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This paper analyses university library users' attitudes towards book vandalism in order to develop a basis for intervention. Using a customer oriented approach data was collected from users who attended an academic library exhibition on vandalized books at a University campus. Respondants were asked both for their reactions to the vandalism as well as to suggest measures to solve this problem. Punishment and surveillance were most frequently mentioned as preventative measures although users also recognized the utility of the exhibition in increasing awareness of book mutilation. Further implications of social marketing for libraries are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study that aimed at determining a journal evaluation method to identify most valuable journals for research at academic libraries. The need of appropriate method of journal evaluation arises due to the rising annual subscription rates of academic journals and limited budgets of libraries. The study was based on the bibliographic citations in local publications during 2004 and 2005. It was determined that the most reliable data for deciding whether to continue to subscribe to or cancel journals are not the number of citations but their use as opposed to the total cost, and select the cost-effective analysis as an important way for deciding the continuity of a journal.

Management literature appearing in Library Quarterly, 1931–2004, is examined in this essay. A total of 145 articles are identified that focus on administrative and managerial issues related to libraries during this period. Management literature is construed expansively and includes accounting, administration, assessment, budgets, facilities, organization, outcomes, personnel, planning, purchasing, unions, and library use. Articles are reviewed within a decade-by-decade format, beginning with key national management trends and followed by a brief list of seminal thinkers/contributors. In this way, Library Quarterly articles can be evaluated, in part, in the larger national context. Articles are categorized by type of library, topic, and method of investigation. Noteworthy contributors are identified, and citations to Library Quarterly library management articles are evaluated in terms of their appearance in other relevant library serials and a citation database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on efforts to re-design library serials collections at the Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge in 1993. Serials cancellations at LSU since 1987; Use of document delivery services from UNCOVER; Shifts in the range of materials provided by LSU's libraries.

Here the serially dependent, multi-machine replacement problem was investigated. Given a planning horizon with T periods, M machines of T + 1 possible vintages, costs for machine operations, machine replacements, and shutdown times, A linear programming reformulation which involves half the variables and a factor of T fewer constraints than earlier forms was investigated. Only T binary variables are necessary, a factor of M fewer than currently employed by heuristic procedures on alternate formulations. Specialized monotone cost structures are no longer necessary, thus extending the class of problems which can be solved efficiently. Computations done using the reformulation's linear programming relaxation on randomly generated problems typically produced integer solutions without branching, even in problems with 75 machines and 15 time periods. In situations where exact optimal solutions are required, the reformulation partially remedies the slow convergence witnessed in earlier studies using branch and bound techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most serials reviews have focused on the cancellation of currently held resources with high cost per use. In contrast, the latest serials review at Manhattan College employed a more fundamental indicator of cost-effectiveness and did not use the library's initial holdings as a starting point. After compiling a list of 2717 wanted journals—those identified by departmental faculty—we evaluated several thousand full-text journal resources (online databases and single-journal subscriptions) to identify those that provide the most cost-effective access to the wanted journals. Our iterative process led to a 50% increase in the percentage of wanted journals held, a 35% reduction in cost per wanted journal, a 3% reduction in total expenditures on full-text journal resources, and a substantial reduction in inequality of holdings across academic departments. Because costs are low in the initial rounds of the process, the same general method can be used to reduce expenditures. Two-thirds of the selected journals could have been acquired for just one-third of the total expenditure, and 80% could have been acquired for just 53%. Our results demonstrate that objective methods based on cost per wanted journal can achieve good results, and that commercial publishers' databases can be central to a cost-effective journal collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to highlight the status and application of automated serials control in three central university libraries in India—namely, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). All three libraries have started to automate their serials processes, choosing either the Libsys or Virtua integrated library systems. AMU and JMI selected Libsys, while JNU installed Virtua—a product of VTLS Inc. Findings suggest that reasonable progress has been made with the use of different features of serials control systems in all these libraries. This information is helpful for other universities where libraries want to start the automation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Algorithms are proposed for determining estimates of the spectral characteristics of the noise of noisy signals, as are techniques for replacing with approximate equivalent values noise readings that are incapable of measurement. The possibility is indicated for applying the specified algorithms and techniques to increase the reliability of spectral analysis results for a noisy signal and of monitoring the beginning of the change of the technical state of units under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses topics including the role of reviewers in the development of a journal, benefits of the diverse experience of the editorial board members, and different workflows for different types of work.

