bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Providing Quantitative Scalability Improvement of Consistency Control for Large-Scale, Replication-Based Grid Systems
Authors: Lu Yijun , Jiang Hong , Lu Ying
Published: May 2011

Consistency control is important in replication-based-Grid systems because it provides QoS guarantee. However, conventional consistency control mechanisms incur high communication overhead and are ill suited for large-scale dynamic Grid systems. In this chapter, the authors propose CVRetrieval (Consistency View Retrieval) to provide quantitative scalability improvement of consistency control for large-scale, replication-based Grid systems. Based on the observation that not all participants are equally active or engaged in distributed online collaboration, CVRetrieval differentiates the notions of consistency maintenance and consistency retrieval. Here, consistency maintenance implies a protocol that periodically communicates with all participants to maintain a certain consistency level; and consistency retrieval means that passive participants explicitly request consistent views from the system when the need arises in stead of joining the expensive consistency maintenance protocol all the time. The rationale is that it is much more cost-effective to satisfy a passive participant’s need on-demand. The evaluation of CVRetrieval is done in two parts. First, by analyzing its scalability and the result shows that CVRetrieval can greatly reduce communication cost and hence make consistency control more scalable. Second, a prototype of CVRetrieval is deployed on the Planet-Lab test-bed and the results show that the active participants experience a short response time at expense of the passive participants that may encounter a longer response time.
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Authors: Olive Mark , Boussi Rahmouni Hanene , Solomonides Tony , Breton Vincent , Jacq Nicolas , Legre Yannick , Blanquer Ignacio , Hernandez Vicente , Andoulsi Isabelle , Herveg Jean , Van Doosselaere Celine , Wilson Petra , Dobrev Alexander , Stroetmann Karl , Stroetmann Veli
Published: May 2011

The principal goal of this chapter is to elucidate the future requirements of healthgrids if they are to become the infrastructure of choice for biomedical research and healthcare. These require ments take many forms, technical, organizational and economic, with initiatives required in the domains of ethical and legal regulation. Thus, particular objectives of the chapter are to explore and analyse each of these domains to a sufficient depth to be able to make sense of the overall picture.
High-Throughput GRID Computing for Life Sciences
Authors: De Sario Giulia , Tulipano Angelica , Donvito Giacinto , Maggi Giorgio
Published: May 2011

The number of fully sequenced genomes increases daily, producing an exponential explosion of the sequence, annotation and metadata databases. Data analysis on a genome-wide level or investigation within a specific data repository has become a data- and calculation-intensive process occupying single computers and even larger computer clusters for month or even years. In most cases such applications can be subdivided into many independent smaller tasks. The smaller tasks are particularly suited to distribution over a computational GRID infrastructure, which drastically reduces the time to reach the final result. In our analysis of gene ontology data and their associations to gene products of any kind of organism in a search to find gene products with similar functionalities, we developed a system to divide the full search into a large number of jobs and to submit these jobs to the GRID infrastructure as long as all jobs are processed successfully, guaranteeing an analysis of the data without missing any information.
Semantic Integration for Research Environments
Authors: Gubala Tomasz , Bubak Marian , Sloot Peter
Published: May 2011

Research environments for modern, cross-disciplinary scientific endeavors have to unite multiple users, with varying levels of expertise and roles, along with multitudes of data sources and processing units. The high level of required integration contrasts with the loosely-coupled nature of environments which are appropriate for research. The problem is to support integration of dynamic service-based infrastructures with data sources, tools and users in a way that conserves ubiquity, extensibility and usability. This chapter presents a close examination of related achievements in the field and the description of proposed approach. It shows that integration of loosely-coupled system components with formallydefined vocabularies may fulfill the listed requirements. The authors demonstrate that combining formal representations of domain knowledge with techniques like data integration, semantic annotations and shared vocabularies, enables the development of systems for modern e-Science. For demonstration they present how several semantically-augmented experiments are modeled in the ViroLab virtual laboratory for virology.
Evaluating a Bio-Inspired Approach for the Design of a Grid Information System
Authors: Forestiero Agostino , Mastroianni Carlo , Pupo Fausto , Spezzano Giandomenico
Published: May 2011

