Emerging Information Services Research Articles

Library and information services’ reflections on emergency remote support and crisis-driven innovations during pandemic conditions

Crisis-driven innovation is needed to manage a scarcity in resources. The recent COVID-19 crisis exacerbated the prevailing digital exclusion in the education sector in particular. Sudden changes in otherwise stable higher education environments necessitated immediate and decisive innovation, particularly where education support services were concerned. This study reports on an academic library and information service’s reflections on emergency strategies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was conceptualised through the lenses of existing digital exclusion frameworks and information poverty frameworks. The findings from the qualitative data gathered via focus group interviews emphasise the importance of emergency remote library and information services. The pandemic conditions and sudden remote service delivery model highlighted the prevailing socio-economic and socio-technical inequalities and exclusions among students. The value of the study lies in the reflections made on the institution-wide crisis-driven innovation strategy implemented, and the realisation that library and information services must offer active academic support. The study offers a library and information services model to prepare for future eventualities.

Thinking on Emergency Information Service of Public Library Based on 4R Crisis Management Theory

The outbreak of COVID-19 in January 2020 has brought great disaster to the world. It also brings some thoughts to Librarians: how to play the role of Libraries in emergencies and carry out emergency information service. Based on the stage characteristics of 4R crisis management theory, EIS should collect, sort out, analyze and save valuable information according to the characteristics of different crisis stages, so as to form a long-term service mechanism of EIS

The construction of emergency intelligence service system for think tanks in the context of big data

The big data era has ushered in huge transformation in the form of major media, with WeMedia nowadays becoming the mainstream. As is witnessed, WeMedia has achieved a rapid and widespread growth in both dissemination and influence, which has posed a series of challenges to the Emergency Intelligence Service System for Think Tanks, including changes to the subject, content, form, and connotation of platforms. Based on big data, this study makes an investigation into the Emergency Intelligence Service for the modern think tanks and applies the method of factor analysis to draw the conclusion on what kind of factors will influence the performance of the Emergency Intelligence Service for Think Tanks. Then, from the perspective of the life-cycle theory, this research not only optimizes the work process of the Emergency Intelligence Service for Think Tanks, but also constructs a multi-dimensional Emergency Intelligence Service System based on the concept of “Data Driven + Technology Application + Expert Decision” from the aspect of theoretical and technical perspectives. Meanwhile, a public health incident emergency information service system is built on this basis, describing the application process with food poisoning as an example. Last but not least, hopefully, this study could help improve the quality of decision and effectiveness of the Emergency Intelligence Service for Think Tanks and enhance the power of influence and communication for agencies of Emergency Intelligence Service and this paper provides a reference for the establishment and improvement of government decision-making and governance mechanisms.

Estimation of the Performance Measures of a Group of Servers Taking into Account Blocking and Call Repetition before and after Server Occupation

The model of a fully available group of servers with a Poisson flow of primary calls and the possibility of losses before and after occupying a free server is considered. Additionally, a call can leave the system because of the aging of transmitted information. After each loss, there is some probability that a customer repeats the call. Such models are seen in the modeling of various telecommunication systems such as emergency information services, call and contact centers, access nodes, etc., functioning in overloading situations. The stationary behavior of the system is described by the infinite-state Markov process. It is shown that stationary characteristics of the model can be calculated with the help of an auxiliary model of the same class but without call repetitions due to losses occurring before and after the occupation of a free server and the aging of transmitted information. The performance measurements of the auxiliary model are calculated by solving a system of state equations using a recursive algorithm based on the concept of the truncation of the used state space. This approach allows significant savings of computer resources to be made by ignoring highly unlikely states in the process of calculation. The error caused by truncation is estimated. The presented numerical examples illustrate the use of the model for the elimination of the negative effects of emergency information service overload based on the filtering of the input flow of calls.