This paper studies the problem of stabilization for a class of control systems with discrete and distributed time-varying delays. The feedback control functions are restricted in such a way that the ratio between total cumulated output errors and total cumulated perturbations on whole time interval is upper bounded. The main result on solving the problem is derived from using a new approach, which is based on asymptotic behavior of evolution operators generated by matrix functions of homogeneous linear parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs about leveraging similar skill sets to optimize services and technical services. Topics discussed include department designed to provide much needed attention for electronic resources; increasing stakeholder communication and redirecting energy to emerging needs; and capitalize on unique institutional knowledge for electronic resource management and serials management.

In this paper, we investigate global-exponential stabilisation of a class of nonlinear networked control systems. The network-induced delays are assumed to be random and significantly smaller than the sampling period. First, sufficient conditions are presented to ensure global-exponential stability for a class of hybrid systems with time delay. Then, the networked control systems are modelled as the hybrid systems with time delay. By the techniques of adding a power integrator and a recursive argument, a sampled-data state feedback control law is presented. Sufficient conditions are given to ensure global-exponential stability of the closed-loop system by constructing a Lyapunov–Krasovskii function. Finally, a numerical example is presented to show the validity of the new methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), like many libraries, recently migrated to a new knowledgebase and integrated library system (ILS) and found they had to clean up a great deal of messy serial title list data. In their search for solutions, they discovered the free, open source tool OpenRefine, a software program specifically designed for data normalization, transformation, and cleaning. This article describes the steps that UNCG used to take a publisher's title list file and transform it into a file format usable by their ILS. In doing so, this article will discuss major types of functionality in OpenRefine: downloading the software, importing data correctly, using the interface, transforming data on a column and cell level, exploring and normalizing data, and exporting files out of OpenRefine. At the end of this article, the readers should understand how to use OpenRefine on a basic level and be able to begin to use it on their own data. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although cited reference studies are common in the library and information science literature, they are rarely performed in nonacademic institutions or in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences. In this paper, we analyze more than 400,000 cited references made by authors affiliated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration between 2009 and 2013. Our results suggest that these methods can be applied to research libraries in a variety of institutions, that the results of analyses performed at one institution may not be applicable to other institutions, and that cited reference analyses should be periodically updated to reflect changes in authors’ referencing behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the problem of observer-based dissipative control problem for wireless networked control systems (NCSs). The packet loss and time delay in the network are modeled by a set of switches, using that a discrete-time switched system is formulated. First, results for the exponential dissipativity of discrete-time switched system with time-varying delays are proposed by using the average dwell time approach and multiple Lyapunov-Krasovskii function. Then, the results are extended to drive the controller design for considered wireless NCS. The attention is focused on designing an observer-based state feedback controller which ensures that, for all network-induced delay and packet loss, the resulting error system is exponentially stable and strictly [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses workflows involved with contributing print journal back runs to scanning and storage efforts. The purpose of these efforts was to alleviate space problems in a library by consolidating stacks that were formerly used to house runs of bound journals. This article contributes to the literature on serials withdrawal projects by demonstrating database designs for tracking contributions made to cooperative storage facilities as well as highlighting an innovative solution for tracking the required linear feet for housing bound print collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This invited article explores the special issue theme of the future of serials from a publisher's perspective. The author presents key issues for SAGE Publications, including what's happening in publishing today, changes to the scholarly communication ecosystem, current innovations, megajournals, scholarly conversations, the anonymity of reviewers, the broad dissemination of content, and business models for serials publishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve higher precise positioning of the throttle plate, an adaptive servo control strategy is presented for the electronic throttle control system. Compared with the existing results on the electronic throttle control schemes, in this paper, the throttle valve reference tracking controller comprises a proportional-integral-derivative-type feedback controller with adaptive gain parameters, an adaptive feedforward