bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Measuring the Human Element in Complex Technologies
Authors: McNamara Niamh , Kirakowski Jurek
Published: May 2011

Measuring satisfaction can provide developers with valuable insight into the usability of a product as perceived by the user. Although such measures are typically included in usability evaluations, it is clear that the concept itself is under-developed. The literature reveals a lack of cumulative, systematic research and consequently the field is in “disarray” (Hornbæk, 2006). Clearly, the area needs a strong theoretical foundation on which to base research. This paper reviews the literature on user satisfaction and proposes a conceptualisation and definition of the concept that will aid researchers in the development of valid measures.
An Activity-Oriented Approach to Designing a User Interface for Digital Television
Authors: Hwa Hsu Shang , Weng Ming-Hu , Lee Cha-Hoang
Published: May 2011

This chapter proposes an activity-oriented approach to digital television (DTV) user interface design. Our approach addresses DTV usefulness and usability issues and entails two phases. A user activity analysis is conducted in phase one, and activities and their social/cultural context are identified. DTV service functions are then conceived to support user activities and their context. DTV service usefulness can be ensured as a result. The user interface design considers both activity requirements and user requirements such as user’s related product experience, mental model, and preferences in phase two. Consequently, DTV usability is achieved. A DTV user interface concept is thus proposed. The interface design concept contains the following design features: activityoriented user interface flow, remote control for universal access, shallow menu hierarchy, display management, adaptive information presentation, and context sensitive functions. Usability evaluation results indicate that the user interface is easy to use to all participants.
Understanding the Nature of Task Analysis in Web Design
Authors: Farmer Rod , Gruba Paul
Published: May 2011

Designing usable Web-based interfaces challenges practitioners to carefully consider end-user behaviour and requirements. Unfortunately, in meeting this challenge, human-computer interaction (HCI), task analysis is often poorly understood and applied during Web design activities. Rather than purely evaluating usability against prescriptive guidelines, we argue that designing for Web-based interaction requires a more holistic and descriptive approach. This chapter provides an overview of cognitive and postcognitive HCI task analysis frameworks, and their respective abilities to capture a systemic view of stakeholder requirements. As such, this chapter provides a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners alike.
Speech-Centric Multimodal User Interface Design in Mobile Technology
Authors: Yu Dong , Deng Li
Published: May 2011

Multimodal user interface (MUI) allows users to interact with a computer system through multiple human-computer communication channels or modalities. Users have the freedom to choose one or more modalities at the same time. MUI is especially important in mobile devices due to the limited display and keyboard size. In this chapter, we provide a survey of the MUI design in mobile technology with a speech-centric view based on our research and experience in this area (e.g., MapPointS and MiPad). In the context of several carefully chosen case studies, we discuss the main issues related to the speech-centric MUI in mobile devices, current solutions, and future directions.
MASACAD
Authors: Salah Hamdi Mohamed
Published: May 2011

The evolution of the Internet into the Global Information Infrastructure has led to an explosion in the amount of available information. Realizing the vision of distributed knowledge access in this scenario and its future evolution will need tools to customize the information space. In this article we present MASACAD, a multi-agent system that learns to advise students and discuss important problems in relationship to information customization systems and smooth the way for possible solutions. The main idea is to approach information customization using a multi-agent paradigm.
Widely Usable User Interfaces on Mobile Devices with RFID
Authors: Bellotti Francesco , Berta Riccardo , De Gloria Alessandro , Margarone Massimiliano
Published: May 2011

Diffusion of radio frequency identification (RFID) promises to boost the added value of assistive technologies for mobile users. Visually impaired people may benefit from RFID-based applications that support users in maintaining “spatial orientation” (Mann, 2004) through provision of information on where they are, and a description of what lies in their surroundings. To investigate this issue, we have integrated our development tool for mobile device, (namely: MADE, Bellotti, Berta, De Gloria, & Margarone, 2003), with a complete support for RFID tag detection, and implemented an RFID-enabled location-aware tour-guide. We have evaluated the guide in an . ecological context (fully operational application, real users, real context of use (Abowd & Mynatt, 2000)) during the EuroFlora 2006 international exhibition (EuroFlora). In this chapter, we describe the MADE enhancement to support RFID-based applications, present the main concepts of the interaction modalities we have designed in order to support visually impaired users, and discuss results from our field experience.
Innovative Technologies for Education and Learning
Authors: Hsu Jeffrey
Published: May 2011

