Η παρούσα εργασία αποτελεί μια ερευνητική προσέγγιση στην οποία μελετήθηκε η αξιοποίηση του διαδικτύου και συγκεκριμένα των σχολικών διαδικτυακών χώρων στην Πρωτοβάθμια Εκπαίδευση της Αχαΐας. Σκοπός της εργασίας ήταν να διερευνηθεί: α) ο ρόλος των σχολικών διαδικτυακών χώρων στην εκπαίδευση, β) τα στοιχεία που προβάλλονται από τους σχολικούς διαδικτυακούς χώρους και γ) αν διευκολύνουν την επικοινωνία ανάμεσα στη σχολική και την ευρύτερη κοινότητα. Για τη συλλογή των δεδομένων εφαρμόστηκε πολυμεθοδολογική προσέγγιση. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, έγινε παρατήρηση όλων των σχολικών διαδικτυακών χώρων των σχολείων της Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης Αχαΐας, ώστε να διαπιστωθεί η δομή τους και οι πληροφορίες που προβάλλονται. Για την επίτευξη της αντικειμενικότητας της παρατήρησης, πραγματοποιήθηκε επιπρόσθετη παρατήρηση και αξιολόγηση των σχολικών διαδικτυακών χώρων από ειδικευμένους γνώστες των Νέων Τεχνολογιών σε συγκεκριμένους άξονες, μέσα από φύλλο παρατήρησης. Κατόπιν, διεξήχθησαν συνεντεύξεις από επιλεγμένα άτομα, τα οποία σχετίζονται με τη χρήση των Νέων Τεχνολογιών στην εκπαίδευση και έχουν ταυτόχρονα μεγάλη εκπαιδευτική εμπειρία, ώστε να διευκρινιστούν οι λόγοι και ο σκοπός δημιουργίας των διαδικτυακών αυτών χώρων. Για την ερμηνευτική προσέγγιση της έρευνας χρησιμοποιήθηκε ως θεωρητικό πλαίσιο η σχέση των Τ.Π.Ε. και του Διαδικτύου με την Εκπαίδευση και η αξιολόγηση των διαδικτυακών χώρων μέσα από σχετικές έρευνες. Τα συμπεράσματα στα οποία καταλήγει η εργασία δείχνουν ότι ο ρόλος των σχολικών δικτυακών χώρων στην Πρωτοβάθμια Εκπαίδευση της Αχαΐας είναι περισσότερο ενημερωτικός και λιγότερο εκπαιδευτικός και ψυχαγωγικός και ότι δεν παρέχουν μηχανισμούς αλληλεπίδρασης και ανατροφοδότησης με τον επισκέπτη. Επιπλέον, η έρευνα έδειξε ότι οι παραπάνω διαδικτυακοί χώροι εστιάζουν περισσότερο στην προβολή πληροφοριών και πολιτιστικών δράσεων των σχολείων και λιγότερο στην επικοινωνία μεταξύ των μελών της σχολικής κοινότητας και των σχολείων με την τοπική κοινωνία. Τέλος, προτείνονται τρόποι βελτίωσης, ώστε οι σχολικοί ιστότοποι να αποτελέσουν ένα χρήσιμο εκπαιδευτικό, επικοινωνιακό και ψυχαγωγικό εργαλείο. / The present paper work is a research approach in which we studied the use of the internet and specifically of school websites in the Primary Education of Achaia. The aim of this work was to investigate: a) the role of school websites in education, b) the items displayed by school websites, and c) if they facilitate communication between the school and the wider community. For the data collection we applied the multimethodological approach. In particular, we held an observation of all school websites of the primary schools of Achaia, to determine the structure and the information displayed. To achieve the objectivity of observation, we performed additional observation and evaluation of school websites by skilled and specialized users of New Technologies in specific categories, through observation sheet. Afterwards, we conducted interviews with selected individuals, who are related to the use of ICT in education and they also have great educational experience, in order to clarify the reasons and the purpose of creation of these websites. For the interpretive approach of this work we used as theoretical framework the relationship of ICT and the Internet with education and also the evaluation of websites through relevant researches. The conclusions in which ends up this work show that the role of school websites in the Primary Education of Achaia is more informative and less educative and recreational and that the school websites do not provide mechanisms of interaction and feedback with the visitor. Additionally, the research has shown that the school websites focus more on the projection of information and promotion of cultural activities in schools and less on communication between members of the school community and schools with the local community. Finally, we propose ways of improvement, so as the school websites will be able to constitute a useful educational, communication and entertainment tool.

