bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ITC-Euromaster Course Pool for AEC Engineers
Authors: Tibaut Andrej , Rebolj Danijel , Menzel Karsten , Hore Alan
Published: May 2013

The paper describes the ITC-Euromaster Course Pool. It is a concept that powers e-learning environment for conducting an international Masterâ??s level programme in information technologies for Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC). The e-learning environment integrates resources (units of study, learning management system, virtual classroom, teachers and students) from five European universities. In the paper following aspects of the system are presented: concept and methodology of the Course Pool, technology for e-learning and evaluation results.
Online Faculty and Adjuncts
Authors: Betts Kristen , Kramer Ronnie , Gaines Linda L.
Published: May 2013

Online education has grown exponentially over the past decade. Data collected by the Sloan Consortium reveals that between 2002 and 2009 students enrolled in at least one online course increased from 1.6 million to 5.6 million. It is projected that by 2020 up to 60% of college students will take their courses entirely online. A critical question for higher education administrators is “Who will teach these online courses?” Institutions need to be proactive and develop strategies for hiring and training faculty and adjuncts to meet this shift in educational delivery. Moreover, with online student attrition reported as being higher than traditional student attrition, faculty must also know how to engage and retain students in the online classroom environment. This article examines online faculty recruitment, online faculty training, and ten strategies for integrating Online Human Touch training and support into current and future online programs to increase faculty and student engagement and retention. Institutions that are not evaluating online education delivery options may face crisis or financial exigency. For many colleges and university, online faculty and adjuncts will be a central part of the future of the institution.
An Exploratory Study of Student Self-Assessment in an Online Learning Context
Authors: Wang Chien-hsing
Published: May 2013

This paper reports the investigation of the application of self-assessment in an online learning setting based on action research. The research participants were students who completed their self-assessment when taking the course on Classroom Management taught by the teacher researcher. Although the analytic results show the lack of critical reflection in student self-assessment, the teacher researcher learned the following lessons: a) self-assessment helps the students to articulate their learning results in specific; (b) self-assessment can be a means to cultivate students’ abilities in information-integration; (c) using multiple evaluative tools for assessing self-assessment is recommended to better describe the levels of student reflection; and (d) effective and efficient implementation of self-assessment requires a redesigning of the learning management system. Finally, further research can focus on the possibility of promoting the level of student reflection by encouraging students to use evaluative tools to assess their self-assessment.
A Study of the Relationship between Gender and Online Social Presence
Authors: Tu Chih-Hsiung , Yen Cherng-Jyh , Blocher Michael
Published: May 2013

CMC has been considered a “democratizing” technology; however, research indicates that CMC does not automatically result in social equality, and points to the importance of social and cultural factors surrounding the adoption of technology. Research suggests that CMC may impose a disadvantage to females, demonstrating lower levels of social presence. This study assesses the predictive relationship between gender and online social presence. A total of 395 graduate students participated by responding to the Computer-Mediated Communication Questionnaire. Quantitative research designs and analyses were applied. This study concluded that online social presence is not related to gender; therefore, gender cannot serve as an effective predictor for online social presence. A female’s online social presence can be as high as a male’s. Effective strategies to improve online social presence for both genders are suggested. Additionally, this study raises the importance on gender equity in emerging social media.
Technology Capacity Building for Preservice Teachers through Methods Courses
Authors: Zhou George , Xu Judy
Published: May 2013

Technology proficiency has widely been considered a necessary quality of school teachers, yet how to help teachers develop this quality remains an unanswered question. While teacher education programs often offer one technology course as a solution to this issue, scholars have recently argued that such technical skill-oriented courses are not sufficient to develop preservice teachers’ ability to use technology in teaching. This paper argues that the use of technology in teaching requires integrated knowledge between technology, pedagogy, and subject content, and this highly blended knowledge is best developed through the methods courses of a teacher education program. The key message is that preservice teachers need to be consistently exposed to technology and regularly be required to practice it in many aspects of instruction.
The Relationship between Student Learning Styles and Motivation during Educational Video Game Play
Authors: Findley Michael R.
Published: May 2013

Educational video games allow for a level of intrinsic motivation and engagement that is not found in other forms of learning. This study determines if students found educational video game play to be a motivating experience and if a relationship existed between student learning styles and levels of motivation. High school psychology students played two short online educational video games and, upon completion of the activity, their intrinsic motivation levels were determined using an evaluation questionnaire. The data, as determined by the evaluation questionnaire, revealed that students found playing educational video games to be intrinsically motivating. Further examination revealed no statistically significant differences between the student learning styles and the motivation experienced during educational video game play.
Social Media Activities
Authors: Heinonen Kristina
Published: May 2013

