bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pervasive Business Infrastructure
Authors: Godara Varuna
Published: May 2011

In a climate of concern in the United Kingdom about a perceived loss of interest in science among schoolchildren and the general public, we consider the relationships that exist between science education and public engagement in science, and “formal” and “informal” learning contexts. The authors move on to describe four case studies drawn from our research, where mobile technologies have been used in ubiquitous ICT based science-related learning activities. Three of these studies were of school based activities which took place in timetabled science lesson time. The fourth was set in Kew Gardens in London, during a holiday period, and involved leisure-time visitors of all ages. Finally, they describe a planned integrated trial, which will draw together “formal” and “informal” learners in environmental and scientific debate, scaffolding previous mobile learning experiences towards a genuinely multiplatform e-learning system.
Decision Analysis for Business to Adopt RFID
Authors: Lin Koong , Lin Chad , Leu Huei
Published: May 2011

The need for more and more flexibility (in terms of time and location) in business operations, context-based services, decentralization of business processes, and information processing and innovative services has introduced new ubiquitous environments, sensing technologies, and pervasive devices. This new category of devices, sensors, and ubiquitous environments, has the capabilities to observe the users all the time using sensors; provide timely information to service providers using communication channels; and offer accurate services to users anywhere and anytime through tiny mobile terminals. This chapter provides the users of the pervasive business technologies an overview of the basic infrastructure and protocols used to form these ubiquitous wireless environments and provide context-based comfort, while taking care of confidentiality, secrecy, integrity, and authenticity. Along with an introduction to the markup languages, protocols, and security threats, the chapter concludes with the discussion of a range of common biometric, cryptographic, and routing solutions. The spending for RFID (radio frequency identification) has been increasing rapidly in recent years. According to Gartner, global spending on RFID is likely to reach US$3 billion by 2010 (CNET, 2005). In addition, interests continue to grow for the adoption of this mobile computing and commerce device in many different types of applications (ABI, 2006). In 2005, Wal-Mart asked its top 100 suppliers to use RFID tags, and this had a profound effect on the projected growth of RFID technology as well as potential applications in the industrial, defense, and retails sectors (Albertsons, 2004). However, very few studies have examined and evaluated the adoption of RFID options by the organizations. Organizations face various risks and uncertainties when assessing the adopted mobile technologies. Different organizations are likely to encounter different challenges and problems. This research aims to develop a mechanism that can help organizations to specify their risks and choose a suitable adoption alternative. This research has adopted the AHP (analytic hierarchy process) methodology to analyze the data, as it is useful for analyzing different RFID adoption alternatives and can assist organizations in predicting the possible issues and challenges when adopting RFID. The objectives of this article are to: (1) describe basic components of a mobile computing and commerce device, RFID; and (2) explore the current practices, issues, and applications in this mobile technology.
Privacy Factors for Successful Ubiquitous Computing
Authors: Little Linda , Briggs Pam
Published: May 2011

Certain privacy principles have been established by industry, (e.g. USCAM, 2006). Over the past two years, we have been trying to understand whether such principles reflect the concerns of the ordinary citizen. We have developed a method of enquiry which displays a rich context to the user in order to elicit more detailed information about those privacy factors that underpin our acceptance of ubiquitous computing. To investigate use and acceptance Videotaped Activity Scenarios specifically related to the exchange of health, financial, shopping and e-voting information and a large scale survey were used. We present a detailed analysis of user concerns firstly in terms of a set of constructs that might reflect user-generated privacy principles; secondly those factors likely to play a key role in an individual’s cost-benefit analysis and thirdly, longer-term concerns of the citizen in terms of the impact of new technologies on social engagement and human values.
Access Control in Mobile and Ubiquitous Environments
Authors: Gomez Laurent , Laube Annett , Sorniotti Alessandro
Published: May 2011

Access control is the process of granting permissions in accordance to an authorization policy. Mobile and ubiquitous environments challenge classical access control solutions like Role-Based Access Control. The use of context-information during policy definition and access control enforcement offers more adaptability and flexibility needed for these environments. When it comes to low-power devices, such as wireless sensor networks, access control enforcement is normally too heavy for such resource-constrained devices. Lightweight cryptography allows encrypting the data right from its production and the access is therefore intrinsically restricted. In addition, all access control mechanisms require an authenticated user. Traditionally, user authentication is performed by means of a combination of authentication factors, statically specified in the access control policy of the authorization service. Within ubiquitous and mobile environment, there is a clear need for a flexible user authentication using the available authentication factors. In this chapter, different new techniques to ensure access control are discussed and compared to the state-of-the-art.
Adaptive Resource and Service Management in a Mobile-Enabled Environment
Authors: Raibulet Claudia
Published: May 2011

