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1 – 10 of over 1000This paper offers a definition of the core of information science, which encompasses most research in the field. The definition provides a unique identity for information science…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper offers a definition of the core of information science, which encompasses most research in the field. The definition provides a unique identity for information science and positions it in the disciplinary universe.
Design/methodology/approach
After motivating the objective, a definition of the core and an explanation of its key aspects are provided. The definition is related to other definitions of information science before controversial discourse aspects are briefly addressed: discipline vs. field, science vs. humanities, library vs. information science and application vs. theory. Interdisciplinarity as an often-assumed foundation of information science is challenged.
Findings
Information science is concerned with how information is manifested across space and time. Information is manifested to facilitate and support the representation, access, documentation and preservation of ideas, activities, or practices, and to enable different types of interactions. Research and professional practice encompass the infrastructures – institutions and technology –and phenomena and practices around manifested information across space and time as its core contribution to the scholarly landscape. Information science collaborates with other disciplines to work on complex information problems that need multi- and interdisciplinary approaches to address them.
Originality/value
The paper argues that new information problems may change the core of the field, but throughout its existence, the discipline has remained quite stable in its central focus, yet proved to be highly adaptive to the tremendous changes in the forms, practices, institutions and technologies around and for manifested information.
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Korea’s Institute for Basic Science (IBS), the first research institute dedicated to basic science in Korea, started ten years ago as part of a science policy called the Science…
Abstract
Purpose
Korea’s Institute for Basic Science (IBS), the first research institute dedicated to basic science in Korea, started ten years ago as part of a science policy called the Science Belt. It is noteworthy that Korea, with a short history of basic science, established such a research institute exclusively for basic science within a short period of time and made it one of the representative institutions of basic science in Korea. This paper aims to uncover the impetuses and constraints surrounding the policy of Science Belt, centering on the IBS.
Design/methodology/approach
Kingdon’s stream theory is used to clarify the factors that acted as impetuses or constraints for the Science Belt. For the analysis, in-depth interviews with the active policy participants were conducted in addition to the thorough literature review. The interviews enabled an in-depth understanding of the underlying factors for the Science Belt and the actual procedures of the policy decision.
Findings
This study found that the most powerful impetus in the Science Belt policymaking process was the President and a small group composed of a few scientists who played a leading role in the political stream. The constraint of the Science Belt was that the participation of scientist experts and governmental officials, the so-called invisible participants of Kingdon, was insignificant. In particular, there was no system in place to select policy alternatives for basic science through discussion between scientists and governmental officials.
Research limitations/implications
The temporal scope of this study was limited to policy formation, that is, until the establishment of IBS. Therefore, future studies shall conduct a research on the implementation of the actual policy, IBS’s achievements and IBS’s impact of Korea’s basic science community.
Originality/value
This study applied both a theoretical framework and in-depth interviews along with the literature overview to understand a policymaking process from various angles.
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Jeremy Schulz, Laura Robinson and Katia Moles
This chapter explores the development of social science visualizations as cultural objects within art worlds. The research examines artworks as social science visualizations to…
Abstract
This chapter explores the development of social science visualizations as cultural objects within art worlds. The research examines artworks as social science visualizations to show the importance of conducting analysis within distinctive social, institutional, and cultural environments. To make these arguments, the chapter outlines some of the key features of art worlds as they have been analyzed by cultural sociologists and anthropologists. We point out how cultures of reception and institutional intermediaries, such as museums, have historically shaped the construction of artworks, which are never produced or interpreted in a vacuum. The chapter closes with a call to expand both the application of social science visualizations and our understanding of such visualizations as subject to similar art world dynamics. Such visualizations, it is argued, constitute key components of social research practice increasingly oriented toward a digitally connected public hungry for visual interpretations of contemporary social developments.
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Mina Safizadeh, Massoomeh Hedayati Marzbali, Aldrin Abdullah and Nor Zarifah Maliki
Because of the global increase of climate change effects, floods are becoming more frequent and severer, especially in urban areas of coastal cities and islands where floodplains…
Abstract
Purpose
Because of the global increase of climate change effects, floods are becoming more frequent and severer, especially in urban areas of coastal cities and islands where floodplains have turned into buildings because of rapid urbanisation, leading to a higher risk of damages. Urban heritage areas should be highly considered in the time of evacuation because of the vulnerability of streets and buildings and limitations on taking counteractions. Given these limitations, this study aims to propose a network of potential evacuation routes based on spatial configuration analysis of the heritage areas.
Design/methodology/approach
Penang Island's heritage site, namely, George Town, located on the northwest coast of Malaysia, is chosen as the case study. By using an approach of spatial configuration analysis using space syntax techniques in addition to considering the potential starting points for evacuation and flood risk map of the area, this study analysed the area's street network values for evacuation function during flood crisis time.
Findings
Potential evacuation routes were identified for flood disasters in the George Town heritage area. Furthermore, the proposed evacuation routes were evaluated in terms of time for evacuation by metric step-depth analysis of space syntax.
Originality/value
A few studies have focused on practical guidelines for evacuation routes based on spatial configuration analysis, an important yet neglected approach in this regard, especially concerning urban island areas. This study can contribute to providing strategies to reduce vulnerability and casualties in urban heritage areas.
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Fei Xu, Zheng Wang, Wei Hu, Caihao Yang, Xiaolong Li, Yaning Zhang, Bingxi Li and Gongnan Xie
The purpose of this paper is to develop a coupled lattice Boltzmann model for the simulation of the freezing process in unsaturated porous media.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a coupled lattice Boltzmann model for the simulation of the freezing process in unsaturated porous media.