Consumers are increasingly consuming, participating, contributing, and sharing different types of online content. This is influencing the marketing activities traditionally controlled and performed by companies. The aim of this chapter is to conceptualize the activities consumers perform in social media. Social media denote content created by individual consumers such as online ratings or verbal reviews, online message boards/forums, photos/video sites, blogs, tags, and social networking sites. A conceptual framework for consumers’ social media activities is developed and qualitatively substantiated. Social media activities are based on the motives for the activities, including information, social connection, and entertainment. The chapter contributes to research on social media and online communities by describing user behavior and motivations related to the user-created services. Managerially, the study deepens the understanding of different challenges related to users’ activities on social media and the motivations associated with those activities.
Typical Innovative and Involvement Characteristics of Contributors to Consumer Generated Media
Authors: Shiu Eric
Published: May 2013

One key impact of consumer generated media on today’s firms is that it has become an increasingly important source of information for consumers in their decision making process. Firms that are able to gather positive messages about themselves and their products or services on consumer generated media can be instrumental to the survival and success of their business. The quality and growth of consumer generated media depend on contributions from the consumer public, and some people are more likely to post their own messages, written or otherwise, on consumer generated media than others. Understanding some typical characteristics of these people, termed active contributors to consumer generated media in this chapter, is beneficial for firms, as they can be more ready to identify them and could do something to turn them in their flavour. Based on literature review, this study has identified a number of hypothetical variables that may influence whether a person is an active contributor to consumer generated media. A questionnaire survey on 430 respondents has shown that global innovativeness, electronic innovativeness and consumer involvement significantly affect contributions to consumer generated media. Active contributors to this new medium are also more likely to be male and of a younger age.
Can Your Business Have One Million Friends?
Authors: Kim Soyean (Julia) , Bickart Barbara A. , Brunel Frédéric F. , Pai Seema
Published: May 2013

In this chapter, we develop a theoretical framework that explains how blogs can be categorized based on audiences’ perceptions and how bloggers use different strategies to shape or shift their audiences’ perceptions and increase the persuasiveness of their messages. We posit that bloggers use two distinguishable communication strategies: (a) developing and sustaining an illusion of relationship between the blogger and the reader in order to individualize the communication, and (b) maintaining a level of ambiguity in their commercial interests in order to conceal the commercial nature of some blogs. We describe the tactics underlying the use of these strategies as well as the efficacy and ethics of these practices.
User Intention of Sharing Video Clips on Web 2.0 Social Network Websites
Authors: Li Eldon Y. , Chang Shu-Hsun
Published: May 2013

As the advance of Internet technology continues, various applications, services, and business models are emerging in the market. The online video sharing website is the hottest application nowadays; thus it is important to understand the key factors influencing user’s behavior on these websites. In this chapter, the authors propose a conceptual model which is based on the integrated model of user satisfaction and technology acceptance developed by Wixom and Todd (2005). To comprehend the user’s behavior intention toward using the website, the authors also add the potential factors about community which influence user’s behavior on video sharing websites. The results indicate that community satisfaction, content satisfaction, and system satisfaction all have significant positive impact on usefulness and ease of use, and that community satisfaction has a much higher impact than the other two types of satisfaction. This finding reveals an important attribute of video sharing websites, namely, the users of the website care most about the entire website community. Indeed, reliable system operations and useful, interactive content are two factors influencing the community satisfaction. For designers who want to set up a video sharing website, this research provides more comprehensive information on how to invest the limited resources on the critical variables in order to maximize the service value.
Two-Sided Markets and Social Media
Authors: Lu Xiaojing , Goldsmith Ronald E. , Pagani Margherita
Published: May 2013