A number of new communications technologies have emerged in recent years that have been largely regarded and intended for personal and recreational use. However, these “conversational technologies” and “constructivist learning tools,” coupled with the power and reach of the Internet, have made them viable choices for both educational learning and knowledge-oriented applications. The technologies given attention in this article include instant messaging (IM), Weblogs (blogs), wikis, and podcasts. A discussion of the technologies and uses, underlying educational and cognitive psychology theories, and also applications for education and the management of knowledge, are examined in detail. The implications for education, as well as areas for future research are also explored.
Facilitating E-Learning with Social Software
Authors: Bernsteiner Reinhard , Ostermann Herwig , Staudinger Roland
Published: May 2011

This article explores how social software tools can offer support for innovative learning methods and instructional design in general, and those related to self-organized learning in an academic context in particular. In the first section, the theoretical basis for the integration of wikis, discussion forums, and Weblogs in the context of learning are discussed. The second part presents the results of an empirical survey conducted by the authors and explores the usage of typical social software tools that support learning from a student’s perspective. The article concludes that social software tools have the potential to be a fitting technology in a teaching and learning environment.
Gender, Race, Social Class and Information Technology
Authors: Klassen Myungsook , Stockard Russell
Published: May 2011

The issue of the underrepresentation of women in the information technology workforce has been the subject of a number of studies and the gender gap was an issue when the digital divide dominated discourse about women’s and minority groups’ use of the Internet However, a broader view is needed. That perspective would include the relation of women and IT in the communities in which they live as well as the larger society. The information society that has emerged includes the United States and the globalized economy of which it is an integral part. Women and minorities such as African Americans and Latinos are underrepresented in computer science (CS) and other information technology positions in the United States. In addition, while they areno longer numerically underrepresented in access to computers and the Internet – as of 2000, (Gorski, 2001) - they continue to enjoy fewer benefits available through the medium than white boys and men. The following article explores the diversity within women from the perspectives of race, ethnicity and social class in North America, mainly United States. The technology gender and racial gap persists in education and in the IT workforce. A broader and deeper look at women’s position in relation to the increasingly techno-centric society reveals that women may have reached equality in access, but not equity in academic study and job opportunities.
Ontologies for Scalable Services-Based Ubiquitous Computing
Authors: Oberle Daniel , Bornhövd Christof , Altenhofen Michael
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses scalability problems and solutions to services-based ubiquitous computing applications in real time enterprises. The scalability problems are (1) identifying relevant services for deployment, (2) verifying a composition by a logical rule framework, and (3) enabling the mapping of required services to the “best” available device. We argue that ontologies can help to counter these challenges. Subsequently, we provide a detailed introduction to ontologies. We focus on the ontology languages emerging from the corresponding W3C Semantic Web activity. The W3C recommendations have a high impact on future tools and the interoperability of ontology-based applications. We contrast the pros and cons of ontologies at a general level and demonstrate the benefits and challenges in our concrete smart items middleware.
Discourses in Gender and Technology
Authors: French Sheila
Published: May 2011

The majority of women are not involved in the design, manufacturing or shaping of technology in many Western societies. This is at a time when governments globally see technology as an enabler to economic success. Using feminist scholarship and discourse analysis, this chapter questions why patterns of gender segregation prevail in technology related fields in the United Kingdom. The chapter critically analyses why government policy, and equal opportunities initiatives, have so far largely failed to increase women’s participation. Using examples taken from two educational settings, the chapter uses the narratives of individual’s experiences of technology, their engagement, or lack of engagement with it, to examine the dominant discourses of the field. It is argued that technology discourses, which shape our understanding and identity with technology, are gendered. It is argued that current policies and initiatives, based on giving women equality of access will continue to make little difference. Until gendered dominant discourses of technology are deconstructed and examined; we will not have the tools to address the current situation of gender segregation.
Trusting Computers Through Trusting Humans
Authors: Adam Alison , Spedding Paul
Published: May 2011

