bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Collaborative Development Environments
Authors: Soriano Javier , López Genoveva , Fernández Rafael
Published: May 2011

More and more often organizations tend to behave like dynamically reconfigurable networked structures that carry out their tasks by means of collaboration and teamwork. Effective teamwork is an essential part of any non-trivial engineering process, and collaborative capabilities are an essential support for these teams. Software development is no exception; it is in itself a collaborative team effort, which has its own peculiarities. Both in the context of open source software development projects and in organizations that develop corporate products, more and more developers need to communicate and liaise with colleagues in geographically distant areas about the software product that they are conceiving, designing, building, testing, debugging, deploying, and maintaining. In their work, these development teams face significant collaborative challenges motivated by barriers erected by geographic distances, time factors, number of participants, business units or differences in organizational hierarchy or culture that inhibit and constrain the natural flow of communication and collaboration. To successfully overcome these barriers, these teams need tools by means of which to communicate with each other and coordinate their work. These tools should also take into account the functional, organizational, temporal and spatial characteristics of this collaboration. Software product users are now becoming increasingly involved in this process, for which reason they should also be considered.
Developing Synergies between E-Collaboration and Participant Budgeting Research
Authors: Dow Kevin E. , Greenberg Ralph H. , Greenberg Penelope Sue
Published: May 2011

Even though research in e-collaboration and participative budgeting have drawn from different theoretical backgrounds and have very different perspectives, the primary aim of both is to enhance group interactions, communication, and decision making. The purpose of this article is to identify potential synergies through which scholars in both areas can enhance future research.
Student Motivation in International Collaboration
Authors: Whatley Janice , Zaitseva Elena , Zakrzewska Danuta
Published: May 2011

This chapter introduces peer reviewing as a form of collaborative online learning, which can be used in higher education. Peer reviewing encourages students to engage in reflective critical evaluation of each other’s work through participation in online discussion with their peers, who may be located anywhere in the world. The advantages of such an activity for students are described, using the experiences from two cases. The chapter highlights the impact that student and tutor motivation has on the successful participation of students in online peer reviewing activities, as well as perceived benefits for students, including acquiring various skills, and development of intercultural awareness. There is a discussion of potential difficulties, such as timing and different expectations, along with challenges for tutors in designing an online peer reviewing activity, culminating in a template that can be used as an aid for tutors to use when planning an online peer reviewing activity.
The Interplay of Strategic Management and Information Technology
Authors: Tang Zaiyong , Walters Bruce
Published: May 2011

The authors trace historical developments in the fields of information technology (IT) and strategic management. IT’s evolution from the mainframe era to the Internet era has been accompanied by a shift in the strategic emphasis of IT. In the early days, IT’s contribution to the organization was largely information provision, monitoring and control. Current research at the intersection of IT and strategic management increasingly highlights the impact of IT in terms of informing strategic decisions and enabling information flow vis-à-vis all manner of organizational processes. We believe these fields are ripe for research focusing on their complementary impact on organizational performance.
Implementing Supply Chain Management in the New Era
Authors: Wang William Y.C. , Heng Michael S.H. , Chau Patrick Y.K.
Published: May 2011

Combining with the collaborations between business customers and suppliers, traditional purchasing and logistics functions have evolved into a broader concept of materials and distribution management, namely, supply chain management (SCM) (Tan, 2001). This chapter reviews the literature of SCM from several paths that can be the basis of a proposed framework for SCM within academic and managerial contexts. In addition, it includes the approaches of supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model, which was developed by the Supply Chain Council and is recognised as a diagnostic tool for SCM worldwide. This chapter also summarises the literature of performance control and risk issues in SCM and the SCOR Model and discusses a proposed framework for the future research.
Capacity for Engineering Systems Thinking (CEST)
Authors: Frank Moti
Published: May 2011

To successfully perform systems engineering and/or designing IT architecture roles, the systems engineers and IT architects need a systems view or a high capacity for engineering system thinking (CEST). This paper discusses the essence of this capacity, presents principles for developing a tool for assessing the CEST and presents a tool developed for use in selecting engineers for jobs that require CEST. A tool for CEST assessment may be useful for several purposes, one of which is the effective selection of candidates for engineering positions that require high CEST. The tool was tested and implemented in a pilot study aimed at examining its reliability and validity. Two types of reliability and four types of validity were checked. Then, a second study aimed at strengthening the results of the pilot study was conducted. The findings of the two studies indicate that the tool may prove to be a validated instrument.
E-Collaboration Using Group Decision Support Systems in Virtual Meetings
Authors: Switzer Jamie S. , Hartman Jackie L.
Published: May 2011

