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- Title
- Information systems management and outsourcing: A study of American city governments.
- Creator
- Kim, Yong-Mi, Florida Atlantic University, Thai, Khi V.
- Abstract/Description
-
An information system is defined as "a system that uses information technology to capture, transmit, store, retrieve, manipulate, or display information used in one or more business processes" (Alter, 1996, p. 61). The use of information systems (IS) in local governments has dramatically increased and diversified over the past ten years. Because IS expenditures are expected to increase, IS management will be a key issue in city governments. In order to explore IS management and outsourcing in...
Show moreAn information system is defined as "a system that uses information technology to capture, transmit, store, retrieve, manipulate, or display information used in one or more business processes" (Alter, 1996, p. 61). The use of information systems (IS) in local governments has dramatically increased and diversified over the past ten years. Because IS expenditures are expected to increase, IS management will be a key issue in city governments. In order to explore IS management and outsourcing in American city governments, three theoretical perspectives and three models are employed. The three theoretical perspectives influencing IS outsourcing are (1) economic factors, (2) diffusion of innovation, and (3) organizational factors. The three models focus on three factors: (1) the percentage of total city budget allocated to total IS expenditure, (2) the percentage of total IS budget allocated to IS outsourcing expenditures, and (3) the percentage of total IS budget allocated to each IS function. In Model 1, the findings show that the population size of city government is inversely related to the total percentage of city budget allocated to total IS expenditures: as the population size of city government increases, the percentage of the total budget of the city government allocated to IS expenditures decreases. In Model 2, three theories to explain decisions regarding IS outsourcing are used. Economic factors influencing IS outsourcing decisions are when: (1) pressure to reduce cost is important, (2) access to cutting-edge technology is important, (3) IS requires a long time for the in-house staff to learn, and, (4) IS facilities are not available. However, city administrators did not express a concern about the loss of control of strategic applications, about being locked into a contract, or even about added costs for business or technology changes when their IS is outsourced. Theories of innovation diffusion includes several factors. The findings show that city IS administrators do learn about IS outsourcing from neighboring governments. Organizational factors that can potentially influence the IS outsourcing decision include the type and population size of city government, available resources, and internal transaction costs. IS outsourcing expenditure as a percentage of total IS expenditure does not vary with the type and size of city government, a finding which requires further investigation. The analysis of different types and sizes of city governments appears in Model 3. When more resources are available to the IS department, the city government is likely to hire IS experts, provide facilities, and engage in a higher rate of insourcing. Internal transaction costs measured by time delays are inversely related to the expenditures on IS outsourcing. In Model 3, IS outsourcing expenditure by function as a percentage of total IS expenditure, three theoretical perspectives are employed to explain this analysis. In the category of economic factors influencing IS outsourcing, asset-non specific IS functions such as data processing/operations and network/telecommunications are outsourced in order to reduce cost while asset-specific IS functions, such as application development/maintenance, are outsourced in order to gain access to cutting-edge technology. With respect to whether theories of innovation diffusion explain the IS outsourcing decision, the findings show that city governments investigate other neighboring governments to determine whether there have been IS outsourcing decisions in the areas of data processing/operations, network/telecommunication, and application development/maintenance. According to the findings, first, small city governments tend to allocate a higher IS outsourcing expenditure as a percentage of total IS expenditure to than do large city governments. Second, large city governments tend to allocate a lower percentage of IS outsourcing expenditure to systems planning/management because large city governments tend to set up this IS function within the organization and, thus, spend money on maintaining this function. Third, the council-manager type of city governments tend to allocate a higher rate of IS outsourcing expenditure to network/telecommunication and application development/maintenance than do the mayor-council type of city governments.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1998
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12582
- Subject Headings
- Information resources management, Contracting out
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Faculty survey: electronic resources 2007-2008 general assessment report.
- Creator
- Lomax, Eleanor, Strudwick, Jane
- Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/sp1
- Subject Headings
- Electronic information resources--Use studies, Information resources--Use Studies, Electronic information resources--Evaluation
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Evaluating Google Scholar as a tool for information literacy.
- Creator
- Cathcart, Rachael, Roberts, Amanda
- Date Issued
- 2006-04
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11510
- Subject Headings
- Google, Information literacy, Web sites, Electronic resources, Reference services (Libraries)
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Moving towards Societal Geographic Information Systems through the Internet: Data access alternatives.