An Improved Particle Swarm Optimization-Based Feed-Forward Neural Network Combined with RFID Sensors to Indoor Localization

Location-based services (LBS) have long been recognized as a significant component of the emerging information services. However, the localization cost and the performance of algorithm still need to be optimized. In the study, an improved particle swarm optimization algorithm based on a feed-forward neural network (IMPSO-FNN) combined with RFID sensors is proposed, which can achieve the best indoor positioning location and overcome the problems effectively. In IMPSO-FNN, an improved PSO algorithm (IMPSO) is developed to determine the optimal connecting weights and markedly optimize the network parameters and structural parameters for the FNN, and then an optimal location prediction model is established by the IMPSO-FNN. To avoid the interference of environmental noise for the experimental data, some preprocessing methods are used during the positioning process. The computational results for learning two continuous functions show that the proposed positioning algorithm has a faster convergence rate and higher generalization performance. The model evaluation results also verify that the proposed positioning method really is superior to other algorithms in terms of the learning ability, efficiency, and positioning accuracy.

Ordinal Classification of Imbalanced Data with Application in Emergency and Disaster Information Services

Previous ordinal classification methods implicitly assume that the class distribution within a dataset is balanced, which is often not the case for real-world datasets. If the dataset is imbalanced, the previous methods tend to be biased toward the majority class. The authors propose a new method for ordinal classification that attempts to mitigate the impact of imbalanced datasets. They propose a modified version of the weighted k-nearest neighbors method that determines the class membership using the I±th quantile of the estimated class probability distribution and thus mitigates the impact of the class imbalance.

Safe Sensing Network System and Evaluation for Emergency Information Services

In the firefighting field, firefighters have always been threatened by the risk from flame, heat, toxic gas, and more in the fire. To protect the safety of firefighters and provide an appropriate guide over fire suppression operations, the firefighters' and environmental information on the fire should be collected and analyzed on a real-time basis. Particularly, it is certain that transmitting firefighter's biometric information to the fire information center using unrestraint and unconscious sensing networking is an important task for firefighter safety. Therefore, we propose a sensing networking method to protect the safety of firefighter guided according to digital firefighter protective clothing embedded by fire-related sensors. The guide logic and routing processes of the firefighters in the fire is, also, proposed. The propagation performance on the sensing networks was evaluated according to the path count for propagating the sensing data from source node to destination node in the normal and faulty processes.

Construction of the Public Emergency Service Geographic Information Platform

Emergency geographic information service is based on all kinds of spatial information, and it is used for scientific dynamic analysis, judgment, forecast and risk assessment of emergency events. It is as the ‘console’ of the whole emergency command platform decision-making and it is also the presupposition and basis to realize the emergency management, emergency decision-making, command and space planning. This paper first analyzes the development tendency of emergency geographic information service platform at home and abroad, then introduces the software architecture and technology system of emergency geographic information service platform. It focuses on the emergency 3D moving target management, emergency information integration fusion, emergency information service management, and other key technologies.

A Normative Enterprise Architecture for Guiding End-to-End Emergency Response Decision Support

This article examines the underlying architecture guiding the development and use of enterprise decision support systems that maintain the delivery of time critical public services. A normative architecture, developed from comparative cases involving San Mateo County and Mayo Clinic Emergency Medical Services systems, provides a collection of characteristics meant to guide an emergency response system toward a high level of performance and enable optimal decision-making. At a national symposium, academics and practitioners involved in promoting effective emergency response information systems provided validation for the architecture and next steps for enhancing emergency response information systems. Normative architecture characteristics and expert perspectives from the symposium are integrated into a framework that offers an enterprise approach for delivering time-critical emergency response services. This article provides recommendations for navigating toward a more incremental approach in developing enterprise-oriented emergency information services and examines future trends involving the application of normative architectural concepts to real-world emergency medical settings.

Case studies of chemical incidents and emergency information service in Korea

Based on unofficial records of more than 1000 chemical incidents that occurred between 1988 and 2006, a booming period for the chemical industry in Korea, we document the following regarding these incidents: the frequency of trends, incident sites, types of damage, severity, and chemicals involved. The Research Institute of Disaster and Emergency Management of Inje University cooperated with the Korea Responsible Care Council of the chemical industry to provide the 24-h chemical emergency information service, a voluntary program initiated in the private sector. There were 267 emergency calls between 2004 and 2007, and, unexpectedly, many calls were related to requests about information regarding unknown chemical ingredients in consumer chemicals. Thus, for consumer chemical products, a more informative labeling system – complete with compositional information – may protect people from potential chemical hazards. Furthermore, this service provided information about how to design the future national emergency center, a current priority for the government.

