Thesis (M.A. (Informations Science))--University of Pretoria, 2000.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 2002. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 275-287). Available through UMI Dissertation Services (Ann Arbor, MI, 2002). Also available on the Internet. Photocopy and microfiche version:

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Dissertation (MA (Information Science))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Information Science / unrestricted

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Edith Cowan University, 2006. / Submitted to the Faculty of Computing, Health and Science. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 263-279.

User groups have been recognised as one of the most important coupling mechanisms between users and vendors. There are hundreds of such groups around the world attached to complex technological artefacts and systems. Innovation scholars have referred to these groups as the new sites of innovation and gone as far to suggest that vendors may struggle to survive without the user-led innovation that derives from these forums (von Hippel, 2005). This is particularly the case for software products. However, despite their growing academic and policy importance, and notwithstanding the fact these communities have been in existence for more than three decades, the Information Systems literature has not yet explained the complex workings of such groups. This study produces one of the first ethnographic studies of a major software user group linked to a complex packaged enterprise system. It describes and characterises the range of functions carried out by this group, which includes their internal workings and organisation, how members relate to each other, how the group links to the vendor and other intermediaries, and the group’s attempts to shape the development of its technology. A key focus of the work is the various tensions and barriers found in these communities. To analyse this group the study adopts and extends the Social Shaping of Technology (SST) and its recent offshoot, the ‘Biography of Artefact’ (BoA) framework. This thesis contributes to these approaches by showing the importance of multifaceted time dimensions and heterogeneity of spaces in examining users groups. Whilst existing studies using these approaches have looked at the evolution of technology over extended periods, this thesis contributes by considering the coevolution of the technology and the community attached at the same time. This allows us not only to gain a better conceptualisation of the user group but as a result see new forms of innovation invisible to more dominant perspectives. It challenges economist led understandings of user-led innovation which tend to give only a rather superficial understanding of the process by which users create new innovation. In particular, and through arguing for the need to take into account both ‘success’ and ‘failure’ in the process of user-led innovation, the thesis offers the concept of ‘artification’ to explain further complex outputs originating from the interaction of these actors in multiple spaces and over long periods of time. The thesis also extends theories of the Social Shaping of Technology by depicting innovation as an arena where different actor spaces act collectively, but also compete, and as a result wield influence on different stages of the technology lifecycle. This leads to a further contribution of this thesis in the field of Information Systems research by suggesting that enterprise software innovation is a community achievement. In particular, the research proposes the concept of ‘unification’ to show the collective acts of users in aggregating their needs to participate in the development of technology. The study concludes by offering insights and recommendation to practitioners and policy makers for deploying user communities for better technological outcomes, both in terms of design and development as well as implementation and use.

The objective of the research is to identify how information can influence development in the developing countries, especially in Bangladesh. A variety of information gathering stages were undertaken including documentary analysis, interviews with key officials, structured interviews with individuals living in rural and urban slum areas and focus groups. Officials at the central planning level responsible for community development and information services in Bangladesh were interviewed to ascertain their views of the relation of information and development in Bangladesh. At the grassroots level both information providers and users were interviewed to collect information relating to the impact of information services on development in rural and poor urban areas of Bangladesh. Structured interviews which allowed for quantitative analysis were undertaken in four remote villages and two poor urban areas. Analysis of the data collected has led to the development of a model for community information centres which might become central to information dissemination and provide a focus for information policy in Bangladesh.

Our study illustrates health communication in order to find out how widespread the knowledge is about osteoporosis and how to reach out with health information to the public.   Our essay was conducted through quantitative surveys, which included 402 respondents. This in order to highlight the prevailing uncertainty about the public disorder osteoporosis, which is common in Sweden. We wish to examine trough which channels our respondents choose to collect their health information. The thesis framework includes theories such as McGuire’s ProcessingTheory, Agenda setting, Two-step hypothesis and Diffusion of innovation. Through these theories, we analyzed our empirical data that emerged.   The results showed that our respondents had very low knowledge of osteoporosis, although theyshowed interest for health information. The results also showed that respondents were consistent intheir actions regarding which channels they came to turn to. They prefered their health informationfrom news papers and family, friends and work colleagues. When asked where they got their information from, the respondents answered mostly from family, friends and work colleagues, followed closely by newspapers. This shows that respondents are more receptive to informationfrom the channels of their own choice. The results also showed that the propensity to change behavior increases with the age of the respondents.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, November, 2005. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (240-262)

My master’s thesis is focused on knowledge management. The main point is one of the most important topics now, the knowledge and its management. The introduction of my master’s thesis provides basic definitions from the field of knowledge management, namely data, information and knowledge, and gives definitions of most important factors that influences knowledge management. Thesis gives a survey of current development in information systems and products supporting knowledge management.