Statistical Methods For The Information Professional

For most of us, "painless" is not the word that comes to mind when we think of statistics, but author and educator Liwen Vaughan wants to change that. In this unique and useful book, Vaughan clearly explains the statistical methods used in information science research, focusing on basic logic rather than mathematical intricacies. Her emphasis is on the meaning of statistics, when and how to apply them, and how to interpret the results of statistical analysis. Through the use of real-world examples, she shows how statistics can be used to improve services, make better decisions, and conduct more effective research. Whether you are doing statistical analysis or simply need to better understand the statistics you encounter in professional literature and the media, this book will be a valuable addition to your personal toolkit. Includes more than 80 helpful figures and tables, 7 appendices, bibliography, index.

For most of us, "painless" is not the word that comes to mind when we think of statistics, but author and educator Liwen Vaughan wants to change that. In this unique and useful book, Vaughan clearly explains the statistical methods used in information science research, focusing on basic logic rather than mathematical intricacies. Her emphasis is on the meaning of statistics, when and how to apply them, and how to interpret the results of statistical analysis. Through the use of real-world examples, she shows how statistics can be used to improve services, make better decisions, and conduct more effective research.Whether you are doing statistical analysis or simply need to better understand the statistics you encounter in professional literature and the media, this book will be a valuable addition to your personal toolkit. Includes more than 80 helpful figures and tables, 7 appendices, bibliography, index.

Contains thirteen essays in which attendees at the American Society for Information Science's May 1999 mid-year meeting present a number of perspectives on evaluating networked information services and resources.

Understanding statistical methods provides us with an efficient way to explore, analyse and interpret data, as well as evaluate the strength of evidence presented in support of or opposition to claims. This book helps readers develop the statistical competency necessary to become good researchers and 'statistical citizens' in the information age.

Recognized as the authoritative reference to the terminology of information science, technology, and librarianship, the updated and expanded third edition of the ASIST Thesaurus is an essential resource for indexers, researchers, scholars, students, and practitioners in the field. An optional CD-ROM includes the complete contents of the print thesaurus along with Data Harmony's Thesaurus Master software. In addition to powerful search and display features, the CD-ROM allows users to add, change, and delete terms, and to learn the fundamentals of thesaurus construction while exploring the professional vocabulary of library and information science and technology. -- Description.

Information is the organisation's strategic resource, yet much of the information that an organisation recieves, is nuance and innuendo; more of a potential that a prescription for action. This book will help you gain an understanding of how an organisation may manage its information processes more effectively in order to increase its capacity to learn and adapt.

The second edition of this innovative textbook illustrates research methods for library and information science, describing the most appropriate approaches to a question—and showing you what makes research successful. Written for the serious practicing librarian researcher and the LIS student, this volume fills the need for a guide focused specifically on information and library science research methods. By critically assessing existing studies from within library and information science, this book helps you acquire a deeper understanding of research methods so you will be able to design more effective studies yourself. Section one considers research questions most often asked in information and library science and explains how they arise from practice or theory. Section two covers a variety of research designs and the sampling issues associated with them, while sections three and four look at methods for collecting and analyzing data. Each chapter introduces a particular research method, points out its relative strengths and weaknesses, and provides a critique of two or more exemplary studies. For this second edition, three new chapters have been added, covering mixed methods, visual data collection methods, and social network analysis. The chapters on research diaries and transaction log analysis have been updated, and updated examples are provided in more than a dozen other chapters as well.

Statistical Methods for Communication Science is the only statistical methods volume currently available that focuses exclusively on statistics in communication research. Writing in a straightforward, personal style, author Andrew F. Hayes offers this accessible and thorough introduction to statistical methods, starting with the fundamentals of measurement and moving on to discuss such key topics as sampling procedures, probability, reliability, hypothesis testing, simple correlation and regression, and analyses of variance and covariance. Hayes takes readers through each topic with clear explanations and illustrations. He provides a multitude of examples, all set in the context of communication research, thus engaging readers directly and helping them to see the relevance and importance of statistics to the field of communication. Highlights of this text include: *thorough and balanced coverage of topics; *integration of classical methods with modern "resampling" approaches to inference; *consideration of practical, "real world" issues; *numerous examples and applications, all drawn from communication research; *up-to-date information, with examples justifying use of various techniques; and *downloadable resources with macros, data sets, figures, and additional materials. This unique book can be used as a stand-alone classroom text, a supplement to traditional research methods texts, or a useful reference manual. It will be invaluable to students, faculty, researchers, and practitioners in communication, and it will serve to advance the understanding and use of statistical methods throughout the discipline.