Latest content added for UNT Digital Library Partner: UNT Librarieshttps://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/partners/UNT/browse/?sort=added_a&fq=str_degree_discipline:Information+Science2008-02-15T14:44:21-06:00UNT LibrariesThis is a custom feed for browsing UNT Digital Library Partner: UNT LibrariesThe Effects of Task-Based Documentation Versus Online Help Menu Documentation on the Acceptance of Information Technology2007-09-20T14:06:02-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2195/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2195/"><img alt="The Effects of Task-Based Documentation Versus Online Help Menu Documentation on the Acceptance of Information Technology" title="The Effects of Task-Based Documentation Versus Online Help Menu Documentation on the Acceptance of Information Technology" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2195/small/"/></a></p><p>The objectives of this study were (1) to identify and describe task-based documentation; (2) to identify and describe any purported changes in users attitudes when IT migration was preceded by task-based documentation; (3) to suggest implications of task-based documentation on users attitude toward IT acceptance. Questionnaires were given to 150 university students. Of these, all 150 students participated in this study. The study determined the following: (1) if favorable pre-implementation attitudes toward a new e-mail system increase, as a result of training, if users expect it to be easy to learn and use; (2) if user acceptance of an e-mail program increase as expected perceived usefulness increase as delineated by task-based documentation; (3) if task-based documentation is more effective than standard help menus while learning a new application program; and (4) if training that requires active student participation increase the acceptance of a new e-mail system. The following conclusions were reached: (1) Positive pre-implementation attitudes toward a new e-mail system are not affected by training even if the users expect it to be easy to learn and use. (2) User acceptance of an e-mail program does not increase as perceived usefulness increase when aided by task-based documentation. (3) Task-based documentation is not more effective than standard help menus when learning a new application program. (4) Training that requires active student participation does not increase the acceptance of a new e-mail system.</p>A Theory for the Measurement of Internet Information Retrieval2007-09-20T14:06:34-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2187/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2187/"><img alt="A Theory for the Measurement of Internet Information Retrieval" title="A Theory for the Measurement of Internet Information Retrieval" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2187/small/"/></a></p><p>The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a measurement model for Internet information retrieval strategy performance evaluation whose theoretical basis is a modification of the classical measurement model embodied in the Cranfield studies and their progeny. Though not the first, the Cranfield studies were the most influential of the early evaluation experiments. The general problem with this model was and continues to be the subjectivity of the concept of relevance. In cyberspace, information scientists are using quantitative measurement models for evaluating information retrieval performance that are based on the Cranfield model. This research modified this model by incorporating enduser relevance judgment rather than using objective relevance judgments, and by adopting a fundamental unit of measure developed for the cyberspace of Internet information retrieval rather than using recall and precision-type measures. The proposed measure, the Content-bearing Click (CBC) Ratio, was developed as a quantitative measure reflecting the performance of an Internet IR strategy. Since the hypertext "click" is common to many Internet IR strategies, it was chosen as the fundamental unit of measure rather than the "document." The CBC Ratio is a ratio of hypertext click counts that can be viewed as a false drop measure that determines the average number of irrelevant content-bearing clicks that an enduser check before retrieving relevant information. After measurement data were collected, they were used to evaluate the reliability of several methods for aggregating relevance judgments. After reliability coefficients were calculated, measurement model was used to compare web catalog and web database performance in an experimental setting. Conclusions were the reached concerning the reliability of the proposed measurement model and its ability to measure Internet IR performance, as well as implications for clinical use of the Internet and for future research in Information Science.</p>Information Seeking in a Virtual Learning Environment2007-09-20T16:16:52-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2212/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2212/"><img alt="Information Seeking in a Virtual Learning Environment" title="Information Seeking in a Virtual Learning Environment" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2212/small/"/></a></p><p>Duplicating a time series study done by Kuhlthau and associates in 1989, this study examines the applicability of the Information Search Process (ISP) Model in the context of a virtual learning environment.
This study confirms that students given an information seeking task in a virtual learning environment do exhibit the stages indicated by the ISP Model. The six-phase ISP Model is shown to be valid for describing the different stages of cognitive, affective, and physical tasks individuals progress through when facing a situation where they must search for information to complete an academic task in a virtual learning environment. The findings in this study further indicate there is no relationship between the amount of computer experience subjects possess and demonstrating the patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions described by the ISP Model. The study demonstrates the ISP Model to be independent of the original physical library environments where the model was developed.
An attempt is made to represent the ISP model in a slightly different manner that provides more of the sense of motion and interaction among the components of thoughts, feelings, and action than is currently provided for in the model. The study suggests that the development of non-self-reporting data collection techniques would be useful in complementing and furthering research to enhance and refine the representation of the ISP Model. Additionally, expanding the research to include the examination of group interaction is called for to enhance the ISP Model and develop further applications that could potentially aid educational delivery in all types of learning environments.</p>A Personal Documenation System for Scholars: A Tool for Thinking2007-09-24T13:59:14-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2258/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2258/"><img alt="A Personal Documenation System for Scholars: A Tool for Thinking" title="A Personal Documenation System for Scholars: A Tool for Thinking" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2258/small/"/></a></p><p>This exploratory research focused on a problem stated years ago by Vannevar Bush: "The problem is how creative men think, and what can be done to help them think." The study explored the scholarly work process and the use of computer tools to augment thinking. Based on a review of several related literatures, a framework of 7 major categories and 28 subcategories of scholarly thinking was proposed. The literature was used to predict problems scholars have in organizing their information, potential solutions, and specific computer tool features to augment scholarly thinking. Info Select, a personal information manager with most of these features (text and outline processing, sophisticated searching and organizing), was chosen as a potential tool for thinking. The study looked at how six scholars (faculty and doctoral students in social science fields at three universities) organized information using Info Select as a personal documentation system for scholarly work. These multiple case studies involved four in-depth, focused interviews, written evaluations, direct observation, and analysis of computer logs and files collected over a 3- to 6-month period. A content analysis of interviews and journals supported the proposed AfFORD-W taxonomy: Scholarly work activities consisted of Adding, Filing, Finding, Organizing, Reminding, and Displaying information to produce a Written product. Very few activities fell outside this framework, and activities were distributed evenly across all categories. Problems, needs, and likes mentioned by scholars, however, clustered mainly in the filing, finding, and organizing categories. All problems were related to human memory. Both predictions and research findings imply a need for tools that support information storage and retrieval in personal documentation systems, for references and notes, with fast and easy input of source material. A computer tool for thinking should support categorizing and organizing, reorganizing and transporting information. It should provide a simple search engine and support rapid scanning. The research implies the need for tools that provide better affordances for scholarly thinking activities.</p>Korean Studies in North America 1977-1996: A Bibliometric Study2007-09-24T13:59:25-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2254/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2254/"><img alt="Korean Studies in North America 1977-1996: A Bibliometric Study" title="Korean Studies in North America 1977-1996: A Bibliometric Study" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2254/small/"/></a></p><p>This research is a descriptive bibliometric study of the literature of the field of Korean studies. Its goal is to quantitatively describe the literature and serve as a model for such research in other area studies fields. This study analyzed 193 source articles and 7,166 citations in the articles in four representative Korean and Asian studies journals published in North America from 1977 to 1996. The journals included in this study were Korean Studies (KS), the Journal of Korean Studies (JKS), the Journal of Asian Studies (JAS), and the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies (HJAS). Subject matters and author characteristics of the source articles were examined, along with various characteristics such as the form, date, language, country of origin, subject, key authors, and key titles of the literature cited in the source articles. Research in Korean studies falls within fourteen broad disciplines, but concentrated in a few disciplines. Americans have been the most active authors in Korean studies, followed closely by authors of Korean ethnicity. Monographic literature was used most. The mean age of publications cited was 20.87 and the median age of publications cited was 12. The Price Index of Korean studies as a whole is 21.9 percent. Sources written in English were most cited (47.1%) and references to Korean language sources amounted to only 34.9% of all sources. In general, authors preferred sources published in their own countries. Sources on history were cited most by other disciplines. No significant core authors were identified. No significant core literature were identified either. This study indicates that Korean studies is still evolving. Some ways of promoting research in less studied disciplines and of facilitating formal communication between Korean scholars in Korea and Koreanists in North America need to be sought in order to promote well-balanced development in the field. This study suggests that as many and as great a variety of titles in all formats as possible need to be collected to support research in Korean studies.</p>An Analysis of the Ability of an Instrument to Measure Quality of Library Service and Library Success2007-09-24T14:00:05-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2245/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2245/"><img alt="An Analysis of the Ability of an Instrument to Measure Quality of Library Service and Library Success" title="An Analysis of the Ability of an Instrument to Measure Quality of Library Service and Library Success" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2245/small/"/></a></p><p>This study consisted of an examination of how service quality should be measured within libraries and how library service quality relates to library success. A modified version of the SERVQUAL instrument was evaluated to determine how effectively it measures library service quality. Instruments designed to measure information center success and information system success were evaluated to determine how effectively they measure library success and how they relate to SERVQUAL. A model of library success was developed to examine how library service quality relates to other variables associated with library success. Responses from 385 end users at two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers libraries were obtained through a mail survey. Results indicate that library service quality is best measured with a performance-based version of SERVQUAL, and that measuring importance may be as critical as measuring expectations for management purposes. Results also indicate that library service quality is an important factor in library success and that library success is best measured with a combination of SERVQUAL and library success instruments. The findings have implications for the development of new instruments to more effectively measure library service quality and library success as well as for the development of new models of library service quality and library success.</p>An Examination Of The Variation In Information Systems Project Cost Estimates: The Case Of Year 2000 Compliance Projects2007-09-24T22:18:44-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2535/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2535/"><img alt="An Examination Of The Variation In Information Systems Project Cost Estimates: The Case Of Year 2000 Compliance Projects" title="An Examination Of The Variation In Information Systems Project Cost Estimates: The Case Of Year 2000 Compliance Projects" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2535/small/"/></a></p><p>The year 2000 (Y2K) problem presented a fortuitous opportunity to explore the relationship between estimated costs of software projects and five cost influence dimensions described by the Year 2000 Enterprise Cost Model (Kappelman, et al., 1998) -- organization, problem, solution, resources, and stage of completion. This research was a field study survey of (Y2K) project managers in industry, government, and education and part of a joint project that began in 1996 between the University of North Texas and the Y2K Working Group of the Society for Information Management (SIM).
