Electronic Information Resources (EIR) can be seen as invaluable teaching and research tools, which complement print-based resources and enhance the learning and research processes in any academic institution. The aims of this research were to investigate, analyse and discuss the use of and needs for EIR and existing training in promoting and enhancing the quality of teaching and research activities amongst academic staff at the University of Bahrain. Extensive quantitative, qualitative and theoretical methods were used to identify and analyse academic staff EIR skills, knowledge and awareness. The population of the study is made up of all the full-time faculty members working at the University of Bahrain. A total of 593 questionnaires were distributed and 466 completed ones were returned, giving an overall response rate of 78.5%, and these were used for the purpose of the study. The result of the study revealed that printed resources are the sources of information most used for teaching and research. The colleges of Law, Art and Education had the lowest percentages of usage of EIR compared with other colleges. Work overload, lack of awareness, low skill levels, slow servers, ineffective communication systems, language barriers and a preference for print resources were among the primary constraints that affected academic staff uptake and use of electronic resources in teaching and research. One-to-one training was the preferred training method for those academics wishing to enhance their EIR skills. It was recommended that there is a need for greater promotion from the upper level decision-makers at the university if they wish to see greater use of electronic resources in teaching and research. Strategic conceptual models designed to provide solutions to the current problems and to help in setting policies and decisions for the effective use of EIR in teaching and research are given.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of the Master of Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2017. / The assignment of identifying Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for the successful implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems has become an important problem in the information system (IS) research. The necessity to identify CSFs becomes perceptible because of the failure often associated with the ERP system implementation in corporate organisations. The investigation and identification of CSFs will help cut costs of implementing ERP systems in organisations by giving higher precedence to the most critical factors. Literature has indicated that some factors of ERP system implementation labelled as critical are, in most cases, not critical for achieving success in the ERP system implementation. It can be argued that the inherent prediction error in the identification of CSFs is associated with the method employed for identifying criticality. Certain researchers have asserted that many of the studies on CSFs have based their findings on the use of content analysis method to identify and classify implementation factors of ERP systems as critical or not, rather than empirical findings. This intrinsic drawback has led researchers to suggest the use of sound scientific methods such as the structural equation modelling technique to identify CSFs to help guide the implementation of ERP systems in organizations. However, because of the limitations of the existing findings, the expectation is still much higher in effectively resolving the problem of identifying CSFs, in general. The overarching aim of this study was to determine those factors that are deemed critical for the successful implementation of the on-line registration system as an archetype of ERP system at HEIs. It was necessary to, firstly, identify common factors that have a significant impact on ERP system implementation and, secondly, to ascertain whether the identified factors are applicable in HEI settings, particularly to the on-line registration system. This study plans an in-depth exploration of the implementation of an on-line registration system with the identified factors forming the precursor to unearth those factors that are critical for the success of implementing on-line registration systems. The study has adopted a post-positivism mixed methods approach to identify and verify CSFs of the on-line registration system implementation, taking into consideration higher-order relationships between the factors. Data gathering took place using expert judgement with the involvement of role players in the implementation of on-line registration systems. The ADVIAN classification method provides the analytic tool for identifying factors that are deemed critical for successful implementation of on-line registration systems. The results reveal the existence of various dimensions of criticality with organisational culture and ERP strategy and implementation methodology emerging as critical factors, while the driving factors for implementation include ERP vendor support and guidance, senior and top management support, project plan with agreed objectives and goals, project management to implement project plan and project leader. It is established that the driven factors that should be observed when intervention measures are implemented include change management, post-implementation evaluation, software testing and troubleshooting, user training and user involvement. It is hoped that the CSFs discovered in this study will contribute towards the under-researched area of ERP and pragmatically aid the improvement of a process area that is in desperate need of business process re-engineering at HEIs. / M

