The Dynamics of Agriculture Subject Guide Access at Kansas State University Libraries

ABSTRACT

The Internet has profoundly altered the way library users access information. Academic libraries have responded by creating library instruction tools and subject guides as Web pages. Much effort has been invested in the development of Web-based library guides. It has thus become increasingly important to study the level of subject guide access. Library Web site usage, including subject guide access, forms a valuable output measure in contemporary library service evaluation. Accordingly, this study uses server statistics to analyze subject guide access in an academic science library. The potential use of this study is discussed.     

Michigan State University Extension Portal Planning and Implementation

ABSTRACT

Michigan State University Extension is launching a portal-based information system to help address information delivery, archiving, and cataloging, in addition to geographic dispersion and time and/or budget constraints. The system, expected for public launch during the first quarter of 2005, is described from the planning stages to current configuration. Library staff are cataloging and loading organizational content and helping to develop global content modules. Portal technology facilitates workgroup collaboration–a major design goal in addition to information management and delivery.     

Tapping Technology: Creating Web-Based Tutorials for Master Gardeners

ABSTRACT

Many successful Extension programs depend on the knowledge and expertise of volunteer Master Gardeners. It is important that Master Gardeners take advantage of research-based information and tips and tricks to finding quality information on the Web. This article outlines a successful cooperative project in which segments of a traditional classroom instruction session for Master Gardeners were modified into tutorials. The tutorials were then offered via the Web and used as part of the Master Gardener training.     

Database Publishing and Increasing Access to Food Science Information

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews current developments that facilitate increased access to food science information, with examples from the Web, from search engine producers, and from disseminators and producers of specialised abstracting and indexing (A&I) databases. The diversity of developments is reviewed in the context of blogs, wikis, Facebook, YouTube, Connotea, and examples of increasing Web access with Google Scholar and Windows Live Search Academic are provided. Examples of A&I search platform developments which are discussed include CSA Illustrata, EBSCOhost visual search, and ISI Web of Knowledge. A simple case study is included which indicates user preferences for search engines, databases, and search interface features for accessing food science information. It is concluded that information providers are successfully using a number of development strategies designed to help the food science information community with its needs.     

Where Is Agricultural Economics and AgriBusiness Research Information Published and Indexed? A Comparison of Coverage in Web of Knowledge,CAB Abstracts,EconLit, and Google Scholar

ABSTRACT

Identifying the best source of information to satisfy the needs of local clientele has always been the challenge facing collection development and instruction librarians. In order to provide users with the best possible access tool and source for comprehensive information, it is important that librarians be aware of the most productive sources of information in a field. This paper identifies where the bulk of agricultural economics research is published and indexed. It also ascertains whether Google Scholar is as productive in covering this information as CAB Abstracts and EconLit. The cited reference counts for the top 50 cited sources in Web of Knowledge and Google Scholar are also compared. The scatter of the journal literature in this field, based on the Library of Congress Subject Headings, is also provided. The study identified a broad range of article scattering in areas where agricultural economics and agribusiness materials are published. On the cited reference count, Google Scholar was as productive as the Web of Knowledge. Google Scholar is a free source of very useful information for cited references and other subject searches in the area of agricultural economics and could be used to complement traditional databases.     

微生物农业信息资源整合利用系统的设计与实现

系统地阐述了建立微生物农业信息资源整合利用系统的重要性和微生物农业信息资源整合利用系统的内容,应用软件工程和ASP动态网页技术研究开发了基于Web的微生物农业信息资源管理系统。系统由系统管理等五大模块构成,可实现微生物农业信息的实时发布、历史数据查询、浏览以及网络交互等功能,初步实现了微生物农业信息管理网络化。系统充分利用数据库技术和Web技术的优势,为微生物农业信息资源的整合利用奠定了基础。     

Occupational Hearing Loss in Agricultural Settings

ABSTRACT

Most of the materials on hearing loss due to noise in the agricultural industry are training and research-oriented materials in the form of brochures, manuals, and journal articles, published by academic presses, government associations, and professional organizations, respectively. Few books are entirely devoted to the topic of hearing loss in agricultural settings. Recently, many occupational and safety Web sites have been adding information and links to publications dealing with hearing loss in the agricultural industry. This Webliography represents the author's best efforts to briefly describe some authoritative Web sites with information targeted to individuals interested in farm occupational hearing loss.     