Evidence was found to support relationships between estimated costs and organization, problem, resources, and project stage but not for the solution dimension. Project stage appears to moderate the relationships for organization, particularly IS practices, and resources. A history of superior IS practices appears to mean lower estimated costs, especially for projects in larger IS organizations. Acquiring resources, especially external skills, appears to increase costs. Moreover, projects apparently have many individual differences, many related to size and to project stage, and their influences on costs appear to be at the sub-dimension or even the individual variable level. A Revised Year 2000 Enterprise Model is presented incorporating this granularity.
Two primary conclusions can be drawn from this research: (1) large software projects are very complex and thus cost estimating is also; and (2) the devil of cost estimating is in the details of knowing which of the many possible variables are the important ones for each particular enterprise and project. This points to the importance of organizations keeping software project metrics and the historical calibration of cost-estimating practices. Project managers must understand the relevant details and their interaction and importance in order to successfully develop a cost estimate for a particular project, even when rational cost models are used. This research also indicates that software cost estimating has political as well as rational influences at play.</p>MEDLINE Metric: A method to assess medical students' MEDLINE search effectiveness2007-09-24T22:19:17-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2526/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2526/"><img alt="MEDLINE Metric: A method to assess medical students' MEDLINE search effectiveness" title="MEDLINE Metric: A method to assess medical students' MEDLINE search effectiveness" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2526/small/"/></a></p><p>Medical educators advocate the need for medical students to acquire information management skills, including the ability to search the MEDLINE database. There has been no published validated method available to use for assessing medical students' MEDLINE information retrieval skills.
This research proposes and evaluates a method, designed as the MEDLINE Metric, for assessing medical students' search skills. MEDLINE Metric consists of: (a) the development, by experts, of realistic clinical scenarios that include highly constructed search questions designed to test defined search skills; (b) timed tasks (searches) completed by subjects; (c) the evaluation of search results; and (d) instructive feedback. A goal is to offer medical educators a valid, reliable, and feasible way to judge mastery of information searching skill by measuring results (search retrieval) rather than process (search behavior) or cognition (knowledge about searching).
Following a documented procedure for test development, search specialists and medical content experts formulated six clinical search scenarios and questions. One hundred and forty-five subjects completed the six-item test under timed conditions. Subjects represented a wide range of MEDLINE search expertise. One hundred twenty complete cases were used, representing 53 second-year medical students (44%), 47 fourth-year medical students (39%), and 20 medical librarians (17%). Data related to educational level, search training, search experience, confidence in retrieval, difficulty of search, and score were analyzed.
Evidence supporting the validity of the method includes the agreement by experts about the skills and knowledge necessary to successfully retrieve information relevant to a clinical question from the MEDLINE database. Also, the test discriminated among different performance levels. There were statistically significant, positive relationships between test score and level of education, self-reported previous MEDLINE training, and self-reported previous search experience.
The findings from this study suggest that MEDLINE Metric is a valid method for constructing and administering a performance-based test to identify mastery in searching the MEDLINE database. The test's reliability needs to be established.</p>Modeling Utilization of Planned Information Technology2007-09-24T22:21:37-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2496/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2496/"><img alt="Modeling Utilization of Planned Information Technology" title="Modeling Utilization of Planned Information Technology" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2496/small/"/></a></p><p>Implementations of information technology solutions to address specific information problems are only successful when the technology is utilized. The antecedents of technology use involve user, system, task and organization characteristics as well as externalities which can affect all of these entities. However, measurement of the interaction effects between these entities can act as a proxy for individual attribute values. A model is proposed which based upon evaluation of these interaction effects can predict technology utilization. This model was tested with systems being implemented at a pediatric health care facility. Results from this study provide insight into the relationship between the antecedents of technology utilization. Specifically, task time provided significant direct causal effects on utilization. Indirect causal effects were identified in task value and perceived utility constructs. Perceived utility, along with organizational support also provided direct causal effects on user satisfaction. Task value also impacted user satisfaction in an indirect fashion. Also, results provide a predictive model and taxonomy of variables which can be applied to predict or manipulate the likelihood of utilization for planned technology.</p>An Experimental Study of Teachers' Verbal and Nonverbal Immediacy, Student Motivation, and Cognitive Learning in Video Instruction2007-09-24T22:22:07-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2487/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2487/"><img alt="An Experimental Study of Teachers' Verbal and Nonverbal Immediacy, Student Motivation, and Cognitive Learning in Video Instruction" title="An Experimental Study of Teachers' Verbal and Nonverbal Immediacy, Student Motivation, and Cognitive Learning in Video Instruction" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2487/small/"/></a></p><p>This study used an experimental design and a direct test of recall to provide data about teacher immediacy and student cognitive learning. Four hypotheses and a research question addressed two research problems: first, how verbal and nonverbal immediacy function together and/or separately to enhance learning; and second, how immediacy affects cognitive learning in relation to student motivation. These questions were examined in the context of video instruction to provide insight into distance learning processes and to ensure maximum control over experimental manipulations.
Participants (N = 347) were drawn from university students in an undergraduate communication course. Students were randomly assigned to groups, completed a measure of state motivation, and viewed a 15-minute video lecture containing part of the usual course content delivered by a guest instructor. Participants were unaware that the video instructor was actually performing one of four scripted manipulations reflecting higher and lower combinations of specific verbal and nonverbal cues, representing the four cells of the 2x2 research design. Immediately after the lecture, students completed a recall measure, consisting of portions of the video text with blanks in the place of key words. Participants were to fill in the blanks with exact words they recalled from the videotape.
Findings strengthened previous research associating teacher nonverbal immediacy with enhanced cognitive learning outcomes. However, higher verbal immediacy, in the presence of higher and lower nonverbal immediacy, was not shown to produce greater learning among participants in this experiment. No interaction effects were found between higher and lower levels of verbal and nonverbal immediacy. Recall scores were comparatively low in the presence of higher verbal and lower nonverbal immediacy, suggesting that nonverbal expectancy violations may have hindered cognitive learning. Student motivation was not found to be a significant source of error in measuring immediacy's effects, and no interaction effects were detected between levels of student motivation, teacher verbal immediacy, and teacher nonverbal immediacy.</p>Creating a Criterion-Based Information Agent Through Data Mining for Automated Identification of Scholarly Research on the World Wide Web2007-09-24T23:54:03-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2459/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2459/"><img alt="Creating a Criterion-Based Information Agent Through Data Mining for Automated Identification of Scholarly Research on the World Wide Web" title="Creating a Criterion-Based Information Agent Through Data Mining for Automated Identification of Scholarly Research on the World Wide Web" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2459/small/"/></a></p><p>This dissertation creates an information agent that correctly identifies Web pages containing scholarly research approximately 96% of the time. It does this by analyzing the Web page with a set of criteria, and then uses a classification tree to arrive at a decision.
The criteria were gathered from the literature on selecting print and electronic materials for academic libraries. A Delphi study was done with an international panel of librarians to expand and refine the criteria until a list of 41 operationalizable criteria was agreed upon. A Perl program was then designed to analyze a Web page and determine a numerical value for each criterion.
A large collection of Web pages was gathered comprising 5,000 pages that contain the full work of scholarly research and 5,000 random pages, representative of user searches, which do not contain scholarly research. Datasets were built by running the Perl program on these Web pages. The datasets were split into model building and testing sets.
Data mining was then used to create different classification models. Four techniques were used: logistic regression, nonparametric discriminant analysis, classification trees, and neural networks. The models were created with the model datasets and then tested against the test dataset. Precision and recall were used to judge the effectiveness of each model. In addition, a set of pages that were difficult to classify because of their similarity to scholarly research was gathered and classified with the models.
The classification tree created the most effective classification model, with a precision ratio of 96% and a recall ratio of 95.6%. However, logistic regression created a model that was able to correctly classify more of the problematic pages.
This agent can be used to create a database of scholarly research published on the Web. In addition, the technique can be used to create a database of any type of structured electronic information.</p>Identifying At-Risk Students: An Assessment Instrument for Distributed Learning Courses in Higher Education2007-09-24T23:54:16-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2457/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2457/"><img alt="Identifying At-Risk Students: An Assessment Instrument for Distributed Learning Courses in Higher Education" title="Identifying At-Risk Students: An Assessment Instrument for Distributed Learning Courses in Higher Education" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2457/small/"/></a></p><p>The current period of rapid technological change, particularly in the area of mediated communication, has combined with new philosophies of education and market forces to bring upheaval to the realm of higher education. Technical capabilities exceed our knowledge of whether expenditures on hardware and software lead to corresponding gains in student learning. Educators do not yet possess sophisticated assessments of what we may be gaining or losing as we widen the scope of distributed learning.
The purpose of this study was not to draw sweeping conclusions with respect to the costs or benefits of technology in education. The researcher focused on a single issue involved in educational quality: assessing the ability of a student to complete a course. Previous research in this area indicates that attrition rates are often higher in distributed learning environments. Educators and students may benefit from a reliable instrument to identify those students who may encounter difficulty in these learning situations. This study is aligned with research focused on the individual engaged in seeking information, assisted or hindered by the capabilities of the computer information systems that create and provide access to information.
Specifically, the study focused on the indicators of completion for students enrolled in video conferencing and Web-based courses. In the final version, the Distributed Learning Survey encompassed thirteen indicators of completion. The results of this study of 396 students indicated that the Distributed Learning Survey represented a reliable and valid instrument for identifying at-risk students in video conferencing and Web-based courses where the student population is similar to the study participants. Educational level, GPA, credit hours taken in the semester, study environment, motivation, computer confidence, and the number of previous distributed learning courses accounted for most of the predictive power in the discriminant function based on student scores from the survey.</p>A Study of Graphically Chosen Features for Representation of TREC Topic-Document Sets2007-09-24T23:54:17-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2456/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2456/"><img alt="A Study of Graphically Chosen Features for Representation of TREC Topic-Document Sets" title="A Study of Graphically Chosen Features for Representation of TREC Topic-Document Sets" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2456/small/"/></a></p><p>Document representation is important for computer-based text processing. Good document representations must include at least the most salient concepts of the document. Documents exist in a multidimensional space that difficult the identification of what concepts to include. A current problem is to measure the effectiveness of the different strategies that have been proposed to accomplish this task. As a contribution towards this goal, this dissertation studied the visual inter-document relationship in a dimensionally reduced space.