This chapter introduces the concept of “two-sided” markets and shows how they comprise a unique type of social media that facilitates the development of social networks oriented toward specific product domains (e.g., restaurants), specific brands (e.g., Starbucks), or common consumer concerns (e.g., Yelp.com). Not only do two-sided-markets constitute a unique type of Website, they can be integrated with or linked to other social media, thereby enriching the value of both the two-sided market and its partner(s). Because a two-sided market increases in value for all three parties that constitute it (consumers, the platform, and vendors) as the number of both vendors and consumer participants grows, platform managers are eager to use incentive strategies to encourage consumers to increase their active use of the site. Among these incentive strategies are various reward programs that stimulate use by rewarding consumers who add content, post reviews, comment on others’ reviews, and more. Part of this chapter describes two online experiments that demonstrate that two types of common reward programs, monetary and social rewards (Heyman & Ariely, 2004), are effective in stimulating consumer intent to use the site more actively than without a reward. Finally, we make several suggestions for integrating two-sided markets into other social media, and we propose several avenues for future research into this topic that should increase our understanding of how consumers behave in two-sided markets and how platform managers can both enhance active use and use the information derived from this use.
Interaction between Consumers and Businesses through Social Media
Authors: Medeiros da Silva Huliane , Gomes da Silva Gilson , da Luz e Gorgônio Flavius
Published: May 2013

For a great deal of people, social media is the gateway to the Internet and it would not be feasible use of the network if it was not through them. Social media revolutionized not only the Internet but also the way people communicate and, consequently, the way consumers and businesses interact. Therefore, companies need to know and master the use of social media for competitive advantage. The current forms of interaction between businesses and consumers still leave much to be desired and it is not rare to find companies that make mistakes in the process of communication with their consumers through social media. This chapter aims to evaluate the communication channels based on social media used by businesses and consumers, showing successful and non-successful cases in the communication process and suggesting trends of usage of these channels more efficiently.
A Novel Matching Algorithm for Shopbot Agents acting in Marketplaces
Authors: Karasmanoglou George , Lika Blerina
Published: May 2013

During the last years, the emergence of Semantic Web has produced a vast amount of resources and a variety of content representation schemes. The latter has increased the complexity that the users are facing when searching for information in open environments. A representative example is Electronic Markets (EMs). In EMs users try to find and purchase products through interactions with providers. In such scenarios, shopbots can offer a number of advantages. Shopbots are agents that help users to find the products they want, saving them a lot of time and effort. However, building efficient shopbots is a challenging task. This is more imperative when shopbots interact with providers using different ontological terms for product description. In this chapter, the authors propose a generic ontology to describe products in EMs. They also introduce a matching algorithm that maps the specific provider ontology to the generic one in order to be used by a shopbot. Their algorithm, called S+, is based on a set of linguistic and semantic matching techniques. The authors present their approach and compare it with other proposed algorithms. Finally, they discuss their experimental results that reveal the performance of their methodology.
A Forest Fire Detection System
Authors: Tsetsos Vassileios , Sekkas Odysseas , Zervas Evagellos
Published: May 2013

Forest fires cause immeasurable damages to indispensable resources for human survival, destroy the balance of earth ecology, and worst of all they frequently cost human lives. In recent years, early fire detection systems have emerged to provide monitoring and prevention of the disasterous forest fires. Among them, the Meleager1 system aims to offer one of the most advanced and integrated technology solutions for fire protection worldwide by integrating several innovative features. This chapter outlines one of the major components of the Meleager system, that is the visual fire detection sybsystem. Groundbased visible range PTZ cameras monitor the area of interest, and a low level decision fusion scheme is used to combine individual decisions of numerous fire detection algorithms. Personalized alerts and induced feedback is used to adapt the detection process and improve the overall system performance.
Enhancing Location Privacy in Location-Based Services
Authors: Delakouridis Constantinos
Published: May 2013

Location-based services are receiving signification attention over the last few years due to the increasing use of mobile devices. At the same time, location privacy is important, since position information is considered personal information. Thus, in order to address this issue, several mechanisms have been proposed protecting the mobile user. In this chapter, the authors present an architecture to shield the location of a mobile user and preserve the anonymity on the service delivery. This architecture relies on un-trusted entities to distribute segments of anonymous location information, and authorizes other entities to combine these portions and derive the actual location of a user. The chapter describes how the architecture takes into account the location privacy requirements, and how it is used by the end users’ devices, e.g., mobile phones, for the dissemination of location information to service providers. Furthermore, it notes privacy issues for further discussion and closes with proposed exercises.
Intention Prediction Mechanism in an Intentional Pervasive Information System
Authors: Najar Salma , Pinheiro Manuele Kirsch , Vanrompay Yves , Steffenel Luiz Angelo , Souveyet Carine
Published: May 2013

