IRLIST Digest ISSN 1064-6965 December 25, 1995 Volume XII, Number 50 Issue 287 ********************************************************** II. JOBS 1. UIUC: GSLIS 2. Cornell U.: Metadata Specialist III. NOTICES B. Meetings 1. Using Computers to Solve Clinical Problems--2nd Offering 2. CNI/CAUSE Regional Conference '96 IV. PROJECTS A. Abstracts 1. IR-Related Dissertation Abstracts ********************************************************** II. JOBS II.1. Fr: Linda Smith Re: UIUC: Faculty Position, GSLIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Graduate School of Library and Information Science Faculty (Rank Open) The Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, seeks one or more fulltime faculty members with a strong interest in addressing problems of this rapidly changing field. Our faculty seeks to bridge relationships between humanistic, social and technical concerns in the field; between issues in libraries and other information organizations; between users and designers of information. We look for candidates with an understanding of libraries and the context of information work who, in addition to their areas of specialization, can teach in one of our core areas. The faculty values interdisciplinary research and will consider candidates with relevant experience and education in the social sciences, science and engineering fields or library and information science. Faculty and students in the school share in its rich resources and those of the University. Faculty are working jointly with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the Computer Science Department and the University Library on a $4 million NSF/ARPA/NASA Digital Library Initiative. They are involved also in projects with the Institute for Government and Public Affairs; the Program in Women, Information Technology and scholarship; the Program for the Study of Cultural Values and Ethics; the department of Sociology; and the College of Fine and Applied Arts. The Library Research Center supports faculty research and fosters a strong working relationship with the professional communities. The Center for Children's Books is developing new programs for teachers and librarians. Information Researchers cooperates with the Institute for Competitive Manufacturing in the College of Engineering. Prairienet, a community computing network, originated in the School. Faculty and students have strong cooperative arrangements with the University library. The School will consider candidates at all ranks to fill at least one position effective August 21, 1996. Ph.D. or equivalent, or substantial progress toward completion of the terminal degree is required. Salary commensurate with experience. The faculty will begin reviewing applications on January 15, 1996, but will consider candidates until all positions are filled. Letters of application (including a current resume and names of three references) and request for further information should be sent to: Leigh S. Estabrook Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois 501 East Daniel Champaign, Illinois 820 Phone: 217 (333-3281) E-mail: leighe@uiuc.edu fax: 217 (244-3302) The University of Illinois is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer ********** II.2. Fr: Greg McClellan Re: Cornell U.: Metadata Specialist METADATA SPECIALIST The Albert R. Mann Library, the agricultural, life sciences, and related social sciences library at Cornell University, provides innovative information access for its clientele. Technical Services is engaged in a variety of activities which support access to both the print and the electronic library. While maintaining a strong commitment to national and international standards in traditional cataloging, Technical Services staff have played a leadership role in processing electronic publications; developing the Mann Library Gateway (http://www.mannlib.cornell.edu); and the emergence of a Technical Services Workstation. The Technical Services Division is recruiting for a specialist in metatdata who is interested in challenges and these new corrections in cataloging services The Library is seeking a creative librarian to provide leadership in the development and use of metadata. In this context, metadata is data used to describe information objects. The metadata, which may take the form of a MARC record, a TEI header, or a customized format for spatial data, provides intellectual and physical access to information resources. The responsibilities of the Metadata Specialist nclude: 1) analyzing and providing recommendations on the pes of metadata required for effective access to electronic publications; 2) tracking developments and advising staff on metadata standards; 3) active involvement in local and national discussions relating to providing access to resources; 4) facilitating access to resources through original cataloging of materials in a variety of formats; and, 5) active participation in the library's research and development efforts. QUALIFICATIONS: Required: Master's degree in library or information sciences from an ALA-accredited university. demonstrated interest in the issues and standards related to metadata, cataloging, and full-text retrieval. Excellent communication and analytic skills including the ability to work within a team setting. Solid facility with personal puters, information retrieval software, and network navigation tools. Working knowledge of one or more foreign languages. Interest in innovation