278,267 research outputs found

    The UK Digital Marine Atlas Project: An Evolutionary Approach Towards a Marine Information System

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    In common with many organizations the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) collects large quantities of spatial data. Within the marine sciences the cataloguing, promotion, and dissemination of information is a major undertaking. In order to assist with, and develop this task, a recent study has looked at the potential use of computerised information systems, ranging from simple digital catalogues to geographic information systems. This paper discusses the characteristics and problems involved in handling and disseminating marine information and outlines the results of trials with a simple demonstrator system based on a digital version of an existing paper-based marine atlas and the development of an operational digital marine atlas system. More recent experiments with a proprietary Geographic Information System (GIS) suggest that current GIS technology can only go so far in providing a solution and that new techniques must be developed for coping with the diverse spatial nature of marine information

    Change as a Service: Challenges and Effects of a New Paradigm for Library Systems and Content Infrastructure

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    The infrastructure for supplying information resources to higher education and research has gone through dramatic changes the last 15 years. The amount of electronic resources available and library systems that handle them have multiplied leaving libraries in a challenging situation. We are coping with a changing definition of library collections, changing business models for owning and accessing materials as well as a shift in the architecture of library systems. The Library at Chalmers University of Technology spent close to 98% of the media budget in 2010 on electronic resources and has been spending more than 50% of the budget on electronic resources for over 10 years. So far the library has not been able to lower total cost of ownership for library systems or information resources since there has been few changes to existing systems or subscriptions. Instead we have been trying to cope with the development by introducing new systems and more electronic resources leaving us with complex workflows and dependencies. As we look to new unified services for libraries where information resources and systems are merged in a ― as a service environment there is a need for libraries to re-evaluate the current situation and what led up to it. Chalmers university library has initiated a system survey with the ambition of reviewing current workflows, quantifying and defining the crucial elements of todays systems with the goal of finding what we actually need in the near future. The evaluation is still in progress but this paper summarizes Chalmers evaluation so far, highlighting key findings, trends and possible strategies for the future

    Coping with Rapid Change: The Case of the Dutch Social Security System

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    The preliminary findings presented in this paper are based on current research conducted by the two authors of this paper. The aim of the empirical research is to study how Local Social Securities (LSSs) in the Netherlands deal with translating changing legislation and policies into software that impacts the provision of social security services. Since there does not exist sufficient theoretical knowledge on this issue from which to derive hypotheses, the research is exploratory and mainly inductive. By studying the social dynamics in depth, our aim is to uncover new findings about information systems development (ISD). Such insight is conceptually relevant as it should contribute to the existing middle range theories of ISD. It also has practical value since the framework presented in the paper can be used by actors in the field of information system (IS) management as a tool to analyze and evaluate coping strategies employed by IS departments also facing turbulent environments. To our knowledge, there has not been an attempt to gain a comprehensive understanding of how IS departments cope with or might cope with situations of rapidly changing environments. Such research is worthwhile because managing change is relevant to every organization dealing with information systems, and is crucial to those which experience rapidly changing environments

    Distressed and Failing IS Projects: A Critical Review of the Literature

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    This research-in-progress paper evaluates the literature regarding distress in information systems (IS) development projects. An IS project is seen as distressed when experiencing critical problems that may ultimately result in project failure. This paper first discusses the notion of IS project distress in contrast to IS project failure and briefly examines corresponding literature. A more detailed review of existing research on IS project distress shows that two different interpretative perspectives—process and narrative—have identified several problems that cause distressed states in IS development projects and ways of responding and coping with such problems. While little attention has been devoted to research on IS project distress, the results of this research stream are highly relevant and valuable for real life project situations. Based on our literature review, we propose shifting research focus towards IS project distress and problematic situations experienced during IS development projects. Keywords IS project distress, IS project success and failure, IS success and failure, failure signals

    Designing Interfaces to Support Collaboration in Information Retrieval

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    Information retrieval systems should acknowledge the existence of collaboration in the search process. Collaboration can help users to be more effective in both learning systems and in using them. We consider some issues of viewing interfaces to information retrieval systems as collaborative notations and how to build systems that more actively support collaboration. We describe a system that embodies just one kind of explicit support; a graphical representation of the search process that can be manipulated and discussed by the users. By acknowledging the importance of other people in the search process, we can develop systems that not only improve help-giving by people but which can lead to a more robust search activity, more able to cope with, and indeed exploit, the failures of any intelligent agents used

    Spatial modelling of adaptation strategies for urban built infrastructures exposed to flood hazards

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    The recent 2010/2011 floods in the central and southern Queensland (Australia) prompted this research to investigate the application of geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing in modelling the current flood risk, adaptation/coping capacity, and adaptation strategies. Identified Brisbane City as the study area, the study aimed to develop a new approach of formulating adaptation/coping strategies that will aid in addressing flood risk management issues of an urban area with intensive residential and commercial uses. Fuzzy logic was the spatial analytical tool used in the integration of flood risk components (hazard, vulnerability, and exposure) and in the generation of flood risk and adaptation capacity indices. The research shows that 875 ha, 566 ha, and 828 ha were described as areas with relatively low, relatively moderate, and relatively high risk to flooding, respectively. Identified adaptation strategies for areas classified as having relatively low (RL), relatively moderate (RM), relatively high (RH), and likely very high (LVH) adaptation/coping capacity were mitigation to recovery phases, mitigation to response phases, mitigation to preparedness phases, and mitigation phase, respectively. Integrating the results from the flood risk assessment, quantitative description of adaptation capacity, and identification of adaptation strategies, a new analytical technique identified as flood risk-adaptation capacity index-adaptation strategies (FRACIAS) linkage model was developed for this study

    Coping with Extreme Events: Institutional Flocking

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    Recent measurements in the North Atlantic confirm that the thermohaline circulation driving the Gulf Stream has come to a stand. Oceanographic monitoring over the last 50 years already showed that the circulation was weakening. Under the influence of the large inflow of melting water in Northern Atlantic waters during last summer, it has now virtually stopped. Consequently, the KNMI and the RIVM estimate the average . In this essay we will explore how such a new risk profile affects the distribution of risks among societal groups, and the way in which governing institutions need to adapt in order to be prepared for situations of rapid but unknown change. The next section will first introduce an analytical perspective, building upon the Risk Society thesis and a proposed model of ‘institutional flocking’.temperature to decrease by 3°C in the next 15 years
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