Books Awaiting Reviewers

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST)


Updated March 30, 2004

The following titles await reviewers for the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. If you are interested in reviewing one of the titles, contact Terry Brooks at tabrooks@u.washington.edu or visit his homepage.

A typical review is three to six typewritten pages in length.

"Reviews in JASIS are part of the scholarly record of our discipline. They are intended to be one expert's careful analysis and comment on the contributions of other information scientists to our common literature." Donald O. Case, "Book Reviewing", JASIS v. 46 (5), June 1995, p326

Activity-Centered Design: An Ecological Approach to Designing Smart Tools and Usable Systems

Geri gay and Helene Hembrooke.  The MIT Press, 2004

“The shift in the practice of human-computer interaction design from user-centered to context-based design marks a significant change in focus…argue that it is time to develop new models for HCI design that support not only research and development but also investigations into the context and motivation of user behavior.”

Automated Web Site Evaluation: Researchers’ and Practitioners’ Perspectives

Melody Y. Ivory.  Kluwer, 2003

“For researchers, we provide an overview of the approaches that have been explored for automated web site evaluation and their effectiveness; we also highlight open research problems.  For practitioners, we provide an overview of the tools that have been developed for automated web site evaluation and their effectiveness.”

Design Research: Methods and Perspectives

Edited by Brenda Laurel.  The MIT Press, 2003

“Often neglected in the various curricula of design schools, the new models of design research described in this book help designers to investigate people, form, and process in ways that can make their work more potent and more delightful…introduce designers to the  many research tools that can be used to inform design as well as to ideas about how and when to deploy them effectively.”

The Digital Subline: Myth, Power, and Cyberspace

Vincent Mosco.  The MIT Press, 2004

“…goes beyond the usual stories of technological breakthrough and economic meltdown to explore the myths constructed around the new digital technology and why we feel compelled to believe in them…Myths are not just falsehoods that can be disproved…but stories that lift us out of the banality of everyday life into the possibility of the sublime.”

Foundations of Soft Case-based Reasoning

Sankar K. Pal & Simon C.K.Shiu.  Wiley-Interscience, 2004

“Case-based reasoning is one such application area where soft computing methodologies have had a significant impact during the past decade.  CBR may be defined as a model of reasonng that incorporates problem solving, understanding, and learning and integrates all of them with memory processes.”

How Images Think

Ron Burnett.  The MIT Press, 2004

“…explores this new ecology, which has transformed the relationships humans have with the image-based technologies they have created.  So much intelligence has been programmed into these image-dependent technologies that it often seems as if images are ‘thinking’…marks a turning poinit inn our understanding of the connections between humans and machines.”

Humanizing Information Technology

Julian Warner. Scarecrow Press, 2004

“…a dialogue between a stress on the autonomy of information and the determining power of economic base….A contrasting perspective, associated, although not exclusively, with Marx, would regard existence as producing consciousness, including information and theoretical knowledge.  In view of the significance of the contrasting perspective, and of the wide currency of the information society concept, it is surprising that there have not been more deliberate attempts at this dialogue.”

Knowledge Management Lessons Learned: What Works and What Doesn’t

Edited by Michael E.D. Koenig and T.K. Srikantaiah.  Information Today, 2004

“Through the experiences and analyses of more than 30 experts, the book demonstrates KM in practice, revealing what has been learned, what works and what doesn’t.  Practitioners describe projects undertaken by organizations at the forefront of KM, and top researchers and analysts discuss KM strategy and implementation, cost analysis, education and training, content management, communities of practice, competitive intelligence, and more.”

Legitimate Applications of Peer-to-Peer Networks

Dinesh C. Verma.  Wiley-Interscience, 2004

“…describe some of the applications that can exploit the unique features of peer-to-peer networks and to discuss why developing these applications on a peer-to-peer network is better than developing them in the traditional manner.”

Measuring for Results: The Dimensions of Public Library Effectiveness

Joseph R. Matthews.  Libraries Unlimited, 2004

“…it is now becoming apparent that public libraries must be able to demonstrate, using an acceptable methodology, the economic value of the library and its services to individuals, businesses, and the surrounding local community”

Protocol: How Control Exists after Decentralization

Alexander R. Galloway.  MIT Press, 2004

“…argues that the founding principle of the Net is control, not freedom, and that the controlling power lies in the technical protocols that make network connections (and disconnections) possible.  He does this by treating the computer as a textual medium that is based on a technological language, code.  Code, he argues, can be subject to the same kind of cultural and literary analysis as any natural language; computer languages have their own syntax, grammar, communities, and cultures.”

Putting XML to Work in the Library: Tools for Improving Access and Management

Dick R. Miller and Kevin S. Clarke.  American  Library Association, 2004

“…we will endeavor in this book to stir interest in XML and the role it can play in bringing products of the imagination closer to reality in libraries.  The topics covered range from those of interest to beginners to some that are cutting edge…XML holds the promise that with broader use, libraries will one day be poised to offer much more than the sum of their individual efforts.”

Spectrum Auctions and Competition in Telecommunications

Gerhard Illing and Ulrich Kluh, editors.  The MIT Press, 2003

“In 2000 and 2001, several European countries carried out auctions for third generation technologies or universal mobile telephone services communication licenses…Because of their spectacular but often puzzling outcomes, these spectrum auctions attracted enormous attention and invited new research on the interplay of auctions, industry dynamics and regulation.

Understanding Information Systems: What They Do and Why We Need Them

Lee Ratzan.  American Library Association, 2004.

“…differs from others in that it offers an innovtive approach to information studies not oriented to any specific application, time, or technology…addresses both theoretical and practical issues and is complete with exercises, examples, definitions, and charts that help clarify concepts tomake your information system a success”

Using Open Source Systems for Digital Libraries

Art Rhyno.  Libraries Unlimited, 2004

“Introducing the concept of the digital library, Rhyno details the open source tools that are instrumental in developing many of the digital libraries in today’s institutions, both from an introductory technical perspective and from the vantage point of the emerging community of users that is erecting the digital library.”

Web Site Design with the Patron in Mind: A Step-by-Step Guide for Libraries.

Susanna Davidsen and Everyl Yankee.  American Library Association, 2004

“In this book, we’ll teach you how to design a site for your users…The methodology presented in this book provides step-by-step guidance on how to gather key information, distill it, and use it to build a practical, useful site for your patrons.”