- Creator
- Cottrell, David G., Florida Atlantic University, Shaw, Shih-Lung, Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Geosciences
- Abstract/Description
-
With the advent of Geographic Information Systems and Geographic Information Science (GIS) over the last 20 years, the field of Geography, mainly the applied sector, has gained increased recognition world wide. Along with this has come an increased ability and need for the sharing of geographic data. This thesis will investigate the various means currently available to facilitate data sharing, including the availability of geographic data distributed throughout the Internet. A number of World...
Show moreWith the advent of Geographic Information Systems and Geographic Information Science (GIS) over the last 20 years, the field of Geography, mainly the applied sector, has gained increased recognition world wide. Along with this has come an increased ability and need for the sharing of geographic data. This thesis will investigate the various means currently available to facilitate data sharing, including the availability of geographic data distributed throughout the Internet. A number of World Wide Web sites providing geographic data were chosen as a representative cross section of the current functionality available on the Internet. This document is intended to be used as a guide for more effective implementation of World Wide Web "GIS" sites and aid in conceptualizing the Internet as a Societal GIS.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1996
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15281
- Subject Headings
- Geographic information systems--Computer network resources, Cartography--Computer network resources, World Wide Web, Internet
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Credibility and the Internet: can credibility levels indicate news medium choice?.
- Creator
- Herring, Katrina., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Political Science
- Abstract/Description
-
The Internet has revolutionized the way in which people are entertained, communicate and collect information. As people increase their ability to connect with the outside world from inside their homes, they hold the power to become their own gatekeepers filtering information as they see fit. Many question whether this will weaken the power of the traditional media sources that are often seen as elitist and potentially biased. This researcher hypothesized that people who cite high credibility...
Show moreThe Internet has revolutionized the way in which people are entertained, communicate and collect information. As people increase their ability to connect with the outside world from inside their homes, they hold the power to become their own gatekeepers filtering information as they see fit. Many question whether this will weaken the power of the traditional media sources that are often seen as elitist and potentially biased. This researcher hypothesized that people who cite high credibility ratings of news media channels are more likely to use traditional media channels such as television and newspapers and people who cite low credibility ratings of news media channels are more likely to use alternate media channels such as the Internet. While the researcher was unable to reject the null hypothesis, a pattern of general mistrust of traditional news media was revealed when nearly three-fourths of respondents gave traditional media channels a "not-credible" rating.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927304
- Subject Headings
- Electronic information resources, Evaluation, Information behavior, Mass media, Social aspects, Mass media and technology
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Computers in biology: trends intaxonomy revealed by the published literature.
- Creator
- Winston, Judith E., Metzger, K. L., Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
- Date Issued
- 1998
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00007345
- Subject Headings
- Biology--Classification, Cladistic analysis, Taxonomists, Electronic information resource searching, Computers
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Advanced web searching for the information professional.
- Creator
- Metzger, K. L., Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
- Date Issued
- 2001
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00007355
- Subject Headings
- Web search engines, Internet searching, World Wide Web, Electronic information resource searching
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Commercialization of high-resolution earth observation satellite remote sensing.
- Creator
- Jarica, Cornelia Christa, Florida Atlantic University, Tata, Robert J., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Geosciences
- Abstract/Description
-
The imminent availability of high resolution satellite imagery is causing a paradigm shift in remote sensing. Detente brought about new policy directives in the U.S. and abroad, which opened up for civilian use former Earth observation spy technology down to one meter resolution, previously considered classified and strictly used by the intelligence communities for national security. This study describes a number of new ventures in the private sector which have been formed to launch...
Show moreThe imminent availability of high resolution satellite imagery is causing a paradigm shift in remote sensing. Detente brought about new policy directives in the U.S. and abroad, which opened up for civilian use former Earth observation spy technology down to one meter resolution, previously considered classified and strictly used by the intelligence communities for national security. This study describes a number of new ventures in the private sector which have been formed to launch commercial high resolution systems. The satellites' technical capabilities are analyzed, and application development options for the new imagery are discussed in detail. This new remote sensing data source is also seen within the framework of the larger GeoTechnology Industry to which it belongs, and the author proposes appropriate business strategies for successful commercialization.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1996
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15321
- Subject Headings
- Earth resources technology satellites, Remote sensing, Remote-sensing images, Geographic information systems
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Use of GIS to improve the user interface design of an airline reservation web site.
- Creator
- Wilson, Jennifer L., Florida Atlantic University, Ivy, Russell L.