The same treatment was done on full text and on three document representations. Two of the representations were based on the assumption that the salient features in a document set follow the chi-distribution in the whole document set. The third document representation identified features through a novel method. A Coefficient of Variability was calculated by normalizing the Cartesian distance of the discriminating value in the relevant and the non-relevant document subsets. Also, the local dictionary method was used. Cosine similarity values measured the inter-document distance in the information space and formed a matrix to serve as input to the Multi-Dimensional Scale (MDS) procedure. A Precision-Recall procedure was averaged across all treatments to statistically compare them. Treatments were not found to be statistically the same and the null hypotheses were rejected.</p>The Cluster Hypothesis: A Visual/Statistical Analysis2007-09-24T23:54:55-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2444/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2444/"><img alt="The Cluster Hypothesis: A Visual/Statistical Analysis" title="The Cluster Hypothesis: A Visual/Statistical Analysis" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2444/small/"/></a></p><p>By allowing judgments based on a small number of exemplar documents to be applied to a larger number of unexamined documents, clustered presentation of search results represents an intuitively attractive possibility for reducing the cognitive resource demands on human users of information retrieval systems. However, clustered presentation of search results is sensible only to the extent that naturally occurring similarity relationships among documents correspond to topically coherent clusters. The Cluster Hypothesis posits just such a systematic relationship between document similarity and topical relevance. To date, experimental validation of the Cluster Hypothesis has proved problematic, with collection-specific results both supporting and failing to support this fundamental theoretical postulate.
The present study consists of two computational information visualization experiments, representing a two-tiered test of the Cluster Hypothesis under adverse conditions. Both experiments rely on multidimensionally scaled representations of interdocument similarity matrices. Experiment 1 is a term-reduction condition, in which descriptive titles are extracted from Associated Press news stories drawn from the TREC information retrieval test collection. The clustering behavior of these titles is compared to the behavior of the corresponding full text via statistical analysis of the visual characteristics of a two-dimensional similarity map. Experiment 2 is a dimensionality reduction condition, in which inter-item similarity coefficients for full text documents are scaled into a single dimension and then rendered as a two-dimensional visualization; the clustering behavior of relevant documents within these unidimensionally scaled representations is examined via visual and statistical methods.
Taken as a whole, results of both experiments lend strong though not unqualified support to the Cluster Hypothesis. In Experiment 1, semantically meaningful 6.6-word document surrogates systematically conform to the predictions of the Cluster Hypothesis. In Experiment 2, the majority of the unidimensionally scaled datasets exhibit a marked nonuniformity of distribution of relevant documents, further supporting the Cluster Hypothesis.
Results of the two experiments are profoundly question-specific. Post hoc analyses suggest that it may be possible to predict the success of clustered searching based on the lexical characteristics of users' natural-language expression of their information need.</p>The Validity of Health Claims on the World Wide Web: A Case Study of the Herbal Remedy Opuntia2007-09-24T23:55:18-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2441/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2441/"><img alt="The Validity of Health Claims on the World Wide Web: A Case Study of the Herbal Remedy Opuntia" title="The Validity of Health Claims on the World Wide Web: A Case Study of the Herbal Remedy Opuntia" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2441/small/"/></a></p><p>The World Wide Web has become a significant source of medical information for the public, but there is concern that much of the information is inaccurate, misleading, and unsupported by scientific evidence. This study analyzes the validity of health claims on the World Wide Web for the herbal Opuntia using an evidence-based approach, and supports the observation that individuals must critically assess health information in this relatively new medium of communication.
A systematic search by means of nine search engines and online resources of Web sites relating to herbal remedies was conducted and specific sites providing information on the cactus herbal remedy from the genus Opuntia were retrieved. Validity of therapeutic health claims on the Web sites was checked by comparison with reports in the scientific literature subjected to two established quality assessment rating instruments. 184 Web sites from a variety of sources were retrieved and evaluated, and 98 distinct health claims were identified. 53 scientific reports were retrieved to validate claims. 25 involved human subjects, and 28 involved animal or laboratory models. Only 33 (34%) of the claims were addressed in the scientific literature. For 3% of the claims, evidence from the scientific reports was conflicting or contradictory. Of the scientific reports involving human subjects, none met the predefined criteria for high quality as determined by quality assessment rating instruments. Two-thirds of the claims were unsupported by scientific evidence and were based on folklore, or indirect evidence from related sources.
Information on herbal remedies such as Opuntia is well represented on the World Wide Web. Health claims on Web sites were numerous and varied widely in subject matter. The determination of the validity of information about claims made for herbals on the Web would help individuals assess their value in medical treatment. However, the Web is conducive to dubious health information and individuals should exercise caution in accepting health claims unsupported by scientific evidence.</p>Empowering Agent for Oklahoma School Learning Communities: An Examination of the Oklahoma Library Improvement Program2007-09-25T21:00:54-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2637/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2637/"><img alt="Empowering Agent for Oklahoma School Learning Communities: An Examination of the Oklahoma Library Improvement Program" title="Empowering Agent for Oklahoma School Learning Communities: An Examination of the Oklahoma Library Improvement Program" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2637/small/"/></a></p><p>The purposes of this study were to determine the initial impact of the Oklahoma Library Media Improvement Grants on Oklahoma school library media programs; assess whether the Oklahoma Library Media Improvement Grants continue to contribute to Oklahoma school learning communities; and examine possible relationships between school library media programs and student academic success. It also seeks to document the history of the Oklahoma Library Media Improvement Program 1978 - 1994 and increase awareness of its influence upon the Oklahoma school library media programs. Methods of data collection included: examining Oklahoma Library Media Improvement Program archival materials; sending a survey to 1703 school principals in Oklahoma; and interviewing Oklahoma Library Media Improvement Program participants. Data collection took place over a one year period. Data analyses were conducted in three primary phases: descriptive statistics and frequencies were disaggregated to examine mean scores as they related to money spent on school library media programs; opinions of school library media programs; and possible relationships between school library media programs and student academic achievement. Analysis of variance was used in the second phase of data analysis to determine if any variation between means was significant as related to Oklahoma Library Improvement Grants, time spent in the library media center by library media specialists, principal gender, opinions of library media programs, student achievement indicators, and the region of the state in which the respondent was located. The third phase of data analysis compared longitudinal data collected in the 2000 survey with past data. The primary results indicated students in Oklahoma from schools with a centralized library media center, served by a full-time library media specialist, and the school having received one or more Library Media Improvement Grants scored significantly higher academically than students in schools not having a centralized library media center, not served by a full-time library media specialist, and the school not having received one or more Library Media Improvement Grants. Students in schools having even one of these components scored higher academically than students in schools with none of these components.</p>Students' Criteria for Course Selection: Towards a Metadata Standard for Distributed Higher Education2007-09-25T21:03:21-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2619/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2619/"><img alt="Students' Criteria for Course Selection: Towards a Metadata Standard for Distributed Higher Education" title="Students' Criteria for Course Selection: Towards a Metadata Standard for Distributed Higher Education" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2619/small/"/></a></p><p>By 2007, one half of higher education students are expected to enroll in distributed learning courses. Higher education institutions need to attract students searching the Internet for courses and need to provide students with enough information to select courses. Internet resource discovery tools are readily available, however, users have difficulty selecting relevant resources. In part this is due to the lack of a standard for representation of Internet resources. An emerging solution is metadata. In the educational domain, the IEEE Learning Technology Standards Committee (LTSC) has specified a Learning Object Metadata (LOM) standard. This exploratory study (a) determined criteria students think are important for selecting higher education courses, (b) discovered relationships between these criteria and students' demographic characteristics, educational status, and Internet experience, and (c) evaluated these criteria vis-à-vis the IEEE LTSC LOM standard. Web-based questionnaires (N=209) measured (a) the criteria students think are important in the selection of higher education courses and (b) three factors that might influence students' selections. Respondents were principally female (66%), employed full time (57%), and located in the U.S. (89%). The chi square goodness-of-fit test determined 40 criteria students think are important and exploratory factor analysis determined five common factors among the top 21 criteria, three evaluative factors and two descriptive. Results indicated evaluation criteria are very important in course selection. Spearman correlation coefficients and chi-square tests of independence determined the relationships between the importance of selection criteria and demographic characteristics, educational status, and Internet experience. Four profiles emerged representing groups of students with unique concerns. Side by side analysis determined if the IEEE LTSC LOM standard included the criteria of importance to students. The IEEE LOM by itself is not enough to meet students course selection needs. Recommendations include development of a metadata standard for course evaluation and accommodation of group differences in information retrieval systems.</p>The Second Vatican Council and American Catholic Theological Research: A Bibliometric Analysis of Theological Studies: 1940-19952007-09-25T21:03:43-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2612/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2612/"><img alt="The Second Vatican Council and American Catholic Theological Research: A Bibliometric Analysis of Theological Studies: 1940-1995" title="The Second Vatican Council and American Catholic Theological Research: A Bibliometric Analysis of Theological Studies: 1940-1995" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2612/small/"/></a></p><p>A descriptive analysis was given of the characteristics of the authors and citations of the articles in the journal Theological Studies from 1940-1995. Data was gathered on the institutional affiliation, geographic location, occupation, and gender and personal characteristics of the author. The citation characteristics were examined for the cited authors, date and age of the citations, format, language, place of publication, and journal titles. These characteristics were compared to the time-period before and after the Second Vatican Council in order to detect any changes that might have occurred in the characteristics after certain recommendations by the council were made to theologians. Subject dispersion of the literature was also analyzed. Lotka's Law of author productivity and Bradford's Law of title dispersion were also performed for this literature. The profile of the characteristics of the authors showed that the articles published by women and laypersons has increased since the recommendations of the council. The data had a good fit to Lotka's Law for the pre-Vatican II time period but not for the period after Vatican II. The data was a good fit to Bradford's Law for the predicted number of journals in the nucleus and Zone 2, but the observed number of journals in Zone 3 was higher than predicted for all time-periods. Subject dispersion of research from disciplines other than theology is low but citation to works from the fields of education, psychology, social sciences, and science has increased since Vatican II. The results of the analysis of the characteristics of the citations showed that there was no significant change in the age, format and languages used, or the geographic location of the publisher of the cited works after Vatican II. Citation characteristics showed that authors prefer research from monographs published in English and in U.S. locations for all time-periods. Research from the disciplines of education, psychology, science and the social sciences has increased, but authors preferred the use of theological sources for their research more than 70% of the time both before and after the council.