<p> The Google Books project is germane for examining underappreciated dimensions of social justice and access to information from a Rawlsian perspective. To date, however, the standard account of Rawls as applied to information and technology has focused almost exclusively on rights to access and information as a primary good (Drahos 1996; van den Hoven and Rooksby 2008; Duff 2011). In this dissertation, the author develops an alternative to the standard account&mdash;the sociotechnical account&mdash;that draws on underappreciated resources available within discussions of Rawls' work. Specifically, the author focuses on the importance of Rawls' basic structure argument and the value of self-respect&mdash;two ideas that figure prominently in Rawls' theory and have been discussed extensively by its critics. After developing this alternative account, the author undertakes a disclosive ethical analysis of Google Books from a social justice perspective. As a method, disclosive ethics is concerned with identifying morally opaque features of artifacts and systems. Following Brey (2000; 2010), the analysis proceeds along three levels: theoretical, disclosure, and application. At the <i>theoretical level</i>, extant Rawlsian applications are scrutinized and rearticulated in light of advanced informational and technological practices. At the <i>disclosure level</i>, morally opaque dimensions of Google Books are disclosed as relevant to self-respect and social justice. In particular, the author focuses on three dimensions of the Books project that would go otherwise overlooked on the standard account of Rawls: quality of scans and metadata, visibility of indexes in Books' preview mode, and Google's conception of the value of information. At the <i>application level</i>, disclosed dimensions are examined according to both the standard and sociotechnical accounts. Ultimately, the author shows how, on a sociotechnical account, these three dimensions of Google Books raise otherwise overlooked questions regarding social justice, information, and technology today..</p>

<p> The problem addressed was the losses incurred by organizations and individuals that resulted from computer and/or network security incidents originating from within or outside an organization. Although research has shown biometrics to be a reliable mechanism in the protection of data through authorization access, critics in opposition of biometric use profess that increased personal and financial security increases the loss of individual privacy. The acceptance and adoption of biometric based security devices has created a dichotomy between those individuals that demand increased security measures with those that fear the collection of personal data could cause them personal harm. This study extends the technology acceptance model (TAM) to include the demographic variables age, gender, and geographic residence to investigate if individual differences determine if a relationship exists between those characteristics and their perceived need for personal security and individual privacy. Previous research has shown that an individual with a strong need for security and privacy is more willing to adopt biometric technology in the protection of their personal data or self. The knowledge gained from this study addresses the challenges for a successful deployment of biometrics in the prevention of unauthorized access and the future marketing of security devices. The results from the study indicated that there is a relationship between an individual's age and their perceived need of security and perceived need for privacy. The addition of different demographic variables is recommended for future research. The addition of the demographic attributes as extended variables to TAM provides acumen in the study of end-user adoption of biometric technology and its diffusion into the marketplace.</p>

<p> This dissertation describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a gender-inclusive information system linking rural women in Agni Hiya, Morocco and water project managers from the Association Dar Si-Hmad. This research was motivated by an interest in exploring the linkages between information and communication technologies (ICT), climate change, natural resource management and women's participation in community development in the drought-ridden A&iuml;t Baamrane region of southwest Morocco. The research investigates the potential for mobile phones to help address communication constraints that rural Berber women face, including culture, religion, and lack of digital literacy. These issues are relevant to the study and design of a gender-inclusive information system (the "Fog Phone") intended to help manage a fogwater distribution system that will deliver water from the Anti-Atlas Mountains to Berber villages. </p><p> The research investigates two similar groups of low-literate, marginalized rural Berber women from the same geographic community who have mobile phones. Technology-focused ethnographic research methods were used to first investigate the social, cultural and technical factors involved in mobile phone use by women employed in an Argan oil Cooperative. Findings from the Argan oil Cooperative study were then applied and expanded in a study of Berber women involved in the operation of the fogwater system. By virtue of their responsibilities as principal water gatherers and water users in the community, Berber women are key stakeholders in the fogwater system. Their continued involvement in water management was extended to the participatory design and development of the prototype Fog Phone. </p><p> Cultural conditions restricting communication between unrelated men and women led to an information system design that supported cultural, social, economic and technical constraints. The Fog Phone enabled women to report on the water system using a series of symbols that communicate water system status without violating cultural norms. In addition to an exploration of the relationship between gender and technology, this research explores related themes of climate change and environmental vulnerability as they pertain to women's lives and livelihoods, as well as the ability of rural Berber women to manage the environmental assets on which their livelihoods depend. </p><p> The contributions of this research include a prototype information system for the fogwater project; a better understanding of the mobile phone utility gap and its impact on the use of ICT by marginalized women in polyglot and oral-language dependent communities; and advances in the emerging practice of ICTs, Climate Change and Development (ICCD) by providing a case study of the linkages between mobile phones, water resources that are affected by climate change and women in rural communities involved in an environmentally sustainable development project in the Middle East and North Africa&mdash;a region that is largely missing from ICCD and overall ICT for Development research. </p>

