bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Challenges in Building a Culture-Centric Web Site
Authors: Chan Tom S.
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the challenges in constructing a culture-centric Web site. The Internet has expanded business opportunities into global marketplaces that were virtually unreachable in the past. With business Web sites reaching international audiences, cultural differences are an important issue in interface design. Global Web sites must be culture-centric, taking into account the attitude, technology, language, communication, sensibility, symbolism, and interface usability of targeted communities. Site design and development also should follow the Unicode standard for multilingual support with implementation done on UTF-8-enabled operating systems and applications. Globalization has led many people to become more sensitive to cultural diversity. The author hopes that understanding and awareness of international user needs, limitations, and expectations will lead to global Web sites with improved usability and sensitivity.
Envisioning a National E-Medicine Network Architecture in a Developing Country
Authors: Lemma Fikreyohannes , Denko Mieso K. , Tan Joseph K. , Kassegne Samuel Kinde
Published: May 2011

Poor infrastructures in developing countries such as Ethiopia and much of Sub-Saharan Africa have caused these nations to suffer from lack of efficient and effective delivery of basic and extended medical and healthcare services. Often, such limitation is further accompanied by low patient-doctor ratios, resulting in unwarranted rationing of services. Apparently, e-medicine awareness among both governmental policy makers and private health professionals is motivating the gradual adoption of technological innovations in these countries. It is argued, however, that there still is a gap between current e-medicine efforts in developing countries and the existing connectivity infrastructure leading to faulty, inefficient and expensive designs. The particular case of Ethiopia, one such developing country where emedicine continues to carry significant promises, is investigated and reported in this article.
E-Government Payoffs
Authors: Srivastava Shirish C. , Teo Thompson S.H.
Published: May 2011

Using secondary data from 99 countries and IT impact literature as the guiding theoretical perspective; we examine the payoffs from e-government in the form of national performance. We do this by initially examining the relationship of e-government development with the first order government process efficiency parameters (resource spending efficiency and administrative process efficiency). Subsequently we examine the association of these first order efficiency outcomes with the two second order dimensions of national performance (reduction of social divide and business competitiveness). Our analysis reveals significant association of ‘e-government development’ with both the first order ‘government efficiency parameters’. Further analysis reveals significant relationships of ‘government efficiency parameters’ with the dimensions of ‘national performance’. Important role of ‘national business competitiveness’ in the reduction of ‘social divide’ is brought forth through post-hoc analysis. Through this research, we make some important contributions which have implications for researchers, practitioners, public administrators, and policy makers.
Image Watermarking
Authors: Tsirakis Nikos
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes image watermarking, the most common and widespread category of media files are images. The evolution of the Internet and the ease by which images can be duplicated and distributed has led to the need for effective copyright protection tools and techniques in order to provide a secure way to the producers and the owners of these media files. These techniques are described below with an introduction to information hiding. Various software products have been introduced with an aim to address these growing concerns; some categories are presented here. The fundamental technique which allows an individual to add hidden copyright notices or other verification messages to digital images is called digital image watermarking and constitutes the main part of the chapter. Finally authors provide future trends and directions of image watermarking.
Watermarking Techniques for DRM Applications
Authors: Piva Alessandro , Caldelli Roberto , De Rosa Alessia , Barni Mauro , Cappellini Vito
Published: May 2011

The need to safeguard the property rights of multimedia content from unauthorized copying and the possibility to determine the true owners of the asset can be faced by resorting to efficient digital watermarking systems. This chapter presents a mathematical formulation to define a digital watermarking system and describes the general requirements to be satisfied, with more emphasis given to the aspects of security, robustness, and imperceptibility. After this general discussion, the two main classes of digital watermarking schemes, namely the spread-spectrum watermarking and the side-informed watermarking are explained by highlighting their main advantages and drawbacks. This analysis is completed by the description of a practical implementation of a digital image watermarking scheme. Finally, the use of watermarking systems in the framework of a DRM is deeply analyzed.
Legal Issues for DRM
Authors: Papakonstantinou Vagelis
Published: May 2011

