Working in a digital world: new leadership practices for the development of a digital library workforce

Digital library developments are part of a global move in many sectors of society toward virtual work and electronic services made possible by the advances in information technology. This environment requires new attitudes and skills in the workforce and therefore leaders who understand the global changes underlying the new information economy and how to lead and develop such a workforce. This article explores ways to develop human resources and stimulate creativity to capitalize on the immense potential of digital libraries to educate and empower social change. There is a shortage of technically skilled workers and even more so of innovators. Retention and recruitment is one of the greatest obstacles to developing digital library services and information products.

Informaatioteknologian tutkimus kulttuurimaantieteen osana : kolme tulkintaa sovellusesimerkein

English abstract: Information technology research in human geography

Novos paradigmas para avaliação da qualidade da informação em saúde recuperada na Web

A revolução nos paradigmas de produção do conhecimento e as implicações na qualidade de informação disponibilizadas na World Wide Web (Web) são analisadas. Apresentam-se as questões relacionadas com os critérios de avaliação da qualidade da informação em saúde recuperadas na Web, com ênfase naqueles definidos pela Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), do Health Information Technology Institute (Hiti). Destacam-se os estudos e as iniciativas internacionais desenvolvidas com o objetivo de avaliar, controlar a assegurar a qualidade da informação em saúde na Web e as propostas de instituições brasileiras quanto a esta questão.

Sistemas y servicios de información digital

El presente texto es la actualización y reescritura en español de Els serveis d’informació electrònica: què són i per a què serveixen, obra publicada en 1997 por Edicions de la UB. Aunque sólo han pasado cuatro años desde su publicación, se han tenido que revisar bastantes aspectos, pues el texto se centra en un ámbito en el que se han producido muchos cambios en poco tiempo. A simple vista, una de las modificaciones más perceptibles se refleja en el mismo título de la obra. Si en 1997 adoptamos el término información electrónica para referirnos al sector, actualmente está plenamente consolidada y es más pertinente la denominación información digital. Por otro lado, comparando ambos sumarios se echa en falta, en la nueva edición, la inclusión de algunas formas de distribución que en aquel entonces aún tenían algún peso, como el videotexto —que ya iniciaba, no obstante, su declive imparable hacia la desaparición— u otras, como el audiotexto y el teletexto, que, aunque son sistemas de distribución en uso, se han descartado del presente análisis por su importancia secundaria y por el bajo nivel de interactividad que permiten...

A Sufficiency Rating System for Secondary Roads in Iowa, HR-264, Volume I, 1985

County engineers in Iowa face the dual problems of rapidly escalating costs and a decreasing rate of growth of revenues. Various priority systems are in use, ranking projects for inclusion in road improvement programs, but they generally have weaknesses when used to compare one project with another in a different location. The sufficiency rating system has proven to be a useful tool in developing a priority list of projects for primary road systems, but there are none currently in use for secondary road systems. The research reported here was undertaken to develop a sufficiency rating system which could be used for secondary roads in Iowa and to produce the necessary forms and instructions to aid county engineering personnel in their efforts to complete the ratings for roads within their county.

Cuatro casos, cuatro historias de uso educativo de las TIC

[spa] Este informe presenta parte de los procesos y los resultados del proyecto de I+D+I: Políticas y prácticas en torno a las TIC en la enseñanza obligatoria: Implicaciones para la innovación y la mejora, parcialmente financiado por Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. SEJ2007-67562. Recoge los cuatro estudios de caso llevados a cabo en dos Institutos de Enseñanza Secundaria Obligatoria y dos centros de educación primaria de Cataluña, que nos han posibilitado elucidar el impacto de las políticas de uso de las TIC y de otras iniciativas políticas para favorecer la innovación y la mejora en cada centro, prestando especial atención a: (a) los temas organizativos relacionados con el tiempo y el espacio; (b) el desarrollo del currículum en el centro (visiones sobre el conocimiento, el aprendizaje, el papel del alumnado y el profesorado, el lugar de las TIC, etc.); (c) las condiciones de trabajo del profesorado (acceso a formación, espacios y prácticas de colaboración; desarrollo profesional); (d) los resultados del aprendizaje (valor intelectual, social y personal de lo aprendido; capacidad de transferencia para seguir aprendiendo