This chapter proposes a bio-inspired approach for the construction of a self-organizing Grid information system. A dissemination protocol exploits the activity of ant-inspired mobile agents to replicate and reorganize metadata information on the basis of the characteristics of the related Grid resources. Resource reorganization emerges from simple operations of a large number of agents, in a “swarm intelligence” fashion. Moreover, a discovery protocol allows Grid clients to locate useful resources on the Grid through a semi-informed approach. This chapter also describes the SO-Grid Portal, a simulation portal through which registered users can simulate and analyze the ant-based protocols. This portal can be used by researchers to perform “parameter sweep” studies, as it allows for the graphical comparison of results obtained in previous sessions. We believe that the deployment of the SO-Grid portal, along with the definition and discussion of the protocols presented in this chapter, can foster the understanding and use of swarm intelligence, multi-agent and bio-inspired paradigms in the field of distributed computing.
Instigating Transformational Government at a Municipality Level
Authors: Elnaghi Marwan , AlShawi Sarmad , Weerakkody Vishanth , Aziz Wael
Published: May 2011

This empirical research chapter focuses on the findings and the potential value of instigating a transformational government (t-government) at a municipality level. The emerging literature indicates that there is a strong desire amongst governments worldwide to provide an efficient, cost effective, and sustainable electronic service delivery environment, and Dubai Municipality in the UAE is no exception. This research aims to investigate the motivations behind this instigated change towards t-government systems. In order to achieve this transformation in services, there is a need for a radical change and an innovative approach to provide quality services. In this paper the authors report some of the findings from an in-depth case study of transformational effort in the municipality of Dubai. The study seeks to offer insights into organisational and managerial aspects surrounding the complex phenomenon of t-government evolution. The chapter concludes that successful t-government implementation requires senior executive participation and active engagement of stakeholders for benefit realisation; whereby t-government adoption is surrounded by political, cultural, organisational, technological, and social issues which must be considered and treated carefully to enable this transformation.
ICT-Enabled Optimization of Government Processes
Authors: Baacke Lars , Becker Jörg , Bergener Philipp , Fitterer René , Greiner Ulrike
Published: May 2011

The public sector is facing an increased service level demand from citizens and companies which comes along with reduced financial scope. Higher process efficiency as well as time and cost savings are required to cope with this challenge. However, own experience shows that reorganization projects in public administrations which are based on established generic process modeling methods can only identify limited reorganization potential for ICT support in single processes and just lead to small local improvements (Algermissen et al., 2005). Therefore, we have created the modeling and analysis methodology PICTURE. The PICTURE methodology first applies the domain vocabulary to efficiently capture the process landscape of a public organization. It then analyses semiautomatically the processes and points at business processes with reorganization potential. Thus, PICTURE creates process transparency and supports decision makers in developing a holistic ICT investment and transformation strategy for the entire administration.
Knowledge-Driven Project Management in Government Transformation
Authors: Charalabidis Yannis , Sarantis Demetrios , Askounis Dimitris
Published: May 2011

As implementation projects for transforming e-government mature, the need for successfully tackling project management emerges: without a project management method, those who commission an egovernment project, those who manage it and those who work on it will not have the necessary tools to plan, organise, monitor, and reschedule tasks, responsibilities and milestones. In taking forward both the Government Modernisation and the Civil Service Reform agendas, renewed emphasis is being placed on project management approaches and techniques for achieving policy objectives more effectively and efficiently. The present chapter, after giving an overview of state-of-the-art project management methodologies, goes further in indicating the needs of the e-government domain and proposing a goaldriven way to manage all the aspects of e-government projects. Specifically designed tools support the application in a lighthouse project of the Greek public sector, leading to reusable conclusions on achievements and problems faced.
Theory and Practice of Signal Strength-Based Localization in Indoor Environments
Authors: Krishnakumar A. S. , Krishnan P.
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, the authors concentrate on signal strength-based localization in indoor wireless networks, with emphasis on 802.11 networks. The authors briefly summarize some architectures and approaches researchers have taken to address this problem. They then present some insight into theoretical limits to location accuracy, and identify that the issues driving research work in this area will not only be location accuracy but other factors like deployment ease, management simplicity, adaptability, and cost of ownership and maintenance. With this insight, they present the LEASE architecture for localization that allows easy adaptability of localization models. The chapter discusses the use of Bayesian networks for localization and presents a zero-configuration Bayesian localization algorithm that simplifies the maintenance of the model. Although presented in the context of signal strength-based localization in indoor environments, the concepts are general enough to be applicable to sensor, ad hoc, mesh, and infrastructure-based deployments. They conclude with some open issues.
Domain-Based Prediction and Analysis of Protein-Protein Interactions
Authors: Akutsu Tatsuya , Hayashida Morihiro
Published: May 2011