This article 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 verifi- cation 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.
Conditions for Web-Based Learning with Real Events
Authors: Bastiaens Theo J. , Martens Rob L.
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents two converging developments. Traditionally, learning at schools or universities and working in a professional context were relatively separated. Companies often complain that students know a lot ‘facts’ but are not ‘competent.’ On the other hand at schools and universities students often complain that they can’t see the relevance of a certain subject. This chapter deals with the two converging worlds: traditional distance training (such as employed at for instance open universities all over the world) and in company training. ICT and competence-based education are bringing the two together, resulting in a combined working/learning mode, which we will describe as learning with real cases. This leads to more self-study or independent learning. Figure 1 presents an overview of the different facets of the tendency to learn with real cases. This chapter will start with a description of distance education since many things can be learned from this. Then, developments in the business or professional context will be presented. We will stress that there is a convergence leading to ‘learning with real cases’. After a description of this development, learning with real cases, as well as pitfalls and recommendations will be discussed.
Theory Supporting Design Guidelines for Web-Based Instruction
Authors: Leflore Dorothy
Published: May 2011

More and more universities are turning to Web-based instruction in order to accommodate a larger student population. Much of the coursework available online follows the traditional packet type system that has been available for printed correspondence courses. The major difference has been synchronous and asynchronous communication, not just between the instructor and students but among the students. However, learning can be enhanced if attention is given to how the material to be learned is presented and how students are required to interact with and interpret the material. Learning theories can be used to provide sound guidelines for designing a variety of presentation modes and student activities online. Examples provided later in this chapter come from an on-line course in Learning Theories at North Carolina A & T State University which was designed and taught by Karen Smith-Gratto. A primary theory to consider is Gestalt theory because the main focus of Gestalt theorists was to explore perception and its relationship to learning. Smith-Gratto and Fisher (1998-99) stated “The screens rely heavily on the ‘visual perception’ of the learner” (p. 3). Consequently, the Laws of Perception should be the foundation for visually designing and evaluating the Web-based instructional page. Some of the Laws of Perception that would be beneficial in designing Web-based instructional pages are figure-ground contrast, simplicity, proximity, similarity, symmetry, and closure. In addition to the Laws of Perception, Gestalt theory can also provide guidance in the development of activities for students to engage in during the Web-based learning experience. While modern cognitive theory is in some respects an outgrowth of Gestalt theory, there are differences that can be exploited to provide additional approaches to Web-based instruction. There are several approaches from cognitive theory that can be used to help design what appears on the Web-based instructional page and help design student interactions. Cognitive mapping or webbing, concept attainment activities, and use of motivational graphics, animations and sounds are ways that cognitive theory can substantially contribute to the instruction. In addition to Gestalt and cognitive theory, constructivism can be drawn upon to create Web-based instructional activities that require students to approach learning in different ways. Guidelines for developing Constructivist based activities require that students be given active and engaging tasks that require more than minimal intellectual involvement. Examples of such tasks include student development of models and metaphors to explain what they are learning. Students can be provided with demonstration simulations that are not explained. Students are then required to explain what happened within the demonstration and construct definitions and explanations based upon what they observed. In addition to these types of activities, students can be required to participate in on-line problem solving activities both alone and with other students.
Faculty Development for Web-Based Teaching
Authors: Robinson Paulette , Borkowski Ellen Yu
Published: May 2011

At the institutional level, Web-based teaching focuses on faculty development. In the 1980s and 1990s, campuses invested their resources on building an infrastructure—putting computers and connective systems in place. Hand-in-hand with the development of an infrastructure is the proliferation of the World Wide Web (WWW). This near ubiquitous phenomenon has provided a common graphic based interface that campuses can use to communicate to a larger audience both internally and externally. It is not surprising then, that attention is now turning to the use of computers to deliver instruction. However, just having a technology infrastructure does not mean that faculty will use it as a part of their teaching. This chapter will examine a faculty development process focused on Web-based instruction within a major research university, faculty reactions to the process, the issues that faculty are facing in Web-based teaching, technology and instructional support, and a glimpse at the future.
Health Communication Program
Authors: Piotrow Phyllis T. , Kahn Omar A. , Benjamin V. L. , Khan Salwa
Published: May 2011

