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The purposes of this study were to measure the relevance status of Index Islamicus, evaluate the semantic correlation between a query and documents and inquire the basis of its rank. Sorting the retrieved results from the most relevant to the least relevant is the common option of an information retrieval system. This sorting mechanism or relevance judgment is computed by measuring closeness of query with its documents.

Forming up 100 queries on Islamic History and Civilizations, with two indexing elements (keyword and concept), a laboratory experiment was generated on its first ten items of the rank. Throughout an experimental research design, the relevance status value formula was used to measure system-computed rank and compare it with mean average precision.

The results showed that the average status value of Index Islamicus’s ranking on relevance criterion was 18 per cent effective in terms of retrieving precise documents. Despite the main focus of this study being only on one subject domain and the items calculated were only 1,000, this small percentage of its ranking mechanism proved that semantic correlations between queries with subject domain did not achieve the satisfactory level.

Implication of this study could be a guideline for further research on ranking mechanism of other search engines because the limitation of this study was Index Islamicus being the only database, which was the focus of this study.

Throughout this study, Index Islamicus would be benefited knowing the status of its ranking mechanism as well as other databases can make further research on their own ranking method following this study.

Researchers and vendors of online databases can ensure their users a true platform of search engine with a proper ranking list.

Relevance status value model for Index Islamicus on Islamic History and Civilization that allows the system to rank documents according to the match between document and query and gives the idea of a better index. The model improves the system’s ranking mechanism, and promotes the use of semantic relationships. This research promotes the computation of relevance status value by domain for capturing subject-specific relevance criteria and semantic relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed discussion for different types of graph queries and a different mechanism for indexing and querying graph databases.

The paper reviews the existing approaches and techniques for indexing and querying graph databases. For each approach, the strengths and weaknesses are discussed with particular emphasis on the target application domain. Based on an analysis of the state‐of‐the‐art of research literature, the paper provides insights for future research directions and untouched challenging research aspects.

Several graph indexing and querying techniques have been proposed in the literature. However, there is still a clear room for improvement and further research issues in that domain.

The paper identifies the advantages and disadvantages of the different graph indexing mechanisms and their suitability for different practical applications. The paper provides some guidelines and recommendations which are useful for future research in the area of graph databases.

The paper has practical implications for social networks, protein networks, chemical compounds, multimedia database, and semantic web.

The paper contributes to the implementation of an efficient indexing and querying mechanism for graph databases in different application domains.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a method for the identification of improvement opportunities in the knowledge transfer (KT) process between new product development (NPD) project teams. This method helps to prioritize which KT mechanisms of the company have to be improved and which other new mechanisms have to be implanted to reduce KT barriers and foster the KT process.

The proposed method follows a structure based on the QFD and FMEA quality tools approaches. Thus, a set of matrices for the KT barriers and mechanisms prioritization is used.

The presented results enabled the identification, inside the company, of the main points for the KT process improvement. The implementation of the suggestions was not started off until the conclusion of the present research. However, the problems identification and the generated discussions around these problems have already had an important repercussion in the project team. In this sense, the interviewees pointed out that the discussion helped to see existing problems that in the past were not considered as such.

This work has focused on NPD project teams. However, the addressed issues are highly common in any kind of projects. Therefore, this work might be a first step to a future extended research, in which KT between any types of project teams could be analyzed.

Results of this method could help to develop action plans to prevent or overcome possible existing barriers in the NPD project teams.

The paper provides a structured process for the identification of improvement opportunities in the NPD team context. The paper also provides a literature review of the main KT barriers and mechanisms; a set of matrices to help the analysis and prioritization of the information collected about a company's KT process, and an application of the proposal in a company manufacturing agricultural machinery.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel approach to integrate portable document format (PDF) interface into Java-based digital library application. It bridges the gap between conducting content operation and viewing on PDF document asynchronously.

In this paper, the authors first review some related research and discuss PDF and its drawbacks. Next, the authors propose the design steps and implementation of three modes of displaying PDF document: PDF display, image display and extensible markup language (XML) display. A comparison of these three modes has been carried out.

The authors find that the PDF display is able to completely present the original PDF document contents and thus obviously superior to the other two displays. In addition, the format specification of PDF-based e-book does not perform well; lack of standardization and complex structure is exposed to the publication.

The proposed approach makes viewing the PDF documents more convenient and effective, and can be used to retrieve and visualize the PDF documents and to support the personalized function customization of PDF in the digital library applications.

This paper proposes a novel approach to solve the problem between content operation and the view of PDF synchronously, providing users a new tool to retrieve and reuse the PDF documents. It contributes to improve the service specification and policy of viewing the PDF for digital library. Besides, the personalized interface and public index make further development and application more feasible.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the structure of existing webliographies as human‐edited directories and review the literature on webliographies.

Using Google, 370 webliographies were identified and evaluated against seven essential elements of an ideal webliography including: annotated title, description, contents, annotated body, index, search mechanism, and contact us.

