bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Cost-Based Range Estimation for Mapping Top-k Selection Queries over Relational Databases
Authors: Ayanso Anteneh , Goes Paulo B. , Mehta Kumar
Published: April 2010

Finding efficient methods for supporting top-k relational queries has received significant attention in academic research. One of the approaches in the recent literature is query-mapping, in which top-k queries are mapped (translated) into equivalent range queries that relational database systems (RDBMSs) normally support. This approach combines the advantage of simplicity as well as practicality by avoiding the need for modifications to the query engine, or specialized data structures or indexing techniques to handle top-k queries separately. However, existing methods following this approach fall short of adequately modeling the problem environment and providing consistent results. In this article, the authors propose a cost-based range estimation model for the query-mapping approach. They provide a methodology for trading-off relevant query execution cost components and mapping a top-k query into a cost-optimal range query for efficient execution. Their experiments on real world and synthetic data sets show that the proposed strategy not only avoids the need to calibrate workloads on specific database contents, but also performs at least as well as prior methods.
General Strategy for Querying Web Sources in a Data Federation Environment
Authors: Firat Aykut , Wu Lynn , Madnick Stuart
Published: April 2010

Modern database management systems are supporting the inclusion and querying of non-relational sources within a data federation environment via wrappers. Wrapper development for Web sources, however, is a convolution of code with extraction and query planning knowledge and becomes a daunting task. We use IBM DB2 federation engine to demonstrate the challenges of incorporating Web sources into a data federation. We, then, present a practical and general strategy for the inclusion and querying of Web sources without requiring any changes in the underlying data federation technology. This strategy separates the code and knowledge in wrapper development by introducing a general-purpose capabilities-aware mini query-planner and a data extraction engine. As a result, Web sources can be included in a data federation system faster, and maintained easier.
Supporting Collaborative Multi-Criteria Evaluation
Authors: Clímaco João N. , Costa João A. , Dias Luis C. , Melo Paulo
Published: April 2010

This article presents the VIP Analysis plug-in of Decision Deck 1.1, a platform that hosts different evaluation methods to support decision makers in the collaborative evaluation of alternatives in a multi-criteria and multi-experts setting. VIP Analysis is a tool for aggregation of multicriteria performances by means of an additive value function under imprecise information. It allows conducting a multicriteria analysis for selecting an alternative when the decision makers are not able to (or do not wish to) fix precise values for the importance parameters. These parameters are seen as variables that may take several values subject to constraints. VIP Analysis incorporates different methods to support the progressive reduction of the number of alternatives, introducing a concept of tolerance that lets decision makers use some of the methods in a more flexible manner. When compared with the original standalone VIP Analysis (programmed in the late 1990s) the main innovation of the VIP Analysis plug-in is to allow several users working on the same problem under different roles: coordinator, evaluator, and decision-maker, thus defining a workflow process and enabling concurrent and remote access to the data over a network. By being included in the Decision Deck platform, VIP Analysis is now integrated with other decision aiding methods within a coherent interface. A final advantage is that the platform is open-source, which facilitates customization and collaborative improvement of the software.
Towards the Realization of an Integrated Decision Support Environment for Organizational Decision Making
Authors: Liu Shaofeng , Duffy Alex H.B. , Whitfield Robert Ian , Boyle Iain M. , McKenna Iain
Published: April 2010

Traditional decision support systems are based on the paradigm of a single decision maker working at a standalone computer or terminal who has a specific decision to make with a specific goal in mind. Organizational decision support systems aim to support decision makers at all levels of an organization (from executive, middle management managers to operators), who have a variety of decisions to make, with different priorities, often in a distributed and dynamic environment. Such systems need to be designed and developed with extra functionality to meet the challenges such as collaborative working. This article proposes an Integrated Decision Support Environment (IDSE) for organizational decision making. The IDSE distinguishes itself from traditional decision support systems in that it can flexibly configure and re-configure its functions to support various decision applications. IDSE is an open software platform which allows its users to define their own decision processes and choose their own exiting decision tools to be integrated into the platform. The IDSE is designed and developed based on distributed client/server networking, with a multi-tier integration framework for consistent information exchange and sharing, seamless process co-ordination and synchronisation, and quick access to packaged and legacy systems. The prototype of the IDSE demonstrates good performance in agile response to fast changing decision situations.
What-if Simulation Modeling in Business Intelligence
Authors: Golfarelli Matteo , Rizzi Stefano
Published: April 2010