When e-collaborating, there is often a need to bring everyone involved together for a meeting. With potential meeting participants often widely dispersed geographically, the meeting could be conducted virtually by utilizing technology known as groupware. Procedures for conducting successful face-to-face meetings have been in place for many years. However, with the rise in the number of computer-mediated virtual meetings being held amongst e-collaborators, there are additional considerations to take into account when conducting virtual meetings using groupware. This article discusses the use of a particular type of groupware (GDSS) in virtual meetings conducted by participants collaborating in an electronic environment.
The Impact of Institutions on Interorganizational IT Projects in the Mexican Federal Government
Authors: Luna-Reyes Luis F. , Gil-Garcia J. Ramon , Estrada-Marroquín Mireya
Published: May 2011

Electronic government has the potential of transforming the way government works and interacts with citizens. However, recent research has found that the promised benefits are rarely completely achieved. Some of these studies highlight the importance of institutions in shaping the development, implementation, and use of information technologies in government settings. Based on a survey of Mexican federal government managers, this article explores the relationships between institutional arrangements, organizational forms, information technologies, and the outcomes of Mexican IT initiatives. Overall, it was found that there are important interactions among these variables and important similarities exist between developed countries and other realities, such as Latin America. The research presented here contributes to the field by testing causal relationships often cited in the digital government literature, but with little empirical quantitative exploration. Moreover, understanding those relationships offers guidance in the implementation of inter-organizational IT applications in government, potentially increasing their probability of success as well as the benefits for citizens and other stakeholders.
Supplier Capabilities and eSourcing Relationships
Authors: Yadav Vanita , Jaiswal Mahadeo
Published: May 2011

The forces of globalization have influenced organizations to extend the concept of IT outsourcing to IT-intensive business process outsourcing (eSourcing). Most of the research on managing outsourcing relationships has focused either on legal contracts or on strategic partnerships. Advocating a different viewpoint, researchers like Rousseau (1995) found that in reality everyday working of contractual relationships was governed by individual’s subjective interpretation and was fundamentally psychological in nature. The objective of this paper is to posit a relationship step model which projects a vital relationship management capability plus psychological contract perspective for eSourcing. It incorporates the stance of relational contract, interorganizational relationship and psychological contract theories. Using the qualitative research paradigm, the research model is preliminarily explored with case studies of two eSourcing suppliers. The exploratory results of this research indicate that relationship management capability of suppliers is an important factor shaping the outsourcing value proposition. [Article copies are available for purchase from InfoSci-on-Demand.com]
Knowledge Appraisal and Knowledge Management Systems
Authors: Standing Rasmussen Hannah , Haggerty Nicole
Published: May 2011

Knowledge management (KM) is a critical practice by which a firm’s intellectual capital is created, stored and shared. This has lead to a rich research agenda within which knowledge management systems (KMS) have been a key focus. Our research reveals that an important element of KM practice— knowledge appraisal—is considered in only a fragmentary and incomplete way in research. Knowledge appraisal reflects the multi-level process by which a firm’s knowledge is evaluated by the organization or individual for its value. The processes are highly intertwined with the use of the KMS. It therefore requires consideration of KA across multiple levels and types of knowledge across the entire KM cycle. To achieve this goal, we develop and present a taxonomy of knowledge appraisal practices and discuss their role in the KM lifecycle emphasizing implications for research and practice.
An Agent System to Manage Knowledge in CoPs
Authors: Soto Juan Pablo , Vizcaíno Aurora , Portillo-Rodríguez Javier , Piattini Mario G.
Published: May 2011

This paper proposes a multi-agent architecture and a trust model with which to foster the reuse of information in organizations which use knowledge bases or knowledge management systems. The architecture and the model have been designed with the goal of giving support to communities of practices which are a means of sharing knowledge. However, members of these communities are currently often geographically distributed, and less trust therefore exists among members than in traditional co-localizated communities of practice. This situation has led us to propose our trust model, which can be used to calculate what piece of knowledge is more trustworthy. The architecture’s artificial agents will use this model to recommend the most appropriate knowledge to the community’s members.
Medical Document Clustering Using Ontology-Based Term Similarity Measures
Authors: Xiaodan Zhang , Liping Jing , Xiaohua Hu , Michael Ng , Jiali Xia , Xiaohua Zhou
Published: May 2011