- Abstract/Description
-
As use of the Internet becomes pervasive, user interface design of web sites becomes increasingly important. Consumers must be able to easily and quickly perform the functions they desire. Travel industry applications have a large market potential on the Internet. Because of the geographical relationships of locations and functions in the travel industry, the use of cartography and GIS can be very beneficial to user interfaces of these applications. This paper examines functions, inputs, and...
Show moreAs use of the Internet becomes pervasive, user interface design of web sites becomes increasingly important. Consumers must be able to easily and quickly perform the functions they desire. Travel industry applications have a large market potential on the Internet. Because of the geographical relationships of locations and functions in the travel industry, the use of cartography and GIS can be very beneficial to user interfaces of these applications. This paper examines functions, inputs, and user interface of current airline reservation web sites, and looks at some current examples of GIS use on the Internet. It then discusses ways to improve the user interface design of airline reservation web sites using GIS to create more powerful and easy-to-use applications that also incorporate other aspects of the travel industry.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1999
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15669
- Subject Headings
- Geographic information systems, Airlines--Reservation systems--Computer network resources, World Wide Web
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing library tutorial.
- Creator
- Borglund, Susan T., Allen, Ethan J., McMullen, Lindsey, Roshaven, Patricia, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
- Date Issued
- 2006-08
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/11494
- Subject Headings
- Florida Atlantic University. College of Nursing --Curricula, Library orientation, Nursing students, Florida Atlantic University. Libraries, Information literacy, Information resources, Library orientation, Library research
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Evolving Legacy Software Systems with a Resource and Performance-Sensitive Autonomic Interaction Manager.
- Creator
- Mulcahy, James J., Huang, Shihong, Florida Atlantic University, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- Abstract/Description
-
Retaining business value in a legacy commercial enterprise resource planning system today often entails more than just maintaining the software to preserve existing functionality. This type of system tends to represent a significant capital investment that may not be easily scrapped, replaced, or re-engineered without considerable expense. A legacy system may need to be frequently extended to impart new behavior as stakeholder business goals and technical requirements evolve. Legacy ERP...
Show moreRetaining business value in a legacy commercial enterprise resource planning system today often entails more than just maintaining the software to preserve existing functionality. This type of system tends to represent a significant capital investment that may not be easily scrapped, replaced, or re-engineered without considerable expense. A legacy system may need to be frequently extended to impart new behavior as stakeholder business goals and technical requirements evolve. Legacy ERP systems are growing in prevalence and are both expensive to maintain and risky to evolve. Humans are the driving factor behind the expense, from the engineering costs associated with evolving these types of systems to the labor costs required to operate the result. Autonomic computing is one approach that addresses these challenges by imparting self-adaptive behavior into the evolved system. The contribution of this dissertation aims to add to the body of knowledge in software engineering some insight and best practices for development approaches that are normally hidden from academia by the competitive nature of the retail industry. We present a formal architectural pattern that describes an asynchronous, low-complexity, and autonomic approach. We validate the pattern with two real-world commercial case studies and a reengineering simulation to demonstrate that the pattern is repeatable and agnostic with respect to the operating system, programming language, and communication protocols.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004527, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004527
- Subject Headings
- Business logistics -- Automation, Electronic commerce -- Management, Enterprise application integration (Computer systems), Information resources management, Management information systems, Software reengineering
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Does leadership matter? The effects of information technology expertise on the market value and performance of a firm.
- Creator
- Khallaf, Ashraf A., Florida Atlantic University, Skantz, Terrance R.
- Abstract/Description
-
This dissertation examines the stock market reaction to 474 announcements of hiring chief information officers (CIOs) in the 1987--2002 period, and firm performance for periods up to two years following the CIO appointment. The study reports that the announcements are associated with significantly positive abnormal returns (0.48 percent). The returns are more pronounced when the new CIO is hired from an IT leader firm (1.94 percent). Abnormal returns are significantly positive related with...
Show moreThis dissertation examines the stock market reaction to 474 announcements of hiring chief information officers (CIOs) in the 1987--2002 period, and firm performance for periods up to two years following the CIO appointment. The study reports that the announcements are associated with significantly positive abnormal returns (0.48 percent). The returns are more pronounced when the new CIO is hired from an IT leader firm (1.94 percent). Abnormal returns are significantly positive related with the CIO's level of education and high-technology firms, and negatively related with firm size. In addition, there is no significant difference in market reaction between the announcements that publicize the creation of a new position and those that imply the filling of an existing position with new hires. Further, the study finds an association between the appointment of the new CIO and subsequent improvement in the accounting measures of profitability. Findings reveal that CIO firms outperform their matched firms and their industry counterparts for the two years following the announcements relative to the year prior to the CIO appointment.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2004
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FADT12095
- Subject Headings
- Technological innovations--Economic aspects, Performance standards--United States, Organizational effectiveness, Information resources management, Information technology--Management, Corporations--Valuation, Strategic planning
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Advanced Placement (AP) social studies teachers' use of academic course blogs as a supplemental resource for student learning.
