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The purpose of this paper is to report research that sought to understand the requirements of information systems designed to support people engaged in creative intellectual activity. The research aimed to provide empirical evidence based on a case study of a particular arena of creativity, namely electro‐acoustic music composition. However, it also sought to identify issues that may apply more widely to other arenas of human creativity.

The research was based on a related series of three in‐depth studies of electro‐acoustic music composers at work. These studies entailed the collection of qualitative data from interviews, observations and “think aloud” protocols. These data were analysed inductively to reveal concepts and relationships that formed the basis for a model of interactions between the composers and the information systems with which they were working.

The paper presents a model of relationships between information system features and use, and the resulting effects in terms of the extent to which creativity was perceived by the composers to have been facilitated and inhibited. In particular, a number of tensions were identified which suggest that conventional “best practice” in the design of data‐intensive information systems may be fundamentally at odds with the requirements of such systems to support important aspects of creativity.

The limitations associated with in‐depth qualitative research based on small samples is acknowledged, relating in particular to its lack of ability to generalise on the basis of statistical probability. However, such an approach arguably offers the complementary strength of being particularly suited to exploratory research aimed essentially at charting new territory and identifying rich and possibly unanticipated constructs rather than testing hypotheses based on existing theory. The resultant findings, however, must remain tentative and provisional pending further systematic investigation designed to establish the extent to which they are generalisable.

As well as identifying limitations in conventional approaches to designing data‐intensive information systems, an alternative architecture is proposed which seeks better to map onto the requirements of creativity support. It is hoped that both the criticisms of conventional approaches and the proposed novel architecture may be of practical use to those engaged in the design of data‐intensive creativity support systems.

The research reported here offers a novel perspective on the design of information systems in that it identifies a tension between conventional “best practice” in system design and the requirements of important aspects of creativity support. It has the advantage of being based on the in‐depth observation of real composers in action over protracted periods of time. It also proposes a novel system architecture which seeks to avoid reduce such tensions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of a number of human individual differences on the web searching of a sample of the general public.

In total, 91 members of the general public performed 195 controlled searches. Search activity and ratings of search difficulty and success were recorded and statistically analysed. The study was exploratory, and sought to establish whether there is a prima facie case for further systematic investigation of the selection and combination of variables studied here.

Results revealed a number of interactions between individual differences, the use of different search strategies, and levels of perceived search difficulty and success. The findings also suggest that the open and closed nature of searches may affect these interactions. A conceptual model of these relationships is presented.

Better understanding of factors affecting searching may help one to develop more effective search support, whether in the form of personalised search interfaces and mechanisms, adaptive systems, training or help systems. However, the findings reveal a complexity and variability suggesting that there is little immediate prospect of developing any simple model capable of driving such systems.

There are several areas of this research that make it unique: the study's focus on a sample of the general public; its use of search logs linked to personal data; its development of a novel search strategy classifier; its temporal modelling of how searches are transformed over time; and its illumination of four different types of experienced searcher, linked to different search behaviours and outcomes.

The research reported here generated a list of criteria adopted by postgraduate students when evaluating websites. The analysis presented aims to determine whether metacognition played any part in the evaluation of websites by volunteers.

Forty‐eight students participated in the study. They carried out a series of searches designed to bring them into contact with a range of websites, from forums to electronic books. The students were encouraged to “think aloud” as they searched, and to explain their actions and strategies. Search sessions were recorded, transcribed, and subjected to ethnographic content analysis.

A range of evaluation criteria is presented. The criteria were applied at different stages of the search process and demonstrate varying degrees of metacognition. Observations on evaluation processes are also presented. Factors affecting evaluation included the purpose of the search, advice received from lecturers, and the perceived nature of the website.

Some volunteers encountered difficulties because of an overly simplistic approach to evaluation. Any training in information literacy skills should aim at equipping students with guidelines to help them assess the credibility of websites, while encouraging them to reflect on the nature of their search task and to apply the guidelines accordingly.

The evaluation criteria and processes described in this paper are induced from detailed observations of a large cohort of students. The qualitative nature of the study meant that these observations could be put into the context of the students' own reflections on their choice of website.

The purpose of this paper is to describe: a new taxonomy of metacognitive skills designed to support the study of metacognition in the context of web searching; a data collection instrument based on the taxonomy; and the results of testing the instrument on a sample of university students and staff.

The taxonomy is based on a review of the literature, and is extended to cover web searching. This forms the basis for the design of the data collection instrument, which is tested with 405 students and staff of Sheffield University.

Subjects regard the range of metacognitive skills focused on as broadly similar. However, a number of significant differences in reported metacognition usage relating to age, gender and discipline.

These findings contribute to the long‐term aims of the research which are to: develop a model of the actual and potential role of metacognition in web searching, and identify strategic “metacognitive interventions” that can be built into an intelligent information retrieval system, driven by the model, capable of enhancing retrieval effectiveness by compensating for metacognitive weaknesses on the part of the searcher.

The value of the paper lies in: the consideration of metacognition in the context of web searching, the presentation of an extensible taxonomy of metacognitive skills, development and testing of a prototype metacognitive inventory, finding of significant differences in reported metacognition usage according to age, gender and discipline, and reflection of the implications of the results for future research into web searching.

