Digital libraries to knowledge portals: Towards a global knowledge portal for Secondary Schools in Singapore

For digital libraries to remain relevant in the new millennium where the ability to manage knowledge is critical, this paper explores how digital libraries could strategically be evolved into knowledge portals to encapsulate knowledge creation, management, sharing and reusability, features evidently lacking in most conventional digital libraries. Two digital library scenarios of use in education are described and implemented as knowledge portals using G-Portal and the Greenstone software. We hope that the initial work carried out on these two portal-like DLs will eventually form part of a Global Knowledge Portal for Secondary Schools in Singapore.Accepted versio

Manufacturing and Supply Chain Flexibility: Building an Integrative Conceptual Model Through Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to establish the current themes on the topic of manufacturing and supply chain flexibility (MSCF), assess their level of maturity in relation to each other, identify the emerging ones and reflect on how they can inform each other, and second, to develop a conceptual model of MSCF that links different themes connect and highlight future research opportunities. The study builds on a sample of 222 articles published from 1996 to 2018 in international, peer-reviewed journals. The analysis of the sample involves two complementary approaches: the co-word technique to identify the thematic clusters as well as their relative standing and a critical reflection on the papers to explain the intellectual content of these thematic clusters. The results of the co-word analysis show that MSCF is a dynamic topic with a rich and complex structure that comprises five thematic clusters. The value chain, capability and volatility clusters showed research topics that were taking a central role in the discussion on MSCF but were not mature yet. The SC purchasing practices and SC planning clusters involved work that was more focused and could be considered more mature. These clusters were then integrated in a framework that built on the competence–capability perspective and identified the major structural and infrastructural elements of MSCF as well as its antecedents and consequences. This paper proposes an integrative framework helping managers keep track the various decisions they need to make to increase flexibility from the viewpoint of the entire value chain

Knowledge creation and transfer at the institute of molecular and cell biology (IMCB) in its first ten years (1987-1996)

In this dissertation, an assumption that the amount of knowledge created by a research organisation can be measured by proxy variables such as the number of research papers published, and the number of citations received by those papers, was made. This allowed bibliometric techniques to be used to measured the amount of knowledge created at the IMCB in its first ten years.Master of Scienc

A grounded theory of voluntary and informal knowledge sharing.

Knowledge sharing is an essential element of organisational learning, knowledge creation, and knowledge management. It prevents the reinvention of the wheel in the organisation, ensures the spread of best practices throughout the organisation, and avails private knowledge to the problem-solving process. Unfortunately, knowledge sharing is often problematic, and has been labeled as “unnatural acts”. Research so far has surfaced two main conclusions about knowledge and people. First, knowledge is sticky in that it is stubbornly immobile, and transferring it from one person to another is often difficult and slow. Second, people are generally stubborn, refusing to share their knowledge, preferring to rely on it as their power base (the “knowledge is power” syndrome) and refusing to use knowledge that they did not create themselves (the “not invented here” syndrome). In this research, an in-depth case study was carried out to develop a grounded theory for voluntary and informal knowledge sharing (VIKS) in an academic context. VIKS is a specific type of knowledge sharing characterised by serendipity (VIKS occurs without pre-planning), spontaneity (participation in VIKS is one’s choice), and extemporaneousness (participation in VIKS is unrehearsed). As such, VIKS is a narrower and more focused form of knowledge sharing. Data were elicited through semi-structured interviews with twenty-four academics from the College of Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The respondents were selected from seven categories of academics, namely, non-tenured academics, academics without PhD, academics who teach ancillary subjects, female academics, newly hired academics, academics who pursued their doctoral studies in a language other than English, and academics holding administrative positions. The data were transcribed, and analysed using the coding procedures prescribed by the grounded theory methodology.Doctor of Philosophy (SCI

Music libraries in 13 weeks: The experience at NTU

The Division of Information Studies offered a module on music libraries for the first time in 2005. This paper explains the rationale for offering the module, and describes the experience in offering the module. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part describes the topics covered in the module. The second part discusses the challenges faced and how they were overcome. Lastly, some anecdotal feedback and suggestions from the students will be presented

Social network games : the link between enjoyment and popularity

Despite the rapid proliferation of SNGs, the various factors of enjoyment and their influence on SNGs’ popularity attract little research attention. Hence, the objective of this paper is two-fold. First, it attempts to formulate a theoretical framework that specifies the factors affecting enjoyment in SNGs. Second, it seeks to investigate the degree to which different enjoyment factors in the theoretical framework affect SNGs’ popularity. On the basis of the literature, five enjoyment factors in SNGs, namely, emotion, control, immersion, social interaction and usability have been identified. The dataset comprised 100 randomly selected SNGs from a recommended list in Facebook. Enjoyment factors for each SNG were evaluated by a team of three coders while the popularity of each SNG was measured in terms of the number of Monthly Active Users reported in Facebook as of April 2012. The results from the regression analysis indicate that the five enjoyment factors collectively account for 54.80 % of variability in the popularity of SNGs. Furthermore, emotion, control and social interaction were significant antecedents of popularity. The paper concludes with a few limitations and offers some directions for future research.Accepted versio

A digital game for international students' adjustment

Although digital games have been developed for various subject areas, little attention has been focused on using digital games to address international students' adjustment issues. For this reason, this paper endeavors to explore the use of a digital game in facilitating international students acquire adjustment-related information. Specifically, the objectives of this paper are twofold. One, it seeks to introduce a digital game called Digital Game for International Student Training (DGIST) which is intended to satisfy important aspects of international students' information needs through fun. Two, it seeks to perform a preliminary evaluation of DGIST in terms of its efficacy in helping international students acquire adjustment-related information through a before-and-after with control experimental design. A total of 80 participants were involved in the study. Despite a few shortcomings, the results for DGIST appeared to be promising. Statistical analyses confirmed that DGIST was more effective in helping students acquire adjustment-related information than the paper-based document. This paper concludes with some limitations and suggests a few areas for further research.Published versio

VSPad : harnessing learning styles among mobile learners

Educational applications that run on mobile devices are fast emerging, supporting a variety of learning activities. Yet one crucial area that has received little attention to date involves the learning styles of users and whether these affect their rate of learning. This paper describes the design and development of Visuo-Spatial Pad (VSPad), an application running on mobile devices that helps people remember lists of keywords better using their visual, spatial and auditory strengths. VSPad uses the number keypad structure of mobile phones for learners to remember the starting letters of keywords. Learners highlight letters that the keywords start with and whenever a list needs to be recalled, they simply retrace the way their fingers moved. Letters are associated with unique tones, helping auditory learners as well. The VSPad is also network-enabled, allowing keyword lists to be shared among learners.Accepted versio