bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Model-Driven Engineering Approach for Defining Rich Internet Applications
Authors: Valverde Francisco , Pastor Oscar , Valderas Pedro , Pelechano Vicente
Published: May 2010

Web 2.0 applications emphasize the end-user involvement to provide the content. In this new scenario, an easy to use and a highly interactive user interface (UI) is a key requirement in order to appeal the end-user. The main objective of this chapter is to introduce a model-driven engineering process to create rich Internet applications (RIA) that address the requirements that a Web 2.0 application must fulfill. To achieve this goal, an interaction model made up of two complementary models is proposed: On the one hand, an abstract interaction model, which clearly defines the interactions between the user and the system and on the other hand, a concrete RIA interaction model that specifies the semantics needed to accurately define RIA for the Web 2.0 domain. Both models are introduced inside a model-driven code generation process with the aim of producing a fully functional Web 2.0 application. To illustrate the contribution of this chapter, the approach is applied in a case study related to the Web 2.0 domain.
Mobile Service Oriented Architecture (MSOA) for Businesses in the Web 2.0 Era
Authors: Wu Ming-Chien , Unhelkar Bhuvan
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes an approach to extending service oriented architecture (SOA) with mobile technologies (MT) resulting in what can be called mobile service oriented architecture (MSOA). Web services (WS) is a popular approach to business applications in the second Web generation (Web 2.0). Mobile technologies (MT) help people reach out and interact with each other anytime and anywhere, transcending time and location boundaries. MSOA brings together MT and WS to create opportunities for offering and consuming services over the wireless networks in Web 2.0 era and beyond. Furthermore, the intelligent convergence of mobile connectivity, network computing, open technology, open identity, and several such emerging technologies pave the way for newer and wider range of service-oriented business opportunities. The authors describe this MSOA model and an approach to its validation through an implementation framework in this chapter.
Social Tagging
Authors: Yu Yong , Li Rui , Bao Shenghua , Fei Ben , Su Zhong
Published: May 2010

Recently, collaborative tagging Web sites such as Del.icio.us and Flickr have achieved great success. This chapter is concerned with the problem of social tagging analysis and mining. More specifically, we discuss five properties of social tagging and their applications: 1) keyword property, which means social annotations serve as human selected keywords for Web resources; 2) semantic property, which indicates semantic relations among tags and Web resources; 3) hierarchical property, which means that hierarchical structure can be derived from the flat social tagging space; 4) quality property, which means that Web resources’ qualities are varied and can be quantified using social tagging; 5) distribution property, which indicates the distribution of frequencies of social tags usually converges to a power-law distribution. These properties are the most principle characteristics, which have been popularly discussed and explored in many applications. As a case study, we show how to improve the social resource browsing by applying the five properties of social tags.
Improving Cross-Language Information Retrieval by Harnessing the Social Web
Authors: Tanase Diana Irina , Kapetanios Epaminondas
Published: May 2010

Combining existing advancements in cross-language information retrieval (CLIR) with the new usercentered Web paradigm could allow tapping into Web-based multilingual clusters of language information that are rich, up-to-date in terms of language usage, that increase in size, and have the potential to cater for all languages. In this chapter, we set out to explore existing CLIR systems and their limitations, and we argue that in the current context of a widely adopted social Web, the future of large-scale CLIR and iCLIR systems is linked to the use of the Web as a lexical resource, as a distribution infrastructure, and as a channel of communication between users. Such a synergy will lead to systems that grow organically as more users with different linguistic skills join the network, and that improve in terms of language translations disambiguation and coverage.
A New Web Site Quality Assessment Model for the Web 2.0 Era
Authors: Pang Minseok , Suh Woojong , Hong Jinwon , Kim Jongho , Lee Heeseok
Published: May 2010

To find a strategy for improving the competitiveness of Web sites, it is necessary to use comprehensive, integrated Web site quality dimensions that effectively discover which improvements are needed. Previous studies on Web site quality, however, seem to have inconsistent and confusing scopes, creating a need of reconciliation among the quality dimensions. Therefore, this chapter attempts to provide a Web site quality model that can comprise all the quality scopes provided by previous studies. The relationship between the specific dimensions of the quality model and the characteristics or merits of Web 2.0 was discussed in this chapter with actual Web site examples. It is expected that this study can help Web sites improve their competitiveness in the Web 2.0 environment.
Web 2.0 Effort Estimation
Authors: Mendes Emilia
Published: May 2010

