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AbstractIn 2023, online search engine provider Microsoft integrated a language model that provides direct answers to search queries into its search engine Bing. Shortly afterwards, Google also introduced a similar feature to its search engine with the launch of Google Gemini. This introduction of direct answers to search queries signals an important and significant change in online search. This article explores the implications of this new search paradigm. Drawing on Donna Haraway's theory of Situated Knowledges and Rainer Mühlhoff's concept of Sealed Surfaces, I introduce the term Sealed Knowledges to draw attention to the increasingly difficult access to the plurality of potential answers to search queries through the output of a singular, authoritative, and plausible text paragraph. I argue that the integration of language models for the provision of direct answers into search engines is based on a de-situated and disembodied understanding of knowledge and affects the subjectivities of its users. At the same time, the sealing of knowledges can lead to an increasing spread of misinformation and may make marginalized knowledge increasingly difficult to find. The paper concludes with an outlook on how to resist the increasing sealing of knowledges in online search.

"How does Netflix know just what to suggest you watch next? How does Amazon determine what a "customer like you" has also purchased? The answer is recommender systems, the technological concept that lies at the heart of most of the successful companies in the digital economy. Michael Schrage starts with the origins of recommender systems, which go back further than you think (see: the Oracle at Delphi for one of history's earliest recommenders), and a history of the first companies to harness recommendations. He then discusses the technology behind how recommenders work: the AI and machine learning algorithms that power these recommender platforms. Next he discusses the role of user experience, and how recommender systems are designed, and how design choices function as nudges to make certain recommendations more salient than others. He explores three case studies: Spotify, Bytedance, and Stitch Fix, looking at how recommenders can create new business solutions and how algorithms can go beyond curation to content creation. The concluding chapter on the future of recommender systems is perhaps the most enlightening. Moving away from technology and business, Schrage embraces the philosophical, probing the role of free will in a world mediated by recommender systems (a recommendation inherently offers a choice; without the element of choice, any digital manipulation of our preferences cannot truly be called a "recommendation"), and exploring the role of recommender systems as a means of improving the self. In the vein of Free Will, this book presents the essential information while revealing the author's point of view. Schrage wants to push our understanding of recommender systems beyond the technological, to understand what societal role they play and what opportunities they offer now and in the future"--

PurposeWe use disaggregated survey data set to investigate the impact of personality traits on the level of education in the USA. We attempt to shed light on the contribution of each of the Big Five personality traits on the education decision made by the individuals.Design/methodology/approachWe use the quantile regression analysis in order to investigate to what extent certain aspects of personality may help an individual to invest in education.FindingsOur findings uncover a significant effect of noncognitive skills on the level of education. It is shown that people with high emotional stability and agreeableness invest in human capital, especially when we move to the higher quantiles of the conditional distribution function. Moreover, we argue that the estimated signs of the traits remain stable across the quantiles, while the relevant curvatures indicate for the first time in the empirical literature, the presence of nonlinear effects. Last, our model survived robustness checks under the inclusion of two aggregated higher-order factors, namely "Alpha" and "Beta."Research limitations/implicationsAlthough we used several control variables (e.g. Gender, Age) to address the impact of noncognitive skills on education, special attention should be given to the use of additional socioeconomic indicators such as the skin color of participants, the urbanization rate, the level of unemployment, the level of income, parental education among others. These measures affect the causality driven by the inclusion of certain economic and demographic characteristics and minimize the endogeneity bias drawn from the inclusion of the sample variables. One additional limitation is that the survey-based data refer only to people with higher education (>13 years of study). Therefore, our empirical findings must be tested on a richer sample to capture the effect of personality traits on a broad spectrum of educational stages (e.g. early learning years, primary education, secondary education, etc.).Originality/valueOur empirical findings add enough new insights to the existing literature. First, we attempt to assess the role of noncognitive skills proxied by the Big Five Inventory (hereafter "BFI") on the education decision made by the individuals. Second, we provide fresh evidence of nonlinear effects between personality traits and education totally ignored by the existing literature. Our third contribution is to analyze the role of personality in enhancing the importance of investment in higher education as a determinant of individual behavior. In this way, we contribute to the growing field of behavioral economics since the study of noncognitive skills offers a range of new ideas and expanding research opportunities for social scientists (economists, psychologists, sociologists, etc.).

