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The purpose of this study is to quantify the impact of the variation of microstructural features on macroscopic and microscopic fields. The application of multi-scale methods in the context of constitutive modeling of microheterogeneous materials requires the choice of a representative volume element (RVE) of the considered microstructure, which may be based on some idealized assumptions and/or on experimental observations. In any case, a realistic microstructure within the RVE is either computationally too expensive or not fully accessible by experimental measurement techniques, which introduces some uncertainty regarding the microstructural features.

In this paper, a systematical variation of microstructural parameters controlling the morphology of an RVE with an idealized microstructure is conducted and the impact on macroscopic quantities of interest as well as microstructural fields and their statistics is investigated. The study is carried out under macroscopically homogeneous deformation states using the direct micro-macro scale transition approach.

The variation of microstructural parameters, such as inclusion volume fraction, aspect ratio and orientation of the inclusion with respect to the overall loading, influences the macroscopic behavior, especially the micromechanical fields significantly.

The systematic assessment of the impact of microstructural parameters on both macroscopic quantities and statistics of the micromechanical fields allows for a quantitative comparison of different microstructure morphologies and a reliable identification of microstructural parameters that promote failure initialization in microheterogeneous materials.

This paper is an interim report of a study under way in the USA with the goal of developing a core set of national statistics and performance measures that librarians,researchers, and policy‐makers can use to describe public library and library‐based state‐wide network use of the Internet and Web‐based services and resources. The paper summarises preliminary findings and key issues identified as of January 2000. It describes a number of models for developing such statistics and performance measures. The paper also offers a number of preliminary statistics and performance measures that are being field‐tested to describe information resources and services in the networked environment. The authors expect to have a final set of such statistics and performance measures by the summer of 2000.

Citizens are substantial stakeholders in every e-government system, thus their willingness to use and ability to access the system are critical. Unequal access and information and communication technology usage, which is known as digital divide, however has been identified as one of the major obstacles to the implementation of e-government system. As digital divide inhibits citizen’s acceptance to e-government, it should be overcome despite the lack of deep theoretical understanding on this issue. This research aimed to investigate the digital divide and its direct impact on e-government system success of local governments in Indonesia as well as indirect impact through the mediation role of trust. In order to get a comprehensive understanding of digital divide, this study introduced a new type of digital divide, the innovativeness divide.

The research problems were approached by applying two-stage sequential mixed method research approach comprising of both qualitative and quantitative studies. In the first phase, an initial research model was proposed based on a literature review. Semi-structured interview with 12 users of e-government systems was then conducted to explore and enhance this initial research model. Data collected in this phase were analyzed with a two-stage content analysis approach and the initial model was then amended based on the findings. As a result, a comprehensive research model with 16 hypotheses was proposed for examination in the second phase.

In the second phase, quantitative method was applied. A questionnaire was developed based on findings in the first phase. A pilot study was conducted to refine the questionnaire, which was then distributed in a national survey resulting in 237 useable responses. Data collected in this phase were analyzed using Partial Least Square based Structural Equation Modeling.

The results of quantitative analysis confirmed 13 hypotheses. All direct influences of the variables of digital divide on e-government system success were supported. The mediating effects of trust in e-government in the relationship between capability divide and e-government system success as well as in the relationship between innovativeness divide and e-government system success were supported, but was rejected in the relationship between access divide and e-government system success. Furthermore, the results supported the moderating effects of demographic variables of age, residential place, and education.

This research has both theoretical and practical contributions. The study contributes to the developments of literature on digital divide and e-government by providing a more comprehensive framework, and also to the implementation of e-government by local governments and the improvement of e-government Readiness Index of Indonesia.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

Many different kinds of patrons are interested in wage and salary information: business people contemplating job changes, collective bargaining officials, personnel and recruitment officers, students choosing careers or preparing for job interviews, marketing professionals researching industries. However, in many cases wage and salary information is elusive. Some reports with current publication dates cite data that are several years old. Other information reflects national averages when a patron needs regional or state norms. Some sources report beginning salaries, but not typical wages for experienced employees. At times, salary information for managers and executives is easy to find, but not that for blue collar workers in the same industry. Tracking down useful figures can be a frustrating experience for both librarian and patron.

THE Reference Department of Paisley Central Library today occupies the room which was the original Public Library built in 1870 and opened to the public in April 1871. Since that date two extensions to the building have taken place. The first, in 1882, provided a separate room for both Reference and Lending libraries; the second, opened in 1938, provided a new Children's Department. Together with the original cost of the building, these extensions were entirely financed by Sir Peter Coats, James Coats of Auchendrane and Daniel Coats respectively. The people of Paisley indeed owe much to this one family, whose generosity was great. They not only provided the capital required but continued to donate many useful and often extremely valuable works of reference over the many years that followed. In 1975 Paisley Library was incorporated in the new Renfrew District library service.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This paper aims to describe two Web-based technologies of geographic information systems (GIS) to be used in monitoring and analysis of environmental processes, proposed by the authors. The technologies analyze the temporal aspect of the process together with the spatial aspect, which defers them from most other works on environmental processes, as these are usually limited either to spatial statistics or to temporal statistics. The approach is instrumental in dynamically finding the relationships between the processes and predicting critical incidents.

Often, the study of natural processes is limited to the analysis of their spatial properties presented by individual time series. The principal idea of this approach consists in supplementing this traditional analysis with the analysis of time fields. In this way, the authors are able to analyze temporal and spatial properties of environmental processes together.

The paper presents two technologies which provide the analysis of spatial and temporal data obtained in natural environment monitoring. The discussed spatio-temporal data mining methods are shown to enable the research into environmental processes, and the solution of practical issues of critical situation forecasts.

The paper discussed Web-based GIS technologies for the analysis of the temporal aspect of the environmental process together with the spatial aspect. Application examples demonstrate the ability of this approach to find the relationships in dynamics of the processes and to predict critical incidents.