The ability to store large volumes of data is increasing faster than processing power. Some existing data management methods often result in data loss, inaccessibility or repetition of simulations. We propose a framework which promotes collaboration and simplifies data management. In particular we have demonstrated the proposed framework in the scenario of handling large scale data generated from biomolecular simulations in a multiinstitutional global collaboration. The framework has extended the ability of the Python problem solving environment to manage data files and metadata associated with simulations. We provide a transparent and seamless environment for user submitted code to analyse and post-process data stored in the framework. Based on this scenario we have further enhanced and extended the framework to deal with the more generic case of enabling any existing data file to be post processed from any .NET enabled programming language.

Schriftenreihe des Studiengangs Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft der Hochschule für Technik, Wirtschaft und Kultur Leipzig

In this two years master’s thesis I examine the library’s representation of research and its influence upon the relationship between the library practice and the research practice. I also intend to find out what controls the representation and if it is possible to see changes in the representation over time. My source material has been texts published in the Swedish library journal – and social domain – Biblioteksbladet during the last decennium (2001–2011). The method I have used is Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis (CDA) with its three-dimensional, analytical frame-work that focuses on the text, the discursive practice and the social practice. On the level of the social practice I also have included Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony. The results show that the research-image is mainly influenced by pragmatism and marketization and that these two discourses are reflected in the library’s relationship to the research community. An increase in the speech about research may also be noted. At the same time, a similar speech about education and life-long learning is prominent. The explanation I suggest is the hegemonization or naturalization of the ideology of human capital, which is shaping all of the educational institutions. It is principally in this ideological context, and on the basis of real economic demands, the representation of research and the research-connection must be seen.

This thesis presents an empirical investigation of the problems of including pictorial digital art in the context of Digital Libraries (DLs). The rational for this work is that digital art material is a significant source of learning and research, provided that it is systematically collected and maintained in structured electronic repositories. The thesis addresses a fundamental question: How to provide description and retrieval services, which are based on the needs of digital art user communities? This raises three research issues. One is the need to combine DL collections into meaningful and functional content. The second is the importance of a user-oriented approach to designing and developing Digital Libraries. The third is the requirement for continuing access to digital art as a record of modern culture. These questions are explored through a needs assessment targeted to Arts & Humanities scholars, digital artists and representatives of the DL community. A data collection methodology is developed, based on the principles of Social Informatics and a case study of evaluation efforts in extant projects. The results from this process demonstrate that the scholarly value of digital art can be established by aggregating material from various repositories into a unified dataset. The results also identify specific documentation and retrieval issues deriving from inclusion of digital art in a DL environment that necessitate further investigation. To this end, a review of sixteen digital art online resources is conducted which reveals ad-hoc collection strategies and metadata deficiencies. The work presents a prototype Digital Library for enhancing the educational outcome of digital art. The application is used as an implementation platform for material aggregation and augmented documentation through the Media Art Notation System (MANS). The summative evaluation findings confirm that the suggested solutions are highly rated by the targeted audiences. The thesis makes a contribution to academic knowledge in situating the representation of digital art within modern society. By critically examining the unique requirements of this material using the resources of social theory, the thesis represents a contemporary and pragmatic perspective on digital media art. In a well-structured Digital Library, the scholarly potential of digital art is much greater than the currently employed ad-hoc context. This work offers a sustained reflection and a roadmap for selecting and consistently applying a strategy that aims to continually improve the quality of digital art provision.