Many methods have been proposed for inference of protein-protein interactions from protein sequence data. This chapter focuses on methods based on domain-domain interactions, where a domain is defined as a region within a protein that either performs a specific function or constitutes a stable structural unit. In these methods, the probabilities of domain-domain interactions are inferred from known protein-protein interaction data and protein domain data, and then prediction of interactions is performed based on these probabilities and contents of domains of given proteins. This chapter overviews several fundamental methods, which include association method, expectation maximization-based method, support vector machine-based method, and linear programmingbased method. This chapter also reviews a simple evolutionary model of protein domains, which yields a scalefree distribution of protein domains. By combining with a domain-based protein interaction model, a scale-free distribution of protein-protein interaction networks is also derived.
The Importance of Leadership in Project Management
Authors: Karas Melanie S. , Raisinghani Mahesh S. , Webb Kerry S.
Published: May 2011

A project manager’s role on any project goes far beyond task-related deliverables. Although the project manager must be able to effectively manage goals related to time, scope and cost, his or her work does not stop here since the project manager must also be able to manage numerous issues and goals, and be able to lead the people performing them. The desired leadership qualities for a project manager are discussed. As the project manager develops his or her leadership skills and uses them to encourage, motivate, and relate to the members on his or her team, he or she can expect to see the emergence of a more positive environment. Not only will such an environment improve job satisfaction and make the overall functioning of the team easier to handle, studies have also shown evidence of improved job performance and productivity, as well as a decline in the undesirable qualities that are known to occur on a project.
Bringing the User into the Project Development Process
Authors: Surry Daniel W.
Published: May 2011

This chapter will discuss more than 20 system development life cycles (SDLC) found in the Information Technology project management arena, whereby, a comprehensive overview of the SDLCs history as well as the trigger that instigated its development would be laid out. Subsequently, the chapter will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using SDLC, whereby the chapter will explain where and when to use which SDLC. As such, the chapter will classify the different SDLCs into three non-exclusive categories: Traditional methodologies, agile methodologies, spiral methodologies and other types of methodologies that used in IT project Management.
Quality Assurance in Project Management
Authors: Mohammed Jaby , Alavizadeh Ali
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides a fundamental yet comprehensive coverage of quality management. Bringing managers and engineers the most up-to-date quality management tools, research, and theory, this chapter shows readers how to plan for quality and achieve quality control. Broad in scope and inclusive in methodology, the material covered in this chapter will be useful for anyone concerned with quality management and control in business and industry. Topics covered include planning and organizing for quality, total quality management, quality improvement, statistical quality control, and ISO 9000. The chapter begins with an introduction to the concept of quality. Next, the quality management philosophies developed by Deming, Juran, and Crosby are presented. The principles of total quality management (TQM) are described next. The major steps in planning and organizing for quality are addressed in this chapter. Next, the quality improvement process, approaches to problem solving, and tools for quality improvement are presented. The concepts and techniques of statistical quality control are also covered in this chapter. Finally, the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 quality standards are described.
SDRule Markup Language
Authors: Tang Yan , Meersman Robert
Published: May 2011

The emergence of ontology based applications, e.g. the Semantic Web, marks the importance of ontologies. Application rules, such as decision making rules, are often committed to an existing domain ontology when a new application needs to be designed and developed. During this process, the semantics of application rules is required to be precisely grounded. In this chapter, we tackle the problems of modeling and interchanging ontological commitments in order to support ontology based decision making. We model and visualize ontological commitments by means of an extension to Object Role Modeling Language (ORM), which was called ORM Plus (ORM+) and is now named Semantic Decision Rule Language (SDRule-L). SDRule-L is a commitment language for modeling dynamic and non-monotonic decision rules. SDRule-L models are further stored in an XML-based markup language called Semantic Rule Markup Language (SDRule ML), which is a hybrid language of Rule Markup Language (Rule-ML) and Object Role Modeling Markup Language (ORM-ML). We also illustrate its supporting tool called SDRule-Lex, which is based on Tiny Lexon Browser (T-Lex). We demonstrate in the field of on-line customer management.
Mining Conditional Contrast Patterns
Authors: Dong Guozhu , Li Jinyan , Liu Guimei , Wong Limsoon
Published: May 2011