This paper seeks to discuss reliability problems associated with questionnaires, commonly employed in library and information science. It aims to focus on the effects of “common method variance” (CMV), which is a form of bias, and ways of countering these effects.

The paper critically reviews the use of existing tools for demonstrating reliability in questionnaire‐based studies. In particular, it focuses on Cronbach's alpha, “Harman's single factor test” and Lindell and Whitney's “marker variable” approach. The paper introduces an illustrative case study based on the work on metacognition and web searching. It goes on to make recommendations for researchers considering using a questionnaire‐based approach.

CMV is a problem affecting questionnaire‐based studies in different disciplines across social and information science. Where questionnaire items are more abstract, CMV has been found to be more of a problem. The widely used Cronbach alpha measure, of the reliability of a questionnaire, may often be affected by CMV. Where method bias dominates the results, a high alpha score may do no more than indicate that the questionnaire consistently allows participants to accede to their biases. “Harman's single factor test” is criticised as lacking sufficient foundation, and it is concluded that it should not be used. The marker variable approach is a useful option but must be applied with caution.

A number of practical implications for researchers are drawn. Questionnaire‐based work investigating abstract constructs should be assumed to carry a high likelihood of CMV, and therefore should attempt to avoid it and demonstrate the degree of success in this regard. Otherwise, interpretation of the results should assume CMV. A number of approaches to assessing and isolating CMV are discussed.

The paper draws attention to a problem that is arguably often overlooked in questionnaire‐based studies, namely method bias. It discusses a number of approaches whereby it may be identified and controlled.

The purpose of this paper is to present a study of knowledge management understanding and usage in small and medium knowledge‐intensive enterprises.

The study has taken an interpretitivist approach, using two knowledge‐intensive South Yorkshire (England) companies as case studies, both of which are characterised by the need to process and use knowledge on a daily basis in order to remain competitive. The case studies were analysed using qualitative research methodology, composed of interviews and concept mapping, thus deriving a characterisation of understandings, perceptions and requirements of SMEs in relation to knowledge management.

The study provides evidence that, while SMEs, including knowledge intensive ones, acknowledge that adequately capturing, storing, sharing and disseminating knowledge can lead to greater innovation and productivity, their managers are not prepared to invest the relatively high effort on long term knowledge management goals for which they have difficulty in establishing the added value. Thus, knowledge management activities within SMEs tend to happen in an informal way, rarely supported by purposely designed ICT systems.

This paper proposes that further studies in this field are required that focus on organisational and practical issues in order to close the gap between theoretical propositions and the reality of practice.

The study suggests that in order to implement an appropriate knowledge management strategy in SMEs cultural, behavioural, and organisational issues need to be tackled before even considering technical issues.

KM seems to have been successfully applied in large companies, but it is largely disregarded by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This has been attributed primarily to a lack of a formal approach to the sharing, recording, transferring, auditing and exploiting of organisational knowledge, together with a lack of utilisation of available information technologies. This paper debates these concepts from a research findings point of view.

Theories in the justice area have proliferated with little regard either to their interconnections or to the general scientific criterion of parsimony. Recently, there have been several attempts to integrate justice theories. However, there has been practically no discussion of theoretical method, that is, precisely what it means to integrate two or more theories and what must be done to accomplish it. This chapter advocates building integrated theories by developing smaller modularized theories that can be formulated and assembled for multiple purposes. To illustrate the process, we construct five modules addressing different areas connected to justice issues and show how they may be combined into a single integrated structure.

Responding to recent pleas both to critically analyze and to conceptually advance social entrepreneurship. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the political “unconscious” operates in the narration of social entrepreneurship and how it poses a limit to alternative forms of thinking and talking.

To move the field beyond a predominantly monological way of narrating, various genres of narrating social entrepreneurship are identified, critically discussed and illustrated against the backdrop of development aid.

The paper identifies and distinguishes between a grand narrative that incorporates a messianistic script of harmonious social change, counter‐narratives that render visible the intertextual relations that interpellate the grand narration of social entrepreneurship and little narratives that probe novel territories by investigating the paradoxes and ambivalences of the social.

The paper suggests a minor understanding and non‐heroic practice of social entrepreneurship guided by the idea of “messianism without a messiah.”

The paper suggests critical reflexivity as a way to analyze and multiply the circulating narrations of social entrepreneurship.

SMEs are considered as engine for economic growth all over the world. After the globalization of market, SMEs have got many opportunities to work in integration with large‐scale organizations. They cannot exploit these opportunities and sustain their competitiveness if they focus only on certain aspects of their functioning and work in isolation. This paper tries to identify the major areas of strategy development by SMEs for improving competitiveness of SMEs in globalised market.

About 134 research papers, mainly from referred international journals are reviewed to identify thrust areas of research. On the basis of review, gaps are identified and research agenda is proposed.

SMEs have not given due attention for developing their effective strategies in the past. They are localized in functioning. On export fronts SMEs face many constraints due to lack of resources and poor innovative capabilities. For sustaining their competitiveness, they have to benchmark their assets, processes and performance with respect to the best in industry. There is also need for developing a framework for quantifying the competitiveness by adopting a holistic approach.

This paper explores major areas for research on SMEs. It will be of great value for researchers and professionals involved on SMEs management.