Recent research shows that ontology as background knowledge can improve document clustering quality with its concept hierarchy knowledge. Previous studies take term semantic similarity as an important measure to incorporate domain knowledge into clustering process such as clustering initialization and term re-weighting. However, not many studies have been focused on how different types of term similarity measures affect the clustering performance for a certain domain. In this article, we conduct a comparative study on how different term semantic similarity measures including path-based, informationcontent- based and feature-based similarity measure affect document clustering. Term re-weighting of document vector is an important method to integrate domain ontology to clustering process. In detail, the weight of a term is augmented by the weights of its co-occurred concepts. Spherical k-means are used for evaluate document vector re-weighting on two real-world datasets: Disease10 and OHSUMED23. Experimental results on nine different semantic measures have shown that: (1) there is no certain type of similarity measures that significantly outperforms the others; (2) Several similarity measures have rather more stable performance than the others; (3) term re-weighting has positive effects on medical document clustering, but might not be significant when documents are short of terms.
Lifelong Learning in the 21st Century
Authors: King Kathleen P. , Sanquist Sharon R. , King Seamus
Published: May 2011

Learning in the 21st century no longer ends with K-12 and college preparation. Instead, for those adults who will succeed in negotiating the demands of the 21st century, it must continue across their lifetime. More than merely a focus on lifelong learning, however, this chapter illuminates the specific needs and skills of lifelong learning integrated with life and work in the 21st century. The discussion of modern skills includes scope, definitions, issues and trends, current and emerging practices, recommended strategies, and a glimpse of the future. The cornerstones of this discussion include approaches to learning such as lifelong learning, self-directed learning, 21st learning skills, information literacy, collaborative, situated, and problem based learning.
Evolution of Adult Education
Authors: Mott Vivian W.
Published: May 2011

This chapter explores first the evolution of adult learning primarily in a Western context and particularly in terms of career and technical education. The discussion includes not only lifelong and self-directedlearning, but also the various contexts and venues in which career and technical education occurs. The chapter concludes with both the challenge and promise of e-learning in the field of adult and continuing education, asking what the impact of e-learning specifically may be for learners, stake-holders, instructors, and the field itself.
The Creation of a Commercial Software Development Company in a Developing Country for Outsourcing Purposes
Authors: Lubbe Sam
Published: May 2011

SDC has financial services knowledge with cross-industry technical skill capabilities. Their emphasis is on advanced development techniques and tools. The model they used is proving to be successful for all parties and the growth process had provided them with invaluable experience and expertise in the HR transformation. The lesson they have is that they need to ensure that they have a strong presence in the market.
Leveraging Knowledge Reuse and Systems Agility in the Outsourcing Era
Authors: Crk Igor , Sorensen Dane , Mitra Amit
Published: May 2011

Collaborative work groups that span multiple locations and time zones, or “follow the sun,” create a growing demand for creating new technologies and methodologies that enable traditional spatial and temporal separations to be surmounted in an effective and productive manner. The hurdles faced by members of such virtual teams are in three key areas: differences in concepts and terminologies used by the different teams; differences in understanding the problem domain under consideration; and differences in training, knowledge, and skills that exist across the teams. These reasons provide some of the basis for the delineation of new architectural approaches that can normalize knowledge and provide reusable artifacts in a knowledge repository.
Using Collaborative Transportation Management in Global Supply Chain
Authors: Tyan Jonah
Published: May 2011

Due to escalating global competition and a decline in profit margins, most multinational corporations pursue global sourcing through a global supply chain (GSC) in order to secure market share and improve profits. The practice of e-commerce and the business trend of mass customization force both manufacturers and retailers to shorten cycle time by managing GSCs more effectively. Successful applications of GSCs, such as that by Dell Computer, have been widely discussed and publicized in the supply chain literature. However, the physical distribution of GSC execution is recognized as its weakest link and can result in inefficient and unreliable product delivery. The collaborative integration with global third party logistics (3PL) to execute physical distribution dictates the success of any GSC application. This article introduces an application of logistic collaboration, namely collaborative transportation management (CTM), which is a new business model that includes the carrier as a strategic partner for information sharing and collaboration in a supply chain.
Improving Employee Selection with Online Testing
Authors: Pollack Jeffrey
Published: May 2011

