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1 – 10 of 379A discourse analysis of the cognitive viewpoint in library and information science identifies seven discursive strategies which constitute information as a commodity, and persons…
Abstract
A discourse analysis of the cognitive viewpoint in library and information science identifies seven discursive strategies which constitute information as a commodity, and persons as surveyable information consumers, within market economy conditions. These strategies are: (a) universality of theory, (b) referentiality and reification of ‘images’, (c) internalisation of representations, (d) radical individualism and erasure of the social dimension of theory, (e) insistence upon knowledge, (f) constitution of the information scientist as an expert in image negotiation, and (g) instrumental reason, ruled by efficiency, standardisation, predictability, and determination of effects. The discourse is guided throughout by a yearning for natural‐scientific theory. The effect of the cognitive viewpoint's discursive strategy is to enable knowledge acquisition of information processes only when users' and generators' ‘images’ are constituted as objectively given natural‐scientific entities, and to disable knowledge of the same processes when considered as products of social practices. By its constitution of users as free creators of images, of the information scientist as an expert in image interpretation and delivery, and of databases as repositories of unmediated models of the world, the cognitive viewpoint performs ideological labour for modern capitalist image markets.
Abigail Hoverstock and Rebecca Baird
Two graduate LIS students interested in archival studies describe their first effort processing a manuscript collection belonging to Marlon D. Green, the first African American…
Abstract
Purpose
Two graduate LIS students interested in archival studies describe their first effort processing a manuscript collection belonging to Marlon D. Green, the first African American commercial airline pilot in the US.
Design/methodology/approach
The students locate introductory readings and seek the advice of professional archivists to organize the collection and write a finding aid that describes its contents. The novice archivists explore issues of appraisal, arrangement, description and preservation of items in the collection, and discuss the challenges archivists face in organizing collections objectively.
Findings
The students find organizing a manuscript collection to be a surprisingly collaborative and social process. Learning about Marlon Green's life directly from his family members gives the student archivists the advantage of knowing the context of his papers, which helps them order and group items more effectively.
Practical implications
Archivists will benefit from researching a collection's subject thoroughly at the beginning of the process. Collaborating with other archivists on processing collections may help archivists test and hone their methods and achieve greater consistency. The paper is an informal case study about organizing a manuscript collection or collection of family papers.
Originality/value
The discussion of an archivist's role may be useful to novice and student archivists or LIS professionals who have in their care a collection of papers that must be organized and described.
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The expression of conceptual syntagmatic relationships in document retrieval systems holds out hope for both increased discrimination (generally) and increased recall (in certain…
Abstract
The expression of conceptual syntagmatic relationships in document retrieval systems holds out hope for both increased discrimination (generally) and increased recall (in certain contexts). The inclusion of such relationships in retrieval systems requires both a structured inventory of relationships and some means of expressing them; this article examines the latter. To be fully effective, the expression of conceptual syntagmatic relationships must comply with criteria of systematicity, complexity, efficiency and naturalness. Unfortunately, the complex interaction of natural language means of expressing these relationships (lexicalisation, word order, function words and morphosyntactic cases) causes them to fail the systematicity criterion. Most document retrieval system means of expressing conceptual syntagmatic relationships (as exemplified by various term co‐occurrence techniques, links and role indicators) fail to comply with this and other of the criteria. Only gestalt structures simultaneously representing relationships, participants and roles (for example, frames) conform fully to the criterial checklist.
Wouter Ghyoot, Rebecca Green and Bryan Fisher
Metallic nickel and four nickel compounds are undergoing a risk assessment in the European Union. The outcomes of this risk assessment may be used for a revision of existing or…
Abstract
Purpose
Metallic nickel and four nickel compounds are undergoing a risk assessment in the European Union. The outcomes of this risk assessment may be used for a revision of existing or introduction of new occupational exposure limits (OELs) and environmental quality standards (EQS). This study aimed at determining the impact on the nickel plating industry of reduced nickel OELs and EQS, these should be proposed in the future.
Design/methodology/approach
Seven companies involved in nickel plating were visited. These companies were selected to provide a reasonable cross‐section of the UK nickel plating industry.
Findings
Concerning occupational exposure it would appear that most companies could comply with a reduced maximum exposure limit (MEL) for soluble nickel of 0.05 mg Ni/m3. There is a need to be better informed on the state‐of‐the‐art monitoring methods for airborne nickel species in the workplace. Companies need to be encouraged to start measuring their workplace exposure levels to build up a realistic database. This can be of value when discussing new proposals for exposure limits. In relation to environmental emissions it was concluded that discharge of residues to landfill sites is becoming more difficult. For emissions to water all companies met their consent limit although a reduction in consent limits would place a burden on many companies. Atmospheric nickel emissions from extraction systems appeared to be of minor importance.
Originality/value
The value of the paper lies in the collection of data during site visits, the cross‐section of nickel plating industry studied and the identification of further needs. All data and information presented in this study were collected during site visits and discussions with the operators and managers involved. The 16 companies visited provided a reasonable cross‐section of the UK nickel plating industry which is demonstrated with a discussion of the process information. The paper clearly identifies the areas where further actions are needed.