DRM systems have been implemented in the past few years by the Content Industry as the panacea against all copyright (and Intellectual Property Rights in general) infringements over the Internet. The validity of this statement shall be assessed in this analysis, identifying its strengths and record to-date and highlighting its shortcomings in an increasingly complex e-commerce (Web 2.0) environment. While doing this, particular attention shall be given to (mostly EU) Intellectual Property Law, Consumer Law, Data Protection Law, and Competition Law.
Web 2.0 Technologies and Science Education
Authors: Koh Thiam Seng , Tan Kim Chwee Daniel
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the potential uses of Web 2.0 technologies in enhancing scientific literacy and the learning of science in the K-12 sector. Web 2.0 offers services and products that could facilitate the learning of science by harnessing the collective intelligence of individuals connected to the Web through social networking. A framework based on social constructivism for thinking about the potential uses of Web 2.0 technologies in the learning of science is proposed. The use of Web 2.0 technologies could bring about a fundamental shift in pedagogy and assessment towards a participatory learning approach that promotes a deeper and more engaged understanding of science.
Course Assessment in a Teacher's Learning Community
Authors: Hlapanis Giorgos , Dimitracopoulou Angélique
Published: May 2011

How can we assess the effectiveness of a course that is implemented in the context of a technology based Learning Community (LC)? What are the features of successful courses? Under what circumstances is a LC created within courses? Such questions were explored during an educational program for in-service K-12 teachers concerning the use of ICT in their teaching practices. During the implementation of the program, a research study took place. Assessment issues were dealt with and one course was proven the most “successful”, according to specified criteria. In this chapter, features of this course are presented in detail. We studied the role of e-moderation and how different means of communication were used during the course implementation. During our analysis, we deduced that a key factor for the success of the course was the creation and evolution of a LC. Finally, conclusions, benefits and perspectives of issues presented are discussed.
Consumer-to-Consumer Electronic Commerce
Authors: Jones Kiku
Published: May 2011

Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) electronic commerce (e-commerce) is a growing area of e-commerce. However, according to a meta-analysis of critical themes of e-commerce, C2C e-commerce was only represented in the area of online auctions (Wareham, Zheng, & Straub, 2005). C2C e-commerce can encompass much more than just auctions. This study adapts constructs from a B2C e-commerce study of satisfaction (Devaraj, Fan, & Kohli, 2002) to determine what, if any, the differences are in the C2C e-commerce arena. The constructs include elements of the technology acceptance model (TAM), which includes perceived ease of use and usefulness; transaction cost analysis (TCA), which includes uncertainty, asset specificity, and time; and service quality (SERVQUAL), which includes reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Participants in the study answered questions regarding these various constructs in relation to their experiences with C2C e-commerce. The findings indicate that TAM, TCA, and SERVQUAL all impact satisfaction in C2C e-commerce. Reliability and responsiveness (areas of service quality) were found to influence C2C e-commerce satisfaction, where as they were not found to be an influence in the B2C study. These findings warrant further research in the C2C e-commerce arena. The study provides implications for future research and practice.
Understanding Outsourcing of Web-Based Applications in Organizations
Authors: Cata Teuta
Published: May 2011

This article has investigated the insurance industry and provided insights into the relationships of organizational size and age with outsourcing and organizational structure. Also, this study investigated the relationship between Web site age, outsourcing, and organizational structure. The main findings are that firm size and maturity is related to the decision of Web-based development approach and the best organizational structure to support online activity. The insights obtained by a new variable: Web site age suggests that insurance companies are trying to develop their Web-based activities within their existing organizational structures, rather than creating new e-commerce divisions.
Factors Influencing the Extent of Deployment of Electronic Commerce for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Authors: Chong Sandy
Published: May 2011

This study surveys the perceptions and experiences of Australian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the implementation of Internet-based Electronic Commerce (EC) as seen from the perspective of the extent of deployment. With a sample of 115 small businesses in Australia, this article uses regression modelling to explore and establish the factors that are related to the extent of deployment in EC. A multiple regression analysis shows that seven factors: perceived relative advantage, trialability, observability, variety of information sources, communication amount, competitive pressure, and nontrading institutional influences, significantly influence the extent of EC deployment by SMEs in Australia. The managerial implications are discussed.
E-Business Triggers
Authors: Sorensen Olav
Published: May 2011