Optimizing decisions has become a vital factor for companies. In order to be able to evaluate beforehand the impact of a decision, managers need reliable provisional systems. Though data warehouses enable analysis of past data, they are not capable of giving anticipations of future trends. What-if analysis fills this gap by enabling users to simulate and inspect the behavior of a complex system under some given hypotheses. A crucial issue in the design of what-if applications is to find an adequate formalism to conceptually express the underlying simulation model. In this paper the authors report on how, within the framework of a comprehensive design methodology, this can be accomplished by extending UML 2 with a set of stereotypes. Their proposal is centered on the use of activity diagrams enriched with object flows, aimed at expressing functional, dynamic, and static aspects in an integrated fashion. The paper is completed by examples taken from a real case study in the commercial area.
Influence of Domain and Model Properties on the Reliability Estimates' Performance
Authors: Bosnic Zoran , Kononenko Igor
Published: April 2010

In machine learning, the reliability estimates for individual predictions provide more information about individual prediction error than the average accuracy of predictive model (e.g. relative mean squared error). Such reliability estimates may represent decisive information in the risk-sensitive applications of machine learning (e.g. medicine, engineering, and business), where they enable the users to distinguish between more and less reliable predictions. In the authors’ previous work they proposed eight reliability estimates for individual examples in regression and evaluated their performance. The results showed that the performance of each estimate strongly varies depending on the domain and regression model properties. In this paper they empirically analyze the dependence of reliability estimates’ performance on the data set and model properties. They present the results which show that the reliability estimates perform better when used with more accurate regression models, in domains with greater number of examples and in domains with less noisy data.
The Rugby Player and the Handbag
Authors: Hooper Val A. , Huff Sid L. , MacDonald Jon
Published: April 2010

Research into the determinants of online auction prices has tended to group them into buyer factors, seller factors and site factors. A case is presented which records how a $30 handbag was sold for $ 22,750 in an online auction shortly after a national sport final. Analysis of the case indicates additional factors which can exert a considerable influence on the final auction price. A model is proposed which depicts five groups of factors impacting the final price: buyer factors, seller factors, site factors which are expanded to include timing of the “action”, and site brand strength; product factors which include product features, brand strength, and brand extension/association; and promotion, which includes media publicity. While not all factors will impact on every auction, due consideration should be accorded each of them.
Still Watching Other People's Programmes? The Case of Current TV
Authors: Theodoulou Theodoulos , Papagiannidis Savvas
Published: April 2010

In this article, the authors adapt a value chain analysis framework used in the music industry and apply it to the television industry, in order to probe the television value creation and distribution mechanisms and examine how they were affected by technology. More specifically, they examine how viewers can effectively become producers by repositioning themselves in the value chain and the implications of such a shift. Their discussion takes place in the context of a case study, that of Current TV, in order to illustrate in practice the opportunities and implications for the content producers, the broadcasters, and the viewers themselves.
Extending TAM and IDT to Predict the Adoption of the Internet for B-to-B Marketing Activities
Authors: Eid Riyad
Published: April 2010

There has been considerable Research into the usage of the Internet for Business-to-Business (B-to-B) marketing activities in recent years. The need to understand how and why B-to-B companies utilize the Internet is important for researchers and practitioners alike. This study combines Davis’ model-the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)- and Roger’s Theory- the Innovation diffusion Theory (IDT) to understand the process of Internet adoption for marketing purposes. It makes a comprehensive review of information technology, information systems, and marketing literature to locate factors that predict Internet use for marketing purposes. Moreover, it extends both TAM and IDT to find out factors that affect relative advantage, ease of use and compatibility of using the Internet for B-to-B marketing activities. Using a sample of 123 UK companies utilize the Internet, we found a substantial positive effect of the proposed factors on the Internet usage for B-to-B marketing activities.
Setting Rules of Play for Collaborative Modeling
Authors: Hoppenbrouwers Stijn , Weigand Hans , Rouwette Etiënne
Published: April 2010

A gaming approach to methods and tooling for operational modeling is proposed, emphasizing the interactive and creative collaborative modeling process rather than modeling languages or model representations. The approach builds on existing work in method engineering, but focuses on the creation of model-oriented interactive systems. Various game elements as defined in game design theory are discussed in relation to games-for-modeling. In addition, a number of possible game concepts (like competition, score systems, etc.) are considered and illustrated by means of two design sketches of multi-player games for collaborative modeling.
Personality, Emotion and Judgment in Virtual Environments
Authors: Murphy Steven A. , Hine Michael J. , Lupton Nathaniel C. , Zelenski John M.
Published: April 2010

