The level of access to educational information is pertinent to the attainment of quality education by learners. Librarians play a key role in facilitating access to such information. Access to educational information equips the possessor with the power of knowledge to assert their rights under any right regime, and a right to education cannot be fully exercised without corresponding access to educational information. Set in the Fort Beaufort Education District of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, this study evaluates the level of access to educational information as an enabler of quality education. Research revealed that despite the acclaimed educational improvement in South Africa, the quality of education in many black constituencies and provinces remains low. Therefore, the objectives of this study include inter alia an investigation of the educational information needs of high school learners in the Fort Beaufort Education District, the educational information available and accessible to them, how the learners access information, the services and technologies accessible to the learners, challenges confronting their access and means of improving learners’ access to educational information in the district and by extension in South Africa.

E-books have seen a significant proliferation over recent years. In the UK, about a third of the population today owns an e-reader with about half either owning an e-reader or tablet. Nevertheless, only about 4% of readers have moved to reading e-books only. These numbers suggest that, while e-books have caught on among a large number of users, they seem to complement rather than replace books. In light of the significance of books to past and contemporary cultures and societies it is little surprising that the emergence of e-reading technologies has sparked a plethora of writing on the topic, particularly in journalism and the humanities. With a common focus on the relative merits of books and e-books, and ultimately, their respective futures (some writers go as far as either mourning or celebrating the death of the book), the debate largely suffers from a technological determinist stance, neglecting the role of social practice as a driving force in technology adoption and use. Regardless, the sheer volume of the discourse suggests that something important is at stake in the move from analogue to digital reading technologies and that books continue to be valued as physical artefacts in the digital age, if not with more fervour than ever. What is surprising then is the lack of empirical research aiming to understand how books and e-books are used and valued in everyday life. Existing work in the area is almost exclusively concerned with practices of reading, with a particular emphasis on reading in academic and professional environments, thereby not only disregarding the social and material nature of reading, but also the rich life of the book beyond its role as a reading technology. The aim of this thesis then is to provide an understanding of the practices and values surrounding books and e-books in everyday life. Based on this understanding, it further aims to explore alternatives to the current e-reading ecosystem through designs that are sensitive to some of the broader values people associate with books and e-books. To do so, it takes a situated approach to studying books and e-books as they are used over the course of their lifecycle inside and outside the home. Through a combination of a series of in-depth interviews, guided ‘home tours’, and participant diaries ‘context-rich’ data on people’s uses of, and orientations towards, books and e-books are gathered. Subsequently, design responses are iteratively developed before being returned to readers for analysis. The contribution of this thesis is fourfold: (1) an account of the socially and materially situated practices associated with books and e-books inside and outside the home, (2) an explication of the distinct, yet complementary, values reflected in and driving book and e-books use, (3) an explication of the ways in which developing a sense of self and connecting with others are actualized through the use of books and e-books, and (3) the development and in situ analysis of a design exemplar in support of these goals.