and professional development. Desirable: Background or interest in agriculture, the life sciences, or related social sciences. APPLICATION PROCESS: Screening of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. If you are interested in applying, send a cover letter, resume, and the names and phone numbers of three references to: Bernadette Heath, Personnel Associate, 235 Olin Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. For more information about the position or to arrange a preliminary interview at the 1996 Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association, please contact: Janet McCue Head, Technical Services Mann Library, Cornell Univeristy Ithaca, NY 14853-4301 voice: 607-255-7952; email: jam7@cornell.edu Cornell University is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer. ********************************************************** III. NOTICES III.B.1. Fr: William Hersh Re: Using Computers To Solve Clinical Problems - Second Offering Because the original offering of this course was sold out, another offering will take place Friday-Saturday, January 26-27, 1996. USING COMPUTER TOOLS TO SOLVE CLINICAL PROBLEMS Friday and Saturday, January 26-27,1996 Sponsored by the Biomedical Information Communication Center Oregon Heath Sciences University, Portland, Oregon This course will provide participants with practical knowledge and skills needed to take advantage of the latest information technology in their practices. The course will use a combined lecture and workshop format emphasizing hands-on experience using current computing tools to solve clinical problems. Faculty include nationally known experts in medical informatics and full-time clinicians who use computing tools in their clinical work. Participants are encouraged to bring clinical questions from their practices. Two tracks are available. The novice track will introduce participants to basic computer skills as well as clinical software tools. The advanced track provides training in clinical software tools and offers an opportunity to pursue advanced software topics. Depending on individual interest and prior experience with clinical computer tools, participants will select from among workshops designed to enable them to: # effectively search the literature for answers to clinical questions; # use CD-ROM-based tools to access current medical knowledge; # explore complex cases using diagnostic decision support software; # exchange information over networks using electronic mail and other Internet tools; # utilize the World Wide Web to access medical information from practice guidelines to neuroimages; # choose and dispense drug therapy using therapeutic decision support software; # improve patient education using patient information software; # evaluate clinical computing products for use in their own practice. WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Practicing clinicians in any specialty will benefit from the skills and knowledge covered in this course. GENERAL INFORMATION: Location: The course will be held in the computer training facilities on the first floor of the Biomedical Information Communication Center at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon. TUITION/REGISTRATION: The tuition fee is $375.00, including use of computer hardware and software, Internet and World Wide Web access, and all course materials. Early registration is encouraged, as enrollment will be limited to maintain a favorable ratio of instructors to students. To help meet administrative costs, a $25 service charge will be assessed on all refund requests received by January 18. No refunds can be issued after that date. Should conditions warrant, the sponsors reserve the right to cancel this program with a full refund. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: For registration information, contact Continuing Medical Education-L602, Oregon Health Sciences University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, Oregon 97201-3098; phone (503) 494-4898 or toll-free (800) 452-1048. For other information, contact the Course Directors: Paul Gorman, MD Voice (503) 494-4025 Internet:gormanp@ohsu.edu Bill Hersh, MD#Voice (503) 494-4563#Internet: hersh@ohsu.edu CREDIT: The School of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians. American Medical Association: The School of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, Division of Continuing Medical Education designates this continuing medical education activity for 13 credit hours in Category 1 of the Physician's Recognition Award of the American Medical Association. This is the maximum number of hours that may be claimed by the registrant on an hour-for-hour basis. PROGRAM: BASIC TRACK FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1996 #Welcome and Overview #Basics of Computing: hands on workshop including an introduction to Windows, Medline and the Internet #Clinical Software Tools: lectures/demonstrations on *-Searching the Literature *-Using Electronic Textbooks *-Diagnostic Decision Support Software *-Telecommunications Software and the Internet *-Therapeutic Decision Support Software *-Patient Education Software SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 1996 #Welcome #Hands On Workshop - Session One #Choice of workshops from list of software topics above #Hands On Workshop - Session Two #Choice of workshops from list of software topics above #Buying a System: Panel on Hardware/Software