Ocorre atualmente um movimento de aumento da importância que a manutenção da segurança da informação vem adquirindo em redes de informação de crítica. Ao longo das últimas décadas a utilização de ferramentas criptográficas, especialmente aquelas baseadas em problemas de díficil solução computacional, foram suficientes para garantir a segurança dos sistemas de comunicação. Contudo, o desenvolvimento da nova técnica de processamento de informação conhecida como computação quântica e os resultados téoricos e experimentais apresentados por esta mostram que é possível inviabilizar alguns dos sistemas de criptografia atuais amplamente utilizados. A existência de tal vulnerabilidade representa um fator crítico em redes em que falhas de segurança da informação podem estar associadas a riscos de segurança física. Uma alternativa para os métodos criptográficos atuais consiste na utilização de sistemas quânticos na obtenção de um método criptográfico, o que se conhece como criptografia quântica. Este novo paradigma tem seu fundamento resistente mesmo na presença de capacidade tecnológica ilimitada, incluindo o cenário com disponibilidade de computação quântica. Este trabalho tem como objetivo levantar os impactos que o desenvolvimento da computação quântica têm sobre a segurança dos atuais sistemas criptográficos, apresentar e desenvolver alternativas de protocolos de criptografia quântica disponíveis, e realizar um estudo de caso por meio da avaliação da utilização de criptografia quântica no contexto da Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN). Isto é feito por meio do desenvolvimento de um ambiente de simulacão que permite avaliar o comportamento de um protocolo de criptografia quântica em um cenário em um ambiente com requisitos de missão crítica, como é o caso da ATN. / The importance of security maintenance in critical information networks has been rising in recent times. Over the past decades, the utilization of cryptography tools, mainly those based on computationally intractable problems, was enough to ensure the security of communications systems. The development of the new information processing technique known as quantum computation and the theoretical and experimental results showed by this approach demonstrated that could be possible to cripple the current widely used cryptography techniques. This vulnerability represents a critical issue for networks where a security fault could be associated to a safety fault. An alternative for the current cryptography methods consists in the utilization of quantum systems to obtain a new cryptographic method. The new paradigm presented by this approach has solid principles even in the presence of unlimited computational capacity, including the scenario with availability of quantum computation. The aim of this work is the assessment of impacts that the development of quantum computation has over the current cryptographic methods security, the presentation and development of alternatives based on quantum cryptography protocols, and the development of a case study using the case of Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN). This aim is reached by means of the development of a simulation environment that allows the evaluation of a quantum cryptography protocol behavior in an environment with mission critical requirements, like the ATN case.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / F. Todd Goodson / Kay Ann Taylor / Library instruction in a university setting, in the primary manner it has been taught for decades, has a problem: the instruction is not teaching. Many library instruction sessions at universities are taught through a traditional lecture-style instruction session where students are allowed no voice in the classroom and there is no room for any evaluation of the information presented. Teaching without an engaged pedagogical framework without any active participation is problematic for teaching critical information literacy. This research focused on library instruction within higher education institutions and the choices made by instruction librarians to include (or not) critical pedagogy and critical information literacy within their teaching styles and classrooms. This study explored (a) the decisions of librarians to teach either in the traditional or critical library pedagogy manner and (b) barriers or encouragement in librarians’ choice to teach through a critical lens. With critical theory as the overarching framework and engaged pedagogy a central part to all these theories, critical engaged pedagogy combines critical race feminist theory, critical library pedagogy, and critical information literacy (the latter two frequently used interchangeably). The combined theoretical framework gives context for researching the reasons that instruction librarians choose (or do not) to implement these theoretical and pedagogical styles into their instruction of information literacy in classrooms. Using the qualitative methodology of narrative inquiry, specifically narrative analysis, this study analyzed and interpreted data from interviews, observational data, and field notes recorded in a reflexive journal through the lens of this theoretical framework. Findings showed that in their everyday experiences as academic instruction librarians, the participants faced both barriers and encouragement to their decisions regarding teaching methods and curriculum in addition to how they are impacting their students’ lives and learning. Four different themes emerged from the data. The first theme, sometimes a teacher, sometimes not, speaks to the struggle that the participants handled every day: though they were instruction librarians, they were not able to always feel as though they were real teachers or faculty on their campuses. The second theme, if only I had a choice, discusses how discipline faculty affect their teaching decisions and the participants’ goal to at least try to teach critical evaluation to the students. The third theme, teaching is a political act, focuses on participants’ teaching under a critical library instruction pedagogy, emphasizing their engagement with the students, the falsehood of neutrality, and teaching about marginalized groups, injustice, oppression, and similar political-minded concepts in their classes. The fourth theme, real world, lifelong skills, discusses how the participants view their impact on student learning and student lives in general, demonstrated through teaching students critical thinking and evaluation (of the real world) skills in addition to impacting students beyond the classroom.