The use of distance learning in higher education is not a new concept (Worlock, 1987). Old-fashioned correspondence courses served this purpose for many years, appealing to those who could not attend classes in an institutional setting. Radio learning programs have beamed lessons on mathematics, science and other subjects around the world. The Internet has brought a new dimension to this concept: distance learning now means the opportunity to mirror rather than merely supplement classroom experience (Taub, 1997). Distance learning options encompass a range of delivery options, both synchronous and asynchronous. The synchronous approach can include real-time interaction between course faculty and students, while asynchronous approaches rely more on downloading course slides, audio and video from a Web site, which may be supplemented by e-mail contact (Clark, 1999). In the current environment, it is increasingly common to find courses that mix synchronous and asynchronous modes of delivery. The virtual classroom can include real-time Web-based videoconferencing with teachers and students, Web pages with course slides and content to be reviewed by the user, and the more traditional e-mail and telephone exchanges (Clark, 1999). In addition, the synchronous modes such as videoconferencing are frequently backed up in an asynchronous format, usually as transcripts capable of being accessed by the user after the session has concluded. Along with modes of delivery, the expectations for Web-based learning have grown as well, with today’s users becoming ever more sophisticated. In the U.S. and around the world, individuals and corporations are increasing their spending on high-technology education (Clark, 1999) through a variety of institutions such as traditional universities, specialized institutes, in-house training divisions, and Web-based virtual education programs. The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health is an acknowledged leader in the teaching and practice of public health. In 1996, the School began exploring ways to reach beyond the walls of the traditional classroom to provide public health education through the technology now widely accessible. As a result of a competitive proposal submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the School of Public Health was one of four schools selected with the purpose of developing a distance-education curriculum, to upgrade the knowledge and skills of mid-career public health staff of that agency. The overall curriculum was designed to lead to a Graduate Certificate in Public Health. This certificate also met approximately one-half of the core requirements for the MPH degree, the most frequently awarded degree in the school.
Using a Course Web Site to Enhance Traditional Lecture Style Courses
Authors: Malaga Ross A.
Published: May 2011

This chapter examines the role of the World Wide Web in traditional lecture based courses. It details a student oriented approach to the development and maintenance of course Web sites. An experiment was conducted in order to determine if use of a course Web site improves student performance. The surprising results, that students in certain sections did not use the site at all, are analyzed. It was concluded that using the Web in class and making Web assignments part of student’s graded work may impact use of a course Web site.
Health Information Management and Individual Privacy
Authors: Tan Felix B. , Gunasekara Gehan
Published: May 2011

The chapter reports on recent developments in the management of health information in New Zealand and the implications these initiatives have raised regarding individual privacy. Set up in 1993 to implement the country’s health information strategy, the New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS) has recently established a national health register. At the heart of this development are three national databases: the National Health Index, the Medical Warnings System and the National Minimum Data Set. These applications and their functions are presented. Also discussed is a number of other health information management initiatives currently being explored. The chapter contends that these initiatives under the guise of advancing the nation’s health may, instead, be infringing the privacy and confidentiality of the nation’s citizens. The chapter further considers the application of New Zealand’s privacy legislation (the Privacy Act 1993 and the Health Information Privacy Code) to the development of centralised health information management systems. It concludes by considering the possibility of hidden agendas despite the provisions of the nation’s privacy rules.
Media Conversion Analysis and Instructional Design Considerations
Authors: Belanger France , Jordan Dianne H.
Published: May 2011

In chapter two, we discussed the different variables that impact suitability for DL. Chapter three provided the capabilities and limitations of technologies that can be used for distance and distributed learning. The purpose of this chapter is to provide guidance on the major steps involved in a media conversion analysis. They include the initial screening for DL suitability, determining what portion of the course is suitable for conversion, selecting the appropriate media for conversion, determining the number of hours required for development, pricing the cost of development and maintenance, and doing a benefit/cost or return on investment (ROI) analysis. Before beginning the discussion on media conversion analysis, a life-cycle model and approach to DL projects are outlined.
Examples of Distance Learning Evaluation and Implementation
Authors: Belanger France , Jordan Dianne H.
Published: May 2011

This chapter presents three fictitious case studies of organizations facing decisions to convert one or several courses to distance learning. As you read through the cases, you will be presented with the issues that many real organizations face when trying to decide whether, and to what extent distance learning should be implemented in their organization. Two of the cases presented depict commercial organizations, and the third represents an higher education institution. Each case presents background information on the organization, major stakeholders, and the current state of distance learning initiatives within the organization. Each case focuses on a different aspect of the analysis for distance learning. The first case covers the strategic analysis, the second presents a course conversion analysis, and the third presents an infrastructure analysis. Together, these should walk the reader through several analysis issues faced in real world situations.
Critical Thinking and Human Centered Methods in Information Systems
Authors: Warren Lorraine
Published: May 2011

