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The usefulness of impact factors as a substitute for conducting a costly local use study was investigated in an Australian university library. The results presented in this paper are consistent with the view that logical deselection decisions can be made only by using the results of a local use study. A number of reasons are advanced for why impact factors are poor predictors of local use.

This paper examines the implications of the findings of evaluative tests regarding the retrieval performance of natural language in various subject fields. It suggests parallel investigations into the structure of natural language, with particular reference to terminology, as used in the different branches of basic science. The criteria for defining the terminological consistency of a subject are formulated and a measure suggested for determining the degree of terminological consistency.

In response to a paper published in a previous issue of British Food Journal, it criticises the methodology of the previous research. Examines the earlier findings on the projected epidemic size of the new variant of Creutzfeldt‐Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans. Argues that the earlier research is flawed and there exists no data which can provide adequate predictions for the extent of the vCJD epidemic.

The problems of interlibrary loans will always be with us; even in the past, no university could afford to buy or store all the material which its members might require, and with the present ever‐increasing amount of print and near‐print which is flowing from the presses of the world, the learned institutions might well be forgiven if they were to throw up their collective hands in despair. But whatever the future may hold, it has not yet come to that, and the don or research student still finds that even when his own library's resources are exhausted only one request in twenty which he may make through an interlibrary loan scheme is not eventually fulfilled [App. 3, Tab. 1].

Early detection of forest fires offers the chance to put the fire out before it gets out of control. The purpose of this paper is to look into nature and to learn how certain insects detect remote forest fires. A small group of highly specialized insects that have been called pyrophilous is attracted by forest fires and approaches fires sometimes from distances of many kilometers. As a unique feature some of these insects are equipped with infrared (IR) receptors, which in case of two species of jewel beetles (family Buprestidae) are used for fire detection.

The paper has investigated the IR receptors of the pyrophilous beetles with various morphological techniques including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, neuroanatomy and the paper also investigated the thermo-/mechanical properties of the IR receptors by nanoindentation. Data were used for subsequent modeling of a biomimetic technical sensor. Finally, a macroscopic prototype was built and tested.

This biological principle was transferred into a new kind of uncooled technical IR receptor. A simple model for this biological IR sensor is a modified Golay sensor in which the gas has been replaced by a liquid. Here, the absorbed IR radiation results in a pressure increase of the liquid and the deflection of a thin membrane. For the evaluation of this model, analytical formulas are presented, which permits the calculation of the pressure increase in the cavity, the deformation of the membrane and the time constant of an artificial leak to compensate ambient temperature changes. Some organic liquids with high thermal expansion coefficients may improve the deflection of the membrane compared to water.

Results so far obtained suggest that it seems promising to take the photomechanic IR receptors of pyrophilous jewel beetles as models for the building of new uncooled IR sensors. The beetle receptors have been shaped by evolution since thousands of years and, therefore, can be considered as highly optimized sources of inspiration for new technical sensors suitable for remote fire detection.

The purpose of this study is to examine the evidence-based use patterns of Higher Education Commission (HEC) subscribed e-books databases by the academic community at institutions of higher education in Pakistan. The study also investigates the differences in usage based on points of access, scholarly disciplines and gender of users.

A transaction log analysis (TLA) method was used to explore the use patterns of HEC e-books databases at the University of the Punjab, utilizing the SAWMILL analytical software and MS Excel.

The results of the study showed that the use of e-books was at a growing stage at the university. Male boarding students of the university were more active users of e-books as compared to their female counterparts. The Central Library of the University of the Punjab, the Department of Zoology and the Institute of Communication Studies were the most frequently used access points for the e-book users, and the Faculties of Sciences, Life Sciences, Economics and Management Sciences had the most active e-book readers. Furthermore, it was found that the HEC e-books databases were only being used during the four months of summer vacations at the university.

The study provides only descriptive use frequencies rather than a deep log analysis of e-books usage.

This research provides important practical implications for examining the evidence-based use patterns of e-books databases' users at the higher educational level. The research suggests that HEC should maintain subscriptions of the most required e-books databases and that the information professionals should conduct orientations and information literacy programs to enhance the utilization of these subscribed databases among female boarder students and those faculties where they were being used less frequently.