As organizations become increasingly reliant on distributive technologies, the processes that underpin the effective functioning of employees in virtual environments require systematic examination. This article provides a theoretical framework for studying personality, emotion and judgment in virtual environments. The communication media characteristics, social context, and individual traits and states are presented to portray the dynamic nature of judgment formation in a virtual environment. We argue that media characteristics, combined with personality, motivation and emergent social contexts serve to shape emotions and resultant judgments. By integrating the Information Systems (IS) and Organizational Behavior/Psychology literatures, we chart a course for research examining personality, emotion and judgments, with implications for any distributed organization.
The Moderating Effect of Employee Computer Self-Efficacy on the Relationship between ERP Competence Constructs and ERP Effectiveness
Authors: Chien Shih-Wen , Hu Changya
Published: April 2010

The present study examines the role that employee self-efficacy fulfills in ERP effectiveness. For this examination, the study uses data from 116 key users from different companies with ERP implementation experience in Taiwan. Results suggest that ERP training and learning significantly improved ERP Effectiveness. However, regarding improved business performance, respondents with ‘high’ ERP-training competence had higher employee computer self-efficacy scores than respondents with ‘low’ ERP-training competence. Regarding improved integrated business resources, respondents with ‘high’ strategic IT-planning competence had higher employee computer self-efficacy scores than respondents with ‘low’ strategic IT-planning competence. The study identifies implications of employee computer self-efficacy for ERP implementation. Researchers should explore this topic to improve the future success of ERP systems in organizations. The main result (the moderating role of computer self-efficacy) is a potentially valuable contribution to theory and practice.
Mobile Commerce Adoption
Authors: Su Qi-Ying , Adams Carl
Published: April 2010

Existing technology adoption models do not explicitly differentiate between the buyer and user of technology, seemingly assuming that the users and the buyers are the same. This article reports on an investigation into cell phone/mobile phone use, with samples from China and the UK, the results of which show that the assumption that technology users can be automatically classed as the purchasers, is flawed. Further, there seem to be three distinct stakeholders, the user, the initial purchaser and the service payer and the relation between these stakeholders can be complex. The article presents a metric that captures six distinct relationships between the user, buyer and service payer which can be used to distinguish between different adoption groups. The article also presents an enhanced TAM that captures some of the complexity of the user-buyer-service payer relationship in the adoption process for mobile technologies. The metric and enhanced TAM may be applied to other consumable technologies and working environments.
Interoperability in Electronic Government
Authors: Gottschalk Petter
Published: April 2010

Police investigations are information intensive work processes, where information, intelligence and knowledge are important resources to solve crime cases. Often, information is needed from other police districts, customs authorities, hospitals, tax authorities, and other public as well as private organizations. Interoperability between electronic information systems can improve the efficiency and success of police investigations. This article presents the case of police investigations in terms of their value configuration and knowledge management technologies. Geographic information systems illustrate the need for information from various sources.
New Directions for IT Governance in the Brazilian Government
Authors: Perez Marzullo Fabio , Moreira de Souza Jano
Published: April 2010

This article presents an IT Governance Framework and a Competency Model that are being developed to identify the intellectual capital and the strategic actions needed to implement an efficient IT Governance program in the Brazilian Government. This work in progress is driven by the premise that the human assets of an organization should adhere to a set of core competencies in order to correctly prioritize and achieve business results that, regarding government issues, relate to public resources administration. It is now widely accepted that IT Governance may help the organization to succeed in its business domain; consequently, through effective investment policies and correct IT decisions the organization can align business needs with IT resources, achieving highly integrated business services.
Identifying and Managing Stakeholders in Enterprise Information System Projects
Authors: Boonstra Albert
Published: April 2010

This article focuses on how managers and sponsors of enterprise information system (EIS) projects can identify and manage stakeholders engaged in the project. This article argues that this activity should go beyond the traditional ideas about user participation and management involvement. Also suppliers, customers, government agencies, business partners and the general public can have a clear interest in the ways that the system will be designed and implemented. This article proposes to apply identification, analysis and intervention techniques from organization and management disciplines in the IS field to enhance the changes for the successfulness of enterprise information system implementations. Some of these techniques are combined in a coherent method that may help implementers of complex IS projects to identify and categorize stakeholders and to consider appropriate ways of involvement during the various stages of the project.
Environments for Virtual Enterprise Integration
Authors: Cruz-Cunha Maria Manuela , Putnik Goran D.
Published: April 2010