Over the last four decades, information technology (IT) has permeated almost every aspect of our lives. From its origins in the data processing (DP) departments of large organisations, where bureaucratic operations were automated on mainframe computers, IT has penetrated ever further into all kinds of organisational activity, largely due to the accessibility of the personal computer (PC) in the 1980s and the 1990s. Beyond that, IT is also involved in many aspects of our everyday lives, such as education, leisure and entertainment, now that the boundaries between traditional telecommunications technologies and computer-based systems effectively no longer exist. This permeation has meant that the range of people now closely involved with IT on a regular basis has expanded far beyond the white-coated experts in the early DP departments, with terms such as ‘the information society’ in common parlance. It is therefore hardly surprising that the discipline of information systems (IS) emerged and is now evolving to meet the challenge of analysis and design in this complex and dynamic social environment. Nor is it surprising that IS is moving on from its early emphasis on highly structured formal methods of analysis and design, designed to cope with the machine-like preoccupations of the data processing world, to a far softer, human-centred focus. There is clearly an agenda for improvement for IS; although the notions of success and failure may be problematic in themselves, we hear of IS ‘failures’ which make the evening news at depressingly regular intervals — Y2K, the UK air traffic control project at West Drayton, the recent Passport Agency fiasco, for example. More generally, a wide-ranging (14,000 organisations) survey in the UK carried out by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Department of Trade and Industry (OASIG, 1996) concerning the outcomes of IT investments makes worrying reading, reporting that:
The Impact of the Global, Extensible Electronic Health Record
Authors: Forslund David W. , Kilman David G.
Published: May 2011

With the arrival of the “World Wide Web,” we have witnessed a transition toward a truly global perspective with respect to electronic health records. In recent years, much more discussion has focused on the potential for international virtual electronic health records and what is required for them to become a reality in the world today (Kilman & Forslund, 1997). As the Internet becomes more ubiquitous and Web-enabled, we see access to electronic health records using these technologies becoming more commonplace. Even so, these Web-enabled health records still remain technologically isolated from other medical records in the distributed continuum of care; much of the standardization challenge still stands before us. We have witnessed startling technological advances, but we still face considerable obstacles to the goal of having globally standardized electronic health records. In this chapter we describe some of the issues associated with Web-enabled health records, the role of standards in the evolution of Web-enabled health records, and some of the barriers to the development of globally accessible electronic health records. We discuss possible ways to overcome these barriers and the kinds of benefits and opportunities that global health records will help provide. The global scale perspective makes more evident the very real and potentially tragic consequences of prolonged and unnecessary delays in deploying these technologies. Therefore, in an effort to promote a fuller consciousness of health safety, the chapter concludes with a comparative look at the negative impact of impediments in the movement toward global extensible electronic health records.
Disseminating Cost Information Through a Corporate Intranet
Authors: Kohli Rajiv , Ziege David
Published: May 2011

Changes in the healthcare business resulting from capitation and declining reimbursement have led to cost-cutting measures in all areas of healthcare delivery. In some cases, the failure of healthcare organizations to reduce costs can threaten their financial viability. The difficulty remains in identifying how and where to cut costs. In order to target cost-cutting measures, it is critical to get an accurate cost of chargeable items that take into account the activities and resources incurred in producing those chargeable items. With the change in the market conditions resulting in managed care such as prospective payment system (PPS) and capitation contracts, the focus of managerial accounting has shifted from reporting, budgeting and planning to analysis of contracts and operations (Heshmat, 1997). Cost information is now an integral part of the decision making and is being used by department managers more than ever before (Eastaugh, 1987). However, this is not always the case because many cost information systems (CIS) were designed for reporting and they inadequately met the emerging demands for costs such as activity-based costing.
The Web-Enabled Patient
Authors: Lemaire Michele
Published: May 2011

