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PurposeInformation scientists may find value in studying cultural information evolution and information diffusion through memetics. Information studies in memetics have often found datafication in memetics research difficult. Meanwhile, current memetic scholarship elsewhere is abundant in data due to their focus on Internet artifacts. This paper offers a way to close the datafication gap for information researchers by associating information data with “differences” between memetic documents.Design/methodology/approachThis work offers a joint theory and methodology invested in information-oriented memetics. This methodology of differences is developed from a content analysis of difference on a collection of images with visual similarities.FindingsThe authors find that this kind of analysis provides a heuristic method for quantitatively bounding where one meme ends and another begins. The authors also find that this approach helps describe the dynamics of memetic media in such a way that the authors can datafy information or cultural evolution more clearly.Originality/valueHere the authors offer an approach for studying cultural information evolution through the study of memes. In doing so, the authors forward a methodology of difference which leverages content analysis in order to outline how it functions practically. The authors propose a quantitative methodology to assess differences between versions of document contents in order to examine what a particular meme is. The authors also move toward showing the information structure which defines a meme.

Correspondence to Dr Raglan Maddox, National Centre for Epidemiology and Public Health, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; raglan.maddox@anu.edu.au The tobacco industry has a long and well-documented history of influencing, exploiting and misleading public health and research communities.1–4 Starting with the 1953 ‘Tobacco Industry Research Committee’5, stakeholders affiliated with the tobacco industry have strategically promoted industry interests through the funding of research programmes and public health initiatives, in order to influence research agendas, manipulate the design, methods and conduct of research, affect interpretation of findings and selectively disseminate information through publications, conferences, forums and panels.1–4 These activities have enabled the tobacco industry to promote its versions of ‘sound science’ and ‘good epidemiology’ which have been designed to weaken consensus about the harms of tobacco use and second-hand smoke exposure.6 Academics and public health communities have sought to raise awareness about and challenge industry interference and manipulation,7–9 and some industry-funded research organisations such as the Council for Tobacco Research and the Center for Indoor Air Research were disbanded as part of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement in the USA due to their extensively documented role in industry efforts to defraud the public.7 8 However, as Legg et al 10 highlight, the approach has intensified and become more sophisticated over time. A central tenet of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC),11 Article 5.3, states: ‘In setting and implementing their public health policies with respect to tobacco control, Parties shall act to protect these policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in accordance with national law’.11 There is now increasing evidence on the ways in which tobacco companies seek to position the industry as a strategic partner to public health, presenting themselves as scientific authorities who are promoting new products as solutions to concerns about commercial tobacco and as legitimate commentators on science and health research and policy.4 6 9 12 For example, Philip Morris International (PMI) recently sponsored a series of articles published on The Australian newspaper website promoting the company’s views on both the scientific evidence and public policy on vaping,13 an action that may arguably breach national tobacco advertising and promotion laws,13 14 while highlighting the use of any available opportunity to present the industry as ‘part of the solution’. [...]activities frequently fail to acknowledge clear conflicts of interest (COIs)4 and may be interpreted as attempts to actively undermine FCTC Article 5.3 implementation.11 15 The most lavishly funded new face of the tobacco industry was the 2017 establishment of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World with an original ‘pledge agreement’ of almost $1 billion over 12 years from PMI, although a more recent version of the ‘pledge agreement’ seems to indicate reduced funding commitments.16 17 The PMI-funded Foundation and multinational tobacco companies promote the use of alternative tobacco products as ‘tobacco harm reduction’, a phrase co-opted from the illicit drugs arena, seeking to use the term exclusively to promote use of novel tobacco products and to renormalise the use of nicotine, helping to ensure the industry’s long-term profitability as smoking rates drop.18 19 Tobacco companies adopted the term ‘harm reduction’ to enhance public relations,20 ignoring many tobacco control approaches, such as eliminating flavoured or menthol cigarettes,21 that reduce tobacco harm without promoting uptake of new tobacco products—actions that, like so many other evidence-based measures to reduce smoking, tobacco companies have fiercely opposed.22 Some researchers have sought to discount the importance of full financial COI disclosure,4 23 24 attempting to generate a false equivalence between receiving industry funding and receiving public health funding,24 while tobacco company executives and those who support their position have equated tobacco industry funding with mandated government settlements, taxes and fees and philanthropic support.10 25 Of especial note, there has been a recent surge in publications funded by the tobacco industry and associated groups. [...]the journal Tobacco Regulatory Science recently changed its policy to allow consideration of publications that are funded by the tobacco industry.34 The new Tobacco Regulatory Science policy states: ‘Effective immediately, articles that have received funding from a tobacco company can be submitted for review and consideration for publication in Tobacco Regulatory Science’.34 The change in policy is described as being linked to a Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) policy,34 which may confer even more legitimacy to publishing tobacco industry research.