Intro -- Authors' Foreword -- Foreword -- Preface and Summary -- Synopsis: How Can Universities Better Contribute to Sustainable Development? -- Expectations for University Engagement Are High -- Universities Can more Effectively Contribute to Economic Development -- Knowledge Exchange Has the Central Role in this Strengthened Engagement -- Knowledge Exchange Accelerates Innovation, Contributing to Economic Development -- Knowledge Exchange Gives an Expanded Role to Academic Activities -- Systematic, Effective, and Adaptable Practices Build Capability in Knowledge Exchange -- Forty-three Case Studies of Effective Practice Provide Important Examples -- Education Contributes to Knowledge Exchange -- Research Contributes to Knowledge Exchange -- Catalyzing Innovation Contributes to Knowledge Exchange -- Adaptable Universities Provide Support for the Academic Practices -- Adaptable Universities Evaluate Progress and Set Faculty Expectations -- Partners Align their Practices to Support the University -- Change is Possible and Necessary -- Change Process is Adapted for Existing Universities, Systems, and New Universities -- An Invitation -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Chapter 1: The Impact of Universities on Economic Development -- 1.1 Introduction and Overview of our Approach -- 1.1.1 Expectations Are High -- 1.1.2 Our Contributions Can Help Universities to Adapt -- 1.1.3 Our Approach Is Pragmatic -- 1.1.4 The Main Contribution Is an Actionable Agenda -- 1.2 The Adaptability of Universities and the New Expectations -- 1.2.1 Based on their History of Resilience and Adaptability, Universities Are up to the Challenge -- 1.2.2 Governments Have Clear Expectations for the Impact of Universities on Society -- 1.2.3 Universities Are Responding to these Expectations -- 1.3 The Impact of Universities on Economic Development.

The risk assessment of nano-sized materials (NM) currently suffers from great uncertainties regarding their putative toxicity for humans and the environment. An extensive amount of the respective original research literature has to be evaluated before a targeted and hypothesis-driven Environmental and Health Safety research can be stipulated. Furthermore, to comply with the European animal protection legislation in vitro testing has to be preferred whenever possible. Against this background, there is the need for tools that enable producers of NM and risk assessors for a fast and comprehensive data retrieval, thereby linking the 3Rs principle to the hazard identification of NM. Here we report on the development of a knowledge-based search engine that is tailored to the particular needs of risk assessors in the area of NM. Comprehensive retrieval of data from studies utilising in vitro as well as in vivo methods relying on the PubMed database is presented exemplarily with a titanium dioxide case study. A fast, relevant and reliable information retrieval is of paramount importance for the scientific community dedicated to develop safe NM in various product areas, and for risk assessors obliged to identify data gaps, to define additional data requirements for approval of NM and to create strategies for integrated testing using alternative methods.

This book provides a broad introduction to search engines by integrating five different perspectives on Web search and search engines that are usually dealt with separately: the technical perspective, the user perspective, the internet-based research perspective, the economic perspective, and the societal perspective. After a general introduction to the topic, two foundational chapters present how search tools can cover the Web's content and how search engines achieve this by crawling and processing the found documents. The next chapter on user behavior covers how people phrase their search queries and interact with search engines. This knowledge builds the foundation for describing how results are ranked and presented. The following three chapters then deal with the economic side of search engines, i.e., Google and the search engine market, search engine optimization (SEO), and the intermingling of organic and sponsored search results. Next, the chapter on search skills presents techniques for improving searches through advanced search interfaces and commands. Following that, the Deep Web and how its content can be accessed is explained. The two subsequent chapters cover ways to improve the quality of search results, while the next chapter describes how to access the Deep Web. Last but not least, the following chapter deals with the societal role of search engines before the final chapter concludes the book with an outlook on the future of Web search. With this book, students and professionals in disciplines like computer science, online marketing, or library and information science will learn how search engines work, what their main shortcomings are at present, and what prospects there are for their further development. The different views presented will help them to understand not only the basic technologies but also the implications the current implementations have concerning economic exploitation and societal impact.

The author argues that a new type of institution, a "Center for the Performing Sciences," is necessary to efficiently close the gap between research and the application of innovation. Such a center would operate as a public-private partnership, bridging government, industry, and academia. It would be free of some of the competing priorities of academic institutions, serve as a venue for R&D cooperation or "coopetition" among private companies, and ultimately be self-sustaining from a share of the intellectual property it produced. The author's points are illustrated with examples from the Houston Area Research Center (HARC), where he served as President and CEO, and subsequent work at the University of Oklahoma. This 2001 edition is a substantial revision and expansion of the 1998 book of the same title. ; IC2 Institute

ABSTRACT
Many credit Charles Babbage (1791–1871) as the father of the computer. A copy of the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge, which originally published an article in Volume 1, 1834, describes the first Calculating Engine designed by Charles Babbage.

This paper outlines the issues to be addressed in preparing organisations for the introduction of knowledge lifecycle management (KLM) processes. If one views organisations as "knowledge engines" providing value to customers, then processes for KLM are fundamental for the organisation's survival. However, as with all capability, the organisation must be prepared for its introduction if it is to make profitable use of this new capability. The article starts with section 1 (introduction and outline of the project undertaken) and 2 (the importance of KLM) setting the scene for section 3 (preparing the organisation for KLM). This section outlines both strategic and tactical issues to be addressed – a devolved structure, IT‐based tools, an open communications infrastructure, "best practice" business processes, metrication, knowledge capture, and a culture of trust – and outlines some processes necessary to establish the organisational context for KLM. Sections 4 and 5 bring the paper to a close, with some general conclusions and acknowledgements.