bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Modeling electronic service acceptance of an e‐securities trading system
Authors: Rotchanakitumnuai Siriluck , Speece Mark 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider the technology acceptance model (TAM) in the context of internet securities trading. It examines the antecedents of perceived usefulness and explores the role of trust and attitude of securities investors toward usage. The behavioural intention of investors to use the internet securities trading service is influenced by perceived usefulness, attitude toward usage, and trust.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses survey research to explore the determinants in the e‐securities trading acceptance model.FindingsThe findings show five antecedents have a positive impact on perceived usefulness. These are ease‐of‐use, information quality, accessibility, trust, and flow control of the securities trading process. Respondents identify the highest benefit as the flow control of the securities trading processes via the internet channel.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that investors prefer to have the freedom to control the details of the process when trading securities. In addition, trust is important for all levels of the TAM process. Trust has a large impact which is mediated through both perceived usefulness and attitude toward usage. There is a weaker direct impact on intention to use.Originality/valueThis paper includes a more comprehensive measurement of the antecedents of perceived usefulness such as ease‐of‐use, information quality, accessibility, flow control, and trust. It also demonstrates the importance of trust in explaining the psychological attitudes toward the service.
Entrepreneurial attitude and conflict management through business simulations
Authors: Arias‐Aranda Daniel , Bustinza‐Sánchez Oscar 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to elucidate the influence that participation in a simulation experience based on the automobile industry has on the entrepreneurial attitude (entrepreneurship attitude orientation) through conflict management learning.Design/methodology/approachThe sample used in this paper consists of 427 advanced undergraduate students majoring in Business Management and Administration, Economics, Tourism and Research, and Marketing. The data are collected by means of a structured questionnaire.FindingsResults show that the simulation experience increases positive results for personal control and self‐esteem indicating that the participants applied the knowledge learned in the simulation improving their perception of control and conflict management approaches.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is focused on a business game based on the automobile industry in order to involve the participants into a realistic business management experience.Practical implicationsResults encourage the incorporation of these simulation tools into educational programs related to entrepreneurship. Business simulations improves conflict management within and between groups, especially in the complementary activities and negotiations with real agents, it also fosters motivation and cooperative attitudes.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to increase knowledge in conflict management for workgroups maintaining intensive and relentless relationships over a relatively long period of time in which the simulation develops. At a more practical level, experience on conflict management generates acceptance of the conflict as a part of the decisions making process, which improves the entrepreneurial attitude for all participants.
Does total quality management reduce employees' role conflict?
Authors: Teh Pei‐Lee , Yong Chen‐Chen , Arumugam Veeri , Ooi Keng‐Boon 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the total quality management (TQM) practices of both manufacturing and service firms in order to determine the relationship between the multidimensionality of TQM practices and role conflict of employees.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires are distributed to 433 employees of 98 different firms from manufacturing and service industries in Malaysia.FindingsThe results support significant negative correlation among all TQM practices (i.e. leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, human resource focus, process management and information analysis) and role conflict. By employing multiple regression analysis, leadership, process management and information analysis are found to have significant and negative relationship with role conflict. Human resource focus is reported to have a significant and positive relationship with role conflict.Practical implicationsThis model is ideal for practical usage by managers to evaluate the perceptions of role conflict of employees in TQM‐oriented firms. The findings suggest that firms should look into ways of developing the major roles of leadership and process management as well as improving efficient use of information analysis in order to reduce the detrimental role conflict of employees. This finding may also help administrators and individuals to attain a fine‐grained understanding of different dimensions of TQM in relation to role conflict.Originality/valueTQM practices appear to be related to role conflict, addressing an apparent noticeable gap in the literature of TQM and the psychological well‐being of employees. This paper also lays the foundation for formation of a theoretically based model which integrates the elements of TQM and role conflict.
