waashk/acm huggingface dataset:
implementing an e-commerce curriculum in a cis program  in this paper we describe the development of an e-commerce curriculum in the cis program at southern oregon university. the e-commerce curriculum is incorporated through a set of two courses. the first is a client-server programming course that introduces the structure of the web along with client and server side scripting techniques. the second is a corporate web development course, which builds on the earlier course by introducing elements of e-commerce technology such as security and encryption, electronic payment systems, agents and xml.  rahul tikekar daniel wilson
designer - a logic diagram design tool _designer_ is a software tool that helps the program developer lay out structure diagrams. structure diagramming is a structured design technique commonly taught in new zealand polytechnics. diagrams can be written for overall logic flow or detailed design. unlike a flow chart, a structure diagram can always be directly translated to the control structures of a structured programming language. the basic diagram symbols are process boxes, decisions, loops, input-output boxes and procedure calls. chris power
continuing education activities of the acm  continuing education is a major concern for most professional societies. this is especially true for ones like acm, whose members are working at the leading edge of technology - both in research and within numerous application areas. acm, through its education board, sponsors several different activities to assist members in their quest to keep abreast of the latest technical developments. this panel has several purposes. on the one hand it will serve as a means for disseminating more widely information on our current projects. in addition it will allow us to receive feedback from the membership with respect to how they perceive theses activities, what changes they might like to see, and what new projects we should be considering. among the topics that will be discussed are self assessment procedures, professional development seminars, tutorial weeks, and accreditation efforts, and institute for certification of computer professionals (iccp) activities. after these activities are briefly described, the remainder of the session will be devoted to answering questions and soliciting ideas from the audience.  robert m. aiken neal s. coulter julia e. hodges joyce c. little helen c. takacs a. joe turner
why license when you can rent? risks and rewards of the application service provider model  the confluence of several developments in technology and trends in the business environment has led to the emergence of new outsourcing model, the application service provider (asp). in this paper we draw upon outsourcing literature to understand the factors that are likely to influence the adoption of the asp model. an initial research model is developed based on factors identified from economic and social perspectives used in outsourcing literature.  ravi patnayakuni nainika seth
computing curriculum 2001: getting down to specifics  in the fall of 1998, the acm education board and the educational activities board of the ieee computer society appointed representatives to a joint task force to prepare curriculum 2001, the next installment in a series of reports on the undergraduate computer science curriculum that began in 1968 and was then updated in 1978 and 1991. in this talk, eric roberts --- one of the cochairs of the curriculum 2001 effort --- will review the state of the project and lead a general discussion of the recommendations made by the "steelman" version of the report, which will be released at the end of august.  eric roberts
the proposed iccp certification in systems analysis (csa)  systems analysts occupy a unique position within the structure of information processing: they deal not only with the technology and with the creative dimensions of systems development, but also with the resolution of conflict between the objectives of product-oriented users and process-oriented programmers. while this conflict is frequently not open, a form of adversary relationship typically develops between users and software specialists, and the systems analyst becomes the focal point in reducing this alienation. contemporary methodologies which aid in the systems development process have helped to reduce the friction, but the systems analyst still must frequently assume the role of arbitrator and diplomat.  coupled with the above role is the emerging position of the systems analyst as a quality assurance specialist. as organizations become increasingly dependent upon computer-based information systems, some of which are life-critical, systems analysts must assume greater responsibility for the results --- good or bad \--- of the applications they develop and install. accountability of this type has always been one distinguishing characteristic of the true professional.  although information processing is itself an evolving discipline, some computing professionals have responsibilities and requisite knowledge more clearly defined than those of the systems analyst. the bodies of knowledge relevant to the information systems manager and the senior programmer are well represented in the content of the two examinations currently offered by the institute for certification of computer professionals (iccp): the certificate in data processing (cdp) and the certificate in computer programming (ccp), respectively. the systems analyst remains the primary computer professional not covered by a certification program.  fred g. harold