Submitted by Éder Freyre (ederfreyre@icict.fiocruz.br) on 2011-11-18T12:16:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Erica_Netto.pdf: 1492500 bytes, checksum: 9590c83ece37c9520b898633d68c5582 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-11-18T12:16:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_Erica_Netto.pdf: 1492500 bytes, checksum: 9590c83ece37c9520b898633d68c5582 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / Com o crescimento exponencial dos recursos de informação na grande rede, as bibliotecas deparam-se com o grande desafio de gerenciar os seus recursos físicos e eletrônicos de forma integrada. Na literatura, o termo biblioteca híbrida vem sendo adotado para caracterizar este tipo de biblioteca. A Biblioteca de Ciências Biomédicas, do Instituto de Comunicação e Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde (ICICT) da Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz), considerada referência nacional e internacional na área de biomedicina, dispõe de diferentes formas de acesso e gestão dos vários suportes de informação, oferecendo aos usuários materiais disponíveis tanto no seu acervo físico como nos recursos eletrônicos na Internet. A Biblioteca oferece aos usuários o acesso ao acervo físico através do seu catálogo de acesso público on-line: Acervos Bibliográficos e aos recursos eletrônicos: Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde – BIREME, SciELO, Biblioteca Digital de Teses e Dissertações (BDTD) – IBICT, Portal de Periódicos CAPES. Este trabalho investiga as alternativas metodológicas e tecnológicas aplicadas aos recursos eletrônicos, visando à identificação dos padrões e protocolos de interoperabilidade e sua possível integração aos recursos físicos da Biblioteca através de um acesso integrado dos mesmos. Apresentam-se as principais tecnologias de interoperabilidade como os protocolos Z39.50 e o OAI-PMH, padrões de metadados como MARC e Dublin Core e tecnologias de linkagem, como o padrão OpenURL. Conclui-se apresentando as tecnologias de interoperabilidade aplicadas aos recursos de informação disponibilizados pela Biblioteca de Ciências Biomédicas bem como um estudo das alternativas para torná-los interoperáveis. / With the exponential gro wth of information resources in the web, libraries are beginning to have great challenges of managing their physical and electronic resources in an integrated form. In literature the term hybrid librar y comes being adopted to characterize this type of library. The Library of Biomedical Science, the Institute of Communication and Scientific and Technological In formation in Health (ICICT) of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), considered a national and international reference in the field of biomedicine, makinf use of different models for access and management in information support. The Library offers users access to physical collection by on-line public access catalogue: Acervos Bibliográficos and to electronic resources: Virtual Library in Health - BVS - BIREME, SciELO, Digital Library of Theses and Dissertation – IBICT and Portal de Periódicos CAPES. This study investigates the methodological and technological alternatives applied to electronic resources, seeking to identify of standards and protocols for interoperability and its possible integration with physical librar y resources through an integrated access of the same ones. Presents the main technologies of interoperability as the protocols Z39.50 and OAI-PMH, metadata standards as MARC and Dublin Core and the technologies of linkagem, as the OpenURL. Concluded by presenting the technologies of interoperability applied to the information resource that are arranged by the Biomedical Science Library, as well as a study of the alternatives to become these interoperable resources.

Today, the web is constantly growing, expanding global information space and more and more data is being processed and sourced online. The amount of electronically accessible and available online information is overwhelming. Increasingly, recommendation systems, which engage in some form of automated personalisation, are hugely prevalent on the web and have been extensively studied in the research literature. Several issues still remain unsolved including high sparsity situation and cold starts (how to recommend content to users who have had little or no prior interaction with the system). Recent work has demonstrated a potential solution in the form of cross-domain user modeling. This thesis will explore the design, implementation and testing of a cross-domain approach using social media data to model rich and effective user preferences and provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the approach based on direct real-world user feedback, deconstructing a cross-system news recommendation service where user models are generated via social media data. This will be accomplished by identifying the availability of a source domain from which to draw resources for recommendations and the availability of user profiles that capture a wide range of user interests from different domains. This thesis also demonstrates the viability of generating user models from social media data and evidences that the automated cross-domain approach can be superior to explicit filtering using self-declared preferences and can be further augmented when placing the user with the ability to maintain control over such models. The reasons for these results are qualitatively examined in order to understand why such effects occur, indicating that different models are capturing widely different areas within a user's preference space.

This submission addresses the change to the electronic environment in libraries. It presents eight selected research papers which cumulatively contribute to knowledge regarding the management issues arising from this change. The specific elements of the research programme focused primarily on changes in academic libraries and secondly in public libraries. The implications of changes in different countries were investigated. The research programme evolved over time, as its applicability and relevance extended to other players in the developing library electronic resources field. The need for effective communication and marketing regarding electronic resources was identified as key, and it became increasingly evident that libraries needed to adopt marketing techniques appropriate to the changing environment and different to those techniques traditionally used. The linked elements of the research programme involve managing changing user needs in line with a changing user base, which includes remote users, and the requirements for changing staff skills. Further elements include work in a virtual environment alongside a physical environment and collaboration and consortia working. The central aim of the research programme was to identify solutions for best practice, and funding was obtained for many of the research elements. Originality is demonstrated by investigation into an emerging area, using library websites at the time of their development and applying an experimental research technique. Research methods from different research paradigms - positivist and interpretivist - were employed. Quantitative data was obtained to establish hard facts. Qualitative approaches enabled the acquisition of multiple perspectives and understanding of social constructions of meaning and knowledge, such as respondents' attitudes, feelings and perceptions. The extent and modes of discussion with respondents facilitated triangulation of methods that resulted in multiple views for synthesis so as to clarify understanding. All of the research was underpinned by an on-going literature review, which was vital in order to assess both what existed and current developments. The research methods used were applied in a sequence of eight stages as the electronic environment in libraries developed. The research aimed to provide a fully rounded picture, investigating the issues arising from the introduction of electronic resources in libraries, and it achieved this by considering developments over a period of time just in excess of the past decade. The papers present findings that can be applied by players in the field of electronic resource provision. Foremost amongst these was the requirements for educating library users, often in a remote environment, in the use of the new electronic resources, which were derived and the vital importance of operating different marketing and communication techniques, which was demonstrated.

