La communauté en ligne (CEL) est une forme très répandue de transfert de connaissances spécialisées, où des usagers géographiquement dispersés peuvent constituer une communauté en partageant des idées, envoyant et affichant des messages, débattant de sujets et nouant des amitiés en ligne. Un des problèmes avec ces CEL est leur durabilité, car leur apparition et leur croissance initiale sont suivies d’une phase de stagnation où les usagers cessent d’afficher des commentaires, ce qui mène la communauté à mourir par manque d’activité. Tenter de prolonger la phase dynamique de croissance d’une CEL est un sujet pertinent pour tout administrateur de CEL. Une façon de maintenir le dynamisme d’une CEL est d’encourager les contributions.Ce courant de recherche se penche sur la façon dont les CEL peuvent prolonger leur phase dynamique, en considérant différents aspects, en particulier les mesures des contributions des usagers et la manière dont les nouveaux usagers d’une CEL se comportent. Je propose d’utiliser différentes mesures pour évaluer les contributions des usagers. Une des mesures pour identifier les contributeurs très actifs est une mesure bibliométrique non-invasive basée sur l’indice de Hirsch. Un autre aspect de cette recherche concerne la façon dont les nouveaux usagers se comportent et comment cela peut être expliqué par l’attachement préférentiel.Ce courant de recherche se penche sur la façon dont les CEL peuvent prolonger leur phase dynamique, en considérant différents aspects, en particulier les mesures des contributions des usagers et la manière dont les nouveaux usagers d’une CEL se comportent. Je propose d’utiliser différentes mesures pour évaluer les contributions des usagers. Une des mesures pour identifier les contributeurs très actifs est une mesure bibliométrique non-invasive basée sur l’indice de Hirsch. Un autre aspect de cette recherche concerne la façon dont les nouveaux usagers se comportent et comment cela peut être expliqué par l’attachement préférentiel. / The online community (OC) is a popular form of specialized knowledge transfer, where geographically dispersed users can for a community by sharing ideas, send and post messages, debate topics, and forge online friendships. One of the problems with OC’s is that they tend to have a life cycle, where there is the birth and growth of the OC but then there is a stagnant stage where users stop posting to the OC and the community eventually dies due to inactivity. Trying to extend the vibrant growth stage of an OC is a relevant topic for any administrator of an OC. One way that an OC can stay vibrant is to encourage contributions.This research stream will look at how OC’s can keep their vibrancy for a longer period of time, by looking at various aspects of OC’s such as measures of user contribution and how new users in an OC behave. I propose to use different measures to evaluate users contributions to an OC. One of these measures is a non-invasive bibliometric measure using the Hirsch-index methodology as a way to identify high-level contributors. Another stream of this research will look at how new users behave and how this might be explained by preferential attachment.

Natural tension exists between decision-makers and intelligence professionals. The main problems involve control over the gathering, interpretation, presentation, and the use of intelligence products in the decision-making process. Competitive intelligence (CI) professionals are rarely in a management position, and few managers and decision-makers have the necessary understanding of the value of intelligence products and thus intelligence is often misused or discarded. This situation results in intelligence failures and inappropriate strategic decisions by management. The methodology for the study was to determine the perceptions of CI professionals with regard to the current state of affairs of the CI function in the private sector. The study was conducted among members (n=74) of the South African Association of Competitive Intelligence Professionals. An overview of the development of CI within the South African context was also done, and interviews with key personalities practising CI in South Africa were conducted. The results indicated that many issues and challenges still face the CI professional in the South African environment, such as control over intelligence and the way in which it is used. There is a worrying tendency of third parties gathering intelligence, resulting in a situation where plausible denial is possible. Management perception/ignorance of the capabilities of intelligence in the decision-making process still needs to be addressed. There is also a need for recognition among CI professionals with regard to standards and representation. The CI field is still almost exclusively a male-dominated industry, with high barriers of entry in terms of academic qualifications. The conclusions are that a greater understanding of the requirements and needs of decision-makers, with regard to intelligence products, should be created. Decision-makers also need to understand the limits of intelligence products, and that intelligence products can only be compiled from information that has been gathered in a legal and ethical way. CI professionals have the responsibility to develop an indigenous body of knowledge as a means of making CI an accepted business practice and an indispensable tool in management decision-making. / Dissertation (M (Security Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