Maximized Utility of the Global Positioning System, HR-316, 1991

This report describes a project begun in January 1989 and completed December 1990, with the primary objective of obtaining sufficiently accurate horizontal and vertical control by using Global Positioning System (GPS) for highway applications. The ISU research group studied the operations of the Ashtech GPS receiver in static, pseudo-static, kinematic, and pseudo-kinematic modes. By using the Electronic Distance Measuring Instrument (EDMI) Calibration Baseline at ISU, the GPS receiver was tested for distance measurement accuracy. It was found that GPS measurements differed from the baseline distance by about 5.3 mm. Four projects were undertaken to further evaluate and improve the horizontal as well as the vertical accuracies of the GPS receiver -- (1) The Campus Project: with all points concentrated within a one-mile radius; (2) The Des Moines Project: a typical DOT project with all the points within a five-mile radius; (3) The Iowa Project: with all points within a 100-mile radius in the state of Iowa; and (4) The Mustang Project: an extension of the Iowa project, including a typical DOT project of about 10 miles within the inner 30 mile radius of the Iowa project.

Airborne GPS Final Report, HR-359, 1995

The objective of this project was to use a Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the aerial camera location and orientation that best facilitated mapping done from aerial photographs without any ground control. Four test flights were conducted. The first test flight was performed in June 1993 at St. Louis, with the objective of testing the multiantenna concept using two antenna on the aircraft. The second test in August 1993 was conducted over the Iowa State University (ISU) campus at Ames. This flight evaluated the use of GPS for pinpoint navigation. The third test flight over St. Louis was flown in October 1993, with four antenna on aircraft; its objective was to evaluate the 3DF GPS receiver and the antenna locations. On the basis of the results of these three tests, a final test flight over the Mustang Project area in Ames and the ISU campus was conducted in June 1994. Analysis of these data showed that airborne GPS can be used (1) in pinpoint navigation with an accuracy of 25 m or better, (2) to determine the location of the camera nodal point with an accuracy of 10 cm or better, and (3) to determine the orientation angles of the camera with an accuracy of 0.0001 radians or better. In addition, the exterior orientation elements determined by airborne GPS can be used to rectify aerial photos, to produce orthophotos, and in direct stereo plotting. Further research is recommended in these areas to maximize the use of airborne GPS. The report is organized in the following chapters: (1) Introduction; (2) Photogrammetry and Kinematic GPS; (3) Analysis of First Test; (4) Analysis of Second Test; (5) Analysis of Third Test; (6) Analysis of Final Test; (7) Applications of Airborne GPS; and (8) Conclusion and Recommendation.

Distributing State Road Use Tax Funds to Counties, HR-386, 1996

Iowa's county road system serves many critical functions in a changing environment. Many counties with very different social, economic, and demographic circumstances do not have adequate resources to provide the desired level of service on their secondary road systems. How the state's Road Use Tax Fund (RUTF) is distributed among counties is therefore of great importance. This report presents the results of a year-long study of how to distribute RUTF resources among Iowa's 99 counties. The project was undertaken at the request of county engineers who wish to replace the current method of allocation with one that is more stable, comprehensible, and predictable. This report describes the current allocation method, examines how other states distribute road funds to counties, and discusses potential allocation factors that could be included in a revised procedure. The process undertaken to narrow the range of possible formulas and determine the one to recommend is summarized. Finally, the report presents the allocation formula recommended by the project advisory committee, along with how it would operate.

A Sufficiency Rating System for Secondary Roads in Iowa, HR-264, Volume II, 1985

The goal of this study is to develop a usable sufficiency rating system for secondary roads. There are several assumptions that have been made at the outset. These are: 1. County engineers currently use at least a limited set of decision criteria to make decisions regarding project priorities. 2. Some degree of consensus exists among the county engineers in terms of which are the most important criteria and that there is some agreement on their relative importance. Accordingly, a questionnaire was developed which could be used as a survey tool. The results of the survey were used to develop a final list of weighted rating elements which were used as part of the proposed sufficiency rating system. State and local jurisdictions from other states were also surveyed to determine the status of the use of sufficiency rating systems for secondary roads outside of Iowa and to gather some applicable data.

Engineering Study for the Evaluation of Public Road Administration and Maintenance Alternatives, HR-265, 1985

Iowa's public road system of 112,000 miles is one of the largest and the best in the nation. It represents a considerable financial investment of taxpayer revenues over the years. And, it requires a sustained investment to preserve an economical level of transport service into the future. In 1982, a Governor's Blue Ribbon Transportation Task Force evaluated the effectiveness of Iowa's entire transportation system. Four important Task Force recommendations dealt with public road administrative issues in Iowa. These issues were related to: (1) Design criteria and levels of maintenance; (2) Consistency in the use of standards among jurisdictions; (3) Consolidation of maintenance operations at one jurisdiction level; and (4) Jurisdicational authority for roads; The issues formed the background for Research Project HR-265.