A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MAGISTER TECHNOLOGIAE (INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY) / The construction industry is reputedly lethargic to adopt innovation and, in particular, new technology. To date it has not readily embraced Information Technology (IT) given its reluctance to recognise the many potential efficiencies and competitive advantages afforded by this technology. Where IT in the form of Information Systems (IS) has been introduced the likelihood of failure and/or inefficiencies is large considering the historic inability of IS to deliver on its potential. Furthermore, this performance of IS is arguably dependent on the role of the Chief Executive Officer in the construction organisation.This study examines the performance of IS in the construction firms and the role played by the CEO in that performance. The study has four main objectives; namely: (1) to determine the role of the CEO of construction companies relative to IS governance and performance; (2) to determine the role of the CEO of construction companies in determining the structure of IS to strategically support the company; (3) to examine the relationship between the CEO and Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the impact of this relationship on the performance of IS in a construction firm;and (4) to examine the importance of information processing and knowledge management of construction companies.To achieve these objectives, the literature on IS performance in the organisation was reviewed; a structured self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted of a sample of executive managers drawn from 9 construction companies; the data was analysed; the findings discussed against the background of the literature reviewed.The key findings of this study indicate that most of CEOs of construction companies consider IS performance as of strategic importance in their organisations with respect to information processing and knowledge management; and acknowledge the important role of the CIO in IS governance and information management. Furthermore, the CEOs also acknowledge their role in organisational design, and the structuring of IS to strategically support their companies. Drawing from the responses of a sample of CEOs of contracting firms in the Western Cape province of South Africa there appears to be a direct correlation between the role of the CEO and IS governance and performance.

D.Phil. / Computer-based information systems will probably always have to contend with security issues. Much research have already gone into the field of information security. These research results have yielded some very sophisticated and effective security mechanisms and procedures. However, due to the ever increasing sophistication of criminals, combined with the ever changing and evolving information technology environment, some limitations still exist within the field of information security. Recent years have seen the proliferation of products embracing so-called artificial intelligence technologies. These products are in fields as diverse as engineering, business and medicine. The successes achieved in these fields pose the question whether artificial intelligence has a role to play within the field of information security. This thesis discusses limitations within information security and proposes ways in which artificial intelligence can be effectively applied to address these limitations. Specifically, the fields of authentication and risk analysis are identified as research fields where artificial intelligence has much to offer. These fields are explored in the context of their limitations and ways in which artificial intelligence can be applied to address these limitations. This thesis identifies two mainstream approaches in the attainment of artificial intelligence. These mainstream approaches are referred to as the "traditional" approach and the "non-traditional" approach. The traditional approach is based on symbolic processing, as opposed to the non-traditional approach, which is based on an abstraction of human reasoning. A representative technology from each of these mainstream approaches is selected to research their applicability within information security. Actual working prototypes of artificial intelligence techniques were developed to substantiate the results obtained in this research.

