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IRList Digest Volume 4 Number 06
IRList Digest Sunday, 31 January 1988 Volume 4 : Issue 6
Today's Topics:
Abstracts - New Dissertations (part 2 of 3)
News addresses are
Internet or CSNET: fox@vtopus.cs.vt.edu
BITNET: foxea@vtvax3.bitnet
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Date: Thu, 28 Jan 88 22:42:30 EST
From: "Susanne M. HUMPHREY" <humphrey@MCS.NLM.NIH.GOV>
Subject: new dissertations [Note: split into 3 -- here is part 2 - Ed]
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-20580.
AU WALKER, HAROLD JAKE JAMES.
IN Seattle University Ed.D 1987, 81 pages.
TI A MODEL FOR DEVELOPING A DATA BASE SYSTEM FOR ACCESSING SERVICES TO
ASSIST YOUTH.
SO DAI v48(06), SecA, pp1400.
DE Education, Guidance and Counseling.
AB This project provides a model for using an Apple IIe computer and
integrated Apple software to construct a computerized data base to
match youth needs with youth service agencies and providers.
An introduction reviews the dilemma in which public educational
institutions find themselves. Through a review of the literature,
an analysis of critiques of education, expectations for education,
demographic changes of family and family structure, and the
application of computer technology as a management and referral
tool is made.
Data about local service agencies were collected during 1986 and
1987 through extensive telephone interviews. Surveys administered
to school counselors, nurses, psychologists and principals
gathered their perception of referral needs. An analysis of
current youth service referral catalogs was also considered.
Evaluation of these data demonstrated that current systems are not
keeping pace with youth needs.
The major product of the study is a model for computerized data
base system. The system allows fifty service agencies to be listed
in the data base. Specific data regarding types of needs
addressed, types of services provided, types of clients served,
and financial information are included. Special attention has been
given to make the system easy for anyone to use, regardless of
their computer literacy. Instructional placards are included to
demonstrate the following functions: (1) "Booting" the Database;
(2) Specific Record Search (Matching Youth Needs with Agencies);
(3) Printing Reports; (4) Add/Change/Delete Agency Information;
(5) Designing Report Formats.
Since most educational systems today do not have unlimited
funding, the leader's role in facilitating change was considered.
Special focus was given to utilizing the strengths of educational
personnel to design and create a data base system.
Consideration was given to providing a cost effective system of
implementing a computerized data base for cataloging and
retrieving information on local youth service agencies. It was
found that by utilizing current hardware and software packages,
and by using the specialized skills of various staff members, a
database could be built for the price of a "floppy disk."
The project should not be viewed as an end product. Rather, it
should be considered as a first generation software package that
may be modified to meet local needs, and improved as computer
technology allows.
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-13300.
AU AL-SABBAGH, IMAD A.
IN The Florida State University Ph.D 1987, 275 pages.
TI THE EVOLUTION OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY OF INFORMATION SCIENCE: A
BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY.
SO DAI v48(05), SecA, pp1043.
DE Information Science.
AB The purpose of this study is to describe the interdisciplinarity
of information science on the basis of the reference patterns in
the Journal of the American Society for Information Science
(JASIS) from the first issue that carried the current title
(January, 1970) through the issue of December, 1985, and to
identify the changes in the sources of the references in the
articles of JASIS during the study period. It is assumed that the
literature of JASIS represents the literature of information
science, on the basis of experts' opinions, the coverage of the
journal, and the fact that JASIS is the official journal of the
American Society for Information Science.
The study is designed to answer three research questions: (1) What
are the disciplines that contributed to information science
between 1970 and 1985? (2) How did the contributions of different
disciplines to information science change between 1970 through
1985? (3) Which disciplines are the major contributors to
information science literature in the periods 1970-1974,
1975-1979, and 1980-1985?
Ten percent of JASIS references are randomly selected and
examined.
Citation Analysis used to collect data for the study. Descriptive
statistics was used to analyze data and to present the results and
findings.
