bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Online Life and Online Bodies
Authors: Marshall Jonathan
Published: May 2011

Bodies are often claimed to be irrelevant to online activity. Online space, or activity, is frequently described as if disembodied, and often this absence of visible bodies is said to contribute to freedom from social pressures around gender, race, and body type (Reid, 1996). However, without bodies, people could not access the Internet, and online there are continual references, directly and indirectly, to bodies, so the term disembodied references a particular type of “ghost” body. Therefore, rather than accepting ideas that naturalise dislocating life online from bodies, it is necessary to explore the situations in which this occurs. Another commonly used body metaphor is the cyborg: the melding of human with machine. In both cases, the body is usually taken as underlying what is happening and as a referent for authenticity.
Race and the IT Workforce
Authors: Yakura Elaine K.
Published: May 2011

As the existence of the present volume attests, gender is crucial in understanding the IT workforce. To stop there, however, would be to miss many other aspects of identity that influence issues of satisfaction, recruitment, retention and attrition in IT organizations.1 In this article, I will focus on race2—one of the most salient identity characteristics for today’s workforce. The goal is to summarize some of the research approaches from sociology, psychology, and management that have furthered our understanding of race. These perspectives are presented as possibilities for extending the repertoire of strategies for enriching our research on IT women, especially women of color.
Teaching Gender Inclusive Computer Ethics
Authors: Turner Eva
Published: May 2011

Computer ethics as a subject area is finally being debated in wider computer science and information technology academic circles. In most computer science departments the syllabus is based on publications often written specifically to deliver courses. These texts select and prioritize those computer ethics topics seen by the professional bodies as the most important for a computer professional. Much rarer are courses which analyse questions of access and social exclusion, disability, global and green issues. What has not yet been included in any systematic or conscientious way in the computer ethics syllabi are the questions of gender and associated ethical issues. Most students and staff are still not aware that all computing and ICT related areas are innately gendered and that a cohesive body of research material is available in the form of feminist or gender research in conference papers, proceedings and book publications. This article analyses the progress of inclusion of gender in computer ethics and argues that the inclusion of gender issues in computer science curriculum must be accommodated. The article outlines how gender issues can be applied to individual computing disciplines in appropriate forms relevant across the spectrum of students.
Theorizing Masclinity in Information Systems Research
Authors: Light Ben
Published: May 2011

I want to argue that understanding masculinity is an important part of understanding gender and sexuality as it relates to information and communications technologies (ICTs), specifically those under the lens of the information-systems community. In order to do this, the landscape of gender and sexuality research in general is referred to along with such research in the field of information systems (IS), with reference as necessary to masculinity studies. I will then suggest some possible areas where a more thoroughgoing theorization may prove useful. In sum, future research might focus on the relationship between marginalised masculinities and the construction and consumption of IS in work organisations and society.
Third World Femenist Perspectives on Information Technology
Authors: Kvasny Lynette , Chong Jing
Published: May 2011

Historically, information systems (IS) researchers have conducted empirical studies of gender and information technology (IT) in business organizations. These studies cover a wide range of topics such as the under-representation of women in the IT workforce (von Hellens, Nielsen, & Trauth, 2001) and the educational pipeline, which prepares women for careers in computer-related fields (Camp, 1997; Symonds, 1999). IS researchers have generally embraced an essentialist approach to examine gender differences in the adoption and use of IT (Gefen & Straub, 1997; Venkatesh & Morris, 2000), career selection (Joshi & Kuhn, 2001; Nielsen, von Hellens, Greenhill, & Pringle, 1998), employment experiences (Gallivan, 2003; Sumner & Niederman, 2002; Sumner & Werner, 2001), and employment outcomes (Baroudi & Igbaria, 1997). More recently, however, researchers have adopted anti-essentialist stances and extended IS gender studies to include individual differences among women (Trauth, 2002; Trauth, Quesenberry, & Morgan, 2004), as well as race and ethnicity (Kvasny & Trauth, 2002; Tapia & Kvasny, 2004; Tapia, Kvasny, & Trauth, 2004). In this growing body of scholarship, a few researchers have argued persuasively for the inclusion of feminist epistemologies in IS research (Adam & Richardson, 2001; Henwood, 2000; Kvasny, Greenhill, & Trauth, 2005). These proponents contend that feminist epistemologies provide theoretical and methodological insights for studying gender as a complex and multidimensional construct for understanding the use, management, and regulation of IT in multiple domains such as business organizations, households, reproductive health, built environments, and the military (MacKenzie & Wacjman, 1991; Ormrod, 1994). Feminist scholars have also called for research that considers not only gender, but also the intersection of racial, ethnic, and class identities (Kvasny, forthcoming). In this article, we adopt a third world feminist perspective to examine perceptions of IT held by black women in Kenya and the U.S. In what follows, we defining third world feminism, especially as it relates to women in the African Diaspora. Next, we discuss our research methodology, which consists of interviews with women in both settings. We conclude by presenting our findings and implications for future research.
Virtual Learning and Teaching Environments
Authors: Wiesner Heike
Published: May 2011