Web effort models and techniques provide the means for Web companies to formalise the way they estimate effort for their projects, and potentially help in obtaining more accurate estimates. Accurate estimates are fundamental to help project managers allocate resources more adequately, thus supporting projects to be finished on time and within budget. The aim of this chapter is to introduce the concepts related to Web effort estimation and effort forecasting techniques, and to discuss effort prediction within the context of Web 2.0 applications.
A Social Web Perspective of Software Engineering Education
Authors: Kamthan Pankaj
Published: May 2010

The discipline of software engineering has been gaining increasing significance in computer science and engineering education. A technological revitalization of software engineering education requires a considerate examination from both human and social perspectives. The goal of this chapter is to adopt a systematic approach towards integrating Social Web technologies/applications in software engineering education, both inside and outside the classroom. To that regard, a pedagogical patterns-assisted methodology for incorporating Social Web technologies/applications in software engineering education is proposed and explored. The potential prospects of such integration and related concerns are illustrated by practical examples. The directions for future research are briefly outlined.
Advancing Learning Through Virtual Worlds
Authors: Mahaley Steve , Teigland Robin
Published: May 2010

Higher education institutions and corporations are increasingly exploring new pedagogical methods to align with learning styles of incoming students and employees, who are amazingly adept at using Web 2.0 applications. This chapter explores the use of virtual worlds, in particular that of Second Life, in educational activities by organizations such as higher education institutions or corporations. We begin by introducing virtual worlds with a particular focus on Second Life. We then provide an overview of the benefits of this environment for learning activities before presenting a set of potential learning activities that can be conducted within Second Life. We then discuss an in-depth example of 3D teaming-one learning activity within Second Life conducted by the authors. After a discussion of implementation challenges, we then present areas for future research.
Enterprise 2.0
Authors: Chaka Chaka
Published: May 2010

This chapter explores the possibility of synergising Enterprise 2.0 and Web 3.0 through Enterprise 2.0 participation technologies such as blogs, social networking sites (SNSs), media sharing sites (MSSs), and mashups. In short, Enterprise 2.0 is Web 2.0 as applied to the business or commercial domain, and Web 3.0 is a much refined and sleeker Web, extending and improving the offerings of Web 2.0. In addition, the chapter investigates the notion of Prosumerism 2.0 in the context of Enterprise 2.0 and Web 3.0. Against this backdrop, the chapter provides, firstly, a short overview of Enterprise 2.0 and Web 3.0. Secondly, it delineates and discusses the idea of Prosumerism 2.0 in relation to Enterprise 2.0 and Web 3.0. Thirdly, it outlines how Enterprise 2.0 and prosumer-generated content (PGC) can be monetised through harnessing the hybrid participation technologies such as SNSs and MSSs.
Connecting the Real World with the Virtual World
Authors: Kromwijk Katinka , Balkesen Çagri , Boder Gautier , Dindar Nihal , Keusch Florian , Sengül Ali , Tatbul Nesime
Published: May 2010

With recent developments in Web technologies enabling interaction in virtual environments, as well as the ones in sensor network technologies enabling interaction with the real world, we see an emerging trend towards bringing these two worlds together. In this chapter, we share our experiences in building an RFID-supported library system on Second Life called SmartRFLib, which successfully achieves this integration. Although SmartRFLib focuses on a library system as an application scenario, it has been designed as a general-purpose RFID data management and complex event detection system, and can also be used as a basis to build other RFID-based event monitoring applications.
Social Software and Web 2.0
Authors: Fuchs Christian
Published: May 2010

Currently, there is much talk of Web 2.0 and social software. A common understanding of these notions is not yet in existence. Also the question of what makes social software social has thus far remained unacknowledged. In this chapter, a theoretical understanding of these notions is given. The Web is seen in the context of social theories by thinkers like Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Ferdinand Tönnies, and Karl Marx. I identify three levels in the development of the Web, namely Web 1.0 as a web of cognition, Web 2.0 as a web of human communication, and Web 3.0 as a web of cooperation. Also, the myths relating to Web 2.0 and its actual economic and ideological role in contemporary society are discussed.
Sociology of Virtual Communities and Social Software Design
Authors: Memmi Daniel
Published: May 2010

