The purpose of this study was to collect and examine statistical and survey data in an effort to determine whether three electronic resources made available by the Hartnell College library are actually being used by the target population for whom they were acquired. The second goal was to significantly advance understanding of how selected online database products collect and report usage statistics, how usable students find existing electronic resources, and whether usage levels justify the costs of renewing online resource subscriptions. The major problems examined within the study include a lack of common measurement standards and the absence of a universally agreed upon definition of what constitutes usage. Additional problems included a lack of comparative data to evaluate similar electronic resources and the absence of any prior analysis of database use at Hartnell College. Data for this study was obtained from two sources: server log files and user surveys. Each month, log files containing electronic resource usage statistics were downloaded, analyzed and stored in spreadsheets by the Hartnell College Systems Librarian. This information was supplemented by data collected during a usability study and user satisfaction study conducted in spring 2002. Test participants were drawn from two Hartnell College classes: one section of English 253 and one section of English 10l. There was a total of 25 participants. Findings from the completed study indicated EBSCOhost and Pro Quest databases were used more than CQ Researcher, with EBSCOhost receiving the most use. Despite this finding, usability and user satisfaction surveys indicated that students participating in this study found CQ Researcher the most effective tool in helping them perform directed research. Students also rated CQ Researcher highest in user satisfaction, followed by EBSCOhost and then ProQuest. The factual statistical data derived from this study will assist decision-makers at Hartnell College as they prepare the 2003-2004 Library materials budget. An awareness of usability and user satisfaction ratings of existing electronic resources by students have resulted in planned revisions to existing bibliographic instruction courses.

Information technology is critical in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) mission to protect and promote public health. The use of computers as tools to capture, create, store, manage, and archive information related to business operations presents a number of formidable challenges and issues relating to data and information trustworthiness and reliability for the FDA regulated pharmaceutical industry. After five years of implementation, the pharmaceutical industry has not developed a consistent interpretation of21 Code of Federal Regulations Part II and approaches to computer validation are still unclear. As of this writing, new guidelines are still being issued. In February 2003, for example, the FDA issued the Guidance for Industry Part 11, Electronic Records; Electronic Signatures-Scope and Application. The draft guidance states that Part II will be re-examined and provisions of the regulation may be revised. Computer validation as defined by the FDA means confirmation by examination and provision of objective evidence that computer system specifications conform to user needs and intended uses, and that all requirements can be consistently fulfilled. During computer validation, testing is performed to prove that the system will capture, create, store, manage, and archive regulatory records in a reliable and trustworthy way. The challenge of meeting the FDA requirement for validation of software systems is compounded by the fact that the industry depends on Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) systems. These systems are developed to provide general business solutions and market demand drives the selection of what features will be included in the software. As a result, COTS systems do not necessarily comply with the industry requirements for computer validation. This case study analyzes COTS system testing as a computer validation key practice area and proposes a computer validation key practice model for COTS testing. In addition, the study contributes to a greater understanding of COTS testing strategies and helps shed light on the practical implications of the still-evolving federal regulation.

Given the growing popularity of electronic textbooks (e-textbooks) in academia, it is important to evaluate the educational value of such textbooks and whether users can interact with the interface. The problem identified in this study is how to effectively use e-textbooks in a four-year undergraduate business curriculum to facilitate student learning. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the educational usefulness of etextbooks. The secondary goal was to evaluate the user interface usability of e-textbooks. Two methods of evaluation were used in this study. A web-based survey was used and the sample included current student users of e-textbooks in a variety of business topics in four-year undergraduate business schools. Survey requests were provided to instructors identified as using e-textbooks, who forwarded the survey to the students. There were 166 student responses to the web-based survey. A user review was used and included a "think-aloud" method of evaluation in which participants were asked to perform tasks with one business e-textbook and complete a questionnaire. The participants used included seven undergraduate business students enrolled at Southern Oregon University in a business course in which an e-textbook was used and presented in the Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0 format. The investigator expected to provide insight to what ways e-textbooks enable students to meet learning objectives. The web-based survey results showed students are satisfied with the criteria presented and deemed important in evaluating the educational usefulness of e-books. A key finding in the web-based survey was the dissatisfaction that users reported on the ability to edit, mark and annotate when using e-textbooks. These features are considered to be important assets in promoting the use of e-books. The investigator also expected to provide insight to what ways e-textbook interfaces make possible the performance of the tasks required of students. The user review results showed students are satisfied with the criteria presented and deemed important in evaluating the user interface usability of e-books. A key finding in the user review was that users sought paper book metaphors for finding information in the e-textbook that were not available.