information requirements determination: obstacles within, among and between participants  information requirements determination (ird) is presented as a process with obstacles within individual "users", among "users", and between "users" and systems developers. a distinction is made between ird and information requirements analysis (ira), two labels which are often used interchangeably. the triple-obstacle view of ird/ira problems and the distinction between ird and ira is suggested as an approach for research into the requirements determination process. a user-oriented ird tool designed to attack the "within" obstacles is identified as the basis for the authors' current research into how to improve the user's lot in the development of information systems.  john r valusek dennis g fryback
computer literacy objectives for junior high school students  while ten years ago computer literacy was an unknown phrase, it now has an accepted place in the vocabulary of both educators and computer scientists. the concept of computer literacy has grown rapidly and many related issues remain unresolved. for instance: what do various types of people need to know about computers? how should they be instructed in computer awareness and computer based problem solving? how should computer education be offered to students and others?  the minnesota educational computing consortium (mecc) recently received funding from the national science foundation to design, develop, test and evaluate an integrated set of twenty-five student learning modules for science, mathematics and social studies courses in secondary schools. the central theme of these learning packages will be the computer---how it works, how it is used, its impact on the individual and society, and the implications of its use for the future. the project presumes that abilities, skills, attitudes, and cognitive learning are all aspects of a person's computer literacy; the learning packages will be based on a set of learning objectives that reflect these areas. the materials will be written for students entering junior high school, however, they could be used at other secondary school levels as well. the initial period of the project consists of planning and the specification of objectives.
origin of the online species: ethical perspectives on copyright and the web  the online environment challenges information professionals to stretch the historical boundaries of the understanding of fair use.the authors create and maintain an academic library web site of more than 500 pages. recently we have encountered copies of our library instructional materials downloaded from our web site and uploaded on another academic library's server without express permission to use or modify those materials.  grappling with these issues regarding internet plagiarism and copyright piqued our interest in this gray area of ethical practice. we continue to struggle with questions such as those posed in the following scenarios:  is the design and format of a web page (including tables, color schemes, forms, and organizational style) a form of expression that is protected under copyright, much like essays, drawings, dances, and speeches?  does copying the text of an online tutorial that discusses ideas and concepts in the public domain constitute a violation of copyright? of academic integrity?  connie ury frank baudino patricia mcfarland
keeping a consulting system on course  all to often, user services staff view the absence of complaints as a primary source of evaluation and feedback of services. as a frontline emergency service, the consulting effort is one of the most visible and critical elements of effective user support. it is difficult to collect data about the effectiveness and quality of frontline consulting services, but many techniques provide enlightening information for user services staff.  at brown university collecting data and feedback about the consulting process is a priority for academic and user services. a consulting task group was formed to collect feedback from a variety of sources and to prepare a plan and implement a new structure (where necessary) for our computer consulting system. we quickly identified areas where immediate improvement resulted and committed to the longer term project of collecting data. by keeping data from "support log forms" at the point of consulting contact we have gained the following insights:  the profiles of the computing user community --- who & when & how are questions being asked  what the typical and atypical questions are and how frequently they are asked  the percentage of questions referred to expert sources  the management issues of allocation of resources, revision of training curriculum, and restructuring of consulting to meet brown's needs.  computer consulting takes on many forms and can be a complex and time consuming task. knowing the key elements of the consulting environment, such as the volume of questions, frequency of questions, types of questions, and referral path of questions, can have a positive impact on the management and effectiveness of services. but data collection through log forms is not the only technique we have used for collecting information on the health of the consulting system at brown.  additional techniques of gathering information about the consulting effort have also proved to be important, such as conducting "key user information sessions". we have also emphasized taking the time to gather street smarts and conduct more housecalls; an aspect of consultant savvy that tends to be neglected because of the frantic pace of consulting.  the results of brown's first phase of support log data and key user information sessions will be reviewed in this paper. the presentation will include statistics, graphs, and anecdotal reviews of the data collection effort. handouts will be available. techniques for gathering information will be offered, as well as how such information can be used to improve the quality of consulting services.  stephen c. andrade kathleen s. brown
