Criticizes the use of Pearson's correlation coefficient in author cocitation analysis (ACA), a technique used to analyze the intellectual structure of a given scientific field, and sets forth two natural requirements that a similarity measure applied in ACA should satisfy. Uses real and hypothetical data to obtain counterexamples to both…

Discusses advancements in imaging technology and increased user access to digital images, as well as efforts to develop adequate indexing and retrieval methods for image databases. Describes preliminary results of a study of undergraduates that explored the attributes naive subjects use to describe scientific diagrams. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of database management tools for scientific information focuses on the Object Protocol Model (OPM) and data management tools based on OPM. Topics include the need for new constructs for modeling scientific experiments, modeling object structures and experiments in OPM, queries and updates, and developing scientific database applications…

High impact astronomy journals were identified by using a methodology called Discipline-Contribution Score (DCS). The DCS algorithm was used to track citations of 33 nonrecognized astronomy journals, as well as to measure contributions to astronomy by multisubfield physics and multidisciplinary journals. (JKP)

Explains aspects of an Internet gopher developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Standard Reference Data (SRD) program. The gopher lists SRD projects and data centers and enables users to find and contact the researchers associated with these projects. Delivery of scientific information is also discussed. (LRW)

Examines Hitler's use of propaganda to construct praxis and define phronesis in Nazi Germany in terms of the rational but open-ended nature of Aristotle's political-ethical thought. Examines the failure of professional discourse surrounding the siting of a low-level nuclear waste facility to create a persuasive reality and yet ideologically…

Notes that a high percentage of children's books that celebrate various applications of technology avoid discussion of environmental and social impacts. Examines messages about technology in a range of books in print and available to children. Suggests how the books might be used by teachers and parents to present the complex issues surrounding…

Describes a study that investigated the role of the laboratory as the source of production and the target of citation practices within the specialty of human-eyeblink conditioning. Lotka's law is discussed, and the correlation between the laboratory's lifetime productivity and citation frequency is examined. (15 references) (LRW)

Discusses the integration of scientific texts through the connection of documents and describes a computer model that can connect short documents. Information retrieval and artificial intelligence are discussed; a prototype system of the model is explained; and the model is compared to other computer models. (17 references) (LRW)

Examines why scientific humor is produced and what functions it serves. Discusses the case of James V. McConnell and his journal "The Worm-Runner's Digest," which published serious scientific articles in the empiricist repertoire and more whimsical materials in the contingent repertoire. (RS)

Discusses the Internet, an interconnected array of scientific research networks. The role of libraries in the Internet is discussed; the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) and Advanced Network Services (ANS) are described; and economic issues of the Internet are raised, including external economy and public good. (eight references) (LRW)

The evolutionary paths by which the characteristic properties of sex chromosomes may have evolved are reviewed. The evolution of the X and Y chromosomes from a cosexual ancestor is discussed. (CW)

Examines the concept of medical ignorance. Highlights include awareness of fallibility; the increasing supply of information; philosophies of ignorance; a phenomenology of ignorance; special issues related to medical ignorance; and mapping ignorance, including known unknowns, unknown unknowns, errors, tacit knowing, taboos, and denials. (Contains…

Describes distinctions between ignorance and knowledge and examines scientists' use of ignorance claims in the construction of science and in science for public policy based on an interdisciplinary approach. Ignorance claims in journalism are also examined, including journalists' coverage of the claims of formal scientific discourse and of public…

Describes a study that investigated the proportions of references to serials and to non-serial literature in science and social sciences fields, whether there is a relation between the age of the references and their type, and whether there is a correlation between the reference age and the share of non-serial literature. (LRW)