Maintaining accessibility to and understanding of digital information over time is a complex challenge that often requires contributions and interventions from a variety of individuals and organizations. The processes of preservation planning and evaluation are fundamentally implicit and share similar complexity. Both demand comprehensive knowledge and understanding of every aspect of to-be-preserved content and the contexts within which preservation is undertaken. Consequently, means are required for the identification, documentation and association of those properties of data, representation and management mechanisms that in combination lend value, facilitate interaction and influence the preservation process. These properties may be almost limitless in terms of diversity, but are integral to the establishment of classes of risk exposure, and the planning and deployment of appropriate preservation strategies. We explore several research objectives within the course of this thesis. Our main objective is the conception of an ontology for risk management of digital collections. Incorporated within this are our aims to survey the contexts within which preservation has been undertaken successfully, the development of an appropriate methodology for risk management, the evaluation of existing preservation evaluation approaches and metrics, the structuring of best practice knowledge and lastly the demonstration of a range of tools that utilise our findings. We describe a mixed methodology that uses interview and survey, extensive content analysis, practical case study and iterative software and ontology development. We build on a robust foundation, the development of the Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment. We summarise the extent of the challenge facing the digital preservation community (and by extension users and creators of digital materials from many disciplines and operational contexts) and present the case for a comprehensive and extensible knowledge base of best practice. These challenges are manifested in the scale of data growth, the increasing complexity and the increasing onus on communities with no formal training to offer assurances of data management and sustainability. These collectively imply a challenge that demands an intuitive and adaptable means of evaluating digital preservation efforts. The need for individuals and organisations to validate the legitimacy of their own efforts is particularly prioritised. We introduce our approach, based on risk management. Risk is an expression of the likelihood of a negative outcome, and an expression of the impact of such an occurrence. We describe how risk management may be considered synonymous with preservation activity, a persistent effort to negate the dangers posed to information availability, usability and sustainability. Risk can be characterised according to associated goals, activities, responsibilities and policies in terms of both their manifestation and mitigation. They have the capacity to be deconstructed into their atomic units and responsibility for their resolution delegated appropriately. We continue to describe how the manifestation of risks typically spans an entire organisational environment, and as the focus of our analysis risk safeguards against omissions that may occur when pursuing functional, departmental or role-based assessment. We discuss the importance of relating risk-factors, through the risks themselves or associated system elements. To do so will yield the preservation best-practice knowledge base that is conspicuously lacking within the international digital preservation community. We present as research outcomes an encapsulation of preservation practice (and explicitly defined best practice) as a series of case studies, in turn distilled into atomic, related information elements. We conduct our analyses in the formal evaluation of memory institutions in the UK, US and continental Europe. Furthermore we showcase a series of applications that use the fruits of this research as their intellectual foundation. Finally we document our results in a range of technical reports and conference and journal articles. We present evidence of preservation approaches and infrastructures from a series of case studies conducted in a range of international preservation environments. We then aggregate this into a linked data structure entitled PORRO, an ontology relating preservation repository, object and risk characteristics, intended to support preservation decision making and evaluation. The methodology leading to this ontology is outlined, and lessons are exposed by revisiting legacy studies and exposing the resource and associated applications to evaluation by the digital preservation community.

This research looked at barriers to successful applications of information and communication technology (ICT) in Botswana. Botswana has high investments in ICT infrastructure development in the public service. However, there is still concern about service delivery not being satisfactory. Many departmental functions are still performed manually despite the availability of computers and people capable of using them. The research question addressed is why there is lack of exploitation of ICT in the Botswana public sector. Two government departments based in the capital city were selected as case studies and investigated using questionnaires and semi structured interviews to determine the status of employee relations and ICT use. Questionnaires were used to solicit satisfaction perception of the general public about public service using a sample of capital city population. This research revealed a digital divide within Botswana. Within the public sector, computer penetration as well as internet access is very high as there is 1 computer for every 2 employees. For the general public, computer ownership is low as about 28% of the population have computers at home. Despite availability of computers in the public service, members of the public experience delay when they seek service. Motivation and payment are biggest problem regarding employee relations. ICT support is satisfactory though this might be due to low level of ICT use. Fear of change is the main limiting factor to ICT exploitation in Botswana. It was found that maintenance cost of ICT infrastructure is in the order of 8 times the national average salary. A framework is proposed to help policy makers on how best to exploit existing ICT infrastructure. Botswana has remained at the first level of ICT exploitation for over 10 years. Suggestions are made as to how the next level could be reached and future research is also discussed.

In this study an in depth investigation of successful competitive strategies for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is undertaken. The overall aim of this study is to analyse the strategic orientation of UK Manufacturing SMEs. In the process, it will test Porter’s (1980, 1985) theoretical framework of generic strategies and thus evaluate firms’ preferred strategic synthesis. It will, therefore, test the efficacy of the value chain and develop any specific pattern that relates to a combination strategy. The investigation of the above objectives is undertaken utilising a mixed research methodology with the purpose of examining the applicability of existing competitive strategy frameworks (phase 1) and testing a new theoretical framework that incorporates additional dimensions of strategy (phase 2). During phase 1, Porter’s framework is employed to investigate SMEs’ strategic orientation as a means to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. A semi-structured questionnaire is employed and the analysis is carried out by means of factor and cluster analysis to identify strategic variables currently employed by SMEs. During phase 2, the theoretical framework is operationalised to bridge the gap within the literature and existing empirical research. Its purpose is to identify forms of successful competitive strategies of UK MSMEs as they are formulated and implemented in firms’ value chain activities. The data was collected through a number of semi-structured interviews and the analysis was based on data categorisation. The findings indicate that Porter’s (1980) single generic strategies are not the best option for UK MSMEs for gaining competitive advantage and that the