Definição de critérios de análise de sites e avaliação da disponibilidade de conhecimento de acesso livre como ferramenta de apoio à inovação e ao desenvolvimento de produto. O conhecimento encontra-se, entre outras formas, disponível em páginas web. Para a criação compartilhada de conhecimento de qualidade e de acesso livre, que atendam aos interesses específicos de pessoas e organizações, assim como sua recuperação, são fundamentais os recursos de Internet. Esse contexto justifica a definição de critérios de análise de sites para identificação da disponibilidade desses recursos. O objetivo desse trabalho é a identificacão e avaliação de sites na Internet, com características de compartilhamento, divulgação e produção de conhecimento de acesso livre, para apoiar a inovação e desenvolvimento de produto. Para atingir o objetivo, inicialmente sistematiza o conhecimento por meio de pesquisa exploratória e procedimentos de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. Fundamentando-se nas pesquisas, lista portais que possam contemplar o objetivo. Define critérios para análise desses sites com base nas dimensões conteúdo, usabilidade e funcionalidade. Analisa, então, cada uma das dimensões por meio de características e atributos que geram indicadores parciais e um indicador geral por site e permite a análise comparativa entre eles. Dos vinte portais analisados; nenhum contempla todos os atributos; a dimensão conteúdo recebe a melhor pontuação enquanto a dimensão funcionalidade apresenta o desempenho mais negativo; os atributos menos contemplados são acessibilidade, criptografia e controle de versões. Com base nos resultados obtidos, conclui que existe uma disponibilidade limitada de conhecimento de acesso livre sobre inovação e desenvolvimento de produto; aponta a existência de comunidades de prática que propiciam o compartilhamento de conhecimento; e evidencia as razões pelas quais existem falhas na recuperação do conhecimento disponível on-line. Tais razões podem fornecer orientação aos interessados no assunto sobre onde é possível, necessário ou recomendável consultar. Também fornece subsídos para orientação aos provedores interessados na melhoria dos portais existentes ou na criação de novos. / Definition of criteria for site analysis and evaluation of the availability of knowledge of free access as a support tool to innovation and product development. The knowledge is found, among another feature, available in web pages. For the shared creation of good quality and free access knowledge, that will supply specific interests of people and organizations, as its recovering, the websites are fundamental resources. This context justifies the definition of the analysis requirements of web sites for the identification of availability of these resources. The purpose of this researche is the identification and evaluation of websites which presents characteristics such as sharing, spreading and producing free knowledge access, to support the innovation and development of the product. To reach the goal, it initially organizes the knowledge through the explorative research and bibliographic and documental research procedures. Based on the researches, it catalogues websites that contemplate the area innovation and product development with the mentioned characteristics. It defines the analysis requirements of these websites based on the content, usability and functionality dimensions. Then it analyzes each one of the dimensions through characteristics and attributes that produce partial indicators and a general indicator per website, and makes possible the comparative analysis among them. From the twenty websites that were analyzed, none contemplates every attribute; the content dimension receives the best punctuation while the functionality dimension shows the worst performance; the less contemplated attributes are accessibility, cryptography and version control. Based on the gotten results, concludes that there is a limited availability of free access knowledge about innovation and product development; points the existence of practice communities that propitiate in the best way the sharing of knowledge; and evidences the reasons why there are imperfections in the recovering of the knowledge available on line. These reasons could provide help to orientate the suppliers to improve the existent websites and the creation of new ones.

