Search

As an exploration of the frustration of users of an online interactive retrieval system, students from the School of Library Science of Syracuse University participated in an experiment using an experimental reference retrieval system for library literature on the IBM system 360/50. The searching consisted of sample searches using key-words. The data base contained library literature citations for the year 1970. In the control group, students were instructed to locate literature related to library management and information retrieval systems. The particular terms in the search and the format were outlined in an instruction session before the students used the system. The experimental group was not restricted to a sample search, or specified search terms, but the format of the searches were to be the same as the control group. It was anticipated that significant variations in the behavior of the users would be displayed and identified by comparing measures of behavior as the man-computer interaction proceeded through the search process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of management literature. They include "Administration and Economic Development in India," edited by Ralph Braibanti and Joseph J. Spengler, "Automation and Technological Change," edited by John T. Dunlop, and "The Business Representative in Washington," by Paul W. Cherington and Ralph L. Gillen.

Information about the Second Annual Computer Applications Symposium held in Chicago, Illinois on October 24-25, 1955 is presented. The first six papers presented are devoted to the business and management aspects of computer utility. Another six papers on engineering and research applications were presented on the second day. A total of 176 people have been listed in attendance at the symposium.

This paper discusses some of the implications of technological modifications and improvements on industrial management in two types of advanced manufacturing systems displaying flow-like characteristics and designated "process" and "quasi-process" systems. Technological advances often result in the structuring of functional relationships and responsibilities, and affect development of an organizational control system which includes human, procedural and mechanical elements. This analysis is based on field research studies as well as studies reported in the literature. Theoretical considerations and empirical findings are set forth to account for organizational developments such as the simplification or complication of organizational structure. Finally, the managerial-supervisory job functions emerging in these advanced systems provide a basis for clarifying the role of supporting groups and added considerations for a key executive function such as managerial manpower planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of electronics in record-keeping and data-processing has placed the office equipment industry in the most challenging, yet potentially rewarding, role in its history. And the same thing can be said for accountants. Electronics is a new mode of transportation. Because of its tremendous speed in carrying out the errands, the electron can take one just about anywhere, statistically speaking. This revolution in office procedures and data-processing, promises to do for man's mind what the industrial revolution did for his body. By harnessing the electron, one will be able to multiply a single clerical employee's efforts many times. In a few more years American business would have been figuratively snowed under by its ever mounting volume of paperwork. At the start of the 20th century, only one man in every 40 employees was a paper worker. With pen and ink as his chief tools, this early-day clerical was able to keep up with all of the demands placed on accounting by business.

Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The subject of automation in business has had extended coverage in the business press during recent months. Electronics has also captured the imagination of marketing men, but the areas for automation have not been clearly defined. This article answers some important questions and gives specific results that have been obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A description of a system using punched paper tape for the retrieval of documents, by author, title, place and date of publication, and subject employed at the Fluid Mechanics Division of the National Engineering Laboratory of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Much attention is given to the construction of the codes employed in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information about new methods of printing and reproducing scholarly materials. Three lines of development are being pursued: composing typewriters producing positive images on paper; film composing machines based on standard matrix assemblies; and film composing machines based on non-standard matrix assemblies. The development of composing typewriters is characterized by two forces, to do something as cheaply as possible and to do it as much like metal types as possible. Major developments in printing machinery can be grouped under two heads, faster and more automatic printing equipment, and refinements in offset.