E-business is key to export development for developing economy firms. There are however key barriers and facilitators to e-business adoption for small and large internationalizing firms the world over. This chapter sets to find out, by means of the testing of key hypothesis, the main barriers and facilitators of e-business adoption by Ghanaian export firms. We adopt a quantitative approach to this study and draw our study sample from a directory of active non-traditional exporters (NTEs) in Ghana. We find that an export firm’s international orientation, owner/management idiosyncrasies, e-sophistication of partners, export firm’s characteristics (age, number of employees and location) and weak government regulation have no significant influence on e-business adoption by Ghanaian NTE firms. On the other hand, competitive pressure (as measured by competition from Ghanaian export firms and growth in size of export operations) significantly facilitates e-business adoption. Internal resource constraints (measured by technological and financial resources for e-business adoption and business culture) and environmental bottlenecks (measured by lack of support from export sector regulators and export associations and high internet access fees carged by ISPs) also reduce the likelihood of e-business adoption by Ghanaian NTE firms. We find interestingly that Export facilitation (measured by pressures from GEPC and FAGE) and digitalization (measured by perceived importance of e-business in digitalizing export operations and improving export competitiveness) perceived to facilitate e-business adoption however exhibit significant negative relationships with adoption. We proffer some explanations for this unusual finding and provide general management implications for improving e-business practices amongst the various players in Ghana’s non-traditional export sector.
Determining User Satisfaction from the Gaps in Skill Expectations Between IS Employees and their Managers
Authors: Jiang James , Klein Gary , Wang Eric T.G.
Published: May 2011

The skills held by information system professionals clearly impact the outcome of a project. However, the perceptions of just what skills are expected of information systems (IS) employees have not been found to be a reliable predictor of eventual success in the literature. Though relationships to success have been identified, the results broadly reported in the literature are often ambiguous or conflicting, presenting difficulties in developing predictive models of success. We examine the perceptions of IS managers and IS employees for technology management, interpersonal, and business skills to determine if their perceptions can serve to predict user satisfaction. Simple gap measures are dismissed as inadequate because weights on the individual expectations are not equal and predictive properties low. Exploratory results from polynomial regression models indicate that the problems in defining a predictive model extend beyond the weighting difficulties, as results differ by each skill type. Compound this with inherent problems in the selection of a success measure, and we only begin to understand the complexities in the relationships that may be required in an adequate predictive model relating skills to success.
Beyond Development
Authors: Jin Leigh , Robey Daniel , Boudreau Marie-Claude
Published: May 2011

Open source software has rapidly become a popular area of study within the information systems research community. Most of the research conducted so far has focused on the phenomenon of open source software development, rather than use. We argue for the importance of studying open source software use and propose a framework to guide research in this area. The framework describes four main areas of investigation: the creation of OSS user communities, their characteristics, their contributions and how they change. For each area of the framework, we suggest several research questions that deserve attention.
Electronic Meeting Topic Effects
Authors: Aiken Milam , Gu Linwu , Wang Jianfeng
Published: May 2011

In the literature of electronic meetings, few studies have investigated the effects of topic-related variables on group processes. This chapter explores the effects of an individual’s perception of topics on process gains or process losses using a sample of 110 students in 14 electronic meetings. The results of the study showed that topic characteristics variables, individual knowledge, and individual self-efficacy had a significant influence on the number of relevant comments generated in an electronic meeting.
Privacy and Banking in Australia
Authors: Singh Supriya
Published: May 2011

Enabling customers to influence the way they are represented in the bank’s databases, is one of the major personalization, responsiveness, and privacy issues of banking. In this chapter we draw on the results from a qualitative study of the ways in which Australians think of privacy, security, and money. We find that changes in life stages, residence, and relationships motivate people to share additional personal information with their bank, in order to receive personalized services. The chapter proposes ways in which privacy rights management can help customers better represent themselves in a flexible manner, reflecting the changes in their lives.
A Multistage Framework to Defend Against Phishing Attacks
Authors: Chandrasekaran Madhusudhanan , Upadhyaya Shambhu
Published: May 2011

Phishing scams pose a serious threat to end-users and commercial institutions alike. E-mail continues to be the favorite vehicle to perpetrate such scams, mainly due to its widespread use combined with the ability to easily spoof them. Several approaches, both generic and specialized, have been proposed to address this growing problem. However, phishing techniques, growing in ingenuity as well as sophistication, render these solutions weak. To overcome these limitations, we propose a multistage framework – the first stage aims at detecting phishing based on their semantic and structural properties, whereas in the second stage we propose a proactive technique based on a challenge-response technique to establish the authenticity of a Web site. Using live e-mail data, we demonstrate that our approach with these two stages is able to detect a wider range of phishing attacks than existing schemes. Also, our performance analysis study shows that the implementation overhead introduced by our tool is negligibly small.
Designing Antiphishing Education
Authors: Ragucci James W. , Robila Stefan A.
Published: May 2011