Advances in technology now enable employers to utilize computers to administer online employee selection tests, which result in lower costs, increased efficiency, and fewer transcription errors (Richman, Kiesler, Weisband, & Drasgow, 1999; Tippins et al., 2006). Additionally, online employment testing software can effectively and efficiently assist in identifying individuals best suited to an occupation, reducing poor person-job fit, lowering turnover rates, decreasing training costs, and minimizing errors in hiring (Bingham, Ilg, & Davidson, 2002; Mooney, 2002). This article addresses issues related to online employment testing software including types of tests available, validity and reliability, proctoring, and social desirability. Additional terms are defined and implications and future directions for research are discussed.
Make, Source, or Buy
Authors: Ross Steven C. , Burton Brian K. , Tyran Craig K.
Published: May 2011

The College of Business (COB) at Northern Washington University (NWU) needs new data systems to provide reports and information both internally and for its external accrediting body. Dewitt Brown, COB’s associate dean, has been tasked with determining COB’s needs and developing recommendations for sources of systems. COB could develop the systems internally since it has database expertise among its faculty and staff. Or, it could outsource to NWU’s information technology staff. A third option, at least for some systems, is to purchase from an outside vendor. The decision is crucial: efficient, accurate reporting of data is key to COB’s strategic plan to continue its accreditation as well as ensure that operations are smooth as possible. If COB were to lose its accreditation, it would lose status and likely lose funding and students as well.
Globalizing Software Development in the Local Classroom
Authors: Richardson Ita , Moore Sarah , Malone Alan , Casey Valentine , Zage Dolores
Published: May 2011

In the dynamic global economy that exists today the operation and structure of organisations have had to adapt to the reality of the information revolution which has taken place. This has been the case within the software industry where global software development (GSD) has become a popular strategy and software development has become a globally sourced commodity. Given the requirement for graduates to operate in this type of environment, we as educators considered how our teaching methods could be developed and enhanced to instil GSD competencies within our graduates. We provided students with the opportunity to take part in a learning experience that transcended geographical and institutional boundaries, giving them first-hand experience of working within globally distributed software teams. Two separate projects were undertaken. One was with Siemens Corporate Research which was part of a larger project. The focus of this project was the shadowing of the development of an actual geographically distributed software product. The second project was carried out in collaboration with Ball State University, and the focus of this endeavour was virtual team software testing. Extensive qualitative research was undertaken on the data provided by the students. We identified three specific forms of learning which had taken place: (1) pedagogical, (2) pragmatic, and (3) the achievement of specific globally distributed competencies. Our findings would confirm that mimicking real-work settings creates the possibility of giving rise to the range of learning benefits that are associated with truly problem-based learning environments.
Digital Media and Sports Advertising
Authors: Fortunato John A.
Published: May 2011

Advertising and sponsorship in the area of sports continue to be a prominent way for companies to receive brand exposure to a desired target audience and obtain a brand association with a popular entity. The fundamental advantages of advertising and sponsorship in sports now combine with digital media to provide more extensive and unique opportunities for companies to promote their brands and potentially better connect with their customers. It is clear that digital media do not replace more traditional forms of sports advertising and sponsorship, but rather represent additional vehicles for promotional communication. This chapter begins by providing an explanation of the goals and advantageous characteristics of a sports sponsorship for a company. This review is necessary because developing an agreement with the sports property is required for sponsors to obtain exclusive rights to content (footage of that sport), and logos they could use on their product packaging or in their advertisements to better communicate a brand association. The chapter then offers four examples of companies using digital media to execute their sponsorships with sports properties: Sprite and the NBA, Verizon and the NFL, AT&T and the Masters Golf Tournament, and Wise Snack Foods and the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets. A fifth example looks at how sponsors are using another prominent media destination for the sports audience, ESPN. The chapter reveals the endless possibilities of what a sponsorship using digital media can include in the area of sports.
Motivations and Trends for IT/IS Adoption
Authors: Varajão João , Trigo Antonio , Barroso João
Published: May 2011

Over the past few decades, information systems and technologies have taken on a wide variety of roles within organizations, ranging from operational support to the strategic support of the company. Therefore, there have been significant changes in the motives for their adoption that are vital to understand to guarantee that investment is properly managed. With the purpose of identifying and characterizing the motivations currently behind the adoption of information technologies in large Portuguese companies, which systems the companies have been implementing, in which systems they intend to invest in short-term, and what is the current role of information technology within the organization, we carried out a study with the participation of several chief information officers. The findings of this study reveal that the reasons for adoption and the role that information systems and technologies play is evolving in Portuguese companies and that the adoption of certain types of systems like Enterprise Resource Planning systems is now consolidated, whereas the adoption of other systems like Business Intelligence systems should increase significantly in the near future.
E-Consumer Behaviour
Authors: Bourlakis M. , Papagiannidis S. , Fox Helen
Published: May 2011