Managing supply chains: lessons learned and future challenges
Authors: Law Kris M.Y. , Helo Petri , Kanchana Rapee , Phusavat Kongkiti 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to gain better understandings on the interrelationships among manufacturers, customers and suppliers within the supply chains of electrical and electronics firms in Thailand. This industry is important to the national economy.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology includes the survey development and distributions, and the hypotheses on the interrelationships among manufacturers, suppliers and customers. The findings are compared with the practices in Hong Kong and with available supply‐chain management models. The applications of the correlation analysis are prominent for statistical interpretations. The discussions with participating Thai executives are conducted.FindingsFrom the manufacturers' viewpoint of Thai executives, managing supply chains requires strong partnerships with customers and suppliers as they are perceived to impact internal operations and subsequently the performance levels. Their viewpoints are generally supported by Hong Kong counterparts and current supply‐chain management models.Practical implicationsThe follow‐up discussion with participating executives from Thailand reveals the importance of information and communication technology, and the roles of languages for communication for successful supply‐chain management. These implications are critical for department of industrial work as it needs to prepare policy initiatives to support key industrial clusters, especially the electrical and electronics industry.Originality/valueThe paper confirms key factors impacting supply‐chain managements and underlines the success factors for effectively managing supply chains.
Status of information technology applications in Pakistani libraries
Authors: Ramzan Muhammad , Singh Diljit 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate and determine the levels of information technology (IT) in Pakistani libraries. More specifically, the paper focuses on the status of computers and other commonly used hardware, e‐mail, internet, library software, automated user services, expenditure on IT and online resources available in academic libraries of Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThe data are collected through a questionnaire survey of 288 (sample of 682) academic libraries across Pakistan. A total of 219 (76 per cent) valid responses are used for data analysis and interpretation using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).FindingsThe paper finds a low level of IT availability, especially the absence of computers, e‐mail and internet in few libraries. Similarly, the libraries are far behind to achieve excellent IT levels. It is found that libraries need to be fully automated using standard library software/management systems. However, access to online resources through the Higher Education Commission (HEC) is found extensive and comprehensive. The data indicate the need to enhance libraries' IT expenditure.Practical implicationsThe findings can be utilized to evaluate the status of different IT tools and applications. The statistical data are very useful and authentic source for planning to improve the libraries' IT infrastructure, library automation and in reducing the gap in levels of IT application in different type of libraries.Originality/valueThis is a first comprehensive study that provides a complete picture along with statistical data regarding IT applications (computers and other common hardware, software, e‐mail, internet, other information access technologies, applications and online resources available) in academic libraries of Pakistan.
Issues and lessons learned in open source software adoption in Pakistani libraries
Authors: Rafiq Muhammad , Ameen Kanwal 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss key issues related to the adoption of open source software (OSS) in Pakistani libraries.Design/methodology/approachLiterature review and principal author's first‐hand experience of Koha (OSS) implementation in Provincial Assembly Libraries of Pakistan under Pakistan Legislative Strengthen Project of United States Agency for International Development provide the information and insight for this paper.FindingsAdoption of OSS in libraries is just at a beginning stage in Pakistan, and only a few organizations have so far made their first move in this direction. The major identified issues affecting OSS adoption in Pakistani libraries are: social (cultural) disparity, conceptual confusions, digital divide, lack of technological, financial, and human development.Practical implicationsThe paper will help decision makers plan OSS applications in their libraries.Originality/valueThis is the first paper on the topic in Pakistan and explores the issues involved in OSS adoption in a comprehensive manner. The paper can provide understanding regarding adoption of OSS to professionals in Pakistani and other developing countries with similar environment.
Use and impact of electronic journals in the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India
Authors: Kaur Baljinder , Verma Rama 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThis paper aims to describe the use of electronic resources and services provided at the central library of Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The paper is focused to know who these electronic information services users are, how often they use the services and the place where the information is accessed. Also, the users are asked to give their preferences between an electronic and print journal format.Design/methodology/approachThe questionnaire method is used for collecting the data from the users (i.e. undergraduate, postgraduate, research scholar and faculty), categories‐wise.FindingsIt has been found that usage of e‐journals is increasing; this is due to awareness among the users about the library e‐resources and services. Owing to an easy access available at various places in the institute, users are accessing these resources at hostels and departments more as compared to the library. The users coming to library have decreased.Originality/valueThe present paper will help other institutes understand the need for library electronic resources, and motivate them to update their resources in the larger interest of the students, faculty and research scholars. The paper also indicates how a suitably designed survey can show the awareness and use of types of information services, in this case e‐journals. There is a dearth of such studies in India and the methodology and findings can be applied to other libraries to reveal similar trends as well as comparisons.