Graduates of teacher education programs are expected to have acquired the skills necessary to implement technologically integrated curricula into the classroom. Many colleges of education require pre-service teachers to either enroll in an introductory computer course to acquire fundamental computer skills or a separate educational technology course that integrates the computer skill training with classroom integration skills. This requirement is gradually evolving into integrating technology into some of the required education coursework. The approach needs to go beyond minimal exposure to skills acquired in introductory computer sciences courses and modeling of instruction within education courses. Pre-service teachers need to experience integrated technology as students as one step in gaining a perspective on how to design integrated technology lessons that they will be expected to implement as part of state education standards. A constructivist approach to the integrated technology experience allows pre-service teachers to develop knowledge, skill, and insight into how technology can be effectively utilized in the classroom. This research was designed to identify specific skills and define constructivist methods for inclusion of technology into the pre-methods education curriculum that would help prepare pre-service teachers to effectively infuse technology into their lesson plans. Research indicates that anxiety levels decrease and self-efficacy levels increase in pre-service teachers who experience integrated technology skill training during methods and student teaching semesters. Recommendations indicated that these skills should be introduced into education course work earlier in the undergraduate program. This study measured and compared the self-efficacy and confidence levels of pre-service teachers who had participated in an introductory computer course to those who had participated in pre-methods education courses with constructivist-based technology integration approaches. This was accomplished by surveying education majors enrolled in the required introductory computer science course and students in each of the three required core education courses. No significant difference was noted in most areas of understanding how technological tools can enhance teaching between pre-service teachers who acquired and/or practiced technological skills as part of a discovery learning approach in education classes to those who experienced only computer skills training.

Information security is no longer just about security. Today, security is about resource and information management, and it turns out that good security is a byproduct of a well-run organization. The corporate enterprise network is constantly changing. Thus, whatever plans we make today for enterprise management and security must be able to accommodate an unknown topological future. On top of that, the typical large-scale enterprise network is geographically far-flung, physically heterogeneous and logically as complex as a London street map. In short, technical chaos. Dr. Eugene Schultz, information security program manager at the consultancy SRI International, Inc. in Menlo Park, California, says, 'You have to get a high-level policy in pace first." The author established enterprise network security goals at the highest level of the organization - the president or the board of directors. A mere vice president of information technology will not do. Unless the real leadership sets the vision and is willing to allocate resources to adequately secure and manage information infrastructure, not much will get done. Policy goals have been set. Whatever policy and goals are chosen, they must be unambiguously clear and that everyone in your organization is made aware of them. Complete participation of all interested parties is necessary in order for the information security program to be successful. Next, the author established what comprises the enterprise network. Carl AIlen, president of Infocore, Inc., a Highland, Utah-based consultancy, says, "Someone has to know what you've got - your network schematics, points of access, vulnerability - and who's in charge." An information asset evaluation was also performed to answer what information resources are important enough to be protected, and where are they located? Stephen Cobb, director of special projects at the National Computer Security Association (NCSA), noted that "the evaluation process helps determine the relative value of data to a company. It raises awareness and makes people think." Top-to-bottom employee education and security management cooperation was needed throughout this process. The author needed to have the cooperation of the security staff, throughout the entire enterprise, as well as the support, understanding and compliance of end users. An ongoing education process for the entire staff was tailored to meet the needs of each group or department. This is needed, "otherwise security will be bypassed, turned off or ignored. And that's worse than having no security at all," Citibank's Chief Information Security Officer, Charles Katz says. There are several approaches one can take to implement an information security plan, and they all rest on the foundation of a security architecture. We must keep in mind, there is no perfect solution; no one vendor will meet all needs exactly, everywhere throughout an organization, but many may come close. An information security program that can react automatically to problem situations is critical. Some of the better reaction mechanisms may choose to run a predefined process. Unless the reaction to the intrusion actually accomplishes something, such as halting the attack or identifying the offender, it's pretty useless. There is no magic pill that will solve your enterprise security problems and no single vendor to meet all your needs, the information security professional must integrate from different sources until the payoff of enhanced enterprise management and asset protection is made a worthy goal. The bottom line is that security is a risk/threat management problem, and no two organizations will ever reach the same conclusions.