Shopping online has emerged as one of the most popular Internet applications, providing a plethora of purchasing opportunities for consumers and sales challenges for retailers. The aim of this paper is to shed further light on the past and present status of the e-consumer phenomenon, by looking into online shopping behaviour and by examining the major reasons for being motivated or being de-motivated from buying online, focusing on the trust element. Building on that analysis, the possible future status of e-consumer behaviour is presented via an examination of ubiquitous retailing, which denotes the next stage of that retail revolution.
E-Government in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Al-Fakhri Maher O. , Cropf Robert A. , Higgs Gary , Kelly Patrick
Published: May 2011

Saudi Arabia is in the process of transitioning to e-government. Many of the Saudi government agencies have their own web sites; however, most are ineffective. Based on the findings of this study, the Saudis should consider several reforms, chief among which include the following: Increasing the awareness of its e-government program among its employees and the public at-large; making Internet access more available across the full spectrum of society; equipping public facilities for Internet usage; developing a legal framework for secure e-transactions; adopting a flexible approach to technological change and the IT environment more generally; providing IT training to government employees; partnering with the private sector to establish electronic fund transfers; and, finally, fostering 2-way communication between government agencies and between the government and the public.
A Semantics-Based Information Distribution Framework for Large Web- Based Course Forum System
Authors: Hung Chim , Xiaotie Deng
Published: May 2011

We propose a novel data distribution framework for developing a large Web-based course forum system. In the distributed architectural design, each forum server is fully equipped with the ability to support some course forums independently. The forum servers collaborating with each other constitute the whole forum system. Therefore, the workload of the course forums can be shared by a group of the servers. With the secure group communication protocol and fault tolerance design, the new distribution framework provides a robust and scalable distributed architecture for the large course forum system. The forum servers can be settled in anywhere as long as a broadband network connection to Internet is provided. Our experimental performance testing results show that the large forum system is a high performance distributed system with very low communication overhead cost. In addition, all course forums are classified by their teaching content relevance. Relevant course forums can be arranged on the same forum server together. Hence our distribution framework also provides a knowledge-based taxonomic storage solution to build a large digital course teaching material library.
IPSec Overhead in Dual Stack IPv4/IPv6 Transition Mechanisms
Authors: Mujinga M. , Muyingi Hippolyte , Terzoli Alfredo , Radha Krishna Rao G. S. V.
Published: May 2011

Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the next generation Internet protocol proposed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to supplant the current Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4). Lack of security below the application layer in IPv4 is one of the reasons why there is a need for a new IP. IPv6 has built-in support for the Internet protocol security protocol (IPSec). This chapter reports work done to evaluate implications of compulsory use of IPSec on dual stack IPv4/IPv6 environment.
Understanding RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)
Authors: Vowels Susan A.
Published: May 2011

RFID, also known as radio frequency identification, is a form of Auto ID (automatic identification). Auto ID is defined as “the identification of an object with minimal human interaction” (Puckett, 1998). Auto ID has been in existence for some time; in fact, the bar code, the most ubiquitous form of Auto ID, celebrated its 30th year in commercial use in 2004 (Albright, 2004). Barcodes identify items through the encoding of data in various sized bars using a variety of symbologies, or coding methodologies. The most familiar type of barcode is the UPC, or universal product code, which provides manufacturer and product identification. While barcodes have proven to be very useful, and indeed, have become an accepted part of product usage and identity, there are limitations with the technology. Barcode scanners must have line of sight in order to read barcode labels. Label information can be easily compromised by dirt, dust, or rips. Barcodes take up a considerable footprint on product labels. Even the newer barcode symbologies, such as 2D, or two-dimensional, which can store a significant amount of data in a very small space (“Two dimensional…,” 2005) remain problematic. RFID proponents argue that limitations of barcodes are overcome through the use of RFID labeling to identify objects.
Testing for the Applicability of the TAM Model in the Arabic Context
Authors: Al-Gahtani Said S.
Published: May 2011

The present study attempts to investigate the applicability of the TAM model in the Arab context and to extend TAM with three moderating/interacting human factors. Using a survey sample collected from 722 knowledge workers using desktop computer applications on a voluntary basis in Saudi Arabia, this study sought empirical support for testing the basic structure of TAM. Toward that, the study was successful as the structure of TAM holds well in the Saudi settings. This study also empirically examined an extended TAM by incorporating gender, age and educational level as moderators of the model’s core relationships. Our findings emphasize that most of the key relationships in the model are moderated. Specifically, age moderates all the influences of computers usefulness and ease of use on attitudes and intention to use. However, gender and educational level only moderate the influence of ease of use on attitudes.Implications for management and practice of these findings are discussed.
A Generic Framework for Bluetooth Promoted Multimedia on Demand (BlueProMoD)
Authors: Fouliras Panayotis , Samaras Nikolaos
Published: May 2011