The Virtual Enterprise model relies on dynamically reconfigurable collaborative networks, with extremely high performances, strongly time-oriented while highly focused on cost and quality, in permanent alignment with the market, and strongly supported by information and communication technology. Networking and reconfiguration dynamics are the main characteristics of this model, which claim for enabling and supporting environments, assuring cost-effective integration in useful time and preventing the risk of leakage of private information about products or processes. Some existing technologies and Internet-based environments can partially support this organizational model, but the reconfiguration dynamics can only be assured by environments able to manage, control, and enable virtual enterprise creation/operation/reconfiguration. Several environments are introduced in the article, and particular focus is given to the Market of Resources, an environment coping with the requirements of the Virtual Enterprise model.
Successful Web-Based IT Support Services
Authors: Cooper Vanessa , Lichtenstein Sharman , Smith Ross
Published: April 2010

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.
Dance Dance Education and Rites of Passage
Authors: Dubbels Brock
Published: April 2010

The experience of a successful adolescent learner will be described from the student’s perspective about learning the video game Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) through selected passages from a phenomenological interview. The question driving this investigation is, “Why did she sustain engagement in learning?” The importance of this question came out of the need for background on how to create an afterschool program that was to use DDR as an after school activity that might engage adolescents and tweens to become more physically active and reduce the risk of adult obesity, and to increase bone density for these developing young people through playing the game over time. The difficulty of creating this program was the risk that the students would not sustain engagement in the activity, and thus we would not have a viable sample for the bone density adolescent obesity study. Implications of this study include understanding the potential construction of learning environments that motivate and sustain engagement in learning and the importance of identity construction for teachers to motivate and engage their students. In addition to the analysis of sustained engagement through the four socio- and cultural-cognitive theories, four major principals were extracted from the operationalized themes into a framework for instructional design techniques and theory for engaging learners for game design, training, and in classroom learning.
An Ontology-Based P2P Network for Semantic Search
Authors: Gu Tao , Zhang Daqing , Pung Hung Keng
Published: April 2010

This article presents an ontology-based peer-to-peer network that facilitates efficient search for data in widearea networks. Data with the same semantics are grouped together into one-dimensional semantic ring space in the upper-tier network. This is achieved by applying an ontology-based semantic clustering technique and dedicating part of node identifiers to correspond to their data semantics. In the lower-tier network, peers in each semantic cluster are organized as Chord identifier space. Thus, all the nodes in the same semantic cluster know which node is responsible for storing context data triples they are looking for, and context queries can be efficiently routed to those nodes. Through the simulation studies, the authors demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed scheme.
GA Based Scheduling Model for Computational Grid to Minimize Turnaround Time
Authors: Raza Zahid , Vidyarthi Deo P.
Published: April 2010

Scheduling on distributed systems is an NP hard problem and grid being a wide heterogeneous expandable system makes scheduling even a tougher job. Genetic algorithm, based on natural selection and evolution has gained popularity in recent times because of its effectiveness in handling optimization problems. In this article, a job-scheduling model for a computational grid with the objective of minimizing the turnaround time using genetic algorithm is proposed. The model evaluates various clusters in the grid to find the most suitable one with minimum turnaround time for the job-scheduling. Simulation studies compare the performance of this model with other similar models.
Harnessing the Cloud for Mobile Social Networking Applications
Authors: Rana Juwel , Hallberg Josef , Synnes Kåre , Kristiansson Johan
Published: April 2010

The cloud computing model inherently enables information from social networking services (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and so forth), context-based systems (location, activity, interests, etc.) and personal applications (call logs, contacts, email, calendar, and so forth) to be harnessed for multiple purposes. This article presents an agent-based system architecture for semantic and semi-automated applications that utilize the cloud to enrich and simplify communication services, for instance by displaying presence information, prioritizing information, and dynamically managing groups of users. The proposed architecture is based on the concept of aggregated social graphs, which are created from harnessed information about how people communicate. This article also presents challenges in achieving the envisioned architecture and introduces early prototyping results.
Mechanism for Privacy Preservation in VANETS
Authors: Chaurasia Brijesh K. , Verma Shekhar , Tomar G. S.
Published: April 2010