Without a well-thought-out didactic concept, the best surface design isn’t of any help. This article contains results from an empirical study I conducted independently. It was developed in the context of the umbrella project “gender and information technologies” in the context of the Vifu (virtual international women university), a project financed by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and carried out at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Women at the University of Kiel. This empirical study provides insight into the field of “virtual learning and teaching”. It is based on an expert survey and reflects the specific experience instructors had with virtual seminars. The study focuses on the following question: What convergences and divergences can be identified in experts’ specific experience with forms of virtual teaching? I proceeded from the assumption that intercultural and gender factors affect the design, structure, and implementation of virtual learning and teaching environments. This assumption shaped the study. Experts were generally defined as all persons who have practical experience in virtual teaching, especially in the research fields of gender and computer sciences. Since virtual learning and teaching environments is a new, experimental field, none of the interviewed experts had more than two to three years of teaching experience in this area. Some of them have programmed and developed the online module themselves. Most of the fourteen interviews were conducted face-to-face, three of the interview partners were sent a questionnaire by e-mail. With them I conducted “semi-standardized interviews” (Mayring, 1996) and all were evaluated with the core sentence method. Core sentences are “natural generalizations” used by the interview partners themselves (Leithäuser & Volmerg, 1988; Volmerg, Senghaas-Knobloch, & Leithäuser, 1986). These are statements that make a point succinctly, reducing entire paragraphs to a single statement. In contrast to the deductive method, the inductive method I used has the advantage that the meaning of the “spoken word” is not lost. It is particularly useful in the development of hypotheses.
Women and ICTs in the Arab World
Authors: Louadi Mohamed El , Everard Andrea
Published: May 2011

The digital divide manifests itself on the one hand in the lag in Arab world nations vis-à-vis other more developed countries and on the other hand in the existing inequalities between men and women. Although the United Nations and the World Bank publish a variety of reports on the differences between developed and developing nations, very little data is available to fully grasp the meaning of the gap between genders. In terms of information and communication technologies (ICTs), there are two distinct gaps that need to be recognized: the gap between Arab men and Arab women and the gap between Arab women and women from other nations around the world (Figure 1). Much differs in the lives of men and women. For decades, researchers have published comparative reports, attempting to explain what distinguishes men and women in socio-professional environments. According to Meyers-Levy (1989) men tend to be more comfortable with ICTs and partake more often in gaming and programming. When they use computers, women are more inclined to use them as communication tools. Given women’s presumed lack of experience with technology, their upbringing which is different from men’s, and that the studies they most often pursue are not technology-oriented, it is not surprising that women are generally less inclined to adopt new technologies. Those who nonetheless have tried their hand at browsing the Web were either witness to or victims of offensive language used during interactive discussion sessions; in some cases, they were harassed via e-mail. In order to avoid this unpleasantness, some women assumed male aliases (Herring, 2003). However, since 2000, when men and women reached parity in Web use (Rickert & Sacharow, 2000), it would appear that using the Internet is presently no more intimidating for females than for males. An abundance of other differences between men and women exist. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) acknowledged that there does not exist a society in which women benefit from the same opportunities as men. Everywhere in the world, women are poorer, less educated, and less valued than men. These and other inequalities reduce women’s ability to take advantage of the potential benefits of ICTs and to consequently contribute to their nation’s economic and social development which is in fact facilitated by these same technologies.
Women and Recruitment to the IT Profession in the UK
Authors: Woodfield Ruth
Published: May 2011