The development of pervasive technologies has allowed the improvement of services availability. These services, offered by Information Systems (IS), are becoming more pervasive, i.e., accessed anytime, anywhere. However, those Pervasive Information Systems (PIS) remain too complex for the user, who just wants a service satisfying his needs. This complexity requires considerable efforts from the user in order to select the most appropriate service. Thus, an important challenge in PIS is to reduce user’s understanding effort. In this chapter, the authors propose to enhance PIS transparency and productivity through a user-centred vision based on an intentional approach. They propose an intention prediction approach. This approach allows anticipating user’s future requirements, offering the most suitable service in a transparent and discrete way. This intention prediction approach is guided by the user’s context. It is based on the analysis of the user’s previous situations in order to learn user’s behaviour in a dynamic environment.
Usability Testing of an Education Management Information System
Authors: Santana Pedro C. , Ahumada Ana C. , Magaña Martha A.
Published: May 2013

A usability study of the platform e-planea from the University of Colima in Mexico is presented. This system allows the gathering of relevant information regarding the institutional management indicators. The usability evaluation focuses on three modules of the platform: Annual Reports, Undergraduate Statistics and High School Statistics. The study consists of two evaluation phases: the first one used a heuristic evaluation, and the second one applied the System Usability Scale (SUS) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The results showed high user satisfaction.
Usability Impact Analysis of Collaborative Environments
Authors: Stephens R. Todd
Published: May 2013

This chapter will focus on the application of usability principles in a corporate collaborative environment in order to show improvements in utilization. Collaborative applications create a two-way communications structure as opposed to the one way communication method of traditional web environments. Collaboration applications can vary in the complexity from discussion forums to complex social software integration. Usability principles have been applied to web sites, but very little research has been done on the implications of usability in collaborative environments. Collaborative environments create a unique set of opportunities that create a different set of user goals. End users want a more collaborative environment that is easy to use and engaging. Organizations need to ensure the business goals stay at the forefront while improving the collaborative nature of the company.
Pilot Implementation Driven by Effects Specifications and Formative Usability Evaluation
Authors: Barlach Anders , Hertzum Morten , Simonsen Jesper
Published: May 2013

The pilot implementation is analyzed, and the lessons learned are discussed in relation to usability engineering in general.
Design and Development of a Digital Error Reporting System for a Rural Nursing Home
Authors: Millet Barbara
Published: May 2013

Error reporting systems are traditionally facilitated through completion of paper forms. These forms are largely flawed in design and usability. Use of digital reporting forms may be advantageous in reducing data entry errors, minimizing documentation time, and collecting consistent data items. This case study is a site-specific exploration of error reporting systems for a rural nursing home. A comparative evaluation was conducted of the nursing home’s existing narrative, paper form against a newly developed, digital interface. Empirical results showed no overall difference in performance between the interfaces. Expected performance gains may have been offset by the novelty of the digital interface and user familiarity with the existing paper forms. There were, however, differences in user preference, with the digital interface significantly preferred. Furthermore, data entry of accident and near miss information into computer systems was projected to streamline data collection and analysis.
The Usability Evaluation of a Touch Screen in the Flight Deck
Authors: Bonelli Stefano , Napoletano Linda
Published: May 2013

This chapter presents and discusses an Expert Usability Evaluation for a flight deck touch screen prototype, carried out in one European co-funded project called ALICIA (www.alicia-project.eu). Through the presentation of this evaluation activity and its impact on the rest of design process, this chapter will address some methodological issues on usability in complex domains: 1) The specific context in which the technology is introduced has to be well known by the designers as it provides crucial constraints to be taken into account; 2) Evaluating complex safety critical systems entails the use of a holistic multidisciplinary approach and an iterative design process that involve, in different phases, several type of experts (engineers, human factors, usability experts, end users and stakeholders); and 3) The level of maturity of the technology and the evaluation objectives contribute to the definition of the evaluation methods to be used.
BCI-Based User-Centered Design for Emotionally-Driven User Experience
Authors: Carofiglio Valeria , Abbattista Fabio
Published: May 2013

In order to develop a complex interactive system, user-centered evaluation (UCE) is an essential component. The new interaction paradigms encourage exploring new variables for accounting the users’ experience in terms of their needs and preferences. This is especially important for Adaptable Virtual Environments (AVE). In this context, to obtain a more engaging overall user’s experience, a good designer should perform proper formative and summative usability tests based on the user’s emotional level, which become a UCE activity. Our methodology tries to overcome the weaknesses of traditional methods by employing a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) to collect additional information on user’s needs and preferences. A set of preliminary usability experiments has been conducted for (i) determining if the outcome of a BCI is suitable to drive the designer in organizing the user-system dialog within AVE and (ii) evaluating the user-system dialog, in terms of dynamic increase of the emotionally-driven interaction’s customization.
Digital Heritage Systems
Authors: Sylaiou Stella , White Martin , Liarokapis Fotis
Published: May 2013