Ubiquitous library usability test for the improvement of information access for the blind
Authors: Kwak Seung‐Jin , Bae Kyung‐Jae 
Published: October 2009

PurposeUsability tests to improve information accessibility for the blind have rarely been carried out. Recently, the LG Digital Talking Book (LG DTB) Library has developed a ubiquitous service, which provides the blind with library service anytime, anywhere, using mobile phones with the automated library access procedure. The main purpose of this paper is to draw up a better plan to improve information accessibility for the blind through the usability test of the service being made by the LG DTB Library.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey and in‐depth interviews are conducted among the blind, and usage statistics analysis of the Digital Talking Book Library services and web server log analysis are carried out together for the usability test.FindingsThe blind respondents answer that late updates of new publications, unbalanced subject areas, and lack of educational contents are the most serious problems in reality. The paper also showed that handy‐to‐carry information terminals like mobile phones are very much favored by the blind.Originality/valueThis paper has a unique value in that the real effect and usability of the ubiquitous library service for the blind is investigated for the first time.
Information literacy online tutorials
Authors: Yang Sharon 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide the findings of a survey of current technologies used in creating information literacy online tutorials in academic libraries. It also aims to inform readers of the technological tools available to develop good online tutorials.Design/methodology/approachThe author surveys 372 online tutorials on the library web sites of 100 academic libraries in a random sample from Peterson's Guide to Four Year Colleges 2008.FindingsAbout one‐third of the surveyed academic libraries have developed their own online tutorials. Most of the tutorials teach search skills for a specific database. The tutorial contents also include general introduction to library resources, research in a subject area, how‐to for an application, and library‐related concepts and procedures. One‐third of the tutorials have been created by tutorial software. The other technological approaches include portable document format (PDF), Hypertext Markup Language, Common Gateway Interface scripts, WebCT, Stream video, and MP3.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size may be too small to be conclusive. There may be correlation between the type and size of an academic institution, its information literacy programs, and the type and number of library online tutorials.Originality/valueThe value of such tutorials, what constitutes a good online tutorial, and pros and cons of each technology are discussed. The information in this paper is useful for anyone who is interested in current practice of online library instruction and options they have in their choice of technological tools for developing web‐based tutorials.
Ontology and semantic rules in document dispatching
Authors: Chi Yu‐Liang , Chen Hsiao‐Chi 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the semantic rules in conjunction with ontology can be applied for inferring new facts to dispatch news into corresponding departments.Design/methodology/approachUnder a specific task domain, the proposed design comprises finding a glossary from electronic resources, gathering organization functions as controlled vocabularies, and linking relationships between the glossary and controlled vocabularies. Web ontology language is employed to represent this knowledge as ontology, and semantic web rule language is utilized to infer implicit facts among instances.FindingsDocument dispatching is highly domain dependent. Human perspectives being adopted as predefined knowledge in understanding document meanings are important. Knowledge‐intensive approaches such as ontology can model and represent expertise as reusable components. Ontology and rules together extend inference capabilities in semantic relationships between instances.Practical implicationsEmpirical lessons reveal that ontology with semantic rules can be utilized to model human subjective judgement as knowledge bases. An example, including ontology and rules, based on news dispatching is provided.Originality/valueAn organization can classify and deliver documents to corresponding departments based on known facts by following the described procedure.
A comparative evaluation of journal literature access options at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Authors: Bucknall Tim 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a comparison of three models for journal literature access.Design/methodology/approachThis empirical paper is based on working practice in an academic library.FindingsPost‐implementation analysis shows that both pay‐per‐view and big deals offered valuable and highly used additional content, and that both are cost‐effective alternatives to the traditional subscription model. But overall, the big deal proves to be the best model for most journal titles due to its combination of superior cost savings and ease of end‐user access.Originality/valueBy analyzing the results of switching a large number of titles across three access modes in a short period of time, this paper offers insight into the effect of the three access models on end users and library budgets.
