This study investigates the extent to which hospital librarians use and are satisfied with Loansome Doc. One hundred and ninety-two libraries in the southeast region were surveyed. Results indicate that hospital libraries using Loansome Doc were not overburdened with end-users or requests. Hospital libraries’ satisfaction with Loansome Doc was generally high. However, many libraries did not offer Loansome Doc services due to limited staff, fear of increased workload, cost/billing issues, and unfamiliarity with the system. Hospital librarians should consider offering Loansome Doc because of the potential for considerable timesaving benefits. Also, Loansome Doc can be an important promotional tool, fostering user confidence in the library’s ability to quickly and conveniently meet information needs.

Interlibrary Loan entails obtaining copies of library materials not found in the library's collection on behalf of the library's patrons (borrowing), as well as providing copies of library materials requested by other libraries (lending). The dynamic nature of today's library environment is well illustrated by the rapid changes occurring in the role of interlibrary loan. The vision statement of the University of Central Florida Library is: The library performs a central role of adding value to information for the academic community by creatively improving and providing information resources and services. The library strives to create an environment that encourages the pursuit of intellectual endeavors and the creation of new knowledge. In an endeavor to fulfill this vision, the Interlibrary Loan Department at the UCF main library wants to set up a document delivery service within the UCF main campus in order to facilitate research efforts on campus. The document delivery service will include delivery and pickup of library materials for ILL requests by faculty online (via computers). In this study, we build a Traveling Salesperson model for obtaining a routing sequence for the document delivery service. Next, we analyze this model in order to check the feasibility of the routing sequence in presence of demand (delivery and pickup) by simulating the demand over the route using computer simulation software. We conclude by validating the model under given conditions and providing route sequence recommendations in the case of extreme demands.

XML is quickly being utilized in the field of technical communication to transfer information from database to person and company to company. Often communicators will structure information without a second thought of how or why certain tags are used to mark up the information. Because the company or a manual says to use those tags, the communicator does so. However, if professionals want to unlock the true potential of XML for better sharing of information across platforms, they need to understand the effects the technology using XML as well as political and cultural factors have on the tags being used. This thesis reviewed literature from multiple fields utilizing XML to find how tag choices can be influenced. XML allows for the sharing of information across multiple platforms and databases. Because of this efficiency, XML is utilized by many technologies. Often communicators must tag information so that the technologies can find the marked up information; therefore, technologies like single sourcing, data mining, and knowledge management influence the types of tags created. Additionally, cultural and political influences are analyzed to see how they play a role in determining what tags are used and created for specific documents. The thesis concludes with predictions on the future of XML and the technological, political, and cultural influences associated with XML tag sets based on information found within the thesis.

No description available.

This study examines policy and procedure documents related to Disability at 3 U.S. institutions of higher education over a 25-year time frame. Policy and procedure documents are the foundation that govern how institutions "handle" Disability, outlining expectations and guidelines for providing services and establishing bureaucratic channels used to determine who has access to those services. This research employs a comparative case study mixed methods approach. The found documents and their online contexts are analyzed according to four qualities: findability, cohesion, consistency, and transparency. A document's findability refers to the ability of a user to locate the original document, and a document's cohesion, consistency, and transparency, refer to respectively where, what, and how these documents persist from their original creation date. As I collected these documents, I constructed comparative matrices to track these qualities within and across three different universities. The initial findability of documents demonstrates two key results: 1) during the overall 1990– 2015 time frame, there was a marked change in the availability of materials in a digital format, and 2) the emergence of a way to describe documents via the phrase "Does Not Exist." These materials definitively did not exist prior to a given time frame, but later versions of such documents included an earlier start date. Cohesion results indicate that the documents most likely to be presented in a single source were broadly usable to a large portion of the university population: the general student body. Consistency results address a major issue with the document search: while these materials were likely to exist, at each of these institutions and time frames (barring the DNE documents), they are very difficult to track down. Transparency across found, single-source documents was ubiquitous; if it could be found, it had searchable text. Beyond the findings of my document collection, I created two major products as a result of this dissertation work: key recommendations for different stakeholder groups and a curated exhibit of VT-specific materials collected for this study. / Doctor of Philosophy / This study examines policy and procedure documents related to Disability at 3 U.S. institutions of higher education over a 25-year time frame. Policy and procedure documents are the foundation that govern how institutions "handle" Disability, outlining expectations and guidelines for providing services and establishing bureaucratic channels used to determine who has access to those services. This research employs a comparative case study mixed methods approach. The found documents and their online contexts are analyzed according to four qualities: findability, cohesion, consistency, and transparency. A document's findability refers to the ability of a user to locate the original document, and a document's cohesion, consistency, and transparency, refer to respectively where, what, and how these documents persist from their original creation date. As I collected these documents, I constructed comparative matrices to track these qualities within and across three different universities. The initial findability of documents demonstrates two key results: 1) during the overall 1990– 2015 time frame, there was a marked change in the availability of materials in a digital format, and 2) the emergence of a way to describe documents via the phrase "Does Not Exist." These materials definitively did not exist prior to a given time frame, but later versions of such documents included an earlier start date. Cohesion results indicate that the documents most likely to be presented in a single source were broadly usable to a large portion of the university population: the general student body. Consistency results address a major issue with the document search: while these materials were likely to exist, at each of these institutions and time frames (barring the DNE documents), they are very difficult to track down. Transparency across found, single-source documents was ubiquitous; if it could be found, it had searchable text. Beyond the findings of the document collection, there are two major products as a result of this dissertation work. First, key recommendations for different stakeholder groups (SEEKERS, WRITERS, and KEEPERS) are outlined; these recommendations are intended for the entire audience as practices that they can incorporate within their own documents. Second, the work undertaken to create a repository using materials from my document collection, utilizing the Qualitative Data Repository (based in Syracuse University) as the host for a curated exhibit of VT-specific materials, is described.

