Usage Bibliometrics

Scholarly usage data provides unique opportunities to address the known shortcomings of citation analysis. However, the collection, processing and analysis of usage data remains an area of active research. This article provides a review of the state-of-the-art in usage-based informetric, i.e. the use of usage data to study the scholarly process.Comment: Publisher's PDF (by permission). Publisher web site: books.infotoday.com/asist/arist44.shtm

Evidence from the Public Sector

The general objective that guided this thesis is to identify the integrated role of information technology capabilities and innovativeness in organizational performance in the public sector. We conducted the present research study in two major stages to achieve this purpose, guided by research questions and specific objectives. We extensively reviewed the scientific literature on innovativeness and IT capabilities applied to the business area first. For this purpose, we used several technological tools to scan several units of analysis underlying each area to identify the origins, conceptual and intellectual structures, and the main active research fronts, indicating open opportunities for the evolution of knowledge. In general, the results showed that knowledge production on the themes is transversal, relating strongly to other topics, such as strategic management, organizational performance, knowledge management and market orientation (innovativeness) and organizational performance, strategic management, and value (IT capabilities). Both themes are recent in the literature, and researchers’ interest proliferates. In addition, there are numerous research opportunities available to future researchers, both about each theme taken in isolation or combined. The knowledge gathered in the first stage was the basis for the conduction of the second stage, whose approach, markedly empirical, sought to identify the nature of the relationships between the central organizational phenomena of this study (innovativeness and IT capabilities), associated with other under-explored elements in the literature, such as IT reconfiguration capacity and IT human capital. To this end, we analyzed the data provided by 258 Brazilian public institutions from the most diverse segments, collected through a survey conducted with the highest information technology managers. We performed the analyses by applying structural equation models based on covariance (CB-SEM). Overall, the results indicated that the reconfiguration IT capability must be listed among the IT capabilities of public organizations, and innovativeness and IT capabilities play an essential role in the performance of these organizations. The results also indicated that the IT human capital is an antecedent of the IT organizational capabilities. Finally, the results showed that IT capabilities, in turn, have a direct positive effect on organizational performance and are indirectly mediated by innovativeness. The study contributes to the evolution of the literature in IT and innovation to the extent that it helps fill the gap in the lack of studies that use advanced quantitative techniques of bibliometric character to analyze the high-impact scientific production available. In addition, the study presents, in detail, all the steps followed by the study, including the combined use of analysis tools, to allow replication by future researchers. The study innovates and contributes to the advancement of the literature in IT and innovation by identifying that IT capabilities are essential antecedents of organizational innovativeness and the role of IT reconfiguration capability and IT human capital on IT organizational capabilities. Finally, this thesis reveals several research opportunities available and recommended by several recently produced high-impact research. This study presents managers with recommendations on creating and developing more effective IT teams with more comprehensive skills in the practical field. In addition, the chapter highlights the need for IT managers to dedicate themselves to developing the capability of teams with the expertise to gather, integrate and implement IT resources, with a focus on meeting the needs of organizational processes. Finally, managers are presented with evidence that creating an environment favorable to innovation and supported by information technology is crucial for achieving better corporate