This thesis uses phenomenography to investigate the perceptions and experiences of academic libraries by faculty members across a variety of disciplines working in international branch campuses (IBCs). The main research question addressed by the study asks how faculty members experience the academic library, with the objective of identifying qualitative variations in experience within this group. The findings of this research address established practical problems related to library value and identity, and have implications for practice in both the development and evaluation of library services for faculty members, as well as communication about those services with faculty members. Furthermore, the findings of this research support practical developments in the support of faculty members engaged in transnational higher education provision. The results of the research find that these participants in this context experienced the academic library in at least six different ways and reported a variety of experiences in terms of using information, in and out of the academic library, to accomplish core faculty member functions of teaching and research. The categories of experience generated through the study are: IBC faculty members experience the academic library as relationships with librarians; as a content provider; as a discovery service; as a facilitator for engaging with the academic community; as a champion of reading books; and as a compliance centre for information ethics. Investigations into the information behaviour, library use and perceptions of faculty members have been conducted in a variety of contexts, but are limited in transnational contexts. This research therefore also represents an original and important contribution to an understanding of academic library practice in transnational or cross-border contexts, as well as contributing to a limited knowledge base about the experiences of faculty members in transnational higher education generally. Phenomenographic investigations into the experiences of library and information science elements such as libraries and information centres are rare, and therefore this research represents an original contribution to understanding this phenomenon in this way. The study employed phenomenography as the methodology for understanding the academic library experiences of the participants. Ten faculty member participants representing a variety of IBC institutions located within major educational hubs in the Arab Gulf and Southeast Asia were interviewed about their academic library experiences moving from a home campus to a branch campus, using the story of this move as a critical incident for starting discussion and relaying real experiences to the researcher. These experiences are theoretically situated in the context of information worlds (Jaeger & Burnett, 2010) in order to increase understanding around the formation of these experiences and to critically analyse practical implications. This research design contributes to the phenomenographic method by detailing its procedures and to its theoretical aspects by linking the methodological with a framework, Jaeger and Burnett’s theory of information worlds, which facilitates phenomenography outside its traditional domain of teaching and learning research.

This research investigates the information behaviour of cult media fan communities on the internet, using three novel methods which have not previously been applied to this domain. Firstly, a review, analysis and synthesis of the literature related to fan information behaviour, both within the disciplines of LIS and fan studies, revealed unique aspects of fan information behaviour, particularly in regards to produsage, copyright, and creativity. The findings from this literature analysis were subsequently investigated further using the Delphi method and tag analysis. A new Delphi variant – the Serious Leisure Delphi – was developed through this research. The Delphi study found that participants expressed the greatest levels of consensus on statements on fan behaviour that were related to information behaviour and information-related issues. Tag analysis was used in a novel way, as a tool to examine information behaviour. This found that fans have developed a highly granular classification system for fanworks, and that on one particular repository a ‘curated folksonomy’ was being used with great success. Fans also use tags for a variety of reasons, including communicating with one another, and writing meta-commentary on their posts. The research found that fans have unique information behaviours related to classification, copyright, entrepreneurship, produsage, mentorship and publishing. In the words of Delphi participants – “being in fandom means being in a knowledge space,” and “fandom is a huge information hub just by existing”. From these findings a model of fan information behaviour has been developed, which could be further tested in future research.

Thesis (M.S. in Systems Engineering and M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Daniel Boger, Steve Iatrou. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71). Also available online.

Music is widely used to accompany moving images, in films, advertising, television programmes and computer games. The process of choosing and using a piece of pre-existing commercial music for this purpose is known as synchronisation. The addition of music to a piece of film enhances the final work with cultural meaning, and generates additional income for the rights holders. This research examines the information needs of professionals involved in the selection of music, including Users from the advertising and film communities and Owners from the recording and publishing industries. A tentative communications model is developed and proposed from musicological, semiotic and communications literature. Interviews, knowledge organisation systems, queries and observations are identified as rich potential sources of textual data relating to the communications process around satisfying the Users’ information needs. The content of these texts is analysed to identify key musical facets. Mood is found to be an important factor when searching for unknown musical items. Using a Discourse Analytic approach to the interview texts, four discourses, or interpretive repertoires, are identified. These repertoires carry conflicting meanings of music and are employed throughout the community, although relative emphases vary according to the viewpoint of the stakeholder. This is supported by an analysis of the written texts of both the Owners (music search engines) and the Users (written queries, or briefs). A comparison is drawn between the emphasis of the repertoires and the precision of the search engines. The repertoires are applied to the theoretical communications model, which is revised to reflect the findings of the analyses. This is used to make recommendations on how to improve the disintermediated communications process, by emphasising the repertoires employed by the Users rather than those of the Owners.