In this Master thesis interest is directed towards approaches toinformation literacy (IL) and critical thinking in the educationalactivities of university libraries. The aspiration of universitylibrarians to promote the critical abilities of students isproblematized. At the center of attention is the project“Lärandemål för informationskompetens” [Learning outcomes forinformation literacy], which in 2006 was carried out incollaboration between the Swedish university libraries, in responseto the educational reforms connected to the Bologna Process.Through the discourse analytical framework of NormanFairclough, documents related to the project “Lärandemål förinformationskompetens” are studied in order to identifydominating approaches to IL. The purpose is to investigate anddiscuss the possible implications of the dominating perspectives,with regard to the development of critical thinking amongstudents.The study results in the identification of two main discourses, thestandardization discourse and the discourse on employability. Bothof these discourses are seen to be connected to two overarchingdiscourses also identified in the study, the market discourse andthe discourse on information overflow.In conclusion, it was found that the objectivist and positivistepistemology underlying the dominating perspectives, in severalrespects is counterproductive to the aspiration to promote criticalthinking among students. A social constructionist approach issuggested as an alternative. / Program: Bibliotekarie

Ocorre atualmente um movimento de aumento da importância que a manutenção da segurança da informação vem adquirindo em redes de informação de crítica. Ao longo das últimas décadas a utilização de ferramentas criptográficas, especialmente aquelas baseadas em problemas de díficil solução computacional, foram suficientes para garantir a segurança dos sistemas de comunicação. Contudo, o desenvolvimento da nova técnica de processamento de informação conhecida como computação quântica e os resultados téoricos e experimentais apresentados por esta mostram que é possível inviabilizar alguns dos sistemas de criptografia atuais amplamente utilizados. A existência de tal vulnerabilidade representa um fator crítico em redes em que falhas de segurança da informação podem estar associadas a riscos de segurança física. Uma alternativa para os métodos criptográficos atuais consiste na utilização de sistemas quânticos na obtenção de um método criptográfico, o que se conhece como criptografia quântica. Este novo paradigma tem seu fundamento resistente mesmo na presença de capacidade tecnológica ilimitada, incluindo o cenário com disponibilidade de computação quântica. Este trabalho tem como objetivo levantar os impactos que o desenvolvimento da computação quântica têm sobre a segurança dos atuais sistemas criptográficos, apresentar e desenvolver alternativas de protocolos de criptografia quântica disponíveis, e realizar um estudo de caso por meio da avaliação da utilização de criptografia quântica no contexto da Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN). Isto é feito por meio do desenvolvimento de um ambiente de simulacão que permite avaliar o comportamento de um protocolo de criptografia quântica em um cenário em um ambiente com requisitos de missão crítica, como é o caso da ATN. / The importance of security maintenance in critical information networks has been rising in recent times. Over the past decades, the utilization of cryptography tools, mainly those based on computationally intractable problems, was enough to ensure the security of communications systems. The development of the new information processing technique known as quantum computation and the theoretical and experimental results showed by this approach demonstrated that could be possible to cripple the current widely used cryptography techniques. This vulnerability represents a critical issue for networks where a security fault could be associated to a safety fault. An alternative for the current cryptography methods consists in the utilization of quantum systems to obtain a new cryptographic method. The new paradigm presented by this approach has solid principles even in the presence of unlimited computational capacity, including the scenario with availability of quantum computation. The aim of this work is the assessment of impacts that the development of quantum computation has over the current cryptographic methods security, the presentation and development of alternatives based on quantum cryptography protocols, and the development of a case study using the case of Aeronautical Telecommunication Network (ATN). This aim is reached by means of the development of a simulation environment that allows the evaluation of a quantum cryptography protocol behavior in an environment with mission critical requirements, like the ATN case.