results.O objetivo geral que balizou esta tese foi o de identificar o papel integrado das capacidades de tecnologia da informação e da capacidade para inovar no desempenho organizacional, no contexto do setor público. Para alcançar esta finalidade, o presente trabalho de investigação foi conduzido em duas grandes etapas, guiadas por questões de pesquisa e objetivos específicos. A primeira etapa buscou realizar extensas revisões da literatura científica sobre os temas capacidades para inovar e capacidades de TI, aplicadas à área de negócios. Para tanto, foram utilizadas variadas ferramentas tecnológicas para esquadrinhar diversas unidades de análise subjacentes a cada área, a fim de identificar as origens, as estruturas conceituais e intelectuais, bem como as principais frentes ativas de pesquisa, com a indicação de oportunidades abertas para evolução do conhecimento. De forma geral, os resultados indicaram que a produção do conhecimento sobre os temas é transversal, se relacionando fortemente com outros tópicos, como gestão estratégica, desempenho organizacional, gestão do conhecimento e orientação para o mercado (capacidade para inovar) e desempenho organizacional, gestão estratégica e valor (capacidades de TI). Ambos os temas são recentes na literatura e o interesse dos pesquisadores está em franco crescimento. Além disso, existem inúmeras oportunidades de pesquisa à disposição de futuros pesquisadores, tanto em relação a cada tema tomado de forma isolada, quanto combinados entre si. Os conhecimentos reunidos na primeira etapa foram a base para a condução da segunda etapa, cuja abordagem, marcantemente empírica, buscou identificar a natureza das relações existentes entre os fenômenos organizacionais centrais deste estudo (capacidade para inovar e capacidades de TI), associados a outros elementos pouco explorados na literatura, como a capacidade de reconfiguração de TI e o capital humano de TI. Para tanto, foram analisados os dados fornecidos por 258 instituições públicas brasileiras, de diversos segmentos, coletados por meio de survey conduzida com os mais altos gestores de tecnologia da informação. As análises foram realizadas por meio da aplicação de modelos de equações estruturais baseados em covariância (CB-SEM). De forma geral, os resultados indicaram que a capacidade de reconfiguração de TI deve ser elencada entre as capacidades de TI das organizações públicas, bem como que a capacidade para inovar e as capacidades de TI exercem um importante papel no desempenho dessas organizações. Os resultados indicaram ainda que o capital humano de TI é um antecedente das capacidades organizacionais de TI. Por fim, os resultados indicaram que as capacidades de TI, por sua vez, exercem efeito positivo direto sobre o desempenho organizacional, bem como indireto, mediado pela capacidade para inovar. O estudo contribui com a evolução da literatura das áreas de TI e inovação, na medida em que ajuda a preencher a lacuna da carência de estudos que se utilizem de avançadas técnicas quantitativas, de caráter bibliométrico, para analisar a produção científica de alto impacto disponível. Além disso, o estudo apresenta, de forma detalhada, todos os passos seguidos pelo trabalho, inclusive o uso combinado de ferramentas de análise, a fim de possibilitar a replicação por futuros pesquisadores. O estudo inova e contribui para o avanço da literatura das áreas de TI e inovação ao identificar que as capacidades de TI são importantes antecedentes da capacidade organizacional para inovar, bem como o papel da capacidade de reconfiguração de TI e do capital humano de TI sobre as capacidades organizacionais de TI. Por fim, esta tese revela diversas oportunidades de pesquisa disponíveis e recomendadas por diversas pesquisas de alto impacto recentemente produzidas. No campo prático, este estudo apresenta aos gestores recomendações sobre como podem criar e desenvolver equipes de TI mais efetivas e com habilidades mais abrangentes. Além disso, o capítulo ressalta a necessidade de que os gestores de TI se dediquem a desenvolver a capacidade das equipes com expertise para reunir, integrar e implementar recursos de TI, com o foco em atender as necessidades dos processos organizacionais. Finalmente, os gestores são apresentados a evidências de que a criação de um ambiente favorável à inovação, e apoiado pela tecnologia da informação, é um importante caminho para atingir melhores resultados organizacionais