Background The integration of evidence-based research into clinical practice faces several challenges. One major barrier is the effective dissemination of information regarding new interventions. To illustrate this, the CHIMPS-NET (Children of Mentally Ill Parents) program, a family-centered intervention in German psychiatric clinics, is used as an example. This study evaluates the referral criteria, the dissemination of information, and the accessibility of outpatient specialists involved in the gatekeeping process for accessing and referring patients to CHIMPS-NET. This study serves as part of the implementation strategy for the sustainable anchoring of the CHIMPS-NET program. Methods We identified all outpatient professionals ( n =2828) in each catchment area of the psychiatric specialist clinics that provided the new CHIMPS-NET form of care. We identified them as potential gatekeepers. These professionals worked across a range of fields, some had a psychological professional background. Professionals in the intervention group ( n =946) received information from us about the new intervention, while professionals in the control group ( n =1882) did not. Before and after the information was sent by post, all participants were asked via a questionnaire about their knowledge of family-centered intervention and its importance for the vulnerable target group of children of mentally ill parents. There was an interval of three months between the first questionnaire and the information being sent out and a further three months after this the final questionnaire was sent. Results There was no significant change in knowledge across the two measurement points. Reaching out to gatekeepers had no influence on knowledge of the CHIMPS-Net intervention. However, awareness of family-centered health interventions was four times higher if the gatekeeper had a psychological professional background. Conclusion Dissemination of information by post about CHIMPS-Net was not effective at communicating information or reaching gatekeepers. Knowledge of family-centered health interventions was four times higher among the group of specialists and therapists with a psychological background. We therefore suggest that general (somatic) practitioners, who make up most of the gatekeeper population in Germany, need to be approached more intensively than professionals with a psychological/psychiatric background. It is also recommended that individual clinics address their catchment area more intensively and directly.

This study examined the virtual methods of service delivery being deployed by librarians in private universities in Nigeria. The objective of the study was to analyse the virtual methods of service delivery among librarians and determine the predominant method used among the librarians. Survey research design was adopted for the study. Total enumeration technique was adopted for the study. A population of 181 librarians from 45 private universities in Southern Nigeria were involved. Data were gathered, analysed and presented using frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation. The study found that librarians used different virtual methods of service delivery. Library website 157 (90%) and e-mail 132 (76.3%) were the prominent electronic media used by librarians while Facebook 59 (34%) and Whatsapp 57 (32.9%) were the predominant social media platforms applied for service delivery by librarians. Electronic media were more used for latest publications arrival, as well as library education and document delivery services while social media were more used for reference services and selective dissemination of information. In conclusion, virtual methods of service delivery were deployed by librarians in private universities for service delivery. In comparing the virtual methods, librarians used more of electronic media than social media to deliver services to their users. Therefore, electronic media were predominantly used than social media, many of the virtual methods were found to be underutilised while recommendations were proffered.

