Early Integrators and the Passive Majority: An evaluation study of a large web-based bibliographic reference database

An evaluation is reported of user responses to zetoc, a service that provides access to the British Library electronic table of contents database and an email alerting service. Two questionnaire surveys and an interview programme gave data on over 800 users. The results show that about 17% are active users who are achieving a personal information management routine by integrating zetoc with other services (the early integrators). The other 83%, the `passive majority', make limited use of zetoc and do not achieve integration with other services. The interviews reveal that some of this group have a stable but restricted usage routine that limits information overload. The usage by others is less controlled and they make little use of the information they receive. The paper examines the impact of enhancements to the zetoc service to support integration and it discusses the barriers that prevent many users exploiting the potential of services available to them

A Taxonomy of Self-configuring Service Discovery Systems

We analyze the fundamental concepts and issues in service discovery. This analysis places service discovery in the context of distributed systems by describing service discovery as a third generation naming system. We also describe the essential architectures and the functionalities in service discovery. We then proceed to show how service discovery fits into a system, by characterizing operational aspects. Subsequently, we describe how existing state of the art performs service discovery, in relation to the operational aspects and functionalities, and identify areas for improvement

Monitoring Challenges and Approaches for P2P File-Sharing Systems

Since the release of Napster in 1999, P2P file-sharing has enjoyed a dramatic rise in popularity. A 2000 study by Plonka on the University of Wisconsin campus network found that file-sharing accounted for a comparable volume of traffic to HTTP, while a 2002 study by Saroiu et al. on the University of Washington campus network found that file-sharing accounted for more than treble the volume of Web traffic observed, thus affirming the significance of P2P in the context of Internet traffic. Empirical studies of P2P traffic are essential for supporting the design of next-generation P2P systems, informing the provisioning of network infrastructure and underpinning the policing of P2P systems. The latter is of particular significance as P2P file-sharing systems have been implicated in supporting criminal behaviour including copyright infringement and the distribution of illegal pornograph

Finding new music: a diary study of everyday encounters with novel songs

This paper explores how we, as individuals, purposefully or serendipitously encounter 'new music' (that is, music that we haven’t heard before) and relates these behaviours to music information retrieval activities such as music searching and music discovery via use of recommender systems. 41 participants participated in a three-day diary study, in which they recorded all incidents that brought them into contact with new music. The diaries were analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach. The results of this analysis are discussed with respect to location, time, and whether the music encounter was actively sought or occurred passively. Based on these results, we outline design implications for music information retrieval software, and suggest an extension of 'laid back' searching