This chapter describes the evaluation methods conducted for a digital heritage system, called ARCO (Augmented Representation of Cultural Objects), which examines the tools and methods used for its evaluation. The case study describes the knowledge acquired from several user requirement assessments, and further describes how to use this specific knowledge to provide a general framework for a holistic virtual museum evaluation. This approach will facilitate designers to determine the flaws of virtual museum environments, fill the gap between the technologies they use and those the users prefer and improve them in order to provide interactive and engaging virtual museums. The proposed model used not only quantitative, but also qualitative evaluation methods, and it is based on the extensive evaluations of the ARCO system by simple end-users, usability experts and domain experts. The main evaluation criteria were usability, presence, and learning.
Pogo Chat
Authors: Edwards Rochelle
Published: May 2013

Pogo.com, an Electronic Arts (EA) casual gaming website, has over 150 games. The older, timeless games, around 610 horizontal pixels, are neighbored by an online group chat window which allows players to communicate during gameplay. Newer games do not have the same size constraints, some as wide as 760 horizontal pixels. These newer games originally lacked a chat window; however, the feedback from Pogo users was clear – they wanted the ability to chat. This paper will focus on the iterative usability testing utilized in determining if and how chat should be added into these new games on Pogo. The chat solutions as well as some challenges faced in reaching these solutions are discussed. While players wanted a chat window in all games, they did not want it to interfere with their game play. There was a preference for multiple chat solutions depending on the size of the game brick.
Drivers for Sustainable Project Management Behaviours in Facilities Management
Authors: Steele Stephanie
Published: May 2013

This chapter moves outside the traditional methodology of project management, looking more broadly at aspects that influence project sustainability initiatives, including regulation, legislation, brand reputation, government and non-government organisations, and client requirements. Using the example of mercury recycling from fluorescent tubes generated from the Facilities Management (FM) sector in Australia, the relationship between environmental management systems, specifically ISO 14001:2004, and project management aspects are highlighted. The importance of management support, both at a strategic and project level is discussed. The opportunity to create competitive advantage from the sales perspective is demonstrated, through a cost justification and review of client sensitivity to influencing factors, enabling reasoned decision making for a successful, environmentally sustainable initiative.
Articulations and Rearticulations
Authors: Gilberds Heather
Published: May 2013

The adoption of western models of journalism is a hallmark of media democratization movements in post-conflict, transitional or developing nations. However, media strengthening programs have received wide criticism from critical development scholars. This chapter interrogates the assumptions that underlie media development projects in Africa, which work to establish or reform journalism practices, by drawing on a case study of media strengthening in Rwanda. Drawing on discourse theory, it maps the discursive field that forms the basis for international assistance to build media capacity in developing and post-conflict regions. It also highlights the ways dominant development models are resisted in and through discourse, thereby drawing attention to the fluid and contingent operations of power that manifest in such institutionalized sites of knowledge production.
Cultural Pluralism and Democratic Ideation- An African Story
Authors: Mhlanga Brilliant
Published: May 2013

This chapter focuses on the mediation of cultural pluralism by the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s three ethnic minority radio stations: Munghana Lonene FM, Phalaphala FM, and X-K FM.1 By discussing these radio stations as case studies focus will be on their contribution to democratic ideation, and as forms of political disjunctures and continuities in radio broadcasting policy. On disjunctures, the chapter provides a microscopic perspective of the disengagement with the apartheid period as part of a throwback and as a way of charting a new path for a democratic South Africa. Its aim is to show the structural arrangements created and enacted into law by apartheid that had to be repealed and discontinued after 1994. During apartheid, radio broadcasting had been organised along ethnic lines, beginning with two broadcasting schedules in 1937; one for English speakers, known as service A; and service B for Afrikaans speakers. The 1960s in the South African broadcasting landscape marked the establishment of ‘Bantu radio stations’, which broadcasted mainly in indigenous ethnic languages. This stencil encouraged the creation of more ethnic focused radio stations in the ‘80s, which were later embraced by the post-apartheid leaders as a way of engendering cultural pluralism aimed at fostering democratic ideation and social transformation.
Political Use of Internet During the Benin 2011 Presidential Campaign
Authors: Kakpovi Bellarminus Gildas
Published: May 2013

