Forbes Gibb

A framework for business continuity management

An enterprise is exposed to risks-such as acts of terrorism, natural disasters and utility failure-which may disrupt operations, disaffect customers and compromise business credibility and revenue streams. Risk can also be introduced to an enterprise through changes-such as automation, down-sizing, process re-engineering or outsourcing of processes and services-each of which may also bring changes in the type of risk. This paper proposes a framework for the design, implementation and monitoring of a business continuity management programme within the context of an information strategy.

The information audit: An integrated strategic approach

Fundamental to the development of an effective information strategy is the recognition of information as a key organisational resource. The role of the information audit is to provide a method for identifying, evaluating, and managing information resources in order to fully exploit the strategic potential of information. In consideration of this strategic role the information audit should provide strategic direction and guidelines for the management of an organisations information resources. However, a review of existing methods concludes that none provide a comprehensive information auditing solution or completely fulfill this strategic role. Therefore a universal methodology is proposed.

Students' attitudes towards e‐books in a Scottish higher education institute: part 1

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the first part of three inter‐related studies investigating the use and usability of e‐books in higher education based on experiments conducted at the University of Strathclyde.Design/methodology/approach – A self‐selected sampling method was employed from undergraduate and postgraduate instructional students registered with the University of Strathclyde for academic year 2005/2006. An announcement email was posted to the student web portal for a period of three weeks inviting them to participate in the survey.Findings – This survey found that e‐book awareness and the level of e‐book usage amongst students was lower than anticipated: 57 per cent of students were not aware of the availability of e‐books from the library and 60 per cent of them had not used an e‐book. Non‐users commented that e‐books were not widely advertised or promoted. Despite the low levels of e‐book awareness and usage non‐e‐book users indicated their desire to learn more about e‐books...

The WEB Book experiments in electronic textbook design

This paper describes a series of three evaluations of electronic textbooks on the Web, which focused on assessing how appearance and design can affect users’ sense of engagement and directness with the material. The EBONI Projects methodology for evaluating electronic textbooks is outlined and each experiment is described, together with an analysis of results. Finally, some recommendations for successful design are suggested, based on an analysis of all experimental data. These recommendations underline the main findings of the evaluations: that users want some features of paper books to be preserved in the electronic medium, while also preferring electronic text to be written in a scannable style.

Usability and impact of digital libraries : a review

Purpose - The main objective of this paper is to review work on the usability and impact of digital libraries. Design/methodology/approach - Work on the usability and impact of digital libraries is reviewed. Specific studies on the usability and impact of digital libraries in specific domains are also discussed in order to identify general and specific usability and impact measures. Findings - The usability studies reviewed in this paper show that a number of approaches have been used to assess usability. In addition to the technical aspects of digital library design (e.g. architecture, interfaces and search tools), there are a number of usability issues such as globalisation, localisation, language, culture issues, content and human information behaviour. Digital libraries should, however, be evaluated primarily with respect to their target users, applications and contexts. Research limitations/implications - Although a digital library evaluation study may have several objectives, ranging from the evaluation of its design and architecture to the evaluation of its usability and its impact on the target users, this paper focuses on usability and impact. Originality/value - This paper provides insights into the state-of-the art in relation to the usability and impact of digital libraries.

From the Visual book to the WEB book: the importance of design

This paper presents the results of two studies into electronic book production. The Visual book study explored the importance of the visual component of the book metaphor for the production of more effective electronic books, while the WEB book study took the findings of the Visual book and applied them to the production of books for publication on the World Wide Web (WWW). Both studies started from an assessment of which kinds of paper book are more suitable for translation into electronic form. Both also identified publications which are meant to be used for reference rather than those which are read sequentially, and usually in their entirety. This group includes scientific publications and textbooks which were both used as the target group for the Visual book and the WEB book experiments. In this paper we discuss the results of the two studies and how they could influence the design and production of more effective electronic books.

The information audit: Role and scope

The information audit (IA) is central to the effective organisational management of information, however, there is evidence from the field that the IA is neither fully accepted nor commonly practiced. This paper highlights and discusses three challenges to current practice: limited guidance on management of scope; ambiguous linkage to related ICT development processes; and the lack of a standard methodological approach. In response to these challenges, the role and scope of the IA is re-examined, key relationships to information strategy and information system architecture (ISA) are defined and mapped, and a two-dimensional matrix is proposed to manage scope.

An integrated approach to process and service management

Any enterprise exists to create and capture value, and much of this value is created through processes and services. Given the heavy dependency of processes on information and IT, the chief information officer (CIO) has a key role to play in ensuring that the enterprise has the appropriate tools to identify, design, implement, monitor and measure the processes and services which will deliver an enterprises strategic goals and objectives. This paper looks at the nature of processes and services, proposes a toolbox for their management and looks at the implications for information strategy and effective information management regimes.

Uncertainty in information seeking and retrieval: A study in an academic environment

This research focuses specifically on uncertainty and information seeking in a digital environment. In this research we argue that different types of uncertainty are associated with the information seeking process and that, with the proliferation of new and different search tools, sources and channels, uncertainty, positive/desirable or negative/undesirable, continues to be a significant factor in the search process. Users may feel uncertain at any stage of the information search and retrieval process and uncertainty may remain even after completion of the process resulting in what may be called persistent uncertainty. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from users in the higher education sector. There were three parts to the questionnaire focusing on: information seeking activities, information seeking problems, and access to specific information channels or sources. Quantitative analysis was carried out on the data collected through the online questionnaire. A total of 668 responses were returned from the chosen user categories of academic staff, research staff and research students. This research has shown that there are some information seeking activities and information seeking problems that are the most common causes of uncertainty among significant number of users from different disciplines, age, gender, ICT skills, etc. This is also the case with respect to access to and use of specific information sources/channels, although the degrees of uncertainty in relation are relatively small. Possible implications of this study and further research issues are indicated.

The role of visual rhetoric in the design and production of electronic books: the visual book

This paper starts from the observation that the appearance of information contributes to its overall value and that, because there are many ways to represent information, it is very important to find the model which is going to be the most effective and conveys the greatest value of the original information. Appearance has always played a key role in the learning process, as it facilitates the discovery of new concepts by allowing visual association with those which are already familiar. This is why metaphors are so important in learning in general, and have therefore proved to be a valuable tool for designing alternative paradigms when adapting traditional tasks to novel environments. This paper will briefly discuss the link between paper books and their electronic counterparts. It will then focus on the role of metaphors in producing electronic books and introduce and discuss the importance of the visual rhetoric concept in driving the design process. Finally it will also present the main results of the visual book experiment and how these results can be interpreted in the context of the visual rhetoric approach.