This report presents research and development of dedicated system architecture, designed to enable its users to interact with each other as well as to access information on Points of Interest that exist in their immediate environment. This is accomplished through managing personal preferences and contextual information in a distributed manner and in real-time. The advantage of this system architecture is that it uses mobile devices, heterogeneous sensors and a selection of user interface paradigms to produce a sociotechnical framework to enhance the perception of the environment and promote intuitive interactions. The thrust of the work has been on software development and component integration. Iterative prototyping was adopted as a development method in order to effectively implement the users’ feedback and establish a platform for collaboration that closely meets the requirements and aids their decision-making process. The requirement acquisition was followed by the system-modelling phase in order to produce a robust software prototype. The implementation includes component-based development and extensive use of design patterns over native programming. Conclusively, the software product has become the means to evaluate differences in the use of mixed reality technologies in a ubiquitous scenario. The prototype can query a number of context sources such as sensors, or details of the personal profile, to acquire relevant data. The data (and metadata) is stored in opensource structures, so that they are accessible at every layer of the system architecture and at any time. By proactively processing the acquired context, the system can assist the users in their tasks (e.g. navigation) without explicit input – e.g. by simply creating a gesture with the device. However, advanced interaction with the application via the user interface is available for requests that are more complex. Representations of the real world objects, their spatial relations and other captured features of interest are visualised on scalable interfaces, ranging from 2D to 3D models and from photorealism to stylised clues and symbols. Two principal modes of operation have been implemented; one, using geo-referenced virtual reality models of the environment, updated in real time, and second, using the overlay of descriptive annotations and graphics on the video images of the surroundings, captured by a video camera. The latter is referred to as augmented reality. The continuous feed of the device position and orientation data, from the GPS receiver and the digital compass, into the application, makes the framework fit for use in unknown environments and therefore suitable for ubiquitous operation. This is one of the novelties of the proposed framework, because it enables a whole range of social, peer-to-peer interactions to take place. The scenarios of how the system could be employed to pursue these remote interactions and collaborative efforts on mobile devices are addressed in the context of urban navigation. The conceptual design and implementation of the novel location and orientation based algorithm for mobile AR are presented in detail. The system is, however, multifaceted and capable of supporting peer-to-peer exchange of information in a pervasive fashion, usable in various contexts. The modalities of these interactions are explored and laid out in several scenarios, but particularly in the context of user adoption. Two evaluation tasks took place. The preliminary evaluation examined certain aspects that influence user interaction while being immersed in a virtual environment, whereas the second summative evaluation compared the utility and certain usability aspects of the AR and VR interfaces.

Saudi Arabia is struggling to provide quality healthcare services in light of the growing population, rapid spread of chronic diseases, and limited resources available. In addition to these obstacles, the Saudi society is a highly conservative one, and certain traditions may sometimes limit how healthcare services can be offered. This work examines the impact of a Telecare solution on the healthcare system at the National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA). It focuses on diabetes, and the challenges faced by both the healthcare officials at NGHA, and the patients. These challenges also include social factors that may pose at obstacle in delivering healthcare services. The ‘Telecare for Managing Diabetes – TeMaD’ system is designed and developed using the Soft Systems Methodology. It was then integrated into the hospital information systems at King Abdulaziz Medical City in the Central Region, and consisted of 52 participating patients, and four involved Diabetic Educators. HbA1c levels of all patients were recorded prior to commencement of the study. Patients were required to use TeMaD for a 3-month period, then, had their HbA1c levels recorded again after completion of the study. Overall observation of the results showed a reduction in the HbA1c levels of 83% of the patients. Participating patients expressed their acceptance of the system, indicating that TeMaD allowed them to overcome some obstacles such as lack of transportation. It also assisted the majority of participants to better manage their diabetes and ease communication with their diabetic educators. Most patients requested that the system be offered permanently at the clinic. Diabetic educators were in favour of integrating TeMaD into the current healthcare system at NGHA, and they were enthusiastic about its numerous benefits. Telecare solutions can be used to enhance the quality of healthcare services, meet current demands, and address obstacles faced by the healthcare system in Saudi Arabia, including social factors that are unique. They can be adopted by neighbouring Gulf States which share common obstacles in healthcare.