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the state of critical information literacy (CIL) in higher education as it is enacted and understood by academic librarians. This qualitative study investigated the institutional support, nonsupport, and barriers to CIL programs and the effectiveness of experiential critical pedagogy for information literacy (IL) learning as taught and studied by 19 CIL specialists. Purposeful sampling was used to gather a sample of 17 academic librarians and two professors of library and information science who had previously worked as academic librarians. The sample included 11 females and eight males; 18 participants were Caucasian and one was African American. Data were collected through 40-60 minute semi-structured interviews and a brief demographic survey. Experiential education served as the broad theoretical framework for this study, which stems from the tradition of critical theory. This study was guided by the work of two major experiential learning theorists and theories: Paulo Freire and critical pedagogy and Jack Mezirow and transformative learning. Mezirow and Freire focused their work on adult education and grounded their approaches in critical theory and focused on power relationships, reflection, and the emancipatory potential of education. The findings were framed through a lens of Freire’s conception of critical pedagogy because it was the major theoretical framework that most of the study participants used to guide their work. Findings suggest that academic librarians who teach CIL do not learn about it in their MLS programs. They tend to use three major critical teaching methods, including student-centered approaches, discussion and dialogue, and problem-posing methods. Participants tended to struggle more with using critical methods than with incorporating critical content. Slightly more than half regularly used critical methods in their teaching, but all participants incorporated critical content, including critical source evaluation and subject headings and language used in information production and dissemination. The findings also suggest that CIL specialists are likely to believe that CIL is best taught within the broader context of academic disciplines and that strong relationships with faculty are crucial for successfully implementing information literacy programs of any kind, including CIL programs. Most participants felt supported by their library administrators and at least minimally by college or university administrators, even though they thought administrators did not have a clear idea of what they do in the classroom. The professional identity and culture of librarians and librarianship played a large role in whether and how librarians were drawn to CIL and in their ability to practice it. The results of this study will allow librarians and educators to make more informed decisions about how to design, teach, and implement programs and will benefit library science scholars and policy makers in terms of knowing how it is being taught and supported at the institutional level.

Diploma thesis deals with monitoring critical infrastructure, critical information infrastructure and network monitoring in energetic industry. The goal is to create analytical environment for processing logs from the network, to map the most critical segments of the network and implementation of monitoring and network devices, that increase security and mitigate risks of security events or security incidents

Objective: To analyze what information skills medical residents have in PDA use, evidence-based medicine (EBM), Loansome Doc use, and off-campus access to databases. Methods: A survey analysis was conducted of 217 medical residents from the 2005/06 East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine class in surgery, family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, psychiatry, pediatrics, and pathology with a return rate of 48.4%. Quantitative analysis was performed with the SPSS (v. 14.0 for Windows) software program. The results were expressed in percents in graphical or tabular form. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, mean, median, and mode), and inferential statistics (Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square test.) Results: On a Likert-type scale of 1–7, medical residents rated their PDA skills at a mean of 5.11. By the KruskalWallis Analysis of Variance statistic, there were no signifi - cant differences between residency programs. By use of the Mann-Whitney U Test statistic, it was determined that there was no statistically signifi cant difference between the PDA skills or residents and their attendings. On a Likert-type scale of 1–7, medical residents rated their EBM skills at a mean of 4.82. There was a signifi cant differences between residency programs as determined by the Kruskal-Wallis Analysis of Variance statistic. Residents were infrequent Loansome Doc users, and a disturbing 49.5% did not know how to access medical databases from off-campus. Conclusions: Residents need more training by medical librarians in the clinical information skills of PDA use, EBM, Loansome Doc, and off-campus access.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the benefit of information literacy instruction in two student groups at Kristianstad University, in relation to development of critical information literacy and within the boundaries of the educational goals. This study takes on a critical information literacy perspective that combines critical pedagogy and standards for information literacy in higher education. Two methods have been used for data collection: interviews and questionnaires. According to the results of the study the information literacy instruction provided by the Kristianstad University Library is important and useful for the students in their academic studies. It also becomes clear that the information literacy differs between the two groups as a consequence of the varying information literacy instruction received by the two groups. Based on these results recommendations are made on how the information literacy instruction can be elaborated upon to secure development of a higher degree of critical consciousness in students and to ascertain equal conditions for different student groups. The findings of this study are not only valuable for those immediately affected, it can also be useful for others involved in higher education. Further research within this area is important for the development of critical information literacy and information litracy instruction in higher education.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) is in the discourse of international development,which is often considered as the key to socio- economic development in the sense that it helps tosolve social problems and increases the rate of economic growth. ICT policies are situated in thiscontext. Many international agencies advocate certain policies in order to accelerate economicgrowth and development in so-called developing countries. In 2009, Bangladesh enacted itsNational ICT Policy setting a broad vision to establish a transparent, responsive and accountablegovernment; developed skilled human resources; and to enhance social equity through anextended use of ICT. Following this vision multiple objectives have been addressed where socialequity and integrity are prioritized in the name of developing a socially equitable and integratedsociety through ICT. The research task of this work is to analyze the discourse of this strategyand to compare it to social reality. The ‘Theory of Communicative Action’ (TCA), which isbased on the four validity claims - truth, legitimacy, sincerity, and clarity - is used to demonstratehow social equity and integrity are addressed as objectives and what claims are made in theaction items with regard to these two objectives and how far such claims reflect social reality.Keywords:Information Communication Technology (ICT), National ICT Policy, Social Equity, Integrity,Communicative Action Theory, Critical Discourse Analysis, Validity Claims, ICT4D, CriticalTheory, Critical Information Systems research.