the proactive security toolkit and applications  existing security mechanisms focus on prevention of penetrations, detection of a penetration and (manual) recovery tools indeed attackers focus their penetration efforts on breaking into critical modules, and on avoiding detection of the attack. as a result, security tools and procedures may cause the attackers to lose control over a specific module (computer, account), since the attacker would rather lose control than risk detection of the attack. while controlling the module, attacker may learn critical secret information or modify the module that make it much easier for the attacker to regain control over that module later. recent results in cryptography give some hope of improving this situation; they show that many fundamental security tasks can be achieved with proactive security. proactive security does not assume that there is any module completely secure against penetration instead, we assume that at any given time period (day, week,.), a sufficient number of the modules in the system are secure (not penetrated). the results obtained so far include some of the most important cryptographic primitives such as signatures, secret sharing, and secure communication however, there was no usable implementation, and several critical issues (for actual use) were not addressed  in this work we report on a practical toolkit implementing the key proactive security mechanisms the toolkit provides secure interfaces to make it easy for applications to recover from penetrations. the toolkit also addresses other critical implementation issues, such as the initialization of the proactive secure system.  we describe the toolkit and discuss some of the potential applications. some applications require minimal enhancements to the existing implementations - e.g. for secure logging (especially for intrusion detection), secure end-to- end communication and timestamping. other applications require more significant enhancements, mainly distribution over multiple servers, examples are certification authority, key recovery, and secure file system or archive  boaz barak amir herzberg dalit naor eldad shai
algorithm design by successive transformation  algorithms courses are typically organized either by application area or by design technique. each of these organizations has its strength, but neither effectively reflects the fact that sophisticated algorithms are not designed in a single pass. this paper describes and gives an example of the strategy of successive transformation, in which a sequence of algorithms is generated to solve a single problem. design of algorithms by successive transformation requires more time per problem, since each problem requires multiple phases of analysis. to the extent that this method is used, the breadth of the course in terms of areas and algorithms is reduced. however, we assert that at least a few such experiences are indispensable, because such painstaking analysis is representative of algorithm design as it really is, and because successive transformation is an excellent way to show students the power of theory to improve applications.  norman neff
the impact and issues of the fifth generation: social and organization consequences of new generation technology  the social and organizational consequences of emerging from the use of computing technology are poorly understood. forecasting the impacts of new computing technology is similarly not well understood. however, it is becoming increasingly clear that a growing array of computing arrangements are emerging that reinforce or stratify existing social arrangements. whether these new arrangements are more or less socially desirable depends upon how one interprets their meaning and value. thus, the purpose of this panel is to bring together leading scholars currently examining the broader consequences of new computing arrangements to discuss what might lie ahead.  most computing use centers around the work routines for a growing number of people. one form of consequences emerging from new modes of computing use can be seen in terms of the shift of resources (social, material, and otherwise) from one arrangement to another. when people value and seek to control local resource arrangements, these resource shifts represent social costs and benefits. therefore, examining the consequences of different computing arrangements in a variety of work settings is a common research strategy for the participating panelists.  walt scacchi elihu m. gerson rob kling langdon winner
legally speaking: should program algorithms be patented  in the legally speaking column last may [6], we reported on a survey conducted at last year's acm-sponsored conference on computer-human interaction in austin, tex. among the issues about which the survey inquired was whether the respondents thought patent protection should be available for various aspects of computer programs. the 667 respondents overwhelmingly supported copyright protection for source and object code although they strongly opposed copyright or patent protection for "look and feel" and most other aspects of programs. algorithms were the only aspect of programs for which there was more than a small minority of support for patent protection. nevertheless, more than half of the respondents i opposed either copyright or patent protection for algorithms. however, nearly 40 percent of the respondents regarded algorithms as appropriately protected by patents. (another eight percent would have copyright law protect them.)  we should not be surprised that these survey findings reflect division within the technical community about patents as a form of protection for this important kind of computer program innovation. a number of prominent computer professionals who have written or spoken about patent protection for algorithms or other innovative aspects of programs have either opposed or expressed reservations about this form of protection for software [2, 4, 5].  