The past decade has witnessed major changes in the concepts of health and disease and in the respective role and responsibility of doctors and patients in health maintenance and disease management. These changes were triggered by cost-containment imperatives. Although constraining by nature, these imperatives are also enabling. The original incentive to engage people in taking larger responsibility in their own care was economic. The strategy used to foster commitment to better health was increasing people’s health awareness and making them confident they could modify their behavior, and in so doing reduce their risk for preventable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (primary prevention) or detect diseases at earlier stages such as cancers (secondary prevention). Only recently, the concept of encouraging people to participate in their own care has been extended to patients with chronic diseases. Here, the objective is to make the patient able to practice self-care in the management of his/her disease, and the incentive is still to reduce the demand for and cost of care. Health promotion, disease prevention and disease self-management all rest on education: systematic education about diseases and risks, practical information on how to adopt appropriate behaviors, and training in self-care skills along with the message that people have the capability to change their behavior and acquire the necessary skills. These changes brought about by economic concerns can be seen as constraining, since they require active self-monitoring and self-discipline. However, as they rely heavily on health information and the development of self-confidence, their unintended consequences, enhanced by the current technology developments, are patient empowerment and a change in the doctor-patient relationship.
Disability Access to the Built Environment
Authors: Bridge Catherine E. , Simoff Simeon J.
Published: May 2011

Identifying and removing architectural barriers to access for people with disabilities follows community recognition that people with disabilities share the same rights as others. In terms of access to buildings and facilities, it is a question of degree. Examination of the steepness of a gradient, the available circulation space at a doorway, the type, fixation and position of a handrail, the amount of colour contrast and lack of other sensory cues determine degree of compliance. Absence of critical features discriminates against certain users and influences the likelihood of litigation. This chapter presents a methodology for computer-assisted access evaluation, which encapsulates facility features for accessibility auditing, describes a data model representation which capturing relevant information and demonstrates mapping of access audit analysis onto sets of queries via a Web-accessible information system. Thus the Web-accessible information system provides on-line accessibility information, generated from the accessibility database.
Connectivity, Content and Collaboration
Authors: Haigh Susan
Published: May 2011

This chapter provides a brief overview of issues libraries are confronting as they attempt both to embrace the opportunities of global networked information and to balance these with traditional resources and demands. The context in which Canadian libraries operate and uniquely Canadian approaches to digital library activities are reviewed. The federal government’s Connecting Canadians agenda has focussed on connectivity, but attention is shifting also to support of the creation of content. The federal department Industry Canada has been funding, within a job creation and skills development strategy, the creation of digital content by Canadian youth. The National Library is building an electronic collection of Canadiana and various other digital products and services. Substantial digital collections such as the collaborative project Early Canadiana Online are emerging. Canada’s activities, which are not currently on scale with the United States or some other countries, remain largely a result of local initiative. It is hoped that increased provincial or national coordination, collaboration and funding will strengthen our libraries’ role in the delivery of networked information services.
Impact of the Internet on Malaysian Libraries
Authors: Singh Diljit
Published: May 2011

The Internet plays a significant role in Malaysian libraries and information centers today. From a humble beginning where computers were a luxury that only the very large libraries could afford, the Internet is increasingly being incorporated into the daily routine of librarians and is being used to provide services that were not possible in the pre-Internet days. Today, Internet services are no longer luxuries, but are being used in management, communication, information access and retrieval, document delivery and personal development by librarians and patrons.
Requirements for a Regional Information Infrastructure for Sustainable Communities-The Case for Community Informatics
Authors: Beale Thomas
Published: May 2011

Although many community informatics (CI) efforts to date have been successful (see e.g., Beamish, 1995), few appear to have been part of a strategic response to the “big” problems of the environment and society; typically they address specific needs of particular communities, and have limited influence outside their scope. Nevertheless, they have created a wealth of experience which may be used in new endeavors, since they have exercised numerous technologies and economic models. However, if the concept of “community” is going to play a more important role in establishing sustainable economic, ecological and cultural systems for the future, community informatics will need to develop not just better solutions, but a strategy to support the community ideal. This chapter argues that the object of such a strategy should be a regional information infrastructure (RII), whose purpose is to provide a knowledge-processing context for physical communities. The definition of requirements for an RII is effectively an expression of a community ideal, or vision, in terms of a technological strategy. Technical architectures stemming from the requirements represent a repository of solution patterns which can be reused and evolved. Of course, any such strategy is predicated not only on a certain kind of community vision, but the idea that “community” is indeed an effective response to global and local problems; thus the themes of community and knowledge are firstly explored as a background to the discussion of the RII.
The Role of Community Information in the Virtual Metropolis
Authors: Baker Paul M.A.
Published: May 2011