Early commentary on the development of the field of Computing and its relationship to women was generally optimistic in tone. Many early software workers were female, and the associations of computing with a qualitatively different, and cutting-edge, technological domain, caused projections that women would comfortably enter professional Computing work in a manner unparalleled for scientific and technological occupations (Faulkner, 2002; Woodfield, 2000). The rationalisations shaping the decision of early female entrants to the field often mirrored those buoying up the optimism of commentators. An established female computer professional in the late 1980s, for instance, reported applying for her first job within the IT sector a decade earlier because she had believed the area to be “one of the first businesses with no sex prejudice” (Cowan, cited in The Guardian, 1989). A review of the literature that chronicled the actual movement of women into IT work cross-nationally since these early predictions, however, leaves little doubt that women were quickly established as the under represented party within IT roles. As Elizabeth Gerver suggested at the close of the 1980s, Computing effectively became established as a “strangely single-gendered world,” and although women’s under-representation may have varied “from sector to sector and to some extent from country to country,” the evidence of its male-domination and, indeed, its maleness, became so ubiquitous that it tended “to become monotonous” (1989, p. 483). A large body of work has underpinned the ongoing legitimacy of this observation since the 1980s (Faulkner, 2002; Hall, 2004; Millar & Jagger, 2001; Peters, Lane, Rees, & Samuels, 2003; Woodfield, 2000).
Women, Mathematics, and Computing
Authors: De Palma Paula
Published: May 2011

In 1963, Betty Friedan wrote these gloomy words: The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American women. ... Each suburban wife struggled with it alone. As she made the beds, shopped for groceries, matched slipcover material, ate peanut butter sandwiches with her children, chauffeured Cub Scouts and Brownies, lay beside her husband at night – she was afraid to ask even of herself the silent question—“Is this all?” The passage, of course, is from the The Feminine Mystique (Friedan, 1983, p. 15). Though it took another decade for the discontent that Friedan described to solidify into a political movement, even in 1963 women were doing more than making peanut butter sandwiches. They also earned 41% of bachelor’s degrees. By 1995, the number of degrees conferred had nearly tripled. The fraction going to women more than kept pace, at almost 55%. Put another way, women’s share of bachelor’s degrees increased by 25% since Betty Friedan first noticed the isolation of housewives. Consider two more sets of numbers: In 1965, 478 women graduated from medical school. These 478 women accounted for only 6.5% of the new physicians. Law was even less hospitable. Only 404 women, or just 3% of the total, received law degrees in 1965. By 1996, however, almost 39% of medical degrees and 43% of law degrees were going to women (Anderson, 1997). If so many women are studying medicine and law, why are so few studying computer science? That’s a good question, and one that has been getting a lot of attention. A search of an important index of computing literature, the ACM Digital Portal (ACM, 2005a), using the key words “women” and “computer,” produced 2,223 hits. Of the first 200, most are about the underrepresentation of women in information technology. Judging by the volume of research, what we can do to increase the numbers of women studying computer science remains an open question. While most investigators fall on one side or the other of the essentialist/social constructivist divide (Trauth, Quesenberry & Morgan, 2005), this article sidesteps the issue altogether in favor of offering a testable hypothesis: Girls and young women would be drawn to degree programs in computer science in greater numbers if the field were structured with the precision of mathematics. How we arrived at this hypothesis requires a look at the number of women earning degrees in computer science historically and in relation to other apparently similar fields.
Location-Based Services
Authors: Unni Ramaprasad , Harmon Robert
Published: May 2011

Location-based services are expected to play an integral role in the mobile-commerce domain. Mobile network operators and service providers have the opportunity to add value and create additional revenue streams through a variety of personalized services based on location of individual wireless users. However, strategic thinking in this area is still evolving. Many issues surrounding location data such as ownership and their use by network operators and third parties, privacy concerns of consumers, and business models for these services are not well understood. This chapter provides (1) an overview of location-based wireless services and their related technologies, (2) an examination of the LBS value chain, and (3) strategic implications for network operators and service providers.
Code and Time Synchronization of the Cell Search Design Influence on W-CDMA Systems
Authors: Mishra S.
Published: May 2011

The large-scale statistics of an improved cell search design (improved CSD) using cyclic codes is compared with the 3GPP cell search design using comma free codes (3GPP-comma free CSD) in terms of acquisition time for different probabilities of false alarm rates and to achieve faster synchronization at lower hardware complexity is addressed in this chapter. In the chapter we also proposes design improvements in stage 2 of the 3GPP-comma free CSD. The 3GPP-comma free CSD proposed in this chapter uses a Fast Hadamard Transformer (FHT) in stage 2 that achieves lower hardware complexity and faster decoding. Furthermore, masking functions are used in stage 3 of both the improved CSD and the 3GPP-comma free CSD to reduce the number of scrambling code generators required as described in previous work. This results in a reduction in the ROM size required to store the initial phases of the scrambling code generators in stage 3. The Improved CSD proposed in this chapter aims to achieve faster synchronization between the mobile station (MS) and the base station(BS) and thus improves system performance. Our results indicate that for a channel whose signal-to-noise ratio is degraded with additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), the improved CSD achieves faster synchronization with the base station and has lower hardware utilization when compared with the 3GPP-comma free CSD scheme under the same design constraints.
Turbo Equalizer
Authors: Priyatamkumar  , Banakar R. M. , Shankaranand B.
Published: May 2011