Influential actors refer to smart grids as a revamped version of the energy systemwhen they argue for alternative energy pathways, and assign demonstration projects with the task of turning prospects about the future into functional configurations. This thesis explores notions of the smart grid future that are implicitly conveyed in Swedish smart grid strategy and planning documents. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse how a smart grid is assembled in a Swedish demonstration project. Inspired by Science and Technology Studies (STS), it explores this process through interviews, document studies and participant observation. By combining concepts such as sociotechnical imaginaries, material participation and translations, this study sheds light on the negotiations, tensions and struggles at play in the process of making smart grids functional. This study examines how included and excluded users make sense of the smart grid and of their own role in shaping the future. What imaginaries do the actors involved in the project draw on? What materialities take part in shaping the smart grid, and what user engagements are encouraged? The aim of the study is to seek an enhanced understanding of how smart grids are made, of the different forces that shape this process and, ultimately, of the reality of Swedish households as part of a smart grid in the making. This study shows that making a smart grid functional is not as feasible as the smart grid imaginaries suggest, and it finds potential in user engagements that are suppressed within the current market regime, which is primarily arranged around economic incentives. / Inflytelserika aktörer beskriver smarta elnät som ett sätt att modernisera energisystemet och sjösätter demonstrationsprojekt med uppgift att omforma potentiellt omvälvande visioner till fungerande konfigurationer. Denna avhandling undersöker vilka föreställningar om smarta elnät som implicit förmedlas i svenska strategi- och planeringsdokument, och beskriver och analyserar hur dessa visioner påverkar hur ett smart elnät sätts samman i ett svenskt demonstrationsprojekt. Inspirerad av teknik- och vetenskapsstudier (STS) analyserar avhandlingen denna process med hjälp av intervjuer, dokumentstudier och deltagande observation. Genom att kombinera teoretiska begrepp som sociotekniska föreställningar, materiellt deltagande (material participation) och översättningar, undersöker studien de förhandlingar, spänningar och konflikter som inträffar när smarta elnät blir till. Studien belyser också hur inkluderade och exkluderade användare förstår det smarta elnätet och sin egen roll när det gäller att forma framtiden. Vilka föreställningar om framtiden använder sig de aktörer som är involverade i projektet av? Hur inkluderas olika materialiteter i utformningen av det smarta elnätet och vilka typer av användare uppmuntras av den konfigurering som sätts samman i projektet? Syftet med studien är att nå en djupare förståelse för dels hur smarta elnät blir till och de olika krafter som bidrar till denna process, och dels hur svenska hushåll konstrueras som en del av smarta elnät. Studien visar att det är inte så enkelt att skapa fungerande smarta elnät som föreställningarna gör gällande, och den hittar en outnyttjad potential hos användarna vars deltagande dikteras av marknadsmässiga villkor och ekonomiska incitament snarare än ansvar och delaktighet.

The graduation theses target the actual situation of social services in the area of pensioners in Pelhřimov. The process of the community planning of social services and his contribution for the efficient and quality social services are evaluated. Specified preferences in the community plan are compared with their implementation. It is also focused on the cooperation of triad (social services users, providers and submitters) within the community planning.

The aim of this thesis is to statistically determine the dependence rate of software piracy in the cultural foundation of the country and other factors. Data obtained from internet were the resources of my work. They were from the results of different surveys and case studies. The data contain values of individual indicators, each for a maximum number of countries. The nature of the collected data leads to the analysis of quantitative variables such were selected correct statistical methods. Dependence of the quantitative variables was measured by simple linear regression. The rate of this dependence determines the correlation analysis. In my case Spearman's correlation coefficient was used. Any dependence was investigated with a pair of indicators. In each of pairs was as the dependent variable rate of software piracy. For better understanding I have used the graphs. From my thesis, I expect evaluate past and current situation about software piracy in the Czech Republic and in the world, and that shows influences the amount of computer crime.