Traditionally communities have been linked to the underlying geography, so that the identity of a community, for instance a neighborhood in a city, was linked to an underlying physical place, as part of a legal jurisdiction. A different kind of community is made possible by the self-identification of individuals with a common interest. In defining the concept of community informatics, Michael Gurstein in his preceding introductory chapter, makes a distinction between the type of “virtual community” made possible by the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs), and the augmented communication that ICTs can facilitate in a physical community. Thus the term connotes at least two different kinds of aggregate relationships, the first primarily physical (proximate), and the second, primarily conceptual (virtual). An example of this would include, for instance, alumni of the hypothetical Prestigious University who, while no longer physically present on campus, maintain strong identities as alumni, which can be thought of a part of the conceptual space defining “the University.” Initially they were part of a physical community, but ultimately they are part of a virtual community. Another variant of this would be primarily virtual, citizens who consider themselves part of a large metropolitan area, for instance, Washington, DC, and refer to themselves as Washingtonians even if they might live in an adjacent jurisdiction in the neighboring state of Virginia. In this sense we could say that in either case we had a virtual (or conceptual) relationship that bears only a symbolic connection with the underlying “place.”
Community Informatics for Electronic Democracy
Authors: Pierson Jo
Published: May 2011

People living together in harmonious communities is the primary goal of most modern societies. The way these communities are built depends on the ideas, values and ideals of the society in which it is carried out. Campfens discerns two perspectives: “From a humanitarian perspective, it may be seen as a search for community, mutual aid, social support, and human liberation in an alienating, oppressive, competitive, and individualistic society. In its more pragmatic institutional sense, it may be viewed as a means for mobilizing communities to join state or institutional initiatives that are aimed at alleviating poverty, solving social problems, strengthening families, fostering democracy, and achieving modernization and socioeconomic development” (1997: 25). Yet any community is only viable when all members can communicate with each other. Nowadays, the possible ways of communication have expanded enormously, especially since the convergence of informatics and telecommunication into information and communication technologies (ICT) offers a powerful tool.
Facilitating Community Processes through Culturally Appropriate Informatics
Authors: Turk Andrew , Trees Kathryn
Published: May 2011

This chapter discusses how community processes may be facilitated through the use of information systems (IS), developed via a highly participative methodology. It examines the utility of several approaches to modeling community information requirements. By way of illustration, it describes progress on the participative development of the Ieramugadu Cultural Information System (ICIS). This project is designed to develop and evaluate innovative procedures for elicitation, analysis, storage and communication of indigenous cultural heritage information. It is investigating culturally appropriate IS design techniques, multimedia approaches, and ways to ensure protection of secret/sacred information. Development of ICIS is being carried out in close cooperation with an indigenous community in Western Australia.
Virtual Communities, Real Struggles
Authors: Fortier Francois
Published: May 2011

There is a technology that was said to have the “power to disband armies, to cashier presidents, to create a whole new democratic world — democratic in ways never before imagined, even in America” (From Daniel Boorstin’s The Republic of Technology, cited in Winner, 1996, p.20). This technology was none other than television, whose potential for low-density mental reformatting is today more widely recognised than its affinity with democracy — in America as elsewhere. In fact, “Dreams of instant liberation from centralised social control have accompanied virtually every important new technological system introduced during the past century and a half” (Winner, 1986, pp.95-96). Collective memory is short, and information and communication technologies (ICTs) are now on the leading float of the technophile carnival. For many, the new technological artefacts promise to end the alienation of labour and industrial apocalypse, to leapfrog the so-called Third World into post-industrial informationalism, and to cast the foundations of slave-less, gender-balanced Athenian democracy (see notably Cairncross, 1997; Burton, 1997; Negroponte, 1995; Bissio, 1996; Annis, 1991; Lipnack and Stamps, 1986). Yet, beyond the hype of the so-called Information Revolution, ICTs are having other implications, more tuned to neo-liberal substance than classical utopia. Those implications call for a critical political economic analysis and precocious system planning and deployment. On the one hand, this chapter compares the overall political impact of the technology in relation to the immediate advantages it is said to confer. On the other hand, the analysis shows that the development and implementation of ICTs, far from serving democracy, does in fact consolidate social injustice through ideological homogenisation, restrictive controls, and an enhanced capacity for surveillance. In search of alternatives, the last section of the chapter focuses on the technological conditions and political strategies through which information systems could be more relevant to progressive social forces and grassroots emancipation.2 A matrix of relevant political issues is proposed in an effort to construct strategies of progressive community networking.
Discussions and Decisions
Authors: Pipek Volkmar , Marker Oliver , Rinner Claus , Schmidt-Belz Barbara
Published: May 2011

