Search results

1 – 10 of over 13000
Article
Publication date: 10 October 2016

Geir Grenersen, Kjell Kemi and Steinar Nilsen

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the following questions: what is the origin of the concepts of documents and documentation? Are there a need for these concepts in every…

1687

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the following questions: what is the origin of the concepts of documents and documentation? Are there a need for these concepts in every culture? Who gives the terms for their definitions, and what are the consequences of different terminology?

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use interdisciplinary methodology, combining document and information theory and Sámi linguistics. The aim of this paper is to discuss documentation from the perspective of the Sámi, with some examples from other indigenous groups.

Findings

Oral accounts, legends, traditional songs and traces in the landscape are seen as documents and documentation in Sámi and other indigenous cultures. The paper presents different theories in order to interpret and understand the specific information content in indigenous forms of documentation.

Practical implications

Indigenous ways of documentation have been accepted as valid proof of ownership or the right to extensive use of land resources. When no written records exist, oral testimonies and the landscape itself can be seen as documenting traditional use and has been accepted as evidence in high courts in Norway and Canada. The authors have also seen that the rich Sámi snow terminology is used as concepts in different fields of natural sciences.

Originality/value

The Sámi understanding of the concepts of document and documentation contributes to the traditional information and documentation disciplines by introducing ways of seeing natural phenomenon as fundamental forms of information.

Book part
Publication date: 12 June 2015

Carla Teixeira Lopes and Cristina Ribeiro

Prior studies have shown that terminology support can improve health information retrieval but have not taken into account the characteristics of the user performing the search…

Abstract

Prior studies have shown that terminology support can improve health information retrieval but have not taken into account the characteristics of the user performing the search. In this chapter, the impact of translating queries’ terms between lay and medico-scientific terminology, in users with different levels of health literacy and topic familiarity, is evaluated. Findings demonstrate that medico-scientific queries demand more from the users and are mostly aimed at health professionals. In addition, these queries retrieve documents that are less readable and less well understood by users. Despite this, medico-scientific queries are associated with higher precision in the top-10 retrieved documents results and tend slightly to generate knowledge with less incorrect contents, the researchers concluded that search engines should provide query suggestions with medico-scientific terminology, whenever the user is able to digest it, that is, in users above the lowest levels of health literacy and topic familiarity. On the other hand, retrieval systems should provide lay alternative queries in users with inadequate health literacy or in those unfamiliar with a topic. In fact, the quantity of incorrect contents in the knowledge that emerges from a medico-scientific session tends to decrease with topic familiarity and health literacy. In terms of topic familiarity, the opposite happens with Graded Average Precision. Moreover, users most familiar with a topic tend to have higher motivational relevance with medico-scientific queries than with lay queries. This work is the first to consider user context features while studying the impact of a query processing technique in several aspects of the retrieval process, including the medical accuracy of the acquired knowledge.

Details

Current Issues in Libraries, Information Science and Related Fields
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-637-9

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1994

Diana Gonzalez Kirby and Margaret Borgeest

Researchers, subject specialists, and information professionals have long been aware of scientific and technical (sci‐tech) dictionaries available from the U.S. government. Yet…

Abstract

Researchers, subject specialists, and information professionals have long been aware of scientific and technical (sci‐tech) dictionaries available from the U.S. government. Yet these reference sources often remain invisible to the general public, especially in libraries that exclude government documents from the main catalog or that maintain separate documents collections. However, as more libraries automate their holdings and load cataloging records for government publications into their online public access catalogs (OPACs), government documents should become more visible. Until then, it may surprise some to learn that many U.S. government agencies have allocated vast resources into compiling, publishing, and updating technical dictionaries in print, microfiche, and electronic format.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 22 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2005

Stefan Kremer, Lutz M. Kolbe and Walter Brenner

There is a lack of efficiency when dealing with information and searching for the right content. Aims to present a procedural model which in essence is a generalized approach to…

1452

Abstract

Purpose

There is a lack of efficiency when dealing with information and searching for the right content. Aims to present a procedural model which in essence is a generalized approach to terminology management, with which to build and maintain glossaries and taxonomies.

Design/methodology/approach

In addition to an extensive literature review, analysis of three action research cases with several corporate partners is presented. The first case focuses on the introduction of a glossary for a Swiss insurance company. The second illustrates the results from setting up a corporate taxonomy at an international professional services firm. The third case combines glossary and taxonomy for document classification and retrieval.

Findings

Glossary and taxonomy are suitable for solving a wide range of terminological defects. Usage and maintenance processes play a central role in the management of terms and should be well defined. Only a well‐suited trade‐off between centralized and decentralized terminology management will be sustainable.