Fraudulent e-mails, known as phishing attacks, have brought chaos across the digital world causing billions of dollars of damage. These attacks are known for their ability to exploit the human aspect of a computer system by pretending to originate from a source trusted by the victim. While technology defenses have been setup for protection, people are still succumbing to these attacks at alarming rates. Therefore, educational techniques must implement to strengthen the human factor of security. We propose the use of a phishing IQ test that when used in classroom setting can help users build experience needed to identify phishing e-mail during their daily routine.
Information Assurance and Security Curriculum Meeting the SIGITE Guidelines
Authors: Liles Samuel
Published: May 2011

Information assurance education is an interdisciplinary endeavor that only when taken as a holistic and inclusive educational activity can be successful. When considering the design and implementation of a curriculum that is set to meet standards set by outside agencies, the educational institution must use a flexible and repeatable process. Building a curriculum on top of a strong foundation will empower and facilitate success. Meeting outside agencies’ requirements, such as accrediting agencies, will close, if not eliminate any credibility gaps within an institution.
Research Notes on Emerging Areas of Conflict in Security
Authors: Murphy Donald , Gupta Manish , Rao H.R.
Published: May 2011

We present five emerging areas in information security that are poised to bring the radical benefits to the information security practice and research. We have selected these five areas based on extensive literature review and emerging trends in information technology and security. This is a theoretical discourse, which considers a number of research issues and paradigms and explores the relevance of some interesting research areas that have far-reaching implications for IS research. The chapter aims to stimulate discussions about the five covered research areas and in doing so responds to the call for information security researchers to be more aware of the research methodological options available to them. For each area, we have provided background and existing research along side rationale on why this area is becoming important and vital in the field of information security research. The chapter introduces five key areas of information security research that are gaining recognition and credibility to significantly aid information security practice.
Strategic Technology Planning for the Techno-Global Economy
Authors: McCready Al D.
Published: May 2011

Indications are strong that globalization is an irresistible force, fomented by, or at the very least, enabled by technology. This chapter refers to the technology driven aspects of globalization as “techno-globalization” and describes the role of strategic technology planning in the marketing of cities in this global economy. It describes strategic technology planning for information and communication technologies and its intersection with marketing planning. It is intended to guide managers through the technology planning aspects of ICTs and city marketing. In addition to providing practical guidelines for preparing a technology plan that supports the organization’s strategic and marketing objectives, the chapter explains many of the nuances of the preparation and alignment of organizational strategic plans using current information systems and organizational theory concepts.
Marketing Your City's Industries to the World
Authors: Robinson Nicholas P. , Ensign Prescott C.
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses the importance of making strategic investments in information communication technologies (ICTs) in order to benefit from globalization and the benefits created by robust exportoriented business clusters. Examples of investments made by local governments in India, Jamaica, and Hong Kong will illustrate how an adept ICT strategy can position a city to grow local industries and encourage exports. The authors argue that a coherent and comprehensive city marketing plan can attract and retain investments and play an instrumental role in the city’s future prosperity. Intelligent investments in ICT infrastructure that address a city’s unique attributes, objectives, needs, and competitive advantages can open up new export markets, especially in the service industry where ICTs can make local labour globally accessible.
Educating Our Students in Computer Application Concepts
Authors: Mykytyn Peter P.
Published: May 2011

Colleges of business have dealt with teaching computer literacy and advanced computer application concepts for many years, often with much difficulty. Traditional approaches to provide this type of instruction, that is, teaching tool-related features in a lecture in a computer lab, may not be the best medium for this type of material. Indeed, textbook publishers struggle as they attempt to compile and organize appropriate material. Faculty responsible for these courses often find it difficult to satisfy students. This chapter discusses problem-based learning (PBL) as an alternative approach to teaching computer application concepts, operationally defined herein as Microsoft Excel and Access, both very popular tools in use today. First PBL is identified in general, then we look at how it is developed and how it compares with more traditional instructional approaches. A scenario to be integrated into a semester-long course involving computer application concepts based on PBL is also presented. The chapter concludes with suggestions for research and concluding remarks.
Classifying Web Users
Authors: Lee Wei-Na
Published: May 2011

In today’s global environment, a myriad of communication mechanisms enable cultures around the world to interact with one another and form complex interrelationships. The goal of this chapter is to illustrate an individual-based approach to understanding cultural similarities and differences in the borderless world. Within the context of Web communication, a typology of individual cultural value orientations is proposed. This conceptualization emphasizes the need for making distinctions first at the individual level, before group-level comparisons are meaningful, in order to grasp the complexity of today’s global culture. The empirical study reported here further demonstrates the usefulness of this approach by successfully identifying 16 groups among American Web users as postulated in the proposed typology. Future research should follow the implications provided in this chapter in order to broaden our thinking about the role of culture in a world of global communication.
End-User Quality of Experience-Aware Personalized E-Learning
Authors: Muntean Cristina Hava , Muntean Gabriel-Miro
Published: May 2011