PurposeThe focus of this paper is on the mediating role of medical records in patient care. Their informative, communicative and constitutive facets are analysed on the basis of a case study in an African University teaching hospital.Design/methodology/approachA practice-oriented approach and the concept of boundary objects were adopted to examine medical records as information artefacts. Data from nonparticipant observations and interviews with physicians were triangulated in a qualitative analysis.FindingsThree distinctive practices for information sharing – absorbing by reading, augmenting by documenting and recounting by presenting – were identified as central to the mediating role of medical records in the care of patients. Additionally, three information-sharing functions outside the immediate care of patients were identified: facilitating interactions, controlling hegemonic order and supporting learning. The records were both a useful information resource and a blueprint for sustaining shared practices over time. The medical records appeared as an essential part of patient care and amendments to them resulted in changes in several other work practices.Originality/valueThe analysis contributes to research on documents as enacting and sustaining work practices in a workplace.

Purpose Reporters are considered unique in terms of their information needs and seeking from other groups of masses. As they are running information business, the purpose of the study is to know about their skills of seeking, evaluating and engaging with information effectively and efficiently. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey was conducted with electronic media reporters from 20 news channels to assess their information literacy skills (IL) and personal information management practices (PIM). Findings The results indicated that the study’s participants considered themselves as information literate. They perceived themselves competent and confident in IL skills for the overall scale and on its all sub-dimensions as well. Interestingly, the study findings show that IL skills affect PIM practices positively. However, they were less competent in advanced searching techniques (i.e. use of Boolean logic, truncation etc.) and cloud-based storing tools and applications. Practical implications The study has inferences for information professionals, educators, media owners and other stakeholders. Policymakers in electronic media, particularly media libraries should offer training opportunities by organizing workshops, seminars etc. to enhance their advanced IL as well as PIM skills at workplace. Originality/value Very few studies investigated the IL phenomenon beyond its skills and assessment aspects. The present study uniquely identified impact of IL on PIM practices of working electronic media journalists.

Purpose This study aims to explore the repost features of microblogs acting to promote the information diffusion of government-generated content on social media. Design/methodology/approach This study proposes a topic−sentiment analysis using a mixed social media analytics framework to analyse the microblogs collected from the Sina Weibo accounts of 30 Chinese provincial police departments. On the basis of this analysis, this study presents the distribution of reposted microblogs and reveals the reposting characteristics of police-generated microblogs (PGMs). Findings The experimental results indicate that children’s safety and crime-related PGMs with a positive sentiment can achieve a high level of online information diffusion. Originality/value This study is novel, as it reveals the reposting features of PGMs from both a topic and sentiment perspectives, and provides new findings that can inspire users’ reposting behaviour.

Major changes on the Web in recent years have contributed to an abundance of information for people to harness in their learning. Emerging technologies have instigated the need for critical literacies to support learners on open online networks in the mastering of critical information gathering during their learning journeys. This paper will argue that people will have to adapt to using information in a new way and will advocate the movement by learners into and inside information streams on open online networks. Their own control and aggregation of information, preferably through human mediation, should provide information not only relevant to their learning, but also slightly unexpected. We will highlight why this serendipity is important in a learning context and also take three emerging technologies under the loupe; recommenders, RSS and micro-bloggers, and their effectiveness in supporting serendipitous learning on open online networks.

In the midst of World War II's turmoil, the quaint British town of Bury St. Edmonds becomes a focal point where lives intersect and secrets unravel. An 18-year-old woman, finds herself caught in the throes of a great wartime secret – the breaking of the German Enigma code. Her recruitment into the \"Ultra\" program brings her to the heart of Bletchley Park's most clandestine operations, where Alan Turing and his team forge the world's first computer in a bid to crack the ever-changing German codes. Every day, she grapples with the weight of the secret, which is so profound that even her family is oblivious to her covert role. Meanwhile, amidst the dances and interactions in the town, she captures the heart of an assertive American soldier. Their whirlwind wartime romance culminates in a heartwarming union, facing the challenges of the Official Secrets Act that surrounds her duty. The soldier, persistent and deeply in love, goes to great lengths, even penning letters to officials, in order to secure her release from the program and to solidify their commitment to one another. They eventually marry and cross the Atlantic to build a new life in the US, where they raise children who, years later, come to discover the incredible stories of their parents' contributions during the tumultuous war years.

In this video, Professor Srour explains the drawbacks of using pie charts and gives alternative chart options that can be more effectively used.