The field of document design has gained considerable attention over the past couple of decades. New technology has drastically increased the design possibilities for writers, and researchers are gaining greater insight into the way that readers interact with the visual elements of their texts. This has led to an explosion in the availability of guidance on document design, but there are still areas where the research is incomplete. One of these areas concerns a common but important type of document: the proposal. There are numerous guides on proposal writing, but most of them are concerned with content and give little attention to document design. Since successful proposals are crucial to both the business and non-profit arenas, it is important that the documents are accessible and make a good impression on reviewers. Good document design can help. In this study I took the existing research on document design and developed a set of questions meant to address the different elements of document design. I tested a sampling of both grant proposals and contract proposals using those questions with a system of scoring based on Likert scaling. I combined the quantitative results with qualitative responses from interviews in order to gain insight regarding the overall effect of visual design elements in proposals. The results of this study showed that there are certain elements of document design (such as layout or contrast) that are important to proposals, but that non-design factors (such as cost or experience) usually outweigh the design for evaluation purpose. / Master of Arts

Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))—University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The question about how the reader persona is realised in HIV/AIDS documents, how readers appreciate this persona, as well as what effect it has on the eventual text appreciation occurred as a direct result of Claatje ter Hoeven’s study, “Auteurs- en lezersrollen in wervende tekste: Drie deelstudies naar personae in Zuid-Afrikaanse bankbrochures” (2002).

Thesis (MPhil (Document Design))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This study focused on the image formation and projection of Helen Zille, leader of South Africa’s largest opposition party. South Africans are heading to voting stations in 2009 for the national and provincial election. For this reason the image a party portrays in all the methods it uses to attract voters needs to be perfect. Such methods include voting-posters, public debates and newsletters. This study focuses on the newsletters that Helen Zille writes every week and takes the form of a corpus analises. The study also shows the importance of the documentation from the leader of any institution. Such reasons include that the leader is the most identifiable person thereof. This study was undertaken within the framework of the Integrated Communication Model for Image formation and projection (IFP-model) developed by Professor Leon de Stadler. The model consists of three levels, namely the image, the information design and the document design. Each of these levels focuses on specific phases of image formation and projection. Image focuses on the intended (the desired image the institution want to construe) and the construed (the image the reader derives from the documentation) image. The information design involves the manner in which the reader accesses the text. There are three ways, which are the physical access (that which the reader sees first), the intellectual access (the way in which the information is interpreted) and the emotional access (how the reader feels about the content). The document design focuses on the four messages which appear in the text. They are the referential (the content), the appealing (the objectives), the expressive (the image of the sender) and the relational (the relationship between the reader and the sender) messages. This study focuses on the expressive and relational messages. Other questions mentioned in this study are whether the IFP-model kan be used as an analytical instrument and if this model kan be refined to place more emphasis on the expressive and relational messages. After the expressive and relational messages where identified, various tendencies where noticed in the content, style, structure and graphics thereof. These tendencies include a positive focus in the content, an informal style, high information density and the use of photographs as graphics. These tendencies where used to refine the IFP-model. The analises of the newsletters indicated that Helen Zille portrayed an image of a self-assured leader, but that this image was influenced by tendencies such as a negative focus on the ANC. Further findings showed that the IFPmodel can be used as an analytical instrument, but that more emphasis should be placed on refining the model so that it includes various aspects of the different levels, such as the different ways a reader gains access in the information design. This study also introduced a refined model which can be used to analyze the expressive and relation messages.