Lately, user quality of experience (QoE) during their interaction with a system is a significant factor in the assessment of most systems. However, user QoE is dependent not only on the content served to the users, but also on the performance of the service provided. This chapter describes a novel QoE layer that extends the features of classic adaptive e-learning systems in order to consider delivery performance in the adaptation process and help in providing good user perceived QoE during the learning process. An experimental study compared a classic adaptive e-learning system with one enhanced with the proposed QoE layer. The result analysis compares learner outcome, learning performance, visual quality and usability of the two systems and shows how the QoE layer brings significant benefits to user satisfaction improving the overall learning process.
Reflections on Knowledge Management Research and Practice
Authors: Jennex Murray E.
Published: May 2011

This is the third volume in the Advances in Knowledge Management and I thought it appropriate to start this volume with some reflection on where KM is at and where it is going. This chapter reflects on two key issues—the need to ensure KM is relevant and the risk of KM becoming a fad. The chapter concludes with reflection on the future of KM.
Knowledge Fusion
Authors: Keen Peter , Tan Margaret
Published: May 2011

The chapter proposes a simple framework termed ‘knowledge fusion’ to extend the rigor and relevance of knowledge management (KM). It points to some gaps in the current body of knowledge about KM, and provides a parsimonious set of ‘partitions’ that link to and from traditional knowledge management research and practice. It proposes that attention be paid to knowledge mobilization that reflects the demand side that is dominated by knowledge being part of individual identity and hence personal choice of whether, where, why and with whom to share knowledge and expertise as oppose to just understanding the traditional knowledge management that addresses only the supply side of information and the creation of environments for communication and collaboration, especially those “knowledge” largely being independent of the individual.
Developing a Knowledge-Based Organizational Performance Model for Improving Knowledge Flows in Discontinuous Organizations
Authors: Ibrahim Rahinah , Nissen Mark E.
Published: May 2011

Tacit knowledge attenuates particularly quickly in organizations that experience discontinuous membership: the coming and going of organizational roles or positions during a workflow process. Since knowledge flows enable workflows, and workflows drive performance, theory suggests that dynamic knowledge—particularly tacit knowledge—is critical for competitive advantage. This research seeks to extend established organization theory, through integration of emerging knowledge-flow theory, to inform the design of discontinuous organizations. Toward this end, we build a computational model based upon ethnographic study of an affordable housing project that experienced severe discontinuous membership. Analysis of this model reveals problematic theoretical gaps, and provides insight into how scholarly understanding of knowledge flows can extend organization theory to address discontinuous organizations. This research contributes new knowledge for designing knowledge-based organizations in discontinuous contexts.
Selecting the Right Knowledge Management Tools
Authors: Balmisse Gilles , Meingan Denis , Passerini Katia
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we update earlier research on the state of the art Knowledge Management (KM) tools and present key evaluation criteria that can be used by organizations to select the applications that best meet their specific KM needs. We briefly describe tools currently available in the software industry to support different aspects of knowledge management and offer a framework for understanding how these tools are clustered based on the functionality they support.
Knowledge Elicitation and Mapping
Authors: Jackson Paul , Webster Ray
Published: May 2011

This chapter is concerned with engaging end-users in the design and development of knowledge management systems. The identification, capture and use of contextual knowledge in the design of knowledge management systems (KMS) are key development activities. It is argued that tacit knowledge, while often difficult to capture, can be extremely useful as contextualising knowledge to designers of KM systems. A methodology was developed to combine soft systems methodology, causal cognitive mapping, and brainstorming to provide a set of knowledge requirements. The methodology appears to offer an effective platform for making sense of non-routine yet rigorous knowledge work. The interventions enacted by the consultant and involving project stakeholders and end users facilitates individual, group and organizational learning through a metacognitive process of understanding the relationships and dynamics of shared group knowledge. Engagement with the methodology, in addition to causing tacit knowledge to be made explicit, enables second-order ‘deutero learning’, or ‘learning how to learn’. The combination of activities presented forms a metacognitive process which is both a form of proactive individual and organizational learning and an endeavour which adds to organizational memory. The identification, capture and use of contextual knowledge and their use in engaging end-users in the design of KMS will result in better user-system interaction.
Different Levels of Information Systems Designers' Forms of Thought and Potential for Human-Centered Design
Authors: Isomäki Hannakaisa
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes a study clarifying information systems (IS) designers’ conceptions of human users of IS by drawing on in-depth interviews with 20 designers. The designers’ lived experiences in their work build up a continuum of levels of thought from more limited conceptions to more comprehensive ones reflecting variations of the designers’ situated knowledge related to human-centred design. The resulting forms of thought indicate three different but associated levels in conceptualising users. The separatist form of thought provides designers predominantly with technical perspectives and a capability for objectifying things. The functional form of thought focuses on external task information and task productivity, nevertheless, with the help of positive emotions. The holistic form of thought provides designers with competence of human-centred information systems development (ISD). Furthermore, the author hopes that understanding the IS designers’ tendencies to conceptualise human users facilitates the mutual communication between users and designers.
Modeling Sociotechnical Change in IS with a Quantitative Longitudinal Approach
Authors: de Vaujany François-Xavier
Published: May 2011