Food Safety Resources on the World Wide Web

ABSTRACT

Issues of food safety are as important today than during any time in history. There is a lot of information available on the World Wide Web pertaining to food safety. Finding and sorting through all of the information for reliable and credible resources can take a lot of time and effort. Furthermore, are those sources updated as information changes? This is a critical question, as outbreaks and opinions can change moment to moment. The Food Safety Webliography provides a wide range of credible resources available to the general public and covers an expansive breadth of food-safety related topics.     

Impact and Publication Patterns: A Model for Examining Resources in an International Context

ABSTRACT

The goal of this study was to determine the international impact of publications from a variety of institutes of parasitology and to evaluate sources for research in order to improve collection development decisions. Two methods were developed: a method of providing academic librarians with information on the relative impact of their institution when compared with other similar institutions and a method for comparing research sources on an international level. Using articles indexed in ISI Web of Science, twelve parasitology research centers from five countries were compared over a five-year period for number of publications produced and times each of the journal articles was cited.     

Sampling variability of petiole nitrate in irrigated cotton

Abstract

Sampling variability of petiole nitrates was evaluated on commercial, furrow‐irrigated cotton fields in southern Arizona. Analysis of individual petioles shows that sampling from the first mature leaf is best and when the maturity of the leaf is in question, it is better to sample the next older leaf. Field sampling methods used by a growers’ association were evaluated and confidence levels of their estimations were determined.     

The Information Access Center-Your Information Stop on the Web!

ABSTRACT

The development of a site that allows the public easy access into the information available at Michigan State University was the key to starting an across the University collaboration. By working collectively with MSU Libraries, MSU Extension, and MSU Outreach, the development of the site offered opportunities to link internal and external resources around issues. The site offers information on basic topic areas and sub topics that people expect the land-grant university can answer. The development was and is based on input from not just the team but from departments, staff and the public.     

Web Sources for Researching Agricultural Economics

ABSTRACT

As the recent and ongoing information revolution gradually turns traditional library materials into electronic formats, many agricultural resources have become available online. This selective Webliography covers the major online resources for studying and conducting research in agricultural economics and related fields and includes associations and organizations, databases and articles, dictionaries, directories and search engines, government agencies, industry outlooks, market information, statistics, working papers, news, prices, and miscellaneous resources. Web sites were selected based on the quality of the information and their importance to researchers in the various areas of agricultural economics. Most of the sources are free, with many of them being produced by U.S. government agencies.     

水土保持规划中低空遥感数据的获取及应用

[目的]为实现水土保持规划设计的高精度、高效率及现时性要求,探求低空遥感技术在水土保持规划设计中的应用基础和前景。[方法]选取陕西省榆林市横山区鲍家寺景区进行低空遥感试验,通过建立数字高程模型(DEM)和数字正射模型(DOM),从3个方面比较分析低空遥感数据的优势,并进一步探索了低空遥感成果在水土保持规划前期基础信息获取阶段的基本应用。[结果]低空遥感不但具有灵活性好,时效性好,数据精度高等基础优点,而且借助其他地理信息系统软件可方便、快捷提取地形现状信息和水土保持治理现状信息等水土保持规划基础资料,大大提高工作效率,能满足水土保持规划设计的要求。[结论]低空遥感数据应用于水土保持规划设计具备广阔前景。     

Nitrogen effects on cantaloupes

Abstract

The NO₃ levels in cantaloupe (Cucumis melo L.) petioles relate closely to N treatment and reflect the N status of the cantaloupe plant. Suggested levels of petiole NO₃ in cantaloupes grown in Arizona are presented. Nitrogen treatment had little effect on melon size, earliness, or most storage quality factors that were evaluated except that deficiencies resulted in lower netting, poor general appearance and an increase in cull melons.     

Re-shaping the “original SIN”: a need to re-think sediment management and policy by introducing the “buffer zone” concept

Purpose

The effects of long-standing industrialization processes and poor environmental management practices have often left a harmful legacy for marine-coastal sites worldwide, causing a wide range of unforeseen impacts on the ecosystem and on human health. A critical revision of available data from three highly contaminated Italian sites (Augusta Bay, Sicily; Cagliari Gulf, Sardinia; Pozzuoli Bay, Campania) revealed the crucial role of biogeochemical/physical dynamics and potential widespread delivery of contaminants as key components for a wider comprehensive sediment management.