Data Acquisition and Computer Plotting of Delamtect Data, HR-269, 1985

The overall system is designed to permit automatic collection of delamination field data for bridge decks. In addition to measuring and recording the data in the field, the system provides for transferring the recorded data to a personal computer for processing and plotting. This permits rapid turnaround from data collection to a finished plot of the results in a fraction of the time previously required for manual analysis of the analog data captured on a strip chart recorder. In normal operation the Delamtect provides an analog voltage for each of two channels which is proportional to the extent of any delamination. These voltages are recorded on a strip chart for later visual analysis. An event marker voltage, produced by a momentary push button on the handle, is also provided by the Delamtect and recorded on a third channel of the analog recorder.

Feasibility of Using Automated Distress Data in the County Need Study, TR-418, 1998

The purpose of this project was to determine the feasibility of using pavement condition data collected for the Iowa Pavement Management Program (IPMP) as input to the Iowa Quadrennial Need Study. The need study, conducted by the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) every four years, currently uses manually collected highway infrastructure condition data (roughness, rutting, cracking, etc.). Because of the Iowa DOT's 10-year data collection cycles, condition data for a given highway segment may be up to 10 years old. In some cases, the need study process has resulted in wide fluctuations in funding allocated to individual Iowa counties from one study to the next. This volatility in funding levels makes it difficult for county engineers to plan and program road maintenance and improvements. One possible remedy is to input more current and less subjective infrastructure condition data. The IPMP was initially developed to satisfy the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) requirement that federal-aid-eligible highways be managed through a pavement management system. Currently all metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) in Iowa and 15 of Iowa's 18 RPAs participate in the IPMP. The core of this program is a statewide data base of pavement condition and construction history information. The pavement data are collected by machine in two-year cycles. Using pilot areas, researchers examined the implications of using the automated data collected for the IPMP as input to the need study computer program, HWYNEEDS. The results show that using the IPMP automated data in HWYNEEDS is feasible and beneficial, resulting in less volatility in the level of total need between successive quadrennial need studies. In other words, the more current the data, the smaller the shift in total need.

Dignificació del professorat a través de les tecnologies de la informació i la documentació. Imprecisions de la LOCE

La falta de consens davant la promulgació de la Llei Orgànica de la Qualitat de l'Educació (LOCE) oculta el fracàs de nombrosos elements del sistema educatiu, especialment el de la formació del Professorat i la seva dignificació, factors essencials per a produïr un canvi positiu en el teixit educatiu. Les Tecnologíes de la Informació i Comunicació (TIC) poden jugar un paper molt important, com agents del canvi, en un sistema educatiu que ha de rompre fronteres lingüístiques i culturals. El Professor, mitjançant l'ús i domini de les TIC, pot impulsar una educació més reflexiva per a resoldre situacions en permanent transformació. La falta de previsió política ha disminuit l'interès en el professorat per assumir aquest repte i la LOCE no contempla el pes que les TIC tenen i tendran en el canvi profund que s'està generant en el nostre alumnat.

Les TIC en la recerca, la interpretació i el procés d'aprenentatge de l'arqueologia

Des de la nostra posició de medievalistes, considerem les fonts històriques com a punt de partida de tota investigació històrica i entenem que la formació dels nostres alumnes ha de dirigir-se no només a l'adquisició de coneixements sinó també al desenvolupament de les habilitats relacionades amb el tractament de las fonts de la Historia. Per altra banda, la nostra experiència en l'ús de les TIC tant per a la difusió com per a la docència de la història i l'arqueologia, ens ha permès constatar la seva validesa com a eina de transmissió de coneixements i d'estímul en el procés d'aprenentatge dels nostres alumnes. Per tot això, des del grup [contra] Taedium d'Investigació i Innovació Docent en Historia Medieval, hem optat per dissenyar i realitzar tot un seguit de materials didàctics en els que recerca i docència es donen la ma amb l'objectiu que els nostres estudiants s'introdueixin en l'ofici i s'impliquin en el seu procés d'aprenentatge. Des de la reproducció virtual en 3D d'un castell dels segles XI-XII fins als materials on line que actualment estem desenvolupant, hem reflexionat i evolucionat en una línia de treball que ens ha de permetre transformar les dinàmiques de l'aula i les formes de comprensió dels processos de transmissió i adquisició de coneixements en l'àmbit universitari.