This research verifies how the sectors responsible for managing the information in the Federal Higher Education Institutions (IFES), here referred to university archives, are using the web as dissemination of their collections, its structures, and activities. This study aims to investigate the use of sites in the dissemination of archival services and distribution platforms and access in the disclosure of documentary heritage guarded by archives sectors of IFES in southern Brazil. The justification for the investigation comes from the fact of showing how the university archives can use the internet as a way of disseminating its collections and its services, dynamising the access to the information. In this sense, a theoretical reference was raised to support the objectives of the study, dealing with cultural and documentary heritage, information, dissemination of archival collections and services, access platforms, distribution and description of records, internet, website and website archival institutions, university and university archives. The contextualization of the IFES survey located in the setting of national policy archives, presenting the National System of Archives, the National Archives, the National Council on Archives and Records Management System Archives Federal Public Administration. It is a kind of applied research, descriptive, qualitative / quantitative, which was characterized as a case study. Data collection was carried out through form, which collected data from the information available on the pages of the archives sectors on the internet and questions directed to IFES submitted in the Electronic System of the Citizen Information Service (e-SIC), the Executive Branch Federal. With this study it was found that: the creation of archives sectors is a reality in Federal Universities as most have structured archives services, while the Federal Institutes, mostly not yet constituted such plants; the use of websites by the IFES archives sector is still incipient because no Federal Institute using this tool, and the Universities few archives sectors provide web pages taking part in the Conarq's recommendations for building websites; the use of access platforms, dissemination and recordkeeping description is still not a reality in IFES, for no Federal Institute makes use of this tool and few Federal Universities have adopted the ICA-AtoM, a platform that provides access to and dissemination of heritage documentary. From the results of the survey were prepared Recommendations for the construction or restructuring Archives Sectors websites of Federal Institutions of Higher Education, which contains guidelines for IFES who need to create or adapt their websites. / A presente pesquisa verifica como os setores responsáveis por gerenciar a informação no ambiente das Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior (IFES), aqui denominados como arquivos universitários, estão utilizando a web como canal de divulgação de seus acervos, suas estruturas e atividades. Assim, este estudo tem como objetivo investigar a utilização de sites na divulgação dos serviços arquivísticos e plataformas de difusão e acesso na divulgação do patrimônio documental custodiado pelos Setores de Arquivo das IFES da Região Sul do Brasil. A justificativa para esta investigação advém do fato de mostrar como os arquivos universitários podem utilizar a internet como forma de difundir seus acervos e seus serviços, dinamizando o acesso à informação. Nesse sentido, levantou-se referencial teórico para embasar os objetivos do estudo, tratando sobre o patrimônio cultural e documental, informação, difusão dos acervos e serviços arquivísticos, plataformas de acesso, difusão e descrição de documentos de arquivo, internet, website e websites de instituições arquivísticas, universidade e arquivos universitários. A contextualização da pesquisa situa as IFES no cenário da política nacional de arquivos, apresentando o Sistema Nacional de Arquivos, o Arquivo Nacional, o Conselho Nacional de Arquivos e o Sistema de Gestão de Documentos de Arquivo da Administração Pública Federal. É uma pesquisa de natureza aplicada, descritiva, quali/quantitativa, que caracterizou-se como um estudo de caso. A coleta de dados foi realizada através de formulário, que levantou dados a partir das informações disponíveis nos websites dos Setores de Arquivo na internet e questões direcionadas às IFES submetidas no Sistema Eletrônico do Serviço de Informação ao Cidadão (e-SIC), do Poder Executivo Federal. Com este estudo constatou-se que: a constituição de Setores de Arquivo é uma realidade nas universidades federais, pois a maioria possui serviços de arquivo estruturados, enquanto que os institutos federais, em sua maioria, ainda não constituíram essas unidades; a utilização de websites pelos Setores de Arquivo das IFES ainda é incipiente, pois nenhum instituto federal se utiliza dessa ferramenta, e nas universidades poucos Setores de Arquivo disponibilizam websites atendendo em parte as recomendações do Conarq para construção de websites; a utilização de plataformas de acesso, difusão e descrição de documentos de arquivo ainda não é uma realidade nas IFES, pois nenhum instituto federal faz uso dessa ferramenta e poucas universidades federais adotaram o ICA-AtoM, plataforma que proporciona o acesso e a difusão do patrimônio documental. A partir dos resultados da pesquisa, foram elaboradas as Recomendações para a construção ou reestruturação de websites de Setores de Arquivo de Instituições Federais de Ensino Superior, onde constam orientações às IFES que necessitarem criar ou adequar seus sites na internet.