Materials and methods

Datasets of organic pollutants (ΣPAHs, ΣPCBs), heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn), radionuclides, and grain size composition of marine sediments of all three sites were critically reviewed and seafloor bathymetric data were analyzed.

Results and discussion

A critical review of available physical and chemical information of sediments collected from the three marine sites provides a better understanding of the physical and biogeochemical dynamics of large-scale dispersion of contaminants in those areas, as well as new insights in terms of improved sediments management policies with actions of larger scale monitoring of the “buffer zone” confining with the national relevance and highly contaminated site to trace inputs and accumulation effects of pollutants deriving from the point-source.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates how the presence of polluted sediments on the coastal areas can have, also after the closure of anthropogenic activities, a potential impact at a large scale. Then to better evaluate the effective impact, we suggest the adoption of a buffer zone contiguous to the national relevance sites (SIN) area. While SINs are optimized to define the state of the art of the near-source pollution, buffer zones may help to outline the rate of delivery of pollutants to the deep sea. Buffer zones must be designed by taking into account the local hydrodynamics, sedimentology, and geomorphology, and should be monitored, even if at a lower resolution, like SINs.

     

Integrated approach of multiple environmental datasets for the assessment of sediment contamination in marine areas affected by long-lasting industrial activity: the case study of Bagnoli (southern Italy)

Purpose

The Bagnoli’s brownfield site (southern Italy) is an environmental priority for the Italian Government and is currently considered as a case study for the definition and application of innovative approaches to ecosystem recovery after a prolonged pollution history and eventual steel plant decommissioning.

Materials and methods

Here, we analyse high-quality datasets that constrain the distribution patterns and sources of contaminants in the coastal zone facing the site where the steel plant operated for almost one century. Innovative statistical approaches provide new insights into the temporal and spatial distribution of anthropogenic impacts, documented over the last 30 years, following lines of evidence emerging from investigations on grain size, TOC, heavy metals, PAHs, PCBs and high-resolution morpho-bathymetric information.

Results and discussion

The results derived from statistical analysis, referred also to the seafloor morphological variability, highlighted the presence of recent disposal of highly contaminated sediments and their potential pathways of dispersion to wider and deeper water zones.

Conclusions

The adopted multidisciplinary approach yields fundamental information towards an effective and proper ecosystem recovery of highly contaminated marine coastal areas and provides at the same time, a sound base for the refitting of decommissioned industrial plants.

     

The Turfgrass Information Center: Online Access to the Turf Science Literature

ABSTRACT

The Turfgrass Information Center (TIC), Michigan State University (MSU) Libraries, builds a bibliographic database, the Turf-grass Information File (TGIF), which provides access to the print and electronic literature of turf science, turf culture, and the management of turfgrass facilities, such as golf courses and sports turf venues. Database construction is based on the O. J. Noer Memorial Turfgrass Collection at MSU, and includes a wide range of publication types and contexts. Online access is available through the World Wide Web, and features a number of capabilities designed to assist users of this literature.     

Bibliometric analysis of research on soil health from 1999 to 2018

Purpose

Soil health has been a major focus of research by international scholars because it is an important factor that supports human survival and development. However, few scholars have performed bibliometric analyses of research on soil health. This study investigated the current research status and development characteristics of soil health.

Materials and methods

We performed a bibliometric analysis of documents on soil health from 1999 to 2018 in the Web of Science Core Collection. The bibliometric analysis tools, CiteSpace and HistCite software, were applied.

Results and discussion

A total of 1629 documents on soil health in the Web of Science Core Collection were identified. From the research status of soil health, the number of publications will continue to increase. Most of the research institutions examining soil health are located in the USA, and there is little cooperation and communication among countries, neither do research institutions in this field. Each country has its own research labs while lab cooperation within individual countries is relatively close. Most documents on the research of soil health have been published in the journal Applied Soil Ecology. In addition, research directions are expanding from the basic study of soil production, soil health indicators, and soil pollution to the comprehensive study of soil ecosystem.

Conclusions

Bibliometric analysis tools, CiteSpace and HistCite software, provide a comprehensive approach for making predictions regarding trends in the field. This method was used in this study to identify the hotspots, frontiers, and future development of soil health to provide guidance for future research.