</p>Relevance Thresholds: A Conjunctive/Disjunctive Model of End-User Cognition as an Evaluative Process2007-09-25T21:21:57-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2717/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2717/"><img alt="Relevance Thresholds: A Conjunctive/Disjunctive Model of End-User Cognition as an Evaluative Process" title="Relevance Thresholds: A Conjunctive/Disjunctive Model of End-User Cognition as an Evaluative Process" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2717/small/"/></a></p><p>This investigation identifies end-user cognitive heuristics that facilitate judgment and evaluation during information retrieval (IR) system interactions. The study extends previous research surrounding relevance as a key construct for representing the value end-users ascribe to items retrieved from IR systems and the perceived effectiveness of such systems. The Lens Model of user cognition serves as the foundation for design and interpretation of the study; earlier research in problem solving, decision making, and attitude formation also contribute to the model and analysis. A self reporting instrument collected evaluative responses from 32 end-users related to 1432 retrieved items in relation to five characteristics of each item: topical, pertinence, utility, systematic, and motivational levels of relevance. The nominal nature of the data collected led to non-parametric statistical analyses that indicated that end-user evaluation of retrieved items to resolve an information problem at hand is most likely a multi-stage process. That process appears to be a cognitive progression from topic to meaning (pertinence) to functionality (use). Each step in end-user evaluative processing engages a cognitive hierarchy of heuristics that includes consideration (of appropriate cues), differentiation (the positive or negative aspects of those cues considered), and aggregation (the combination of differentiated cue aspects needed to render an evaluative label of the item in relation to the information problem at hand). While individuals may differ in their judgments and evaluations of retrieved items, they appear to make those decisions by using consistent heuristic approaches.</p>Public School Educators' Use of Computer-Mediated Communication2007-09-25T21:23:49-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2688/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2688/"><img alt="Public School Educators' Use of Computer-Mediated Communication" title="Public School Educators' Use of Computer-Mediated Communication" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2688/small/"/></a></p><p>This study examined the uses of computer-mediated communication (CMC) by educators in selected public schools. It used Rogers' Diffusion of Innovation Theory as the underpinnings of the study. CMC refers to any exchange of information that involves the use of computers for communication between individuals or individuals and a machine. This study was an exploration of difficulties users confront, what services they access, and the tasks they accomplish when using CMC. It investigated the factors that affect the use of CMC. The sample population was drawn from registered users on TENET, the Texas Education Network as of December 1997. The educators were described with frequency and percentages analyzing the demographic data. For the research, eight indices were selected to test how strongly these user and environmental attributes were associated with the use of CMC. These variables were (1) education, (2) position, (3) place of employment, (4) geographic location, (5) district size, (6) organization vitality, (7) adopter resources, and (8) instrumentality Two dependent variables were used to test for usage: (1) depth or frequency of CMC usage and amount of time spent online and (2) breadth or variety of Internet utilities used. Additionally, the users' perception of network benefits was measured. Network benefits were correlated with social interaction and perception of CMC to investigate what tasks educators were accomplishing with CMC. Correlations, SEQ CHAPTER h r 1 crosstabulations, and ANOVAs were used to analysis the data for testing the four hypotheses. The major findings of the study, based on the hypotheses tested, were that the socioeconomic variables of education and position influenced the use of CMC. A significant finding is that teachers used e-mail and for Internet resources less frequently than those in other positions. An interesting finding was that frequency of use was more significant for usage than amount of time spent online. This implied that an accessible computer and network connection was more important than the amount of time available to use it. There was little evidence that place of employment, geographic location, or school district size influenced differences in use or nonuse of CMC features. Significant findings for Organization Vitality suggest that a school could contribute to usage by educators when computers and network connections that were close, convenient, and accessible. The Individual Resources of importance for usage were years of experience and confidence with computers and Internet usage. The heavy uses of CMC for communication attested to the importance of CMC in reducing practitioner isolation for many educators. Communication, professional development, work productivity, and professional information seeking showed significant relationships with network benefits and perceived CMC attributes. CMC is a pervasive communication technology that continues to expand in all areas of society. For educators and education it is a venue promising great rewards.</p>University Students and the Internet: Information Seeking Study2007-09-25T21:33:39-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2745/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2745/"><img alt="University Students and the Internet: Information Seeking Study" title="University Students and the Internet: Information Seeking Study" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc2745/small/"/></a></p><p>This study explored university students' information needs and seeking behaviors on the Internet. A Web-based survey was administrated one time. Two hundred responses were received from the target sample within the two weeks period of the study. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and graphical representation. The study explored various issues related to the usability, preferences, and activities of the Internet, such as searching tools, e-mail, search engines, and preferred primary sources of everyday-life information needs. The study explored the perceptions of the students toward the Internet and the traditional library. Kuhlthau's model of the information-seeking process, which includes six stages and affective components, was utilized and modified in the construction of the Web survey. A study by Presno (1998), which includes the four types of Internet anxiety, was utilized in the construction of the Web survey. With regard to the six stages of Kuhlthau model, the majority of the respondents experienced stage 5, which was about information gathering; stage 3 had the next highest number of respondents. Very few respondents experienced stages 1 and 2. There was a systematic pattern in which, the earlier the stages the respondents were in, the more negative adjectives they selected, and vice versa. The feeling adjectives section showed a difference in the behavior between males and females. The results indicated that most students had Internet time delay anxiety. In general, the study found that students have a great interest in the Internet and consider it an important source of information for their personal, educational, and communication activities.</p>Supporting Computer-Mediated Collaboration through User Customized Agents2007-09-25T22:56:40-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3055/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3055/"><img alt="Supporting Computer-Mediated Collaboration through User Customized Agents" title="Supporting Computer-Mediated Collaboration through User Customized Agents" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3055/small/"/></a></p><p>This research investigated a neglected problem - interruption of groups by agent advisory systems. The question was whether interruption by the agent advisory system was beneficial. A survey of literature in four areas is included in this dissertation. The areas surveyed were Agents, Online Help, Computer Supported Cooperative Work(CSCW) and Awareness in CSCW. Based on the review, a human subject experiment was conducted. The study investigated whether the style of agent advisory interface improved the performance of group members. There were three sets of groups, a control set that did not have advisory agents, a set that had system provided advisory agents and a set that had group customized advisory agents. The groups worked together using a CSCW application developed with GroupKit, a CSCW toolkit. The groups with group customized advisory agents used an Agent Manager application to define advisory agents that would give them advice as they worked in the CSCW application. The findings showed that the type of advisory agents did not significantly influence the performance of the groups. The groups with customized agents performed slightly better than the other groups but the difference was not statistically significant. When notified that advice was issued, groups with customized agents and groups with provided agents seldom accessed the agent's advice. General design guidelines for agent interruption have not been solved. Future work is needed to finish the job. The definitive solution may be some mixture of the three known individual design solutions.</p>An E-government Readiness Model2007-09-25T22:57:44-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3042/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3042/"><img alt="An E-government Readiness Model" title="An E-government Readiness Model" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3042/small/"/></a></p><p>The purpose of this study is to develop an e-government readiness model and to test this model. Consistent with this model several instruments, IS assessment (ISA), IT governance (ITG), and Organization-IS alignment (IS-ALIGN) are examined for their ability to measure the readiness of one organization for e-government and to test the instruments fit in the proposed e-government model. The ISA instrument used is the result of adapting and combining the IS-SERVQUAL instrument proposed by Van Dyke, Kappelman, and Pybutok (1997), and the IS-SUCCESS instrument developed by Kappelman and Chong (2001) for the City of Denton (COD) project at UNT. The IS Success Model was first proposed by DeLone and McLean (1992), but they did not validate this model. The ITG instrument was based on the goals of the COD project for IT governance and was developed by Sanchez and Kappelman (2001) from UNT. The ISALIGN instrument was also developed by Sanchez and Kappelman (2001) for the COD project. It is an instrument based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) that measures how effectively a government organization utilizes IT to support its various objectives. The EGOV instrument was adapted from the study of the Action-Audience Model developed by Koh and Balthazrd (1997) to measure how well a government organization is prepared to usher in e-government in terms of various success factors at planning, system and data levels. An on-line survey was conducted with employees of the City of Denton, Texas. An invitation letter to participate in the survey was sent to the 1100 employees of the City of Denton via email, 339 responses were received, yielding a response rate of 31%. About 168 responses were discarded because they were incomplete and had the missing values, leaving 171 usable surveys, for a usable set of responses that had a response rate of 16%. Although the proposed and some alternate models were partially consistent with the hypothesized theory, the confirmation of the relationships among the constructs warrants further research via either by replication of this research or by development a new theoretical model. However, the significant validity and reliability measures obtained in this study indicate that the e-government readiness model has the potential for use in future studies.</p>Smoothing the information seeking path: Removing representational obstacles in the middle-school digital library.2007-09-26T01:53:26-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3165/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3165/"><img alt="Smoothing the information seeking path: Removing representational obstacles in the middle-school digital library." title="Smoothing the information seeking path: Removing representational obstacles in the middle-school digital library." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3165/small/"/></a></p><p>Middle school student's interaction within a digital library is explored. Issues of interface features used, obstacles encountered, search strategies and search techniques used, and representation obstacles are examined. A mechanism for evaluating user's descriptors is tested and effects of augmenting the system's resource descriptions with these descriptors on retrieval is explored. Transaction log data analysis (TLA) was used, with external corroborating achievement data provided by teachers. Analysis was conducted using quantitative and qualitative methods. Coding schemes for the failure analysis, search strategies and techniques analysis, as well as extent of match analysis between terms in student's questions and their search terms, and extent of match analysis between search terms and controlled vocabulary were developed. There are five chapters with twelve supporting appendixes. Chapter One presents an introduction to the problem and reviews the pilot study. Chapter Two presents the literature review and theoretical basis for the study. Chapter Three describes the research questions, hypotheses and methods. Chapter Four presents findings. Chapter Five presents a summary of the findings and their support of the hypotheses. Unanticipated findings, limitations, speculations, and areas of further research are indicated. Findings indicate that middle school users interact with the system in various sequences of patterns. User groups' interactions and scaffold use are influenced by the teacher's objectives for using the ADL. Users preferred to use single word searches over Boolean, phrase or natural language searches. Users tended to use a strategy of repeating the same exact search, instead of using the advanced scaffolds. A high percent of users attempted at least one search that included spelling or typographical errors, punctuation, or sequentially repeated searches. Search terms matched the DQ's in some instantiation 54% of all searches. Terms used by the system to represent the resources do not adequately represent the user groups' information needs, however, using student generated keywords to augment resource descriptions can have a positive effect on retrieval.