We estimate the global BOLD Systems database holds core DNA barcodes (rbcL + matK) for about 15% of land plant species and that comprehensive species coverage is still many decades away. Interim performance of the resource is compromised by variable sequence overlap and modest information content within each barcode. Our model predicts that the proportion of species-unique barcodes reduces as the database grows and that ‘false’ species-unique barcodes remain >5% until the database is almost complete. We conclude the current rbcL + matK barcode is unfit for purpose. Genome skimming and supplementary barcodes could improve diagnostic power but would slow new barcode acquisition. We therefore present two novel Next Generation Sequencing protocols (with freeware) capable of accurate, massively parallel de novo assembly of high quality DNA barcodes of >1400 bp. We explore how these capabilities could enhance species diagnosis in the coming decades.
Structured Abstract:Purpose: Webometric techniques have been applied to many websites and online resources, especially since the launch of Google Analytics. To date, though, there has been little consideration of information behaviour in relation to digitised newspaper collections. This paper addresses a perceived gap in the literature by providing an account of user behaviour in the newly launched Welsh Newspapers Online.Design/methodology/approach: The author collected webometric data for Welsh Newspapers Online using Google Analytics and web server content logs. These were analysed to identify patterns of engagement and user behaviour, which were then considered in relation to existing information behaviour.Findings: Use of Welsh Newspapers Online, while reminiscent of archival information seeking, can be understood as centring on the web interface rather than the digitised material. In comparison to general web browsing, users are much more deeply engaged with the resource. This engagement incorporates reading online, but users' information seeking utilises website search and browsing functionality rather than filtering in newspaper material. Information seeking in digitised newspapers resembles the model of the 'user' more closely than that of the 'reader', a value-laden distinction which needs further unpacking.Research limitations/implications: A larger longitudinal dataset would increase the study's significance. Additionally, the methodology of this paper can only tell us what users are doing, and further research is needed to identify the drivers for this behaviour.Originality/value: This study provides important insights into the underinvestigated area of digitised newspaper collections, and shows the importance of webometric methods in analysing online user behaviour.
This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Literary and Linguistic Computing following peer review. The denitive publisher-authenticated version Gooding, P, Terras, M. and Warwick, C. (2013) 'The myth of the new : mass digitization, distant reading, and the future of the book.' Literary and linguistic computing., 28 (4), pp. 629-639 is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqt051. Additional information:Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. and that it is therefore necessary to begin working to increase our understanding of this technology and to move the debate onwards using evidence from the real world.
There has been widespread excitement in recent years about the emergence of Large-Scale Digital Initiatives such as Google Book Search. While many have become excited at the prospect of a digital recreation of the Library of Alexandria, there has also been great controversy surrounding these projects. This paper looks at one of these controversies: the suggestion that mass digitization is creating a virtual rubbish dump of our cultural heritage. It discusses some of the quantitative methods being used to analyze the big data that has been created, and two major concerns that have arisen as a result. First, there is the concern that quantitative analysis has inadvertently fed a culture that favours information ahead of traditional research methodsa culture that looks to reject traditional research methods, in favour of new and unproven technologies. Second, little information exists about how LSDIs are used for any research other than quantitative methods. This has These problems have helped to fuel the idea that digitization is destroying the print medium, when in many respects it still closely remediates the bibliographic codes of the Gutenberg era. The paper concludes that more work must be done to understand what impact mass digitization has had on all researchers in the humanities, rather than just the vocal early adopters, and briefly mentions the work that the author is undertaking in this area.
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