No description available.

Background: Controlled vocabularies in the molecular biology domain exist to facilitate data integration across database resources. One such tool is the Gene Ontology (GO), a classification designed to act as a universal index for gene products from any species. The Gene Ontology is used extensively in annotating gene products and analysing gene expression data, yet very little research exists from a library and information science perspective exploring the design principles, philosophy and social role of ontologies in biology. Aim: To explore how molecular biologists, in creating the Gene Ontology, devised guidelines and rules for determining which scientific concepts are included in the ontology, and the criteria for how these concepts are represented. Methods: A domain analysis approach was used to devise a mixed methodology to study the design of the Gene Ontology. Concept analysis of a GO term and a critical discourse analysis of GO developer mailing list texts were used to test whether ontological realism is a tenable basis for constructing objective ontologies. A comparison of the current GO vocabulary construction guidelines and a study of the reasons why GO terms are removed from the ontology further explored the justifications for the design of the Gene Ontology. Finally, a content analysis of published GO papers examined how authors use and cite GO data and terminology. Results: Gene Ontology terms can be presented according to different epistemologies for concepts, indicating that ontological realism is not the only way objective ontologies can be designed. Social roles and the exercise of power were found to play an important role in determining ontology content, and poor synonym control, a lack of clear warrant for deciding terminology and arbitrary decisions to delete and invent new terms undermine the objectivity and universal applicability of the Gene Ontology. Authors exhibited poor compliance with GO data citation policies, and in re-wording and misquoting GO terminology, risk exacerbating the semantic problems this controlled vocabulary was designed to solve. Conclusions: The failure of the Gene Ontology to define what is meant by a molecular function, the exercise of power by GO developers in clearing contentious concepts from the ontology, and the strict adherence to ontological realism, which marginalises social and subjective ways of classifying scientific concepts, limits the utility of the ontology as a tool to unify the molecular biology domain. These limitations to the Gene Ontology design could be overcome with the development of lighter, pluralistic, user-controlled ‘open ontologies’ for gene products that can work alongside more traditional, ‘top-down’ developed vocabularies.

Despite its emergence more than a decade ago, information architecture remains a problematic concept. A study of relevant literature suggests significant advocacy with inadequate supporting evidence on its existence, application or value. The available limited research evidence generally presents unsatisfactory information architecture experience. Notwithstanding the unresolved issues and reported unsatisfactory experience, information architecture continues to be referenced as an important information management issue. Hence this doctoral study sought to investigate it. In the first stage, the study set out to clarify the position of information architecture via a large scale postal survey of 294 organisations. The survey found that information architecture is being used in association with IS planning, particularly in organisations which position IT as a strategic resource, but perceptions on its two conventional key components vary. While application architecture is viewed as being useful for IS planning, corporate data model is seen as being more relevant to data management and project implementation. Both models are regarded as tools facilitating integrated information systems development. In the second stage of research, case studies on 6 large organisations were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of successful information architecture practice. The investigation reaffirmed application architecture's position as an IS planning tool and cast further doubt on corporate data model's role not only in IS planning but also in IS practice as a whole. Business area/project data model was identified as the pragmatic high-level data model for both application/database development and data management. A major finding of the case studies was on business system architecture, a pictorial model depicting IT in its business setting. It is seen as being of value for integrating IS planning with strategy development and business planning - a tool for fusing IT with the business. The case studies concluded that the value and effectiveness of information architecture is dependent on the targeting of its components - business system architecture, application architecture and business area/project data model - in terms of tasks and recipients. The case for a holistic approach to business/IS planning and implementation is currently being argued by a number of leading management and IS scholars. This thesis embraces the holistic approach and positions the (redefined) information architecture as a valuable tool in its implementation.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Computer Science, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-85).