Online Information Review

Organisational challenges of the semantic web in digital libraries: a Norwegian case study : Table of Contents

Bendik Bygstad, Gheorghita Ghinea, Geir-Tore Klæboe — Sat Oct 10 08:00:17 BST 2009

Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine from a socio-technical point of view the impact of semantic web technology on the strategic, organisational and technological levels. The semantic web initiative holds great promise for the future for digital libraries. There is, however, a considerable gap in semantic web research between the contributions in the technological field and research in the organisational field. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive case study of the National Library of Norway (NL) is conducted, building on two major sources of information: the documentation of the digitising project of the NL; and interviews with nine different stakeholders at three levels of NL's organisation during June to August 2007. Top managers are interviewed on strategy, middle managers and librarians are interviewed regarding organisational issues and ICT professionals are interviewed on technology issues. Findings – The findings indicate that the highest impact will be at the organisational level. This is mainly because inter-organisational and cross-organisational structures have to be established to address the problems of ontology engineering, and a development framework for ontology engineering in digital libraries must be examined. Originality/value – ICT professionals and library practitioners should be more mindful of organisational issues when planning and executing semantic web projects in digital libraries. In particular, practitioners should be aware that the ontology engineering process and the semantic meta-data production will affect the entire organisation. For public digital libraries this probably will also call for a more open policy towards user groups to properly manage the process of ontology engineering.

Examining the robustness of web co-link analysis : Table of Contents

Liwen Vaughan, Juan Tang, Jian Du — Sat Oct 10 08:00:17 BST 2009

Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the robustness of web co-link analysis for business intelligence. Design/methodology/approach – The method is tested in two different Chinese industries, the electronics/IT industry and the chemical industry. Web co-link data are collected in two different time periods from a different search engine in each period. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) is used to map the co-link data into business competition positions. Findings – Web co-link analysis is fairly robust in that the mapping results reflect fairly well the business competition landscape for both industries and in both time periods. The mapping results are better when the data collection is restricted to Chinese language webpages only. The study also finds that the Chinese webpages are very consumer-oriented, a phenomenon that is not seen in previous studies of international companies. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the understanding of the robustness and applicability of the co-link analysis method. The method is useful for business intelligence and can also be applied to the non-business environment. The paper also contributes to the understanding of a specific Chinese web phenomenon.

Weblogs for market research: finding more relevant opinion documents using system fusion : Table of Contents

Deanna Osman, John Yearwood, Peter Vamplew — Sat Oct 10 08:00:17 BST 2009

Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the usefulness of fusion as a means of improving the precision of automated opinion detection. Design/methodology/approach – Five system fusion methods are proposed and tested using runs submitted by the Text REtrieval Conference (TREC) Blog06 participants as input. The methods include a voting method, an inverse rank method (IRM), a linear-normalised score method and two weighted methods that use a weighted IRM score to rank the document. Findings – Mean average precision (MAP) is used as an indicator of the performance of the runs in this study. The best system fusion method achieves a 55.5 percent higher MAP result compared with the highest MAP result of any individual run submitted by the Blog06 participants. This equates to an increase in detection of 2,398 relevant opinion documents (21 percent). Practical implications – System fusion can be used to improve upon the results achieved by existing individual opinion detection systems. On the other hand, multiple opinion detection approaches can be combined into one system and fusion used to combine the results to build in diversity. Diversity within fusion inputs can increase the improvements achieved by fusion methods. The improved output from a diverse opinion detection system will then contain a higher number of relevant documents and reduce the incidence of high-ranking non-relevant documents and low-ranking relevant documents. Originality/value – The fusion methods proposed in this study demonstrate that simple fusion of opinion detection systems can improve performance.

Towards an ontology-based network for banking supervision : Table of Contents

Enrique Bonsón-Ponte, Tomás Escobar-Rodríguez, Francisco Flores-Muñoz — Sat Oct 10 08:00:17 BST 2009

Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the applicability of an information submission model based on OWL (Web Ontology Language) that permits the subsequent implementation of knowledge-sharing systems, such as the Set of Experience Knowledge Structure, among the various EU banking supervisors. Design/methodology/approach – Recent theoretical advances in the use of semantic web languages are introduced and put theoretically into force in the context. Additionally, a first-hand questionnaire is directed to the supervisors, measuring the value compatibility of the semantic technology with the needs of the existing European banking environment. Findings – The results illustrate that there exists a good level of value compatibility between the normative challenge and the new technology. Although there are some differences, these would perhaps not make the implementation of this technological framework particularly difficult, in that they focus on the same points that the regulators must consider to achieve success in the new European environment, for example, the balance between normative and practical approaches. Originality/value – This is the fist time that an ontology-based system has been proposed for banking supervision in Europe.