During the Benin presidential election of March 2011, a new communication tool (Internet) was added to the traditional tools of electoral campaign: meetings, electoral promotion gimmicks, political songs, broadcast and print media, and posters. Indeed, the three main candidates to the presidential elections integrated Internet in their comprehensive strategy, recruiting staff to take care of a Website, several user profiles on famous social networks. Meanwhile, the Internet is used by only 2.2% of the population. This chapter analyzes the Websites of the three candidates, paying particular attention to graphic design, uploaded available information, frequency of updating, and interaction with the audience. It also scrutinizes the use of various profiles on social networks. The chapter then interrogates why there was such an important investment on the Internet during this campaign, whereas data show that very few potential voters are actually connected to the Internet in Benin. This chapter identifies the role of Internet campaigning and the place that the Internet has taken in the electoral communication strategies, and tries to understand the real purpose behind this use.
Of New Media Influence on Social and Political Change in Africa
Authors: Olorunnisola Anthony A.
Published: May 2013

This summative chapter synthesizes a few of the 26 contributors’ solo and interconnected presentations and lays out the ideas and propositions therein in a way that a single author of a book would have done. To achieve these objectives the chapter draws readers’ attention to the conceptual and practical evidences that scholars—whose joint efforts have helped us put this book together—employed in their treatment of a hydra-headed issue with multi-dimensional questions. The intent is to present readers with some, of many possible dimensions, from which to appraise the chapters in this book. To this end, thematic categories are employed and efforts made to underscore consistencies and inconsistencies between authors’ propositions. The chapter also includes suggestions of areas needing further inquiries as those pointers may help scholars sustain an ongoing conversation about the evolving issues addressed in this volume.
A Short History of Instruction in the Use of Libraries
Authors: Cordell Rosanne M
Published: May 2013

Instruction in the use of academic libraries has a long history but was not well established as a permanent and formal part of academic libraries in the United States until well into the 20th century. It has taken many forms, but none are likely to be maintained as formal programs unless measures are taken to move them beyond the status of the efforts of single individuals. The development of information literacy as an area of study coincided with the institutionalization of instruction programs and has given academic context and form to the curricula for instruction in the use of academic libraries.
University of South Florida
Authors: Todorinova Lily
Published: May 2013

Throughout the history of the University of South Florida Libraries, instruction and reference have coexisted in one department, currently known as Academic Services, and as a result, have influenced each other operationally and conceptually. Desk staffing, for example, has been affected by patterns of classroom scheduling, by placing an additional librarian at the desk per night, in case they are needed to teach an incoming class. This has been driven by a philosophy of instruction that has focused on the one-shot orientation and expediency. Customization and active learning techniques have always been employed by instructional librarians, but have become more consistent over time. The influence of instructional methodology on reference, and vise versa, is strongly driven by the library’s long-standing relationship with First Year Composition (FYC). Like many academic libraries, USF has strived to have a visible and active role in the academic success of its users, while managing demand for services with quality and currency. Reference and instruction have been at the forefront of these efforts. Influenced by the Learning Commons Model and philosophy, Academic Services has attempted a number of new ways of delivering public services, which have recently culminated in a tiered, “on-call,” model of reference, with an increased reliance on virtual chat, and an assignment-specific and course-integrated method of instruction, supported by the growing production of online learning objects and services. The future of reference and instruction at USF Libraries will undoubtedly be a product of these changes and the continuous effort to redefine public services.
Indiana University South Bend
Authors: Cordell Rosanne M
Published: May 2013

Indiana University South Bend is a regional campus of the eight campus, 100,000-student Indiana University system. The campus’ and Library’s relationship to the University system has evolved as the campus has grown and developed into a regional university from a university extension center. The Franklin D. Schurz Library provides a variety of instruction and reference services as a result of long term commitment by administrators and library faculty to provide up-to-date, high quality services. The core of the instruction program is a required undergraduate credit-bearing information literacy course. Budgetary and staffing constraints are faced, as they are in many academic libraries.
Synchronous Text-Based Computer-Mediated Communication Tasks and the Development of L2 Academic Literacy
Authors: Li Jinrong
Published: May 2013