The study is the second part of the first phase of a Ph.D. project. This is the first large scale study conducted in a developing country which reports the close to actual, approximate use patterns of e-books based on raw transaction logs of local cache servers at the higher academic level.

The purpose of this paper is to develop the Great Green Wall (GGW) Project initially financed by the United Nation’s Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, is a Pan African proposal in greening the Sahel of Africa from West (Dakar) to the East (Djibouti). It aims at reducing poverty and soil degradation in this region, taking into account the effects of desertification and climate change on sustainability of livelihoods.

Several desertification attenuation projects in Nigeria are employing different methods for maximum benefits obtainable from the objectives of the particular projects. As noted above, however, the approach of GGW is to improve the alternative livelihoods of the people by their active participating in the implementation of the project. It is also noted that environmental impact assessment, community reconnaissance or needs assessments might be initial part of pre-project activities, thereby making the communities more aware and educated of the impending environmental problems.

Desertification has reached an alarming state in Nigeria. The frontline desert threatened States of Nigeria constitute 43 percent of the land mass of the country. With increased pressure of desertification, exacerbated by a period of prolonged drought of more than 20 years, climate change and human activities, it is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain sustainability in the management of the fragile lands and the region’s ecosystem. Strategic interventions in combating the problem of desertification in Nigeria have attenuated some of the detrimental social, economic and environmental impacts on the affected communities. Programmes and projects have strengthened the resilience of the people, participating in sand dune stabilization, the Great Green Wall Sahara Sahel Initiative, including shelterbelt developments. Government has sustained inputs in environmentally friendly agriculture and also encouraged synergetic collaborative activities with international and national NGOs, international agencies and local institutions.

These results/activities give evidence of the increased public awareness of environmental degradation due to desertification and climate change in Nigeria; the realization in environmental stabilization needs with ready participation of the communities for improved livelihoods in environmental activities and arid agriculture as supported by the National Great Green Wall (NAGGW) program of the country; resulting in internalization of these projects supporting livelihoods for sustainability in the Sahel of Nigeria.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the efficacy of the brief test method and OCLC's WorldCat Collection Analysis (WCA) in analyzing strengths and weaknesses of collections in three academic libraries.

Monographic collections in zoology were assessed in the study, using both the brief test method and WCA at three institutions.

The paper finds that both the brief test and WCA provide valuable insight into collection strengths and weaknesses.

This is an analysis of only one subject area and one format. Further studies might focus on other disciplines and might take into account a variety of formats.

The study suggests ways in which collection managers might gain a better knowledge of their collection for such purposes as cooperative collection development and preservation.

Since WCA is a newly available tool, there are few studies using this methodology. This adds to the limited literature on the brief test methodology.

Spatio-temporal variations in precipitation pattern of district Sargodha is one of the most significant researchable questions because of the massive reliance on rainfall for agricultural practice in the study area. The pattern of current rainfall in the study area is unexpectedly changed. The purpose of the present study is to examine the changing precipitation pattern and to link it with climate change.

The study was conducted by using rainfall data of the past 30 years collected from 8 meteorological stations around the study area. The averages of rainfall on monthly basis were temporally arranged, and the fluctuation trends were studied using GIS and statistics. The temporal data of rainfall were compared and contrasted with the precipitation normals of the study area from 1981to 2010. The rainfall deviation in the present study was calculated. The spatial pattern of rainfall was plotted by interpolating the eight points of Punjab around the study area for the first two decades, whereas the past decade was analysed by incorporating five more points of Tehsils in the existing eight. The spatial and statistical representation of data were examined by compare and contrast with the previous findings.

The rainfall in the study area showed remarkable changes in magnitude and spatiality. The rainfall in the district is on the rise, whereas the spatial pattern of rainfall is becoming more complex and anomalous in character. This paper provides convincing evidence about the impact of climate change on the magnitude and spatial patterns of precipitation in the study area.

It will be helpful for understanding the shifts in the rainfall pattern in future as well as for the preparation of response to the issue of climate change and its impacts.

The current manuscript, for the very first time, provided detailed insights about the precipitation pattern shifting during the last 30 years in district Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. Furthermore, agricultural sector would likely get severally affected because of seasonal changes in climatic factors like rainfall and have strong food security implications. The current findings will be useful to manage the climate change-related issues in Pakistan and helpful for the policy makers to design a coping strategy for climate change impacts.