This chapter considers the problem of “conditional contrast pattern mining.” It is related to contrast mining, where one considers the mining of patterns/models that contrast two or more datasets, classes, conditions, time periods, and so forth. Roughly speaking, conditional contrasts capture situations where a small change in patterns is associated with a big change in the matching data of the patterns. More precisely, a conditional contrast is a triple (B, F1, F2) of three patterns; B is the condition/context pattern of the conditional contrast, and F1 and F2 are the contrasting factors of the conditional contrast. Such a conditional contrast is of interest if the difference between F1 and F2 as itemsets is relatively small, and the difference between the corresponding matching dataset of B?F1 and that of B?F2 is relatively large. It offers insights on “discriminating” patterns for a given condition B. Conditional contrast mining is related to frequent pattern mining and analysis in general, and to the mining and analysis of closed pattern and minimal generators in particular. It can also be viewed as a new direction for the analysis (and mining) of frequent patterns. After formalizing the concepts of conditional contrast, the chapter will provide some theoretical results on conditional contrast mining. These results (i) relate conditional contrasts with closed patterns and their minimal generators, (ii) provide a concise representation for conditional contrasts, and (iii) establish a so-called dominance-beam property. An efficient algorithm will be proposed based on these results, and experiment results will be reported. Related works will also be discussed.
Current Developments and Diffusions in ICT
Authors: Koh S.C. Lenny , Maguire Stuart
Published: May 2011

Although Boeing and Rolls-Royce are operating in the same aerospace industry sector and use ERP, but the ways that they implemented their systems are completely different. Boeing uses big bang and treats ERP as a system implementation, whilst Rolls-Royce uses phased implementation and treats ERP as a philosophy. Both companies experience different outcome as a result of their approaches. (Koh, 2006) Dell has a “build-to-order” business model that clearly integrates both supply and demand chains. That model has worked astonishingly well for Dell, its customers and its key suppliers. In fact, Dell could not do what it does if it designed and managed its supply chains and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as separate technical entities. The “build-to-order” business value proposition demands an architecture that inherently integrates customers and suppliers. Yes, Dell has a “supply chain,” but it coevolves in the context of explicit customer demand. (Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2005).
Semantic Annotation of Objects
Authors: Kremen Petr , Blaško Miroslav , Kouba Zdenek
Published: May 2011

Compared to traditional ways of annotating multimedia resources (textual documents, photographs, audio/video clips etc.) by keywords in form of text fragments, semantic annotations are based on tagging such multimedia resources with meaning of objects (like cultural/historical artifacts) the resource is dealing with. The search for multimedia resources stored in a repository enriched with semantic annotations makes use of an appropriate reasoning algorithm. Knowledge management and Semantic Web communities have developed a number of relevant formalisms and methods. This chapter is motivated by practical experience with authoring of semantic annotations of cultural heritage related resources/objects. Keeping this experience in mind, the chapter compares various knowledge representation techniques, like frame-based formalisms, RDF(S), and description logics based formalisms from the viewpoint of their appropriateness for resource annotations and their ability to automatically support the semantic annotation process through advanced inference services, like error explanations and expressive construct modeling, namely n-ary relations.
Semantic Visualization to Support Knowledge Discovery in Multi-Relational Service Communities
Authors: Bhatti Nadeem , Weber Stefan Hagen
Published: May 2011

Services provided through the Internet serve a dual purpose. They are used by consumers and by technical systems to access business functionality, which is provided remotely by business partners. The semantics of services, multi-relational networked data and knowledge discovery in multi-relational service communities (e.g., service providers, service consumers, and service brokers, etc.) become an area of increasing interest. The complex multi-dimensional semantic relationship between services demands innovative and intuitive visualization techniques to present knowledge in a personalized manner, where community members can interact with knowledge assets and navigate through the network of Semantic Web services. In this chapter, the authors introduce Semantic Visualization approach (SemaVis) to support knowledge discovery by using hybrid recommender system (HYRES). It makes use of the semantic descriptions of the Web services, and also exploits the dynamic evolving relationships between services, service providers and service consumers. The authors introduce a sample scenario from a research project TEXO, within the THESEUS research program initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology (BMWi). It aims to supply a service-oriented architecture for the integration of Web-based services in the next generation of Business Value Networks. The authors present as well the application of their approaches SemaVis and HYRES to support knowledge discovery in multi-relational service communities of future Business Value Networks.
Socio-Technical Challenges of Semantic Web
Authors: Olaniran Bolanle A. , Burley Hansel E. , Chang Maiga , Kuo Rita , Agnello MaryFrances
Published: May 2011