The primary goal of this study was to acquire an understanding of those practices that encourage the sustained use of simulations in support of inquiry-based science instruction. With the rapid distribution of Internet-related technologies in the field of education, it is most important to undertand the function of these innovations. Technology, specifically the implementation of simulations to support inquiry-based instruction, provides new educational strategies for science teachers. Technology also influences the field of education by repeatedly making some teachers' best practices obsolete. The qualitative research design was selected to explore the nature of science leaders' and teachers’ consideration or lack of consideration to incorporate simulations into their inquiry-based instruction. The method for collecting the data for this study included in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The analysis of this interview data was conducted in two phases. Phase I focused on the consensus views of the participants regarding the implementation of simulations. In order to gain a more in-depth understanding of the interview data, Phase II focused on the subtle differences among the participants regarding their execution of this instructional tool. The overall conclusion of this study was that the use of simulations requires a multi-faceted approach to ensure sustainability. As noted, science leaders must continue to encourage the high, medium and low users of simulations to implement the ongoing use of these instructional tools. Also, science teachers must do their part to ensure the success of these programs. By addressing the primary and secondary research questions, five major conclusions were reached. These conclusions include (a) the use of web-based simulations can have a positive influence on inquiry-based science instruction, (b) technology challenges have influenced the teachers’ use of simulations, (c) time influences the use of simulations, (d) ongoing professional development strategies support the sustained use of simulations, and (e) student engagement in inquiry-based science instruction is positively influenced by the use of simulations. This study concludes with suggestions for educational leaders and teachers along with further considerations for future research.

Os romances Bouvard et Pécuchet (1881), de Gustave Flaubert, e La Vie mode demploi (1978), de Georges Perec, são lidos, nesta dissertação, a partir do tema da biblioteca, que se desdobra (assim como essas obras) em três vias que se entrecruzam: virtual, imaginária e real. As bibliotecas virtuais são construídas a partir de diversos registros e referências intertextuais deixadas por escritores em anotações, cadernos, correspondência, etc., que são tomadas como documentos da gênese de sua escrita. Já as bibliotecas imaginárias são aquelas tematizadas nos livros, ou seja, são encontradas em obras que ficcionalizam o espaço e a dinâmica das bibliotecas. As bibliotecas reais dos escritores, por sua vez, são formadas por volumes que fizeram parte de seu acervo pessoal. Esta pesquisa propõe refletir sobre as práticas de leitura e escrita de Georges Perec e Gustave Flaubert paralelamente à análise das obras La Vie mode demploi e Bouvard et Pécuchet. Essa reflexão resulta da observação de alguns vestígios de suas bibliotecas virtuais e reais e das relações entre aquelas três faces da biblioteca. Nesse sentido, esta dissertação pretende apresentar diversos arranjos que as múltiplas peças dessa biblioteca caleidoscópica podem formar. / In this dissertation, Gustave Flauberts Bouvard and Pécuchet (1881) and Georges Perecs Life a users manual (1978) are analyzed through the theme of the library, a theme that has (such as in the novels) three dimensions which interconnect: a virtual, a real and an imaginary one. The virtual dimension of the library is formed by the intertextual references and notes left by the writers in their writing process documents such as their notebooks and letters. The imaginary dimension of the library takes the form of the figuration of the library in the books that fictionalize the space and the dynamics of the library. Finally, the real dimension of the library takes the form of the books that were part of the writers personal libraries. Because of these three dimensions, this dissertation not only analyses the text of novels but also reflects about Perecs and Flauberts writing and reading practices. This is possible through the observation of the traces of the virtual and the real dimensions of the library and through the interconnection of three dimensions mentioned. In this sense, this dissertation aims at presenting some of the various arrangements that can be formed by the multiple pieces of this kaleidoscopic theme.

This project seeks to identify characteristics of successful online communities and apply them to designing and prototyping an online discussion forum where novice computer users can share computer questions and answers. Usability and sociability are identified as essential goals in the development of online communities. Appropriate and effective Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) software is evaluated and selected to run the discussion forum.

The present study draws on uses and gratifications and media system dependency perspectives for examining factors related to Internet usage behaviors of international students and their motives to use their home-country Internet resources.

Library anxiety has been a concept since 1986, when Constance A. Mellon coined the phenomenon through her qualitative study on feelings that students experienced when interacting with academic libraries. In this essay we are looking at the origin of the concept through earlier research on the known barriers, trying to see what makes library anxiety unique compared to other seemingly related concepts, for example information anxiety. We’ve found many different concepts which can be part of library anxiety, or vice-versa, and many different extensions of LAS – the original scale to measure library anxiety. We aim to unravel some of those concepts we find of importance for library anxiety and its discourse. Looking at this through the lenses of Koselleck’s take on conceptual history, we see possible conflicts on where the concept library anxiety are heading; depending on what aspects of the concept the researcher read into and focusing on and in what context and time the articles were made. We also try to see who is considered responsible for shaping the discourse and if there is some kind of hegemonic struggle therein.