Dwesa is a rural town situated in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province that has been selected as a testing site for an e-commerce project to address some of the challenges faced by the community. These challenges include difficulties stemming from poverty, poor access to public services, unemployment and low levels of literacy. The Siyakhula Living Lab project’s aim is to develop an e-commerce platform that will 'connect' the residents with the necessary access to services and markets by providing them with the necessary tools that can help in alleviating some of their challenges. In order for the project to achieve its objectives, a deeper understanding into the needs of the prospective users is required. User requirements elicitation deals with the process of interacting with the prospective users to understand and document their needs. This research aims at evaluating existing requirements elicitation techniques and methodologies in the context of rural information technology implementations. The primary objective is to develop a model for user requirements elicitation in Dwesa. Many requirements elicitation techniques and frameworks exist, but few have been evaluated in the context of rural software implementations. Requirements elicitation techniques should not be applied simply as steps to gather information. Instead this research project proposes a model that can be applied to assimilate the contribution of knowledge regarding the stakeholders, problem and solution characteristics, and other characteristics into the software development process for the effective elicitation of requirements.

Background: Effective information exchange is an asset to effective lung cancer care. Although a considerable body of evidence informs the approaches to ‘diagnostic bad news delivery’, the exchange of information that takes place between patients with cancer and professionals with whom they interact thereafter is less well documented. Information exchange has an influential role throughout the lung cancer care continuum, providing patients and professionals with details relative to the cancer diagnosis and the subsequent choices to be made in its management. Information on disease extent, treatment and related side-effects, rehabilitation and prognosis are judged by patients as the most prominent for them. Despite awareness of the specific categories relevant to information exchange needs, there is little evidence available exploring the information exchange process, per se, within cancer generally and even less within the lung cancer context. Aim: To investigate information exchange processes during lung cancer consultations, specifically exploring information content which is both exchanged and not exchanged. Design: Qualitative, multiple case study design. Methods: A case centred on a patient with lung cancer. Within the case were the patients, the health professionals they consulted with and accompanying companions. Seven cases were recruited, which included 12 companions. Data were collected in outpatient clinics between 2010 and 2011. Data were digital recordings of consultations; debrief interviews immediately post-consultation and later in-depth patient interviews. All interviews were transcribed and analysed for pattern matching and coding. Findings: Analysis of categorical data indicated cases were typical of the Scottish lung cancer population across all demographic domains, accept age and performance status. The preliminary analysis showed across cases, almost universal satisfaction with the level and content of information exchange for the main a priori categories of diagnosis, treatment and treatment outcome. Substantive analysis revealed that information content across the a priori categories was influenced by the presence of the accompanying companion. Within the clinical consultation, companion influence on information exchange was shown to be mediating, moderating or neutral. A key finding which emerged showed companion accompaniment to be a negotiated process, with three identifying levels of accompaniment. Non-negotiated companion presence at the clinic was associated with influential and expert companions who significantly moderated the content, direction and flow of information exchange, using the constructs of companion control, companion agenda and companion as expert. Persuasive influences further shaped non-negotiated accompaniment and were identified as demographic characteristics and relationship alliances. Patient and professional perspective regarding companion accompaniment was shown to be discordant. Conclusions: The level of negotiated companion presence at lung cancer clinics has direct implications for clinical care. There needs to be greater understanding among professionals of ways in which information exchange can be influenced by companions.

Traditionally, social network analysis (SNA) techniques enable the examination of relationships and the flow of information within networks of human members or groups of humans. This study extended traditional social network analysis to include a nonhuman group member, specifically a document retrieval system. The importance of document retrieval systems as information sources, the changes in business environments that necessitates the use of information and communication technologies, and the attempts to make computer systems more life-like, provide the reasons for considering the information system as a group member. The review of literature for this study does not encompass a single body of knowledge. Instead, several areas combined to inform this study, including social informatics for its consideration of the intersection of people and information technology, network theory and social network analysis, organizations and information, organizational culture, and finally, storytelling in organizations as a means of transferring information. The methodology included distribution of surveys to two small businesses that used the same document retrieval system, followed by semi-structured interviews of selected group members, which allowed elaboration on the survey findings. The group members rated each other and the system on four interaction criteria relating to four social networks of interest, including awareness, access, information flow, and problem solving. Traditional measures of social networks, specifically density, degree, reciprocity, transitivity, distance, degree centrality, and closeness centrality provided insight into the positioning of the nonhuman member within the social group. The human members of the group were able to respond to the survey that included the system but were not ready to consider the system as being equivalent to other human members. SNA measures positioned the system as an average member of the group, not a star, but not isolated either. Examination of the surveys or the interviews in isolation would not have given a complete picture of the system's place within the group.

