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Abstract
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Abstract
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Joel Cummings, Alex Merrill and Steve Borrelli
The purpose of this paper is to carry out a survey in order to better understand the nature of handheld mobile computing use by academic library users and to determine whether…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to carry out a survey in order to better understand the nature of handheld mobile computing use by academic library users and to determine whether there is a significant demand for using the library services with these small screen devices.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey is created to measure whether people want to access an OPAC with a small screen. Additionally, through open‐ended questions, the survey attempts to gain a broader understanding of handheld mobile computing's impact on, and implications for, the services provided by academic libraries.
Findings
A total of 58.4 percent of respondents who own a web‐enabled handheld device indicate that they would use small screen devices, such as PDAs or web‐enabled cell phones to search a library OPAC.
Originality/value
The increasing prevalence of handheld mobile computing devices such as PDAs and web‐enabled cell phones warrants investigation as to its impact on libraries. This study examines an academic library user population and the potential demand for using the library's catalog with handheld mobile computing devices
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Marilyn Von Seggern, Alex Merrill and Lihong Zhu
Internet sites about geographical locations attempt to articulate and convey “sense of place”, a concept that relates to the unique identity and meaning attached to place. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Internet sites about geographical locations attempt to articulate and convey “sense of place”, a concept that relates to the unique identity and meaning attached to place. This paper aims to review the variety of resource types, metadata sources, and navigation features that are used by “sense of place” web sites to communicate with and involve the user. Assessment of place‐based digital collection sites is discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
Current place‐based sites were reviewed to show the diversity and range of content as well as metadata options, applications for users, and web features that make the most of location‐specific foci.
Findings
Place‐based sites present many types of resources and use geospatial, interactive, customization, and other tools to enhance the content, assist the user in finding resources, and develop “sense of place”. Assessment of such digital collections is being done but could be used more extensively to improve the sites.
Practical implications
Identifying and discussing place‐based digital collections will serve to highlight a specialized type of site and collection. Attention to the enhancement of “sense of place” internet sites could further geographical and geospatial interests, education, and web applications.
Social implications
“Sense of place” sites provide information about places that have unique history, environmental sensitivity, or special meaning. Digital content is readily available for educational purposes and can be a contribution point for shared history and experience.
Originality/value
This paper will be of value to those interested in digital collections primarily focused on a geographical location and how web applications can build on the content to convey “sense of place” to users of the site.
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Develops an original 12‐step management of technology protocol and applies it to 51 applications which range from Du Pont’s failure in Nylon to the Single Online Trade Exchange…
Abstract
Develops an original 12‐step management of technology protocol and applies it to 51 applications which range from Du Pont’s failure in Nylon to the Single Online Trade Exchange for Auto Parts procurement by GM, Ford, Daimler‐Chrysler and Renault‐Nissan. Provides many case studies with regards to the adoption of technology and describes seven chief technology officer characteristics. Discusses common errors when companies invest in technology and considers the probabilities of success. Provides 175 questions and answers to reinforce the concepts introduced. States that this substantial journal is aimed primarily at the present and potential chief technology officer to assist their survival and success in national and international markets.
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Marlin R.H. Jensen, Beverly B. Marshall and William N. Pugh
This study seeks to investigate whether a firm's financial disclosure size can help investors predict performance.
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to investigate whether a firm's financial disclosure size can help investors predict performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Controlling for size and industry, the relationship between financial disclosure size and subsequent stock performance for all Standard and Poor's (S and P) 500 firms over a seven‐year period is examined.
Findings
It is found that firms with smaller 10‐Ks tend to have better subsequent performance relative to their industries. However, the findings suggest that the performance explanation may not lie in the size of the 10‐K itself. Firms with smaller 10‐Ks tend to perform better because they are smaller in terms of total assets and more focused, with fewer business segments.
Research limitations/implications
While the study is limited to examination of S and P 500 firms, no consistent evidence is found of a relation between changes in a firm's disclosure size and future performance changes.