Turbo codes exhibit excellent performance gains. Turbo equalization is an iterative equalization and decoding technique. It can achieve equally impressive performance gains for communication systems. Turbo codes are send digital data over channels that require equalization, i.e. those which suffer from inter-symbol interference (ISI). Turbo equalizers have been shown to be successful in mitigating the effects of inter-symbol interference introduced by partial response modems and by dispersive channels for code rates of R>1/2. The performance of iterative equalization and decoding (IED) using an M-BCJR equalizer is analyzed. Bit error rate (BER), frame error rate simulations and extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) charts are used to study and compare the performances BCJR equalizers on precoded and non-precoded channels. We predict the BER performance of Turbo equalizer using the M-BCJR equalizer from EXIT charts and explain the discrepancy between the observed and predicted performances.
Ontology-Based Informatin Retrieval Under a Mobile Business Environment
Authors: Guan Sheng-Uei
Published: May 2011

The proposed OntoQuery system in the m-commerce agent framework investigates new methodologies for efficient query formation for product databases. It also forms new methodologies for effective information retrieval. The query formation approach implemented takes advantage of the tree pathway structure in ontology, as well as keywords, to form queries visually and efficiently. The proposed information retrieval system uses genetic algorithms, and is computationally more effective than iterative methods such as relevance feedback. Synonyms are used to mutate earlier queries. Mutation is used together with query optimization techniques like query restructuring by logical terms and numerical constraints replacement. The fitness function of the genetic algorithm is defined by three elements: (1) number of documents retrieved, (2) quality of documents, and (3) correlation of queries. The number and quality of documents retrieved give the basic strength of a mutated query, while query correlation accounts for mutated query ambiguities.
Push-Multicasting to Wireless Devices Using Publish/Subscribe Model
Authors: Quah Jon Tong-Seng , Leow Chye-Huang
Published: May 2011

Push technology is a kind of technology that automates the information delivery process without requiring users to request the information that they need. Wireless has experienced explosive growth in recent years; “push” will be the predominant wireless service delivery paradigm of the future. We can expect a large number and a wide variety of services, alerts and messages, such as promotional content, to be delivered to consumer’s phones or PDAs. To push information to wireless device becomes a challenge because of the problem of intermittent communication links and resource constraint on wireless devices as well as limited bandwidth. This chapter describes an efficient multicasting mechanism that “pushes” pre-specified information to groups of wireless devices. The mechanism is able to operate with limited bandwidth and also overcome the connectivity problem. A framework has been designed that implements the concept of push technology to multicast the sales information via wireless technology. The design of a message-oriented system for wireless information is described and that is followed by the implementation details that are compliance to Java Messege Service (JMS).
Mobile Camera Phones - Dealing with Privacy, Harrassment, and Spying/Surveillance Concerns
Authors: Abood Christopher
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the growing inappropriate use of mobile camera phones within our society. There are two areas of concern that are dealt within this chapter. The first concern deals with individual privacy and the use of mobile camera phones as a tool of harassment. The second concern deals with organizations seeking to prevent industrial espionage and employee protection. This chapter outlines how these devices are being used to invade individuals’ privacy, to harass individuals, and to infiltrate organizations. The author outlines strategies and recommendations that both government and manufacturers of mobile camera phones can implement to better protect individual privacy, and policies that organizations can implement to help protect them from industrial espionage.
The Next Big RFID Application
Authors: Wyld D. C.
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the adoption of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in the commercial aviation industry, focusing on the role of RFID systems for improved baggage handling and security. The chapter provides a timely overview of developments with regard to the implementation of RFID technology in commercial aviation, which promises distinct advantages over the currently used bar-code system for baggage handling. The chapter focuses on how RFID technology can improve customer service through better operational efficiency in baggage handling, which has been demonstrated to be an integral component of the airline’s customer service equation. Developments with RFID technology can dramatically improve the accuracy of baggage handling, which can enable air carriers to close an important service gap among customers in an increasingly turbulent operating environment. Other service industries can certainly benchmark the airline industry’s use of RFID technology in luggage tracking as a way to improve their own operational capabilities.
Providing Value to Customers in E-Commerce Environments
Authors: Minocha Shailey , Dawson Liisa H. , Blandford Ann , Millard Nicola
Published: May 2011