The Web 2.0 movement is the latest development in a general trend toward computer-mediated social communication. Electronic communication techniques have thus given rise to virtual communities. The nature of this new type of social group raises many questions: are virtual communities simply ordinary social groups in electronic form, or are they fundamentally different? And what is really new about recent Web-based communities? These questions must first be addressed in order to design practical social communication software. To clarify the issue, we will resort to a classical sociological distinction between traditional communities based on personal relations and modern social groups bound by functional, more impersonal links. We will argue that virtual communities frequently present specific features and should not be assimilated with traditional communities. Virtual communities are often bound by reference to common interests or goals, rather than by strong personal relations, and this is still true with Web 2.0 communities. The impersonal and instrumental nature of virtual communities suggests practical design recommendations, both positive and negative, for networking software to answer the real needs of human users.
The Discourses of Empowerment and Web 2.0
Authors: Ibrahim Yasmin
Published: May 2010

Consumer content generation in the Web 2.0 environment from a libertarian perspective is about the democratization of mediated knowledge where it creates the possibilities to produce new knowledge and media economies in a postmodern world. This chapter examines the notions of empowerment afforded by multimedia technologies on the Internet where new forms of knowledge, politics, identity, and community can be fostered through the Web 2.0’s architecture of participation, collaboration, and openness. It also discusses how these unlimited possibilities to produce content present new social and ethical dilemmas. They not only challenge conventional ways in which knowledge and expertise have been constructed in modern and postmodern societies but also require more rigorous methods to identity what can constitute expert knowledge. The production of user-led taxonomies and data repositories has raised the need to re-examine user-generated content and its function and coexistence within the existing systems and archives of knowledge.
Privacy Implications and Protection in the New Ubiquitous Web Environment
Authors: Patrikakis Charalampos Z. , Nikolakopoulos Ioannis G. , Voulodimos Athanasios
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, we are addressing the issue of privacy in our modern world of Internet, Web 2.0, personalization, location based services, and ubiquitous computing. The issue is initially viewed from the perspective of user profiles, starting from existing approaches used in social networking and mobile computing applications. Emphasis is given on the separation of personal and public information and the way it can be used in Web and mobile applications. Furthermore, identifying the importance and the actual meaning of privacy in an online world is a crucial and difficult task, which has to be carried out before trying to propose ways to protect the users’ privacy.
The Impact of Individual Differences on Social Communication Pattern in Online Learning
Authors: Zheng Robert Z. , Flygare Jill A. , Dahl Laura B. , Hoffman Richard R.
Published: May 2010

This chapter describes the college students’ online social communication patterns and behavior with a focus on the impact of individual differences on learners’ online communication. The study consisted of 27 college students who engaged in an online discussion over a period of fourteen weeks as part of requirements in an undergraduate educational technology course. The findings indicated that cognitive styles such as field dependence and field independence played a critical role in forming learners’ online social communication. Based on social compensation theory and Witkin et al.’s theory of individual differences, the authors claimed that effective individual communication in an online community can be fostered through creating learning support, taking into considerations factors like cognitive styles, complementary personality, interest and motivation in the process of design. Suggestions for future online learning are made with an emphasis on creating an effective online community for learning.
Challenges in Sharing Computer and Network Logs
Authors: Slagell Adam , Lakkaraju Kiran
Published: May 2010

It is desirable for many reasons to share information, particularly computer and network logs. Researchers need it for experiments, incident responders need it for collaborative security, and educators need this data for real world examples. However, the sensitive nature of this information often prevents its sharing. Anonymization techniques have been developed in recent years that help reduce risk and navigate the trade-offs between privacy, security and the need to openly share information. This chapter looks at the progress made in this area of research over the past several years, identifies the major problems left to solve and sets a roadmap for future research.
Data Protection in Collaborative Business Applications
Authors: Kerschbaum Florian
Published: May 2010

Collaborative business applications are an active field of research and an emerging practice in industry. This chapter will focus on data protection in b2b applications which offer a wide range of business models and architecture, since often equal partners are involved in the transactions. It will present three distinct applications, their business models, security requirements and the newest solutions for solving these problems. The three applications are collaborative benchmarking, fraud detection and supply chain management. Many of these applications will not be realized if no appropriate measure for protecting the collaborating parties’ data are taken. This chapter focuses on the strongest form of data protection. The business secrets are kept entirely secret from other parties (or at least to the degree possible). This also corresponds to the strongest form of privacy protection in many instances. The private information does not leave the producing system, (i.e., data protection), such that the information producer remains its sole owner. In case of B2B application, the sensitive data are usually business secrets, and not personally identifiable data as in privacy protection.
Trust-Aware Recommender Systems for Open and Mobile Virtual Communities
Authors: Sahli N. , Lenzini G.
Published: May 2010