Due to its nature, a mobile-enabled environment is very dynamic: reachable resources and services change very often. Users hardly know which resources they can exploit and which services they may require. In such a context, a technical support which identifies the available resources and services and indicates which resource is the best one to execute a service would be very helpful. This chapter proposes an adaptive solution to achieve these issues. Adaptivity is related to the fact that besides searching for the reachable resources or services, this approach proposes the most appropriate one for the current request by exploiting additional information about users, resources and services. Moreover, it ensures that services are delivered with the qualities requested and expected by the users. In the scientific literature adaptivity is exploited for functionality reasons (i.e., a system is not able to do what it was supposed to do) or for performance reasons (i.e.,a system is not able to ensure the qualities of the services expected by the users or there is a better configuration for a given task). A challenging issue of adaptivity is the identification and design of the knowledge useful for the adaptation process and how this knowledge is exploited at run-time especially in a highly dynamic environment. This chapter proposes an approach which models the adaptation knowledge through reflective entities, qualities and properties, the management of the adaptation knowledge through views, the decision support through strategies, and the management of the functional and non-functional elements through managers.
Planning for Knowledge Cities in Ubiquitous Technology Spaces
Authors: Kim Tschangho John
Published: May 2011

Ubiquitous cities, or U-cities, are defined as places where public and private services can be delivered and received anywhere and at anytime. The goal of this chapter is to identify the challenges and opportunities that arise in the development of strategic plans and policies that address the problems associated with rapid global urban population growth. This chapter focuses on the potential of recently developed information and communication technologies and on the utilization of these technologies in conjunction with emerging pervasive ubiquitous geographic information techniques. It also discusses the challenges existing titles face in striving for intelligent and sustainable development as they move toward becoming ubiquitous cities.
Building the IT Workforce of the Future
Authors: Armstrong Deborah J. , Nelson H. James , Nelson Kay M. , Narayanan V. K.
Published: May 2011

The software development process has undergone a considerable amount of change from the early days of spaghetti code to the present state of the art of development using strategic patterns. This has caused not only changes in the toolkits that developers use, but also a change in their mindset—the way that they approach and think about software development. This study uses revealed causal mapping techniques to examine the change in mindset that occurs across the procedural to OO development transition, and lays the foundation for future studies of the OO/ pattern cognitive transition. The results indicate that there is not only increasing complexity in the cognitive maps of the OO developers, but also that there is a need for the developer to shift from routine, assembly line coding to more abstract thought processes.
Business Models for M-Services
Authors: Eriksson Carina Ihlström , Kalling Thomas , Åkesson Maria , Fredberg Tobias
Published: May 2011

This article presents the consumer view of an innovative m-service, that is, the e-newspaper, which is published for a mobile reading device equipped with an e-paper display. The research question of this article is: What are the implications of the consumer view of future m-service innovation on business models? In this article, we present empirical results from an online survey with 3,626 respondents representing the consumer view. The factor analysis revealed three aspects of consumer preferences, that is, Ubiquitous access, Prestige of news source and Local anchorage and advertising. These were then correlated with media behavior and e-newspaper preferences to indicate three possible market segments. We then discuss the implications that these consumer views could have on developing new business models, followed by a comparison to earlier research. Finally, we propose an integrated e-newspaper business model framework consisting of three models, ubiquitous, local, and prestige.
Crisis Compliance
Authors: Lally Laura
Published: May 2011

This article develops the concept of crisis compliance (CC)—defined as making appropriate use of IT, and non-IT methodologies to predict, prevent, and prevail over disasters. CC emerges from Lally’s Target Shield and Weapon Model, which is grounded in the theories of crisis management, normal accident theory, and high reliability organizations. CC is then applied to a case study involving Hurricane Katrina, with examples drawn from other recent disasters. Emerging IT-based crisis management initiatives will be examined with an emphasis on how the impacts of Hurricane Katrina could have been mitigated. Recommendations for predicting, preventing, and prevailing over future disasters will emerge from the analysis.
Analysis and Modelling of Hierarchical Fuzzy Logic Systems
Authors: Mohammadian Masoud
Published: May 2011