Background: Patients diagnosed with melanoma frequently search the internet for treatment information, including novel and complex immunotherapy. However, health literacy is limited among half of the German population, and no assessment of websites on melanoma treatment has been performed so far. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify and assess the most visible websites in German language on melanoma immunotherapy. Methods: In accordance with the common Web-based information-seeking behavior of patients with cancer, the first 20 hits on Google, Yahoo, and Bing were searched for combinations of German synonyms for “melanoma” and “immunotherapy” in July 2017. Websites that met our predefined eligibility criteria were considered for assessment. Three reviewers independently assessed their quality by using the established DISCERN tool and by checking the presence of quality certification. Usability and reliability were evaluated by the LIDA tool and understandability by the Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool (PEMAT). The Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) was calculated to estimate the readability. The ALEXA and SISTRIX tools were used to investigate the websites’ popularity and visibility. The interrater agreement was determined by calculating Cronbach alpha. Subgroup differences were identified by t test, U test, or one-way analysis of variance. Results: Of 480 hits, 45 single websites from 30 domains were assessed. Only 2 website domains displayed a German quality certification. The average assessment scores, mean (SD), were as follows: DISCERN, 48 (7.6); LIDA (usability), 40 (2.0); LIDA (reliability), 10 (1.6); PEMAT, 69% (16%); and FRES, 17 (14), indicating mediocre quality, good usability, and understandability but low reliability and an even very low readability of the included individual websites. SISTRIX scores ranged from 0 to 6872 and ALEXA scores ranged from 17 to 192,675, indicating heterogeneity of the visibility and popularity of German website domains providing information on melanoma immunotherapy. Conclusions: Optimization of the most accessible German websites on melanoma immunotherapy is desirable. Especially, simplification of the readability of information and further adaption to reliability criteria are required to support the education of patients with melanoma and laypersons, and to enhance transparency.

Teachers need to be equipped with the tools necessary to evaluate content on the Internet and determine if it is a credible source, or a hoax website since they are expected to instruct and prepare students on how to evaluate the sites which is now a relevant phenomenon. The purpose of the mixed‑method study was to obtain an understanding of the web evaluation strategies of prospective teachers regarding the evaluation of hoax websites and how their epistemic beliefs may influence their evaluation. Another aspect of this study was to find out what outcomes resulted from providing guidance, or not to prospective teachers before evaluating the hoax websites. Seventy‑two prospective teachers from undergraduate education courses completed an online questionnaire, where they evaluated four websites (two hoaxes and two credible) and completed questions regarding their epistemic beliefs. Two groups of prospective teachers were selected. Group A was the control group and Group B was the experiment group. Group A simply took the online questionnaire. However, Group B was provided with an overview of a specific web evaluation strategy, the WWWDOT Framework, before taking the online questionnaire. Sixteen participants were interviewed. Interestingly, almost half of the participants (48.6%), trusted at least one of the hoax websites. The study concluded that teaching the WWWDOT Framework helped to increase the number of people that did not trust the aesthetically appealing hoax website in Group B. Regarding epistemic beliefs, prospective teachers, who displayed feeling‑based epistemic beliefs, tended to trust the hoax website that was aesthetically appealing in Group A. The qualitative results provided additional insights and supported the quantitative data. The qualitative research suggests that lateral reading, spending sufficient time to read and evaluate and knowing the definition of a hoax website as being the most important web evaluation strategies displayed by those that did not trust the hoax websites.