The role, nature, status and future of Information Systems. Objectives and approach of paper. Illustrations of problems for automation. On-Line-Real-Time Information Systems. Control of space travel. Control of airline reservations. Military Command and Control. Planning and Control of Research and Development. Where computers excel. Where men excel. How man works. Heuristic problem solving. Man-machine communications consoles. Solution of ordinary differential equations. Computer aided engineering design. Solution of partial differential and integral equations. Automated Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT). Automated Teaching of Languages. Approach for automation. Conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the writing on the new "Management Science", that is on the application of systematic methodology to the job of managing in the business enterprise, has so far come from the scientists. Understandably it has therefore focused on the finding of areas in business to which the scientist can apply tools and techniques with which he is already familiar, and on the sharpening and development of these tools. The all but universal approach has been: here is a scientific method, here are scientific tools and techniques; let us find applications for them in the business enterprise. This paper proposes to look at "Management Science" from the point of view of the Manager. Its focus will therefore be on determining what methodology, what tools and techniques the Manager needs to do an orderly and systematic job of managing. Concretely the focus will be on the specific process through which the Manager does his work, and on the specific object to which his work is directed; one focus will be on Decision Making, one on the Business Enterprise and its structure. And the aim of this paper is to develop, albeit in rough and sketchy form, some specifications for "Management Science". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Production Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents abstracts of various articles on management topics, including "Management and Motivation," by Sven E. Kock, "Office Automation Administrative and Human Problems," by W. H. Scott and "Acceptance and Resistance," by Alain Touraine.

The article reports on technological innovations, particularly automation, and the impact these developments can have on all segments of business. Most of the significant progress in automation has previously been confined to production processes and manufacturing. Only recently have automation methods been linked with marketing. This has been confined largely to warehousing, transportation, order picking and handling. These innovations speed up the distribution process and lower marketing costs. But what about the other important marketing functions: selling; new product development and testing; communications, including advertising, public relations, and publicity; packaging; and marketing research?

The paper gives a qualitative treatment of a new approach to the synthesis of sequential control systems. Complex sequential control systems can be assembled from a relatively small number of standard sequence packages. These have useful sequential properties in their own right, but the methods for coupling them together to form larger sequential systems are described by the authors. Additional benefit is gained by using the machine actuators alone as memory devices. This removes any possibility of unintentional disturbance of the state of the memory function in the control system. Three examples are chosen to illustrate the design process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper summarises theoretical and experimental studies of some problems concerning the realisation of broaching of ring thrust faces. It presents descriptions of devices and investigations into the limits of application of this technology such as tool life, the deformation of rings under cutting forces and the stability of rings under clamping forces. The objectives of this project were to increase the productivity rate and continuity of production and to facilitate automation. SUMMARY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Medical & Biological Engineering (0025696X) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sociologists interested in the panorama of work have increasingly brought theft insights to bear on the role of automation in the "dehumanization" of labor, the consequent alienation of the worker from the fruits of his efforts, and the resulting leisure more tedious than the routine of work itself. The attention devoted to these problems suggests that it may perhaps be appropriate to consider a re-evaluation of the notion of work. This paper represents a first approximation at such an attempt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current interest in predicting the impact of computers and automation on society, and the disturbing conclusions reached in papers sponsored by the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, raise questions as to whether many studies have been undertaken on a scientific basis, using hypotheses subjected to disciplined and Systematic methods of testing. In the following article, the author makes a preliminary analysis of the credibility of the conclusions reached by considering both a set of sample data and a probability estimation procedure. The author believes that scientific methods are appropriate but have not been used and that the predictions and conclusions of the cited studies therefore cannot be accepted without careful systematic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a reprint of a paper by Daniel J. Leahy of Collegiate School, New York, which was presented at the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science's dinner meeting held October 28, 1961 in New York City. He reports on the implications of automation for the teaching of science. He also examines the issues relating to programmed instruction.

