scholarly journals Research Support through Programming: Developing an Automation-Assisted Literature Search

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin A Thomas ◽  
Marcella E. Barnhart

This case study describes the work of librarians at the Lippincott Library of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in developing a novel approach to supporting research through programming. Approached by researchers for assistance with a large-scale literature search that also involved text extraction, we utilized both traditional bibliographic indexes (Web of Science) and citation management tools (EndNote) and less-traditional tools like the programming language Python and a PDF extraction program (LA-PDFText) to approach different sections of the project. This article outlines that process and briefly discusses the potential for developing new services in business libraries around programmatic research support.

Author(s):  
Lori Stahlbrand

This paper traces the partnership between the University of Toronto and the non-profit Local Food Plus (LFP) to bring local sustainable food to its St. George campus. At its launch, the partnership represented the largest purchase of local sustainable food at a Canadian university, as well as LFP’s first foray into supporting institutional procurement of local sustainable food. LFP was founded in 2005 with a vision to foster sustainable local food economies. To this end, LFP developed a certification system and a marketing program that matched certified farmers and processors to buyers. LFP emphasized large-scale purchases by public institutions. Using information from in-depth semi-structured key informant interviews, this paper argues that the LFP project was a disruptive innovation that posed a challenge to many dimensions of the established food system. The LFP case study reveals structural obstacles to operationalizing a local and sustainable food system. These include a lack of mid-sized infrastructure serving local farmers, the domination of a rebate system of purchasing controlled by an oligopolistic foodservice sector, and embedded government support of export agriculture. This case study is an example of praxis, as the author was the founder of LFP, as well as an academic researcher and analyst.


Author(s):  
Steven Conn

This chapter examines why educational leaders and businessmen in the United States thought it was a good idea to establish business schools in the first place. The answer often offered at the time was that American business itself had grown so big and complex by the turn of the twentieth century that a new university-level education was now required for the new world of managerial work. However, the more powerful rationale was that businessmen wanted the social status and cultural cachet that came with a university degree. The chapter then looks at the Wharton School of Finance and Economy at the University of Pennsylvania, which was founded in 1881 and became the first business school in the United States. All of the more than six hundred business schools founded in the nearly century and a half since descend from Wharton.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 1021-1023

Enghin Atalay of University of Wisconsin-Madison reviews “Financial and Macroeconomic Connectedness: A Network Approach to Measurement and Monitoring”, by Francis X. Diebold and Kamil Yilmaz. The Econlit abstract of this book begins: “Presents a framework for defining, measuring, and monitoring connectedness, focusing on connectedness in financial and related macroeconomic environments. Discusses measuring and monitoring financial and macroeconomic connectedness; US asset classes; major US financial institutions; global stock markets; sovereign bond markets; foreign exchange markets; assets across countries; and global business cycles. Diebold is Paul F. and Warren S. Miller Professor of Economics and Professor of Finance and Statistics in the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Yilmaz is Professor of Economics at Koç University.”


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Zhang ◽  
Ying Xiong ◽  
Yujia Cai ◽  
Linli Zheng ◽  
Yonggang Zhang

ObjectiveThe present study aimed to identify and analyze the bibliometric characteristics of the 100 top-cited studies on neuropsychology.MethodsWe searched the Web of Science Core Collection database to collect studies on neuropsychology from inception to 31st December 2019. Two authors independently screened the literature and extracted the data. Statistical analyses were performed using R software.ResultsThe 100 top-cited articles were cited a total of 166,123 times, ranging from 736 to 24,252 times per article. All of the studies were published from 1967 to 2014 in 47 journals. Neuropsychologia had the highest number of articles (n = 17), followed by Neurology (n = 8). The top three most productive countries were the USA (n = 60), England (n = 13), and Canada (n = 8). Eight authors contributed the same number of studies as the first author (n = 2) or corresponding author (n = 2). The most productive institute was the University of California (n = 9), followed by the University of Pennsylvania (n = 4). Of the 100 top-cited publications, 64 were original articles, and 36 were reviews. The top three Web of Science categories were clinical neurology (n = 28), behavioral sciences (n = 19), and psychiatry (n = 11).ConclusionThis study provides insight into the impact of neuropsychology research and may help doctors, researchers, and stakeholders to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of trends and most influential contributions to the field, thus promoting ideas for future investigation.


Author(s):  
Richard Butterworth

This chapter argues the case that there is a mismatch between current meta-data standards for the description of archival holdings and what many users actually want to know about a collection. Standard archival descriptions objectively describe what is in a collection, whereas users wish to know what they can do with a collection. It is argued that matching users’ research questions to library resources that could help answer those questions is a crucial social role played by librarians, archivists and other front line staff. However placing descriptions of what is in a collection online for users to search directly risks disintermediating the users from library staff. ‘Use centred descriptions’ are proposed as a way of systematically describing what can be done with a collection, and are, in effect, an encoding of library staff’s knowledge about what can be done with a collection. Its is therefore argued that use centred descriptions repair some of dissintermediation gaps caused by putting collection descriptions online. A theoretical motivation for use centred descriptions is presented by showing how Heaney’s (1999) analytic model of collections, which underlies the Research Support Libraries Programme (RSLP) collection description standard, only addresses finding and identifying resources. We augment this model to address selecting resources from a range of possibilities and show how use centred descriptions stem from this augmentation. A case study is presented demonstrating the experience of developing a set of use centred descriptions for the University of London as part of a project to encourage wider access to their archival holdings. The project had necessarily limited aims, and therefore conclusions are drawn about the viability of use centred descriptions in wider domains.