this division of opinion, of course, has not stopped many firms and some individuals from seeking patent protection for algorithms or other software innovations [8]. although the refac technology patent infringement lawsuit against lotus and other spreadsheet producers may be in some jeopardy, it and other software patent lawsuits have increased awareness of the new availability of software patents. this situation, in turn, has generated some heated discussion over whether this form of legal protection will be in the industry's (and society's) long-term best interests.  the aim of this column is to acquaint readers with the legal debate on patent protection for algorithms and other computer program innovations, an issue which seems to be as divisive among lawyers as those in the computer field. [3, 9].  pamela samuelson
research in progress: the effects of ethical climate on attitudes and behaviors toward software piracy  software piracy, the unauthorized copying of computer software, is widespread in many organizations today. from the perspective of managers in organizations, software piracy means the threat of costly litigation on the one hand, balanced against the reduced expense for additional software if unauthorized copies are used. it should be possible to exercise more effective control over software piracy with a more complete understanding of the factors that lead to the decision to copy software. the goal of this study is to assess the direct and moderating effects of the organization's ethical climate on a variety of attitudes and behaviors regarding software piracy. prior research on software piracy has tended to focus on individual factors that influence piracy. this study is part of a multi-year, multi-university study of software piracy. results from our prior studies suggest that while individual factors such as age and gender influence piracy attitudes and behaviors, these effects appear to be overshadowed by organization effects. in this study, we measure organization ethical climate as perceived by students in three universities and their attitudes and behaviors towards software piracy. the measures of ethical climate used in the literature have been modified to fit the university setting.  our study promises to make several important contributions. from the perspective of theory, our work should demonstrate the importance of including organizational ethical climate in theoretical models of the antecedents of software piracy attitudes and behaviors. prior research on software piracy has tended to focus on the effects of individual differences; however, individuals are embedded in organizational contexts that can influence their attitudes and behaviors. from the perspective of practice, demonstrating that different ethical climates directly impact and moderate software piracy attitudes and behaviors has a number or implications for the management of information systems professionals. it is important to know whether certain ethical climates encourage or discourage software piracy attitudes and behaviors. managers may work to change an ethical climate that fosters software piracy; alternatively, they may need to implement strong measures in the existing ethical climate to discourage software piracy.  finally, it is important to study software piracy in a university setting, as this is where future information systems professionals are trained. it is imperative for educators to understand students' ethical attitudes and behaviors concerning software piracy, and how these attitudes and behaviors may be influenced.  diane lending sandra a. slaughter
should everyone learn anything?: the question of computer literacy  in developing a new area of knowledge, one of the most difficult problems is working out a framework in terms of which to define the area. the emerging subject of "computer literacy" is a case in point. what should colleges and universities teach about computers? and to whom? rather than beginning with such "computer literacy" issues themselves, we start with the more basic question of how educators make any decisions about the appropriate content and audience of higher education. the question of teleology in higher education is examined in terms of four conceptual categories: acculturation economic considerations, social mechanisms, and mental discipline. these four categories offer one plausible framework for crafting rational procedures for deciding what to teach college students about computers.  naomi s. baron
computers and the myth of neutrality  this paper is a critique of the widely held belief that computers are valueneutral instruments whose uses are determined primarily by individual choice. the critique is based on an analysis of the social relations of technology which reveals the operation of three kinds of constraints on human choice: 1) intrinsic features of techology; 2) accidental features such as organizational structure; and 3) techno-cultural paradigms. these constraints will be explained and illustrated with examples from the world of computing. my aim is to show that some uses of computers are more likely than others to be adopted under particular, concrete historical circumstances. for example, the mere fact that computers can be used to improve the quality of work-life or to increase citizen participation in government does not mean that they will be so used. the assumption of value-neutrality is at variance with this observation; it distorts analysis of the social impact of computers and serves partisan interests. to achieve fairness and equity in the design of public policies, we must disabuse ourselves of the mistaken notion of value- neutrality.  abbe mowshowitz