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Online sport ventures seem promising and sure of success, if one considers reports on the success of on-line sport ventures and the size of the market such a venture attracts. These reports however, relate mostly to the United States and are based on a number of assumptions which might not ring true in the South African environment. Further investigation is required before committing resources to an Internet sport venture in South Africa. In this thesis the viability of such a business venture in South Africa is tested according to a well-structured model. The literature study reflects investigation into some specific Internet Business Drivers as identified, which can be related to sport in South Africa as well as investigation into typical problems faced by Internet Business Ventures. The Sports Information and Science Agency (1998) commissioned research to evaluate the impact of sport on the South African economy. Eskom (2000) commissioned research to analyse the lifestyle of South Africans in general. This useful information as well as other research will also be analysed and discussed regarding relevance to an Internet Sport Venture. The Venture Opportunity Screening Guide (Timmons, 1999: 117-156) provides a structured model to evaluate the viability of business ventures taking all available aspects into account. The model is based on a number of screening criteria used by venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and investors to screen business ventures. This model will be used as the foundation of this thesis to research a final conclusion on the viability of an Internet Sport Venture in South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit lyk asof Internet Sport ondernemings baie potensiaal het. Dit lyk asof die meeste verslae wat handel oor sulke ondernemings verwys na suksesse in Amerika. Die gevolgtrekkings gemaak geld nie noodwendig vir Suid Afrika nie. Verdere ondersoeke is noodsaaklik voordat die navorsing as toepaslik tot die Suid Afrikaanse milieu geïdentifiseer kan word. Die lewensvatbaarheid van 'n soortgelyke onderneming in Suid Afrika word in hierdie tesis ondersoek deur middel van 'n goed gestruktureerde model. Die literatuurstudie som navorsing in verband met spesifieke toonaangewende Internet ondernemings op, wat van toepassing is op die Suid Afrikaanse situasie. Tipiese probleme ondervind deur Internet ondernemings word ook bespreek. Navorsing in verband met die uitwerking van sport op die Suid-Afrikaanse ekonomie is aangevra deur Die Sport Informasie en Wetenskap Agentskap (1998). Navorsing aangaande die lewenstyl van Suid-Afrikaners is ook aangevra deur Eskom (2000). Data van hierdie en soortgelyke navorsing word geanaliseer en bespreek om die impak daarvan op 'n Suid Afrikaanse Internet Sport Onderneming te ondersoek. Die "Venture Opportunity Screening Guide" (Timmons, 1999: 117-156) verskaf 'n gestruktureerde model om die potensiaal van besigheids-geleenthede te ondersoek. Die model is gebaseer op die evaluerings-kriteria wat gebruik word deur finansiers, entrepeneurs, en beleggers om die potensiaal van geleenthede te ondersoek. Die model sal dien as basis van die ondersoek in hierdie tesis waarvan 'n finale slotsom in verband met die potensiaal van sodanige onderneming gemaak kan word.

This research assessed website management and development practices across the United Kingdom university library sector. As a starting point, the design and features of this group of websites was recorded against criteria drawn from the extant literature. This activity established core content and features of UK library websites as: a search box or link for searching the library catalogue, electronic resources or website; a navigation column on the left and breadcrumb trail to aid information location and website orientation; homepage design was repeated on library website sub-pages; university brand elements appeared in the banner; and a contact us link was provided for communication with library personnel. Library websites conformed to 14 of the 20 homepage usability guidelines examined indicating that web managers were taking steps to ensure that users were well served by their websites. Areas for improvement included better navigation support (sitemap/index), greater adoption of new technologies and more interactive features. Website management and development practices were established through national survey and in-depth case studies. These illustrated the adoption of a team approach to website management and development; formal website policy and strategy were not routinely created; library web personnel and their ability to build effective links with colleagues at the institution made a valuable contribution to the success of a library website; corporate services and institutional practices played an important part in library website development; library staff were actively engaged in consultations with their website audience; and a user focused approach to website development prevailed. User studies and metric data were considered in the website evaluation and development process. However, there were some issues with both data streams and interpreting metric data to inform website development. Evaluation and development activities were not always possible due to staff/time shortages, technical constraints, corporate website templates, and, to a lesser extent, lack of finance.

