RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATIONS OF USING FACEBOOK AND SELF-ESTEEM OF GIRNE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY’S STUDENTS

In recent years, social media has become popular in the virtual world. There are websites on the Internet where members or participants discuss about specific topics, share recent activities or upload photos or videos. Social media such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Myspace are Internet based applications, and individuals use them in order to create and share content about their favorite topics. On the other hand, human beings have social needs and they look for different ways to gratify themselves during life time. Social media with a wide range of facilities have provided a sense of self-esteem which is one of the most important elements of human social needs. Since Facebook was ranked first as the most popular social networking sites in past years, and because of researchers personal experiences of observing the popularity of Facebook among Girne American University students, this study aimed at discovering the motivations behind using Facebook among students, finding out whether there is any significant correlation between a specific motivation and self-esteem or not. In order to do that, 120 undergraduate students participated in a survey study. They were selected by using probable sampling method. Data was collected by means of questionnaire and analyzed by Kendall's tau correlation coefficient. The results expanded previous studies which claim social networking sites may improve self-esteem of their users. The results showed that less self-esteem is related to share more activity, uploading photos and making new friends on Facebook, while no significant correlation was found between lack of self-esteem and discussing about personal problems on Facebook

COBRA framework to evaluate e-government services: A citizen-centric perspective

E-government services involve many stakeholders who have different objectives that can have an impact on success. Among these stakeholders, citizens are the primary stakeholders of government activities. Accordingly, their satisfaction plays an important role in e-government success. Although several models have been proposed to assess the success of e-government services through measuring users' satisfaction levels, they fail to provide a comprehensive evaluation model. This study provides an insight and critical analysis of the extant literature to identify the most critical factors and their manifested variables for user satisfaction in the provision of e-government services. The various manifested variables are then grouped into a new quantitative analysis framework consisting of four main constructs: cost; benefit; risk and opportunity (COBRA) by analogy to the well-known SWOT qualitative analysis framework. The COBRA measurement scale is developed, tested, refined and validated on a sample group of e-government service users in Turkey. A structured equation model is used to establish relationships among the identified constructs, associated variables and users' satisfaction. The results confirm that COBRA framework is a useful approach for evaluating the success of e-government services from citizens' perspective and it can be generalised to other perspectives and measurement contexts. Crown Copyright © 2014.PIAP-GA-2008-230658) from the European Union Framework Program and another grant (NPRP 09-1023-5-158) from the Qatar National Research Fund (amember of Qatar Foundation

Virginia Woolf’un “Kendine Ait Bir Oda” Eserindeki Kadın ve Kütüphane Algısı

Bu çalışma, İngiliz Dili ve Edebiyatının modern yazarlarından biri olan Virginia Woolf’un 1929 yılında yazdığı “Kendine Ait Bir Oda” eserinde kadın ve kütüphane kavramına ilişkin bakış açısını ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır

Afrika Kütüphane Projesi

Bu okuyucu mektubu Afrika Kütüphane Projesi’nin nasıl hayata geçirildiğini ortaya koymayı ve proje hakkında bilgi vermeyi amaçlamaktadır

Taking the demand side into account: Citizen perceptions and suggestions for development of e-Government services and gateway in Turkey

The purpose of this work follows the importance, priority and necessity of paying attention to citizen side, and aims to improve our understanding and addressing better the citizen demands and expectations towards e-Government. The research aims to question and understand better what citizens think regarding the currently available e-Government services in Turkey. In response to this purpose and question, this work-in-progress paper presents secondary information from literature review and context of the ongoing practical and academic works, and primary findings from both a preliminary and a recent study. These presented information and findings mostly represent practitioners' viewpoint that is mostly based on the authors' professional, academic and personal involvement in the various aspects of the Turkey case, and in return are expected to provide certain input for the on-going practical affairs. As the research is a work-in-progress that traces long-lasting development and ongoing operations of e-Government in practice, at this point providing some suggestions and directions rather than concrete practical and theoretical implications is considered to have the most value. As a result, security, trust, ease of use, service and information quality are determined to be significant for citizens' perceptions and suggestions as factors that affect their usage of e-Government services in Turkey. The resulting paper first provides a relevant literature review then information about the history and latest developments in e-Government from the perspective of citizen side. Following this background information, the preliminary descriptive study on citizen perceptions of demands and expectations conducted last year is reminded. Build upon these ongoing researches on the academic and practical side, latest research findings as a result of analysing citizens suggestions for E-Government Gateway (EGG) in Turkey are also shared. Finally, suggestions for future are given. We hope all these works will contribute to the improvement of e-Government from the citizens' perspectives, as well as provides suggestions and guidelines for related initiatives elsewhere

INVESTIGATING DIFFERENT USER PROFILES OF E-GOVERNMENT SERVICES FOR TURKEY

INVESTIGATING DIFFERENT USER PROFILES OF E-GOVERNMENT SERVICES FOR TURKE

2011b), “COBRA Framework to Evaluate E-Government Services: A Citizen-Centric Perspective”, Working paper to be published in Government Information Quarterly journal

E-government services involve many stakeholders who have different objectives that can have an impact on success. Among these stakeholders, citizens are the primary stakeholders of government activities. Accordingly, their satisfaction plays an important role in e-government success. Although several models have been proposed to assess the success of e-government services through measuring users' satisfaction levels, they fail to provide a comprehensive evaluation model. This study provides an insight and critical analysis of the extant literature to identify the most critical factors and their manifested variables for user satisfaction in the provision of e-government services. The various manifested variables are then grouped into a new quantitative analysis framework consisting of four main constructs: cost; benefit; risk and opportunity (COBRA) by analogy to the well-known SWOT qualitative analysis framework. The COBRA measurement scale is developed, tested, refined and validated on a sample group of e-government service users in Turkey. A structured equation model is used to establish relationships among the identified constructs, associated variables and users' satisfaction. The results confirm that COBRA framework is a useful approach for evaluating the success of e-government services from citizens' perspective and it can be generalised to other perspectives and measurement contexts. Crow