Issues #Clinical Use of Computers: The Realities: clinician panel #Open Hands On Workshop: Self-directed learning with #faculty supervision OR #Lecture/Demonstration: Electronic Medical Records and other advanced tools PROGRAM: ADVANCED TRACK FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 1996 #Welcome and Overview #Clinical Software Tools: lectures/demonstrations on *-Searching the Literature *-Using Electronic Textbooks *-Diagnostic Decision Support Software *-Telecommunications Software and the Internet *-Therapeutic Decision Support Software *-Patient Education Software #Hands On Workshop - Session One #Choice of workshops from list of software topics above #Hands On Workshop - Session Two #Choice of workshops from list of software topics above SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 1996 #Advanced Topics: Lectures/demonstrations may include advanced Medline and World Wide Web, outcomes research #Break and Exhibitor Displays #Buying a System: Panel on Hardware/Software Issues #Clinical Use of Computers: The Realities: clinician panel #Open Hands On Workshop: Self-directed learning with #faculty supervision OR #Lecture/Demonstration: Electronic Medical Records and other advanced tools EXHIBITS: Clinical computing software and hardware products will be exhibited during breaks in the session. This program is supported in part by unrestricted educational grants from these vendors. ********** III.B.2. Fr: Paul Evan Peters Re: CNI/CAUSE Regional Conference: February 9-10, 1996 in the UK Attached please find information (which can also be found at URL http://www.cni.org/regconfs/www/uk-9602.html) on the first CNI / CAUSE regional conference to be scheduled outside of the United States. NETWORKED INFORMATION IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT A conference organised by UKOLN in association with CNI, CAUSE, JISC and THE BL Friday 9 and Saturday 10 February 1996 Ramada Hotel, Heathrow, London The aim of this conference is to promote understanding and progress by facilitating communication about networked information priorities, strategies, and issues among senior managers of information resources (for example, library and computer centre directors etc.) in, primarily, the United Kingdom and North America. In addition to four principal speakers from both the United Kingdom and North American there will be project briefings (again, from both the United Kingdom and North America) on: * Electronic Journals * Teaching and Learning * Networked Information Discovery and Retrieval * Management and Service Issues * Technical Issues This inclusive 2-day residential conference costs #150 (about $237), the only extra items being parking (at #3 per day) and personal expenditure at the hotel. The venue is the Ramada Hotel at Heathrow, London, on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 February 1996. For further information please contact the Conference Coordinator: Hazel Gott, Promotions Officer, UKOLN, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK tel: +44 (0)1225 826256; fax: +44 (0)1225 826838; e-mail: h.a.gott@bath.ac.uk URL: http://ukoln.bath.ac.uk/events ********************************************************** IV. PROJECTS IV.A.1. Fr: Susanne M. Humphrey Re: Selected IR-Related Dissertation Abstracts The following are citations selected by title and abstract as being of potential interest to the Information Retrieval (IR) community, resulting from a computer search, using the CDP/Online system, of the Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) database produced by University Microfilms International (UMI). Included are accession number (AN); author (AU); title (TI); degree, institution, year, number of pages (IN); UMI order number (DD); reference to the published DAI (SO); abstract (AB); one or more DAI subject descriptors chosen by the author (DE); thesis adviser (AR); and dates associated with the monthly update file (UP). Unless otherwise specified, paper or microform copies of dissertations may be ordered from University Microfilms International, Dissertation Copies, Post Office Box 1764, Ann Arbor, MI 48106; telephone for U.S. (except Michigan, Hawaii, Alaska): 1-800-521-3042, for Canada: 1-800-343-5299; fax: 313-973-1540. Price lists and other ordering and shipping information are in the introduction to the published DAI. An alternate source for copies is sometimes provided. Dissertation titles and abstracts contained here are published with permission of University Microfilms International, publishers of Dissertation Abstracts International (copyright by University Microfilms International), and may not be reproduced without their prior permission. AN AAI9517468 AU Jantan, Jaafar. TI DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES IN TEACHERS' INFORMATION EXPLORATION STRATEGIES FOR LESSON PLANNING USING THE PHYSICS INFOMALL: A LARGE PHYSICS DATABASE ON CD-ROM. IN Thesis (PH.D.)--KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY, 1994, 166p. DD Order Number: AAI9517468. SO Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume: 56-01, Section: B, page: 0286. AB Physics teachers in high schools and elsewhere have a wide range of specialization and teaching experiences. A recent survey found seventy-five percent of physics teachers do not earn their degrees in physics. Physics InfoMall, a resource on CD-ROM was developed to provide these teachers and other physics educators access to a wide variety of teaching materials. Along with a search engine, Physics InfoMall included materials such as textbooks, reference books, laboratory and demonstration books and activities, indexes and selected articles to physics education journals, pamphlets and other documents related to teaching. Field test versions of the Physics InfoMall were distributed to teachers around the country and feedback on the use of the Physics InfoMall for lesson planning was collected over a period of a year. This study investigated how teachers with different specialization and experiences used the Physics InfoMall. Specifically, this study probed into teachers' choice of lesson components, stores entered, query modes and information seeking categories when preparing lesson plans. Overall, demonstrations, laboratories, lectures, and teacher background readings were the primary lesson components chosen and these choices were highly reflected in the stores teachers entered for shopping. Additionally, teachers queried for information using Boolean searching but failed to refine their searches by searching in selected fields of documents. Comparisons were made between crossover teachers (little or no physics background) and prepared teachers (significant physics background), between teachers with different teaching experiences and between crossover and prepared teachers with similar teaching experiences. Differences were tested for statistical significance using z-test for proportion, ANOVA, Chi Square and t-test for independent samples. Crossover teachers queried materials for lecture more than prepared teachers but no differences were observed in their query modes. On average, crossover teachers chose more lesson components and spent more time than prepared teachers for each observation. Teaching experiences were found to have no influence on choice of lesson components, stores entered, query modes and information seeking categories. However, comparisons between crossover and prepared teachers with similar teaching experiences revealed a number of variables showing significant differences. DE Physics, General. Education, Sciences. Education, Technology. AR Zollman, Dean. UP 9506. Revised: 950629. AN AAI9516842 AU Hull, David A. TI INFORMATION RETRIEVAL USING STATISTICAL CLASSIFICATION. IN Thesis (PH.D.)--STANFORD UNIVERSITY, 1995, 166p. DD Order Number: AAI9516842. SO Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume: 56-01, Section: B, page: 0329. AB In the classical information retrieval (IR) problem, the system must find all documents in a collection that are related to a topic defined by a user's query. A common approach to the IR problem is to represent documents and the query as vectors of term frequencies and rank the documents in the collection according to their inner product similarity with respect to the query. When a sample of evaluated documents is available in addition to the query (often called routing), the problem can be attacked using techniques based on statistical classification. In order for statistical classification to be a feasible approach, the system must produce a relatively small set of high quality feature variables. It turns out that individual words, due to their quantity and ambiguity, are not optimal features. Previous work has focused on a technique known as Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI), which applies the singular value decomposition to a term-document matrix and represents terms and documents by linear combinations of orthogonal indexing variables. The research presented in this thesis accomplishes the following goals. It provides a thorough discussion of evaluation in information retrieval experiments. It introduces the concept of a local LSI decomposition. LSI is used separately on a set of documents in the local region surrounding each query, creating query-specific feature variables and making the LSI technique feasible for very large document collections. It applies the classification technique known as Discriminant Analysis to the routing problem and presents experimental results on two text collections. It demonstrates that using a local LSI decomposition improves retrieval performance and represents documents using a relatively small number of feature variables. It finds that Discriminant Analysis sometimes leads to additional performance gains but that more research is needed to determine the optimal size and shape of the local region. DE Statistics. Information Science. AR Friedman, Jerome. UP 9506. Revised: 950629. AN AAI9514439 AU Liu, Qianhong. TI AN OFFICE DOCUMENT RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITH THE CAPABILITY OF PROCESSING INCOMPLETE AND VAGUE QUERIES (INCOMPLETE QUERIES, QUERIES). IN Thesis (PH.D.)--NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, 1994, 181p. DD Order Number: AAI9514439. SO Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume: 56-01, Section: B, page: 0346. AB TEXPROS (TEXt PROcessing System) is an intelligent document processing system. The system is a combination of filing and retrieval systems, which supports storing, classifying, categorizing, retrieving and reproducing documents, as well as extracting, browsing, retrieving and synthesizing information from a variety of documents. This dissertation presents a retrieval system for TEXPROS, which is capable of processing incomplete or vague queries and providing semantically meaningful responses to the users. The design of the retrieval system is highly integrated with various mechanisms for achieving these goals. First, a system catalog including a thesaurus is used to store the knowledge about the database. Secondly, there is a query transformation mechanism which consists of context construction and algebraic query formulation modules. Given an incomplete query, the context construction module searches the system for the required terms and constructs a query that has a complete representation. The resulting query is then formulated into an algebraic query. Thirdly, in practice, the user may not have a precise notion of what he is looking for. A browsing mechanism is employed for such situations to assist the user in the retrieval process. With the browser, vague queries can be entered into the system until sufficient information is obtained to the extent that the user is able to construct a query for his request. Finally, when processing of queries responds with an empty answer to the user, a query generalization mechanism is used to give the user a cooperative explanation for the empty answer. The generalizations of any given failed queries (i.e., with an empty answer) are derived by applying both the folder and type substitutions and weakening the search criteria in the original query. An efficient way is investigated for determining whether the empty answer is genuine and whether the original query reflects erroneous presuppositions, and therefore answering any failed query with a meaningful and cooperative response. It incorporates with a methodical approach to reducing the search space of generalized subqueries by analyzing the results of executing the query generalization and by efficiently applying the possible substitutions in a query to generate a small subset of relevant subqueries which are to be evaluated. DE Computer Science. Information Science. AR Ng, Peter A. UP 9506. Revised: 950629. AN AAI9514595 AU Wang, Peiling. TI A COGNITIVE MODEL OF DOCUMENT SELECTION OF REAL USERS OF INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS. IN Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK, 1994, 248p. DD Order Number: AAI9514595. SO Dissertation Abstracts International. Volume: 56-01, Section: A, page: 0017. AB Purpose. This is an exploratory study to examine document selection behavior of real users of bibliographic information retrieval (IR) systems. The purpose of the study is to build a model of the document selection process which can be used in improving the design of IR systems. Methods. Twenty-five faculty and students from an academic department submitted search requests related to their work. After a reference interview, the researcher conducted online searches on DIALOG. The retrieved documents were printed out in full record format and presented to the users for selection. Participants went through the list and selected documents in the presence of the researcher; they were asked to read and think aloud. These concurrent verbal reports were audio-taped, transcribed, and analyzed. Results. Document selection is conceptualized as a decision-making process in which users process document information elements (DIEs), apply criteria, and make decisions on whether the retrieved documents should be obtained. Document selection is situational, multidimensional, dynamic, and cognitive. Four document values adapted from the consumer choice literature are tentatively supported by the data: epistemic value, functional value, social value, and conditional value. Users employed the following criteria, listed by decreasing importance; DIEs and personal knowledge used to judge each criterion are given in parentheses: topicality (title, abstract, geographic location), orientation/level (title, abstract, author, journal), quality (author, journal, document type), subject area (author's subject area, journal), novelty (title, author), recency (publication date), authority (author), and relation/origin (author). The combinations of DIEs used and their sequencing varied from user to user and for the same user from document to document. To minimize cognitive effort, users apply decision rules in processing information and in balancing decisions among alternatives: elimination, multiple criteria, dominance, scarcity, "satisfice," and chain rules. Implications. These results suggest that the DIEs should be displayed to support document selection decisions; search output should be organized to facilitate decisions. A knowledge-based system incorporating knowledge about authors, organizations, journals, and subjects, including evaluations specific to each individual user, can help users in both document selection and IR. DE Library Science. Information Science. Education, Psychology. AR Soergel, Dagobert. UP 9506. Revised: 950629. ********************************************************** IRLIST Digest is distributed from the University of California, Division of Library Automation, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA. 94612-3550. Send subscription requests and submissions to: NCGUR@UCCMVSA.UCOP.EDU Editorial Staff: Clifford Lynch calur@uccmvsa.ucop.edu Nancy Gusack ncgur@uccmvsa.ucop.edu The IRLIST Archives is set up for anonymous FTP. Using anonymous FTP via the host dla.ucop.edu, the files will be found in the directory pub/irl, stored in subdirectories by year (e.g., /pub/irl/1993). These files are not to be sold or used for commercial purposes. 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