In recent years many technologies have converged to integrated solutions and one of the hottest topics has been the deployment of wireless personal area networks (WPANs). In this article we present a generic architecture scheme that allows voice and other real-time traffic to be carried over longer distances. The proposed scheme is a novel framework that combines a wired backbone network including Bluetooth access points (APs) with the mobile Bluetooth-enabled devices of the end users. This scheme is called Bluetooth Promoted Multimedia on Demand (BlueProMoD). BlueProMoD is a hybrid network and provides free-of-charge communication among customers, multimedia advertisements, as well as location-based and other value-added services.
A Nelder and Mead Methodology for Solving Small Fixed-Charge Transportation Problems
Authors: Kannan G. , Senthil P. , Sasikumar P. , Vinay V. P.
Published: May 2011

The term ‘supply chain management’ has become common in the business world, which can be understood from the positive results of research in the area, particularly in supply chain optimization. Transportation is a frontier in achieving the objectives of the supply chain. Thrust is also given to optimization problems in transportation. The fixed-charge transportation problem is an extension of the transportation problem that includes a fixed cost, along with a variable cost that is proportional to the amount shipped. This article approaches the problem with another meta-heuristics known as the Nelder and Mead methodology to save the computational time with little iteration and obtain better results with the help of a program in C++.
Adoption of Web Services in Digital Libraries
Authors: Oguz Fatih
Published: May 2011

This chapter describes a research study with an objective to explore and describe decision factors related to technology adoption. The study utilized theories of diffusion of innovations and communities of practice as frameworks and a case study of Web services (WS) technology in the digital library (DL) environment to develop an understanding of the decision-making process. A qualitative case study approach was used to investigate the research problems and data was collected through semistructured interviews, documentary evidence (e.g., meeting minutes), and a comprehensive member check. Face-to-face and phone interviews were conducted with respondents from five different DL programs in the U.S., selected based on distinctive characteristics (e.g., size of the DL program). Findings of the research suggest that the decision-making process is a complex procedure in which a number of factors are considered when making WS adoption decisions. These factors are categorized as organizational, individual, and technology-specific factors.
Machine Learning and Web Mining
Authors: Lappas Georgios
Published: May 2011

This chapter reviews research on machine learning and Web mining methods that are related to areas of social benefit. It shows that machine learning and Web mining methods may provide intelligent Web services of social interest. The chapter reveals a growing interest for using advanced computational methods, such as machine learning and Web mining, for better services to the public, as most research identified in the literature has been conducted during the last years. The chapter objective is to help researchers and academics from different disciplines to understand how Web mining and machine learning methods are applied to Web data. Furthermore it aims to provide the latest developments on research that is related to societal benefit areas.
Developing Digital Literacy Skills with WebQuests and Web Inquiry Projects
Authors: Gibson Susan E.
Published: May 2011

This article identifies digital literacy as an important aspect of new media literacy at the K-12 level. Digital literacy includes developing the skills of information location and application as well understanding how to use available evidence to assist in problem solving and decision making about important questions and issues that have no clear answers. Two web-based examples of instructional strategies – WebQuests and Web Inquiry Projects—are suggested as ways to develop these and other important 21st century learning skills.
Explaining Semantic Web Applications
Authors: McGuinness Deborah L. , Furtado Vasco , da Silva Paulo Pinheiro , Ding Li , Glass Alyssa , Chang Cynthia
Published: May 2011

In this chapter, we introduce the concept of explanation for Semantic Web applications by providing motivation, description, and examples. We describe the Inference Web explanation toolkit that provides support for a broad range of explanation tasks ranging from explaining deductive reasoning, to information extraction, to hybrid integrated learning systems. We argue that an explanation solution such as the one we endorse is required if we are to realize the full potential of hybrid, distributed, intelligent Web agents that users can trust and use.
Examining the Roles of Mobility in Social TV
Authors: Chorianopoulos Konstantinos
Published: May 2011