The Semantic Web holds significant implications for learning, culture, and non-native speakers, with culture and non-native speakers rarely being addressed in the literature. In that light this chapter goal explores how Semantic Web disseminates learning, and it addresses critical socio-technical and cultural challenges facing semantic web, potential users, and learners using it. The chapter identifies some of the causes of the socio-technical challenges, looking at two major styles of learning and the position of Semantic Web structure in them. The chapter also offers recommendations for addressing selected challenges facing the Semantic Web.
E-Learning and Solidarity
Authors: Jesus Rui Alberto Ferreira , Lopes Moreira Fernando Joaquim
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores solidarity as a social dimension in the context of e-learning and the Semantic Web. Its aim is to explore where the students show more solidarity with each other—in online learning environments or in offline settings? In the context of this chapter, the term “solidarity between students” means the sharing of useful resources between group members. Online forums are the major Web service that we shall use to support solidarity online. In online forums, we can ask complex semantic questions knowing that someone will understand the meaning of the question and hopefully will give us a good answer to it. Add to forums the possibility of annotation with metadata and we can also depend on them to retrieve meaning rich historical information. The research is based on case studies with focus groups conducted with Portuguese higher education health students.
Technology Roadmap for Living Labs
Authors: Schumacher Jens , Feurstein Karin , Gschweidl Manfred
Published: May 2011

The concept of “Living Labs” in general is not completely new in R&D. Available publications focused on local requirements and targeted on business specific needs. In this chapter available ICT for use in a Living Lab are assessed and an implementation roadmap on behalf of ICT is presented. Besides buzzwords like Web 2.0 and Triple Play, ICT enables fast and substantial advancements. To bring a clear view into the range of solutions the authors orient on an ICT layering-architecture and the client/server nature of today’s Web-technology. The roadmap takes into account currently applicable technologies and likely future trends. Technological maturity, social compliance, consumer acceptance and politics & marketregulation are considered in the critique. The breakdown shows that a few core technologies are not only sufficient for the skeletal structure, but also from the main bulk of a Living Lab infrastructure. Thus the technology for most of the desirable features of a Living Lab is on-hand, future functional extensions can be provided by open interfaces and a modular architecture of the system.
Technologies to Support the Market of Resources as an Infrastructure for Agile/Virtual Enterprise Integration
Authors: Cruz-Cunha Maria Manuela , Putnik Goran D. , da Silva Joaquim Pereira , Oliveira Santos José Paulo
Published: May 2011

The agile/virtual enterprise (A/V E) model is considered a highly dynamic version of the virtual enterprise (VE) model, and its implementation presents several requirements in order to keep the VE partnership aligned with the market, that is, with business. Such requirements include (1) the reduction of reconfiguration costs and effort, and (2) the capability to preserve the firms’ private knowledge on products or processes. These must be assured by a specific environment, or, in other words, by organizational infrastructures as a meta-organizational structure for VE design (or integration) and operation, such as the Market of Resources—an environment developed by the authors to cope with the highlighted requirements, and assuring a better performance than the traditional environments such as the Internet search engines or the electronic marketplaces. The chapter describes the functionalities of the Market of Resources and explains how does it supports A/V E integration, and addresses some technologies that could support A/V E integration within the Market of Resources, namely XML/ebXML and Webservices. The chapter proposes an architecture to support the operation of the Market of Resources, representing a fusion of the peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture with the client-server architecture, as a variant of P2P architecture. Also, a laboratory implementation of the Web services for manufacturing is presented too.
Group Decision Support Systems
Authors: Wang John , Yao James
Published: May 2011

Group decision support systems (GDSSs) which aim at increasing some of the benefits of collaboration and reducing the inherent losses are interactive information technology-based environments that support concerted and coordinated group efforts toward completion of joint tasks (Dennis, George, Jessup, Nunamaker, & Vogel, 1998). The term group support systems (GSSs) was coined at the start of the 1990’s to replace the term GDSS. The reason for this is that the role of collaborative computing was expanded to more than just supporting decision making (Patrick & Garrick, 2006). For the avoidance of any ambiguities, the latter term shall be used in the discussion throughout this paper
A Generic Definition of Collaborative Working Environments
Authors: Hribernik Karl A. , Thoben Klaus-Dieter , Nilsson Michael
Published: May 2011

Collaborative working environments (CWE) are widely recognised as representing the next step in the development of collaborative technologies over the coming decade (European Commission, 2004, 2005; Schaffers, Brodt, Pallot, & Prinz, 2006). According Isidro Laso Ballesteros of the New Working Environments unit of the European Commission, CWE is a RTD domain with the objective “to develop technologies that will allow synchronous and asynchronous real time seamless interactions between individuals who define common objectives and work actively and effectively to achieve these common goals, participating in agreed business processes.” However, the term has yet to be defined in a manner upon which a common perspective towards research and development in the field can be suitably adopted. Against that background, this article attempts to develop such a perspective on the topic by elaborating a definition rooted in widely acknowledged works on the subjects of collaboration and e-collaboration.
An Ontological Approach to Managing Project Memories in Organizations
Authors: Monticolo Davy , Hilaire Vincent , Gomes Samuel , Koukam Abderrafiaa
Published: May 2011

