Chao-Min Chiu

Determinants of continued use of the WWW: an integration of two theoretical models

This study examines motivational factors influencing ones intention to continue using WWW applications. Social cognitive theory is adapted and integrated with expectancy disconfirmation theory and empirical findings from prior studies about continued use of information systems. Research hypotheses derived from this model are empirically validated using the responses to a survey on WWW usage, collected from 235 users. Results suggest that users’ continuance intention is determined by their satisfaction with prior use, internet self‐efficacy, and outcome expectations. Outcome expectation, in turn, is influenced by their satisfaction with prior use and prior perceived confirmation. This study draws attention to the substantial differences between acceptance and continuance. Implications for practice and further research are considered.

Applying means-end chain theory to eliciting system requirements and understanding users perceptual orientations

This paper discusses how the use of a means-end approach in eliciting user requirements for a system results in a better understanding of the users perceptual orientation toward the Web-based document management system under design. Our findings imply that, from an overall perceptive, respondents are most concerned with the sense of being comfortable with the system, while respondents are more aware of the need for a security mechanism. However, none sought a sense of accomplishment or of belonging, self-respect, self-fulfillment, excitement, fun or enjoyment of the system. I provide a model that fuses the attribute-consequence-value (A-C-V) model and technology acceptance model (TAM). This model posits that factors at the consequence level lead to other factors at the value level, which in turn lead to behavioral intention to use the system. The model explains how attribute, consequence, and value factors ultimately lead to system use.

Extending HTML in a principled way with displets

Abstract Displets provide authors and programmers with a way to freely extend the HTML language on a per-document basis in a principled manner. Currently, in order to be accepted, HTML elements must be approved by the official HTML review board. Non-standard extensions have appeared, and have relied on the commercial power of the proponents for acceptance. Two major forces are driving the extension process of the HTML language: those who favor a better description of document elements, as with SGML, and those who would like better control over the final appearance of documents, as with Postscript and other display-oriented languages. Special notations (such as mathematics, music, etc.), are hardly considered—if at all—in defining the HTML standard. We designed displets to fill this frustrating gap. Displets are Java classes that are activated while rendering an HTML document. Displets provide graphical artists a better control over the final appearance of HTML documents, librarians and indexers a better description of their content, and those in need of new notations a way to describe and use graphical objects in a manner compatible with the graphical and structural habits of the HTML community.

Exploring the antecedents of team performance in collaborative learning of computer software

As teamwork becomes common in computer software learning, there is an increasing need to study factors contributing to team performance. To this pursuit, the concept of collective efficacy offers great potential to researchers of information systems (IS). Drawing upon social cognitive theory (SCT), this study examines the relationships among computer collective efficacy (CCE), outcome expectations and team performance in the context of collaborative learning. Computer collective efficacy is further divided into two constructs, general CCE and specific CCE. Their causal relationships with two other constructs, performance and outcome expectations, are then investigated using longitudinal data collected from 188 groups of students of an 18-week computer software course. The results indicate that a teams software learning performance is strongly influenced by specific CCE and outcome expectations, which in turn are influenced by prior performance and general CCE. Finally, prior performance of a group has no direct impact on its subsequent performance.

A dynamically mapped open hypermedia system framework for integrating information systems

Abstract The overall goal of this research is to design a distributed, extensible, cross-platform, collaorative, and integrated system that can supplement information systems with hypertext support. In this paper, we propose a dynamically mapped open hypermedia system (DMOHS) framework that can support information systems fully. Our framework has two axes: a logical component focus and an application requirement focus. In Axis 1, we propose a conceptual DMOHS architecture with eight logical components. In Axis 2, we define and discuss major aspects of a DMOHS that should be supported in a distributed and integrated environment. Together the two axes provide a grid for specifying the logical DHOMS functionality for supporting application requirements. Given this framework, we first evaluate five open hypermedia systems and the www, and then design our own system implemented on top of the www. This paper also contributes guidelines for building mapping routines that supplement on top of the www. Further, it contributes guidelines for building mapping routines that supplement information systems with hypertext support.

Towards a Hypermedia-enabled and Web-based Data Analysis Framework

Making better business decisions is often the key to gaining competitive advantage. An important factor in effective decision-making is the ability to access, understand, and utilise business information easily. In this paper, we propose a framework that focuses on integrating data analysis tools into the Web and providing hypermedia functionality to them, and supporting the development of hypermedia functionalities with Web usage mining techniques. In this framework, data analysis tools play the role of utilizing historical data to discover useful information and improve the process of business decisions. Augmenting data analysis tools with rich hypermedia functionality would streamline access to and provide rich navigational features around related information, while augmenting hypermedia facilities with Web usage mining would allow them to dynamically restructure the Web site to fit users’ browsing needs based on past navigation history. We believe that the proposed framework should result in new ways to view and manage data analysis tools and help users easily browse Web sites.

Towards integrating hypermedia and information systems on the web

Our overall research goal is to provide hypermedia functionality to information systems (IS) through the WWW with minimal or no change to the IS itself. We feel that the systems should be able to generate links dynamically using a mapping mechanism to generate the hypermedia constructs instead of the links being hard-coded. This paper provides a systematic procedure for analyzing IS and building mapping rules to supplement them with a rich layer of links and other navigation, structuring, and annotation tools, resulting in new ways to view and manage knowledge and information relationships.

Reengineering information systems with XML

Abstract HTML was one of the technologies that ushered in the concept of the Web enabled enterprise. XML is driving Web-enablement to new levels as it becomes the de facto middleware standard for bridging legacy systems and the Web. This article is a hands-on, code-filled look at one way to use XML as Web-enabling middleware.

Towards multiple hypermedia in information services

This paper proposes an information system-oriented open hypermedia system (IS-OHS) framework that can fully support information systems (IS) with hypermedia functionality. The framework has two axes: an IS-OHS logical component focus and an application requirement focus. Axis one encompasses a conceptual IS-OHS architecture with seven logical components. Axis two defines and discusses major aspects of IS-OHSs that should be supported in a distributed and integrated environment. The first axis provides a comprehensive viewpoint for thinking about the IS-OHS architecture that integrates both ISs and viewers, in which authors create document contents and links manually. The second axis provides a set of major application requirements that an IS-OHS should support. Together, the two axes provide a grid for specifying the logical IS-OHS functionality for supporting application requirements. One major function of this framework is for analysing open hypermedia systems (OHS). Another is to help designers specify their own hypermedia-supported systems, either from scratch or by incorporating existing systems.