In this article the design and development of a hierarchical fuzzy logic system is investigated. A new method using an evolutionary algorithm for design of hierarchical fuzzy logic system for prediction and modelling of interest rates in Australia is developed. The hierarchical system is developed to model and predict three months (quarterly) interest rate fluctuations. This research study is unique in the way proposed method is applied to design and development of fuzzy logic systems. The new method proposed determines the number of layer for hierarchical fuzzy logic system. The advantages and disadvantages of using fuzzy logic systems for financial modelling is also considered. Conclusions on the accuracy of prediction using hierarchical fuzzy logic systems compared to a back-propagation neural network system and a hierarchical neural network are reported.
A New Approach for Building a Scalable and Adaptive Vertical Search Engine
Authors: Ali H. Arafat , El Desouky Ali I. , Saleh Ahmed I.
Published: May 2011

Search engines are the most important search tools for finding useful and recent information on the Web today. They rely on crawlers that continually crawl the Web for new pages. Meanwhile, focused crawlers have become an attractive area for research in recent years. They suggest a better solution for general-purpose search engine limitations and lead to a new generation of search engines called vertical-search engines. Searching the Web vertically is to divide the Web into smaller regions; each region is related to a specific domain. In addition, one crawler is allowed to search in each domain. The innovation of this article is adding intelligence and adaptation ability to focused crawlers. Such added features will certainly guide the crawler perfectly to retrieve more relevant pages while crawling the Web. The proposed crawler has the ability to estimate the rank of the page before visiting it and adapts itself to any changes in its domain using.
The Factors Influence Suppliers Satisfaction of Green Supply Chain Management Systems in Taiwan
Authors: Ko Hsiu-Chia , Tseng Fan-Chuan , Yin Chun-Po , Huang Li-Chun
Published: May 2011

This study investigated user satisfaction when a new interorganizational information system (green supply chain management system; GSCMS) was introduced to a supplier by a leader in the Taiwan electronic industry. GSCMS providers, according to the requirements of the supplier network leader, trained the representatives of suppliers. All suppliers of two sample vendors (manufacturers of electronic products) were surveyed. Five putative influencing factors were considered: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, training, computer anxiety, and computer self-efficacy. We find four factors significantly affect user satisfaction. The results show that the training provided by focal vendors will influence the satisfaction of users. Next, the anxiety and uncertainty experienced by users decreases when they acquire more knowledge about the operation of the new GSCMS. Finally, user satisfaction can be increased by designing the functions and interfaces of a GSCMS in accordance with the user perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, moreover, implications and suggestions are also discussed.
Strategic Management of International Subcontracting
Authors: Wang Yue
Published: May 2011

Research on international subcontracting has been policy-oriented and industry-focused. There is a lack of understanding of the phenomenon from strategic management and international business perspectives. This article conceptualizes international subcontracting as a type of relational contract formed by buyers and suppliers from different countries, aiming to facilitate the sourcing of products or components with buyer-specific requirements. It builds a transaction cost model for studying the strategic choice of international subcontracting as an intermediate governance structure, sitting between arm’s length outsourcing arrangement and vertically integrated multinational enterprises (MNEs). A set of propositions are developed to aid future empirical research and to provide managers with some guidelines for organizing supply chain across borders. The model also allows managers to examine the complex nature of a range of subcontracting relationships and identify the specific mechanisms that can be used to preserve and manage the dyadic principal-subcontractor exchanges.
Web Site Localization Practices
Authors: Singh Nitish , Spillan John E. , Little Joseph P.
Published: May 2011

The e-commerce industry has experienced spectacular growth, change and development. This situation has initiated an enormous business revolution that has affected the process of globalization tremendously. The goal of this study was to analyze the Web sites of localization companies that provide localization and translation services to other companies and see if they themselves are practicing what they are preaching. The results suggest that localization companies are indeed not practicing what they are preaching. Analysis shows that localization company Web sites are less localized than the Web sites of their clients, the multinational companies. The findings provide some implications to domestic and international marketers who currently operate in or are planning to enter into the global markets in the near future.
Perceptions of Mobile Device Website Design
Authors: Cyr Dianne , Head Milena , Ivanov Alex
Published: May 2011

Anytime anywhere services offered through mobile commerce hold great potential to serve customers in wireless environments. However, there is limited understanding of how mobile Web site design is perceived by diverse users. This chapter explores how users who differ by culture, age, and gender perceive the design of a mobile device and their subsequent level of satisfaction with the device. Sixty subjects were tested in a controlled laboratory experiment on an Internet enabled phone. The results of a quantitative analysis were statistically inconclusive in terms of cultural and gender differences, but significant differences were found between older and younger users. However, an in-depth qualitative analysis of interview transcripts revealed some interesting differences among cultural, gender and age groups. Consistent with findings in the stationary Internet domain, design elements were found to impact satisfaction with mobile services.
Focused Requirements Engineering Method for Web Application Development
Authors: Abu-Samaha Ala M. , Al-Salem Lana S.
Published: May 2011