This dissertation is a theoretical study of the relationship between digitality, knowledge, and power in the age of Big Data. My argument is that human medical research on psychedelic substances supports a critique of what I call "the data episteme." I use "episteme" in the sense developed by philosopher Michel Foucault, where the term describes an apparatus for determining the properties associated with the epistemic condition of scientificity. I write that the data episteme suppresses bodies of knowledge which do not bear the epistemic virtues associated with digital data. These include but are not limited to the capacities for positivistic representation and translation into discrete digital media. Drawing from scientific reports, I demonstrate that certain forms of knowledge regarding the therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelics cannot withstand positivistic representation and digitization. Henceforth, psychedelic research demands frameworks for epistemic legitimation which differ from those predicated on the criteria associated with the data episteme. I additionally claim that psychedelic inebriation promotes a form of thinking which has been called, by various theorists, "negative," "abstract," or "idiosyncratic" thought. Whereas the data episteme denies the existence of negative thought, psychedelic research suggests that this mental function is essential to the successful deposition of psychedelic substances as adjuncts to psychotherapy. For the reasons listed above, psychedelic science provides a uniquely salient lens on the normative operations of the data episteme. In the course of suppressing non-digitizable knowledge, the data episteme implements what Foucault conceptualizes "knowledge-power," a term which affirms the fact that there is no meaningful difference between knowledge and power. Here, "power" may be defined as the power to promote but also to retract conditions on which phenomena may exist across all sites of social, intellectual, and political construction. I write that the data episteme seeks to both nullify the preconditions for negative thought and to naturalize the possibility of an infinite expansion of human mental activity, which in turn figures mentality as an inexhaustible resource for the commodity of digital data. The data episteme therefore reifies the logic of ceaseless economic proliferation, and as such, abets technologized capitalism. In the event that the data episteme fulfills its teleological goal to become total, virtually all that is thinkable would yield to economic subordination. I present psychedelic science as a site where knowledge which challenges the data episteme is empirically necessary, and which, by extension, attests to the existence of that which cannot be economically subsumed. / Doctor of Philosophy / In the age of Big Data, scientists draw upon the ever-expanding quantities of data which are produced, circulated, and analyzed by digital devices every day. As data grow in number, digital tools gain in their ability to yield precise and faithful information about the objects they represent. It would appear that all forms of knowledge may one day be perfectly replicated in the form of digital data. This dissertation claims that certain forms of knowledge cannot be digitized, and that the existence of non-digitizable knowledge has important implications for both science and politics. I begin by considering the fact that digital tools can only produce knowledge about phenomena which permit digitization. I claim that this limitation necessarily restricts the sorts of information which digital devices are capable of generating. I also observe that the digital turn has inaugurated a novel mode of capitalist economic production based on the commodity of digital information. Thus, the increasing dependence of scientific authority on digital methods is also a concern for political economy. I argue that the reliance of scientific authority on digital data restricts the scope of scientific inquiry and makes ceaseless economic expansion appear both necessary and inevitable. It is therefore critical to indicate sites of research and practice where non-digitizable knowledge plays an essential role in informing scientific processes. Such an indication is not only pertinent to scientific research, but points up the ways in which data facilitate unregulated economic growth. Psychedelic drug research serves as my lens on digitality and political economy. Specifically, I explore the ways in which quantitative and computational methodologies have been used and critiqued by scientists who study the psychiatric benefit of psychedelics on human consciousness. Taking a historical approach, I demonstrate that psychedelic scientists have always faced the paradoxical task of translating the unusual and ineffable effects of psychedelics into discrete, measurable variables. This quandary has become more pronounced in the age of digital tool use, as such tools rest on the logic of metrical and discrete analysis. I suggest that the therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelics can only be fully revealed by methodological techniques which explicitly address the epistemic limitations of digital data. Noting that the ascendance of Big Data is contemporaneous with a rise of interest in psychedelics as adjuncts to psychotherapy, I assert that psychedelic science provides abundant materials for a critique of the ostensive epistemic authority of digital data, which operates as an alibi for technologized capitalism.