This chapter surveys and discusses relevant works in the intersection among trust, recommendations systems, virtual communities, and agent-based systems. The target of the chapter is showing how, thanks to the use of trust-based solutions and artificial intelligent solutions like that understanding agents-based systems, the traditional recommender systems can improve the quality of their predictions. Moreover, when implemented as open multi-agent systems, trust-based recommender systems can efficiently support users of mobile virtual communities in searching for places, information, and items of interest.
Securing Mobile-Agent Systems through Collaboration
Authors: Hussain Mohammed , Skillicorn David B.
Published: May 2010

Mobile agents are self-contained programs that migrate among computing devices to achieve tasks on behalf of users. Autonomous and mobile agents make it easier to develop complex distributed systems. Many applications can benefit greatly from employing mobile agents, especially e-commerce. For instance, mobile agents can travel from one e-shop to another, collecting offers based on customers’ preferences. Mobile agents have been used to develop systems for telecommunication networks, monitoring, information retrieval, and parallel computing. Characteristics of mobile agents, however, introduce new security issues which require carefully designed solutions. On the one hand, malicious agents may violate privacy, attack integrity, and monopolize hosts’ resources. On the other hand, malicious hosts may manipulate agents’ memory, return wrong results from system calls, and deny access to necessary resources. This has motivated research focused on devising techniques to address the security of mobile-agent systems. This chapter surveys the techniques securing mobile-agent systems. The survey categorizes the techniques based on the degree of collaboration used to achieve security. This categorization resembles the difference between this chapter and other surveys in the literature where categorization is on the basis of entities/ parts protected and underlying methodologies used for protection. This survey shows the importance of collaboration in enhancing security and discusses its implications and challenges.
Semantic Approach to Knowledge Representation and Processing
Authors: Stanojevic Mladen , Vraneš Sanja
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, several knowledge representation and processing techniques based on a symbolic and semantic approach are briefly described. The majority of present-day techniques, like the relational database model or OWL (Web Ontology Language), is based on the symbolic approach and supports the representation and processing of semantically related knowledge. Although these two techniques have found many successful applications, there are certain limitations in their wider use, stemming from the use of naming in explicit description of the meaning of the represented knowledge. To overcome these limitations, the authors propose a technique based on the semantic approach, Hierarchical Semantic Form (HSF), that uses semantic contexts to implicitly define the meaning. This chapter first provides concise information about the two most popular techniques and their limitations, and then proposes a new technique based on semantic approach, which facilitates a large scale processing of semantic knowledge represented in natural language documents.
Semantic Web Technologies in the Service of Personalization Tools
Authors: Blanco-Fernández Yolanda , Pazos-Arias José J. , Gil-Solla Alberto
Published: May 2010

The so-called recommender systems have become assistance tools indispensable to the users in domains where the information overload hampers manual search processes. In literature, diverse personalization paradigms have been proposed to match automatically the preferences of each user (which are previously modelled in personal profiles) against the available items. All these paradigms are laid down on a common substratum that uses syntactic matching techniques, which greatly limit the quality of the offered recommendations due to their inflexible nature. To fight these limitations, this chapter explores a novel approach based on reasoning about the semantics of both the users’ preferences and considered items, by resorting to less rigid inference mechanisms borrowed from the Semantic Web.
The Generative Potential of Appreciative Inquiry as an Essential Social Dimension of the Semantic Web
Authors: Vat Kam Hou
Published: May 2010

The mission of this chapter is to present a framework of ideas concerning the expected form of knowledge sharing over the emerging Semantic Web. Of specific interest is the perspective of appreciative inquiry, which should accommodate the creation of some appreciative knowledge environments (AKE) based on the peculiar organizational concerns that would encourage or better institutionalize knowledge work among people of interest in an organization. The AKE idea is extensible to the building of virtual communities of practice (CoP) whose meta-data requirements have been so much facilitated in today’s Web technologies including the ideas of data ownership, software as services, and the socialization and co-creation of content, and it is increasingly visible that the AKE model of knowledge sharing is compatible for the need of virtual collaboration in today’s knowledge-centric organizations. The author’s investigation should provide a basis to think about the social dimension of today’s Semantic Web, in view of the generative potential of various appreciative processes of knowledge sharing among communities of practice distributed throughout an organization.
Theoretical Constructs and Relationships in Information Systems Research
Authors: Furneaux Brent , Wade Michael
Published: May 2010