compensator, and adaptive nonlinearity compensators for friction, limp-home (LH), and backlash. The closed-loop controller is realized by only utilizing the information of the throttle valve position measured by a cheap potentiometer of low resolution. The theoretical proof and analysis show that the designed throttle control system can ensure fast and accurate reference tracking of the valve plate angle in the case of the uncertain parameters related to production deviations, variations of external conditions and aging, and the effects of transmission friction, return-spring LH, and gear backlash nonlinearity with uncertain parameters. Moreover, the capability of the adaptive controller to preserve the transient performance and accuracy is evaluated in both simulation and experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We examined the contribution of the phonological loop to immediate free recall (IFR) and immediate serial recall (ISR) of lists of between one and 15 words. Following Baddeley (1986, 2000, 2007, 2012), we assumed that visual words could be recoded into the phonological store when presented silently but that recoding would be prevented by concurrent articulation (CA; Experiment 1). We further assumed that the use of the phonological loop would be evidenced by greater serial recall for lists of phonologically dissimilar words relative to lists of phonologicaliy similar words (Experiments 2A and 2B). We found that in both tasks, (a) CA reduced recall; (b) participants recalled short lists from the start of the list, leading to enhanced forward-ordered recall; (c) participants were increasingly likely to recall longer lists from the end of the list, leading to extended recency effects; (d) there were significant phonological similarity effects in ISR and IFR when both were analyzed using serial recall scoring; (e) these were reduced by free recall scoring and eliminated by CA; and (f) CA but not phonological similarity affected the tendency to initiate recall with the first list item. We conclude that similar mechanisms underpin ISR and IFR. Critically, the phonological loop is not strictly necessary for the forward-ordered recall of short lists on both tasks but may augment recall by increasing the accessibility of the list items (relative to CA), and in so doing, the order of later items is preserved better in phonologicaliy dissimilar than in phonologicaliy similar lists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Rachel Fleming and Kristin Calvert of Western Carolina University discuss their study of interlibrary loan borrowing requests in the three years surrounding a journal cancellation project. Noting that the impact of such a cancellation on interlibrary loan has not been studied since the 1990s, they examine numerous facets of requests for cancelled and non-cancelled journals, including request per journal, year of article requested, and request history for newly cancelled journals. Though journal cancellations resulted in a 2 percent increase in interlibrary loan requests, this number proved so small that Calvert and Fleming judged that their cancellations caused no undue effects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A model reference controller was designed for a unstable second-order system with time delay. The method basically derives the control law so as to make the error dynamics decay as per a third-order model. The resultant feedback control system was that of a lead–lag filter on the measurementyand a conventional Proportional - Integral - Derivative (PID) controller with a lead–lag filter in the forward path. The performance of the control system for both the servo and regulatory problems was better than that of Panda (Chemical Engineering Science,64, pp. 2807–2816, 2009). The controller is robust for uncertainties in the model parameters such as time delay, time constant or process gain. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Explains how huge amount of money was spent for the subscription of same periodicals which were being subscribed by the different universities situated within the radius of a few kilometers. Categorically shows the impact of overlapped subscription of Indian as well as foreign periodicals on economy. Analyses how the land, labour and capital were being wasted due to the duplicate subscription of periodicals. Suggests that only adopting of sharing mechanism can reduce duplicate subscription [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Paraprofessionals play a major role in the management of serials operations in libraries. Nine paraprofessional serials managers responded to an inquiry on the SERIALST online discussion list in which they shared their impressions on several issues relating to their role, status, motivation, and general perceptions about their work. For many years, there has been an ongoing debate relating to the role of paraprofessionals in libraries. Many library paraprofessionals have advanced their careers in the field of serials and have become managers of high-level operations. This Balance Point column explores the experiences of some of these paraprofessional serials managers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The sustained development of publishing of scientific journals has opened a field of analysis and application of specific knowledge for librarians. Working cooperatively with publishers enriches both players since, while librarians especially know the standardization and dissemination of journals, the editors focus on academic tasks, thematic relevance, relationship with authors and reviewers, peer review. The parameters of regional and international edition have strengthened themselves in recent decades from interinstitutional agreements and