Communities frequently encounter design problems they have to deal with, be it their own representation in different media (e.g., the World Wide Web) or a design problem from the “real world” (e.g., urban planning). Major connotations with the term “community” are that there may be a great number of members and that the members of a community may differ according to their knowledge, experiences, abilities and intentions with great variety. This is especially true for geographic communities, where the only thing all members have in common is the place where they live, and which may have up to several million members. Of course, geographical communities always have had to organise their design processes. As a part of political decision making in democracies, most “design decisions” are delegated to elected representatives in a city council, in a state parliament or in equivalent institutions in a federation of states. However, in some cases the integration of direct participation of community members into planning processes was intended or turned out to be helpful. This is especially true for urban and regional planning in Germany, where citizens are invited to participate in the planning process.
Standardization and Intellectual Property Rights
Authors: Iversen Eric J.
Published: May 2011

In today’s environment of rapidly evolving information and communication technologies (ICTs), technical standardization is said to be confronted by a “minefield” of intellectual property rights (IPRs). Patents and other industrial IPRs that might belong to individual developers of technology have the potential to undermine the collective pursuit of technical standardization that might serve the common interests of the sector or industry. This tension between the individual and the collective, between the development of technology and its diffusion, is however by no means new; it is an inherent feature of standard development as an institution of innovation. The fact that this tension has only recently been converted into conflict raises a host of interesting questions about standardization in the evolving environment of the ‘digital age’. In this chapter, we will address some of these. We are especially interested in the fundamental question concerning the roles of standard development organizations and IPRs in the “technology infrastructure” (Tassey, 1995) and how these roles are “co-evolving” (Nelson, 1995) with the rapidly developing ICT industry. The contention is that this process of coevolution is bringing what are initially complementary functions in the innovation process into increased confrontation. In this chapter such questions will be explored in terms of innovation-theory in which the role this ‘technology infrastructure’ plays is explicitly recognized. The discussion of this relationship moreover will be largely presented in terms of a case study, featuring the controversy that arose during the standardization of the now popular GSM system, produced by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI).
Managing Security in the World Wide Web
Authors: Dridi Fredj , Neumann Gustaf
Published: May 2011

Advances in the World Wide Web technology have resulted in the proliferation of significant collaborative applications in commercial environments. However, the World Wide Web as a distributed system, which introduces new technologies (like Java applets and ActiveX) and uses a vulnerable communication infrastructure (the Internet), is subject to various security attacks. These security attacks violate the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of Web resources. To achieve a certain degree of Web security and security management, different protocols and techniques have been proposed and implemented. This is still a hot topic in the current research area and still requires more ambitious efforts. We give an overview of the Internet security issues with special emphasis on the Web security. We describe an architecture built up by the means of security services to shield against these threats and to achieve information security for networked systems like the WWW. We focus on the authentication and access control services (like role-based access control) and their administration aspects. We discuss several elementary techniques and Internet standards which provide state-of-the-art of Web security.
Foundations for Cryptography
Authors: Gollmann Dieter
Published: May 2011

Products promising to secure electronic commerce and other Internet applications tend to rely heavily on cryptography. On occasion, it seems that constraints on the deployment of ‘strong’ cryptography remain the only obstacle on the path to achieving security. This chapter will point to other aspects of security that are fundamental prerequisites for the successful deployment of cryptography, viz computer security and security policy. To achieve the security their systems are striving for, researchers and developers alike will have to provide adequate solutions in these areas. Otherwise, the value of strong cryptography will be greatly diminished.
Protecting Personal Privacy in Cyberspace
Authors: Gunasekara Gehan
Published: May 2011

This chapter canvasses the impact of the Privacy Act 1993 on those who transact their business in cyberspace who fall within the Act’s definition of “agency”3 . The writer argues that, for the most part, the Act can be effective in protecting individuals’ privacy in cyberspace. Privacy protection does not place restrictions on freedom of expression and communication on the internet. The internet has proved to be extremely difficult to regulate, perhaps not surprisingly given its origins and function. It has exhibited a high degree of resistance to regulation of any kind, thus confirming a type of “frontier” image.