How to reference a digital game

The question of what constitutes a game as a social object is famously problematic. The alleged impossibility of formulating a complete analytical definition for what constitutes a game is perhaps the most evident symptom of that difficulty. One expression of this problem that has been entirely overlooked by academia is the scholarly practice of referencing games. This paper addresses game referencing as a practice that is implicated with- and constitutive for- the ways in which we conceptualize and assign cultural value to games. Focusing on the conceptual framing of games, on game authorship, and on the historical dimensions of both, we will discuss referencing games as an act that is inevitably political. On these premises, we will provide foundational guidelines for thinking about one’s decisions concerning referencing and about the meaning and relevance of those decisions.peer-reviewe

Stochastic modeling of responsiveness, schedule risk and obsolescence of space systems, and implications for design choices

The U.S Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration continue to face common challenges in the development and acquisition of their space systems. In particular, space programs repeatedly experience significant schedule slippages, and spacecraft are often delivered on-orbit several months, sometimes years, after the initially planned delivery date. The repeated pattern of these schedule slippages suggests deep-seated flaws in managing spacecraft delivery and schedule risk, and an inadequate understanding of the drivers of schedule slippages. Furthermore, due to their long development time and physical inaccessibility after launch, space systems are exposed to a particular and acute risk of obsolescence, resulting in loss of value or competitive advantage over time. The perception of this particular risk has driven some government agencies to promote design choices that may ultimately be contributing to these schedule slippages, and jeopardizing what is increasingly recognized as critical, namely space responsiveness. The overall research objective of this work is twofold: (1) to identify and develop a thorough understanding of the fundamental causes of the risk of schedule slippage and obsolescence of space systems; and in so doing, (2) to guide spacecraft design choices that would result in better control of spacecraft delivery schedule and mitigate the impact of these "temporal risks" (schedule and obsolescence risks). To lay the groundwork for this thesis, first, the levers of responsiveness, or means to influence schedule slippage and impact space responsiveness are identified and analyzed, including design, organizational, and launch levers. Second, a multidisciplinary review of obsolescence is conducted, and main drivers of system obsolescence are identified. This thesis then adapts the concept of a technology portfolio from the macro- or company level to the micro-level of a single complex engineering system, and it analyzes a space system as a portfolio of technologies and instruments, each technology with its distinct stochastic maturation path and exposure to obsolescence. The selection of the spacecraft portfolio is captured by parameters such as the number of instruments, the initial technology maturity of each technology/instrument, the resulting heterogeneity of the technology maturity of the whole system, and the spacecraft design lifetime. Building on the abstraction of a spacecraft as a portfolio of technologies, this thesis then develops a stochastic framework that provides a powerful capability to simultaneously explore the impact of design decisions on spacecraft schedule, on-orbit obsolescence, and cumulative utility delivered by the spacecraft. Specifically, this thesis shows how the choice of the portfolio size and the instruments Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) impact the Mean-Time-To-Delivery (MTTD) of the spacecraft and mitigate (or exacerbate) schedule risk. This work also demonstrates that specific combinations/choices of the spacecraft design lifetime and the TRLs can reduce the risk of on-orbit obsolescence. This thesis then advocates for a paradigm shift towards a calendar-based design mindset, in which the delivery time of the spacecraft is accounted for, as opposed to the traditional clock-based design mindset. The calendar-based paradigm is shown to lead to different design choices, which are more likely to prevent schedule slippage and/or enhance responsiveness and ultimately result in a larger cumulative utility delivered. Finally, missions scenarios are presented to illustrate how the framework and analyses here proposed can help identify system design choices that satisfy various mission objectives and constraints (temporal as well as utility-based).PhDCommittee Chair: Saleh Joseph; Committee Member: Brown Owen; Committee Member: Erwin R. Scott; Committee Member: Feron Eric; Committee Member: Mavris Dimitr

Adaptability of buildings: a critical review on the concept evolution

Our ever-evolving built environment is continuously facing emerging needs for housing, work, health, and mobility, among others. Yet, buildings are usually designed and set up as finished permanent objects, reflecting the one constant scenario in mind of defined form, function, and performance. Since change is increasingly inevitable in our life, enlarging buildings’ adaptive capacities in response to arising variables and changing conditions over their lifecycle becomes a necessity in seeking global sustainability demands. The concept of building adaptability has been a notable subject in this respect, increasingly stimulating and proposing regenerative alternatives to today’s often obsolete buildings. This paper critically reviews the existing body of knowledge on the concept of adaptability in building research. The main focus is made on the evolution of the concept interpretations and related paradigms, and on the development of its applications and strategies in the light of promoting models and trends. Drawing on the literature as a source of evidence, the paper analyzes and classifies the content of existing studies published in scientific journals and gray literature, focusing on a timeframe from 2015 up-to-date. Moreover, the paper aims to build a constructive discussion to identify potential gaps between the actual state of the art and emerging needs, which should be addressed by further research.This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, grant number PD/BD/150400/201