The requirements phase of the system/application development process typically involves the activities of requirements elicitation, analysis, validation, and specification. The main goal of such a process is “to develop a requirements specification document which defines the system to be procured and which can act as a basis for the system design” (Sawyer, Sommerville, & Viller, 1996). Hence the underpinning assumption of the requirements engineering (RE) process is to transform the operational needs of an organisation into complete, consistent, and unambiguous system/application specifications through an iterative process of definition and validation (Pohl, 1994).
A Logic Programming Based Framework for Intelligent Web Service Composition
Authors: Pontelli Enrico , Son Tran Cao , Baral Chitta
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents a comprehensive logic programming framework designed to support intelligent composition of Web services. The underlying model relies on the modeling of Web services as actions, each described by a logic programming theory. This view allows the use of logic-based planning to address the Web service composition problem, taking advantage of the fact that logic-based planning enables the elegant introduction of a number of extensions and generalizations (e.g., dealing with incomplete knowledge and preferences). The theory describing each Web service is encoded as a logic programming module, and different semantics are allowed within different modules, thus better reflecting the practical use of different service description formalisms and ontologies.
WebSphere Portal 6.1
Authors: Stober Thomas , Hansmann Uwe
Published: May 2011

IBM’s Portal technology continues to evolve as a powerful infrastructure for integrating the IT landscape, by presenting it as a consolidated view to the user community. The new capabilities of WebSphere Portal 6.1 are the outcome of a world-wide development team, which focused on this release for the past 2 years. During that time major architectural enhancements have been introduced and a significant amount of code was written. In this article the authors will describe how developers and testers have adopted agile principles to collaborate across the globe. In detail, aspects like an iterative approach, test driven development, budget based prioritization and cross-organization teaming will be discussed. The authors will also cover how “tiger teams” interact with customers by making early code drops available and responding to feedback.
New Paradigms
Authors: Holewa Hamish
Published: May 2011

The chapter aims to document the challenges associated with the management of an international research program and to look at innovative, information technology (IT) based ways of tackling these. Through the medium of a case study, insights gained from practical experience developing and implementing an original Web based collaborative research management tool are discussed. This tool is based on a centralised model of information distribution and access. It was designed following a reductionist analysis of existing research processes and procedures. The ways in which the integration of responsive IT processes into the management of a large international research program have removed redundancies and increased automation and research efficiency are also discussed.
Architecture of the Organic.Edunet Web Portal
Authors: Manouselis Nikos , Kastrantas Kostas , Sanchez-Alonso Salvador , Cáceres Jesús , Ebner Hannes
Published: May 2011

The use of Semantic Web technologies in educational Web portals has been reported to facilitate users’ search, access, and retrieval of learning resources. To achieve this, a number of different architectural components and services need to be harmonically combined and implemented. This article presents how this issue is dealt with in the context of a large-scale case study. More specifically, it describes the architecture behind the Organic.Edunet Web portal that aims to provide access to a federation of repositories with learning resources on agricultural topics. The various components of the architecture are presented and the supporting technologies are explained. In addition, the article focuses on how Semantic Web technologies are being adopted, specialized, and put in practice in order to facilitate ontology-aided sharing and reusing of learning resources.
The Role of Web Services
Authors: Ratnasingam Pauline
Published: May 2011

This chapter aims to examine the extent of Web services usage and quality, applying the balanced scorecard methodology in a small business firm as an exploratory case study. This chapter contributes to guidelines and lessons learned that will inform, educate, and promote small businesses on the importance of maintaining the quality of Web services.
Applying Semantic Web Technologies to Car Repairs
Authors: Bryan Martin , Cousins Jay
Published: May 2011