This paper began with the problem of the effects of size and automation on the decentralization of decision making. On the basis of previous theory and re- search I expected to find that increases in size force decision making to become decentralized, while automation allows recentralization to occur, since the rapid feedback of information to top management enables top management to make decisions which formerly had to be made at lower levels. However, the data showed exactly the opposite set of relationships. Automation had a strong positive effect on decentralization, and size had a weak negative effect. This led to reconsideration of the original hypothesis, which proved to have two obvious weaknesses. First, office automation, at least in the state employment agencies, is used only for the most routine tasks, so that any effect that it has on the decentralization of hiring decisions must be very indirect. Second, the argument assumed that centralization is always and inherently desirable and that top executives decentralize only out of necessity. This assumption is certainly open to question, especially in large organizations, where the decentralization of some decisions may be quite desirable but impossible unless there are mechanisms which routinize the internal organizational processes, thereby increasing the capacity of people at all levels of the organization to take on new responsibilities and to delegate others. Automation has this effect in that it reduces routine problems at the lowest level of the organization. This frees first-line supervisors from some of their day- to-day problems and allows them to accept the responsibility for decisions which had been forced back up to higher levels in the hierarchy. Each level is, in turn, freed from its more routine tasks; and the process repeats itself on up to the director, who sets the flow of authority in motion by delegating some of his own authority so that he can take on more appropriate executive functions such as long-range planning and the maintenance of interorganizational contacts. The pressure created by the new responsibilities which thus devolve on the second level force personnel on that level to further delegate some of their more routine responsibilities, and authority cascades down through the hierarchy to fill the vacuum which automation has created. The use of this model enabled us to explain why there should be such a strong correlation between the two decentralization variables, assuming that one of them is a decision on a higher level than the other. It also showed that the effect of automation on lower-level decisions was indirect, since it travelled entirely through higher-level decisions. The plausibility of the model was further strengthened by the fact that an alternative model which assumed that the correlation between automation and decentralization was spurious, due to the effects of size and formalization of personnel procedures, could not explain away the correlation between automation and decentralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a list of reports on proposed library facilities. The research paper "Automated Routines in Technical Services," discusses the approach to automation taken by the AFCRL Research Library, applicable to libraries in general. A brief review of the current market of equipments and techniques is followed by guidelines this library will use in order to effect total systems automation. The paper "The Automated Approach to Technical Information Retrieval, Library Applications," describes in some detail measures the Bureau of Ships has taken in an attempt to resolve some of the attending problems inherent in the handling, storage.

The article presents some updates from the Institute of Social and Industrial Relations, Loyla University as of July 1965. In the past year, Chicago companies have sent their personnel in growing numbers to the Institute for graduate training. In 1964-1965, graduate enrollment in the Institute has increased to 205 students and, during the same period, 40 students received masters degrees in industrial relations or personnel management. There were thirty-seven participants from seventeen countries. Fourteen papers were submitted. Professor Arthur Ross of the University of California acted as Convenor. The papers and proceedings of this conference are to be published. A Conference on Employment Problems of Automation and Advanced Technology was held in Geneva from July 20-24, 1964. The Institute held four Study courses in 1964. These included two International Study Courses of twelve-week duration each, a six-week Regional Study Course in Mexico and a six-week International Study Course on the work of the International Labour Organization. A total of nearly 120 participants attended these four Study Courses. The central theme of Institute Study Courses is labor problems in economic development.

The article provides information on the impact of automation on the society particularly in the U.S. It is stated that automation is part of the larger process of social change which has been going on in human society since its inception and it has had an enormous impact on the production, communication and scientific investigation. The paper emphasizes that since automation represents the highest development to technology, it is inevitable that industries will move in its direction. It discusses the relation of automation to other technologies and how technology is related to the organization of society.

The article presents information about the Industrial Relation section of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The principal research projects at present and in the coming year center on the implications of technological change and automation under a grant to the Section and to the Sloan School of Management, in which the Section is now administratively housed. The impact of computers on management organization and the nature of managerial work has been and is the principal research area. Professor Douglass V. Brown is in general charge of the over-all project, and Professor Charles A. Myers has taken responsibility for theses and special studies in the computer-impact area. Studies in the life insurance industry have been conducted by Professor George E. Delehanty, who was on leave from Northwestern University in 1964-1965. A paper by Delehanty, "Computers and the Organization Structure in Life Insurance Firms: The External and Internal Economic Environment," will appear in published form. A doctoral thesis on "The Impact of Office Automation on Supervisory Behavior" by David R. Meredith, based on a special study in one of the insurance companies involved in the research, was completed in June 1966.