Practical implications
The results suggest that more disclosure relative to a firm's size is not necessarily bad. Investors attempting to predict future firm performance cannot use the firm's disclosure size alone.
Originality/value
This paper extends two recent Merrill Lynch studies that appear to contradict the extant financial literature's view that increased disclosure reduces the informational asymmetry problem. While the results confirm the findings of these studies, they suggest that the performance explanation may not lie in the size of the 10‐K itself.
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Alex Rockey, Lorna Gonzalez, Megan Eberhardt-Alstot and Margaret Merrill
Connectedness is essential for student success in online learning. By projecting themselves as real people through video, instructors support connectedness. In this chapter…
Abstract
Connectedness is essential for student success in online learning. By projecting themselves as real people through video, instructors support connectedness. In this chapter, researchers apply the theory of social presence (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) to case studies from two public higher education institutions: a four-year university and a large research university. Analysis identifies video as a humanizing element of online courses. Findings suggest video could be used in a variety of ways (e.g., video lectures, synchronous office hours, weekly overview videos), and no single use of video was perceived to be more or less effective in developing social presence and humanizing the learning experience. However, participants especially perceived connectedness when video was used in a variety of ways. Students from the second case study validated a perception of connectedness to the instructor that faculty in our first case study hoped to achieve. However, one instructor’s perception of disconnect illustrates that video is just one of several pedagogical practices necessary to create a satisfying learning experience for both students and instructors. While video is not the only way to establish social presence, findings suggest video is an effective practice toward creating a humanized and connected online learning community.
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Because, for George Herbert Mead, the “social act” is the basic unit of analysis for understanding human social existence, and thereby, his entire body of thought, it demands much…
Abstract
Because, for George Herbert Mead, the “social act” is the basic unit of analysis for understanding human social existence, and thereby, his entire body of thought, it demands much more critical attention than it thus far has received from sociologists. Here, his notion of the social act will be critically examined – in terms of his definition of social action, the underlying organizing principle he uses to explain it, the different fundamental forms of social action he identifies, and the basic operating elements that he contends comprise these forms – for the purpose of developing a better conception of social action than he provided. Mead sees social action as organized on the basis of “sociality,” expressing itself in two fundamental forms – “cooperative” and “conflictive.” He also views the cooperative form as comprised of five basic elements – attitudes, roles, significant symbols, attitudinal assumption, and common social objects – while the conflictive form is comprised of only the first four elements. After a critical examination of Mead’s social act is completed, an alternative and improved conception of social action, with domination as its organizing principle, is proffered. More importantly, it is argued that this new notion of social action, termed the “collective act,” provides the grounds for the development of a novel interactionist perspective, dubbed here “radical interactionism,” which is based on the principle of domination rather sociality. Thus, this new interactionist perspective, is dramatically different from the traditional interactionist perspective Mead and Blumer developed.
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To show how conflicts of interest and disingenuous investment research at the end of the 1990s stock market bubble occurred in Australia as well as the USA and Western Europe.
Abstract
Purpose
To show how conflicts of interest and disingenuous investment research at the end of the 1990s stock market bubble occurred in Australia as well as the USA and Western Europe.
Design/methodology/approach
Reviews the role of research analysts in major securities firms and conflicts of interest such as analyzing and evaluating a company for investment purposes, while seeking the investment banking business of the same company. Provides a case study of how an investment banking firm dealt with a provider of internet search services in both a research and an investment banking capacity. Investigates and evaluates the regulations and guidelines developed and introduced by the Australian regulatory bodies (Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC)) and the Australian Government to deal with potential conflicts of interest that could affect the objectivity and independence of analyst research.
Findings
There were examples of conflicts of interest and fraudulent stock recommendations in Australia that rivaled the worst examples in the USA and Western Europe.
Originality/value
A reminder of fraudulent investment research practices during the stock market bubble and the potential for conflicts of interest between research and investment banking functions within the same firm.