Background and rationale: Collecting is a basic human activity, a cultural phenomenon establishing cultural values, defining authenticity and creating new identities for collected objects and collectors. For more than a decade, I have studied cultural heritage collections from three key interwoven perspectives. These approaches are evident in the six publications selected for this submission: • Architectural and organisational perspective: at the Vatican Gallery (Innocenti 2001a), Uffizi (Innocenti 2003a) and Biblioteca Laurenziana (Innocenti 2002a) I investigated institutional collector and key stakeholder strategies for designing collection space and displays. I then applied this analysis to‘knowledge architecture’ for industrial design artefacts and processes (Innocenti 2004c). • Procedural and functional perspective: from Palladio drawings (Innocenti 2005a) to industrial design knowledge bases (Innocenti 2004a), I investigated how to digitize, archive, render and make accessible cultural heritage as an accurate iconic representation, interwoven with documentary and cultural contexts. The work further led me to study the authenticity of born-digital artworks (Innocenti 2012c). • Artefact perspective: I explored how artists and institutional collectors address the preservation of artworks, from the Renaissance desks of the Biblioteca Laurenziana (Innocenti 2002a) to digital artworks (Innocenti 2012c), and the historical and theoretical implications of their choices. In each of these areas, I contextualized the interrelations between cultural heritage discourse and the history of collecting cultural artefacts within given historical, social and cultural periods. My work began in Italy, where cultural heritage is deeply rooted and widespread, and moved on to encompass Europe and North America in tracing the evolution of cultural heritage collectors’ strategies. I adopted an interdisciplinary approach, engaging perspectives, methods and theoretical frameworks from art history, art theory, museography, museology, library and information science, information technology, social anthropology and engineering. Starting from this multi-focal vantage point my research has resulted in contributions to knowledge, methods and theory. These publications on one hand demonstrate the continuum of key issues in cultural heritage creation, preservation and access as manifested in the strategies of institutional collectors and artists. On the other hand, they highlight the new paradigms and transformations introduced by digital and communication technologies, the shaping of cultural heritage informatics to address these transformations and the theoretical and methodological implications underlying them. Through my scholarly research, I contributed to progressing the canonical historicisation of cultural heritage, museography and museology, and to exploring the new paradigms and transformations introduced by digital and communication technologies to the disruptive and exciting world of cultural heritage informatics. The portfolio: The portfolio is a selection from Perla Innocenti’s more than forty publications of research carried out since 2001 on cultural heritage and informatics with the Universitá degli Studi di Roma ‘La Sapienza’, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte in Rome, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Fondazione Andrea Palladio, Politecnico di Milano and EU-funded projects SHAMAN and MeLa. Six scientific publications are presented: two journal articles, a scholarly treatise, a published conference paper, key chapters from a monograph and one book chapter from an edited volume. The works have two key themes relevant to the critical analysis and understanding of heritage institutions’ evolution up to the digital age. The themes illustrate the contribution each publication has made to the literature and explain the relationship between the works submitted, including developments which have occurred between one piece and another. Theme I: Evolution of museography, museology and heritage studies Three publications are presented under this theme, each of these presenting the critical analysis of cultural heritage institutions and their artefacts within the historical evolution of museums and libraries. Publication I presents the critical analysis of the museographic principles applied by Luca Beltrami to the design of the Vatican Gallery, investigated and contextualised within its museographical and cultural history (Innocenti 2001a). Publication II presents the critical analysis and findings of the museological and museographical principles applied by Corrado Ricci to the Uffizi Gallery in the 19th Century, compared with the contemporary principles in the Uffizi applied by the former Superintendent and Italian Ministry Antonio Paolucci (Innocenti 2003a). Publication III presents the analysis and original findings of Michelangelo’s ergonomic design of the Biblioteca Laurenziana fittings, within the historical evolution of libraries (Innocenti 2002a). Theme II: Creating, managing, disseminating and preserving digital cultural heritage The publications presented in this theme relate to methodologies and processes characterising diverse typologies of analogue and digital cultural heritage and the emerging field of cultural informatics. Publication IV presents the novel methodological approach defined and applied within a relevant digitization project of Andrea Palladio manuscripts and maps (Innocenti 2005a). Publication V presents the outcomes of my investigation defining and implementing an online knowledge-based system supporting research and teaching of industrial design, which is formally considered part of Italian cultural heritage (Innocenti 2004a). Publication VI discusses the repositioning of traditional conservation concepts of historicity, authenticity and versioning in relation to born-digital artworks, based on findings from my research on preservation of computer-based artefacts by public collectors (Innocenti 2012a).

This study presents a citation analysis of 20 doctoral dissertations in the subject field of Latin which is part of the broader field of classical philology. The dissertations were all written at Swedish universities and were published during two measurement periods between 1979-2017. The aim of the study is to provide a basis for decision-making for librarians who are responsible for collections of books and journals on classical philology at Swedish university libraries. The study takes as its starting point and theoretical background a citation analysis made by Gregory A. Crawford and published in an article in 2013. That citation analysis was made with a philological journal as empirical object and found a remarkable stability over time in citation practices by scholars involved in classical philology especially regarding the language, age and type of material cited. With Crawfords results as background this present study finds similar patterns of stability in citation practices in the Swedish dissertations analysed. The conclusion of this study is that Swedish university libraries should retain their older books on classical philology as well as continue to develop their collections with books as well as journals written in the English, German, French, and Italian languages. This is a two years master´s thesis in Library and Information Science.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2005. / Title from second page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [2], vi, 72, [22] p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-37).