Knowledge Management (KM) is considered by many organizations a key aspect in sustaining competitive advantage. In the mechanical design domain, the KM facilitates the design of routine product and brings a saving time for innovation. This chapter describes the specification of a project memory as an organizational memory to specify knowledge to capitalize all along project in order to be reuse. Afterwards it presents the design of a domain ontology and a multi agent system to manage project memories all along professional activities. As a matter of fact, these activities require that engineers, with different specialities, collaborate to carry out the same goal. Inside professional activities; they use their knowhow and knowledge in order to achieve the laid down goals. The professional actors competences and knowledge modeling allows the design and the description of agents’ know-how. Furthermore, the paper describes the design of our agent model based on an organisational approach and the role of a domain ontology called OntoDesign to manage heterogeneous and distributed knowledge.
Adopting Tools for Online Synchronous Communication
Authors: Murphy Elizabeth , Laferriere Thérèse
Published: May 2011

this chapter considers some of the issues related to the adoption of online synchronous communication tools and proposes strategies to help deal with these issues. Two contrasting contexts of use of online synchronous tools are described. In one context, audio-conferencing using Elluminate LiveTM is highlighted, in the other, video-conferencing using iVisitTM. Issues related to use of these tools for synchronous communication are considered from the perspective of relative advantage, compatibility, and complexity. The advantages included the immediacy, spontaneity, intimacy, efficiency, and convenience of communication. Complexity manifested itself in relation to time management, shifting and evolving technical and pedagogical needs, and changes in instructors’ roles. Compatibility issues included the demands on instructors, lack of freedom from temporal constraints, and difficulties with communication across time zones and when multi-tasking.
Utilizing Web Tools for Computer-Mediated Communication to Enhance Team-Based Learning
Authors: Gomez Elizabeth Avery , Wu Dezhi , Passerini Katia , Bieber Michael
Published: May 2011

Team-based learning is an active learning instructional strategy used in the traditional face-to-face classroom. Web-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools complement the face-to-face classroom and enable active learning between face-to-face class times. This arti-cle presents the results from pilot assessments of computer-supported team-based learning. The authors utilized pedagogical approaches grounded in collaborative learning techniques, such as team-based learning, and extended these techniques to a Web-based environment through the use of computer-mediated communications tools (discussion Web-boards). This approach was examined through field studies in the course of two semesters at a US public technological university. The findings indicate that the perceptions of team learning experience such as per-ceived motivation, enjoyment, and learning in such a Web-based CMC environment are higher than in traditional face-to-face courses. In addition, our results show that perceived team mem-bers’ contributions impact individual learning experiences. Overall, Web-based CMC tools are found to effectively facilitate team interactions and achieve higher-level learning.
A Trination Analysis of Social Exchange Relationships in E-Dating
Authors: Kale Sudhir H. , Spence Mark T.
Published: May 2011

More than half a billion users across the globe have availed themselves of e-dating services. This chapter looks at the marketing and cross-cultural aspects of mate-seeking behavior in e-dating. We content analyzed 238 advertisements from online matrimonial sites in three countries: India (n=79), Hong Kong (n=80), and Australia (n=79). Frequencies of mention of the following ten attribute categories in the advertiser’s self-description were established using post hoc quantitative analysis: love, physical status, educational status, intellectual status, occupational status, entertainment services, money, demographic information, ethnic information, and personality traits. Past research on mate selection using personal ads and the three countries’ positions on Hofstede’s dimensions of culture were used in hypotheses generation. The results support several culture-based differences in people’s self-description in online personal ads; however, some anticipated differences were not realized, suggesting that some cultural differences may not be as strong as Hofstede (2001) suggests.
An Adaptive Workforce as the Foundation for E-Collaboration
Authors: Stokes Charlene K. , Lyons Joseph B. , Schwartz Daniel H. , Swindler Stephanie D.
Published: May 2011

In support of our proposition, the following article will begin with examples of diverse areas of business that have been impacted by e-collaboration and illustrate how adaptability provides the underlying theme uniting the changes that are occurring. Then, focusing on individual adaptability, we will present a relevant performance model to be implemented in organizations. Based on this performance model, we will illustrate how organizations can begin to establish an adaptive workforce that will serve as the foundation for effective e-collaboration.
Determinants of Manufacturing Firms' Intent to Use Web Based Systems to Share Inventory Information with their Key Suppliers
Authors: Hadaya Pierre , Pellerin Robert
Published: May 2011