A comparative analysis of social sciences citation tools : Table of Contents

Michael Levine-Clark, Esther Gil — Sat Oct 10 08:00:17 BST 2009

Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the utility of Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar as citation analysis tools for the social sciences. Design/methodology/approach – The 25 most-accessed articles in 163 social sciences journals are searched in three citation databases. Findings – Web of Science has long been the only tool for citation analysis. Scopus and Google Scholar, while still new to the market, are complementary to Web of Science and in some cases can provide a more nuanced view of the importance of scholarly articles in the social sciences. Practical implications – As libraries struggle to provide the best tools to their users, they may wish to consider the freely-available Google Scholar as a substitute or complement to expensive databases such as Web of Science and Scopus. Originality/value – Most analyses of citation databases have focused on the sciences. Because this study examined the social sciences literature, it has expanded on the research available on Web of Science, Google Scholar and Scopus.

Understanding the behavioural intention to play online games: An extension of the theory of planned behaviour : Table of Contents

Ming-Chi Lee — Sat Oct 10 08:00:17 BST 2009

Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether flow experience, perceived enjoyment, and interaction affect people's behavioural intention to play online games and whether gender, age and prior experience have moderating effects on online game acceptance. Design/methodology/approach – This study extends the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) with flow experience, perceived enjoyment, and interaction to propose a theoretical model to explain and predict people's behavioural intention to play online games. This model is examined through an empirical study involving 458 participants using structural equation modelling techniques. In addition, a competing model based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) is proposed to evaluate whether TPB is more suitable than TAM to explain the use of online games. The two action-theoretical models are compared in terms of their predictive power and their practical utility. Findings – Although both models explain the players' intention to play online games very well, the extended TPB model provides a better fit and explanatory power. Notably, this study finds that flow experience is a more important factor than perceived enjoyment in influencing customer acceptance of online games. Further analysis reveals that gender is a key moderator of online game acceptance. Practical implications – Online game developers need to search for flow experience building strategies that might assist in engaging players. This study suggests that game developers should consider focusing more on establishing the interactions between players (social interaction) and online games (human-computer interaction) in their marketing strategies. Originality/value – This study is significant for two reasons. First, it synthesises the theory of planned behaviour with psychological and interaction factors and, second, it presents a blueprint for an entertainment-oriented technology acceptance model.

Virtual worlds adoption: a research framework and empirical study : Table of Contents

Guangying Hua, Dominique Haughton — Sat Oct 10 08:00:17 BST 2009

Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a new framework to examine the adoption of virtual worlds. Virtual worlds, defined as internet-based simulated environments that emulate the real world and are intended for users to inhabit and interact within them through avatars, are growing fast and are attracting more and more users. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, a new framework is proposed on the basis of previous literature. An empirical study is performed to test the framework, using survey research. The data are collected through a questionnaire, which is developed on the basis of previous empirical studies. Findings – Based on the data, it is found that perceived usefulness and social factors are two main factors influencing people's adoption of virtual worlds. The technology acceptance model (TAM) is still acceptable, while the diffusion of information (DOI) theory does not fit. Perceived enjoyment does not have a significant impact on the adoption of virtual worlds, but is highly correlated with perceived usefulness. Both factors capture the productivity and entertainment aspects of virtual worlds. Originality/value – This study is a novel attempt to examine the adoption of virtual worlds. A new research framework is proposed and empirical data are collected to test its validity. The findings have theoretical and practical implications.

