Methods: A cross-sectional study, using secondary data analysis was applied to assess the service quality of 7 general public hospitals in Can Tho City. Results: The average total score of 7 hospitals is 245 and the average for the criteria of 7 hospitals is 2.99, which is just satisfactory. In the criterion of quality, criterion D and E had the lowest scores compared to the other three groups. There was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.076) among the mean scores for the three hospital categories. Conclusion: The quality of public hospitals in Can Tho city in 2016 only reached moderately good level (2.99). Interventions should be developed to improve the quality of hospitals, with particular emphasis on improving the quality of criteria groups D and E. Key words: Quality, hospital, medicine, health, public, Can Tho


2008 ◽  
Vol 47 (01) ◽  
pp. 37-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Pfluger ◽  
V. Schneider ◽  
M. Hacker ◽  
N. Bröckel ◽  
D. Morhard ◽  
...  

SummaryAim: Assessment of the clinical benefit of i.v. contrast enhanced diagnostic CT (CE-CT) compared to low dose CT with 20 mAs (LD-CT) without contrast medium in combined [18F]-FDG PET/CT examinations in restaging of patients with lymphoma. Patients, methods: 45 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 35) and Hodgkin's disease (n = 10) were included into this study. PET, LD-CT and CECT were analyzed separately as well as side-by-side. Lymphoma involvement was evaluated separately for seven regions. Indeterminate diagnoses were accepted whenever there was a discrepancy between PET and CT findings. Results for combined reading were calculated by rating indeterminate diagnoses according the suggestions of either CT or PET. Each patient had a clinical follow-up evaluation for >6 months. Results: Region-based evaluation suggested a sensitivity/specificity of 66/93% for LD-CT, 87%/91% for CE-CT, 95%/96% for PET, 94%/99% for PET/LD-CT and 96%/99% for PET/CE-CT. The data for PET/CT were obtained by rating indeterminate results according to the suggestions of PET, which turned out to be superior to CT. Lymphoma staging was changed in two patients using PET/ CE-CT as compared to PET/LD-CT. Conclusion: Overall, there was no significant difference between PET/LD-CT and PET/CE-CT. However, PET/CE-CT yielded a more precise lesion delineation than PET/LD-CT. This was due to the improved image quality of CE-CT and might lead to a more accurate investigation of lymphoma.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tri Nurhudi Sasono

Abstract : Indicator of the health welfare through Sustanable Development Goals (SDGs) is to reduce the incidence of HIV-AIDS, decrease the rate of the epidemic and maintain the quality of life of people living with HIV-AIDS (PLWHA). Trend cases of HIV-AIDS is the most recent spread among people, especially housewives. In Malang until 2015 found 278 Housewife of 409 cases of AIDS. The prevalence of HIV-AIDS in Malang Regency is ranked second after Surabaya city in East Java. For the importance of public participation and citizen care AIDS Cahaya Care Turen take responsibility for the condition. Determination Rule Goverment number 2 2015 year on the Participation of the community response to HIV-AIDS in Malang as a legal rule. Concerned Citizens activities AIDS (WPA). WPA Cahaya Care Turen is increases HIV risk and quality of life PLWHA. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of Citizens AIDS Cahaya Care Quality of Care Turen against people living with HIV in Puskesmas Turen Malang. The study design using a quasi-experimental, with purposive sampling using a sampling technique. Total number of research subjects 23. Based on test results obtained with the Wilcoxon p value <0.005, which means that there is a significant difference before and after PLWHA joining participated in the WPA Cahaya Care Turen. The conclusion of this study is WPA activities involving people living with HIV and at risk groups can optimize compliance with antiretroviral drugs that have an impact on improving the quality of life of PLHIV. Suggestions in this research is done WPA Program activities are structured and ongoing cross-sector in order to improve the quality of life and empower PLWHA.Keywords : WPA Cahaya Care Turen, Quality of life, PLWHA Abstrak : Salah satu indikator kesejahteraan kesehatan melalui Sustanable Development Goals (SDGs) adalah menekan angka kejadian HIV-AIDS, menurunkan laju epidemik dan mempertahankan kualitas hidup Orang dengan HIV-AIDS (ODHA). Trend kasus HIV-AIDS terkini terbanyak adalah menjangkit dikalangan masyarakat khususnya pada ibu rumah tangga. Kabupaten Malang sampai dengan tahun 2015 ditemukan 278 Ibu Rumah Tangga dari 409 kasus AIDS. Prevalensi HIV-AIDS di Kabupaten Malang ini merupakan peringkat kedua di Jawa Timur setelah Kota Surabaya. Untuk itu pentingnya peran serta masyarakat dan warga peduli AIDS Cahaya Care Turen ikut bertanggung jawab terhadap kondisi tersebut. Penetapan Peraturan Bupati Malang no.2 th.2015 tentang Peran serta masyarakat penanggulangan HIV-AIDS di Kabupaten Malang diharapkan dapat mengurangi risiko penularan HIV dan meningkatkan kualitas hidup ODHA. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui Peran Warga Peduli AIDS Cahaya Care Turen terhadap Kualitas ODHA Di Wilayah Kerja Puskesmas Turen Kabupaten Malang. Desain penelitian menggunakan quasi eksperimen, dengan teknik sampling menggunakan purposive sampling. Jumlah subyek penelitian sejumlah 23. Berdasarkan hasil uji dengan Wilcoxon didapatkan nilai p value < 0.005 yang berarti bahwa terdapat perbedaan bermakna sebelum dan sesudah ODHA bergabung mengikuti kegiatan WPA Cahaya Care Turen. Kesimpulan dalam penelitian ini adalah kegiatan WPA dengan melibatkan ODHA dan kelompok beresiko dapat mengoptimalkan kepatuhan obat ART sehingga berdampak terhadap peningkatan kualitas hidup ODHA. Saran dalam penelitian ini adalah dilakukannya Program kegiatan WPA yang terstruktur dan berkesinambungan lintas sektor guna meningkatkan kualitas hidup dan memberdayakan ODHA.     Kata kunci : WPA Cahaya Care Turen, kualitas hidup, ODHA