Some of the major findings of the study are: (1) Thirty-two
different disciplines are identified as the contributors to
information science during the study period. (2) The contribution
of information science to its own literature is the highest,
followed by computer science, library science, and science-general
(DDC 500-509.999). (3) The contribution of computer science to
information science tripled between 1970 and 1985. (4) The
contribution of library science to information science decreased
from 14.28% of total citations during the first period of the
study (January, 1970 through December, 1974) to 9.6% of total
citations during the third period of the study (January, 1980
through December, 1985). (5) During the sixteen years of the
study, it is found that the relationship between information
science and library science is weakening. On the other hand, the
relationship between information science and computer science
becomes stronger. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-23735.
AU ATTIA, ABDEL-HAMEED MOHAMMED.
IN North Texas State University Ph.D 1987, 254 pages.
TI APPLICATION OF INFORMATION THEORY CONCEPTS IN THE INVESTIGATION OF
THE GROWTH PATTERN OF PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND VELOCITY OF
INFORMATION.
SO DAI v48(08), SecA.
DE Information Science.
AB The objective of this research is the investigation of the
patterns of information growth to test whether there has been an
"information explosion." To tackle the main problem, there are
three issues which need to be addressed: (1) the concept of
information dimensionality; (2) determination of common parameters
to measure the amount of information within each dimension; and
(3) a working definition of "explosiveness."
The independent variable is time. The dependent variables are: (1)
information production--operationalized by the yearly growth of
copyrights, inventions designs, Doctorates, and Library of
Congress holdings; (2) information distribution--operationalized
by the yearly growth of telephones, miles of telephone wire, radio
and television stations, and post offices; (3) information
flow--operationalized by the yearly growth of average daily
telephone conversations, pieces of matter handled in post offices,
number of periodicals, number of radio and television sets, and
number of books.
Preliminary analysis of the findings reveals that there has not
been an explosive increase in the information production area. The
criterion on the whole period to be explosive has not been met by
any of the information production variables.
Contrary to the findings in the information production, there has
been an explosive growth in the information distribution. Most of
the variables have met the criterion of explosiveness for the
whole curve covering the span of this study.
As for the information flow, the findings reveal that there have
been explosive and unexplosive increases as well as unexplosive
decreases at different points for most of the variables. Only one
variable has met the criterion of explosiveness for the whole
curve, signifying that the overall degree of explosiveness for the
information flow falls between information distribution and
information production. The general conclusion is that for the
last one hundred and twenty-five years, the American society has
witnessed an explosive growth in the distribution of information,
a lesser degree in the velocity of information, and none in the
real generation of information.
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-23276.
AU MILLER, GORDON LYNN.
IN Rutgers University The State U. of New Jersey (New Brunswick)
Ph.D 1987, 256 pages.
TI RESONANCE, INFORMATION, AND THE PRIMACY OF PROCESS: ANCIENT LIGHT ON
MODERN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION THEORY AND TECHNOLOGY.
SO DAI v48(07), SecA.
DE Information Science.
AB This study is an investigation into the historical and
philosophical foundations of the concept of information.
Information is equated with meaning, and the primary purpose is to
develop a unitary-process view of information. This view is
unitary in the sense that information is seen as inhering in
interactions between structures; it implies process in the sense
that information is seen as continuously arising from moment to
moment from a more richly structured ground.
In Part I the method is primarily historical. The evolution of the
concept of information is traced from ancient Greece to the
present, and this investigation reveals a decreasing sense of
information as the ongoing outcome of a universal formative
process--conveyed by Heraclitus in his notion of the Logos --and
an increasing sense of information as static, independently
existing structure. Using the analogy of a candle flame, it is
shown how static structure can be seen as a relatively invariant
aspect of a more primary process.
The development of information and communication technologies such
as language, writing, printing, electronic mass media, and
computers is also surveyed in Part I. It is proposed that
increasing involvement with these technologies has contributed to
the sense of information as static structure, and, indeed, that
they are forms of life that have as their essence a particular
attitude called the capture of meaning. The gains in technological
efficiency are thus offset by the loss of a unitary-process world
view.