Constructs and the relationships between them are widely considered to be central to theory development and testing. Over time, information systems (IS) researchers have identified and explored an extensive set of relationships amongst a broad range of constructs. The result of these initiatives is a body of literature that can be considered to represent the cumulative learning of the discipline. Based on the premise that this cumulative learning is capable of providing valuable guidance to future theory development, the authors present a review and analysis of a large sample of empirical research published in two leading IS journals. The objective of this endeavor is to offer a broad perspective on the nature of the constructs and relationships explored in IS research and to develop a nomological network of the most salient relationships that can then serve to guide future research and to lend support to new and existing theory.
Critical Realism
Authors: Carlsson Sven A.
Published: May 2010

Different strands of non-positivistic research approaches and theories, for example, constructivism, grounded theory, and structuration theory, have gained popularity in the information systems (IS) field. Although, they are managing to overcome some problems with positivism and structural theories they are not completely without problems. This chapter puts critical realism forward as an alternative philosophical underpinning for IS research. Critical realism starts from an ontology that identifies structures and mechanisms, through which events and discourses are generated, as being fundamental to the constitution of our natural and social reality. The chapter presents critical realism and how it can be used in IS research. Examples of how critical realism have been used and can be used in research aiming at generating new IS theory, IS evaluation research, and IS design science research are provided.
The Value of Flexibility
Authors: Castelo Rodrigo , da Silva Miguel Mira
Published: May 2010

Though IT investments are risky by nature, most of the traditional investment valuation models do not have risk in account, leading to erroneous choices. This chapter bases itself in the dogma that flexibility is the key to handle the uncertainty and risk of the future, and therefore is also a philosophy that must be in the very foundations of IT investments, since IT is the basic foundation of so many businesses. How do we value a risky IT investment is the underlying subject of this chapter. Having the previous dogma as a basis, the authors state that flexibility is a vaccine against risk. As such, this flexibility must have a value. The problem they attempt to solve in this chapter is the quantification of such value. To achieve this goal, the authors propose a real options-based framework to value IT investments, having risk in account.
The Technology Acceptance Model and Other User Acceptance Theories
Authors: Bradley Joseph
Published: May 2010

As global business markets become increasingly competitive, firms look to information technology to manage and improve their performance. Timely and accurate information is a key to gaining performance efficiency. Yet, firms may invest in technology only to find that their users are not willing to accept and use the new technology. This chapter explores the technology acceptance model and other theories of user acceptance.
Competing Commitments Theory
Authors: McAvoy John , Butler Tom
Published: May 2010

Information system development, like information systems adoption, can be considered to be a change process; yet problems arise when change is introduced. Resistance to the change can develop and the reasoning behind the resistance needs to be determined in order to address it. Resistance can be straightforward, where the change threatens a person’s job or creates stress for individuals, yet resistance can also be hidden and complex. Individuals may describe themselves as supporting a change, yet they work against that change (even if they are unaware that they are doing so). When this is happening, competing commitments can be at play; a competing commitment is where an individual professes a commitment to a course of action yet works against that commitment in different, usual subconscious, ways. The competing commitments process is a means of identifying why resistance is occurring even though individuals profess support.
Researching IT Capabilities and Resources
Authors: Butler Tom , Murphy Ciaran
Published: May 2010

Recent studies have highlighted the utility of the resource-based view (RBV) in understanding the development and application of IT capabilities and resources in organisations. Nevertheless, IS research has inadvertently carried over several fundamental problems and weaknesses with the RBV from reference disciplines. This chapter proposes an integrative theory, model and research propositions that draws on dynamic capabilities theory from the resource-based view of the firm in institutional economics, and commitment theory in institutional sociology, to explain and understand the process by which IT capabilities and resources are developed and applied in organizations. In so doing, this study addresses the paucity of theory on the role of IT capabilities in building and leveraging firm-specific IT resources. The chapter also addresses the aforementioned problems and weaknesses to build a logically consistent and falsifiable theory, with relatively superior explanatory power, for application in both variance and process-based research, whether positivist or interpretivist in orientation.
Toward a Theory of IT-Enabled Customer Service Systems
Authors: Lui Tsz-Wai , Piccoli Gabriele
Published: May 2010

As the use of customer service as a tool to create customer value and differentiation continues to increase, the set of customer services that surround the product rather than the product alone will increasingly become a source of competitive advantage and one of the most critical core business processes. However, there is a lack of a strong conceptual foundation for a service economy and a lack of theoretical guidance for optimal customer service systems design. In this chapter, the authors review past research around information systems facilitating customer services and identify the technical and social attributes of IT-enabled customer service systems, as well as the functionalities of customer service systems enabled by these attributes. Moreover, given the key role of customers as co-producers of the customer service experience, the authors address the role of customers’ characteristics in IT-enabled customer service systems. Finally, they identify existing research gaps and call for future research in these areas.
Social Capital Theory
Authors: Ali-Hassan Hossam
Published: May 2010