This paper proposes a mechanism for sustaining privacy of a vehicle in a vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) through pseudonym update. In a VANET, vehicles on the road are involved in dissemination of information as they move. An association can be formed between the physical location of the source vehicle and the transmitted messages. This relationship between the physical vehicle and its identity can breach its privacy. In this work, a strategy for optimal pseudonym update for maximizing privacy has been formulated when a vehicle is being observed by adversaries with different capabilities. Results indicate that updating pseudonyms in accordance to the strategy maximizes the privacy of a vehicle in the given situation.
Adaptive Routing Strategy for Large Scale Rearrangeable Symmetric Networks
Authors: Chakrabarty Amitabha , Collier Martin , Mukhopadhyay Sourav
Published: April 2010

This paper proposes an adaptive unicast routing algorithm for large scale symmetric networks comprising 2 × 2 switch elements such as Bene?s networks. This algorithm trades off the probability of blocking against algorithm execution time. Deterministic algorithms exploit the rearrangeability property of Bene?s networks to ensure a zero blocking probability for unicast connections, at the expense of extensive computation. The authors’ algorithm makes its routing decisions depending on the status of each switching element at every stage of the network, hence the name adaptive routing. This method provides a low complexity solution, but with much better blocking performance than random routing algorithms. This paper presents simulation results for various input loads, demonstrating the tradeoffs involved.
Road Traffic Parameters Estimation by Dynamic Scene Analysis
Authors: Mohana H. S. , Ashwathakumar M.
Published: April 2010

Traffic congestion and violation of traffic rules are very common in most of the road transport system. Continuous monitoring is becoming difficult. To improve the quality of road transport monitoring and control, the best possible alternative is machine vision. In this review, several works by researchers on traffic analysis are detailed, studied and reviewed critically for the purpose. Further, an attempt is made to classify the different road traffic analysis approaches available in the literature. Classification is based on principle used, algorithm adopted, techniques used, technology behind and other special considerations of the researchers.
Chronism Theory, Culture, and System Delay
Authors: Rose Gregory M. , DeVilliers Carina , Straub Detmar W.
Published: April 2010

System response delay has been cited as the single most frustrating aspect of using the Internet and the most worrisomeaspect of Web application design. System response time (SRT) research generally concludes that delay should be eliminated where possible to as little as a few seconds, even though delay reduction is costly. Unfortunately, it is not clear if these conclusions are appropriate outside of the developed world where nearly all of the SRT research has taken place. Cultural effects have been, hence, generally missing from SRT research. The one SRT study to date outside of the developed world did report differences using the theoretical construct of cultural chronism, and this finding could limit the generalizability of SRT research findings from developed countries to many economically developing nations. However, limitations and potential confounds in this single study render those findings tentative. The end of Apartheid in South Africa allowed an opportunity to conduct a longitudinal free simulation experiment that overcomes the critical limitations of this previous research. Subjects were members of historically polychronic and monochronic groups who had been segregated by Apartheid and now live in an integrated society with shared infrastructure and computer access. Results find that members of the historically polychronic group are more accepting of longer delays and are more willing to trade longer delays for improved functionality than are their historically monochronic counterparts. Furthermore, tests find that members of the historically monochromic population that came of age in a desegregated, majority-polychronic culture appear to be polychronic themselves and to differ significantly from the older monochronic generation. Results from this study can be applied to design culturally sensitive applications for users in the developing economies of the world.
Internet as a Source of Health Information and its Perceived Influence on Personal Empowerment
Authors: Paré Guy , Malek Jean-Nicolas , Sicotte Claude , Lemire Marc
Published: April 2010

The primary aim of this study is twofold. First, the authors seek to identify the factors that influence members of the general public to conduct Internet searches for health information. Their second intent is to explore the influence such Internet use has on three types of personal empowerment. In the summer of 2007 the authors conducted a household sample survey of a population of Canadian adults. A total of 261 self-administered questionnaires were returned to the researchers. Our findings indicate that use of the Internet as a source of health information is directly related to three main factors: sex, age and the individual’s perceived ability to understand, interpret and use the medical information available online. Further, their results lend support to the notion that using the Internet to search for information about health issues represents a more consumer based and participative approach to health care. This study is one of the first to relate Internet use to various forms of personal empowerment. This area appears to have great potential as a means by which consumers can become more empowered in managing personal health issues.
A Classification Analysis of the Success of Open Source Health Information Technology Projects
Authors: Katsamakas Evangelos , Janamanchi Balaji , Raghupathi Wullianallur , Gao Wei
Published: April 2010