Effective advertising, good usability, and creating value are important in an e-commerce environment to attract and retain customers. In the human–computer interaction (HCI) literature, research into the success or failure of business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce sites has primarily focussed on usability. While increasing usability is important, even if an e-commerce Web site conforms to the Web design heuristics and usability guidelines, it might not always generate a positive total customer experience (TCE). Therefore, it is important that along with usability heuristics, customer relationship management (CRM) strategies are integrated into the design of the e-commerce environments for developing robust and long-term online customer–organisation relationships. We report on a project that is part of an ongoing cross-disciplinary research programme at the Open University, United Kingdom, which aims to integrate HCI and CRM strategies into the design and evaluation of e-commerce environments. In this project, we examined the customer’s interaction with e-commerce environments and how a B2C relationship can be effectively supported from a customer’s perspective. Based on intensive research that involved collecting data from naturalistic observations of customers shopping on e-tailing environments, interviews, group interviews, and by identifying the negative incidents or obstacles that mar the customer’s TCE, we have developed E-SEQUAL (E-SErvice QUALity), a framework for online service quality. E-SEQUAL is an evaluation instrument consisting of e-CRM (CRM for e-economy) or customer relationship-enhancing heuristics and HCI heuristics which can be applied to integrate customers’ perceived dimensions of service quality into the design and development of e-commerce environments. E-SEQUAL can provide guidance to e-businesses regarding integration of front- and back-end business processes, and across different customer touch points such as phone, fax, e-mail, and so on. It can be applied by Web designers, marketing professionals, and developers to come up with requirements for integrating customers’ expectations, and perceptions of service quality and value into the design of e-commerce Web sites. Furthermore, it can be used as an evaluation instrument by usability professionals for evaluating the conformance of an e-commerce environment against HCI (usability) and e-CRM heuristics.
Key Success Requirements for Online Brand Management
Authors: Bandyopadhyay Subir , Serjak Rosemary
Published: May 2011

In recent years, many online brands (or e-brands) have emerged. For a brick-and-mortar brand to excel in the online environment, the brand manager must appreciate some of the key features of the Internet and make adjustments to the traditional brand management strategy. For example, the control of communication in case of online brand management lies with both the brand manager and the consumer, whereas from the traditional branding perspective, the control by and large rests with the brand manager only. We highlight the differences between traditional brand management and online brand management. We then focus on several key success factors in building a successful online brand, which we believe will help guide the brand manager through a series of steps leading to successful online branding.
Applications of Internet-Based Marketing Instruments by Multichannel Retailers
Authors: Madlberger Maria
Published: May 2011

Online and off-line retailers fulfill a wide range of functions that are beneficial to manufacturers as well as to individual consumers. In doing so, they apply a mix of marketing instruments for their store-based and Internet-based distribution channels. As the Internet offers many different innovative alternatives of marketing instruments, the question arises as to what extent online retailers apply Internet-based marketing strategies in order to attract online customers. The empirical study presented in this chapter aims at finding out to what extent powerful multichannel retailers utilize these different Internet-based marketing instruments. The study is conducted by Web site observation in order to represent the customer’s point of view. A total of 60 online shops in the United States and in the United Kingdom are analyzed using 17 marketing-related observation criteria. The study reveals that the observed multichannel retailers still prefer “traditional” retail marketing instruments on their online shops and often do without innovative Internet-based marketing instruments such as personalization or content and information offering. Additionally, we identified fewer differences between the observed U.S. and UK retailers than expected. These findings should spur further research on the use of e-marketing by online retailers especially in an explanative manner.
The E-Mode of Brand Positioning
Authors: Kumar S. Ramesh
Published: May 2011

Brand positioning is a crucial strategy to any brand’s strategy. Given the rapid development of technology and its impact on online strategies, changing lifestyles of consumers, and the consumer interaction required as a part of contemporary brand strategy, there may be need for brands to synergize their positioning strategies with online positioning strategies. This would enable brands to adapt to an environment that is increasingly becoming digital. This chapter, after taking into consideration the published literature on brand positioning, attempts to formulate online positioning strategies using different aspects of brand positioning, price, customer interactivity, and consumer community orientation. Implications for marketing managers are provided.
Locked In By Services
Authors: Del Giudice Manlio , Polski Michel
Published: May 2011