The Dye Jigger is one of the most difficult dyeing machines to use. Theoretically, one should not be able to dye successfully on this type of equipment. The textile industry has seen the development of jig equipment proceed from the most primitive types to the very sophisticated types being manufactured today. This paper discusses recent improvements in the equipment along with trends toward automation and their implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the "Technicon International Symposium on Automation in Analytical Chemistry," that will be held on October 17 to 19, 1966 at the Statler Hilton Hotel, New York, the 36th annual meeting of the Biological Photographic Association on August 23 to 25, 2966 at the Phoenix Hotel in Kentucky and the 58th annual meeting of the American Phytopathological Society on August 20 to 24 at the Denver Hilton Hotel in Denver, Colorado.

The article presents information about two books related to economics published in Canada. The book "Canadian-American Planning: The Seventh Annual Conference on Canadian-American Relations, 1965," includes fifteen papers presented at the conference. They are arranged in seven sections dealing with the possibilities and limitations of joint planning; business planning; labour; new areas of co-operation; automation; technical change, including electric power and minerals; and the human price of planning. The book "Canada's First Bank: A History of the Bank of Montreal," vol. 1, by M. Denison focuses on the history of the Bank of Montreal.

Presents an abstract of the article "Digital Computers in Eastern Europe," by Alston S. Householder, published in the December 1955 issue of the journal "Computers and Automation."

This section provides an overview of the book The Shape of Automation for Men and Management, written by Herbert A. Simon.

This paper looks at the orientations towards work found among computer programmers, a group that has received relatively little attention compared to that shown in clerks and others affected by automation. The range of orientations found among programmers in the study of a computer service bureau is presented, examining the nature and implications of this range, and the way it underlies the descriptive categories used in the bureau. At the same time, the advantages of looking at emergent explanatory dimensions are contrasted with the limitations of applying previously utilized theoretical frameworks in the study of technical specialists working in organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines an approach to analyzing the safety characteristics of vehicular ground transportation systems operated under computer surveillance and control. A quantitative index of safety is formulated, and a procedure is developed for analyzing the dependence of system safety on the significant design parameters and performance attributes. Lower bounds on the permissible minimum headway are established on the assumption of instantaneous and perfect control, so that the effects of various sensing, communication, control and actuation subsystems can be assessed independently. Time delays in emergency control-resulting from discrete sensor spacing, finite sampling time, and loss of telemetered data-are analyzed and expressions for the attendant increase in the minimum headway are developed. The general approach and the specific techniques are illustrated with numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the spread of automation it is becoming more important and at the same time harder to assess the effectiveness of training--never an easy task at the best of times. The author of this paper, originally presented to the meeting of experts on automation convened by the I.L.O. in Geneva in March 1964, outlines the new types of skills demanded by automated processes, discusses various criteria that can be used for evaluating training programmes and techniques, and, noting that both industry and outside institutions have specific contributions to make. to a training policy adapted to the particular conditions imposed by automation, suggests ways in which the gap between institutional and in-plant training could be closed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A test collection of documents on solid stote physics was indexed by creating highly controlled ABC descriptors which were categorized and weighted. Overlapping categories were used deliberately. Subject experts judged the relatedness of each paper to each category. Test queries were answered by vector like calculations of query-document correlations. A new quantitative attribute, Deficiency, was devised and used for evaluating and comparing the retrieval results of different indexing systems. An improved matrix worksheet was designed for indexers. The progressive automation of most of the operational steps in using the ABC method is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A description is given of a mechanised and automated coordinate index system which by the substitution of punched tape for term cards and the use of film offers a wide range of new applications. As in the Uniterm System, each document receives a number. Each position in the punched tape or film is numbered successively from a selected starting point and these numbers represent the numbers given to the documents. Each punched tape represents one term and a perforation in this tape reveals that the document, the number of which corresponds to that of the perforation, has this term as one of its characteristics. A film contains at each perforation a greatly reduced image of a reference to the document the number of which corresponds to that of the perforation. Thus, if a punched tape and the film are read synchronously, each reference image with a number corresponding to a perforation in the tape will be automatically reproduced. In this way, then, references to all documents for which a particular term is a characteristic can be obtained. On the other hand, by reading several tapes synchronously it is possible to record fully automatically the numbers belonging to those documents which possess all the terms represented by the tapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents several abstracts on the books and the articles pertaining to various aspects of the organization of information. The first one is "Notes on the German Classification of Patents," by Norman T. Ball. The German patent classification system established in 1877 had 89 classes arranged in alphabetical order by their German titles. To date the original German schedule of 89 main classes has been rigidly retained; the system has been developed by increasing the number of subclasses from time to time. Another abstract is "Description of an Automatic Data-Analyzing Machine," by B.S. Benson. It describes a machine developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the automatic analysis of bar-graph records.