Studies on the use of synchronous text-based computer-mediated communication (SCMC) tasks have mostly focused on how they could be used to facilitate the learning of different aspects of a second language. Recent research from a functional perspective has suggested the need to examine the impact of SCMC tasks on the development of L2 academic literacy (Mohan & Luo, 2005). With the increase use of SCMC tasks in ESL writing and other content-based courses, it is necessary to examine the potential of SCMC tasks in facilitating the development of L2 academic literacy. Drawing on the approaches and findings from research on dialogic argumentation (e.g., Seibold & Meyers, 2007), the study examines the development in using argumentative moves in SCMC discourse for a group of three ESL students, and explores the differences between the group and one focal student from the group. The findings suggest that although both the group and the focal student have demonstrated a growing tendency of understanding and responding to others’ views, differences existed between the group and the focal student, indicating that SCMC tasks may help facilitate the development of L2 academic literacy. The differences between individual students may be an important factor and could be better understood by examining students’ learning experiences together with their perceptions of the tasks.
Towards a Reference Model and a Web-Based Framework for eParticipation Services Design
Authors: Paganelli Federica , Pecchi Francesca
Published: May 2013

eParticipation involves the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for facilitating the two-way communication between governments and citizens. Designing eParticipation activities is a complex task. Challenges include the need for interdisciplinary expertise and knowledge (e.g., in political, sociology, usability and technology domains) and the lack of widely accepted models and technological standards. This paper paves the way for the definition of a basic reference model for eParticipation, providing guidelines for the design, implementation and management of eParticipation web applications. This model was put into practice for the design of an eParticipation Framework helping users in designing, customizing and deploying web-based services for a given eParticipation process. The authors also report on the experimental use of the Framework in a group of Tuscany municipalities for carrying out participatory budget activities.
Differences in Business Process Management Leadership and Deployment
Authors: Goeke Richard J. , Antonucci Yvonne Lederer
Published: May 2013

Business Process Management (BPM) can improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency by optimizing the performance of cross-functional processes. Despite its potential, BPM deployment success has been mixed, due in part to the substantial changes required within the organization. Three changes considered necessary for BPM deployment success include a properly defined business process organizational infrastructure (complete with formal positions and competencies), boundary-spanning process ownership, and boundary-spanning process governance. However, given that BPM has largely been driven by practitioners, deployment details often vary by company. The present research examined the extent that these deployment details were industry related, and found significant differences between the manufacturing and service sectors in terms of organizational infrastructure and process ownership. These findings provide further evidence that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to BPM does not exist, and that differences in BPM deployment decisions can be related to industry sector.
Teaching for Critical Thinking
Authors: Brookfield Stephen
Published: May 2013

This article reviews the core process of critical thinking – hunting assumptions – and explains how this process differs according to the context of what is being taught and the different intellectual traditions that inform teachers’ own backgrounds. It outlines a basic protocol of critical thinking as a learning process that focuses on uncovering and checking assumptions, exploring alternative perspectives, and taking informed actions as a result. Three different categories of assumptions – paradigmatic, prescriptive, and causal – are defined, and the teaching methods and approaches that most help students to think critically are explored. The article examines in detail the fact that critical thinking is best experienced as a social learning process, and how important it is for teachers to model the process for students.
The Study on the Application of Business Intelligence in Manufacturing
Authors: Yusof Ernie Mazuin Binti Mohd , Yusof Ahmad Rizal Mohd
Published: May 2013

A manufacturing based organization operates in an environment where a fast and effective decision is needed. This is to ensure that the output is met with customer compliance. There exists manufacturing systems that collect the operational data and the data turns out to be in a high volume due to the state of the art of the abundant manufacturing operational data. Having a lot of data without the tool to analyze and extracting valuable information from it, increases the amount of time spent by employees focusing on the data itself. This eventually leads to a delay in a decision making process, resulting in a delay of products delivery to customer. To fill in this gap, a Business Intelligence (BI) implementation will be reviewed, with the aim to execute the right action at the right time or in other words, to improve the decision making process of an organization.
Structural Models for E-Banking Adoption in Vietnam
Authors: Pham Long , Cao Nhi Y. , Nguyen Thanh D. , Tran Phong T.
Published: May 2013

