Business process simulation: An alternative modelling technique for the information system development process

This paper discusses the idea that even though information systems development (ISD) approaches have long advocated the use of integrated organisational views, the modelling techniques used have not been adapted accordingly and remain focused on the automated information system (IS) solution. Existing research provides evidence that business process simulation (BPS) can be used at different points in the ISD process to provide better integrated organisational views that aid the design of appropriate IS solutions. Despite this fact, research in this area is not extensive; suggesting that the potential of using BPS for the ISD process is not yet well understood. The paper uses the findings from three different case studies to illustrate the ways BPS has been used at different points in the ISD process. It compares the results against IS modelling techniques, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages that BPS has over the latter. The research necessary to develop appropriate BPS tools and give guidance on their use in the ISD process is discussed

Imagining Britain : the formation of British national identity during the eighteenth century

This thesis explores the supposed development of an 'imagined community' of the British during the eighteenth century. Responding in particular to Linda Colley, it aims to show that her use of Benedict Anderson's well-known definition of the nation is both inappropriate and misleading. Taking as its evidence the substantial genre of contemporary historical writing about pre-Norman Britain, it attempts to develop an account of that genre's relationship to the growing reading public in Britain, its capacity to provide the imaginative terrain in which that public might consider itself to possess a shared identity, and the limits and obstacles to such a project. In doing so, it also explores the nature of the historical genre in this period, and finds its development to be tightly bound up with developments in print culture more generally, but especially with the rise of the novel and of the newspaper (the very genres lying at the heart of Anderson's account of nationalism). Later chapters concern themselves with developing the arguments brought out in the first half of the thesis, using different forms of evidence: histories of the common law, the debate on population, and the debate over the French Revolution. Here I deal variously with issues of custom, tradition, commerce and improvement, and their purchase upon notions of truth, as well as with the position of marginal figures - women, 'the mob' - in the supposedly national imagination. I conclude by arguing that the nation represented by Anderson is fundamentally utopian in character, that it did not and does not meet the essentially elitist 'imagined community' which my thesis uncovers, and should not be used to describe it

Analysis of crystal defects by simulation of x-ray section topographs

This thesis is concerned with the simulation of the contrast in X-ray section topographs due to the strains induced in silicon single crystals by various types of technologically relevant crystal defect. A general introduction to the field of X- ray topography is presented, illustrating that this technique is well suited to the characterisation of defect induced strain in highly perfect crystals. A review of X-ray dynamical theory is given, culminating in Takagi's equations for a crystal containing a defect. Techniques for simulating X-ray section topographs, based on Takagi's equations, are discussed. Computer simulation of section topographs has been used throughout this work to deduce the microscopic strains from the X-ray topographic images. The volume of oxygen precipitates in MCZ silicon was found to increase linearly as lnT, where T is the annealing temperature of the sample. Results suggest that the vast majority of precipitates which survive to maturity are nucleated at approximately the same time, subsequently growing at the same rate. An industrial role for simulation in conjunction with experiment is proposed, in the evaluation of the precipitate depth and the deformation parameter, C, representing the precipitate strain magnitude. The technological relevance of these two quantities is discussed. The effect of surface relaxation on the structure of images due to precipitates has been investigated. The critical depth (_z(_crit)) at which the effect of surface relaxation became negligible was found to increase linearly with lnC. Simulations have been generated for crystals containing oxygen precipitate distributions, with denuded zones. Characteristic image features have been discussed. Studies on precipitate resolvability revealed that the critical separation for two precipitates to be just resolved increases linearly as lnC. An extensive study of intrinsic gettering has been undertaken, in terms of decorated dislocations. The strain distribution due to precipitate decoration was modelled by the cylindrical inclusion model. It was shown that even for very low precipitate strains, precipitate decoration is distinguishable from the associated dislocation by section topography. Hence, an industrial role is proposed for simulation, in conjunction with experiment, in the parameterisation of the strain induced by decorated dislocations. To fully explore the use of the cylindrical inclusion model in this way, the variation in the inclusion strain magnitude was determined as a function of the precipitate strain and density, and the size of the precipitate distribution. It was found that the strain magnitude of the equivalent cylindrical inclusion must increase more rapidly relative to the precipitate deformation parameter for low-order reflections than for high-order reflections. Decorated dislocations have been shown to be resolvable by section topography even in the most dislocation-rich sihcon samples. The industrial usefulness of this characteristic is discussed. A study was made of the critical deformation parameter, C(_crit), for decorated dislocations to be just resolved, as a function of the separation, k, of the dislocations. For k greater than about 45µm, the variation of In(C(_crit) with k was linear. For smaller separations, the linearity breaks down because of the increasingly important strain contribution due to the dislocations. The strains induced by oxide films and devices in the silicon substrates onto which they are formed have been investigated. Experimental section topographs of oxide edge regions and devices on silicon have been simulated, and the visibility of the extra set of fringes found in simulations by another worker has been examined. The variation in image structure with device position on the entrance and exit surfaces has been investigated. An absolute minimum on device width detectable by section topography of lµm has been found. However, this minimum was found to depend on device-induced strain, and for values of strain characteristic of contemporary devices, the minimum detectable device width was found to be at least 3.5µm. This is above the limits set by the geometric and other constraints of the experimental technique. A thorough study has been made of the cancellation of opposing strains due to opposite edges of a device. The total distortion induced by the device was found to be minimised by reducing the device width and increasing the force per unit length, 5, along the device edges. Quantitative information has been obtained on this process. It was found that the fractional increase in lattice parameter at a fixed point, due to device-induced strain, increases linearly with S, with increasing gradient for increasing device width. It was shown that the narrower the device, the faster the relative fall-off in fractional increase in lattice parameter with increasing displacement from one edge of the device

Integrating information seeking and information structuring: spatial hypertext as an interface to the digital library.

Information seeking is the task of finding documents that satisfy the information needs of a person or organisation. Digital Libraries are one means of providing documents to meet the information needs of their users - i.e. as a resource to support information seeking. Therefore, research into the activity of information seeking is key to the development and understanding of digital libraries. Information structuring is the activity of organising documents found in the process of information seeking. Information structuring can be seen as either part of information seeking, or as a sepárate, complementary activity. It is a task performed by the seeker themselves and targeted by them to support their understanding and the management of later seeking activity. Though information structuring is an important task, it receives sparse support in current digital library Systems. Spatial hypertexts are computer software Systems that have been specifically been developed to support information structuring. However, they seldom are connected to Systems that support information seeking. Thus to day, the two inter-related activities of information seeking and information structuring have been supported by disjoint computer Systems. However, a variety of research strongly indicates that in physical environments, information seeking and information structuring are closely inter-related activities. Given this connection, this thesis explores whether a similar relationship can be found in electronic information seeking environments. However, given the absence of a software system that supports both activities well, there is an immédiate practical problem. In this thesis, I introduce an integrated information seeking and structuring System, called Garnet, that provides a spatial hypertext interface that also supports information seeking in a digital library. The opportunity of supporting information seeking by the artefacts of information structuring is explored in the Garnet system, drawing on the benefits previously found in supporting one information seeking activity with the artefacts of another. Garnet and its use are studied in a qualitative user study that results in the comparison of user behaviour in a combined electronic environment with previous studies in physical environments. The response of participants to using Garnet is reported, particularly regarding their perceptions of the combined system and the quality of the interaction. Finally, the potential value of the artefacts of information structuring to support information seeking is also evaluated