Potential for office automation in department stores is explored by sales volume class. This is done in terms of the present-day expenses in the clerical work area and the inventory management area typical of the stores in each volume class. Some characteristics of the "typical" stores are also briefly reviewed. The data used are those given in the Harvard Business School Survey conducted in 1963 [1]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a stochastic model for estimation of the dimensional-errors on the surfaces machined on centerless-grinders equipped with automatic post-process gaging and reset type of feed-back control. Examples have been included to illustrate the use of the model in obtaining distributions of the controlled output (diameter of the machined surface) for different combinations of the inherent variability of the machining setup, the measurement error, the rate of tool wear, the reset magnitude, the 'lag', the 'gap' and the sample size. These distributions could be used by the designers and the users for economic comparisons whenever there is a problem of choosing one out of two or more alternative control schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the estimates of a complete production function focusing on the neutrality of technical progress and implications of factor substitution and income distribution in Canada. Description and analyses of the result for total manufacturing in 1926 to 1939 and 1946 to 1961; Assumptions on the nature of the production function; Industries that showed a positive rate of automation.

The article presents information on the annual report of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) Inc. for 1967. The year 1967 was the year of computerization for the AIBS as it adapted the latest systems in use, and the system is stated to have proved itself to be the system with the greatest efficiency and ease. The AIBS will now offer limited business management services to its Adherent Societies in the form of membership list maintenance. In 1967, the individual membership in the AIBS reached 14,503. The AIBS authorized the formation of Student Chapters to impart a sense of responsibility to the young biology students. A life insurance plan was made available to individual members and to all members of the 20 AIBS Adherent Societies.

The article presents a reference guide for finance, accounting, taxation and banking. Names of publishers of books and the addresses of periodicals are provided to aid readers. Listings include only basic material, not news items or reports of transitory significance. In "Corporate Financial Reporting in West Germany," by H.P. Holzer, accounting practices and legal requirements in Germany are explained. "Financing Exports" sums up various ways of financing exports from Australia. "The Theory of Forward Exchange and Effects of Government Intervention on the Forward Exchange Market," S.C. Tslang is a very technical analysis of the subject. "People's Capitalism Revitalizes Europe," by David Ghenier is a brief survey of broader wealth distribution, particularly in stock ownership in Europe. "Tight Money Pinch in Canada," is an analysis of the present high interest rates in Canada. "More About Automation," is a report on automation as used in British banks. "The Joint Stock Banks," by P.E. Smart is an explanation of the workings of British joint stock banks and of how they came to be.

Current investigations on the influence of technology upon other organizational variables have remained exploratory because there is disagreement over the boundaries of the construct and there is a dearth of valid and reliable measures of technology. This study develops a measure of technology that could be used for comparative purpose. It also develops a seven-item scale that provides a valid and reliable measure of Perrow's technology construct. The scale discriminates among the technologies of 15 functional departments in three academic libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report discusses the introduction of a computer as a group member in a task-oriented group. It demonstrates that such an introduction is actually possible. It also describes some tentative results of the study: organization changes, emotional reactions, some considerations on how to facilitate such a change, and a discussion of mechanisms tending to retard such an innovation. Finally, some questions are raised for further study of the relations between man and thinking machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]