Social capital represents resources or assets rooted in an individual’s or in a group’s network of social relations. It is a multidimensional and multilevel concept which has been characterized by a diversity of definitions and conceptualizations which focus on the structure and/or on the content of the social relations. A common conceptualization of social capital in information systems research consists of a structural, relational and cognitive dimension. The structural dimension represents the configuration of the social network and the characteristics of its ties. The relational dimension represents assets embedded in the social relations such as trust, obligations, and norms of reciprocity. The cognitive dimension represents a shared context which facilitates interactions and is created by shared codes, language and narratives. For a single or multiple members of a network, social capital can be a source of solidarity, information, cooperation, collaboration and influence. Social capital has been and remains a sound theory to study information systems in research areas affected by social relations and the assets embedded in them.
Cultural Historical Activity Theory
Authors: Igira Faraja Teddy , Gregory Judith
Published: May 2010

This chapter reviews the origins, approaches and roles associated with the use of cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) in information systems (IS) research. The literature is reviewed and examples are discussed from IS and related fields of human-computer interaction (HCI), computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) and computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL), to illustrate the power of CHAT in IS research as well as its link to appropriate research methods. After explicating the value of its use, the chapter concludes by discussing theoretical and methodological implications of applications of CHAT in examining real-world problems in IS research.
Holland's Vocational Theory and Personality Traits of Information Technology Professionals
Authors: Lounsbury John W. , Studham R. Scott , Steel Robert P. , Gibson Lucy W. , Drost Adam W.
Published: May 2010

Drawing on Holland’s (1985, 1996) vocational theory and based on a sample of 9,011 IT professionals, two research questions were investigated. On what personality traits do IT professionals differ from other occupations and which of these are also related to their career satisfaction? Five traits met both these criteria—Emotional Resilience, Openness, Tough-Mindedness, and Customer Service—for which IT professionals had higher scores, and conscientiousness, for which they had lower scores. IT career satisfaction was also positively related to E xtraversion, Agreeableness/Teamwork, Assertiveness, Optimism, Tough-Mindedness, Work Drive, and Visionary Style. Results are discussed in terms of the fit of these traits with IT work and the value of these insights for personnel-management functions like selection, training, professional development, and career planning.
Theory of Planned Behavior and Reasoned Action in Predicting Technology Adoption Behavior
Authors: Akhter Shareef Mahmud , Kumar Vinod , Kumar Uma , Akhter Hasin Ahsan
Published: May 2010

Research related to the impact of individual characteristics in their acceptance of online systems driven by information and communication technology (ICT) observed that dissimilarities among individuals influence their adoption and use of the systems. Thus, research streams investigating this issue generally follow the traditions of the theory of reasoned action (TRA) or the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Research reveals that individual characteristics, mediated by beliefs, affect attitudes, which affect intentions and behaviors. These two major behavioral theories related to technology acceptance and the intention to use technology might provide significant theoretical paradigms in understanding how online system adoption and diffusion, driven by information technology, can vary globally. In this study, the authors’ first objective is to understand TRA and TPB as they study ICT-based online adoption and diffusion globally. Then, based on that theoretical framework, their second objective focuses on developing a theory of ICT adoption and diffusion as an online behavior.
An Agent-Enabled Semantic Web Service Composition Framework
Authors: Kumar Sandeep , Kumar Kuldeep , Jain Ankita
Published: May 2010

A Semantic Web service composition system can be considered as a multi-agent system, in which each of the component service is considered as an agent capability. This chapter presents a multi-agent system based Semantic Web service composition approach. The proposed approach deals with some of the untouched issues and uses cognitive parameters and quality of service (QoS) parameters in service-provider selection. Education planning, a new application area for Semantic Web technology that involves planning the admission process for higher education courses has been introduced and the proposed approach and models are applied to it.
A Lifecycle Approach for Scenario Driven Decision Systems
Authors: Ahmed M. Daud , Sundaram David
Published: May 2010

The fundamental aim of this research is to design and develop a framework for Scenario-driven Decision Support Systems Generator (SDSSG). The focus of the framework is to align Decision Support Systems (DSS) with the scenario management process that supports usage of scenario as a core component of decision making. Though traditional DSS provide strong data management, modelling and visualisation capabilities for the decision maker, they do not explicitly support scenario management appropriately. Systems that purport to support scenario planning are complex and difficult to use and do not fully support all phases of scenario management. This research presents a life cycle approach for scenario management. The proposed process helps the decision maker with idea generation, scenario planning, development, organisation, analysis, execution, and the use of scenarios for decision making. This research introduces scenario as a DSS component and develops a domain independent, component-based, modular framework and architecture that supports the proposed scenario management process. The framework and architecture have been implemented and validated through a concrete prototype.
In Silico Biology
Authors: Perrin Dimitri , Ruskin Heather J. , Crane Martin
Published: May 2010