Mobile TVs have been available for many years, without ever becoming very popular. Moreover, the first wave of research has been mostly concerned with technology and standards, which are necessary to ensure interoperability and market acceptance. Although, there has been a significant body of computer supported co-operative work (CSCW) and mobile human-computer interaction (HCI) research findings, there is limited investigation in the context of leisure activities, such as TV. In this chapter, the author proposes three concepts that drive the main paths for research and practice in mobile and social TV: (1) Mobile TV as a content format, (2) Mobile TV as user behavior and (3) Mobile TV as interaction terminal. Further research should elaborate on these three concepts and highlight the cultural impact of mobile TV.
Designing for Disaster
Authors: Potts Liza
Published: May 2011

Using the London Bombings of 7 July 2005 as a case study, this paper illustrates the need for sociotechnical interventions in systems design. By employing Actor Network Theory the author makes visible the active participants and technologies within the ecosystems of social software. Such visiblity provides insight to the designer seeking to optimize communication systems in the wake of disaster. Guidelines for improving systems and user interfaces based on disaster scenarios are described.
Entering the Virtual Teachers' Lounge
Authors: Dunn Randall
Published: May 2011

As communication and connection are essential instruments for professional educators, this chapter seeks to examine the effectiveness of an online “virtual teacher’s lounge” in the framework of offline communities. Essentially, an online discussion forum for educators is evaluated for the purpose of determining whether the forum provides a “space” conducive for the development of a community of professional educators as benchmarked against an understanding of offline community formation and existence. The foundational works of Ferdinand Tonnies, James Coleman, and Ray Oldenburg are used to develop 12 characteristics of community— as understood in the context of social communities. The study finds that online communities closely resemble offline communities in structure and interaction, but only for select participants. The participants observed demonstrating or facilitating the characteristics of community comprise around 10% of the total number of users participating in the analyzed discussions.
Managing Relationships in Virtual Team Socialization
Authors: Long Shawn D. , Picherit-Duthler Gaelle , Duthler Kirk W.
Published: May 2011

The traditional organizational workplace is dramatically changing. An increasing number of organizations are employing workers who are physically and geographically dispersed and electronically dependent on each other to accomplish work (Gibson & Cohen, 2003; Griffith, Sawyer, & Neale, 2003). Recent technological advances, combined with more flexible job design, have helped increase the number of people working in distributed environments. Hence, more employees are working individually and on teams that seldom, if ever, meet face to face. These virtual employees have the same work responsibilities as traditional employees in addition to the challenge of operating within the dynamics of these newly designed mediated workplaces. Rapid developments in communication technology and the increasing influence of globalization and efficiency on organizations have significantly accelerated the growth and importance of virtual teams in contemporary workplaces. Virtual teams are becoming more commonplace because of the possibilities of a more efficient, less expensive, and more productive workplace. Additionally, PaulLurey & Raisinghani, 2001; Piccoli & Ives, 2003).
Motif Analysis and the Periodic Structural Changes in an Organizational Email-Based Social Network
Authors: Juszczyszyn Krzysztof , Musial Katarzyna
Published: May 2011

Network motifs are small subgraphs that reflect local network topology and were shown to be useful for creating profiles that reveal several properties of the network. In this work the motif analysis of the e-mail network of the Wroclaw University of Technology, consisting of over 4000 nodes was conducted. Temporal changes in the network structure during the period of 20 months were analysed and the correlations between global structural parameters of the network and motif distribution were found. These results are to be used in the development of methods dedicated for fast estimating of the properties of complex internet-based social networks
Activity-Based Costing in the Portuguese Telecommunications Industry
Authors: Major Maria , Hopper Trevor
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines an implementation of an Activity-based Costing (ABC) system in a Portuguese telecommunications firm called Marconi. It is argued that they changed its management accounting system due to efficiency and institutional pressures from its constituencies following the liberalisation of the Portuguese and European Union telecommunications market. The replacement of Marconi’s “old” management cost accounting system by an ABC system popularised by the business mass media and consultants as a “progressive” management accounting tool, helped display expectations of dynamism and efficiency to important external institutions, such as regulators. Whilst it was used and welcomed by managers dealing with commercial matters, operational managers were more unconvinced and contributed to technical problems affecting its accuracy and operation. The divided reactions of the managers give support to both advocates of ABC and its critics who claim it is beset with problems of economic measurement, behavioural issues during implementation and operation, and questionable cost-benefit returns.
Creating an Analytical Lens for Understanding Digital Networks in Urban South Africa
Authors: Odendaal Nancy
Published: May 2011