We discuss a dynamic model of cognitive and behavioral e-loyalty developed through the analysis of barriers (perceived switching costs) which can be raised against customer’s switching behavior. Using results from an empirical study, our chapter will be focused particularly on the determinants of the switching behavior online and on the opportunity to change Web site usability in a powerful lock-in strategy. Finally, as a result, we will discuss one of the main consequences of loyal behavior, in presence of positive perceived switching costs: the customer willingness to pay more.
Discriminant DCT Feature Extraction
Authors: Zhang David , Jing Xiao-Yuan , Yang Jian
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides a feature extraction approach that combines the discrete cosine transform (DCT) with LDA. The DCT-based frequency-domain analysis technique is introduced first. Then, we describe the presented discriminant DCT approach and analyze its theoretical properties. Finally, we offer detailed experimental results and a chapter summary.
Monitoring Human Movement with Body-Fixed Sensors and its Clinical Applications
Authors: Aminian Kamiar
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, first we outline the advantage of new technologies based on body-fixed sensors and particularly the possibility to perform field measurement, out of a laboratory and during the actual condition of the subject. The relevance of intelligent computing and its potential to enhance those features hidden in biomechanical signals are reviewed. An emphasis is made to show the results produced by these sensors when used alone and new possibilities offered when the information from different type of body fixed sensors are fused. In the second part, the relevance of body fixed sensors in medicine is presented by providing many clinical applications in orthopedics, Parkinson disease, physiology, pain management, and aging. Finally the chapter ends by emphasizing the potential of synergies between body fixed movement monitoring and other areas such as information technology which lead to the development of wearable body movement monitoring.
Computational Modelling in Shoulder Biometrics
Authors: Ackland David C. , Goodwin Cheryl J. , Pandy Marcus G.
Published: May 2011

The objectives of this chapter are as follows. First, a background in anatomy and biomechanics of the shoulder complex is presented to provide a brief review of the essential functions of the shoulder. Second, important features of practical shoulder models are discussed with reference to capabilities of current computational modelling techniques. Third, techniques in computational modelling of the shoulder complex are compared and contrasted for their effectiveness in representing shoulder biomechanics in situ, with some sample calculations included. Fourth, in vivo and in vitro techniques for verifying computational models will be briefly reviewed. Finally, a summary of emerging trends will indicate the clinical impact that computational modelling can be expected to have in progressing our understanding of shoulder complex movement and its fundamental biomechanics.
On Our Four Foci
Authors: Trajkovski Goran
Published: May 2011

In this chapter we give a brief overview of the history and the key developments of the concepts of agents and multi-agent systems that are relevant to the book, as preliminaries to the presentation of the theories in the subsequent chapters of the first section of the book.
Swarm-Based Wayfinding Support in Open and Distance Learning
Authors: Tattersall Colin , Maderveld Jocelyn , Berg Bert V.D. , van Es René , Janssen José
Published: May 2011

Open and distance learning (ODL) gives learners freedom of time, place, and pace of study, putting learner self-direction centre stage. However, increased responsibility should not come at the price of overburdening or abandonment of learners as they progress along their learning journey. This paper introduces an approach to wayfinding support for distance learners based on self-organisation theory. It describes an architecture that supports the recording, processing, and presentation of collective learner behaviour designed to create a feedback loop informing learners of successful paths towards the attainment of learning goals. The approach is presented as an alternative to methods of achieving adaptation in hypermedia-based learning environments which involve learner modelling.
Simulation Modelling within Collaborative Spatial Decision Support Systems Using "Cause-Effect" Models and Software Agents
Authors: Sengupta Raja
Published: May 2011

Solutions to spatial environmental problems often require the integration of dynamic simulation models within GIS to create spatial decision support systems (SDSS) that can generate responses to theoretical ”What if?” scenarios. Extending this paradigm to a collaborative spatial decision support system, however, faces significant challenges. This includes the inability of computationally intensive models to provide real-time results, and the inability of novice end users to effectively parameterize the models. Effective solutions to these problems proposed here include the use of ”cause-effect” models to link inputs to outputs for a limited number of scenarios, as well as utilizing software agents that assist novice users in determining the correct input parameters for the models. Examples from the St-Esprit watershed SDSS serve to elucidate the proposed solutions.
Web GIS and Knowledge Management Systems
Authors: Mason Brad C. , Dragicevic Suzana
Published: May 2011

Environmental problems are multidimensional and usually complex. Collaborative integration of multiple forms of knowledge is one approach used to develop meaningful solutions to complex problems. In this regard, spatial data and knowledge about the environment have been managed extensively with Web geographic information systems (Web GIS). However, past Web GIS research has focused mostly on using spatial tools to manage explicit (codified) knowledge. This has reduced the complementary contribution that tacit (experiential) knowledge can provide to environmental solutiodragns. In this study, Web GIS and knowledge management technologies are used to integrate multiple forms of spatial knowledge in support of collaborative community planning. The system design included a customized end-user interface for data entry, georeferencing tools for asynchronous collection of local data, and protocols for knowledge management dealing with species location, ecological habitats, and environmentally sensitive areas among others. The system enabled access, query, sharing, and updating of environmental knowledge using visual map-based tools. The utility of the integrated system design is discussed.
Web-Based Collaborative Spatial Decision Support Systems
Authors: Li Songnian
Published: May 2011