Design/methodology/approach
In the developed model, the porous structure with complexity and disorder was generated by using a stochastic growth method, and then the Shan-Chen multiphase model and enthalpy-based phase change model were coupled by introducing a freezing interface force to describe the variation of phase interface. The pore size of porous media in freezing process was considered as an influential factor to phase transition temperature, and the variation of the interfacial force formed with phase change on the interface was described.
Findings
The larger porosity (0.2 and 0.8) will enlarge the unfrozen area from 42 mm to 70 mm, and the rest space of porous medium was occupied by the solid particles. The larger specific surface area (0.168 and 0.315) has a more fluctuated volume fraction distribution.
Originality/value
The concept of interfacial force was first introduced in the solid–liquid phase transition to describe the freezing process of frozen soil, enabling the formulation of a distribution equation based on enthalpy to depict the changes in the water film. The increased interfacial force serves to diminish ice formation and effectively absorb air during the freezing process. A greater surface area enhances the ability to counteract liquid migration.
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Prajakta Chandrakant Kandarkar and V. Ravi
Industry 4.0 has put forward a smart perspective on managing supply chain networks and their operations. The current manufacturing system is primarily data-driven. Industries are…
Abstract
Purpose
Industry 4.0 has put forward a smart perspective on managing supply chain networks and their operations. The current manufacturing system is primarily data-driven. Industries are deploying new emerging technologies in their operations to build a competitive edge in the business environment; however, the true potential of smart manufacturing has not yet been fully unveiled. This research aims to extensively analyse emerging technologies and their interconnection with smart manufacturing in developing smarter supply chains.
Design/methodology/approach
This research endeavours to establish a conceptual framework for a smart supply chain. A real case study on a smart factory is conducted to demonstrate the validity of this framework for building smarter supply chains. A comparative analysis is carried out between conventional and smart supply chains to ascertain the advantages of smart supply chains. In addition, a thorough investigation of the several factors needed to transition from smart to smarter supply chains is undertaken.
Findings
The integration of smart technology exemplifies the ability to improve the efficiency of supply chain operations. Research findings indicate that transitioning to a smart factory radically enhances productivity, quality assurance, data privacy and labour efficiency. The outcomes of this research will help academic and industrial sectors critically comprehend technological breakthroughs and their applications in smart supply chains.
Originality/value
This study highlights the implications of incorporating smart technologies into supply chain operations, specifically in smart purchasing, smart factory operations, smart warehousing and smart customer performance. A paradigm transition from conventional, smart to smarter supply chains offers a comprehensive perspective on the evolving dynamics in automation, optimisation and manufacturing technology domains, ultimately leading to the emergence of Industry 5.0.
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In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic organisations are adapting to a new environment of global talent shortages, economic uncertainty and geo-political turmoil. As an outcome, the…
Abstract
Purpose
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic organisations are adapting to a new environment of global talent shortages, economic uncertainty and geo-political turmoil. As an outcome, the organisational strategies of digital transformation and remote working have been accelerated in the race to boost innovation, competitivity and attract staff. This has led to the rise of two new organisational dynamics: the increase of virtual teams (VTs) and focus on widespread work automation. However, despite the rise of these two related phenomena, literature does not connect them as one research area, and there is a gap in the understanding of the new employee wellbeing needs they form and how to respond to them. This paper aims to bridge this gap through a systematic literature across these areas.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducts a systematic literature review across the areas of leadership, VTs and automation over the past three years.
Findings
In this review, a number of newly arising employee wellbeing needs are identified such as fear of job displacement, a lack of self-efficacy and social cohesion, poor relationships with leaders and more. In addition, this paper recommends three fundamental research gaps to be addressed by future studies: 1. How to build and cultivate the new leadership skills needed to support VTs and workplace automation? 2. How to design work in a way that caters for employee wellbeing needs when operating in VTs or hybrid teams and working on or with workplace automation? 3. How to design work in a way that builds and emphasises the new employee skillsets to support augmentation and solves for the new employee wellbeing needs experienced by workplace automation?
Originality/value
This paper provides a novel contribution to literature by centralising current schools of thought across the cross-disciplinary themes and synthesising literature to recommend new wellbeing and leadership skills for organisations to focus on, alongside producing a new research agenda for scholars to focus.
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Bahadur Ali Soomro, Nisren Farouk Moawad, Ummi Naiemah Saraih, Nadia A. Abdelmageed Abedelwahed and Naimatullah Shah
This study aims to explore the role of the green market (GM) and green innovation (GI) towards green entrepreneurship (GE) and sustainable development (SD).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the role of the green market (GM) and green innovation (GI) towards green entrepreneurship (GE) and sustainable development (SD).
Design/methodology/approach
Based on cross-sectional data, the researchers used quantitative methods in this study to confirm the conceptual framework. The researchers used a questionnaire to collect the data obtained from Pakistan's knowledge-based companies (KBCs). In total, the researchers used 192 usable samples to deliver the findings.
Findings
The researchers used structural equation modeling (SEM) to ensure the model's fitness and as a basis for this study's hypotheses. The findings highlight that the GM factors, such as green product (GP), green design (GD), green supply chain (GSC) and green production (GPN) have a positive and significant effect GM factors, such as on both GE and SD. Further, GI is, also, a significant predictor of GE and SD. Finally, this study's findings show that GE has a predictive role of towards SD.
Practical implications
This study's findings create a source of attention for individuals to preserve the GM's natural resources. Further, mainly in developing contexts like Pakistan, the addition of the GI factor and the GM towards GE and SD contribute to the depth of the existing literature.
Originality/value
By integrating factors, such as innovation toward GE and SD, this study's findings provide an original contribution to the empirical evidence.
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