As the number of open source software (OSS) projects in healthcare grows rapidly, researchers are faced with the challenge of understanding and explaining the success of the open source phenomenon. This article proposes a research framework that examines the roles of project sponsorship, license type, development status and technological complements in the success of open source health information technology (HIT) projects and it develops a systematic method for classifying projects based on their success potential. Drawing from economic theory, a novel proposition in the authors’ framework suggests that higher project-license restrictiveness will increase OSS adoption, because organizations will be more confident that the OSS project will remain open source in the future. Applying the framework to a sample of open source software projects in healthcare, the authors find that although project sponsorship and license restrictiveness influence project metrics, they are not significant predictors of project success categorization. On the other hand, development status, operating system and programming language are significant predictors of an OSS project’s success categorization. Application implications and future research directions are discussed.
The Girls' Computing Club
Authors: Heo Misook , Myrick L. Monique
Published: April 2010

This research was designed to increase the awareness of female students with regard to Computer Science (CS) as both a major and a career field. Five female students from a high school in a northeastern state were voluntarily recruited for a weekly, after-school computing club curriculum for one academic year. Over the project period, participants ventured through tasks relating to various technologies, thereby increasing their computer confidence. Collaboration preferences increased only when faced with both technical and content knowledge. Participants’ understanding of CS changed from abstract and superficial to more concrete, but disinterest in the major persisted. Finally, while the participants’ perceptions of gender differences changed, some of the self-reflections did not match their responses to structured questions. While the project impacted only a small sample, increased knowledge of the field of CS prevailed. If females are educated earlier, this may cause a noticeable shift in gender inequity amongst CS majors.
Business Report Writing Students' Perceptions of Their Ability to Succeed in an Online Environment vs. Students' Performance in an Online Course
Authors: Wilkinson Kelly , Crews Tena B.
Published: April 2010

The trend for online courses and programs continues to expand as today’s learners request an anytime, anywhere learning environment. To design effective online learning, data must be collected to review students’ perceptions of their ability to succeed in an online environment and their performance in online courses. This manuscript describes an experimental research study conducted with business report writing students in a College of Business. The control group was taught in a traditional classroom setting and the experimental group was taught in a blended learning environment. Students had a high level of perception of their technology abilities and ability to be successful in an online environment; however, there was significance different in performance between the two groups on assignment and post-test scores.
"Virtual Inquiry" in the Science Classroom
Authors: Toth Eva Erdosne
Published: April 2010

The article examines prior research on students’ difficulties with inquiry learning and outlines research-based decisions for the consideration of software-based scaffolds for inquiry teaching and learning. The objective is to detail research findings in a way that assists teachers in their development of pedagogical content knowledge as relevant to the selection and use of technological tools for classroom inquiry in the high school biology or college introductory biology classrooms. Employing a worked-out-example in the popular domain of DNA science, the article illustrates the research-based integration of instructional design decisions coordinated with the features of selected software tools. The coordination of software-design with instructional design has the potential of significantly enhancing students’ learning while also supporting the development of teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge.
Users' Perception of Internet Characteristics in the Academic Environment
Authors: Almobarraz Abdullah
Published: April 2010

This article examines the characteristics of internet that motivate faculty members of Imam Muhammad Bin Saud University (IMSU) in Saudi Arabia to utilize the Internet in their research and instructional activities. The framework of the study was the attributes of innovations offered by Rogers. A modified instrument was adopted to collect the data and measure the attributes. The result revealed that the majority of IMSU faulty members used the Internet for research and academic activities twice a month or less, indicating a low Internet adoption rate. Multiple regression analysis showed that all attributes of innovation individually predicted Internet adoption. The combination of all attributes indicated the model could predict Internet adoption among faculty.
Trust and Technology in Inter-Organizational Business Relations
Authors: Kumar Muneesh , Sareen Mamta
Published: April 2010

The emergence of inter-organizational system has facilitated easy and fast flow of information among the trading partners. This has affected the business relations among the trading parties involved. Though the inter-organizational systems have helped a lot in improving the business relations, the vulnerability and the virtual environment of such systems raise the issues of trust that may affect the long-term business relations. This article makes an attempt to empirically examine the relationship between the levels of assurance with regard to deployment and implementation of relevant technology tools in addressing the identified technologyrelated trust issues and ultimately enhancing the perceived level of trust in inter-organizational business relations. The empirical evidence presented in this article is based on a survey of 106 Indian companies using inter-organizational systems for managing their business relations.
Participation in Child Welfare Services Through Information and Communication Technologies
Authors: Tregeagle Susan
Published: April 2010