the publishers' acceptance, using methods of management and editing and formal criteria of evaluation of academic production. So publishers need a specialized and institutional support to accompany the process of scientific and technical development to get their magazines inserted in main core of scientific journals in each discipline. This paper examines the case of the Coordinación del Área de Publicaciones, of the Biblioteca de la Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata, that currently publishes over 20 journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional CDMA serial links suffer from the drawback that the number of transmitters is limited to only two in practical implementations due to the reduced voltage spacing between adjacent logic states of the transmitted data. In this letter, we propose a new CDMA serial link architect that allows an arbitrary number of transmitters to transmit data over the same channel while keeping the voltage spacing between adjacent logic states of the transmitted data to be the same as that of 4 pulse-amplitude-modulation serial link transmmitters. The effectiveness of the proposed architect is validated using the simulation results of a serial link with four transmitters designed in an IBM 130 nm 1.2 V CMOS technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial management and control systems are key components of effective management in NHS organizations. Systems have recently been enhanced by the introduction of service line reporting (SLR) in NHS foundation trusts (NHSFT). This article explores the extent to which SLR has been introduced into one NHSFT and what achievements have been made so far. It also considers the extent to which the SLR approach aligns with modern thinking about budgetary systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors provide a brief background of collaborative collection development efforts in libraries and describe ongoing, innovative projects to leverage the strength of collaboration across the VALE statewide academic library network in New Jersey to explore new methods of collection assessment, serials management, ebook collections development, and the pursuit of a shared virtual catalog. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, the problem of stabilization for nonlinear networked systems with probabilistic interval delay and sensor random packet dropout is investigated. By employing the information of probabilistic distribution of time-varying delay and considering random sensor packet dropout with compensation, the nonlinear stochastic delayed system model is established. Based on the obtained model, by choosing an appropriate Lyapunov function and utilizing a new discrete Jensen-type inequality, sufficient conditions are derived to obtain the relation of the maximum allowable delay bound, delay interval occurrence rate and packet dropout rate to the stochastic stability of nonlinear networked control systems. Two kinds of design procedures for output feedback controller are also presented in terms of solving corresponding linear matrix inequalities. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness and applicability of proposed techniques. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley and Sons Asia Pte Ltd and Chinese Automatic Control Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on adaptive inverse control theory, combined with neural network, neural network adaptive inverse controller is developed and applied to an electro-hydraulic servo system. The system inverse model identifier is constructed by neural network. The task is accomplished by generating a tracking error between the input command signal and the system response. The weights of the neural network are updated by the error signal in such a way that the error is minimized in the sense of mean square using (LMS) algorithm and the neural network is close to the system inverse model. The above steps make the gain of the serial connection system close to unity, realizing waveform replication function in real-time. To enhance its convergence and robustness, the normalized LMS algorithm is applied. Simulation in which nonlinear dead-zone is considered and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed control scheme is capable of tracking desired signals with high accuracy and it has good real-time performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this installment of Serial conversations, MIT cataloger Benjamin Abrahamse talks with Françoise Pellé, head of the International ISSN Centre, about the role played by International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSN) in facilitating the identification and collocation of serial publications in a networked environment. Serials Review 2010; 36:251-255. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents news briefs related to serials librarianship. Emerald Group Publishing Limited has acquired the Association for Information Management (ASLIB) through its holding company MCB Group. The 19th North Carolina Serials Conference was held on April 15, 2010 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and explored trends in serials access and control. Tables of contents and abstracts of articles published in serials journals are included.