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Information retrieval for finite element literature
Information retrieval for finite element literature "The half of knowledge is knowing where to find it"
Science today is a crucial and very expensive part of human activity. Information is the most valuable but least valued tool the scientist has. The first step a scientist takes towards solving a problem is to collect all the information that may have a bearing on the question--this is the observation stage. It is the basis for the continued research steps. The output of scientific papers tends to double within a period of 10-15 years. The volume of scientific and technical literature is growing at a prodigious rate at present and most professionals are no longer able to keep up-to-date with all the relevant literature. Effective information management can save both time and cost and can also stimulate creative thinking, leading to an improvement in the quality of the resultant work and elimination of "double" work at different places of research activity. Already in the 18th century the first moves towards specialized journals and abstracts showed up in a main attempt to halt/rationalize the rising number of publications. There was Sir Humphrey Davy, whose habit it was to throw away books after reading, based on the principle that no human being can ever have the time to read the same thing twice. Lord Rayleigh, a Cambridge physicist, stated in 1884: " W h a t has once been published, is spoken of as known, and it is too often forgotten that rediscovery in the library may be a more difficult and uncertain process than the first discovery in the laboratory". The state of published literature in the field of structural and solid mechanics where finite element techniques are involved is illustrated in Fig. 1 as a function of time. This figure represents the number of published papers, including books, on the subject between 1970 and 1989. The number of references between 1970 and 1975 is taken from the Finite Element
3001]
• Delayed literature ecquisiti*n
o= . . . .
II
.,t[[i-
1000
1970
1989 YEAR
Fig. 1. Output of finite element literature between 1970 and 1989.
Bibliography by Norrie and de Vries (1976), those in the period 1976-1989 from the author's database, MAKEBASE. Fluid flow problems are not included. Typical information sources for each intellectual worker are documents. There are three types of documents which can be found in a personal documentation file: literature internal documents (letters, internal reports, manuals .... ) - personal documents (notes, manuscripts, own abstracts . . . . ) The original reports of scientific/technical research make up the bulk of the primary literature. They are published in a variety of forms--books, journals, research reports, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations, trade literature, standards, patents, etc. The primary sources are scattered and unorganized. Secondary sources are compiled from the primary sources and are arranged according to some type of classification. They do not present " n e w " knowledge but they organize the primary literature sources in a more convenient form. Secondary sources are for example indexing and abstracting journals, reviews of progress, reference books, etc. Tertiary sources can be characterized as sources of information on the secondary documents, for example bibliography on bibliographies, directory to databases, etc. In the following text the primary and secondary information sources in connection to finite element techniques are summarized and described in detail. -
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Science today is a crucial and very expensive part of human activity. Information is the most valuable but least valued tool the scientist has. The first step a scientist takes towards solving a problem is to collect all the information that may have a bearing on the question--this is the observation stage. It is the basis for the continued research steps. The output of scientific papers tends to double within a period of 10-15 years. The volume of scientific and technical literature is growing at a prodigious rate at present and most professionals are no longer able to keep up-to-date with all the relevant literature. Effective information management can save both time and cost and can also stimulate creative thinking, leading to an improvement in the quality of the resultant work and elimination of "double" work at different places of research activity. Already in the 18th century the first moves towards specialized journals and abstracts showed up in a main attempt to halt/rationalize the rising number of publications. There was Sir Humphrey Davy, whose habit it was to throw away books after reading, based on the principle that no human being can ever have the time to read the same thing twice. Lord Rayleigh, a Cambridge physicist, stated in 1884: " W h a t has once been published, is spoken of as known, and it is too often forgotten that rediscovery in the library may be a more difficult and uncertain process than the first discovery in the laboratory". The state of published literature in the field of structural and solid mechanics where finite element techniques are involved is illustrated in Fig. 1 as a function of time. This figure represents the number of published papers, including books, on the subject between 1970 and 1989. The number of references between 1970 and 1975 is taken from the Finite Element
3001]
• Delayed literature ecquisiti*n
o= . . . .
II
.,t[[i-
1000
1970
1989 YEAR
Fig. 1. Output of finite element literature between 1970 and 1989.
Bibliography by Norrie and de Vries (1976), those in the period 1976-1989 from the author's database, MAKEBASE. Fluid flow problems are not included. Typical information sources for each intellectual worker are documents. There are three types of documents which can be found in a personal documentation file: literature internal documents (letters, internal reports, manuals .... ) - personal documents (notes, manuscripts, own abstracts . . . . ) The original reports of scientific/technical research make up the bulk of the primary literature. They are published in a variety of forms--books, journals, research reports, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations, trade literature, standards, patents, etc. The primary sources are scattered and unorganized. Secondary sources are compiled from the primary sources and are arranged according to some type of classification. They do not present " n e w " knowledge but they organize the primary literature sources in a more convenient form. Secondary sources are for example indexing and abstracting journals, reviews of progress, reference books, etc. Tertiary sources can be characterized as sources of information on the secondary documents, for example bibliography on bibliographies, directory to databases, etc. In the following text the primary and secondary information sources in connection to finite element techniques are summarized and described in detail. -
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