IRList Digest Sunday, 31 January 1988 Volume 4 : Issue 6 Today's Topics: Abstracts - New Dissertations (part 2 of 3) News addresses are Internet or CSNET: fox@vtopus.cs.vt.edu BITNET: foxea@vtvax3.bitnet ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 28 Jan 88 22:42:30 EST From: "Susanne M. HUMPHREY" Subject: new dissertations [Note: split into 3 -- here is part 2 - Ed] AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-20580. AU WALKER, HAROLD JAKE JAMES. IN Seattle University Ed.D 1987, 81 pages. TI A MODEL FOR DEVELOPING A DATA BASE SYSTEM FOR ACCESSING SERVICES TO ASSIST YOUTH. SO DAI v48(06), SecA, pp1400. DE Education, Guidance and Counseling. AB This project provides a model for using an Apple IIe computer and integrated Apple software to construct a computerized data base to match youth needs with youth service agencies and providers. An introduction reviews the dilemma in which public educational institutions find themselves. Through a review of the literature, an analysis of critiques of education, expectations for education, demographic changes of family and family structure, and the application of computer technology as a management and referral tool is made. Data about local service agencies were collected during 1986 and 1987 through extensive telephone interviews. Surveys administered to school counselors, nurses, psychologists and principals gathered their perception of referral needs. An analysis of current youth service referral catalogs was also considered. Evaluation of these data demonstrated that current systems are not keeping pace with youth needs. The major product of the study is a model for computerized data base system. The system allows fifty service agencies to be listed in the data base. Specific data regarding types of needs addressed, types of services provided, types of clients served, and financial information are included. Special attention has been given to make the system easy for anyone to use, regardless of their computer literacy. Instructional placards are included to demonstrate the following functions: (1) "Booting" the Database; (2) Specific Record Search (Matching Youth Needs with Agencies); (3) Printing Reports; (4) Add/Change/Delete Agency Information; (5) Designing Report Formats. Since most educational systems today do not have unlimited funding, the leader's role in facilitating change was considered. Special focus was given to utilizing the strengths of educational personnel to design and create a data base system. Consideration was given to providing a cost effective system of implementing a computerized data base for cataloging and retrieving information on local youth service agencies. It was found that by utilizing current hardware and software packages, and by using the specialized skills of various staff members, a database could be built for the price of a "floppy disk." The project should not be viewed as an end product. Rather, it should be considered as a first generation software package that may be modified to meet local needs, and improved as computer technology allows. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-13300. AU AL-SABBAGH, IMAD A. IN The Florida State University Ph.D 1987, 275 pages. TI THE EVOLUTION OF THE INTERDISCIPLINARITY OF INFORMATION SCIENCE: A BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY. SO DAI v48(05), SecA, pp1043. DE Information Science. AB The purpose of this study is to describe the interdisciplinarity of information science on the basis of the reference patterns in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science (JASIS) from the first issue that carried the current title (January, 1970) through the issue of December, 1985, and to identify the changes in the sources of the references in the articles of JASIS during the study period. It is assumed that the literature of JASIS represents the literature of information science, on the basis of experts' opinions, the coverage of the journal, and the fact that JASIS is the official journal of the American Society for Information Science. The study is designed to answer three research questions: (1) What are the disciplines that contributed to information science between 1970 and 1985? (2) How did the contributions of different disciplines to information science change between 1970 through 1985? (3) Which disciplines are the major contributors to information science literature in the periods 1970-1974, 1975-1979, and 1980-1985? Ten percent of JASIS references are randomly selected and examined. Citation Analysis used to collect data for the study. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data and to present the results and findings. Some of the major findings of the study are: (1) Thirty-two different disciplines are identified as the contributors to information science during the study period. (2) The contribution of information science to its own literature is the highest, followed by computer science, library science, and science-general (DDC 500-509.999). (3) The contribution of computer science to information science tripled between 1970 and 1985. (4) The contribution of library science to information science decreased from 14.28% of total citations during the first period of the study (January, 1970 through December, 1974) to 9.6% of total citations during the third period of the study (January, 1980 through December, 1985). (5) During the sixteen years of the study, it is found that the relationship between information science and library science is weakening. On the other hand, the relationship between information science and computer science becomes stronger. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.). AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-23735. AU ATTIA, ABDEL-HAMEED MOHAMMED. IN North Texas State University Ph.D 1987, 254 pages. TI APPLICATION OF INFORMATION THEORY CONCEPTS IN THE INVESTIGATION OF THE GROWTH PATTERN OF PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION, AND VELOCITY OF INFORMATION. SO DAI v48(08), SecA. DE Information Science. AB The objective of this research is the investigation of the patterns of information growth to test whether there has been an "information explosion." To tackle the main problem, there are three issues which need to be addressed: (1) the concept of information dimensionality; (2) determination of common parameters to measure the amount of information within each dimension; and (3) a working definition of "explosiveness." The independent variable is time. The dependent variables are: (1) information production--operationalized by the yearly growth of copyrights, inventions designs, Doctorates, and Library of Congress holdings; (2) information distribution--operationalized by the yearly growth of telephones, miles of telephone wire, radio and television stations, and post offices; (3) information flow--operationalized by the yearly growth of average daily telephone conversations, pieces of matter handled in post offices, number of periodicals, number of radio and television sets, and number of books. Preliminary analysis of the findings reveals that there has not been an explosive increase in the information production area. The criterion on the whole period to be explosive has not been met by any of the information production variables. Contrary to the findings in the information production, there has been an explosive growth in the information distribution. Most of the variables have met the criterion of explosiveness for the whole curve covering the span of this study. As for the information flow, the findings reveal that there have been explosive and unexplosive increases as well as unexplosive decreases at different points for most of the variables. Only one variable has met the criterion of explosiveness for the whole curve, signifying that the overall degree of explosiveness for the information flow falls between information distribution and information production. The general conclusion is that for the last one hundred and twenty-five years, the American society has witnessed an explosive growth in the distribution of information, a lesser degree in the velocity of information, and none in the real generation of information. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-23276. AU MILLER, GORDON LYNN. IN Rutgers University The State U. of New Jersey (New Brunswick) Ph.D 1987, 256 pages. TI RESONANCE, INFORMATION, AND THE PRIMACY OF PROCESS: ANCIENT LIGHT ON MODERN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION THEORY AND TECHNOLOGY. SO DAI v48(07), SecA. DE Information Science. AB This study is an investigation into the historical and philosophical foundations of the concept of information. Information is equated with meaning, and the primary purpose is to develop a unitary-process view of information. This view is unitary in the sense that information is seen as inhering in interactions between structures; it implies process in the sense that information is seen as continuously arising from moment to moment from a more richly structured ground. In Part I the method is primarily historical. The evolution of the concept of information is traced from ancient Greece to the present, and this investigation reveals a decreasing sense of information as the ongoing outcome of a universal formative process--conveyed by Heraclitus in his notion of the Logos --and an increasing sense of information as static, independently existing structure. Using the analogy of a candle flame, it is shown how static structure can be seen as a relatively invariant aspect of a more primary process. The development of information and communication technologies such as language, writing, printing, electronic mass media, and computers is also surveyed in Part I. It is proposed that increasing involvement with these technologies has contributed to the sense of information as static structure, and, indeed, that they are forms of life that have as their essence a particular attitude called the capture of meaning. The gains in technological efficiency are thus offset by the loss of a unitary-process world view. In Part II the method is empirical and analytical in the sense that the processes involved in immediate perceptual experience are examined. It is devoted primarily to employing the concept of resonance as a metaphor for understanding the emergence of meaning, and as a way of recovering a unitary-process sense of information. Building on David Bohm's principle of active information, it is shown how this process displays the characteristics we associate with intelligence. A way of understanding the operation of this intelligence in the resonance events that constitute meaning, or information, in perception and communication is presented. The ancient, unifying spirit of the Heraclitean Logos is thus rekindled, and translated into a modern form. Implications of these ideas are discussed in the Conclusion. AN This item is not available from University Microfilms International ADG05-60861. AU NICHOLLS, PAUL TRAVIS. IN The University of Western Ontario (Canada) Ph.D 1987. TI THE LOTKA HYPOTHESIS AND BIBLIOMETRIC METHODOLOGY. SO DAI v48(06), SecA, pp1344. DE Information Science. AB This study is an empirical examination of Lotka's law and the bibliometric methodology associated with it. A number of previous investigators have contributed to the empirical validation and generalization of Lotka's hypothesis; however, these studies are largely incomparable and inconclusive, owing to substantial differences in sampling, measurement, parameter estimation, testing, and even basic interpretation of the model. These data are subjected to a consistent secondary analysis here; newly collected data are also analysed, to expand the database of previous results. There are two main objectives in this study: First, to thoroughly and critically review the literature bearing on the statistical modelling of author productivity; and second, to assess these hypotheses, methods, and results against empirical data. The resulting identification and application of efficient parameter estimation procedures within a consistent testing methodology make the implications of earlier validity studies explicit; Lotka's model is found to be surprisingly well-fitting, general and stable, much more so than previously supposed. AN This item is not available from University Microfilms International ADG05-60865. AU REES-POTTER, LORNA KATHERINE. IN The University of Western Ontario (Canada) Ph.D 1987. TI A BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF TERMINOLOGICAL AND CONCEPTUAL CHANGE IN SOCIOLOGY AND ECONOMICS: WITH APPLICATION TO THE DESIGN OF DYNAMIC THESAURAL SYSTEMS. (VOLUMES I AND II). SO DAI v48(06), SecA, pp1344. DE Information Science. AB Thesauri have been used in the library and information science field to provide a standard descriptor Language for indexers or searchers to use in an information storage and retrieval system. One difficulty has been the maintenance and updating of thesauri considering that terms used to describe concepts in books and papers change over time and vary between users. This study investigated a mechanism by which thesauri can be updated and maintained using citation, co-citation analysis and citation context analysis. It has been demonstrated that citation analysis reflects concepts in a specialty, and reflects term use in a specialty, following the work of Henry Small. This technique of citation context analysis may be used to trace term change in a specialty over time and variation among researchers--the basic pieces of information needed in thesaurus development. Data bases in sociology and economics were developed using the Social Sciences Citation Indexes, 1966-67, 1973-74 and 1980-81. Twenty-six highly cited and co-cited papers common to these three time periods were then used. Seventy-eight terminology lists were developed from the citation contexts of other papers citing these papers. Two experts in each discipline were asked to group and comment on the lists. The descriptor language produced was compared with a standard descriptor language, i.e., the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Overall, the experts were able to correctly group and identify these terminology lists and thus were able to identify variation between specialty area terminology. The experts judged a high level of the terms appropriate, i.e., 93.7 percent in economics and 98.7 percent in sociology. The experts were not able to identify any change over time. The comparison with the Library of Congress Subject Headings showed an adequate level of compatibility. Thus, citation contexts may be a most useful method for developing indexing and thesaural terms descriptive of specialty areas in sociology and economics. Suggestions are given to automate these procedures. [Note: more in issue 7 - Ed] ------------------------------ END OF IRList Digest ********************