Recent literature on African cities examines the way in which social networks function as critical livelihood arteries in the ongoing survival strategies of the poor. An understanding of livelihood strategies is not new, but these transactions cannot be defined in space or frozen in time. This terrain comprises a divergent range of intentions, communications and movements exchanged between a multiplicity of actors making sense of their life worlds; negotiating, scheming and bargaining. Urban life continues to be reinvented at the margins, despite prevailing exclusionary economic and social forces. The potential exists for harnessing these strategies for developmental aims—building on the social capital created despite the absence of, or in addition to, the usual resources available for survival. One of these resources is Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Clearly the “real-time” communication, information transfer and exchange functions facilitated by mobile phones, e-mail and the Internet create the potential for informed decision making around the use and distribution of scarce resources. However, this chapter begins with the premise that ICT can only be considered a meaningful development tool if it is appropriated as ongoing input into the day to day decision-making of the poor. It is at this scale—the local, the individual, the social—that the appropriation of digital technologies is examined. The social appropriation of technology is considered in tandem with the network strategies people employ to manage and access resources. A conceptual bridge between the theoretical foundations of actor-network theory and the more contemporary writings on the African city is constructed to posit a theoretical lens for understanding digital networks in South African cities. The chapter concludes with a number of methodological implications with regards to future research into ICT and social networks in developmental contexts.
E-Learning with the Network
Authors: Passerini Katia , Walsh Diana
Published: May 2011

This article reviews the use of e-learning in various organizations. It highlights recent changes in e-learning paradigms such as the shift from an individual to a social event where the power of the network is fully exploited by immersing learners in an interconnected educational experience. The discussion also maintains that the path to an effective e-learning growth entails the use of “temporary virtual communities” which are convened for a specific amount of time to achieve the same educational objectives. While current programs are not yet aligned with learners’ preferences, organizations are starting to understand emerging learning patterns and the new generations’ need for continuous interactivity, communication and collaboration in an ‘always on’ connectivity model.
A Cross-Layer Model for Video Multicast Based TCP-Adaptive FEC over Heterogeneous Networks
Authors: AL-Suhail Ghaida A. , Tan Liansheng , Kennedy Rodney A.
Published: May 2011

In this article, we present a simple cross-layer model that leads to the optimal throughput of multiple users for multicasting MPEG-4 video over a heterogeneous network. For heterogeneous wired-to-wireless network, at the last wireless hop there are bit errors associated with the link-layer packets that are arising in the wireless channel, in addition of overflow packet dropping over wired links. We employ a heuristic TCP function to optimize the cross-layer model of data link and physical (radio-link) layer. An adaptive Forward-Error-Correction (FEC) scheme is applied at the byte-level as well as at the packet-level. The corresponding optimal video quality can be evaluated at each client end. The results show that a server can significantly adapt to the bandwidth and FEC codes to maximize the video quality of service (QoS) in terms of temporal scaling when a maximum network throughput for each client is reached.
Multi-Dimensional Criteria for the Evaluation of E-Health Services
Authors: Hamid Alalwany , Sarmad Alshawi
Published: May 2011

E-health is an emerging field in the intersection of information systems, healthcare and business, referring mainly to healthcare services delivered and enhanced through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT). An important area of research is the evaluation of e-health services. A holistic e health evaluation framework should address the aspects that are hampering healthcare services from embracing the full potential of ICT towards successful e-health initiatives. In order to build a holistic evaluation framework for e-health services, this article suggests framework characteristics for the appropriate evaluation for e-health services. The article argues that e-health services evaluation framework should be criteria based. The criteria have to be multi-dimensional that grounded in, or derived from, one or more specific perspectives or theories. The proposed evaluation criteria in this article can serve as part of an e-health evaluation framework, improve our understanding of the role of information systems in health care, and develop our ability to deliver high quality services.
Tele-Practice Technology
Authors: Miller Thomas W. , Morgan Robert D. , Woods Jennifer A.
Published: May 2011

Telehealth is viewed as the removal of time and distance barriers in the provision of health care and patient education to underserved populations. Examined is a twenty first century clinical consultation model of healthcare. Offered are specific applications within a broad spectrum of services utilizing telehealth technology. Important technology shifts for administrative paradigms, clinical models, and educational information technology for healthcare services through telehealth technology are examined. The future of telehealth and its interface with various critical components of society needs to examine the potential benefits over risks in providing healthcare consultations and services through the educational settings available. Addressed is a technology model, which demonstrates the capability of reducing time and distance barriers in the provision of health care and education through telehealth technology. The use of telehealth technology in rural settings is seen as a viable medium for providing needed diagnostic and clinical consultation for underserved and rural.