Mass digitization and its impact on interlending and document supply
Authors: Willett Perry 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe amount of library material available online is staggering, but still at very early stages in terms of discovery tools. Without a centralized source to search digitized collections from these projects, it is important to understand their goals and distinctions between the services they provide. This paper aims to describe the complex landscape of mass digitization projects and their impact on interlending and document supply.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyzes the history, goals and achievements of the mass digitization projects. It also looks at the sites that aggregate digitized materials from these projects and their interfaces for providing access.FindingsThe number of library collections now digitized has reached numbers unimaginable even just a few years ago. The impact on interlending and document supply will likely be limited in the near term, since much of interlibrary borrowing is for materials published in the past decade, and much of the digitized content from this period is restricted in Google Book Search, the only mass digitization project to undertake digital conversion of copyrighted material. End users will be able to discover materials of interest in new ways, but are likely to need or want to see the print source for recent publications.Practical implicationsLibrary staff members need to understand these projects and how they differ from one another in order to provide optimal service to their readers.Originality/valueThe paper is a guide to negotiating the landscape of mass digitization, with an overview of the projects and their goals and accomplishments, with analysis of the impact on interlending and document supply.
2D combined finite‐discrete element method to model multi‐fracture of beam structures
Authors: Paavilainen Jani , Tuhkuri Jukka , Polojärvi Arttu 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a 2D combined finite‐discrete element method (FEM‐DEM) to model the multi‐fracture of beam structures and an application of the method to an ice‐structure interaction problem.Design/methodology/approachIn the method, elastic beams and their fracture are modelled according to FEM by using nonlinear Timoshenko beam elements and cohesive crack model. Additionally, the beam elements are used to tie the discrete elements together. The contact forces between the colliding beams are calculated by using the DEM.FindingsThree numerical examples are given to verify the method. Further, the method is applied to model the failure process of a floating ice beam against an inclined structure. Based on the comparison of the experiments and the simulation, a good agreement between the results is observed.Originality/valueIn the context of combined FEM‐DEM, the two novel features presented in this paper are: the use of Timoshenko finite element beams with damping to calculate internal forces and to combine the discrete elements; and the bending failure by the cohesive crack approach while simultaneously keeping track of the position of the neutral axis of the beam.
A hierarchical search algorithm for discrete element method of greatly differing particle sizes
Authors: Peters John F. , Kala Raju , Maier Robert S. 
Published: October 2009

PurposeA critical step toward an efficient contact detection algorithm is to localize the contact search to the immediate neighborhood of each particle. In particular, cell‐based algorithms are simple and require O(N) computations but become inefficient when the particles are not roughly the same diameter. The purpose of this paper is to describe a hierarchical search method with the simplicity and efficiency of the neighbor search algorithm but which is insensitive to size gradation.Design/methodology/approachIn this method, particles are allocated to cells based on their location and size within a nested hierarchical cell space. Contact searches are limited to neighboring particles of equal size within their own hierarchy and occasionally with particles of larger size when no contacts are found within their own hierarchy.FindingsThe method is shown to be effective for the most severe case of highly segregated particle distributions in which a large particle is surrounded by particles of much smaller size.Originality/valueThis paper is of value in concentrating on particular issues in implementing the hierarchical contact detection algorithm in a parallel computing environment using message‐passing interface.
An algebraic condition and an algorithm for the internal contact between two ellipsoids
Authors: Trabelsi Ibrahim , Moakher Maher , Gatumel Cendrine , Berthiaux Henri 
Published: October 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a new method for the detection and resolution of the contact point between two ellipsoids. Numerical simulations of ellipsoidal particles in a rotary cylinder are also presented.Design/methodology/approachAn algebraic condition is developed for the internal contact between two ellipsoids and an efficient contact detection algorithm for overlapping ellipsoids is implemented.FindingsThis method was found to have the advantages of effectiveness and speed in the detection and resolution of the contact point.Originality/valueThe dynamics of granular materials are of great importance in many industries dealing with powders and grains, such as pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries. The main difficulty of such simulations is the excessive CPU time required for a large number of particles. In the discrete element method, contact detection between grains is the most expensive step in solving a nonlinear system for determination of the contact point, the normal vector and the overlap distance between ellipsoids. The numerical behavior and the optimization of the new algorithm presented in this paper are important also.