<p> Clinical laboratories are facing increasing challenges to provide accurate and timely test results. In order to improve the quality and turnaround time of laboratory results, improvement opportunities should be sought in all phases of laboratory testing. This thesis demonstrates the applicability of quality tools within the Deming Plan, Do, Study, and Act cycle to the implementation of autoverification. </p><p> Autoverification is a post-analytical laboratory process improvement tool, which uses computer algorithms to allow qualifying test results to pass directly from automated instruments to the patient's medical record without intervention by a laboratory technologist. This can result in significant time-savings, improved turnaround time, and improved consistency in result handling. This thesis investigates the current status of autoverification in Southern California hospitals and the perceived barriers to the use of this process. The experience of a 350-bed community hospital is presented as an example to assist other laboratories in overcoming these barriers.</p>

<p> The postmodern worldview wanes as the millennium turns and the Millennial Generation matures; at the same time, we rapidly launch into the digital age. Information technology is developing into a changeable, networked system of devices and interfaces that profoundly shapes our professional, intellectual, and social lives. Online reading and navigation influence epistemology and perception; similarly, engagement with ergodic texts, i. e., print and film texts that require significant effort to traverse, results in enhanced cognition. Prismatic perception is a neologism that describes an emerging mythology of the mind in the information age. This fantasy of omniscient perception is rooted in images of potentiality networked with connecting strands that construct an image of a centerless web, similar to Indra's Net and the World Wide Web. </p><p> Literary theory draws on both art and philosophy and therefore directly reflects an era's defining characteristics. Deconstruction as described by Jacques Derrida serves as a precursor to hypertext theory; these two theories work collaboratively to delineate this emerging era. Reader response theory emphasizes the reader's role and correlates with the expanding participation and power of readers, writers, and creators in digital formats. Recombinant art, i. e., collaged and remixed creations that play and interact with other artists' previous works, proliferates as the culture of free and open sharing rises. </p><p> This dissertation illustrates the concept of prismatic perception with mythological symbols and images of infinity drawn from literature and film, particularly the works of Jorge Luis Borges, the Chinese classic <i> I Ching,</i> Mark Z. Danielewski's novel <i>House of Leaves,</i> and Christopher Nolan's films <i>Memento</i> and <i>Inception. </i> This work examines current issues concerning social aspects of technology, particularly recent controversies over information access. Postmodernism was characterized by the prefixes post- and de-; the prefixes that best suit the emerging era are meta- and re- as people generate, investigate, contemplate, rework, and participate in the vast accumulation of connecting and interacting information and ideas. </p><p> Keywords: Information society; information technology&mdash;social aspects&mdash;forecasting; technology&mdash;social aspects; computers and civilization; Borges, Jorge Luis, 1899-1986; deconstruction; reader-response criticism.</p>

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<p> The phenomenon of user-generated content and modification for video games, known as modding, is increasingly common, but why individuals are motivated to engage in significant work for no pay is still poorly understood. Drawing upon the Communities of Practice theories proposed by Jean Lave and Ettienne Wenger, this paper explored the similarities and differences between a community of addon software developers for Blizzard Entertainment's popular Massively Multiplayer Online Game, <i>World of Warcraft,</i> and other Free/Open Source Software communities. Through a series of ethnographic interviews, and an online survey of addon developers, research found the addon development community describes itself primarily as devoted game players rather than software developers, motivated primarily by a desire to fill personal in-game needs, and only later, by the more unclear rewards of contributing to the Community of Practice surrounding addon development. </p><p> Similarly, though addon developers have a strong affinity with many practices and attitudes toward intellectual property espoused by F/OSS communities, they have ultimately coalesced around shared practices which encourage and honor individual ownership of intellectual property, rather than more "free" distribution models. Considering these findings, a new understanding emerges for a specific type of Community of Practice, termed a <i>Community of Passion,</i> that allows future research to more clearly identify and describe a playful and passionate approach to productive activity increasingly seen not only in online gaming communities, but also in other settings such as the emergent <i>Maker</i> communities where creativity and democratized production are valued.</p>