Research limitations/implications

Other means besides clearly defined processes have to be defined to clearly eliminate certain issues. Furthermore, there is the question of whether the implementation of terminology management could benefit certain types of companies in certain industry branches more than others.

Practical implications

Concrete actions that have to be taken into consideration when introducing glossary and taxonomy systems.

Originality/value

Proposes a procedural model for the introduction of glossary and taxonomy as well as the cultivation of a corporate terminology.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 61 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 April 2012

Chengzhi Zhang and Dan Wu

Terminology is the set of technical words or expressions used in specific contexts, which denotes the core concept in a formal discipline and is usually applied in the fields of…

697

Abstract

Purpose

Terminology is the set of technical words or expressions used in specific contexts, which denotes the core concept in a formal discipline and is usually applied in the fields of machine translation, information retrieval, information extraction and text categorization, etc. Bilingual terminology extraction plays an important role in the application of bilingual dictionary compilation, bilingual ontology construction, machine translation and cross‐language information retrieval etc. This paper aims to address the issues of monolingual terminology extraction and bilingual term alignment based on multi‐level termhood.

Design/methodology/approach

A method based on multi‐level termhood is proposed. The new method computes the termhood of the terminology candidate as well as the sentence that includes the terminology by the comparison of the corpus. Since terminologies and general words usually have different distribution in the corpus, termhood can also be used to constrain and enhance the performance of term alignment when aligning bilingual terms on the parallel corpus. In this paper, bilingual term alignment based on termhood constraints is presented.

Findings

Experimental results show multi‐level termhood can get better performance than the existing method for terminology extraction. If termhood is used as a constraining factor, the performance of bilingual term alignment can be improved.

Originality/value

The termhood of the candidate terminology and the sentence that includes the terminology is used for terminology extraction, which is called multi‐level termhood. Multi‐level termhood is computed by the comparison of the corpus. Bilingual term alignment method based on termhood constraint is put forward and termhood is used in the task of bilingual terminology extraction. Experimental results show that termhood constraints can improve the performance of terminology alignment to some extent.

Article
Publication date: 17 December 2020

Roswitha Skare

The purpose of this study is to provide a discussion on how to apply Genette's concept of the paratext to analyze digital documents. The article argues that the concept, despite…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to provide a discussion on how to apply Genette's concept of the paratext to analyze digital documents. The article argues that the concept, despite its shortcomings, is useful because it gives us the terminology to analyze elements often ignored and overlooked.

Design/methodology/approach

By taking Gérard Genette's concept of the paratext as point of departure, the paper focuses on three controversial issues in the scholarly work about paratext and digital documents: the division of paratext into peritext and epitext, the explosive growth of paratext and the question of authorization of text and paratext.

Findings

Questions related to the spatial division of the paratext into peritext and epitext, the difficulty of where to draw the line between text and paratext and the question of authorization are not new for digital documents but did already occur in the analog world. Even if many decisions like what to include and what to exclude in an analysis are left to the researcher, this does not mean that Genette's concept is unsuitable for digital documents. On the contrary, the concept gives us the terminology to analyze elements of often ignored and overlooked, also for digital documents.

Research limitations/implications

As a scholar in the humanities the author can only relate to and therefore analyze what the author can experience and observe on screen level.

Originality/value

In providing a discussion of digital documents and some of the controversial issues discussed by other researchers, this article shows the relevance of Genette's concept, also for our work with digital documents.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 77 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2003

Maurice B. Line

Puts forward the view that it is high time the library and information world adopted a standard and defensible terminology, particularly in connection with remote document access…

262

Abstract

Puts forward the view that it is high time the library and information world adopted a standard and defensible terminology, particularly in connection with remote document access and supply, giving as an example “ILL” which has become a generic term that has lost its precise meaning.

Details

Interlending & Document Supply, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-1615

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 December 2021

Jade G. Winn, Melissa L. Miller, Caroline Muglia, Christopher Stewart and Ruth Wallach

A working group of Masters in Management of Library and Information Science (MMLIS) Librarian Faculty was formed to address diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and…

Abstract

Purpose

A working group of Masters in Management of Library and Information Science (MMLIS) Librarian Faculty was formed to address diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and anti-racism (DEIA + AR) specifically in pedagogy and curriculum, resulting in actionable items and recommendations that will ensure the program is promoting diversity, equity, inclusive, accessable and anti-racist strategies, curriculum, resources and pedagogical practices in our classrooms.

Design/methodology/approach

The Working Groups charge was designed to begin the work of dismantling the inequitable power structures which will lead to more equitable opportunities and access for marginalized groups that will become leaders in information sciences in the future.