The following chapter suggests a critical realistic framework, which aims at modeling sociotechnical change linked to end-users’ IT appropriation: the “archetypal approach.” The basic situations it includes (the “sociotechnical archetypes”), and the possible appropriative trajectories that combine them, together with three propositions linked to the model, are developed. They are illustrated by means of a case study describing the implementation of an e-learning system within a French university. Then, the article presents an instrumentation of the theoretical framework, based on a quantitative longitudinal approach: the Process Patterns Recognition (PPR) method. This one draws mainly on Doty, Glick and Huber (1993, 1994), who propose to evaluate the distance between organizational archetypes and empirical configurations by means of Euclidean distance calculus. The adaptation consists of evaluating the distance between appropriative trajectories (embodied by series of theoretically specified vectors) and empirical processes linked to the implementation of computerized tools in organizations. The PPR method is then applied to the same organizational setting as the one related to the case study. It validates the relevance of this type of a research strategy, which makes it possible to model sociotechnical dynamics related to end-users’ IT appropriations.
Trusting Computers Through Trusting Humans
Authors: Adam Alison , Spedding Paul
Published: May 2011

This chapter considers the question of how we may trust automatically generated program code. The code walkthroughs and inspections of software engineering mimic the ways that mathematicians go about assuring themselves that a mathematical proof is true. Mathematicians have difficulty accepting a computer generated proof because they cannot go through the social processes of trusting its construction. Similarly, those involved in accepting a proof of a computer system or computer generated code cannot go through their traditional processes of trust. The process of software verification is bound up in software quality assurance procedures, which are themselves subject to commercial pressures. Quality standards, including military standards, have procedures for human trust designed into them. An action research case study of an avionics system within a military aircraft company illustrates these points, where the software quality assurance (SQA) procedures were incommensurable with the use of automatically generated code.
Supporting Text Retrieval by Typographical Term Weighting
Authors: Werner Lars
Published: May 2011

Text documents stored in information systems usually consist of more information than the pure concatenation of words, i.e., they also contain typographic information. Because conventional text retrieval methods evaluate only the word frequency, they miss the information provided by typography, e.g., regarding the importance of certain terms. In order to overcome this weakness, we present an approach which uses the typographical information of text documents and show how this improves the efficiency of text retrieval methods. Our approach uses weighting of typographic information in addition to term frequencies for separating relevant information in text documents from the noise. We have evaluated our approach on the basis of automated text classification algorithms. The results show that our weighting approach achieves very competitive classification results using at most 30% of the terms used by conventional approaches, which makes our approach significantly more efficient.
Training and User Acceptance in a University ERP Implementation
Authors: Bradley Joseph , Lee C. Christopher
Published: May 2011

Training is still a neglected part of most ERP implementation projects. This case study investigates the relation between training satisfaction and the perceptions of ease of use, the perception of usefulness, effectiveness and efficiency in implementing an ERP system at a mid-sized organization. We view training satisfaction as a necessary condition for technology acceptance. Our surrogates for training satisfaction are (1) training level prior to implementation, (2) training level when measured after implementation, (3) understanding of features and functions, and (4) perceived need for more training because these factors contribute to perceived ease of use and usefulness. A survey of 143 employees involved in the implementation of ERP in a mid-sized university was conducted. ANOVA and t-tests were used to explore differences in training satisfaction among groups of users by gender, job type, and education level. We found that training satisfaction differed based on job type and gender but not education level. Multiple regression analysis suggests that (1) post implementation training satisfaction is related to ease of use and (2) current training satisfaction and user participation are related to our variables for usefulness, which are perceived efficiency and effectiveness of the ERP systems in doing respondents’ jobs
Measuring and Diffusing Data Quality in a Peer-to-Peer Architecture
Authors: Milano Diego
Published: May 2011