Based on the literature on the diffusion of innovations and on information systems, and building on emerging concepts in electronic collaboration (e-collaboration), this article measures the influence of various determinants on manufacturing firms’ intent to use Web-based inter-organizational information systems (IOISs) to share inventory information with their key suppliers. This theoretical model is tested on data collected from 498 senior managers of Canadian manufacturing firms. Our findings indicate that a manufacturing firm’s organizational readiness, its past experience with e-commerce and its business relationships all affect its future use of Web-based IOISs to share inventory information with its key suppliers. The results of Tobit regressions also provide supporting evidence that firm size moderates the impact of the present use of e-commerce with suppliers on manufacturing firms’ intent to use Web-based IOISs to share inventory information with key suppliers.
Applying Constructivism to Online Learning
Authors: Lee Jennifer , Lin Lin
Published: May 2011

Based on constructivist principles, this chapter provides a new instructional design map for online learning environments. This instructional design map includes considerations of five elements, namely, learner, knowledge, learning environment, assessment, and technology. Considerations of these elements are based on analyses of the past and existing instructional design models, online learning models, and constructive principles. Applications of the instructional design map are also discussed in the chapter.
Critical Survey of Information Technology Use in Higher Education
Authors: Cronin James G.R. , McMahon John Paul , Waldron Michael
Published: May 2011

Reception and use of information technology by lifelong learners within a “blended” learning environment needs to be articulated within a constructivist paradigm. Increasingly, the term reflective practice is appearing in the vocabulary of adult education discourse. Educators have become familiar with the concept of reflective practice through Donald Schön’s writings. Schön’s work is founded on a tradition of learning supported by Dewey, Lewin, and Piaget. As a learning group, lifelong learners are receptive to constructivist learning interventions where facilitated activities provide learners with opportunities to enact and collaboratively construct meaning as interventions unfold. This case study reviews learning enactments through an online discussion forum in an evening diploma in European Art History, University College Cork, Ireland.
Structure of a Blended University Course
Authors: Ligorio M. Beatrice , Sansone Nadia
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, the case of a blended university course will be described in detail. The main focus of this description will be on how some constructivist principles – such as knowledge building, active and self-directed learners, collaborative learning, communities of learners and practice - can be applied to compose the architecture of a blended university course. The course carefully integrates online activities with face to face meetings. Several educational models are also combined to guide the design of individual, small-group and collective activities able to exploit issues such as digital identities, E-Tutor, online role-play, and E-Portfolio. Principles of constructivism were always followed when setting activities and meetings. The description provided is mainly useful for teachers and educators interested in implementing a blended course with clear references to constructivist pedagogy. In addition, theoretically founded roles, tasks, and activities are outlined. The thoughtful mix of pedagogical models, online and face to face activities, individual-dyads-small group and collective learning contexts is the strongest point of this course.
Constructivist Strategies to Optimize Four Levels of Interaction in a Distributed Learning Environment
Authors: Lohr Linda , Eastham Nicholas , Kendrick David
Published: May 2011

This case study describes how a constructivist theory of learning guided the design of distributed learning environment for a three credit hour graduate level course on instructional design. Four types of interaction data were collected from 27 participants, one instructional designer/instructor, and two assistant designers. Overall, constructivist strategies appeared to contribute to a successful learning experience as measured by participant surveys, designer observations, and academic performance. A strong majority of students considered a number of constructivist strategies beneficial, such as the provision of a variety of reading and learning activity options, as well as participation in an authentic and relevant learning task. Academic quality of end of semester instructional products was high. A strong majority of participants received a rating of excellent, as determined by designer/instructor and mentor evaluations. Some constructivist strategies appeared to detract from the learning experience. Data related student-to-student, student-to-content, student-to-teacher, and student-to-interface interaction suggests the need to clarify expectations for small group discussions and participant blogs, rewriting or repositioning an instructional story as a case study, increasing design-document specific feedback, using a broad and shallow interface structure and moving selected course content to pre-packaged paper-based format to reduce cognitive demands related to reading while online.
Information Theoretical Limits on Cooperative Communications
Authors: Yuksel Melda , Erkip Elza
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides an overview of the information theoretic foundations of cooperative communications. Earlier information theoretic achievements, as well as the more recent developments, are discussed. The analysis accounts for full/half-duplex node, and for multiple relays. Various channel models such as discrete memoryless, additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), and fading channels are considered. Cooperative communication protocols are investigated using capacity, diversity, and diversity-multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) as performance metrics. Overall, this chapter provides a comprehensive view on the foundations of and the state-of-the-art reached in the theory of cooperative communications.
A Critical Thinking Rubric as the Basis of Assessment and Curriculum
Authors: Lewittes Hedva
Published: May 2011