This article presents the results of studying the impact of housing and feeding conditions on broiler chickens of Hubbard RedBro cross, as well as the quality of products obtained when using floor and cage content, in a farm. It established that when receiving a mixed feed of own production using feed raw materials grown on a farm without the use of pesticides, a statistically significant decrease in potentially dangerous substances for animal health is recorded. Compared with factory feed, it has reduced the content of pesticides by 14 times, and mercury and arsenic by 24 times, cadmium by five times, and lead by ten times. The results of the study of economic indicators of growing Hubbard RedBro cross broiler chickens, as well as the chemical composition and quality of carcasses, indicated that there was no significant difference between the floor and cell conditions of keeping. Still, the use of a diet based on eco-feeds contributed to a statistically significant decrease in the concentration of toxic metals in the muscles of the poultry of the experimental groups. As a result, it found that the use of the studied compound feed in the diets of broiler chickens increased the indicators of Biosafety and ensured the production of environmentally safe ("organic") poultry meat products.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Yuriy Dumanskiy ◽  
Oleksandr Bondar ◽  
Oleksandr Tkachenko ◽  
Evhenii Stoliachuk ◽  
Vasilii Ermakov

In recent years, breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer pathology and the most common cause of disability among women in developed countries. Finding the most effective ways of interaction between the patient and the doctor creates the preconditions for the necessary analysis of the treatment process from an objective and subjective point of view. Therefore, an important indicator to be taken into account is the quality of life of a patient. To compare the indicators of a comprehensive assessment of the quality of life of patients to the adverse locally advanced forms (LA) of breast cancer before and after systemic intravenous polychemotherapy (SPCTx) and selective endolymphatic polychemotherapy (ELPCTx) in neoadjuvant mode. The study was conducted on the basis of a random analysis of outpatient cards from 112 patients with LA BC T4A-DN0-3M0 who received a comprehensive antitumor treatment on the basis of the Donetsk regional antitumor center and the University Clinic of the Odessa National Medical University from 2000 to 2017, which was proposed a questionnaire at various stages of preoperative treatment. The first (control) group consisted of 65 patients (58 %) with inoperable forms of LA BC, which was performed in neoadjuvant mode by SPCTx. The second (study group) included 47 patients (42 %) with inoperable forms of LA BC, which was performed as a neoadjuvant course ELPCTx. According to the integral indicators of quality of life and quality of health between patients in the control and study groups, there was no statistically significant difference. In a detailed analysis of the indicators of symptomatic scales, the difference between the groups did not exceed the critical. Based on the results of a study conducted among patients receiving endolymphatic chemotherapy in a neoadjuvant mode, the subjective evaluations of treatment in absolute numbers have better reference values without statistical superiority. The study of the integrative indicator of quality of life and its discrete elements is an ergonomic and economical means of heuristic assessment of the health of patients in order to further develop more rational and convenient ways of solving urgent issues of modern oncology by increasing compliance and finding a compromise between the physician and the patient.


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