The rapidly expanding range of Web technology has made it possible to collaboratively make decisions over the Web. This chapter examines some of these Web technologies important to the development of collaborative spatial decision support systems, and identifies their technology impediments and strengths. The outcomes provide a basis for discussing how the existing collaborative spatial decision support systems may be redesigned to take advantage of new Web technologies, and how new collaborative spatial decision support systems may be designed and developed in this Web-based paradigm. Some discussions on selected design and development issues that are important to the development of collaborative spatial decision support systems including system design, user’s impact, and performance are presented.
Information Design
Authors: DiMarco John
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides explanation and steps on transforming ideas into information architecture. The main emphasis is on developing a framework of content that focuses on priority, simplicity, and organization. Priority and simplicity are terms that become synonymous with good information design. By priority, I refer to prioritizing the information into a structure that will enable the user to gain access, interaction, entertainment, value, and connection with your Web portfolio. Prioritizing information relies on information design. You have already taken steps to begin the process of information design and organization has occurred. By creating a content outline, you organized the proposed content that will be presented in your Web portfolio. Refinement of the organized content relies upon navigation and usability to be thoughtful to the audience requirements. Simplicity refers to keeping navigation and usability simple and organized so that no mistakes can be made when traveling throughout the Web portfolio. Confusion in the Web portfolio cannot be tolerated by the user. He or she will not stand for not getting what they want, which is content. If the need for content discovery is not met, the connection and the communication have failed. The scary part is that we may never know if the user has had a bad experience. Later on in this book, we talk more deeply about usability from the viewpoint of Jakob Nielsen, the usability guru of the Web. We will also examine usability testing for our own Web portfolios to see how the user might feel when they hit our URL. One thing that we want to keep in the forefront of our navigation and usability design is that users need to get to where they’re going through navigation as simply as possible. This is nonnegotiable. Therefore, creating an easy to navigate, usable site is more difficult and then dumping loads of unorganized materials on the user. Let us examine the components that help insure usability and good design in the Web portfolio. The guidelines in the next sections can help you develop an organized structure that will help you in the rest of the Web portfolio development steps. Remember, the development of the Web portfolio is an individual, subjective experience that provides a structured narrative in Web form.
Motion, Graphics and Multimedia Production
Authors: DiMarco John
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents motion graphics and provides simple lessons on creating text animation using Macromedia Flash. I will provide background information on digital audio editing and optimizing using Adobe Audition. We will cover how to make loops using Adobe Audition and export them for use in Flash. Also included in this chapter, the reader gets specific instructions on how to make an interactive sound on/off switch in Flash.
The Panorama of Information Systems Quality
Authors: Duggan Evan W. , Reichgelt Han
Published: May 2011

Business organizations are still struggling to improve the quality of information systems (IS) after many research efforts and years of accumulated experience in delivering them. The IS community is not short on prescriptions for improving quality; however the utterances are somewhat cacophonous as proponents of quality-enhancing approaches hyperbolize claims of their efficacy and/or denigrate older approaches, often ignoring the importance of context. In this chapter we undertake an extensive review of the IS quality literature to balance the many perspectives of stakeholders in this heterogeneous community with the necessarily varied prescriptions for producing high-quality systems. We develop an IS quality model, which distills determinants of IS product quality into effects attributable to people, processes, and practices and denote that IS success results from the combination of discernible IS quality and stakeholders’ perceptions of IS quality. This chapter serves as a general introduction to the detailed analyses of topics that follow in subsequent chapters but also provides insights that are not covered elsewhere in the book.
Academic Storytelling
Authors: Cox Robert
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces the concept of rich picture stories or scenarios to establish a collaborative effort in the design of new information systems. Systems designers need contextual information about their users in order to design and provide information systems that will function effectively and efficiently within those contexts. Story-telling or scenarios allow developers and consumers alike to create that all-important “meeting place” from which comes a collaborative effort in the design of new systems. One of the primary issues inhibiting the further use of storytelling or scenarios in information systems is the issue of validation, which is explored. It is hoped that this chapter will provide insights into the opportunities available to information systems users and designers to improve the quality of information systems through the use of valid user-driven scenarios.
Developer-Driven Quality
Authors: Green Gina C. , Collins Rosann W. , Hevner Alan R.
Published: May 2011