In this chapter critical thinking is assessed using two critical thinking learning outcomes that were required for the State University of New York’s General Education program. System-wide, an initiative was implemented that took into account national debates about standardized and course embedded evaluation. As part of this process faculty developed a rubric that delineated the criteria for rating critical thinking on a four-point scale. Components of the rubric were integrated into the curriculum of a Psychology of Adulthood and Aging course and used to formulate study questions. Feedback to students and the modification of curriculum and evaluation measures was ongoing. Pre-tests and post-tests scored with the rubric provided data on learning.
Assessing Creativity Using the Consensual Assessment Technique
Authors: Baer John , McKool Sharon S.
Published: May 2011

The Consensual Assessment Technique is a powerful tool used by creativity researchers in which panels of expert judges are asked to rate the creativity of creative products such as stories, collages, poems, and other artifacts. Experts in the domain in question serve as judges; thus, for a study of creativity using stories and poems, a panel of writers and/or teachers of creative writing might judge the creativity of the stories, and a separate panel of poets and/or poetry critics might judge the creativity of the poems. The Consensual Assessment Technique is based on the idea that the best measure of the creativity of a work of art, a theory, a research proposal, or any other artifact is the combined assessment of experts in that field. Unlike other measures of creativity, such as divergent-thinking tests, the Consensual Assessment Technique is not based on any particular theory of creativity, which means that its validity (which has been well established empirically) is not dependent upon the validity of any particular theory of creativity. This chapter explains the Consensual Assessment Technique, discusses how it has been used in research, and explores ways it might be employed in assessment in higher education.
Peer Assessment for Development of Preservice Teachers
Authors: Gilpin Lorraine , Bodur Yasar , Crawford Kathleen
Published: May 2011

Peer assessment holds tremendous potential to positively impact the development of preservice teachers. The purpose of this chapter is to describe our findings on the impact of different forms of peer observation and feedback on preservice teachers’ skills in analyzing classroom teaching and their perceptions of their experience with peer assessment. In addition to reporting our findings, we draw from the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning literature to present peer assessment as a medium to overcome structured isolation that is present in the practice of teaching. According to our study, peer observation and feedback is beneficial to preservice teachers’ learning. However, to maximize its effectiveness, a culture of peer assessment should be established in teacher education programs.
Decision Support Systems and Decision-Making Processes
Authors: Averweg Udo Richard
Published: May 2011

Decision support systems (DSS) deal with semi-structured problems. Such problems arise when managers in organisations are faced with decisions where some but not all aspects of a task or procedure are known. To solve these problems and use the results for decision-making requires judgement of the manager using the system. Typically such systems include models, data manipulation tools, and the ability to handle uncertainty and risk. These systems involve information and decision technology (Forgionne, 2003). Many organisations are turning to DSS to improve decision-making (Turban, McLean, & Wetherbe, 2004). This is a result of the conventional information systems (IS) not being sufficient to support an organisation’s critical response activities—especially those requiring fast and/or complex decision-making. In general, DSS are a broad category of IS (Power, 2003). A DSS is defined as “an interactive, flexible, and adaptable computer-based information system, specially developed for supporting the solution of a non-structured management problem for improved decision-making. It utilises data, it provides easy user interface, and it allows for the decision maker’s own insights” (Turban, 1995). There is a growing trend to provide managers with IS that can assist them in their most important task—making decisions. All levels of management can benefit from the use of DSS capabilities. The highest level of support is usually for middle and upper management (Sprague & Watson, 1996). The question of how a DSS supports decision-making processes will be described in this article. This article is organised as follows: The background to decisionmaking is introduced. The main focus (of this article) describes the development of the DSS field. Some future trends for the DSS field are then suggested. Thereafter a conclusion is given.
Software Engineering and the Systems Approach
Authors: Lane Jo Anne , Petkov Doncho , Mora Manuel
Published: May 2011

IJITSA is honored by the fact that this issue presents an interview with probably the most significant figure in the field of software engineering since its inception and one of its founders, Professor Barry W. Boehm. He has published many seminal books and papers that have shaped the foundations of software engineering. We have included in the references just a small sample of his numerous publications addressing some of the fundamental issues in this field in recent years. They cover diverse topics ranging from a comparison of agile development methods and software engineering (Boehm & Turner, 2004) to reflections on enhancing software engineering education (Boehm, 2006c). A thought-provoking review of the evolution of software engineering and its current challenges is presented in Boehm (2006b), while his thoughts on the need to integrate more closely software and systems engineering are reflected in Boehm (2006a) and Boehm and Lane (2006). The questions we asked Professor Boehm relate to his significant contributions to software engineering and enhancing its links to the systems approach.