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Dissertation Information for Michael C. Anderson

NAME:
- Michael C. Anderson
- (Alias) Michael Charles Anderson

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- Case Western Reserve University (USA) (1976)

ADVISORS:
- William Goffman

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- [Indecipherable1]
- Donald B. Cleveland
- [Indecipherable2]

MPACT Status: Complete - Except Indecipherables

Title: Analysis of an informal communication process with implications for information retrieval

Abstract: A significant problem encountered by scientists today is how to gain continuing exposure to new information in their field. The difficulty arises in part because of the complex nature of scientific communication. This process consists of two components: an informal channel of communication which has as its basis personal contacts with important colleagues, and a formal channel of information transfer through media, such as journals and monographs. Within his discipline, a scientist uses both channels to obtain information. Outside of the discipline, however, he must rely more heavily on the formal channel. Often the characteristics of formal communication present obstacles to the search for knowledge. Consequently, we must develop the most effective types of formal communication in order to overcome these obstacles and provide the researcher with the most adequate information. One way in which this may be accomplished is by using informal communication to describe the interaction between members of a scientific community.

Of the various types of communication, informal occurs most often, but is ignored in research because it is difficult to measure. One way of avoiding this problem is to use collaboration as a representation of informal communication. Collaboration can be easily documented by observing references in a bibliography. In addition, it represents a high degree of informal communication prior to publication.

The practical significance of studying collaboration is its usefulness in improving the design of information retrieval systems. Intercommunication classes of co-authors can be isolated using an "indirect" method of grouping. Each authors position in the group can then be related to other identifiable characteristics he possesses such as subject orientation and quality. These relationships can then be used to design a retrieval system which uses high quality information and provides better access than other systems in use today.

MPACT Scores for Michael C. Anderson

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-04-09 13:16:57

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