- Creator
- Alper, Seth., College of Education, Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry
- Abstract/Description
-
This mixed-methods study investigated the relationship between Advanced Placement (AP) social studies teachers' utilization of academic course blogs and student achievement. Simultaneously, the study examined the participating teachers' perceptions on the use of course blogs and other social media as supplemental learning resources. The study further explored a possible moderating effect of the social studies subject on student achievement and a possible moderating effect of students'...
Show moreThis mixed-methods study investigated the relationship between Advanced Placement (AP) social studies teachers' utilization of academic course blogs and student achievement. Simultaneously, the study examined the participating teachers' perceptions on the use of course blogs and other social media as supplemental learning resources. The study further explored a possible moderating effect of the social studies subject on student achievement and a possible moderating effect of students' previous academic blog usage on student achievement within the study. Quantitative data were collected from students' pre-tests and unit tests scores and analyzed for statistical significance. Qualitative data were collected through teacher-generated notes during the blogs, individual interviews, and a follow-up focus group interview. The results of this study indicated that there was no overall significant difference in student achievement between the blogging and non-blogging groups. On the contrary , a significant interaction between the social studies subject area and the use of academic course blogs was found when examining student achievement. However, this practical interaction was revealed to be a weak one. Further findings indicated that there was no significant interaction between students' previous blog usage and academic achievement during the study. From the qualitative data, participating teachers perceived the course blogs to be potentially advantageous for students and themselves, yet expressed frustration when implementing the course blogs with their students. Instead, they endorsed the academic use of Facebook, a resource that some students from two participating courses separately utilized instead of (or in addition to) the course blogs during the study. Teachers further expressed concern about relinquishing their subject knowledge and AP expertise to readily available course content on the Internet. Implications and suggestions for future f or AP social studi, teachers' promising use of Facebook and for researchers investigating the use of socail media at the high school level.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2013
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3360744
- Subject Headings
- Social sciences, Study and teaching (Secondary), Methodology, Information resources, Evaluation, Internet in education, Social aspects, Constructivism (Education)
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Help or hype?: the role of Internet marketing in rural development strategies.
- Creator
- Klaas, Kathryn, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
International development literature suggests that Internet marketing has the potential to play an important role in rural development. Despite the abundant theoretical support for incorporating Internet marketing into development strategies, there is little empirical evidence regarding whether Internet marketing actually generates development. This thesis helps fill this gap in the literature by investigating whether one Internet marketing application associated with development, competitive...
Show moreInternational development literature suggests that Internet marketing has the potential to play an important role in rural development. Despite the abundant theoretical support for incorporating Internet marketing into development strategies, there is little empirical evidence regarding whether Internet marketing actually generates development. This thesis helps fill this gap in the literature by investigating whether one Internet marketing application associated with development, competitive-online auctions (COAs), contributes to growth and poverty reduction. An analysis of price premiums earned in Latin American specialty coffee auctions and interviews with participating coffee farmers suggest that this application's strength lies in its ability to catalyze development; it provides the foundation from which farmers can pursue above-market prices, access new markets, and improve local living conditions. However, evidence also emphasizes that COAs do not inevitably advance development goals because their ability to do so is contingent on external factors, including the actions taken by individual farmers.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/209992
- Subject Headings
- Internet marketing, Small business, Computer network resources, Developmental economics, Rural development, Information technology, Economic aspects
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Compliance Issues In Cloud Computing Systems.
- Creator
- Yimam, Dereje, Fernandez, Eduardo B., Florida Atlantic University, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- Abstract/Description
-
Appealing features of cloud services such as elasticity, scalability, universal access, low entry cost, and flexible billing motivate consumers to migrate their core businesses into the cloud. However, there are challenges about security, privacy, and compliance. Building compliant systems is difficult because of the complex nature of regulations and cloud systems. In addition, the lack of complete, precise, vendor neutral, and platform independent software architectures makes compliance even...