Vehicle repair organizations, especially those involved in providing roadside assistance, have to be able to handle a wide range of vehicles produced by different manufacturers. Each manufacturer has its own vocabulary for describing components, faults, symptoms, etc, which is maintained in multiple languages. To search online resources to find repair information on vehicles anywhere within the European Single Market, the vocabularies used to describe different makes and models of vehicles need to be integrated. The European Commission MYCAREVENT research project brought together European vehicle manufacturers, vehicle repair organisations, diagnostic tool manufacturers and IT specialists, including Semantic Web technologists, to study how to link together the wide range of information sets they use to identify faults and repair vehicles. MYCAREVENT has shown that information sets can be integrated and accessed through a service portal by using an integrated vocabulary. The integrated vocabulary provides a ‘shared language’ for the project, a reference terminology to which the disparate terminologies of organisations participating in the project can be mapped. This lingua franca facilitates a single point of access to disparate sets of information.
Semantic Web for Media Convergence
Authors: Perdrix Ferran , Gimeno Juan Manuel , Gil Rosa , Oliva Marta , García Roberto
Published: May 2011

Newspapers in the digitalisation and Internet era are evolving from mono-channel and static communication mediums to highly dynamic and multi-channel ones, where the different channels converge into a unified news editorial office. Advanced computerised support is needed in order to cope with the requirements arising from convergent multimedia news management, production and delivery. Such advanced services require machines to be aware of a greater part of the underlying semantics. Ontologies are a clear candidate to put this semantics into play, and Semantic Web technologies the best choice for Web-wide information integration. However, newspapers have made great investments in their current news management systems so a smooth transition is required in order to reduce implementation costs. Our proposal is to build an ontological framework based on existing journalism and multimedia standards and to translate existing metadata to the Semantic Web. Once in a semantic space, data integration and news management and retrieval are facilitated enormously. For instance, Semantic Web tools are being developed in the context of a media house that are capable of dealing with the different kinds of media managed in the media house in an integrated and transparent way.
Successful Web-Based IT Support Services
Authors: Cooper Vanessa , Lichtenstein Sharman , Smith Ross
Published: May 2011

Web-based self-service systems (WSSs) are increasingly leveraged for the delivery of after-sales information technology (IT) support services. Such services are offered by IT service providers to customer firms and increasingly involve business partners. However little is known of the challenges faced by IT service providers as a result of the involvement of the other firms and their employees (end-users). This paper reports related findings from an interpretive study of IT service provider perceptions in six multinational IT service provider firms (Cooper, 2007). The findings highlight that, for IT service providers, (1) it is important to consider and resolve the needs and concerns of other key stakeholders, and (2) significant challenges exist in doing so. The main contribution of the paper is the identification of the key challenges involved. Important implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Swift Trust in Web Vendors
Authors: Li Xin , Rong Guang , Thatcher Jason B.
Published: May 2011

With the growth of product search engines such as pricegrabber.com, Web vendors have many more casual visitors. This research examines how Web vendors may foster “swift trust” as a means to convert casual visitors to paying customers. We examine whether perceptions of Web sites’ appearance features (normality, social presence and third-party links) and functionality features (security, privacy, effort expectancy and performance expectancy) positively relate to swift trust in a Web vendor. Using a quasi-experimental research design, we empirically test the proposed relationships. Based on an analysis of 224 respondents, we found appearance and functionality features explained 61% of the variance in swift trust. The article concludes with a discussion of findings and implications.
Hypertinence, Serendipity or Elicitation of Passion for Knowledge? Some Critical Elements of Online Learning by Using Web 2.0 Resources
Authors: Marchi Simona
Published: May 2011

Learning processes depend on the socio-technical and regulatory contexts in which professional practices and daily usage take place. These processes develop out of and through various systems of activities, consisting of subjects, artefacts, rules, knowledge, and roles. What happens when the rules governing these systems, the roles, artefacts and knowledge change? For instance, what happens to learning processes when the settings in which practices take place are virtual, when they occur, say, in a blog, or in a community, or on a social networking platform? In this chapter the author intends to examine in detail the specific features of learning processes taking place in these new online environments.
Employee Life-Cycle Process Management Improvement with Web-Enabled Workflow Systems
Authors: Welicki Leon , Juan Javier Piqueres , Martin Fernando Llorente , de Vega Hernandez Victor
Published: May 2011

Employee life-cycle processes management (hiring new employees, changing their conditions, and dismissing them) is a critical task that has a big impact in HR Information Systems. If these processes are not handled correctly the consistency of HR databases is compromised. In many cases (especially in small and mid-size business) these processes are implemented using semi-manual procedures based on unstructured information. In this chapter the authors will present the results of our real-world experience building a Web-enabled workflow system for managing employee lifecycle process instances in the context big Spanish telecommunications company.
Some Key Success Factors in Web-Based Corporate Training in Brazil
Authors: Joia Luiz Antonio , Costa Mário Figueiredo
Published: May 2011