Case management systems were designed to open the way for increased participation of young people and their families in child welfare interventions, and, their standardised format provides a valuable opportunity to use ICT in social work practice. Existing research is unclear about how effectively case management affects participation, nor, the impact of ICT on social work interventions. This paper describes the findings of qualitative research with service users about their experiences of case management and how ICT could further their involvement in critical decisions for families. Service users are keen to use ICT and this could help overcome the limitations of paper-based case management systems and exploit the communication potential of the internet and mobile phones. However, before ICT could be used, the complex ‘digital divide’ affecting disadvantaged families would need to be addressed and social workers’ understanding and current use of ICT would need to be explored.
Deploying Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to Enhance Participation in Local Governance for Citizens with Disabilities
Authors: Bricout John C. , Baker Paul M. A.
Published: April 2010

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) offer a promising technology for citizens with disabilities to participate in local e-governance planning and implementation, provided that underlying issues of social exclusion and technology accessibility are properly addressed. Existing research suggests that for citizens with disabilities gateway issues such as technology access, usability, community- and government-receptivity are barriers to participation in local e-governance. Results from a pilot study indicate that the e-governance landscape for people with disabilities is heterogeneous; likely reflecting both differences within the disability community, as well as among the online governance entities. Systematic changes to the development, implementation, and evaluation of local e-governance for people with disabilities are recommended, informed by an analytical model suitable for empirical testing.
E-Accessibility and Municipal Wi-Fi
Authors: Baker Paul M. A. , Fairchild Alea M. , Pater Jessica
Published: April 2010

One of the typical design objectives of municipal Wi-Fi systems is the free or low-cost provision of connectivity for citizens, including people with disabilities and others impacted by the digital divide. This paper examines a range of municipal Wi-Fi implementation models for potential impact on e-accessibility. A comparative analysis was undertaken of sample U.S. and European municipal Wi-Fi systems to assess the business model and stakeholders involved in municipal wireless initiatives and to examine the degree of accessibility to or sensitivity of, municipal wireless systems for people with disabilities. As many people with disabilities are currently affected by social disparities in education and income, further marginalization of their communication and information access creates additional access barriers to critical information and full participation in community life.
Towards a Semiotic Metrics Suite for Product Ontology Evaluation
Authors: Leukel Joerg , Sugumaran Vijayan
Published: April 2010

In recent years, product ontology has been proposed for solving integration problems in product-related information systems such as e-commerce and supply chain management applications. A product ontology provides consensual definitions of concepts and inter-relationships being relevant in a product domain of interest. Adopting such an ontology requires means for assessing their suitability and selecting the “right” product ontology. In this article, the authors (1) propose a metrics suite for product ontology evaluation based on semiotic theory, and (2) demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of the metrics suite using a supply chain model. The contribution of our research is the comprehensive metrics suite that takes into account the various quality dimensions of product ontology.
Using Ontological Reasoning for an Adaptive E-Commerce Experience
Authors: Thomas Manoj A. , Redmond Richard T. , Yoon Victoria Y.
Published: April 2010

As e-commerce applications proliferates the Web, the authors are often overwhelmed by the task of sifting through the copious volumes of information. Since the nature of foraging for information in such digital spaces can be characterized as the interaction between internal task representation and the external problem domain, the authors look at how expert systems can be used to reduce complexity of the task. They describe a conceptual framework to analyze user interactions based on mental representations. They also detail an expert system implementation using the ontology language OWL to express the semantics of the representations and the rule language SWRL to define the rule base for contextual reasoning. The chapter illustrates how an expert system can be used to guide users in an e-commerce setting by orchestrating a cognitive fit between the task environment and the task solution.
Agents, Availability Awareness, and Decision Making
Authors: Russell Stephen , Yoon Victoria Y.
Published: April 2010

Despite the importance of resource availability, the inclusion of availability awareness in current agent-based systems is limited, particularly in decision support settings. This article discusses issues related to availability awareness in agent-based systems and proposes that knowledge of resources’ online status and readiness in these systems can improve decision outcomes. A conceptual model for incorporating availability and presence awareness in an agent-based system is presented, and an implementation framework operationalizing the conceptual model using JADE is proposed. Finally, the framework is developed as an agent-based decision support system (DSS) and evaluated in a decision making simulation.
Utilisation of Case-Based Reasoning for Semantic Web Services Composition
Authors: Osman Taha , Thakker Dhavalkumar , Al-Dabass David
Published: April 2010

