Encyclopedia of E‐commerce, E‐government, and M‐commerce

Citation

Scornavacca, E. (2006), "Encyclopedia of E‐commerce, E‐government, and M‐commerce", Online Information Review, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 749-750. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520610716252

The paradigm shift from an industrial‐based economy to an information‐based economy becomes all the more evident when observing the expansion of the telecommunication infrastructure and role of information systems in today's organisations. Since the mid‐1990s – facilitated by the tremendous growth of the internet and the world wide web – electronic commerce initiatives have become a widespread business feature in most organisations.

The Encyclopedia of E‐commerce, E‐government, and M‐commerce is the first “one‐stop‐shop” for people interested in exploring fundamental aspects of the digital revolution. It provides an excellent source of comprehensive and up‐to‐date information on essential issues, technologies, and applications of e‐commerce, e‐government and m‐commerce. This publication exposes the reader to current and emerging trends in e‐commerce as well as practical applications of e‐technologies. The encyclopaedia has a broad coverage that includes the following topics: E‐collaboration technologies and applications; E‐commerce technologies and applications; E‐commerce management and social issues; E‐government technologies and applications; E‐government management and social issues; E‐healthcare technologies and applications; E‐learning technologies and applications; E‐technologies security and privacy; Mobile commerce technologies and applications; Mobile commerce management and social issues; Virtual communities and enterprises; and Web portals and services.

The two large volumes of the Encyclopedia of E‐commerce, E‐government, and M‐commerce are quite easy to navigate. The comprehensive index, with more than 1,400 technical and managerial key terms, and the three tables of contents (by author, in alphabetical order of title and by topic area) allow the reader to quickly locate a specific entry, an author or an area of interest. Another valuable achievement of this encyclopaedia is that it congregates in one single publication the work of more than 300 experts in the fields of e‐commerce, e‐government and m‐commerce.

The Encyclopedia works well as a quick reference guide for latent topics on e‐commerce, e‐government and m‐commerce. It presents a good selection of articles on emerging topics (e.g. “RFID in the retail supply chain” by Claudia Loebbecke, “Mobile agent‐based auction services” by Sheng‐Uei Guam and “E‐health security and privacy” by Yingge Wang, Qiang Cheng and Jie Cheng) but also good introductory articles on large e‐commerce research sub‐domains (e.g. “E‐commerce in developing countries” by Janet Toland and “E‐learning concepts and development” by Fung Fai Ng). It is noticeable that the primary function of each entry is not to be exhaustive, but to provide the reader with a comprehensive introduction to a specific topic. On the other hand, the extensive use of references throughout the encyclopaedia allows the reader easily to identify key and current research for further investigation – making it particularly helpful for information systems and e‐commerce students.

Overall, the broad coverage of the Encyclopedia of E‐commerce, E‐government, and M‐commerce makes it an essential resource for any library or anyone involved with e‐commerce research and practice.