Biological systems are typically complex and adaptive, involving large numbers of entities, or organisms, and many-layered interactions between these. System behaviour evolves over time, and typically benefits from previous experience by retaining memory of previous events. Given the dynamic nature of these phenomena, it is non-trivial to provide a comprehensive description of complex adaptive systems and, in particular, to define the importance and contribution of low-level unsupervised interactions to the overall evolution process. In this chapter, the authors focus on the application of the agent-based paradigm in the context of the immune response to HIV. Explicit implementation of lymph nodes and the associated lymph network, including lymphatic chain structure, is a key objective, and requires parallelisation of the model. Steps taken towards an optimal communication strategy are detailed.
High Performance Computing in Biomedicine
Authors: Kyriazis Dimosthenis , Menychtas Andreas , Tserpes Konstantinos , Athanaileas Theodoros , Varvarigou Theodora
Published: May 2010

A constantly increasing number of applications from various scientific fields are finding their way towards adopting Grid technologies in order to take advantage of their capabilities: the advent of Grid environments made feasible the solution of computational intensive problems in a reliable and cost-effective way. This book chapter focuses on presenting and describing how high performance computing in general and specifically Grids can be applied in biomedicine. The latter poses a number of requirements, both computational and sharing / networking ones. In this context, we will describe in detail how Grid environments can fulfill the aforementioned requirements. Furthermore, this book chapter includes a set of cases and scenarios of biomedical applications in Grids, in order to highlight the added-value of the distributed computing in the specific domain.
Image Processing Tools for Biomedical Infrared Imaging
Authors: Schaefer Gerald , Merla Arcangelo
Published: May 2010

Medical infrared imaging captures the temperature distribution of the human skin and is employed in various medical applications. Unfortunately, many of the conventional and commercial suites for image processing provide only very basic tools for the processing of medical thermal images which represent a challenging combination of both functional and morpho-structural imaging. In this chapter, several more advanced approaches are discussed which in turn provide tremendous help to the clinician. As an example, it is often useful to cross-reference thermograms with visual images of the patient, either to see which part of the anatomy is affected by a certain disease or to judge the efficacy of the treatment. It is shown that image registration techniques can be effectively used to generate an overlay of visual and thermal images to provide a useful diagnostic visualisation. Image registration can also be performed based on two thermograms and a warping-based method for this is presented. Segmenting the background from the foreground (i.e., the patient) is a crucial task and it is highlighted how this can be accomplished. Finally, it is shown how descriptors, extracted from medical infrared images, can be usefully employed to search through a large database of cases as well as to aid in diagnosis.
Computer Aided Risk Estimation of Breast Cancer
Authors: Spyrou George M. , Ligomenides Panos A.
Published: May 2010

In this chapter the authors report about their experiences in designing, implementing, prototyping and evaluating a system for computer aided risk estimation of breast cancer. The strategy and architecture of “Hippocrates-mst” along with its functionalities are going to be presented. Also, the evaluation results in the clinical practice concerning the performance of “Hippocrates-mst” in the “Ippokrateio” University Hospital of Athens will be presented. The feedback from medical experts along with the new features of the system that are under development will be discussed.
Modelling and Simulation in Biomedical Research
Authors: Steinman Dolores A. , Steinman David A.
Published: May 2010

In the following chapter, the authors will discuss the development of medical imaging and, through specific case studies, its application in elucidating the role of fluid mechanical forces in cardiovascular disease development and therapy (namely the connection between flow patterns and circulatory system disease - atherosclerosis and aneurysms) by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The research carried in the Biomedical Simulation Laboratory can be described as a multi-step process through which, from the reality of the human body through the generation of a mathematical model that is then translated into a visual representation, a refined visual representation easily understandable and used in the clinic is generated. Thus, the authors’ daily research generates virtual representations of blood flow that can serve two purposes: a) that of a model for a phenomenon or disease or b) that of a model for an experiment (non-invasive way of determining the best treatment option).
Generational Learners & E-Learning Technologies
Authors: Zhang Ke , Bonk Curtis J.
Published: May 2010

