An indispensable resource for anyone wanting to create, maintain, improve, understand, or use the diverse information resources within a sci-tech library. Providing cutting-edge practices and tools in library and information science as well as a historical perspective on science and technology resources, Science and Technology Resources: A Guide for Information Professionals and Researchers begins with an overview of the nature of sci-tech literature, the information-seeking behavior of scientists and engineers, and an examination of the research cycle. Each of the 12 chapters focuses on a specific format, showcasing specific examples and representative resources in current practice. This practical guide will be invaluable to librarians, information specialists, engineering and science professionals, and students interested in acquiring a practical knowledge of science and technology resources. The comprehensive subject bibliographies provide a sci-tech library administrator with the resources to develop and maintain an effective science, technology, and engineering collection. Over 80 screenshots of electronic information resource tools designed for the engineer and scientist; page reproductions from print sources and illustrations from scholarly journal articles and monographs are also included Each chapter concludes with a comprehensive list of additional resources for further research Approximately 30 discipline-specific subject bibliographies in the appendix section act as indispensable guides for developing library collections, as well as for compiling introductory textbooks appropriate for library science students Included pathfinders provide expert guides for targeted online research Corresponding instructor exercises are available at the publisher's website

Paulo Figueiredo comprehensively examines how and why latecomer companies differ in the manner and rate at which they accumulate technological capability over time. He focuses on how key features of the underlying learning processes influence the paths of technological capability accumulation and, in turn, the rate of improvement in operational performance. The author details the various processes and mechanisms by which a company acquires knowledge from external and internal sources, through individuals, and then converts, or fails to convert, it into organisational assets. These different ways of managing technological learning are studied in detail during the lifetime of two of the largest steel companies in Brazil. He goes on to demonstrate that the rates of technological capability-accumulation and operational performance improvement can be accelerated if deliberate and effective efforts are made to improve knowledge acquisition and knowledge conversion processes. Indeed, these efforts are likely to generate significant financial benefits for the company that manages these processes effectively. The author is rigorous in his empirical analysis and adopts an original perspective by concentrating on latecomer firms within a non-industrialised country. The focus of analysis and the practical approach developed within the book will interest students and scholars of business, technology, innovation, and strategic management, as well as providing a source of reference and information for policymakers and managers in private and state-owned organisations.

Knowledge and innovation are key factors contributing to growth and prosperity in the new service economy. This book presents original, empirical and theoretical contributions to address the economic dimensions of knowledge and the organisation of knowledge intensive activity through specialised services. Specific analyses include: * macro statistics to highlight the contribution of services to economic activity * firm level survey data to identify and consider client relations * case studies of four innovation-oriented business services. Further chapters deal with the specific functions connected with knowledge, the new discipline of 'knowledge management', intellectual property rights, and the role of knowledge in national and international economic systems. Offering an overview of a highly important and pervasive set of phenomena, this book outlines and illustrates the intellectual agenda associated with the rise of a global services economy. It will appeal to industrial and business economists, researchers, students, policymakers and business analysts.