Brazilian companies are increasingly turning to Web-based corporate training by virtue of the fact that they need to train their employees within tight budget constraints in a country of continental dimensions. However, most of these companies do not know what the critical success factors in these endeavors are. Therefore, this article seeks to investigate some key success factors associated with such digital enterprises. In order to achieve this, the multiple case study method is used, whereby two cases, both conducted within the same Brazilian company, leading to opposite outcomes—a success and a failure—are analyzed in depth. The conclusions reached in this article were that goal orientation, source of motivation, and metacognitive support were the three critical dimensions in these two Web-based corporate training programs under analysis. Lastly, some managerial implications of these results are outlined.
Uncertainty Representation and Reasoning in the Semantic Web
Authors: Costa Paulo Cesar G. , Laskey Kathryn Blackmond , Lukasiewicz Thomas
Published: May 2011

This chapter is about uncertainty representation and reasoning for the Semantic Web (SW). We address the importance, key issues, state-of-the-art approaches, and current efforts of both the academic and business communities in their search for a practical, standard way of representing and reasoning with incomplete information in the Semantic Web. The focus is on why uncertainty representation and reasoning are necessary, its importance to the SW vision, and the major issues and obstacles to addressing uncertainty in a principled and standardized way. Although some would argue that uncertainty belongs in the “rule layer” of the SW, we concentrate especially on uncertain extensions of ontology languages for the Semantic Web.
Management of Medical Website Quality Labels via Web Mining
Authors: Karkaletsis Vangelis , Stamatakis Konstantinos , Karampiperis Pythagoras , Labský Martin
Published: May 2011

The World Wide Web is an important channel of information exchange in many domains, including the medical one. The ever increasing amount of freely available healthcare-related information generates, on the one hand, excellent conditions for self-education of patients as well as physicians, but on the other hand, entails substantial risks if such information is trusted irrespective of low competence or even bad intentions of its authors. This is why medical Web site certification, also called quality labeling, by renowned authorities is of high importance. In this respect, it recently became obvious that the labelling process could benefit from employment of Web mining and information extraction techniques, in combination with flexible methods of Web-based information management developed within the Semantic Web initiative. Achieving such synergy is the central issue in the MedIEQ project. The AQUA (Assisting Quality Assessment) system, developed within the MedIEQ project, aims to provide the infrastructure and the means to organize and support various aspects of the daily work of labelling experts.
Search Engine-Based Web Information Extraction
Authors: Geleijnse Gijs , Korst Jan
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we discuss approaches to find, extract, and structure information from natural language texts on the Web. Such structured information can be expressed and shared using the standard Semantic Web languages and hence be machine interpreted. In this chapter we focus on two tasks in Web information extraction. The first part focuses on mining facts from the Web, while in the second part, we present an approach to collect community-based meta-data. A search engine is used to retrieve potentially relevant texts. From these texts, instances and relations are extracted. The proposed approaches are illustrated using various case-studies, showing that we can reliably extract information from the Web using simple techniques.
On the Use of Web Services in Content Adaptation
Authors: El-Khatib Khalil , Bochmann Gregor V. , El Saddik Abdulmotaleb
Published: May 2011

The tremendous growth of the Internet has introduced a number of interoperability problems for distributed multimedia applications. These problems are related to the heterogeneity of client devices, network connectivity, content formats, and user’s preferences. The challenge is even bigger for multimedia content providers who are faced with the dilemma of finding the combination of different variants of a content to create, store, and send to their subscribers that maximize their satisfaction and hence entice them to come back. In this chapter, the authors will present a framework for trans-coding multimedia streams using an orchestration of Webservices. The framework takes into consideration the profile of communicating devices, network connectivity, exchanged content formats, context description, users’ preferences, and available adaptation services to find a chain of adaptation services that should be applied to the content to make it more satisfactory to clients. The framework was implemented as a core component for an architecture that supports personal and service mobility.
A New System for the Integration of Medical Imaging Processing Algorithms into a Web Environment
Authors: Seoane Fernández José Antonio , Pérez Ordóñez Juan Luis , Blanco Noha Veiguela , Novóa de Manuel Francisco Javier , de la Calle Julián Dorado
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents an architecture for the integration of various algorithms for digital image processing (DIP) into web-based information systems. The proposed environment provides the development of tools for intensive image processing and their integration into information systems by means of JAVA applets. The functionality of the system is shown through a set of tools for biomedical application. The main feature of this architecture is that it allows the application of various types of image processing, with different computational costs, through a web browser and in a transparent and user-friendly way.
Making the Web Accessible to the Visually Impaired
Authors: Ferreira Simone Bacellar Leal , da Silveira Denis Silva , do Amaral Leal Ferreira Marcos Gurgel , Nunes Ricardo Rodrigues
Published: May 2011