With the rapid proliferation of Web services as the medium of choice to securely publish application services beyond the firewall, the importance of accurate, yet flexible matchmaking of similar services gains importance both for the human user and for dynamic composition engines. In this article, we present a novel approach that utilizes the case based reasoning methodology for modelling dynamic Web service discovery and matchmaking, and investigate the use of case adaptation for service composition. Our framework considers Web services execution experiences in the decision making process and is highly adaptable to the service requester constraints. The framework also utilizes OWL semantic descriptions extensively for implementing both the components of the CBR engine and the matchmaking profile of the Web services.
A Unified Localizable Emergency Events Scale
Authors: Rohn Eli , Blackmore Denis
Published: April 2010

Managers of emergencies face challenges of complexity, uncertainty, and unpredictably. Triadic constraints imply requisite parsimony in describing the essence of the emergency, its magnitude and direction of development. Linguistic separation increases as the crisis management organization is more complex and made up of diverse constituents. Therefore, a standard objective emergency scale is vital to quantify and unambiguously communicate the nature of any emergency. Previous work laid the foundations for an objective measurable emergency event scale. This article proposes a unified emergency scale based on a mathematical model, accompanied by several examples spanning local to national events.
An Efficient GIS Concept for Disaster Management in Developing Countries Based on Virtual Globes
Authors: Zeug Gunter , Brunner Dominik , Scavazzon Marco
Published: April 2010

Today the added value of geoinformation for crisis management is well known and accepted. However, experiences show that disaster management units on local administrative levels in the developing world often lack the use of geographic information systems for analysing spatial interrelations and making their own maps. Various studies mention the shortage of financial resources, human capacity, and adequate knowledge as reasons for that. In recent years publically available virtual globes like Google Earth™, Microsoft® Virtual Earth™ or Nasa World Wind enjoy great popularity. The accessibility of worldwide high resolution satellite data, their intuitive user interface, and the ability to integrate own data support this success. In this article, the potential of these new geospatial technologies for supporting disaster preparedness and response is demonstrated, using the example of Google Earth™. Possibilities for the integration of data layers from third parties, the digitization of own layers as well as the analytical capacities are examined. Furthermore, a printing module is presented, which supports the production of paper maps based on data previously collected and edited in Google Earth™. The efficiency of the proposed approach is demonstrated for a disaster management scenario in Legazpi, a Philippine city exposed to several natural hazards due to the vicinity to Mayon volcano and the annually occuring typhoons in the region. With this research, current technological trends in geospatial technologies are taken up and investigated on their potential for professional use. Moreover, it is demonstrated that by using freely available aoftware general constraints for using GIS in developing countries can be overcome. Most importantly, the approach presented guarantees low cost for implementation and reproducibility, which is essential for its application in developing countries.
A Coordinated Revenue-Sharing Contract for a Two-Stage Supply Chain with Linear Stepwise Inventory Holding Costs
Authors: Hou Jing , Zeng Amy Z. , Zhao Lindu
Published: April 2010

In this paper, the authors focus on examining the coordination mechanisms for a two-stage supply chain comprising one supplier and one retailer. The authors consider such a channel relationship that the transaction quantity between the two members is sensitive to the supplier’s inventory level and that the supplier’s unit inventory holding cost has a linear stepwise structure. They devise a coordinated revenue-sharing contract with bargaining so that each party’s respective profit is better than that resulted from the simple sequential optimization mechanism. The key contract parameters, namely the supplier’s inventory level and the retailer’s revenue-sharing fraction, are obtained and analyzed. Numerical illustrations of the contracts are given and shed lights on how the supply chain should coordinate in order to gain better performance.
Modeling and Analysis of Surgery Patient Identification Using RFID
Authors: Jeong Byungho , Cheng Chen-Yang , Prabhu Vittal
Published: April 2010

This article proposes a workflow and reliability model for surgery patient identification using RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). Certain types of mistakes may be prevented by automatically identifying the patient before surgery. The proposed workflow is designed to ensure that both the correct site and patient are engaged in the surgical process. The reliability model can be used to assess improvements in patients’ safety during this process. A proof-of-concept system is developed to understand the information flow and to use information in RFID-based patient identification. Reliability model indicates the occurrences of patient identification error can be reduced from 90 to as low as 0.89 per 10,000 surgeries using the proposed RFID based workflow.