E-banking is seen as the newest delivery channel for banking services in many developed countries and is believed to have a significant impact on the bank market. E-banking is providing numerous opportunities for banks and non-bank financial institutions to add a low cost distribution channel to their existent distribution channels. Little research on factors influencing the adoption of e-banking has been implemented in countries with very high economic growth rates (such as Vietnam) that are emerging as new potential markets. Thus, this study has, based on an extensive literature review on e-banking benefits for both banks and their customers and relevant theories on innovation adoption, proposed alternative models (including both moderator and mediating effects) of e-banking intention to use by customers in Vietnam. Furthermore, a set of model hypotheses presenting relationships among factors influencing e-banking intention to use have been set up. Practical implications and future studies were also discussed.
Selecting the Optimal Vendor of Customer Relationship Management System for Medical Tourism Industry Using Delphi and AHP
Authors: Hsu Pi-Fang , Lan Kuo-Yu , Tsai Chia-Wen
Published: May 2013

This study builds a model to evaluate and select vendors of customer relationship management (CRM) system for the medical tourism industry from the viewpoint of medical tourism industry. Literature in related fields was reviewed, and the modified Delphi method was applied to find proper evaluation and selection criteria for the model. Then the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to determine weights of criteria in order to rank vendors and pick the optimal choice of vendor of CRM system for the medical tourism industry. The case used in this study was a teaching medical institution. This evaluation and selection model was applied for an empirical study. The results show that the five main criteria were, in order: system integrators’ ability to provide services, system integrators’ ability to develop software, economic factors of system implementation, ability to implement data mining, ability to implement CRM. Operators in the medical tourism industry could use this model to select the best vedor of CRM system.
Infrastructural Innovation
Authors: Hanseth Ole , Nielsen Petter
Published: May 2013

This article addresses issues related to how to enable broadest possible innovative activities by infrastructural technology design. The authors focus on the development of high level services based on mobile telecommunication technologies. The focus of their analysis is how features of the technology enable or constrain innovations. They do so by looking at embryos of the Mobile Internet (primarily the Norwegian CPA platform, but also two pre-CPA platforms in Norway and Japan’s i-mode) through the concepts of end-to-end architecture, programmability of terminals and generativity. This analysis illustrates that the change from closed infrastructures like MobilInfo and SMSinfo to more open ones like CPA and i-mode increased the speed and range of innovations substantially. At the same time the differences between CPA and i-mode regarding programmability of terminals, and the billing service provided by the CPA network enabling the billing of individual transactions, also contributed to basically the same speed and range of innovations around CPA as i-mode in spite of the huge differences in investments into the networks made by the owners. The analysis also points out important differences between the Internet and the existing Mobile Internet regarding technological constrains on innovations. It points out important ways in which powerful actors’ strategies inhibit innovations and how they embed their strategies into the technology and creates technological barriers for innovation.
Development of a Specification for Data Interchange Between Information Systems in Public Hazard Prevention
Authors: Wurster Simone
Published: May 2013

Standards and specifications for public security are missing in many technical aspects as well as the areas of communication protocols and security management. Several research gaps related to these fields exist, particularly regarding R&D stage standardisation. Sherif et al. (2007) offer a framework to investigate project management aspects leading to successful standardisation. Its applicability for R&D stage security standardisation was examined and mainly proved by a recent InfraNorm survey in the German security research program. The German project InfraNorm aims at initiating the development of standards and specifications for the protection of transportation infrastructure. This article gives insight into the development of such a specification based on R&D results. Besides providing practical examples for activities related to Sherif et al.’s (2007) framework, the article suggests its extension. Standardisation challenges and solutions are also unveiled. The article finishes by outlining key aspects which may influence the adoption of the specification and by giving a short overview of current results. Application fields of the findings include, in particular, fast track standardisation procedures with voluntary implementation of the results, standardisations of R&D results and standardisation projects from small groups.
Virtual Team Effectiveness
Authors: Carlson John R. , Carlson Dawn S. , Hunter Emily M. , Vaughn Randal L. , George Joey F.
Published: May 2013

The work of virtual teams is increasingly important to today’s organizations, work that is accomplished predominantly via computer-mediated communication. The authors investigate the moderating role of experience with instant messaging on the team interpersonal processes (cohesion and openness) to team effectiveness relationship in virtual teams. Data were obtained from 365 virtual team members using survey methodology and analyzed using hierarchical moderated regression and multilevel analyses. They found that team cohesion has a main effect on team effectiveness. Team openness has a main effect and is moderated by experience with instant messaging, i.e., strengthens the relationship. Understanding the role of team interpersonal processes and the role of the communication media will allow managers to more effectively build virtual teams and provide effective training and support. Using the theoretical lens of channel expansion theory the authors expand theoretical, empirical and practical knowledge of this area.