Findings

The efforts of the DEIA + AR Working Group resulted in several supplemental documents in addition to the formal recommendations including curricular and pedagogical best practices, a terminology document (establishing a shared language), a commitment document, recommendations, and a resource repository.

Practical implications

A working group of MMLIS Librarian Faculty was formed to address DEIA + AR specifically in the program's pedagogy and curriculum, resulting in actionable items and recommendations that will ensure the program is promoting anti-racist strategies, curriculum, resources and pedagogical practices in our classrooms.

Social implications

This process study has value and impact for academics from any discipline to learn about one University's MMLIS program prioritizing DEIA + AR in program development, curriculum and pedagogical practices.

Originality/value

The converging events of the international pandemic and the national crisis of inequity in the United States in 2020 prompted a renewed commitment by the MMLIS program at the University of Southern California (USC) to revisit the program's DEIA policies and procedures and add anti-racism constructs into the curriculum.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 50 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 May 2020

Stephen Keith McGrath and Stephen Jonathan Whitty

To determine if there is confusion in governance terminology amongst experienced management and project management practitioners.

Abstract

Purpose

To determine if there is confusion in governance terminology amongst experienced management and project management practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach

Practitioner interviews and subsequent analysis.

Findings

Significant differences in governance terminology were found. The participants had nevertheless arrived at similar operating arrangements for their committees, even though they came from different segments of different industries and did not agree on the definition of governance. It was possible to develop a list of working parameters for operation of these committees from their responses. The labelling of committees associated with governance as steering or decision-making was found to be problematic and various causes/motivations for the differing definitions of governance having arisen were detected. These ranged from altruism, through dogmatic belief in particular frameworks, to enhancing career prospects/ego.

Research limitations/implications

The sample came from organisations and industries in one state in one country. The need for review of governance terminology used in various project management practitioner reference documents and methodologies was identified.

Practical implications

Projects and business alike can potentially achieve improvements in efficiency and effectiveness through consistency of terminology and the clarity this brings to governance arrangements and committee operations.

Social implications

Creation of a unifying feature within the project and management literature, shifting the understanding of governance and its boundaries and limitations. This will help progress governance from complexity to simplicity, from an art to an understandable practice, from a concept that has been hijacked for partisan and political gain to a lean social tool which can be put to use for the benefit of organisations, whether public, charitable or private.

Originality/value

The value is clarity – resulting in the avoidance of confusion and misunderstanding together with their consequent waste of time, resources and money.

Details

International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, vol. 13 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8378

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2015

Becky Inkster and Akeem Sule

Many young people around the world embrace hip-hop music and culture. Since the genre’s conception in the 1970s, hip-hop music and lyrics have made regular references to drugs…

Abstract

Purpose

Many young people around the world embrace hip-hop music and culture. Since the genre’s conception in the 1970s, hip-hop music and lyrics have made regular references to drugs. Understanding the relevance of these documented trends is important, especially as adolescence is a period of high risk for substance misuse. The purpose of this paper is to explore how and possibly why different lyrical trends in hip-hop music have emerged, risen and fallen out of popularity by examining word usage frequency of drug terminology in hip-hop lyrics spanning several decades of this genre.

Design/methodology/approach

Electronic searches were completed using an open source database known as Rap Genius Rap Stats, which contains verified annotations and text. Word frequency was plotted against time using data available from 1988 to 2015. Word frequency was defined as a percentage of the number of hip-hop songs containing a specific drug-term (per year) based on the number of hip-hop songs recorded/produced (that year). Standardized “medical/pharmaceutical” terminologies and common “street” terminologies were plotted independently for time series visualization. Drug terms were represented using the highest frequency search term. Generic “street” terms with multiple meanings were excluded.

Findings

As might be predicted, the usage of “street” terms in hip-hop lyrics was more frequently observed than the usage of “medical/pharmaceutical” terms. An exception was the term “crack”, which was included in both plots as this word could be referenced as a “street” term and as a “medical/pharmaceutical” term. The authors observed larger fluctuations in “street” term usage across time relative to only slight fluctuations of “medical/pharmaceutical” term usage across time.

Originality/value

In this study, the authors illustrate several drug terminology trends in hip-hop lyrics. The authors discuss some of the socio-political, socio-demographic and geographical implications that may have influenced these trends, such as the rise of the “street” term molly that emerged when references to molly made by hip-hop artists became increasingly popular and a more suburban demographic transpired. This preliminary work may help to enhance two-way youth-oriented communication between health care professionals and service users, possibly improving the translation of drug-related medical messages. The preliminary work may also inform future research to consider whether such lyrical trends precede or follow changes in population substance use.

Details

Journal of Public Mental Health, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5729

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 13000