Author(s):  
Sarah Robbins ◽  
Debra Engel

This case study examines the use of committees to develop a Web content management system in an academic library. It explains the process undertaken at the University of Oklahoma Libraries (libraries.ou.edu) to move from an HTML to a database-driven Web site and the issues involved with using committees to steer such projects. Creating a framework where librarians use locally developed content management tools to control Web site content while the systems office retains control of the presentation of content is also discussed. Another aspect of the case study includes the evolution of Web committees in the organization, the development of a system-wide philosophy, and the gradual acceptance of the Web site as a service that demands continual attention. The authors hope readers will benefit from these experiences when implementing similar projects.


2010 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 1057-1059

Adam Saunders of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania reviews “Information Technology and Productivity Growth: German Trends and OECD Comparisons” by Theo S. Eicher, Thomas Strobel,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Explores, from an OECD perspective, how information and communication technology (ICT) affects economic growth, focusing on the case of Germany. Discusses deriving new economy data at the industry level; industry origins of the U.S. productivity accelerations and Germany’s productivity slump; ICT intensity and productivity growth--an international comparison; ICT and productivity--software investments as the decisive driver; education and ICT investment complementarities; and industry productivity, research and development intensity, and ICT investment. Eicher is Professor and Robert R. Richards Distinguished Scholar in the Department of Economics at the University of Washington and Affiliate Professor at the Ludwig-Maximilians University. Strobel is an economist with the Department of International Institutional Comparisons at the Ifo Institute for Economic Research. Index.”


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Tina F. Sheppard

This qualitative case study of one small private Catholic university in the northeast examines the perceptions of experienced (i.e. second to third year staff) and inexperienced (i.e. newly hired staff) student resident assistants. Specifically, this study focuses on the observations and insights of experienced and inexperienced staff as it relates to peer presented training and the overall training curriculum. The university employees a traditional training timeline with large-scale trainings occurring immediately prior to the opening of fall and spring semesters and smaller onehour trainings occurring throughout each semester. The resident assistant staff likewise follows a common model employing a number of new, first year resident assistants as well as a smaller number of second and third year resident assistants called senior residents assistants (the word "senior" implies the student staff member has at least one year of experience; it does not reference the student's academic year). The student to resident assistant ratio is a comfortable 30:1 with students living in traditional and suite style residence halls as well as apartments for upper-division students and graduates. Overall, the residential program studied is very similar to any number of other residential programs across the country. The one possible exception is the use of experienced student staff (senior resident assistants) to train inexperienced student staff (resident assistants). While this training model is not unique to the university of study, there are data to determine how common this model is, nor has there been any research related to the student staff perceptions of the effectiveness of such a model. The results of this qualitative case study reveal the training impressions of nine resident and senior resident assistants with the aim of understanding how they experienced training, their thoughts related to the use of peer presented trainers, and how they saw peer presented trainers influencing the overall staff experience. Three themes emerged: the use of experienced student staff as teachers, mentors, and supervisors. In this study I conclude the use of experienced student staff as teachers and mentors is both appropriate in this setting and desired by both experienced and inexperienced staff. However, the use of the experienced student staff position as supervisors is not viewed as appropriate by either experienced or inexperienced student staff and is cautioned against.


Author(s):  
Chioma Okandu ◽  
Chizy Akani ◽  
Warebi Brisibe

The paper examines the issues of building maintenance of public buildings from an architectural design-based perspective.It considered the critical role design plays in achieving the optimal functionality of building services throughout the building life span. Design related elements and components which facilitate maintainability are discussed. Institutional buildings at the university in their current state are considered against these dimensions. The research adopts a case study/ review approach. The study focused on multi-story structures existing in the university. Findings of the study reveal poor considerations for maintainability in design processes, resulting in inefficiency of building services on a large scale.


Author(s):  
Joanna Ewa Sycz-Opoń

This paper presents a typology of information-seeking styles exhibited by 52 students of the MA translation and interpreting programme at the University of Silesia, Poland. The typology emerged during the large-scale investigation into trainee translators’ research behaviour occurring during translation of a legal text from English into Polish (Sycz-Opoń 2019). The method of investigation combined observation of students’ recorded performances with a think-aloud protocol (TAP). The case-study analysis brought to light significant variation in student’s information-seeking behaviour, which had gone unnoticed in the aggregate statistical data. Individual differences included students’ source preference, search intensity, level of criticism towards sources, diligence, risk-taking, self-confidence, and source reliance. As a result of the analysis the six research styles emerged: traditionalist, innovator, minimalist, true detective, procrastinator, and habitual doubter. They are presented in this paper with special attention to each style’s strengths, weaknesses and recommended teaching approaches. The results suggest the need for information-seeking training geared towards the diverse needs of individual students.


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