</p>Detecting the Presence of Disease by Unifying Two Methods of Remote Sensing.2007-09-26T01:56:39-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3120/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3120/"><img alt="Detecting the Presence of Disease by Unifying Two Methods of Remote Sensing." title="Detecting the Presence of Disease by Unifying Two Methods of Remote Sensing." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3120/small/"/></a></p><p>There is currently no effective tool available to quickly and economically measure a change in landmass in the setting of biomedical professionals and environmental specialists. The purpose of this study is to structure and demonstrate a statistical change-detection method using remotely sensed data that can detect the presence of an infectious land borne disease. Data sources included the Texas Department of Health database, which provided the types of infectious land borne diseases and indicated the geographical area to study. Methods of data collection included the gathering of images produced by digital orthophoto quadrangle and aerial videography and Landsat. Also, a method was developed to identify statistically the severity of changes of the landmass over a three-year period. Data analysis included using a unique statistical detection procedure to measure the severity of change in landmass when a disease was not present and when the disease was present. The statistical detection method was applied to two different remotely sensed platform types and again to two like remotely sensed platform types. The results indicated that when the statistical change detection method was used for two different types of remote sensing mediums (i.e.-digital orthophoto quadrangle and aerial videography), the results were negative due to skewed and unreliable data. However, when two like remote sensing mediums were used (i.e.- videography to videography and Landsat to Landsat) the results were positive and the data were reliable.</p>The Information Environment of Academic Library Directors: Use of Information Resources and Communication Technologies2007-09-26T02:06:54-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3086/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3086/"><img alt="The Information Environment of Academic Library Directors: Use of Information Resources and Communication Technologies" title="The Information Environment of Academic Library Directors: Use of Information Resources and Communication Technologies" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3086/small/"/></a></p><p>This study focuses on the use of information resources and communication technologies, both traditional and electronic, by academic library directors. The purpose is to improve understanding of managerial behavior when using information resources and communication technologies within a shared information environment. Taylor's concept of an information use environment is used to capture the elements associated with information use and communication within the context of decision-making styles, managerial roles, organizational environments, and professional communities. This qualitative study uses interviews, observations, questionnaires, and documents. Library directors participating in the study are from doctoral-degree granting universities in the southwestern United States. Data collection involved on-site observations with a PDA (personal digital assistant), structured interviews with library directors and their administrative assistants, the Decision Style Inventory, and a questionnaire based on Mintzberg's managerial roles. Findings show the existence of a continuum in managerial activities between an Administrator and an Administrator/Academic as critical to understanding information use and communication patterns among library directors. There is a gap between self-perception of managerial activities and actual performance, a finding that would not have surfaced without the use of multiple methods. Other findings include the need for a technical ombudsman, a managerial-level position reporting to the library director; the importance of information management as an administrative responsibility; the importance of trust when evaluating information; and the importance of integrating information and communication across formats, time, and managerial activities.</p>Solutions for Dynamic Channel Assignment and Synchronization Problem for Distributed Wireless Multimedia System2007-09-26T02:37:20-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3249/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3249/"><img alt="Solutions for Dynamic Channel Assignment and Synchronization Problem for Distributed Wireless Multimedia System" title="Solutions for Dynamic Channel Assignment and Synchronization Problem for Distributed Wireless Multimedia System" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3249/small/"/></a></p><p>The recent advances in mobile computing and distributed multimedia systems allow mobile hosts (clients) to access wireless multimedia Data at anywhere and at anytime. In accessing multimedia information on the distributed multimedia servers from wireless personal communication service systems, a channel assignment problem and synchronization problems should be solved efficiently. Recent demand for mobile telephone service have been growing rapidly while the electro-magnetic spectrum of frequencies allocated for this purpose remain limited. Any solution to the channel assignment problem is subject to this limitation, as well as the interference constraint between adjacent channels in the spectrum. Channel allocation schemes provide a flexible and efficient access to bandwidth in wireless and mobile communication systems. In this dissertation, both an efficient distributed algorithm for dynamic channel allocation based upon mutual exclusion model, and an efficient distributed synchronization algorithm using Quasi-sink for wireless and mobile multimedia systems to ensure and facilitate mobile client access to multimedia objects are proposed. Algorithm's performance with several channel systems using different types of call arrival patterns is determined analytically. A set of simulation experiments to evaluate the performance of our scheme using message complexity and buffer usage at each frame arrival time.</p>A Comparison of Communication Motives of On-Site and Off-Site Students in Videoconference-Based Courses2007-09-26T02:38:52-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3229/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3229/"><img alt="A Comparison of Communication Motives of On-Site and Off-Site Students in Videoconference-Based Courses" title="A Comparison of Communication Motives of On-Site and Off-Site Students in Videoconference-Based Courses" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3229/small/"/></a></p><p>The objective of this investigation is to determine whether student site location in an instructional videoconference is related to students' motives for communicating with their instructor. The study is based, in part, on the work of Martin et al. who identify five separate student-teacher communication motives. These motives, or dimensions, are termed relational, functional, excuse, participation, and sycophancy, and are measured by a 30-item questionnaire. Several communication-related theories were used to predict differences between on-site and off-site students, Media richness theory was used, foundationally, to explain differences between mediated and face-to-face communication and other theories such as uncertainty reduction theory were used in conjunction with media richness theory to predict specific differences.Two hundred eighty-one completed questionnaires were obtained from Education and Library and Information Science students in 17 separate course-sections employing interactive video at the University of North Texas during the Spring and Summer semesters of the 2001/2002 school year. This study concludes that off-site students in an instructional videoconference are more likely than their on-site peers to report being motivated to communicate with their instructor for participation reasons. If off-site students are more motivated than on-site students to communicate as a means to participate, then it may be important for instructors to watch for actual differences in participation levels, and instructors may need to be well versed in pedagogical methods that attempt to increase participation, The study also suggests that current teaching methods being employed in interactive video environments may be adequate with regard to functional, excuse-making, relational and sycophantic communication.</p>The Effect of Personality Type on the Use of Relevance Criteria for Purposes of Selecting Information Sources.2007-09-26T02:58:47-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3313/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3313/"><img alt="The Effect of Personality Type on the Use of Relevance Criteria for Purposes of Selecting Information Sources." title="The Effect of Personality Type on the Use of Relevance Criteria for Purposes of Selecting Information Sources." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3313/small/"/></a></p><p>Even though information scientists generally recognize that relevance judgments are multidimensional and dynamic, there is still discussion and debate regarding the degree to which certain internal (cognition, personality) and external (situation, social relationships) factors affect the use of criteria in reaching those judgments. Much of the debate centers on the relationship of those factors to the criteria and reliable methods for measuring those relationships. This study researched the use of relevance criteria to select an information source by undergraduate students whose task it is to create a course schedule for a semester. During registration periods, when creating their semester schedules, students filled out a two-part questionnaire. After completion of the questionnaire the students completed a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator instrument in order to determine their personality type. Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVAS and Chi-Square. A positive correlation exists between personality type as expressed by the MBTI and the information source selected as most important by the subject. A correlation also exists between personality type and relevance criteria use. The correlation is stronger for some criteria than for others. Therefore, one can expect personality type to have an effect on the use of relevance criteria while selecting information sources.</p>CT3 as an Index of Knowledge Domain Structure: Distributions for Order Analysis and Information Hierarchies2007-09-26T02:59:40-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3306/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3306/"><img alt="CT3 as an Index of Knowledge Domain Structure: Distributions for Order Analysis and Information Hierarchies" title="CT3 as an Index of Knowledge Domain Structure: Distributions for Order Analysis and Information Hierarchies" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3306/small/"/></a></p><p>The problem with which this study is concerned is articulating all possible CT3 and KR21 reliability measures for every case of a 5x5 binary matrix (32,996,500 possible matrices). The study has three purposes. The first purpose is to calculate CT3 for every matrix and compare the results to the proposed optimum range of .3 to .5. The second purpose is to compare the results from the calculation of KR21 and CT3 reliability measures. The third purpose is to calculate CT3 and KR21 on every strand of a class test whose item set has been reduced using the difficulty strata identified by Order Analysis. The study was conducted by writing a computer program to articulate all possible 5 x 5 matrices. The program also calculated CT3 and KR21 reliability measures for each matrix. The nonparametric technique of Order Analysis was applied to two sections of test items to stratify the items into difficulty levels. The difficulty levels were used to reduce the item set from 22 to 9 items. All possible strands or chains of these items were identified so that both reliability measures (CT3 and KR21) could be calculated. One major finding of this study indicates that .3 to .5 is a desirable range for CT3 (cumulative p=.86 to p=.98) if cumulative frequencies are measured. A second major finding is that the KR21 reliability measure produced an invalid result more than half the time. The last major finding is that CT3, rescaled to range between 0 and 1, supports De Vellis' guidelines for reliability measures. The major conclusion is that CT3 is a better measure of reliability since it considers both inter- and intra-item variances.