Observations in the information technology (IT) support environment and generalizations from the literature regarding problem resolution behavior indicate that computer support staff seldom store reusable solution information effectively for IT problems. A comprehensive model of the processes encompassing problem arrival and assessment, expertise selection, problem resolution, and solution recording has not been available to facilitate research in this domain. This investigation employed the findings from a qualitative pilot study of IT support staff information behaviors to develop and explicate a detailed model of problem trajectory. Based on a model from clinical studies, this model encompassed a trajectory scheme that included the communication media, characteristics of the problem, decision points in the problem resolution process, and knowledge creation in the form of solution storage. The research design included the administration of an extensive scenario-based online survey to a purposive sample of IT support staff at a medium-sized state-supported university, with additional respondents from online communities of IT support managers and call-tracking software developers. The investigator analyzed 109 completed surveys and conducted email interviews of a stratified nonrandom sample of survey respondents to evaluate the suitability of the model. The investigation employed mixed methods including descriptive statistics, effects size analysis, and content analysis to interpret the results and verify the sufficiency of the problem trajectory model. The study found that expertise selection relied on the factors of credibility, responsibility, and responsiveness. Respondents referred severe new problems for resolution and recorded formal solutions more often than other types of problems, whereas they retained moderate recurring problems for resolution and seldom recorded those solutions. Work experience above and below the 5-year mark affected decisions to retain, refer, or defer problems, as well as solution storage and broadcasting behaviors. The veracity of the problem trajectory model was verified and it was found to be an appropriate tool and explanatory device for research in the IT domain.

This study empirically examines the impact of IT capability on firms' performance and evaluates whether firms' IT capabilities play a role in improving employee capability, customer value, customer satisfaction, and ultimately business performance. The results were based on comparing the business performance of the IT leader companies with that of control companies of similar size and industry. The IT leader companies were selected from the Information Week 500 list published annually from 2001 to 2004. For a company to be selected as IT leaders, it needed to be listed at least twice during the period. Furthermore, it had to be listed in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) so that its customer satisfaction level could be assessed. Standard & Poor's Compustat and the ACSI scores were used to test for changes in business performance. The study found that the IT leaders had a raw material cost measured by cost-of-goods-sold to sales ratio (COGS/S) than the control companies. However, it found no evidence that firms' IT capability affects employee capability, customer value, customer satisfaction, and profit. An important implication from this study is that IT becomes a commodity and an attempt to gain a competitive advantage by overinvesting in IT may be futile.