In Part II the method is empirical and analytical in the sense
that the processes involved in immediate perceptual experience are
examined. It is devoted primarily to employing the concept of
resonance as a metaphor for understanding the emergence of
meaning, and as a way of recovering a unitary-process sense of
information. Building on David Bohm's principle of active
information, it is shown how this process displays the
characteristics we associate with intelligence. A way of
understanding the operation of this intelligence in the resonance
events that constitute meaning, or information, in perception and
communication is presented. The ancient, unifying spirit of the
Heraclitean Logos is thus rekindled, and translated into a modern
form. Implications of these ideas are discussed in the Conclusion.
AN This item is not available from University Microfilms International
ADG05-60861.
AU NICHOLLS, PAUL TRAVIS.
IN The University of Western Ontario (Canada) Ph.D 1987.
TI THE LOTKA HYPOTHESIS AND BIBLIOMETRIC METHODOLOGY.
SO DAI v48(06), SecA, pp1344.
DE Information Science.
AB This study is an empirical examination of Lotka's law and the
bibliometric methodology associated with it. A number of previous
investigators have contributed to the empirical validation and
generalization of Lotka's hypothesis; however, these studies are
largely incomparable and inconclusive, owing to substantial
differences in sampling, measurement, parameter estimation,
testing, and even basic interpretation of the model. These data
are subjected to a consistent secondary analysis here; newly
collected data are also analysed, to expand the database of
previous results. There are two main objectives in this study:
First, to thoroughly and critically review the literature bearing
on the statistical modelling of author productivity; and second,
to assess these hypotheses, methods, and results against empirical
data. The resulting identification and application of efficient
parameter estimation procedures within a consistent testing
methodology make the implications of earlier validity studies
explicit; Lotka's model is found to be surprisingly well-fitting,
general and stable, much more so than previously supposed.
AN This item is not available from University Microfilms International
ADG05-60865.
AU REES-POTTER, LORNA KATHERINE.
IN The University of Western Ontario (Canada) Ph.D 1987.
TI A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF TERMINOLOGICAL AND CONCEPTUAL CHANGE IN
SOCIOLOGY AND ECONOMICS: WITH APPLICATION TO THE DESIGN OF DYNAMIC
THESAURAL SYSTEMS. (VOLUMES I AND II).
SO DAI v48(06), SecA, pp1344.
DE Information Science.
AB Thesauri have been used in the library and information science
field to provide a standard descriptor Language for indexers or
searchers to use in an information storage and retrieval system.
One difficulty has been the maintenance and updating of thesauri
considering that terms used to describe concepts in books and
papers change over time and vary between users. This study
investigated a mechanism by which thesauri can be updated and
maintained using citation, co-citation analysis and citation
context analysis. It has been demonstrated that citation analysis
reflects concepts in a specialty, and reflects term use in a
specialty, following the work of Henry Small. This technique of
citation context analysis may be used to trace term change in a
specialty over time and variation among researchers--the basic
pieces of information needed in thesaurus development.
Data bases in sociology and economics were developed using the
Social Sciences Citation Indexes, 1966-67, 1973-74 and 1980-81.
Twenty-six highly cited and co-cited papers common to these three
time periods were then used. Seventy-eight terminology lists were
developed from the citation contexts of other papers citing these
papers. Two experts in each discipline were asked to group and
comment on the lists. The descriptor language produced was
compared with a standard descriptor language, i.e., the Library of
Congress Subject Headings.
Overall, the experts were able to correctly group and identify
these terminology lists and thus were able to identify variation
between specialty area terminology. The experts judged a high
level of the terms appropriate, i.e., 93.7 percent in economics
and 98.7 percent in sociology. The experts were not able to
identify any change over time. The comparison with the Library of
Congress Subject Headings showed an adequate level of
compatibility.
Thus, citation contexts may be a most useful method for developing
indexing and thesaural terms descriptive of specialty areas in
sociology and economics. Suggestions are given to automate these
procedures.
[Note: more in issue 7 - Ed]
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END OF IRList Digest
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