</p>A Common Representation Format for Multimedia Documents2007-09-26T02:59:55-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3336/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3336/"><img alt="A Common Representation Format for Multimedia Documents" title="A Common Representation Format for Multimedia Documents" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3336/small/"/></a></p><p>Multimedia documents are composed of multiple file format combinations, such as image and text, image and sound, or image, text and sound. The type of multimedia document determines the form of analysis for knowledge architecture design and retrieval methods. Over the last few decades, theories of text analysis have been proposed and applied effectively. In recent years, theories of image and sound analysis have been proposed to work with text retrieval systems and progressed quickly due in part to rapid progress in computer processing speed. Retrieval of multimedia documents formerly was divided into the categories of image and text, and image and sound. While standard retrieval process begins from text only, methods are developing that allow the retrieval process to be accomplished simultaneously using text and image. Although image processing for feature extraction and text processing for term extractions are well understood, there are no prior methods that can combine these two features into a single data structure. This dissertation will introduce a common representation format for multimedia documents (CRFMD) composed of both images and text. For image and text analysis, two techniques are used: the Lorenz Information Measurement and the Word Code. A new process named Jeong's Transform is demonstrated for extraction of text and image features, combining the two previous measurements to form a single data structure. Finally, this single data measurements to form a single data structure. Finally, this single data structure is analyzed by using multi-dimensional scaling. This allows multimedia objects to be represented on a two-dimensional graph as vectors. The distance between vectors represents the magnitude of the difference between multimedia documents. This study shows that image classification on a given test set is dramatically improved when text features are encoded together with image features. This effect appears to hold true even when the available text is diffused and is not uniform with the image features. This retrieval system works by representing a multimedia document as a single data structure. CRFMD is applicable to other areas of multimedia document retrieval and processing, such as medical image retrieval, World Wide Web searching, and museum collection retrieval.</p>Perceived attributes of diffusion of innovation theory as predictors of Internet adoption among faculty members of Imam Mohammed Bin Saud University.2007-09-28T21:49:05-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3710/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3710/"><img alt="Perceived attributes of diffusion of innovation theory as predictors of Internet adoption among faculty members of Imam Mohammed Bin Saud University." title="Perceived attributes of diffusion of innovation theory as predictors of Internet adoption among faculty members of Imam Mohammed Bin Saud University." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3710/small/"/></a></p><p>The Internet is the most common communication and research tool worldwide. Perusal of the World Wide Web quickly reveals the variety of information available. Internet adoption can be considered the late 20th century's most important event. In academic environments today, Internet use among faculty members has been widely expanded, with professors now integrating Internet technology into classroom activities. Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University (IMSU) is a pioneering public university in Saudi Arabia. Until recently, some faculty members at IMSU were unable to access the Internet through the university. It is important to study the effects of this delay on faculty members regarding research and academic activities. This study identified the statistically significant differences in demographic characteristics of Internet adopters and non-adopters among faculty members at IMSU, examined whether faculty members' perceptions of the Internet affected adoption, determined if the university administration's decisions impacted faulty members' decisions to adopt the Internet, identified factors motivating faculty members to adopt the Internet, identified obstacles influencing faculty members' decisions to use the Internet, and determined whether innovation characteristics as perceived by faculty members predicted Internet adoption. Using Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory, the influence of eight attributes were examined regarding Internet adoption among IMSU faculty members. Multiple regression and chi-square techniques were conducted to analyze the data and answer research questions. Statistically significant differences were identified among Internet adopters and non-adopters regarding gender, age, academic rank, discipline, and English proficiency. The data revealed 54.7% of IMSU faulty members used the Internet for research and academic activities twice a month or less, indicating a low Internet adoption rate. Statistically significant differences were noted among adopters and non-adopters relative to income level and English proficiency. Multiple regression analysis showed that all attributes of innovation individually predicted Internet adoption. The combination of all attributes indicated the model could predict Internet adoption among faculty.</p>Coyote Ugly Librarian: A Participant Observer Examination of Lnowledge Construction in Reality TV.2007-09-28T21:57:13-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3663/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3663/"><img alt="Coyote Ugly Librarian: A Participant Observer Examination of Lnowledge Construction in Reality TV." title="Coyote Ugly Librarian: A Participant Observer Examination of Lnowledge Construction in Reality TV." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3663/small/"/></a></p><p>Reality TV is the most popular genre of television programming today. The number of reality television shows has grown exponentially over the last fifteen years since the premier of The Real World in 1992. Although reality TV uses styles similar to those used in documentary film, the “reality” of the shows is questioned by critics and viewers alike. The current study focuses on the “reality” that is presented to viewers and how that “reality” is created and may differ from what the participants of the shows experience. I appeared on two reality shows, Faking It and That's Clever, and learned a great deal as a participant observer. Within the study, I outline my experience and demonstrate how editing changed the reality I experienced into what was presented to the viewers. O'Connor's (1996) representation context web serves as a model for the realities created through reality television. People derive various benefits from watching reality TV. Besides the obvious entertainment value of reality TV, viewers also gather information via this type of programming. Viewers want to see real people on television reacting to unusual circumstances without the use of scripts. By surveying reality TV show viewers and participants, this study gives insight into how real the viewers believe the shows are and how authentic they actually are. If these shows are presented as reality, viewers are probably taking what they see as historical fact. The results of the study indicate more must be done so that the “reality” of reality TV does not misinform viewers.</p>Assessment of a Library Learning Theory by Measuring Library Skills of Students Completing an Online Library Instruction Tutorial2007-09-28T22:05:36-05:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3599/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3599/"><img alt="Assessment of a Library Learning Theory by Measuring Library Skills of Students Completing an Online Library Instruction Tutorial" title="Assessment of a Library Learning Theory by Measuring Library Skills of Students Completing an Online Library Instruction Tutorial" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3599/small/"/></a></p><p>This study is designed to reveal whether students acquire the domains and levels of library skills discussed in a learning library skills theory after participating in an online library instruction tutorial. The acquisition of the library skills is demonstrated through a review of the scores on online tutorial quizzes, responses to a library skills questionnaire, and bibliographies of course research papers. Additional areas to be studied are the characteristics of the participants enrolled in traditional and online courses at a community college and the possible influence of these characteristics on the demonstrated learning of library skills. Multiple measurement methods, identified through assessment of library instruction literature, are used to verify the effectiveness of the library skills theory and to strengthen the validity and reliability of the study results.</p>Human concept cognition and semantic relations in the unified medical language system: A coherence analysis.2008-01-14T23:07:04-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4008/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4008/"><img alt="Human concept cognition and semantic relations in the unified medical language system: A coherence analysis." title="Human concept cognition and semantic relations in the unified medical language system: A coherence analysis." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4008/small/"/></a></p><p>There is almost a universal agreement among scholars in information retrieval (IR) research that knowledge representation needs improvement. As core component of an IR system, improvement of the knowledge representation system has so far involved manipulation of this component based on principles such as vector space, probabilistic approach, inference network, and language modeling, yet the required improvement is still far from fruition. One promising approach that is highly touted to offer a potential solution exists in the cognitive paradigm, where knowledge representation practice should involve, or start from, modeling the human conceptual system. This study based on two related cognitive theories: the theory-based approach to concept representation and the psychological theory of semantic relations, ventured to explore the connection between the human conceptual model and the knowledge representation model (represented by samples of concepts and relations from the unified medical language system, UMLS). Guided by these cognitive theories and based on related and appropriate data-analytic tools, such as nonmetric multidimensional scaling, hierarchical clustering, and content analysis, this study aimed to conduct an exploratory investigation to answer four related questions. Divided into two groups, a total of 89 research participants took part in two sets of cognitive tasks. The first group (49 participants) sorted 60 food names into categories followed by simultaneous description of the derived categories to explain the rationale for category judgment. The second group (40 participants) performed sorting 47 semantic relations (the nonhierarchical associative types) into 5 categories known a priori. Three datasets resulted as a result of the cognitive tasks: food-sorting data, relation-sorting data, and free and unstructured text of category descriptions. Using the data analytic tools mentioned, data analysis was carried out and important results and findings were obtained that offer plausible explanations to the 4 research questions. Major results include the following: (a) through discriminant analysis category members were predicted consistently in 70% of the time; (b) the categorization bases are largely simplified rules, naïve explanations, and feature-based; (c) individuals theoretical explanation remains valid and stays stable across category members; (d) the human conceptual model can be fairly reconstructed in a low-dimensional space where 93% of the variance in the dimensional space is accounted for by the subjects performance; (e) participants consistently classify 29 of the 47 semantic relations; and, (f) individuals perform better in the functional and spatial dimensions of the semantic relations classification task and perform poorly in the conceptual dimension.</p>Are Online Catalogs for Children Giving Them What They Need? Children's Cognitive Development and Information Seeking and Their Impact on Design2008-01-14T23:09:45-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3984/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3984/"><img alt="Are Online Catalogs for Children Giving Them What They Need? Children's Cognitive Development and Information Seeking and Their Impact on Design" title="Are Online Catalogs for Children Giving Them What They Need? Children's Cognitive Development and Information Seeking and Their Impact on Design" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3984/small/"/></a></p><p>Research shows children in an online environment often search by browsing, which relies heavily on recognition and content knowledge, so catalog systems for children must use effective symbols or pictorial representations, which correspond with children's own cognitive schema and level of recognition knowledge. This study was designed to look at the success of young children (ages 5 to 8) in searching 3 online public library catalogs designed for them, and it focused specifically on the pictorial representations and text descriptors used in the systems' browsing hierarchy. The research sought answer whether young children (ages 5 to 8) are really poor searchers because of cognitive development and lack of technology skills or if system design is the major reason for poor search results; i.e., Do current children's online catalog designs function in a manner that is compatible with information seeking by children? Although these results can not be generalized, this study indicates that there was a disconnect between the cognitive abilities of young users and catalog design. The study looked at search success on the 3 catalogs in relation to the catalog characteristics and individual user characteristics and makes 3 significant contributions to the field of library and information science. The first contribution is the modification of an existing model posed by Cooper and O'Connor and modified by Abbas (2002). The second significant contribution is the proposal of a new model, Creel's second best choice (SBC) model, that addresses the cognitive gap and design flaws that impact the choices participants made. The third significant contribution is that this study addresses and fills a gap in the literature.</p>Officer attitudes toward organizational change in the Turkish National Police.2008-01-14T23:11:38-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3977/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3977/"><img alt="Officer attitudes toward organizational change in the Turkish National Police." title="Officer attitudes toward organizational change in the Turkish National Police." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3977/small/"/></a></p><p>This dissertation emphasizes the importance of the human factor in the organizational change process. Change - the only constant - is inevitable for organizations and no change program can be achieved without the support and acceptance of organization members. In this context, this study identifies officer attitudes toward organizational change in the Turkish National Police (TNP) and the factors affecting those attitudes. The Officer Attitude Model created by the researcher includes six main factors (receptivity to change, readiness for change, trust in management, commitment to organization, communication of change, and training for change) and five background factors (gender, age, rank, level of education, and work experience) to explain officer attitudes toward change. In order to test this model, an officer attitude survey was administered in Turkey among TNP members and the results of the gathered data validated this model.</p>Widening the lens: An interdisciplinary approach to examining the effect of exposure therapy on public speaking state anxiety.2008-01-14T23:11:52-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3975/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3975/"><img alt="Widening the lens: An interdisciplinary approach to examining the effect of exposure therapy on public speaking state anxiety." title="Widening the lens: An interdisciplinary approach to examining the effect of exposure therapy on public speaking state anxiety." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3975/small/"/></a></p><p>This study used an interdisciplinary approach to examine an intervention for reducing public speaking state anxiety. A quasi-experiment was conducted to determine if a multiple-exposure treatment technique (TRIPLESPEAK) would help to attenuate public speaking anxiety. The treatment group reported experiencing significantly less state anxiety during their post-test presentation than did the control group. This lead to the conclusion that exposure therapy can be used to help students enrolled in basic communication classes begin to overcome their fear of speaking in front of an audience. Follow-up analysis of the treatment group's reported anxiety levels during all five presentations (pre-test, Treatment Presentation 1, Treatment Presentation 2, Treatment Presentation 3, and post-test) revealed an increase in anxiety from the last treatment presentation to the post-test presentation. In order to explore this issue, Shannon's entropy was utilized to calculate the amount of information in each speaking environment. Anderson's functional ontology construction approach served as a model to explain the role of the environment in shaping speakers' current and future behaviors and reports of anxiety. The exploratory analysis revealed a functional relationship between information and anxiety. In addition, a qualitative study was conducted to determine which environmental stimuli speakers perceived contributed to their anxiety levels. Students reported experiencing anxiety based on four categories, which included speaker concerns, audience characteristics, contextual factors and assignment criteria. Students' reports of anxiety were dependent upon their previous speaking experiences, and students suggested differences existed between the traditional presentations and the treatment presentations. Pedagogical and theoretical implications are discussed.</p>Respect for human rights and the rise of democratic policing in Turkey: Adoption and diffusion of the European Union acquis in the Turkish National Police.2008-01-14T23:14:18-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3945/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3945/"><img alt="Respect for human rights and the rise of democratic policing in Turkey: Adoption and diffusion of the European Union acquis in the Turkish National Police." title="Respect for human rights and the rise of democratic policing in Turkey: Adoption and diffusion of the European Union acquis in the Turkish National Police." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3945/small/"/></a></p><p>This study is an exploration of the European Union acquis adoption in the Turkish National Police. The research employed the Diffusion of Innovations, Democratic Policing, and historical background check theoretical frameworks to study the decision-making of the TNP regarding reforms after 2003 as a qualitative case study which triangulated the methodology with less-dominant survey and several other analyzing methods. The data were collected from several sources including semi-structured interviews, archival records, documentary evidences and the European Commission Regular Reports on Turkey. The research interest was about the decision mechanisms of the TNP towards reforms and the rise of democratic policing in Turkey. During the study, internationally recognized human rights standards were given attention. As the data suggested, the police forces are shaped according to their ruling governments and societies. It is impossible to find a totally democratic police in a violent society and a totally violent police in a democratic society. The study findings suggested that reforming police agencies should not be a significant problem for determined governments. Human rights violations should not be directly related with the police in any country. The data suggested that democratic policing applications find common application when the democracy gets powerful and police brutality increases when authoritarian governments stays in power. Democratic policing on the other hand is an excellent tool to improve notion of democracy and to provide legitimacy to governments. However, democratic policing is not a tool to bring the democracy, but a support mechanism for it.</p>An exploration of the diffusion of a new technology from communities of practice perspective: Web services technologies in digital libraries.2008-01-14T23:16:07-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3930/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3930/"><img alt="An exploration of the diffusion of a new technology from communities of practice perspective: Web services technologies in digital libraries." title="An exploration of the diffusion of a new technology from communities of practice perspective: Web services technologies in digital libraries." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3930/small/"/></a></p><p>This study explored and described decision factors related to technology adoption. The research used diffusion of innovations and communities of practice (CoP) theoretical frameworks and a case study of Web services technology in the digital library (DL) environment to develop an understanding of the decision-making process. A qualitative case study approach was used to investigate the research problems and data were collected through semi-structured interviews, documentary evidence (e.g., meeting minutes), and a comprehensive member check. The research conducted face-to-face and phone interviews with seven respondents with different job titles (administraive vs. technical) from five different DL programs selected based on distinctive characteristics such as size of the DL program. Findings of the research suggested that the decision-making process is a complex process in which a number of factors are considered when making technology adoption decisions. These factors are categorized as organizational, individual, and technology specific factors. Further, data showed that DL CoPs played an important role in enabling staff members of a DL program to access up-to-date and experienced-based knowledge, provided a distributed problem solving and learning environment, facilitating informal communication and collaborative activities, and informing the decision-making process.</p>Reading selection as information seeking behavior: A case study with adolescent girls.2008-01-14T23:16:39-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3921/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3921/"><img alt="Reading selection as information seeking behavior: A case study with adolescent girls." title="Reading selection as information seeking behavior: A case study with adolescent girls." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3921/small/"/></a></p><p>The aim of this research, Reading Selection as Information Seeking Behavior: A Case Study with Adolescent Girls, was to explore how the experience of reading fiction affects adolescent girls aged 13 through 15, and how that experience changes based upon four activities: journaling, blogging, a personal interview, and a focus group session. Each participant reflects upon works of her own choosing that she had recently read. The data is evaluated using content analysis with the goal of developing a relational analysis tool to be used and tested with future research projects. The goal of this research is to use the insights of the field of bibliotherapy together with the insights of the adolescent girls to provide a higher, more robust model of successful information behavior. That is, relevance is a matter of impact on life rather than just a match of subject heading. This work provides a thick description of a set of real world relevancy judgments. This may serve to illuminate theories and practices for bringing each individual seeker together with appropriate documents. This research offers a new model for relevant information seeking behavior associated with selecting works of essential instructional fiction, as well as a new definition for terminology to describe the results of the therapeutic literary experience. The data from this study, as well as from previous research, suggest that literature (specifically young adult literature) brings the reader to a better understanding of herself and the world around her.</p>Modeling the role of blogging in librarianship2008-01-14T23:17:31-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3915/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3915/"><img alt="Modeling the role of blogging in librarianship" title="Modeling the role of blogging in librarianship" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3915/small/"/></a></p><p>This phenomenological study examines the motivations and experiences of librarians who author professionally-focused Weblogs. I constructed a model of librarianship based on Wilson and Buckland. The results show a close fit between librarian bloggers and the ideals of the field as expressed by two primary library and information science philosophers. A Web survey generated 239 responses to demographic and open-ended questions. Using the results of the survey, I analyzed demographic data and performed a phenomenological analysis of the open-ended questions. A list of category responses was generated from each set of answers via the coding of descriptive words and phrases. Results indicated the motivations of librarian bloggers are based around themes of sharing, participation in community, and enhanced professional development. Respondents reported feeling more connected to the profession and to colleagues across the world because of blogging. Respondents perceived the librarian blogosphere as a community with both positive aspects - feedback, discussion, and support - and negative aspects - insular voices, divides between technologists and librarians, and generational rifts. Respondents also reported an increased ability to keep current, improved writing skills, and opportunities to speak and contribute to professional journals.</p>A Conceptual Map for Understanding the Terrorist Recruitment Process: Observation and Analysis of Turkish Hezbollah Terrorist Organizations.2008-01-14T23:17:38-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3914/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3914/"><img alt="A Conceptual Map for Understanding the Terrorist Recruitment Process: Observation and Analysis of Turkish Hezbollah Terrorist Organizations." title="A Conceptual Map for Understanding the Terrorist Recruitment Process: Observation and Analysis of Turkish Hezbollah Terrorist Organizations." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3914/small/"/></a></p><p>Terrorism is a historical problem; however, it becomes one of the biggest problems in 21st century. September 11 and the following Madrid, Istanbul and London attacks showed that it is the most significant problem threatening world peace and security. Governments have started to deal with terrorism by improving security measurements and making new investments to stop terrorism. Most of the governments' and scholars' focus is on immediate threats and causes of terrorism, instead of looking at long-term solutions such as root causes and underlying reasons of terrorism, and the recruitment style of terrorist organizations If terrorist recruitment does not stop, then it is safe to say terrorist activities cannot be stopped. This study focused on the recruitment process by observing two different terrorist organizations, DHKP/C and Turkish Hezbollah. The researcher brings 13 years of field experience and first-person data gathered from inside the terrorist organizations. The research questions of this study were: (i) How can an individual be prevented from joining or carrying out terrorist activities?; (ii) What factors are correlated with joining a terrorist organization?; (iii) What are the recruitment processes of the DHKP/C, PKK, and Turkish Hezbollah?; (iv) Is there any common process of being a member of these three terrorist organizations?; and (v) What are the similarities and differences these terrorist organizations? As a result of this analysis, a terrorist recruitment process map was created. With the help of this map, social organizations such as family and schools may be able to identify ways to prevent individuals from joining terrorist organizations. Also, this map will also be helpful for government organizations such as counterterrorism and intelligence to achieve the same goal.</p>Discovering a Descriptive Taxonomy of Attributes of Exemplary School Library Websites2008-01-14T23:18:05-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3911/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3911/"><img alt="Discovering a Descriptive Taxonomy of Attributes of Exemplary School Library Websites" title="Discovering a Descriptive Taxonomy of Attributes of Exemplary School Library Websites" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3911/small/"/></a></p><p>This descriptive study examines effective online school library practice. A Delphi panel selected a sample of 10 exemplary sites and helped to create two research tools--taxonomies designed to analyze the features and characteristics of school library Websites. Using the expert-identified sites as a sample, a content analysis was conducted to systematically identify site features and characteristics. Anne Clyde's longitudinal content analysis of school library Websites was used as a baseline to examine trends in practice; in addition, the national guidelines document, Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning, was examined to explore ways in which the traditional mission and roles of school library programs are currently translated online. Results indicated great variation in depth and coverage even among Websites considered exemplary. Sites in the sample are growing more interactive and student-centered, using blogs as supplemental communication strategies. Nevertheless, even these exemplary sites were slow to adopt the advances in technology to meet the learning needs and interests of young adult users. Ideally the study's findings will contribute to understanding of state-of-the-art and will serve to identify trends, as well as serving as a guide to practitioners in planning, developing, and maintaining school library Websites.