The Impact of Research Data Sharing and Reuse on Data Citation in STEM Fields

Despite the open science movement and mandates for the sharing of research data by major funding agencies and influential journals, the citation of data sharing and reuse has not become standard practice in the various science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Advances in technology have lowered some barriers to data sharing, but it is a socio-technical phenomenon and the impact of the ongoing evolution in scholarly communication practices has yet to be quantified. Furthermore, there is need for a deeper and more nuanced understanding of author self-citation and recitation, the most often cited types of data, disciplinary differences regarding data citation and the extent of interdisciplinarity in data citation. This study employed a mixed methods approach that combined coding with semi-automatic text-searching techniques in order to assess the impact of data sharing and reuse on data citation in STEM fields. The research considered over 500,000 open research data entities, such as datasets, software and data studies, from over 350 repositories worldwide. I also examined 705 bibliographic publications with a total of 15,261 instances of data sharing, reuse, and citation the data, article, discipline and interdisciplinary levels. More specifically, I measured the phenomenon of data sharing in terms of formal data citation, frequently cited data types, and author self-citation, and I explored recitation at the levels of both data- and bibliography-level, and data reuse practices in bibliographies, associations of disciplines, and interdisciplinary contexts. The results of this research revealed, to begin with, disciplinary differences with regard to the impact of data sharing and reuse on data citation in STEM fields. This research also yielded the following additional findings regarding the citation of data by STEM researchers; 1) data sharing practices were diverse across disciplines: 2) data sharing has been increasing in recent years; 3) each discipline made use of major digital repositories; 4) these repositories took various forms depending on the discipline; 5) certain data types were more often cited in each discipline, so that the frequency distribution of the data types was highly skewed; 6) author self-citation and recitation followed similar trends at the data and bibliographic levels, but specific practices varied within each discipline; 7) associations between and across data and author self-citation and recitation at the bibliographic level were observed, with the self-citation rate differing significantly among disciplines;8) data reuse in bibliographies was rare yet diverse; 9) informal citation of data sharing and reuse at the bibliographic level was more common in certain fields, with astronomy/physics showing the highest amount (98%) and technology the lowest (69%); 10) within bibliographic publications, the documentation of data sharing and reuse occurred mainly in the main text; 11) publications in certain disciplines, such as chemistry, computing and engineering, did not attract citations from more than one field (i.e., showed no diversity); and, on the other hand,12) publications in other fields attracted a wide range of interdisciplinary data citations. This dissertation, then, contributes to the understanding of two key areas aspects of the current citation systems. First, the findings have practical implications for individual researchers, decision makers, funding agencies and publishers with regard to giving due credits to those who share their data. Second, this research has methodological implications in terms of reducing the labor required to analyze the full text of associated articles in order to identify evidence of data citation

New Beats Old Nearly Every Day: The Countervailing Effects of Renovations and Obsolescence on Hotel Prices

As is the case with other commercial real estate types, hotels begin to depreciate from the time they open, in a process largely driven by functional obsolescence. Unlike other asset types, however, hotel values hit an inflection point at which they begin to rise again. Average annual depreciation for the 3,810 chain-affiliated hotels in this sample was within the range found in other commercial types of real estate. Depreciation rates start off relatively brisk in the first few years, because hotel owners typically do not begin renovations until around year ten. When owners do begin renovation, those expenditures slow but do not stop the decline in the typical hotel’s value. Then, around year twenty-eight, the depreciation reverses for hotels that are still in business. Not only have renovations stabilized the loss in value, but other, unknown factors promote the hotel’s value­—a phenomenon that could be called a vintage effect. Such fully depreciated properties may be located in particularly favorable sites, or they may have architectural or other features that make them attractive to investors

Open Access Publishing: A Literature Review

Within the context of the Centre for Copyright and New Business Models in the Creative Economy (CREATe) research scope, this literature review investigates the current trends, advantages, disadvantages, problems and solutions, opportunities and barriers in Open Access Publishing (OAP), and in particular Open Access (OA) academic publishing. This study is intended to scope and evaluate current theory and practice concerning models for OAP and engage with intellectual, legal and economic perspectives on OAP. It is also aimed at mapping the field of academic publishing in the UK and abroad, drawing specifically upon the experiences of CREATe industry partners as well as other initiatives such as SSRN, open source software, and Creative Commons. As a final critical goal, this scoping study will identify any meaningful gaps in the relevant literature with a view to developing further research questions. The results of this scoping exercise will then be presented to relevant industry and academic partners at a workshop intended to assist in further developing the critical research questions pertinent to OAP