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This study establishes three predominant cognitive models of information and the information transfer process manifest in the literature of library and information science, based…
Abstract
This study establishes three predominant cognitive models of information and the information transfer process manifest in the literature of library and information science, based on a linguistic analysis of phrases incorporating the word ‘information’ from a random sample of abstracts in the LISA database. The direct communication (DC) and indirect communication (IC) models (drawn from Reddy's frameworks of metalinguistic usage) adopt the perspective of the information system; the information‐seeking (IS) model takes the viewpoint of the information user. Two disturbing findings are presented: 1. core elements of the DC and IC models are more weakly supported by the data than are most of the peripheral elements; and 2. even though the IS model presents the information user's perspective, the data emphasise the role of the information system. These findings suggest respectively that the field lacks a coherent model of information transfer per se and that our model of information retrieval is mechanistic, oblivious to the cognitive models of end users.
Letters and opinions published in the Chronicle of Higher Education were analysed to identify metaphors relating to libraries used by faculty, academic administrators and…
Abstract
Letters and opinions published in the Chronicle of Higher Education were analysed to identify metaphors relating to libraries used by faculty, academic administrators and librarians. Metaphors used in communications are assumed to reflect conceptual models held by the communicators. The qualitative methodology used in this study was built on the works of Schön, Reddy and Green. In this exploratory study, fourteen models of libraries were identified through linguistic examination of the appearance of the word stem ‘librar’ among published communications from academics. Differences were found in the conceptual models of libraries held among faculty, academic administrators and librarians. The study's findings suggest that to administrators in this case, libraries are contributors to the social structure of an academic environment, while to faculty, libraries are the repository for physical information resources to support their research. Librarians in the study tend to attribute an activist role to libraries, and to express a conceptual model of a library as a storehouse. The identification of metaphors about libraries, cited by academics, offers library managers insights into academic library users' conceptualisation of libraries.
Following a brief history of cataloguing and the MARC format this paper describes current challenges in developing suitable international formats and cataloguing rules for dealing…
Abstract
Following a brief history of cataloguing and the MARC format this paper describes current challenges in developing suitable international formats and cataloguing rules for dealing with electronic resources. Extensive references to the past and current literature provide an overview of the problems faced.
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Rebecca Reece, Isabelle Bray, Danielle Sinnett, Robert Hayward and Faith Martin
There is a mental health crisis, particularly among young people. Despite many young people living in urban settings, reviews about the association between exposure to green or…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a mental health crisis, particularly among young people. Despite many young people living in urban settings, reviews about the association between exposure to green or natural environments and mental health tend to focus on either children or adults. The aim of this review is to examine the scope of the global literature for this age group, to inform a systematic review on the role of exposure to green space in preventing anxiety and depression amongst young people aged 14–24 years.
Design/methodology/approach
Seven databases were searched for quantitative and qualitative sources published from January 2000 to June 2020. This identified 201 sources and their characteristics are described here. Gaps in the literature are also highlighted.
Findings
The number of relevant studies published per year has increased over time. Most studies are set in North America (28%) or Europe (39%). The most common study designs were observational (34%) or experimental (28%). A wide range of exposures and interventions are described.
Research limitations/implications
This review included literature from predominantly high-income countries and has shown the under-representation of low-middle income countries and lack of ethnic diversity in study populations. It has also highlighted the lack of clinical measures of anxiety and depression as outcomes.
Originality/value
This inter-disciplinary review has contributed to the field by describing the geographic distribution of the literature and the broad range of exposures to green spaces being reported. Unlike previous scoping reviews, this review focused specifically on young people and on measures of anxiety and depression and their pre-cursers.
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Sajad Fayezi, Rebecca Stekelorum, Jamal El Baz and Issam Laguir
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of institutional drivers and buyer dependency on green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and performance of suppliers.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of institutional drivers and buyer dependency on green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and performance of suppliers.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on institutional theory and resource dependence theory to construct a conceptual model than links institutional drivers, GSCM practices, buyer dependency and performance outcomes. The authors test the hypotheses using partial least squares structural equation modeling applied to a sample of suppliers in the Australian manufacturing sector.
Findings
The results confirm that suppliers develop GSCM practices of green sourcing and eco-design to enhance their performance in response to both coercive forces and voluntary behaviors of their institutional environment. However, buyer dependence of suppliers explains important paradoxes in their uptake of GSCM practices. For example, while the institutional drivers encourage greater adoption of green sourcing by suppliers, increase in buyer dependence in turn reduces the positive performance outcome of green sourcing.
Practical implications
The authors establish that understanding and assessment of the role of buyer dependency is critical for managers in charge of GSCM practices of their company. This enables practitioners to proactively manage paradoxes resulting from institutional drivers and buyer dependency through an informed decision on the type of GSCM practice to be adopted for effectuating performance improvement.
Originality/value
The authors provide empirical evidence on paradoxes that curtail performance associated with the uptake of GSCM practices by suppliers moving beyond institutional environment by considering the role of buyer dependency.
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