</p>Police officers' adoption of information technology: A case study of the Turkish POLNET system.2008-01-14T23:19:47-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3900/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3900/"><img alt="Police officers' adoption of information technology: A case study of the Turkish POLNET system." title="Police officers' adoption of information technology: A case study of the Turkish POLNET system." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3900/small/"/></a></p><p>One of the important branches of government and vital to the community, police agencies are organizations that have high usage rates of information technology systems since they are in the intelligence sector and thus have information incentives. Not only can information technologies develop intra- and inter-relationships of law enforcement agencies, but they also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the police officers and agencies without adding additional costs. Thus, identifying the factors that influence the police officers' adoption of information technology can help predict and determine how information technology will contribute to the social organization of policing in terms of effectiveness and efficiency gains. A research framework was developed by integrating three different models, theory of planned behavior (TPB), technology acceptance theory (TAM), and diffusion of innovation theory (DOI) while adding two other factors, facility and voluntariness, to better determine the factors affecting the implementation and adoption of the POLNET software system used by the Turkish National Police (TNP). The integrated model used in this study covers not only basic technology acceptance factors, but also the factors related to policing. It also attempts to account for the factors of cultural differences by considering the important aspects of Turkish culture. A cross sectional survey was conducted among TNP officers using the POLNET system. The LISREL 8.5® analysis for the hypothesized model resulted in a good model fit; 13 of the 15 hypotheses were supported.</p>E-Learning and In-Service Training: An Exploration of the Beliefs and Practices of Trainers and Trainees in the Turkish National Police2008-01-14T23:20:56-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3895/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3895/"><img alt="E-Learning and In-Service Training: An Exploration of the Beliefs and Practices of Trainers and Trainees in the Turkish National Police" title="E-Learning and In-Service Training: An Exploration of the Beliefs and Practices of Trainers and Trainees in the Turkish National Police" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3895/small/"/></a></p><p>This targeted research study, carried out by an officer of the Turkish National Police (TNP), investigated the perceptions and beliefs of TNP trainers and trainees towards the potential adoption and implementation of e-learning technology for in-service police training. Utilizing diffusion and innovation theory (DOI) (Rogers, 1995) and the conceptual technology integration process model (CTIM) (Nicolle, 2005), two different surveys were administered; one to the trainers and one to the trainees. The factor analyses revealed three shared trainer and trainee perceptions: A positive perception towards e-learning, personally and for the TNP; a belief in the importance of administrative support for e-learning integration; and the belief in importance of appropriate resources to facilitate integration and maintain implementation. Three major recommendations were made for the TNP. First, the research findings could be used as a road map by the TNP Education Department to provide a more flexible system to disseminate in-service training information. The second is to establish two-way channels of communication between the administration and the TNP personnel to efficiently operationalize the adoption and integration of e-learning technology. The third is the administrative provision of necessary hardware, software, and technical support.</p>Visual perception in relation to levels of meaning for children: An exploratory study.2008-01-14T23:21:01-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3896/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3896/"><img alt="Visual perception in relation to levels of meaning for children: An exploratory study." title="Visual perception in relation to levels of meaning for children: An exploratory study." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3896/small/"/></a></p><p>This study explores distinct levels of meaning from images of picture books perceived by 3- to 5-year-old children and investigates how the certain visual perception factors influence children's meaning making and if these factors are correlated. The literature review supports associations among visual perception, information, picture books, meaning, and children. Visual perception serves as the first channel that filters and interprets visual information, and picture books provide visual and verbal experience for children, who constantly search for meaning. Children age 3 to 5 years are potential users of picture books because pictorial information is considered useful to children's learning tasks. Previous research reveals that various factors influence visual perception, and meaning has been mostly associated with its semantic significance in information retrieval. In information science, little research has focused on young children's own way of categorizing information, especially visual information. In order to investigate the distinct levels of meaning perceived by children, the investigation employed both qualitative and quantitative methods including unobtrusive and participant observation, factor analysis, content analysis, and case study. The result of this study contributes to understanding the cognitive process of children related to visual literacy and their interpreting visual information in a digital environment.</p>Perceived value of journals for academic prestige, general reading and classroom use: A study of journals in educational and instructional technology.2008-02-15T14:30:38-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4233/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4233/"><img alt="Perceived value of journals for academic prestige, general reading and classroom use: A study of journals in educational and instructional technology." title="Perceived value of journals for academic prestige, general reading and classroom use: A study of journals in educational and instructional technology." src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4233/small/"/></a></p><p>Conducting research, evaluating research, and publishing scholarly works all play an extremely prominent role for university faculty members. Tenure and promotion decisions are greatly influenced by the perceived value of publications as viewed by members of faculty evaluation committees. Faculty members seeking tenure may be limited to publishing in a limited group of journals perceived to be valuable by members of an academic committee. This study attempted to determine the value of various kinds of periodicals (journals, magazines, and e-journals), based on three principal criteria, as perceived by professionals (university faculty, K-12 practitioners, and corporate trainers) in the educational/instructional technology (E/IT) field. The criteria for journal evaluation were Academic Prestige, General Reading, and Classroom Use. The perceived value of journals based on each criterion was compared to determine any significant differences. Members of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) were asked to rate 30 journals in the E/IT field using the three criteria. Statistically significant differences were found among ratings in 63% of the journals. The statistical analyses indicated that differences in the perceived value of journals among E/IT professionals across the three criteria (Academic Prestige, General Reading, and Classroom Use) were statistically significant. It is also noted that refereed journals were rated higher than nonrefereed journals for the Academic Prestige criterion. Survey respondents indicated that individual journals were not valued for the same reasons. This finding implies that the formation of any equitable measure for determining the value of faculty members' journal article publications would be best if based on definable criteria determined by colleagues. Lists of valued journals for each area of faculty assessment would provide standards of excellence both inside and outside the E/IT field for those who serve on tenure and promotion committees in educational institutions.</p>Accessing Information on the World Wide Web: Predicting Usage Based on Involvement2008-02-15T14:33:59-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4198/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4198/"><img alt="Accessing Information on the World Wide Web: Predicting Usage Based on Involvement" title="Accessing Information on the World Wide Web: Predicting Usage Based on Involvement" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4198/small/"/></a></p><p>Advice for Web designers often includes an admonition to use short, scannable, bullet-pointed text, reflecting the common belief that browsing the Web most often involves scanning rather than reading. Literature from several disciplines focuses on the myriad combinations of factors related to online reading but studies of the users' interests and motivations appear to offer a more promising avenue for understanding how users utilize information on Web pages. This study utilized the modified Personal Involvement Inventory (PII), a ten-item instrument used primarily in the marketing and advertising fields, to measure interest and motivation toward a topic presented on the Web. Two sites were constructed from Reader's Digest Association, Inc. online articles and a program written to track students' use of the site. Behavior was measured by the initial choice of short versus longer versions of the main page, the number of pages visited and the amount of time spent on the site. Data were gathered from students at a small, private university in the southwest part of the United States to answer six hypotheses which posited that subjects with higher involvement in a topic presented on the Web and a more positive attitude toward the Web would tend to select the longer text version, visit more pages, and spend more time on the site. While attitude toward the Web did not correlate significantly with any of the behavioral factors, the level of involvement was associated with the use of the sites in two of three hypotheses, but only partially in the manner hypothesized. Increased involvement with a Web topic did correlate with the choice of a longer, more detailed initial Web page, but was inversely related to the number of pages viewed so that the higher the involvement, the fewer pages visited. An additional indicator of usage, the average amount of time spent on each page, was measured and revealed that more involved users spent more time on each page.</p>An Empirical Investigation of Critical Factors that Influence Data Warehouse Implementation Success in Higher Educational Institutions2008-02-15T14:44:21-06:00https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4151/<p><a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4151/"><img alt="An Empirical Investigation of Critical Factors that Influence Data Warehouse Implementation Success in Higher Educational Institutions" title="An Empirical Investigation of Critical Factors that Influence Data Warehouse Implementation Success in Higher Educational Institutions" src="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4151/small/"/></a></p><p>Data warehousing (DW) in the last decade has become the technology of choice for building data management infrastructures to provide organizations the decision-making capabilities needed to effectively carry out its activities. Despite its phenomenal growth and importance to organizations the rate of DW implementation success has been less than stellar. Many DW implementation projects fail due to technical or organizational reasons.
There has been limited research on organizational factors and their role in DW implementations. It is important to understand the role and impact of both technical but organizational factors in DW implementations and their relative importance to implementation performance.
A research model was developed to test the significance of technical and organizational factors in the three phases of implementation with DW implementation performance. The independent variables were technical (data, technology, and expertise) and organizational (management, goals, users, organization). The dependent variable was performance (content, accuracy, format, ease of use, and timeliness). The data collection method was a Web based survey of DW implementers and DW users sampled (26) from a population of 108 identified DW implementations. Regression was used as the multivariate statistical technique to analyze the data. The results show that organization factors are significantly related to performance. Also, that some variables in the post-implementation phase have a significant relationship with performance.
Based on the results of the tests the model was revised to reflect the relative impact of technical and organizational factors on DW performance. Results suggest that in some cases organizational factors have a significant relationship with DW implementation performance. The implications and interpretation of these results provide researchers and practitioners' insights and a new perspective in the area of DW implementations.</p>