This chapter reviews the characteristics of learners of different generations. In particular, it compares their differences in terms of learning preferences as well as their typical skills and attitudes towards technology in e-learning. In addition, it discusses the impacts of these shared and varied learner characteristics on e-learning and provides suggestions and recommendations on how to address generational learning diversity in e-learning design and delivery. In responding to the emerging learning technologies, this chapter specifically analyzes generational learners’ preferences and characteristics regarding learning technologies, and the practical implications for designers and educators working on e-learning for highly diversified audiences representing various generations.
Could Web 2.0 Technologies Support Knowledge Management in Organizations?
Authors: de Barros Campos Luiz Fernando
Published: May 2010

This chapter investigates whether information technology tools typical of Web 2.0 can support Knowledge Management (KM) practices in organizations. An investigation on the Web is conducted and the appropriate literature examined. The information technology tools employed in organizations nowadays are discussed with the help of three guidelines which each present two opposing ideas: knowledge creation versus knowledge sharing, tacit knowledge versus explicit knowledge and hierarchical KM versus organic KM. It is argued that these tools reveal an innate contradiction: they are based on a centralized conception and production but aim to deal with informal, fluid processes, which resist structuring. The term Enterprise 2.0 is defined and examined, since it brings out a critical view of traditional KM technology. In this context, the prevailing technologies on the Web are described as well as the associated use practices. The technologies and practices highlighted are those that enhance the collective creation of information and knowledge-intensive products and the active, rich user participation which influences the development of own technologies. Subsequently, many Web 2.0 tools and services that are, or could be, used in KM practices are described and the sites that provide them are indicated. It is noted that these new technologies are inducing cooperative and decentralized work processes that lead to emerging products of high quality and complexity. Furthermore, they are characterized by net effects, simplicity, ease of use, low cost and rastreability. Nevertheless, there are some difficulties in the application of Web 2.0 technologies, among them, the attainment of performance requisites, privacy and security, the possible emergence of counterproductive results and the need to motivate people to create content. The challenges and opportunities in the organizational use of Web 2.0 technologies are remarked. Finally, the managerial interventions appropriate to enable the success of KM projects based on Web 2.0 technologies are discussed.
The Impact of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to the Greek Educational Community
Authors: Mentzelou Paraskevi , Drogidis Dimitrios
Published: May 2010

The aims of Greek education system is to give to students the ability to develop the required skills, character and values that will enable them to contribute to the prosperity of Greek Society, Greek Nation and humanity. The fulfillments of these aims require a dynamic educational system with the potential of incessant adjustment emanated from the interaction between national education and societal needs and demands. Living in an information and knowledge society where quality is its goal, Greek education system has to be enriched with all the characteristics and means that specify educational quality. In a framework, where educational changes are unavoidable due to the entrance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and especially the use of World Wide Web in Greek education system, an effort to present the current impact to Greek Educational community is attempted.Specifically in this chapter there is a reference on ways, efforts, stages and methods that have been set for the application of ICT to Greek education system and presents effects, issues, trends and utilization of World Wide Web by the Greek educational community.
Faculty Use and Perceptions of Web 2.0 in Higher Education
Authors: Hartshorne Richard , Ajjan Haya , Ferdig Richard E.
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, the authors provide evidence for the potential of various Web 2.0 applications in higher education through a review of relevant literature on both emerging educational technologies and social networking. Additionally, the authors report the results and implications of a study exploring faculty awareness of the potential of Web 2.0 technologies (blogs, wikis, social bookmarks, social networks, instant messaging, internet telephony, and audio/video conferencing) to support and supplement classroom instruction in higher education. Also, using the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior as the theoretical foundation, the authors discuss factors that influence faculty decisions to adopt specific Web 2.0 technologies. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of the study and recommendations for future research.
Librarian as Collaborator
Authors: Markgren Susanne , Eastman Carrie , Bloom Leah Massar
Published: May 2010

In this chapter, the authors explore the role of academic librarians in the e-learning 2.0 environment. Librarians are excellent partners in developing e-learning 2.0 spaces with faculty, because they are already familiar with many web 2.0 technologies being used in these environments. The authors explore how libraries and librarians have traditionally served their patrons, and how the library is currently becoming a collaborative technology center serving increasingly tech-savvy students. With this in mind, the authors define e-learning 2.0 and examine the history behind the development of the concept. They also address the librarian’s role as it pertains to information literacy on campus and collaboration with faculty in order to facilitate the e-learning process. The chapter concludes with a focus on how librarians can help bring e-learning 2.0 into the classroom through faculty workshops, consultations, and embedding of librarians within classes.