Data quality is a complex concept defined by various dimensions such as accuracy, currency, completeness, and consistency (Wang & Strong, 1996). Recent research has highlighted the importance of data quality issues in various contexts. In particular, in some specific environments characterized by extensive data replication high quality of data is a strict requirement. Among such environments, this article focuses on Cooperative Information Systems. Cooperative information systems (CISs) are all distributed and heterogeneous information systems that cooperate by sharing information, constraints, and goals (Mylopoulos & Papazoglou, 1997). Quality of data is a necessary requirement for a CIS. Indeed, a system in the CIS will not easily exchange data with another system without knowledge of the quality of data provided by the other system, thus resulting in a reduced cooperation. Also, when the quality of exchanged data is poor, there is a progressive deterioration of the overall data quality in the CIS. On the other hand, the high degree of data replication that characterizes a CIS can be exploited for improving data quality, as different copies of the same data may be compared in order to detect quality problems and possibly solve them. In Scannapieco, Virgillito, Marchetti, Mecella, and Baldoni (2004) and Mecella et al. (2003), the DaQuinCIS architecture is described as an architecture managing data quality in cooperative contexts, in order to avoid the spread of low-quality data and to exploit data replication for the improvement of the overall quality of cooperative data. In this article we will describe the design of a component of our system named as, quality factory. The quality factory has the purpose of evaluating quality of XML data sources of the cooperative system. While the need for such a component had been previously identified, this article first presents the design of the quality factory and proposes an overall methodology to evaluate the quality of XML data sources. Quality values measured by the quality factory are used by the data quality broker. The data quality broker has two main functionalities: 1) quality brokering that allows users to select data in the CIS according to their quality; 2) quality improvement that diffuses best quality copies of data in the CIS.
The Didactical Agency of Information Communication Technologies for Enhanced Education and Learning
Authors: Wiesner-Steiner Andreas , Wiesner Heike , Schelhowe Heidi , Luck Petra
Published: May 2011

This article presents substantial results from two projects that deal with teaching and learning with digital media in basic and higher education and offers a new perspective on the active role of technology in learning processes. The first case draws on the project “Roberta—girls conquer robotics,” which was launched by the Fraunhofer Institute (AIS) with the aim to help promote girls’ interest in sciences, mathematics and technology. It suggests a new pedagogical approach towards the use of robotics in education and discusses how didactics and technology (LegoMindstorms) interact and how the character of robotics itself plays an important role here, such as it already comes along as gendered material. The second case focuses on distance education teaching methods in childcare management. The space left for practitioners in Higher Education is either to embrace the new media or to watch its inevitable unfolding. We take a critical stance towards that perspective and suggest that the shape and learning effect of new media in higher education is contested and evolves in communities of practice. No technologies are neutral and it is more appropriate to speak of technological and societal features as interactively fostering e-learning processes through distributed actions (Rammert, 2002).
Promoting Undergraduate Education with Agent Based Laboratory
Authors: Lin Hong
Published: May 2011

Agent-oriented design has become one of the most active areas in the field of software engineering. The agent concept provides a focal point for accountability and responsibility for coping with the complexity of software systems both during design and execution (Yu, 2001). It is deemed that software engineering challenges in developing large scale distributed systems can be overcome by an agent-based approach (Paquette, 2001). In this approach, a distributed system can be modeled as a set of autonomous, cooperating agents that communicate intelligently with one another, automate or semi-automate functional operations, and interact with human users at the right time with the right information.
Supporting Arguments for Including the Teaching of Team Competency Principles in Higher Education
Authors: Jewels Tony , Albon Rozz
Published: May 2011

For optimum workplace effectiveness in knowledge-intensive industries in which principles of knowledge management need to be applied, it is necessary to take into account not only the competencies of individuals themselves but also the competencies of the teams in which they must operate. Although the incorporation of various types of group work into pedagogies is already widespread within institutes of higher education, many examples fail to embrace a rationale for, or the potential benefits of, multiple contributor environments. We present in this chapter arguments for including the teaching of team competency principles in higher education, supported by an original multi-dimensional team competency teaching model, a taxonomy for assessing team competency levels and an example of the implementation of these principles.
Place Making Through Participatory Planning
Authors: Beyea Wayne , Geith Christine , McKeown Charles
Published: May 2011

