Information Management: Support Systems & Multimedia Technology

Citation

du Preez, M. (2004), "Information Management: Support Systems & Multimedia Technology", The Electronic Library, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 287-288. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470410541741

Information management has become a key issue of interest to both researchers and practitioners since the advent of computers. Information support systems were therefore designed to help solve some of the concerns and challenges of managing information resources. The development of multimedia technology has also offered the means and ways of managing information resources. George Ditsa combined both issues of support systems and multimedia technology in Information Management: Support Systems & Multimedia Technology by offering the most recent research and findings in the area to assist information managers and practitioners with their goals.

The book is organised into 15 chapters, each discussing an information management topic. These topics vary from a discussion on intelligent agent‐based co‐operative information processing models in chapter 1, a novel method for software personalisation (chapter 2), integrating the end user into infrastructure systems (chapter 5), and a discussion on a video‐based tool for distance learning (chapter 13).

The concept of personalisation, which aids improvement of stickiness of online stores, receives attention in chapter 3. Here Fiona Y. Chan and William K. Cheung give a detailed description on how to implement a knowledge‐based recommender system for supporting an adaptive store. They propose a conceptual framework, a matching engine, an intelligent gift finder, and a backend subsystem for content management.

Research into users' behaviour in using a support system in an organisational setting (chapter 8) is of a personal interest. George Ditsa authored this chapter and aimed at identifying, examining, and providing some understanding of the social, cultural, and organisational factors that explain the behaviour of executives towards using executive information systems (EIS). For this purpose, the study employed a model from organisational behaviour as a theoretical foundation.

Chapter 12, by Roberto Paiano, Leonardo Mangia, and Vito Perrone, defines a publishing model for Web applications. It starts with an analysis of the most well‐known modelling methodology, such as hypermedia design models (HDM), OOHDM, WebML, Conallen's method and others. The analysis focuses on verifying the state of the art about the modelling of Web application pages, the different types of elements that compose the Web page in the models that were considered.

The concluding chapter, chapter 15, authored by Dongmin Cui and Jairo A. Gutiérrez looks at an integrated network management framework using CORBA, mobile agents, and Web‐based technologies. It proposes a new Web‐based network framework management, which combines the strengths of the various technologies discussed in this volume and looks at the results of a prototype implementation.

Information Management has been arranged and organised with both practitioners and researchers in mind. It is suitable for graduates and undergraduates in support systems and multimedia technology. The volume includes a useful index and an extensive bibliography at the end of each chapter.