There are several Expert Electrical Cost Estimating System (EECES) developers in the continental United States; in addition, some electrical contractors develop their own. The four major developers were Estimation, Inc., McCormick Systems, Inc., Software Shop Systems, Inc. and TRF Estimating Systems. Some of the problems facing these organizations included (a) they were unaware of how many electrical contractors had an EECES, (b) how many of them used their EECESs regularly, (c) nor did they have scientific research data that projected the time saved by using an EECES rather than a Manual Electrical Cost Estimating (MECES) system. Consequently, they did not know how large their potential market was, the ratio of EECESs used regularly versus the number of EECESs that had been sold, or scientific data confirming their speculation that an EECES was approximately 2-112 times faster than an MECES. To illustrate these problems, electrical cost estimators in the HoustonGalveston- Brazoria Consolidated Area were surveyed (see Chapter III, Method). Houston is the fourth most populous city in America and the largest in the southern and southwestern United States. The Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Consolidated Area consists of an enormously large region and contains a wide range of environmental conditions. Essentially every type of electrical construction had recently been completed in the area under a wide variety of conditions. Therefore, electrical cost estimating in this area is considered typical of electrical cost estimating throughout the continental United States. To project the magnitude of these issues, this research survey was conducted. An appropriate survey instrument did not exist, therefore, the writer developed the expert electrical cost estimating system survey instrument. This survey was used as the measuring instrument for this study. The survey was designed for electrical contractors of all sizes and expertise to measure their patterns, characteristics and for collecting data on electrical cost estimating. The test data was statistically evaluated, and it indicated that 40% of the electrical contractors had expert electrical cost estimating systems and 60% did not, 63% of the electrical contractors used them and 37% did not, and the EECES's estimates were 2.77 to 2.88 times faster than the MECES's.

The maximum bandwidth capacity of radio frequency channels such as the forward control channel (FOCC) used in the mobile switching systems is fixed. The FOCC has been experiencing severe congestion because of the inefficiency of conventional mobile paging methods. A bottleneck is caused in the FOCC due to constraints of both the bandwidth and the limited number of radio frequency channels in the mobile telecommunication systems. In this dissertation, an approach that minimizes the paging cost of FOCC in order to locate a mobile station in the mobile switching system is presented. In order to minimize the paging cost and to maximize the bandwidth utilization of the FOCC, a new paging schema with the optimal partition of paging zones is developed. By using the refined mobile's probability pattern stored in the statistical profile, the approach employs the genetic algorithm and the derived fitness function to generate the optimal partition of paging zones, such that the paging cost to locate a mobile station as well as the bandwidth consumption in FOCC is minimized.

Information technology is continuously playing a more significant role in today's organizations. Technology provide organizations with the edge needed to compete in the global market, and more and more organizations are implementing client/server technology to get that technological edge. However, changes in information technology require roles in the IS organization as well as skills and knowledge of IS professionals to be redefined. Organizations have been adopting client/server technology for years. Most of the attention have been focused on the technology itself rather than the IS professionals who implement and maintain the systems. Literature on IS skill needs, especially in the area of client/server as viewed by IS professionals, have not been developed. Consequently, not many relevant sources are available. However, various articles emphasize the importance of skills acquisition for successful adoption of client/server technology. Change in the IS professional's role and skills will continue to be top agenda in the IS organization because companies are not slowing down in their adoption of new technology. This study examined various data obtained from one organization experiencing client/server system implementation. Data included those in company training and hiring, survey results, interviews, and observations and were used to identify the new knowledge and skills that are required of today's IS professionals in the client/server environment. The study reviewed and evaluated methods and techniques used by IS organizations to deal with the lack of required skills and knowledge. It identified the challenges and issues that IS professionals faced during transition. Results revealed that a gap existed between recognized needs and actual methods in satisfying those needs. The case organization adopted well-known strategies from literature to fulfill their skill needs but neglected the human issues. Finally, the study offered a guideline to assist people in making the smoothest transition possible through years of similar changes in their organizations The purpose of this dissertation was to contribute a related body of knowledge to existing literature on the IS professionals' transition during implementation of client/server. The result of this effort has been a qualitative historical case study examining and documenting the implementation of a client/server in a manufacturing company. The reader should at least, be able to understand the process and commitment that is required to undertake such an endeavor in a relatively small organization. Beyond that, he/she will have a guideline to assist him/her in making a smooth transition through years of such changes in his/her organizational culture, not just the computer system.