Thesis (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch))University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of bureaucratese in government institutions‟ external communication and the effect that it has on the institution‟s image. Furthermore the impact that this communication has on the institution‟s relationship with it‟s audience should also be explored and the notion that it creates a power distance relationship should be examined. Firstly the Communication Model for Image Formation and Projection (De Stadler, s.a.1) is discussed to explain the connection between communication and institutional image. Then relevant concepts, for example, image, communication, bureaucratese and power distance are explained. Secondly, bureaucratese is explained as a register and is then divided into it‟s different aspects. These aspects relate to style choices as informed by the literature on the Plain Language Movement. This set of aspects or dimensions then creates the criteria for the analysis of 16 texts. This study does not only use qualitative data, but also quantitative data and therefore a questionaire was sent out to 80 respondents. The purpose of the questionaire was to retrieve data that couldn‟t be obtained from the qualitative data. These aspects were the image of the institution and also the relationship between the institution and it‟s audience. The results show that bureacratese does have a negative impact on an institution‟s image. It also shows that the use of burocratic language creates a power distance relationship between an institution and it‟s audience. Language (in this case burocratic language) becomes an instrument through which the culture of an institutions is transferred from inside the institution onto it‟s audience. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om uit te vind of die gebruik van burokratees in regeringsinstansies se eksterne kommunikasie die betrokke instansie se beeld beïnvloed. Daar word ook gekyk na die effek van dié kommunikasie op ‟n instansie se verhouding met sy teikengroep en of ‟n magsafstandverhouding op hierdie wyse bewerkstellig word. Die invloed van die verhouding tussen die instansie en die instansie se teikengroep word dan ondersoek. Daardeur word vasgestel hoe die instansie se beeld by die teikengroep beïnvloed word. Eerstens word die Communication Model for Image Formation and Projection (De Stadler, s.a.1) bespreek om sodoende die verbande tussen beeld en kommunikasie te verduidelik. Daarna word gekyk na konsepte soos beeld, kommunikasie, burokratees en magsafstand. Tweedens word burokratees as register beskryf en die verskillende aspekte van hierdie register uitgelê. Die bespreking van die verskillende aspekte van burokratees word gesteun deur die literatuur oor die Plain Language Movement. Laasgenoemde aspekte van die register bepaal dan die kriteria waarvolgens 16 tekste geanaliseer word. Omdat hierdie studie van kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe data gebruik maak, word ook ʼn vraelys uitgestuur aan 80 respondente. Die doel van die vraelys is om dit wat nie deur die kwalitatiewe studie gemeet kan word nie, te bepaal. Hier word met ander woorde verwys na die beeld van die instansie asook die verhouding tussen die instansie en sy teikengroep. Die resultate dui wel daarop dat burokratees ‟n negatiewe impak op ʼn instansie se beeld het. Dit wys verder uit dat ‟n bepaalde verhouding geskep word tussen ‟n instansie en sy teikengroep indien daar op ‟n burokratiese wyse gekommunikeer word. „n Magsafstandverhouding ontstaan as „n gevolg van hierdie kommunikasie, omdat taal die instrument is wat die kultuur van binne die instansie na buite dra.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study patriotism as a persuasive mechanism in persuasive texts was described. The establishment of the construct and the extensive analysis thereof in 20 texts was the primary goal of the study. For the analysis of the phenomenon an analytical model was developed. A pilot study to determine the usefulness of questionnaire methodology for a reader-focused assessment of the effectiveness of these texts was also done. The goal of the pilot study was to determine, among other things, whether readers’ age and population group may in any way play a role in the effectiveness of patriotic advertisements. Since the literature concerning patriotism as a persuasive tool is very limited, patriotism as a persuasive tool was conceptualized by examining two constructs, namely patriotism as political concept and persuasion. After the above conceptualization, a theoretical model for the application of patriotism as a persuasive tool was developed. This theoretical model assumes that patriotism embodies two forms in persuasive texts, namely verbal and non-verbal. The verbal forms of patriotism include content (thematic), word choice and verbal rhetorical devices, while