D.Litt. et Phil. / The problem addressed in this study is to determine whether information is recognized as a resource in South African manufacturing enterprises and whether these enterprises use information to their competitive advantage. The role of information as a resource for competitive advantage is discussed and it is shown that the competitive position of enterprises can be strengthened on the strategic level if the information resources are efficiently managed. As a result of the lack of knowledge on the information management situation in manufacturing enterprises, an empirical investigation was necessary and a questionnaire was sent to enterprises in the Guateng province. South African manufacturing enterprises were grouped according to the strategic types identified by the Miles and Snow typology. Of the 172 respondents 21,5% were classified as Prospectors, 36,6% as Analyzers, 29,7% as Defenders and 12,2% as Reactors. The majority of the respondents pointed out that they frequently scanned the environment, but formal environmental scanning systems existed at only 20% of the enterprises. The majority of South African manufacturing enterprises are currently in Strategic Management Phase 2. Attention is paid to the strategic management of products with the emphasis on market growth and market share in comparison to those of competitors. The way in which information is managed in manufacturing enterprises relates to the management typology applied in these enterprises. Information is managed very fragmentally in South African manufacturing enterprises and integrated information management systems exist at only a small percentage of enterprises. The majority of enterprises are in Development Phase 2 of information management, that is, the management of corporate automated technology. Formal information management departments are found more regularly at Prospectors and Analyzers than at Defenders and Reactors. Prospectors and Analyzers make more use of information management systems. The proportion of personnel involved with information management is higher at Analyzers than at any of the other strategic types. Analyzers also apply records management more frequently than the others. More than half of the respondents evaluated their investments in information management resources periodically in order to determine practical use and value. Employee development was encouraged with 94,9% of the respondents and 9,9% of the enterprises were classified as learning organizations. It is concluded that information management is applied in South African manufacturing enterprises but that it is not used to the competitive advantage of these enterprises. It is recommended that South African manufacturing enterprises integrate information management with the other enterprise functions and that information management be a strategic management function. Manufacturing enterprises should strive to reach the Strategic Management Phase 4 as well as Phase 5 of information management. Guidelines are provided on how information management can be implemented as a strategic management function within enterprises classified as Prospectors, Analyzers, Defenders and Reactors. Unstableness and change are the main characteristics of the South African manufacturing industry and this changing environment makes it necessary to react appropriately in order to obtain competitive advantage. South African manufacturing enterprises should therefore strive towards a new management typology called Renewers or learning organizations.

New information and communications technologies, such as mobile phones and social media, have presented the humanitarian community with a dilemma: how should humanitarian organisations integrate information from crisis-affected communities into their decision-making processes whilst guarding against inaccurate information from untrustworthy sources? Advocates of crisis mapping claim that, under certain circumstances, crowdsourcing can increase the accuracy of crisis information. However, whilst previous research has studied the geography of crisis information, the motivations of people who create crisis map mashups, and the motivations of people who crowdsource crisis information, the geography of, and the uncertainty associated with, crowdsourced crisis information has been ignored. As such, the current research is motivated by the desire to explore the geographic uncertainty associated with, and to contribute a better understanding of, crowdsourced crisis information. The current research contributes to the fields of GISc (Geographic Information Science) and crisis informatics; crisis mapping; and geovisualisation specifically and information visualisation more generally. These contributions can be summarised as an approach to, and an understanding of, the geographic uncertainty associated with crowdsourced crisis information; three geovisualisation software prototypes that can be used to identify meaningful patterns in crisis information; and the design, analysis, and evaluation model, which situates the activities associated with designing a software artefact-and using it to undertake analysis-within an evaluative framework. The approach to the geographic uncertainty associated with crowdsourced crisis information synthesised techniques from GISc, geovisualisation, and natural language processing. By following this approach, it was found that location descriptions from the Haiti crisis map did not 'fit' an existing conceptual model, and, consequently, that there is a need for new or enhanced georeferencing methods that attempt to estimate the uncertainty associated with free-text location descriptions from sources of crowdsourced crisis information.

Dorbyl Automotive Technologies (DAT) is a manufacturing company that supplies parts and components to the local and international motor vehicle market. The automotive components’ market is very competitive and customers require more from the industry to stay competitive. Customers require full integration throughout the supply chain. DAT and its Information Systems Department have ensured that the necessary business information systems are available to assist the company in staying competitive. One problem, though, is that the users of these systems are not using and adopting the technologies available. This research examines the reasons for this by making use of a technology acceptance model called the UNIFIED THEORY OF ACCEPTANCE AND USE OF TECHNOLOGY (UTAUT), which is an integrated model based on eight different available acceptance models. The aim is to understand which factors influence the use of systems. The research also proposes a way forward by suggesting a model to assist DAT in new system implementations as well as correcting the current situation. The only way DAT will stay competitive is by ensuring that the company becomes lean. Customers demand this as more and more are moving to just-in-time delivery. This implies that the suppliers must react to changes real-time. The use of business information systems will become the main focus area to react to changes quickly and correctly. Effective and accurate systems depend on users making good use of these systems. Remaining competitive will depend on how effectively Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are used.