Confusion surrounds MedicAlert services

Lifetime MedicAlert members who were recently invoiced for annual membership fees will continue to have access to the organization's 24-hour protection and emergency information service even if they don't cough-up the requested monies, the member-based charity says. But lifetime members who don't

Development of a Web-based Emergency Medical Information Service Program for Health Promotion

BACKGROUND: Demand for emergency medical information is high according to the health information use, utilization and demand survey for on the Internet. In spite of high demand for emergency information service, emergency information service on-line and off-line are very limited. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a website providing emergency medical information and emergency medical resources information by linking emergency medicine where timely information is required with the Internet technology for health promotion of the public. OBJECTIVE: This study is conducted to develop and evaluate a Web site to provide information on emergency medicine and resources for health promotion. METHODS: To identify and specify users' requirements for the emergency medicine related information, online survey was performed for 209 Internet users who visited the Healthguide. Based on this survey results, we developed content for emergency medical information service: cause, risk factors, prevention, treatment, facilities, laws and rules, policy and statistics of emergency medicine. To evaluate the web site developed in this study, twenty health and nursing informatics experts were recruited and asked to rate using an evaluation tool. RESULTS: This content was integrated into the healthy life (http://healthguide.kihasa.re.kr/health_life/emergency/pages/index.html), which is a service component of the Healthguide. This approach was expected to increase accessibility and usability of implemented services. The rating score of the website was fairly high with mean 3.9(SD 0.6) out of 5.0. According to each evaluation criteria, purpose of the site, easiness of use, relevancy, and reliability were scored 4.1-4.2 and authority and accuracy 3.8-3.9 and currency 3.5-3.7. This evaluation results will be fed back to the Healthguide for operation, maintenance, and upgrade in the future.

Operating an Emergency Information Service

Using the Internet to help cope with disaster.

IEEE Project 802.14: standards for digital convergence

The resurgence of interest in the combination of fiber and coaxial cable has led it to the acronym HFC, for hybrid fiber-coaxial, since it is no longer just the province of cable TV. Many telephone operating companies in North America, Europe, and Asia are moving rapidly to install this type of cable plant, both for its high capacity and for its relative simplicity and ease of maintenance. This is both to provide conventional telephone service, TV distribution, and the emerging information services that come under the information highway umbrella. In response, last year the IEEE 802.6 committee spun off a new group, Project 802.14, devoted to providing standards for the use of the HFC cable plant in supporting both traditional and new services.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Teaching Archivists About Information Technology Concepts: A Needs Assessment

With the growing use of information technologies in all aspects of work and leisure, automation and electronic records have become commonplace within most modern organizations. To address the varied and often complex user-support requirements associated with these developments, we must educate a new breed of information services professional. The traditional role models of archivist, records manager, librarian, museum curator, and the like will not suffice. The accompanying essay briefly describes the emerging information services environment, the special demands it places on archivists, the types of skills required in response to these articulated needs, and a strategy and criteria for a programmatic response. This paper was originally prepared for the Society of American Archivists' Committee on Automated Records and Techniques as part of a NHPRC-funded grant to develop an automation curriculum for the archival profession.

Electronics and Computers: An Overview

Microelectronics has been the key to the computer's improved performance and decreased costs. In electronics and computers, "small is beautiful" because small is cheaper, faster, and more reliable. As computers become a daily part of more and more people's lives, emphasis is shifting to programming, ease of use, and applications. Responsiveness to human needs has become the primary challenge facing system designers. How well the industry fulfills this goal will determine whether the emerging information services of the 1980's realize their potential both for improving the quality of life and achieving much-needed productivity gains.

Computer communications in the eighties — time to put it all together

This paper provides some broad views on the applications environment of the eighties for computer/communications systems, and some of the technical challenges it represents. Perhaps the biggest challenge will be to make these systems easier to install, service and, especially, to use. The growth of distributed computing will underscore the importance of flexibly layered system architectures that can grow with the times, and the role of gateways in allowing different networks to exchange information. For communications within an establishment, two philosophies have emerged: the intelligent, digital PABX and the broadband, shared network. Outside the establishment, there are also many approaches which will continue to coexist. The options available have become so numerous that improved simulation and modeling tools represent a major technical challenge for the decade. And as networks grow increasingly complex and indispensible to their owners, the need for network management tools will become even more critical. How well the computer and communications communities handle these challenges will determine both the future growth of these industries and whether the newly emerging information services of the eighties will realize their true potential.