Accessibility is the possibility of any person to make use of all the benefits of society, including the Internet. As the interfaces are typically graphic, sites can be an obstacle for visually impaired persons to access. For a site to be accessible to blind persons it’s necessary the information contained in the visual resources be reproduced by means of an “equivalent” textual description, capable of transmitting the same information as the visual resources. This study is aimed at identifying and defining usability guidance compliant with accessibility W3C directives that can facilitate the interaction between visually impaired and Internet and still guarantee sites with understandable navigation content. Towards this end an exploratory study was conducted, comprised of a field study and interviews with visually disabled people from Instituto Benjamin Constant, reference center in Brazil for the education of visually impaired persons, in order to get to know these users better.
The Interactive Computing of Web Knowledge Flow
Authors: Luo Xiangfeng , Yu Jie
Published: May 2011

Web Knowledge Flow provides a technique and theoretical support for the effective discovery of knowledge innovation, intelligent browsing, personalized recommendation, cooperative team work, and the semantic analysis of resources on Internet, which is a key issue of Web services and Knowledge Grid/Web(Zhuge, 2007; Zhuge, 2005). In this chapter, first the authors introduce some basic concepts related to Web Knowledge Flow. Next they illustrate the concepts of interactive computing, including the Web interaction model, the implementation of interactive computing and the generation of Web Knowledge Flow. Finally, the applications of Web Knowledge Flow will be given.
Cyber-Identities and Social Life in Cyberspace
Authors: Berki Eleni , Jäkälä Mikko
Published: May 2011

Information and communication technology gradually transform virtual communities to active meeting places for sharing information and for supporting human actions, feelings and needs. In this chapter the authors examine the conceptual definition of virtual community as found in the traditional cyberliterature and extend it to accommodate latest cybertrends. Similar to the ways that previous social and mass media dissolved social boundaries related to time and space, cyber-communities and social software seem to also dissolve the boundaries of identity. This, in turn, questions the trust, privacy and confidentiality of interaction. The authors present a way of classifying and viewing self-presentation regarding cyber-identity management in virtual communities. It is based on the characteristics that cyber-surfers prefer to attribute to themselves and accordingly present themselves to others. In so doing, the authors coin the terms for five distinct phenomena, namely nonymity, anonymity, eponymity, pseudonymity and polynymity. They subsequently compare and contrast these terms, summarising information from their investigation, and outlining emerging questions and issues for a future research agenda.
Establishing the Credibility of Social Web Applications
Authors: Kamthan Pankaj
Published: May 2011

In recent years, there has been a steady shift in the nature of Web applications. The vehicle of this transition of Web applications is us, the people. The ability to post photographs or videos, exchange music snippets with peers, and annotate a piece of information, are but a few exemplars of this phenomenon. Indeed, the pseudonym Web 2.0 (O’Reilly, 2005) has been used to describe the apparent “socialization” of the Web. In spite of the significant prospects offered by human-centric Web applications, the mere fact that virtually anyone can set up such applications claiming to sell products and services or upload/ post unscrutinized information on a topic as being “definitive,” raises the issues of credibility from a consumers’ viewpoint. Therefore, establishing credibility is essential for an organization’s reputation and for building consumers’ trust. The rest of the article is organized as follows. We first provide the background necessary for later discussion. This is followed by the introduction of a framework within which different types of credibility in the context of human-centric Web applications can be systematically addressed and thereby improved. Next, challenges and directions for future research are outlined. Finally, concluding remarks are given.
Reconceptualising Information Literacy for the Web 2.0 Environment?
Authors: Markless Sharon , Streatfield David
Published: May 2011