The research showed that a considerable number of webliographies lack five essential structural elements including annotated title, description, contents, search mechanism and index. Only two elements, i.e. annotated body and contact us, were present in the majority of webliographies.

Problems hindering access to web pages, including technical problems and difficulties caused by government internet filtering policy, were among limitations of the research.

The results can help webliography designers avoid common mistakes in webliography development and help webliography users make better use of these sources.

The aim of this paper is to understand the antecedents and effects of performance attribution challenges arising in the provision of business-to-business (B2B) services in supply chains.

The study draws on three in-depth case studies of logistics service providers (LSPs) offering supply chain solutions to their clients in Sweden. The analysis of performance attribution challenges and their antecedents and effects is based on 38 semi-structured interviews and review of 43 documents, including contracts and performance monitoring records.

Three key antecedents of performance attribution challenges are stressed. Two of these, the inseparability and contestability of service inputs, are closely related to the notion of service co-production. The third antecedent is the limited provider capability in performance data collection and analysis. Performance attribution challenges may result in provider aversion to performance-related risk and have a harmful effect on client relationships, for example, in terms of provider perceptions of opportunism and unfair allocation of gains. These effects can be mitigated through contracting, interventions in performance measurement system design and deployment of relational mechanisms.

The paper extends the service management literature that emphasises on service co-production by suggesting that inputs of the client firm and its supply chain partners may not only vary in quality but also can be inseparable from provider inputs and highly contestable. It also empirically demonstrates how performance attribution challenges and their antecedents and effects manifest themselves in B2B service provision, as opposed to supply chain settings where the main user of logistics services is the consumer.

LSP managers should contract for performance based on high-quality and incontestable external inputs they rely upon. Contractual specifications (performance indicators and related incentives) should explicate and consider the inputs required by clients and their supply chain partners to minimise their contestability.

The study proposes an empirically based framework of the antecedents and effects of performance attribution challenges, an issue that has received scant attention in logistics outsourcing research and the business services literature more broadly.

The literature on positive feedback trading has grown considerably in recent years. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the theoretical and empirical literature on positive feedback trading and especially the literature related to the Sentana and Wadhwani (1992) model.

This literature review covers theoretical and empirical work in this area and it points out shortcomings and potential extensions of the basic feedback model.

The evidence so far points in the direction of positive feedback trading being present in aggregate stock market indices, index futures, bond markets, foreign exchange markets and individual stocks. There are some important issues that require further investigation. For example, it is likely that feedback trading is a function of longer lags of past return. Likewise, asymmetric behavior during up and down markets appears to be the rule rather than the exception. More importantly, the models should allow for positive as well as negative feedback and be general enough to investigate feedback trading behavior in individual assets and not just the aggregate market.

The discussion points out theoretical and empirical limitations and shortcomings of the extant literature.

This is the first paper to review positive feedback trading, implications, limitations and need for future research.

The two measuring instruments described hereafter are new British designs developed to replace models marketed by the Karl Zeiss Company. They are both instruments of a type likely to be of great value in the aircraft industry.

The aim of the study reported in this paper is to evaluate 71 library association web sites using 15 selected Webometric criteria.

The study uses Webometric analysis and ranking based on a scaling method and comparative means analysis (One Way ANOVA), and homogeneous subsets using criteria from SPSS₁₃ and Excel₂₀₀₇.

The majority of library association web sites have “contact us” links, but few have Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ) links. Library association web sites are categorised into three groups: high, medium and low, with significant differences between and within the three groups. A combination of criteria scores and classified groups shows that among the 15 criteria, only four criteria have no significant difference between the three groups and the classified groups are heterogeneous based on 11 criteria.

Only 71 library association web sites were analysed is this study.

The paper provides a three category classification for library associations web sites.

The purpose of this research is to reveal the impact of public legal protection on the efficiency of internal corporate governance in banks. In addition, this research proposes a new corporate governance index that could be employed by the banking sector to evaluate the performance of their internal corporate governance mechanisms.

Orbis database, annual reports and direct questionnaire are used to collect corporate governance data of 127 banks from 14 countries during 2020. The Mann–Whitney U-test is employed to compare the efficiency of corporate governance mechanisms based on three subsamples of countries having different legal protection levels (weak, middle and strong).

This research suggests a new corporate governance index for banks based on seven constructs and 62 variables. This new non-parametric index could be used by bankers to improve the monitoring process and enhance the overall performance of banking. The results of this research show that the existence of a strong public legal protection environment within a specific country enhances the efficiency of corporate governance mechanisms in the banking sector and thus, leads to improve the protection of shareholders, depositors and other relevant stakeholders. However, in countries that are characterized by weak legal protection level, the efficiency of corporate governance mechanisms is very low and there are possibilities of entrenchment, expropriation and extraction of private benefits. These findings could be interpreted within the prediction of agency, moral hazard, asymmetric information, political and entrenchment theories.

This research paper provides information that bankers and other relevant stakeholders in the banking sector working in MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) and European countries. A strong public legal protection level could improve the efficiency of internal corporate governance mechanisms within banks.