Community planning is facing many challenges around the world, such as the rapid growth of megacities as well as urban sprawl. The State of Michigan in the United States is attempting to re-invent itself through place making by using participatory planning supported by new information tools, models and online training. The Michigan State University Land Policy Institute framework for place making includes Picture Michigan Tomorrow, an informatics initiative to democratize data and incorporate it into scenario planning methodologies and tools, and Citizen Planner, an on-ground and online training program for local planning officials. Still in the early phases of implementation, these initiatives provide promising models for use in other regions of the world that seek consensus among citizens, developers and government on the vision and plan for their communities.
Beyond Safety Concerns
Authors: Gonzalez Victor M. , Kraemer Kenneth L. , Castro Luis A.
Published: May 2011

The practical use of information technology devices in domestic and residential contexts often results in radical changes from their envisioned raison d’être. This study focuses on the context of household safety and security, and presents results from the analysis of the usage of video cameras in the public areas of an urban neighbourhood in Tecámac, Mexico. Moving beyond the original envisioned purpose of safety, residents of the community engaged in a process of technology appropriation, finding novel applications for the security cameras. These uses included supporting coordination among family members, providing enhanced communication with distant friends and family, looking after minors while playing outside, and showing the household to friends and colleagues. Our results illustrate that success in information technologies is a dynamic phenomenon and that technology appropriation has to be understood as a phenomenon that occurs at the level of the application of the device, rather than at the level of the device itself.
The Figmentum Project
Authors: Morgan Colleen , Polson Debra
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores how we may design located information and communication technologies (ICTs) to foster community sentiment. It focuses explicitly on possibilities for ICTs to create new modalities of place through exploring key factors such as shared experiences, shared knowledge and shared authorship. To contextualise this discussion in a real world setting, this chapter presents FIGMENTUM, a situated generative art application that was developed for and installed in a new urban development. FIGMENTUM is a non-service based application that aims to trigger emotional and representational place-based communities. Out of this practice-led research comes a theory and a process for designing creative place-based ICTs to animate our urban communities.
Voices from Beyond
Authors: Crow Barbara , Longford Michael , Sawchuk Kim , Zeffiro Andrea
Published: May 2011

The Mobile Media Lab (MML) is a Canadian interdisciplinary research team exploring wireless communications, mobile technologies and locative media practices. By developing interactive mobile experiences, we observe and reflect on the dynamics inherent in wireless immersive environments connected to a growing tendency towards ubiquitous computing or pervasive media. Our projects, whilst rooted in digital ephemera, treat physical territory as an active and volatile interface creating networked situations to connect the physical to the virtual. Our intention is to use media to quietly augment everyday life and to initiate novel ways of telling stories of the past by harnessing digitally rendered images, text and sounds. In our chapter, we will focus on two projects, Urban Archaeology: Sampling the Park and The Haunting, which were part of our work done under the rubric of the Mobile Digital Commons Network (MDCN, 2004-2007). We will use the phrase voices from beyond as a trope in our reflections upon the deployment of mobile media technologies and use of locative media practice to intentionally blur past and present moments. As we argue, archival fragments and ghostly images can be presented via handheld devices to use the power, potential and public intimacy of media dependent upon the presence of electromagnetic spectrum. In addition to key texts on locative media, we draw on Benjamin’s understanding of history as a sensibility whereby the past and present co-mingle in the minds and embodied memories of human subjects, Darin Barney’s notion of the “vanishing table” as an alternative means for engagement in technologically mediated zones of interaction, and writing on communications theory that deals with the spectral qualities of new media (Sconce; Durham Peters; Ronell).
Navigation Becomes Travel Scouting
Authors: Thielmann Tristan
Published: May 2011

Car navigation systems, based on “augmented reality,” no longer direct the driver through traffic by simply using arrows, but represent the environment true to reality. The constitutional moment of this medium is the constant oscillation between environmental space and two-dimensional projection space. Using the words of Walter Benjamin, one could also speak of a transparent translation of the world that should not obscure the original. In contrast to the prior generation of navigation systems, the orientation points of the “augmented map” are also fully linked with databases of other available information suppliers. Temporal information, in addition to spatial information, is becoming increasingly important with features such as real time gridlock reports aided by highway sensors and guidance to the nearest event. Does the future lie in the fusion of travel guides and navigation systems? This paper argues that future developments in urban informatics resulting from the convergence of cartographic, media and communication technologies can be inferred based on the increasing phenomenon of mobile augmented reality applications.