This chapter questions whether the shift from the Web as a vehicle for storing and transmitting information to the new Web as a series of social networking environments, requires significant changes in how students interact with information when they are studying within a formal learning environment. It explores the origins and growth of the idea of information skills development, the translation of this work into frameworks and sequential models and the adaptation of these models to take account of changes in information storage and transmission brought about by the Internet. The chapter then examines the changing contexts and changes in learning being brought about by the Web 2.0 environment and questions whether adjustment of existing information literacy models is a sufficient response to deal with these changes. We conclude that although Web 2.0 developments are not fundamentally undermining the nature of teaching and learning they do provide important possibilities for more effective information literacy development work. A non-sequential framework is offered as a contribution to supporting HE students when seeking to obtain, store and exploit information simultaneously in the informal social world of Web 2.0 and in their formal academic discipline.
Teens and Social Networking Services
Authors: Mori Maryann
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides an overview of the ways teens interact with social networking services. It acknowledges that teens are active users of social networking sites, and the implications of this usage affect and/or cross social, moral, educational and political lines. By reviewing current trends and statistics from various authors and sources, this chapter provides background information to understanding the growth and importance of online social networking among the Internet generation. Topics include demographics, ramifications on social behavior, adults’ concerns, policies designed to restrict teens’ Internet access, educational benefits and future directions of teens’ use of social networking services. Realizing the importance and influence of online social networks among teens should provide readers with a better understanding of how these sites can not only be used for educational and marketing purposes, but also be integrated within work environments.
Social Networking and Personal Learning Environment
Authors: Fini Antonio
Published: May 2011

In social studies a social network is the set of relations that links people, through their interactions and familiarity of various kind. Today, however, social networking indicates a growing phenomenon, characterised by Web technologies that create and keep together groups of people on the basis of common interests. These tools (social software technologies) include for instance: blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, social bookmarking, and offer new opportunities to promote collaboration, to assist conversations, to help in the sharing of knowledge, in work and learning contexts, both formal and informal. Although some of these tools are often used in LMSs, the main idea of this new approach is to consider the advantages coming from general purpose tools, widely available on the net, and characterised by an intrinsic vitality and spontaneity. In this context, also linked to a growing criticism of the current e-learning model, based on the extensive use of VLEs (virtual learning environments), new proposals oriented towards the definition of new models of Web spaces for personal learning (personal learning environment or virtual learning landscape) are being put forward. In these new systems the individual has a central place, in a network of resources and of social and friendly interactions that offer support on the emotional as well as on the cognitive level.
Mobile Social Networks
Authors: Ziv Nina D.
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses how virtual social networks have evolved from their original purpose of being online meeting places where people interact with one another to becoming an important locus for innovation. It delineates the salient characteristics of these networks (both Web-based and mobile) and suggests that the advent of these networks has shifted the balance of value creation away from traditional companies and towards the creation of companies which provide technology platforms and services for user-centric innovation. The chapter discusses how users on these virtual networks have become important sources of innovation in a variety of ways: they develop content which they share with others and participate in virtual community centers; they interact with companies who are developing products and provide valuable feedback; and they are the impetus for the creation of new kinds of marketing tools as businesses try to tap into these virtual networks in order to better understand what products will sell to these users. In addition, the chapter discusses the implications of these developments for managers, especially those in content-intensive industries such as financial services and media. Examples will be given to support these ideas from case studies on Upoc, a New York City-based mobile services company which hosts social networks for a wide variety of users; Dodgeball, another New York City-based company (recently acquired by Google) which is one of the pioneers in the mobile social networking arena; and Tapuz Mobile, an Israeli-based social network.
Mobile Social Web
Authors: Caus Thorsten , Christmann Stefan , Hagenhoff Svenja
Published: May 2011

As mobile Internet usage continues to grow, the phenomenon of accessing online communities through mobile devices draws researchers’ attention. Statistics show that close to 60 percent of all mobile Internet traffic worldwide is related to the use of mobile social networks. In this chapter, the mobile social Web is defined, categories of mobile communities explained, and success factors and drawbacks discussed from the technical, social, and economic perspectives. Challenges, including low transmission rates, changes in usage patterns, search for new revenue sources, as well as the need for development of original mobile Web content and applications are addressed. The technical requirements for the mobile use of online communities are identified. The chapter closes with a summary of potential economic and social prospects of the emerging mobile social Web.
Living, Working, Teaching and Learning by Social Software
Authors: Keegan Helen , Lisewski Bernard
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores emergent behaviours in the use of social software across multiple online communities of practice where informal learning occurs beyond traditional higher education (HE) institutional boundaries. Employing a combination of research literature, personal experience and direct observation, the authors investigate the blurring of boundaries between work/home/play as a result of increased connectivity and hyper availability in the “information age”. Exploring the potentially disruptive nature of new media, social software and social networking practices, the authors ask what coping strategies are employed by the individual as their online social networks and learning communities increase in number and density? What are the implications for the identity and role of the tutor in online HE learning environments characterised by multiple platforms and fora? The authors conclude by posing a series of challenges for the HE sector and its participants in engaging with social software and social networking technologies.