Much attention has been given to Software Process Improvements (SPIs) based on the premise that system development outcomes are largely determined by the capabilities of the software development process. The content of this chapter presents the results of a set of research projects investigating why SPIs have not been diffused and utilized in the software engineering community as expected (Fayad et al., 1996; Fichman & Kemerer, 1997; Luqi & Goguen, 1997; Pfleeger & Hatton, 1997). We show that a software developer’s perceived control over the use of an SPIimpacts its diffusion success. Additionally, we show that a software developer’s perceptions of enhanced software quality and increased individual productivity achieved through SPI use impact the successful diffusion of the SPI. Results of these research efforts support the compilation of a clear set of management guidelines to ensure the effective use of SPIs in software development organizations.
Building IT Risk Management Approaches
Authors: Iversen Jakob Holden , Mathiassen Lars , Nielsen Peter Axel
Published: May 2011

This chapter shows how action research can help practitioners develop IT risk management approaches that are tailored to their organization and the specific issues they face. Based on literature and practical experience, the authors present a method for developing risk management approaches to use in real-world innovation projects. The chapter illustrates the method by presenting the results of developing a risk management approach for software process improvement projects in a software organization.
Perceptual-Based Visualization of Auditory Information Using Visual Texture
Authors: Giannakis Kostas
Published: May 2011

This chapter investigates the use of visual texture for the visualization of multi-dimensional auditory information. Twenty subjects with a strong musical background performed a series of association tasks between high-level perceptual dimensions of visual texture and steady-state features of auditory timbre. The results indicated strong and intuitive mappings between (a) texture contrast and sharpness, (b) texture coarseness-granularity and compactness, and (c) texture periodicity and sensory dissonance. The findings contribute in setting the necessary groundwork for the application of empirically-derived auditory-visual mappings in multimedia environments.
A Three-Layer Framework for ?QoS-Aware Service Design
Authors: Wikstrand Greger
Published: May 2011

While increasing bandwidth might be an acceptable way to maximize user utility, it is not always sufficient. This chapter presents a three-layer model of networked multimedia application based on a division into network, application, and usage. Quality measures for each layer are presented. Mental workload, task performance, and enjoyment are proposed as the most important variables at the usage layer. Interactions between the layers are described. Examples are given of the model which has been used in actual service design work. Finally, it is suggested that the model could also be used for dynamic adaptations.
Adaptation and Personalization of Web-Based Multimedia Content
Authors: Germanakos Panagiotis , Mourlas Constantinos
Published: May 2011

A traditional multimedia system presents the same static content and suggests the same next page to all users, even though they might have widely differing knowledge of the subject. Such a system suffers from an inability to be all things to all people, especially when the user population is relatively diverse. The rapid growth of mobile and wireless communication allowed service providers to develop new ways of interactions, enabling users to become accustomed to new means of multimedia-based service consumption in an anytime, anywhere, and anyhow manner. This chapter investigates the new multi-channel constraints and opportunities emerged by these technologies, as well as the new user-demanding requirements that arise. It further examines the relationship between the adaptation and personalization research considerations, and proposes a three-layer architecture for adaptation and personalization of Web-based multimedia content based on the “new” user profile, with visual, emotional, and cognitive processing parameters incorporated.
Spatial Data on the Move
Authors: Tok Wee Hyong , Bresan Stéphane , Kalnis Panagiotis , Zhengl Baihua
Published: May 2011

The pervasiveness of mobile computing devices and wide-availability of wireless networking infrastructure have empowered users with applications that provides location-based services as well as the ability to pose queries to remote servers. This necessitates the need for adaptive, robust, and efficient techniques for processing the queries. In this chapter, we identify the issues and challenges of processing spatial data on the move. Next, we present insights on state-of-art spatial query processing techniques used in these dynamic, mobile environments. We conclude with several potential open research problems in this exciting area.
Key Attributes and the Use of Advanced Mobile Services
Authors: Blechar Jennifer , Constantiou Ioanna D. , Damsgaard Jan
Published: May 2011

Advanced mobile service use and adoption remains low in most of the Western world despite impressive technological developments. Much effort has thus been placed on better understanding the behavior of advanced mobile service users. Previous research efforts have identified several key attributes deemed to provide indications of the behavior of consumers in the m-services market. This chapter continues with this line of research by further exploring these key attributes of new mobile services. Through a field study of new mobile service use by 36 Danish mobile phone users, this chapter illustrates the manner in which users’ perceptions related to the key attributes of service quality, content-device fit and personalization were adversely affected after approximately three months of trial of the services offered.