User involvement during information systems development: a comparison of analyst and user perceptions of system acceptance

A sample of 150 users and analysts from multiple organizations and many system projects provided field questionnaire data to test hypotheses about the differences in their perceptions of user involvement (UI) and system acceptance. The Franz and Robey [Franz, C.R., Robey, D., 1986. Organizational context, user involvement, and the usefulness of information systems. Decision Sciences, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 329–356.] instrument was used for data collection and factor analyzed, resulting in more focused and specific measures. Analysis of the data showed that users and analysts did not agree on the user's involvement nor did they agree on their perceptions of the acceptability of the system to the user. Relationships of self-ratings of UI with system usage and system acceptance by the user demonstrated high correlations, which were attributed to the narrow focus of the UI and system acceptance measures rather than the original more global measure. Analyst perceptions of UI showed no correlation with a user's perceptions of system acceptance.     

《林家铺子》的结构艺术

《林家铺子》是矛盾短篇小说代表作之一，有“长短篇”之称。小说虽为“长短篇”，却组织有方，长而不乱，这主要归功于作的结构艺术。其结构特色为：一条主线贯穿始终，使得小说井然有序；情节起伏有致，叙述环环相扣；注意事件的前呼后应，保持有机联系；主线也融线相辅相承。；结尾深化主题，指出在这“大鱼吃小鱼，小鱼吃虾米”的社会中真正的受害是贫苦百姓。     

试论外语教师的基本素养结构

高校外语教师的基本素养结构决定着外语教学的水平和教学效果。教师的基本素养结构，是教师的各项基本素养的有机组合。本文从思想政治素养、专业知识素养、教学思想和技能素养、伦理道德素养、身心健康素养等方面阐述了外语教师的基本素养结构。     

流动人口15岁以下子女流动/留守类型及其影响因素——基于北京市1‰流动人口调查

利用2006年北京市1‰流动人口调查资料,对在京流动人口15周岁以下子女流动/留守行为,从父母和子女的人口学特征、家庭结构等方面进行分析。研究发现:子女年龄越小越有可能跟随父母外出流动,而性别、孩次影响不显著;照顾人为祖辈的子女不倾向于外出流动;父亲或母亲为主要照顾人之间没有差别;父母在外流动年数和是否受过高等教育显著影响子女是否外出流动。     

Videoconferencing: A Viable Teaching Strategy for Social Work Education?

The findings of a study that examined students' reports about their experience with ITV are presented. The results are based on two different courses with different instructors and different composition of students. Results show that students in both sites report that the use of technology does not compromise their learning but they dislike it. Strategies for future research to understand the nature of the reaction are suggested.     

Building Social Inclusion for Rural Older People Using Information and Communication Technologies: Perspectives of Rural Practitioners

Abstract

The literature identifies rural, older people as at risk of social exclusion, as a result of rural disadvantage. In this context, improved access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) has potential to build social inclusion, yet current evidence shows that rural, older people are the lowest current users of technology. This paper draws on the practice and local knowledge of rural practitioners from one Victorian region in order to explore: (a) the practice issues associated with ICT use among rural, older people; and (b) the characteristics of effective practice models in the rural, social work context. An analysis of findings highlights the need to respond to the diverse skills, needs, and learning styles of older people, to demonstrate the benefits of ICTs, involve users, and build confidence. Major barriers include poor ICT usage by many rural agencies and low practitioner capacity, as well as access and resources.     

Old friends and new acquaintances: Tie formation mechanisms in an interorganizational network generated by employee mobility

This study investigates mechanisms of tie formation in an interorganizational network generated by the mobility of employees between organizations. We analyze a data set that contains information on all organizations in the Stockholm metropolitan area between 1990 and 2003. We show that the formation of new ties is contingent upon the direction of past ties, and that most connections occur at an intermediate geodesic distance of 2 and 3. The findings highlight the importance of tie direction and indirect connections in research on network dynamics and knowledge exchanges stemming from the mobility of employees across organizations.     

A new criterion function for exploratory blockmodeling for structural and regular equivalence

We present a new criterion function for blockmodeling two-way two-mode relation matrices when the number of blocks as well as the equivalence relation are unknown. For this, we specify a measure of fit based on data compression theory, which allows for the comparison of blockmodels of different sizes and block types from different equivalence relations. We arm an alternating optimization algorithm with this criterion and demonstrate that the method reproduces consensual blockings of three datasets without any pre-specification. We perform a simulation study where we compare our compression-based criterion to the commonly used criterion that measures the number of inconsistencies with an ideal blockmodel.     

Information Poverty and the Latino Community

Abstract

Social work education can help students to reach a higher understanding of the impact of information poverty on the Latino community by systematically integrating this content into social work curriculum areas of information society, information poverty, and Latino communities. The authors examine the prospects for poverty and inequality in the Latino community as the United States emerges into the information economy and suggest that the Latino population may continue to be at risk for poverty in the information age. This article reviews indicators such as education, access to computers and network communications that may influence access to the emerging economic order and offers technology-based practice strategies, such as community net works and e-commerce, to create local empowerment. It provides recommendations for curriculum development.