This study has a dual purpose. Firstly, it is aimed at determining the need for the effective management of outdoor information transfer as an important resource in the aesthetic environment. Effective management is seen as an optimisation of the benefits of outdoor information transfer, as well as a minimisation of its negative impacts. Secondly, this study was aimed at providing user-friendly guidelines to achieve this. The South African Manual for Outdoor Advertising Control (SAMOAC) was developed in 1998 as a national guideline document to provide detailed conditions for the management and control of outdoor advertisements and signs. This manual recognises the differences in local needs and circumstances and suggests that controlling authorities should adapt the prescribed conditions in this regard. Up till now this document has not been implemented successfully by the relevant controlling authorities. Outdoor advertisements of all sizes are increasing at an alarming rate in South Africa to the detriment of the perceptual environment and tourism resources. One of the most obvious reasons for this is the lack of motivation amongst the controlling authorities together with the persistency of the outdoor advertising industry. This study provides the necessary motivation for involving controlling authorities, the outdoor advertising industry and the public in the meaningful and sustainable management of outdoor information transfer. It looks at the benefits and impact of outdoor information transfer in a holistic manner by taking the variety and interrelationship of such impacts and benefits into consideration. Most previous studies have only concentrated on a single aspect of outdoor information transfer namely the correlation between billboards and road accidents. A key finding of this study is that the effective management of outdoor information transfer is unnegotiable. A laissez faire approach by controlling authorities and self-control by the outdoor advertising industry will lead to visual chaos. A balanced and responsible approach should be followed in managing outdoor information transfer. Outdoor advertising should never be aimed at utilising and maximising every available advertising opportunity and implementing whatever is technologically achievable at the cost of the perceptual environment. The effective management of outdoor information transfer is in the interest of both the perceptual environment and the outdoor advertising industry. It has been found that sense of place and placeness play an important role with regard to the impacts and benefits of outdoor information transfer. The lack of sufficient environmental ethics in Western society has been identified as an underlying problem. A non-pragmatic environmental world-view has therefore been provided based on Christian axioms to serve as a basis for environmental management including perceptual resource management and the management of outdoor information transfer. In order to actualise the need for the effective management of outdoor information transfer general principles and user-friendly guidelines are provided that will be universally applicable. It will make the management of outdoor information transfer less subjective and will serve as a basis for legislative and control measures. These principles and guidelines are flexible enough to accommodate a variation in local conditions, lifestyles and aspirations. It can therefore serve as an instrument to adapt SAMOAC to suit local circumstances and needs. The recommendations provided in this study are aimed at creating an appreciation for the perceptual environment as well as the role and aesthetic contribution of outdoor advertisements and signs. It is also aimed at involving the public, controlling authorities and the outdoor advertising industry in the sustainable management of outdoor information transfer as an important part of the perceptual environment. / Thesis (PhD (Regional Planning))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Town and Regional Planning / unrestricted

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:24:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 elaine_pereira_daroz.pdf: 47253448 bytes, checksum: f4416c0bc519fcc628bbe5f63ab30c1e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-11-30 / In technological society, we are often driven to use new technologies, since they are increasingly present in our daily lives. Education does not deprive this notice and, accordingly, has been mobilized. In public schools, the distribution of laptops to teachers, as well as tablets for students, the creation of computer labs and availability of multimedia features, such as data-show, the schools are examples of this notice of the government the use of technologies in teaching practice. However, what is the position of the teacher in this new scenario? This paper aims to analyze the speech of English teacher about teaching in the digital age. Under the focus of qualitative research, the work is guided on theoretical assumptions of Discourse Analysis of French line, founded by Michel Pêcheux, and developed by his followers in Brazil. Analytical procedures occurred from parts of the recordings, in consideration of the effect of a speech senses, and also in the design of a heterogeneous subject, subjugated by language, history and ideology, which makes his speech from different positions it occupies. This research aims to understand the position-subject English teacher in technological society as an essential, intrinsic to the teaching-learning process, and not just a vehicle for the transmission of knowledge. / Na sociedade tecnológica, frequentemente somos impelidos à utilização das novas tecnologias, uma vez que estão cada vez mais presentes em nosso cotidiano. A Educação não se priva a essa interpelação e, nesse sentido, tem-se mobilizado. Na rede pública de ensino, a distribuição de notebooks aos professores, bem como tablets para os alunos, a criação de laboratórios de informática e disponibilização de recursos multimídia, como data-show, nas escolas são exemplos dessa interpelação do poder público ao uso das tecnologias na prática docente. Todavia, qual é a posição do professor nesse novo cenário? O presente trabalho objetiva analisar o discurso do professor de língua inglesa sobre docência na era digital. Sob o enfoque de uma pesquisa qualitativa, o trabalho pauta-se nos pressupostos teóricos da Análise do Discurso de linha francesa, fundada por Michel Pêcheux, e desenvolvida no Brasil por seus seguidores. Os procedimentos analíticos ocorreram a partir de recortes das gravações, na consideração de um discurso como efeito de sentidos, e, ainda, na concepção de um sujeito heterogêneo, assujeitado pela língua, história e ideologia, que produz seu discurso a partir de diferentes posições que ele ocupa. A presente pesquisa visa a compreender a posição-sujeito professor de língua inglesa na sociedade tecnológica como parte fundamental, intrínseca ao processo ensino-aprendizagem, e não apenas um veículo de transmissão de conhecimento.

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