graphic rhetorical devices fall within the non-verbal form. The theoretical model was applied to twenty patriotic advertisements to determine the extent to which patriotism can be used as a persuasive tool. Three of these advertisements were selected for a reader-oriented investigation (which was mainly quantitative through the use of a questionnaire), since only a limited number of respondents completed the comments section in the questionnaire. Respondents from the white and coloured population groups were chosen for the reader-oriented investigation. Their ages were divided into two groups, namely 35 years and younger and 36 years and older. In the three selected advertisements patriotism was utilised in different degrees, namely strikingly positive, subtle and negative. During the reader-oriented investigation respondents' levels of patriotism and their attitudes toward the communication of patriotism were tested before they studied the advertisements. Respondents’ levels of patriotism were again tested after they studied the advertisements. The purpose of this was to determine whether the advertisement had any influence on the respondent's patriotism. Furthermore, the questionnaire tested respondents' degree of persuasion, attention and appreciation toward each advertisement through quantitative research. The results indicate that age and population group do not play a role in respondents' levels of patriotism and communication thereof, but that there were strong differences between population groups regarding the manner in which the advertiser refers to patriotism. One of the main findings was that the coloured population group was not in favour of the negative way that one of the advertisements referred to patriotism, while white respondents’ scores were more or less homogeneous towards all three advertisements. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie is patriotisme as oorredingsmeganisme in oorredende tekste beskryf. Die vestiging van patriotisme as konstruk en die uitgebreide analise daarvan in 20 tekste was die primêre doel van die studie. Met die oog op die analise van die verskynsel is ’n analise-model ontwikkel. Daar is ook ’n verkennende studie uitgevoer na die aanwending van vraelysmetodologie vir die lesergerigte toetsing van die effektiwiteit van hierdie tekste. Die verkennende ondersoek wou onder andere bepaal of ouderdom en bevolkingsgroep enigsins ’n rol speel in die effektiwiteit van patriotiese advertensies. Aangesien die oor patriotisme as oorredingsmeganisme uiters beperk is, is patriotisme as oorredingsmeganisme gekonseptualiseer deur die bespreking op twee punte te fokus, naamlik patriotisme as politieke konsep en oorreding. Na afloop van die bogenoemde konseptualisering is ’n analise-model vir die aanwending van patriotisme as oorredingsmeganisme ontwikkel. Hierdie model veronderstel dat patriotisme verbale en nie-verbale verskyningsvorme in die oorredende teks het. Die verbale verskyningsvorme van patriotisme sluit inhoud (tematiek), woordkeuse en verbale retoriese middele in, terwyl patriotisme nie-verbaal oorgedra word in grafiese retoriese middele. Die teoretiese model is op twintig “patriotiese” advertensies toegepas om te bepaal tot watter mate patriotisme as oorredingsmeganisme aangewend word. Drie van hierdie advertensies is vir ’n lesergerigte ondersoek gekies, wat hoofsaaklik kwantitatief is, aangesien slegs ’n beperkte hoeveelheid respondente die kommentaar-afdeling in die vraelys ingevul het.Respondente uit die wit en bruin bevolkingsgroepe is vir die lesergerigte ondersoek gekies. Hulle ouderdomme is in twee groepe verdeel, naamlik 35 jaar en jonger en ouer as 35 jaar. In die drie advertensies wat gekies is, word patriotisme in verskillende grade aangewend, naamlik opvallend positief, subtiel en negatief. Die lesergerigte ondersoek het geskied met behulp van ’n vraelys. Tydens die lesergerigte ondersoek is respondente se vlakke van patriotisme en houdings oor die kommunikasie daarvan getoets voordat hulle die advertensies bestudeer het, waarna hulle patriotisme weer na elke advertensie getoets is. Die doel hiervan was om te bepaal of die advertensie ’n invloed op die respondent se patriotisme het. Verder het die vraelys respondente se mate van oortuiging, aandag en waardering tot elke advertensie getoets deur middel van kwantitatiewe navorsing. Die resultate dui aan dat ouderdom en bevolkingsgroep nie ’n rol speel in respondente se vlakke van patriotisme en die kommunikasie daarvan nie, maar dat daar sterk verskille tussen bevolkingsgroepe was vir die manier waarop die adverteerder na patriotisme verwys. Een van die vernaamste bevindinge was dat bruin bevolkingsgroepe nie ten gunste was van die negatiewe manier waarop daar na patriotisme in een van die advertensies verwys word nie, terwyl wit respondente min of meer homogene tellings teenoor al drie advertensies getoon het.