The massive expansion of electronic resources has been identified as one of the major drivers behind the ‘explosion’ in the popularity of family history, which bring ease, convenience and accessibility to some parts of the research process. Amongst this expanse of easily-accessible raw materials, online local studies materials (recording both historical and contemporary aspects of a community) can add real context and value to researchers’ findings and experience; turning a genealogy into a family history. However, the vast majority of these do not appear visible to online family history researchers. Through three central foci (users, e-family history resources, and Local Studies Collections), this research investigates these resources and collections from the perspective of users, to establish how to make the added value of the local studies collections more visible and encourage increased engagement for those who cannot visit collections in person. Specific evaluative criteria for e-family history resources are presented, contributing to practitioners’ awareness and understanding of their nature; in turn helping maintain their service quality to researchers. Using a hybrid (primarily ethnographic) research approach, the study also examines the online research behaviour of family historians, identifying a taxonomy of actions (seeking of genealogical facts, local or social history; communicating with other researchers or resources; locating resources or instructive information; managing own information), strategies (search modifications and incorporation of background knowledge) and outcomes (outcome; direction (projected and actual)). From these categories, a model of Family Historians’ online information seeking has been developed. Researchers have both informational and affective needs, and are highly emotionally attached to the research process. Users universally used Ancestry, FamilySearch, ScotlandsPeople, and Genes Reunited far more than other sites, seeking out quality informational content and unique records, which must be successful for researchers. Google was a major method of access to these. Very few participants were preaware of ‘e-local studies’ websites, and were surprised by the variations in quality, inconsistencies in terminology and navigation, and invisibility of quality content. Despite a lack of ease of use, the content present on e-local studies sites and their usefulness and value had been demonstrated to researchers. This suggests significant demand for local information of this kind online where it is available and made known.

This descriptive study examines effective online school library practice. A Delphi panel selected a sample of 10 exemplary sites and helped to create two research tools--taxonomies designed to analyze the features and characteristics of school library Websites. Using the expert-identified sites as a sample, a content analysis was conducted to systematically identify site features and characteristics. Anne Clyde's longitudinal content analysis of school library Websites was used as a baseline to examine trends in practice; in addition, the national guidelines document, Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning, was examined to explore ways in which the traditional mission and roles of school library programs are currently translated online. Results indicated great variation in depth and coverage even among Websites considered exemplary. Sites in the sample are growing more interactive and student-centered, using blogs as supplemental communication strategies. Nevertheless, even these exemplary sites were slow to adopt the advances in technology to meet the learning needs and interests of young adult users. Ideally the study's findings will contribute to understanding of state-of-the-art and will serve to identify trends, as well as serving as a guide to practitioners in planning, developing, and maintaining school library Websites.

This thesis explores cultural differences on interactive design features used in websites of South Korea and the United Kingdom from the perspective of both: professional website designers and end-users. It also investigates how the use of interactive design features from different cultures change over time. Four interaction types on websites; User to Interface (U2I), User to Content (U2C), User to Provider (U2P), and User to User (U2U) interactivity, and three interaction types on blogs; Blogger to Interface (B2I), Blogger to Content (B2C) and Blogger to Blogger (B2B) interactivity have been identified. Four cultural dimensions were used for the theoretical base of this study based on which four hypotheses were proposed in relation to the interaction types identified above; (a) High versus Low Context cultures for U2I, (b) High versus Low Uncertainty Avoidance for U2C, (c) High versus Low Power Distance for U2P and (d) Individualism versus Collectivism for U2U interactivity, in order to discover the effects of national cultures on interactivity in websites. We derived our own interactivity dimensions and mapped them to the four interaction types for websites and three for blogs. Interactive design features were derived from interactivity dimensions and examined in our studies. The findings revealed that there have been some changes towards homogeneity in the use of interactive design features on charity websites between South Korea and United Kingdom although there is still evidence of some cultural differences. With regard to end-users’ perspective, the result show that the use of interactive design features of blogs may be influenced by culture but this is only within a certain context. The findings also provide a valuable indication that users interacting within the same blog service can be considered as being shared concerns rather than shared national location, thus create a particular type of community in which bloggers are affected by social influence so they adopt a shared set of value, preferences and style that would indicate almost a common social culture. As a result, the cultural differences derived from their country of origin do not have that much impact.