Show moreAppealing features of cloud services such as elasticity, scalability, universal access, low entry cost, and flexible billing motivate consumers to migrate their core businesses into the cloud. However, there are challenges about security, privacy, and compliance. Building compliant systems is difficult because of the complex nature of regulations and cloud systems. In addition, the lack of complete, precise, vendor neutral, and platform independent software architectures makes compliance even harder. We have attempted to make regulations clearer and more precise with patterns and reference architectures (RAs). We have analyzed regulation policies, identified overlaps, and abstracted them as patterns to build compliant RAs. RAs should be complete, precise, abstract, vendor neutral, platform independent, and with no implementation details; however, their levels of detail and abstraction are still debatable and there is no commonly accepted definition about what an RA should contain. Existing approaches to build RAs lack structured templates and systematic procedures. In addition, most approaches do not take full advantage of patterns and best practices that promote architectural quality. We have developed a five-step approach by analyzing features from available approaches but refined and combined them in a new way. We consider an RA as a big compound pattern that can improve the quality of the concrete architectures derived from it and from which we can derive more specialized RAs for cloud systems. We have built an RA for HIPAA, a compliance RA (CRA), and a specialized compliance and security RA (CSRA) for cloud systems. These RAs take advantage of patterns and best practices that promote software quality. We evaluated the architecture by creating profiles. The proposed approach can be used to build RAs from scratch or to build new RAs by abstracting real RAs for a given context. We have also described an RA itself as a compound pattern by using a modified POSA template. Finally, we have built a concrete deployment and availability architecture derived from CSRA that can be used as a foundation to build compliance systems in the cloud.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2015
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004559, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004559
- Subject Headings
- Biometric identification, Client/server computing -- Security measures, Cloud computing -- Security measures, Computational intelligence, Computer software -- Quality control, Electronic information resources -- Access control
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- A proposed expanded green space plan using GIS for natural areas in Palm Beach County.
- Creator
- Rainyn, Corrie., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Geosciences
- Abstract/Description
-
In the past 25 years, Palm Beach County has acquired more than 31 million acres of public preserves consisting of numerous native habitats that are home to threatened and endangered flora and fauna. Both endemic habitats and plant species benefit from expansion and connectivity through the adoption of native plants in surrounding areas. The next step in conserving these protected, larger areas is to identify ways to connect them in order to reduce their isolation and improve their likelihood...
Show moreIn the past 25 years, Palm Beach County has acquired more than 31 million acres of public preserves consisting of numerous native habitats that are home to threatened and endangered flora and fauna. Both endemic habitats and plant species benefit from expansion and connectivity through the adoption of native plants in surrounding areas. The next step in conserving these protected, larger areas is to identify ways to connect them in order to reduce their isolation and improve their likelihood of continued ecosystem health. This study aims to perform an analysis using a GIS database of Palm Beach County's Eastern urban areas to determine additional vegetation that currently exists on public lands and private preserves and to analyze and classify the vegetation for its potential conservation role, either as ; preserves, buffers, corridors or clusters connecting and enhancing existing natural areas.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3355879
- Subject Headings
- Urban ecology (Biology), Geographic information systems, Conservation of natural resources, Natural areas, Management, Geographic information systems
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Caring in nurse managers as described by staff nurses.
- Creator
- Swinderman, Todd D., Florida Atlantic University, Ray, Marilyn A.
- Abstract/Description
-
A descriptive study of caring in nurse managers as described by staff nurses is presented. Five participants provided data from semi-structured, open ended, audiotape recorded interviews. The transcribed interview data were coded, concepts were identified, and the conceptual unit of meaning emerged. A conceptual model was developed and subsequently was analyzed in relation to Boykin's and Schoenhofer's (1993) Nursing as Caring Theory. It was discovered that staff nurses respect a nurse...
Show moreA descriptive study of caring in nurse managers as described by staff nurses is presented. Five participants provided data from semi-structured, open ended, audiotape recorded interviews. The transcribed interview data were coded, concepts were identified, and the conceptual unit of meaning emerged. A conceptual model was developed and subsequently was analyzed in relation to Boykin's and Schoenhofer's (1993) Nursing as Caring Theory. It was discovered that staff nurses respect a nurse manager when she participates in direct nursing care, provides for the overall needs of the unit by negotiating with administrators, and nurtures nurses through listening to, encouraging, supporting and role modeling. Recommendations for nursing administration, practice, education and research are presented.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1997
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/15443
- Subject Headings
- Nurse administrators, Caring, Nursing services--Administration, Nursing informatics, Nursing--Computer network resources, Nursing--Data processing, Information storage and retrieval systems--Nursing, Nursing records, Nursing--Statistical services
- Format
- Document (PDF)