This item is not the definitive copy. Please use the following citation when referencing this material: Dillon, A. and Morris, M. (1996) User acceptance of new information technology - theories and models. In: M. Williams (ed.) Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, Vol. 31, Medford NJ: Information Today, 3-32. ABSTRACT: Understanding the factors that influence user acceptance of information technology is of interest both to researchers in a variety of fields as well as procurers of technology for large organizations. The present chapter reviews literature which demonstrates the nature of technological acceptance is mediated by distinct factor groups related to the psychology of the users, the design process of information technology, and the quality of the technology in user terms. It is concluded that current research offers insights that can support the derivation of reliable predictions of user acceptance. However, potentially overlapping theories seem to exist independently of each other and there exists scope for a unifying framework to extend innovation diffusion concepts and systems design models (particularly user-centered design) into a formal theory of user acceptance of information technology.

Essay analyzes the question of what is the best way to index the Internet.

This paper addresses the concerns related to authority and control through focused exploration and description of one of the more popular social tagging sites, Flickr (http://www.flickr.com). After providing a brief background and introduction to Flickrâ s social and practical functionalities, this paper focuses on describing the siteâ s various tagging utilities and related exploration tools, addressing the tripartite concerns regarding the lack of vocabulary control, hierarchical organization, and the policies and procedures that allow for successful classification.

The most time consuming aspects of managing a library Web service are the creation and maintenance of site documents and assets. Although the organizational structure and contents of a Web site varies from library to library, participants in all library Web projects need to be familiar with the concepts and terminology associated with creating documents and resources for the Web. This document is not an in-depth HTML guide, but is instead a general introduction to Web content creation. Newer technologies are briefly described and references to other resources are provided. This is also an interactive document and provides the reader access to associated resources.

One common problem in the scientific research literature is that each one author cannot easily be identified uniquely. The problem arises when there are authors with identical names, authors who have changed their name(s) in the course of time, and authors whose names appear in alternative versions (for example: Jaakko Hyvärinen, and J. P. Hyvärinen) across the publications they have (co-) authored. The issue becomes more of a problem when data analysis utilizing author names is to be conducted, for example: in citation analysis. In this paper we introduce the Universal Author Identifier system, codenamed UAI_Sys. The system is web based and publicly available, enabling each one author to register/update his/her own metadata, plus acquire a unique identifier (UAI code), ensuring name disambiguation. As soon as UAI_Sys becomes accepted and enjoys worldwide use, selected author metadata will become globally available to all interested parties. Care is taken so that UAI_Sys comprises more than just a database for storing and handling author identifiers. Provision is taken for the system to incorporate web services facilitating communication with third party applications, thus expanding the possibilities for web based co-functionality. Last but not least, the system supports role-based access and management (i.e. different user roles for authors, librarians, publishers, and administrators) for efficient and effective information dissemination and management, promoting research and collaboration. UAI_Sys is being designed/developed along the lines of the Cascading Citations Analysis Project (C-CAP) which is co-funded by the Alexander Technology Educational Institute (ATEI), and the University of Macedonia (UoM).

Artificial Intelligence Lab, Department of MIS, University of Arizona / The Internet is changing the way we live and do business. It also offers a tremendous opportunity for government to better deliver its contents and services and interact with its many constituentsâ citizens, businesses, and other government partners. In addition to providing information, communication, and transaction services, exciting and innovative transformation could occur with the new technologies and practices.

This paper begins by discussing the various meanings of metadata both on and off the Web, and the various uses to which metadata has been put. The body of the paper focuses on the Web and the roles that metadata has in that environment. More specifically, the primary concern here is for metadata used in resource discovery, broadly considered. Metadata for resource discovery is on an evolutionary path with bibliographic description as an immediate predecessor. Its chief exemplar is the Dublin Core and its origins, nature and current status will be briefly discussed. From this starting point, the paper then considers the uses of such metadata in the Web context, both currently and those that are planned for. The critical issues that need addressing are its weaknesses for achieving its purposes and alternatives. Finally, the role of libraries in creating systems for resource discovery is considered, from the perspective of the gains made to date with the Dublin Core, the difficulties of merging this effort with traditional bibliographic description (aka MARC and AACRII), and what can be done about the gap between the two. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The U.S. National Science Foundation metadata registry under development for the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) is a repertory intended to manage both metadata schemes and schemas. The focus of this draft discussion paper is on the scheme side of the development work. In particular, the concern of the discussion paper is with issues around the creation of historical snapshots of concept changes and their encoding in SKOS. Through framing the problem as we see it, we hope to find an optimal solution to our need for a SKOS encoding of these snapshots. Since what we are seeking to model is concept change, it is necessary at the outset to make it clear that we are not talking about changes to a concept of such a nature that would require the declaration a new concept with its own URI.

Presentation at the beginning of the workshop, given to set the tone and outline issues key to the event. [jtt]

Three empirical studies on characteristics of social classification are reported in this paper. The first study compared social tags with controlled vocabularies and title-based automatic indexing and found little overlaps among the three indexing methods. The second study investigated how well tags could be categorized to improve effectiveness of searching and browsing. The third study explored factors and radios that had the most significant impact on tag convergence. Finding of the three studies will help to identify characteristics of those tagging terms that are content-rich and that can be used to increase effectiveness of tagging, searching and browsing.