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report on a devised method of collection organisation within a DSpace repository using a Manakin theme and descriptive metadata. Design/methodology/approach - Using a Manakin theme, a user interface for a repository collection containing the contents of a serial was created to divide the collection into individual issues and serve the user a table of contents. Findings - The Manakin theme delivered the desired result of a browse interface that allowed the user to select and view subsets of items within a collection. Practical implications - For complex collections that might require subdivisions, DSpace's rigid data model of communities and collections is not ideal. This new interface allows for the inclusion and proper display of such complex collections. Originality/value - The paper should resonate with repository managers frustrated with the inflexibility of the default organisational structure of DSpace and its unsuitability for many different types of collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a library with useful information about selection criteria for an electronic resource assessment system and practical assistance on how to implement efficiently such a system. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on literature review, desk research, and implementation experience. Findings - The paper identifies a number of homegrown, open-source, and commercial electronic resource assessment systems and discusses their selection criteria. Based on the implementation of 360 Counter, the paper details the efficient way to implement the system. Originality/value - Collecting usage statistics is very important to make informed and well-rounded collection decisions. Libraries are seeking suitable measuring tools to meet their needs. This paper reviews several electronic resource assessment systems, discusses the selection criteria and implementation process of 360 Counter, and detailed learned lessons as well. Future directions for usage statistics are also explored. It is believed that the deployment experience should be instructive when carrying out similar projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This installment of “The Balance Point” presents descriptions of existing ideas and activities related to serials management during the current economic situation and with new digital priorities in medium to very large academic library systems. Contributors discuss current organization and activities related to traditional serials tasks, such as acquisitions, check-in, claiming and binding of print periodicals, and outline relationships to new activities precipitated by shifts to large-scale electronic resource acquisitions. Featured authors discuss reasons behind changes and provide commentary on progress, next steps and the benefits or drawbacks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article discusses the results of a survey on the staffing implications of reductions in traditional print serials management tasks within academic libraries. The author describes specific tasks that have been eliminated or reduced and the effect on positions and employees. Survey results show that while the majority of positions and employees have remained in the library, less than half of the retrained employees are involved in electronic serials management. The author concludes with a list of tasks for support staff working with electronic serials to assist in staff training and the development of position descriptions that meet the current and future needs of serials management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the characteristics of the Instituto Cervantes Library Network in relation with the cooperation existing between them, as well as the two main projects under development. Firstly, there is an introduction to the frame of action of the 61 special libraries as an international network. The two aforementioned projects are explained in detail: a common database for knowledge management and a cooperative plan for periodicals administration. There is a final point considering the value of cooperation between libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cataloging serials in special collections proves to be both a challenge and a delight. Rare, ephemeral, or older serials may contain less descriptive information than is normally found in major current periodicals, making it difficult to record such descriptive information as frequency/regularity of publication and volume designation. But the true challenges in cataloging these materials are often due to their limited and sporadic acquisition, which causes problems in describing the serials and recording holdings, resulting in more time and higher cost per issue cataloged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 2008, the Hilton M. Briggs Library, South Dakota State University, successfully migrated its holdings from EBSCO A-Z® locator tool to SFX® link resolver, an Ex Libris product. This project presented itself as an opportunity to identify and solve issues relating to hidden titles after the migration. These hidden titles were a major source of frustration in testing and maintaining the SFX system. Eight main contributing factors were identified and solutions were developed. These solutions should be instructive when problem solving in similar projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article reports on the analysis of COUNTER-compliant usage data of Elsevier ScienceDirect journals for the period of 2004–2009 by Consiran, an Iranian national consortium with fifty-eight institutions. The aim of the analysis was to develop a license model for subscription purchases. The results show that journal use followed the “80/20 rule” or Pareto principle. The conclusion is that, for a cost-benefit license model, institutions should be grouped into three or four categories based on their subject fields and amount of use. The article also discusses the problem with usage data and highlights the need for implementing a system to locally collect and analyze usage data rather than relying on the usage data provided by vendors and publishers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]