This study conducted the first research that related to educational technology on the professional courses offered by a military school in the Republic of China. As the only educational institute to prepare professional naval officers, the Chinese Naval Academy (CNA) has consistently proven to be a good learning environment for the midshipmen to prepare them as the major combat force of Republic of China Navy (ROCN). Since educational technology progressed rapidly in these few years, the CAN granted permission to conduct experimental research to examine the effect of Web-based instruction (WEI) and a survey to understand the students' attitude toward WEI as a part of their learning environment. All 113 freshmen, the subjects of the experimental research were randomly assigned: 55 in the control group and 58 in the experimental group. The subject matter was a unit of a mandatory course: The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. A newly designed WBI served as the treatment. The measurement instrument was provided by the CNA. The survey was designed based on Shneiderman's (1997) Questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction and participation in the survey was voluntary. The major findings of the experimental research include: (a) the academic backgrounds of the two groups were equal to each other; (b) the experimental group had a better average score with a statistical significant difference between two groups; (c) the scores distribution of the post-test also demonstrated that WBI may help the students who were not successful in the conventional teaching method to do well in their studies. The return rate of the questionnaire was 73.5% (113 distributed and 83 returned). The students solidly showed their enthusiasm for the WBI with the answers of the survey. Based on these findings, the researcher made some concluding observations: (a) WBI must verify its usability by alpha and beta tests and an experimental research must be conducted before it is put in use; (b) the first WEI implementation in the CNA had a positive impact on the learning of the subject matter; (c) the CNA should build its own manpower to create the WEI for maintaining the national security; (d) the midshipmen agreed that the WBI was enjoyable and provide a good instructional delivery system; and (e) the CNA should create a database for maximizing developer productivity. The researcher has concluded that widespread implement of WEI will improve the readiness of the junior officers of ROCN.

The Republic of China, as a Foreign Military Sales country, has relied heavily on the United States (US) for military arms and supplies. Most of those arms need ongoing operational support and training from the US military. Due to this continued need for training in the US, the Republic of China Air Force Academy (ROCAF A), a military institution educating future Air Force officers, has been emphasizing English learning for its cadets. However, since the traditional instructor-centered method tends to encourage cadets to wait passively as receivers of knowledge, results have not been satisfactory based on their American Language Course Placement Test (ALCPT) scores, a standardized proficiency test used for measuring English ability. Literature indicates that blended learning is more effective than the traditional classroom type of instruction or purely online learning. In addition, due to the advances and popularity of Web-based and multimedia technologies, Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) facilitates English learning in many ways and has become an important English learning tool. The study designed a blended approach incorporating the Web-based activities into traditional classroom instruction to facilitate cadets' English learning and improve their ALCPT test scores. A commercial online CALL English learning system was licensed specifically for the current ROCAF A English class; the new learning approach was developed, implemented, and evaluated. The goal of the study was to use the proposed blended learning approach to improve the cadets' English language listening and reading comprehension thereby increasing the number of cadets qualified for training in the US. The treatment was conducted with six classes of senior cadets in two groups over an eight-week period for three hours per week. The changes in ALCPT test achievement resulting from the treatment were found to have no statistically significant difference, but the experimental group actually showed greater improvement on the listening section, had more cadets (17) score higher than 70 than the control group (8), and had the only three cadets who scored higher than 80. In addition, the overall percentage of cadets in the two groups who scored higher than 70 (31.6%) was greater than the senior cadets of the last year, 2005 (16.8%). The cadets and the instructor in the experimental group, in general, had positive attitudes toward the use of the blended approach for learning and teaching.