A decision theoretic approach to combining information filtering : Table of Contents

Alexander Binun, Bracha Shapira, Yuval Elovici — Sat Oct 10 08:00:17 BST 2009

Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an extension to a framework based on the information structure (IS) model for combining information filtering (IF) results. The main goal of the framework is to combine the results of the different IF systems so as to maximise the expected payoff (EP) to the user. In this paper we compare three different approaches to tuning the relevance thresholds of individual IF systems that are being combined in order to maximise the EP to the user. In the first approach we set the same threshold for each of the IF systems. In the second approach the threshold of each IF system is tuned independently to maximise its own EP (“local optimisation”). In the third approach the thresholds of the IF systems are jointly tuned to maximise the EP of the combined system (“global optimisation”). Design/methodology/approach – An empirical evaluation is conducted to examine the performance of each approach using two IF systems based on somewhat different filtering algorithms (TFIDF, OKAPI). Experiments are run using the TREC3, TREC6, and TREC7 test collections. Findings – The experiments reveal that, as expected, the third approach always outperforms the first and the second, and that for some user profiles, the difference is significant. However, operational goals argue against global optimisation, and the costs of meeting these operational goals are discussed. Research limitations/implications – One limitation is the assumption of independence of the IF systems: in real life systems usually use similar algorithms, so dependency might occur. The approach also tends to be examined with the assumption of dependency between systems. Practical implications – The main practical implications of this study lie in the empirical proof that combination of filtering systems improves filtering results and the finding about the optimal combination methods for the different user profiles. Many filtering applications exist (e.g. spam filters, news personalisation systems, etc.) that can benefit from these findings. Originality/value – The study presents and compares the contribution of three different combination methods of filtering systems to the improvement of filtering results It empirically shows the benefits of each method and draws important conclusions about the combination of filtering systems.

An examination of social tagging interface features and functionalities: An analytical comparison : Table of Contents

Ali Shiri — Sat Oct 10 08:00:17 BST 2009

Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a comparative and analytical examination of ten social tagging systems' interfaces and their features and functionalities. The specific objective of the study was to examine the ways in which the user interfaces of social tagging systems encourage and provide users with features to assign, explore, browse and make use of tags during their interaction with social tagging sites. Design/methodology/approach – The user interface features and functionalities of ten social tagging sites (six social bookmarking and four social media sharing sites) are examined. A categorisation of tag-related features is developed for analysis. The sites are selected based on such criteria as popularity, variety of site type, and inclusion of tagging features and content type. Findings – The findings of this study show that there is an emerging interface design paradigm with respect to social tagging sites that reflects a particular focus on exploratory search and browsing features and services. Some of the key areas discussed are: user tagging features; exploratory and tag browsing features; and interface layout. Practical implications – The findings of this study of the user interface features of social tagging sites provide a comprehensive picture of the possible and potential features that can be incorporated into new social tagging systems. Based on the evidence found in the examined social tagging interfaces, recommendations are made on the design of tag posting, tag use, tag browsing, tag lists and tag clouds. The design recommendations offer ideas for the development of more sophisticated exploratory and interactive user interfaces for social tagging systems. Originality/value – This is the first paper that reports on a comparative and exploratory examination of social tagging user interface features and functionalities.

Database source coverage: hypes, vital signs and reality checks : Table of Contents

Péter Jacsó — Sat Oct 10 08:00:17 BST 2009

Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that the extent of journal coverage, size and retrospectivity are three of the most commonly advertised features of database content. However, these data by themselves rarely provide a good enough sense of the real breadth of database coverage. Design/methodology/approach – Some easy-to-calculate measures can provide vital signs of database coverage, which in turn may trigger in-depth analysis at the individual journal level. When similar vital signs are produced from comparable databases and database segments, as is done for Arts and Humanities (A&H) sources in Web of Science, Scopus, H.W. Wilson and CSA databases for this paper, the real dimensions of the source coverage can be much better understood. Findings – The decision to almost double the number of A&H journals reinforces the concept of enhancing the breadth of source coverage, obviously at the expense of depth of coverage. It is like those “If it is Tuesday, it must be Belgium” tours, where the emphasis is on beating the other tours by advertising more comprehensive coverage of European countries by “virtue” of visiting more countries in a single afternoon. Originality/value – For scientometric searches so called “known item” searches are made, and the more records that are missing from core journals, the more harm is done to the subjects of the search. In subject searches a few good finds may be fine, but in “known item” searches that is not good enough. Doubling the cited reference enhanced segment, and eliminating the gaps in, say, the 1975-2009 segment would have been much smarter policy for Scopus.