Infosys v1n048 (December 3, 1994) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/infosys/infs-v1n048 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * IIIII N N FFFFF OOO SSSSS Y Y SSSSS * * I NN N F O O S Y Y S * * I N N N FFF O O SSSSS Y SSSSS * * I N NN F O O S Y S * * IIIII N N F OOO SSSSS Y SSSSS * * * * INFOSYS: The Electronic Newsletter for Information Systems * * Volume 1, Number 48 December 3, 1994 * * * * Editor: Dennis W. Viehland, Massey University, New Zealand * * Listowner: Greg Welsh, American University, Washington DC * * * * Current Subscribers = 3,515 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TABLE OF CONTENTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * EDITOR'S NOTE - INFOSYS Guest Editor * * NEWS - From EDUPAGE * * ANNOUNCEMENT - MetaCASE on the World Wide Web * * ANNOUNCEMENT - ICIS'94 Research Exchange * * ANNOUNCEMENT - Working Paper Series * * CONFERENCE - The Information Superhighway Conference * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Scientific & Technical Info Systems SIG of ASIS * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Canadian Association for Information Science * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Evaluation of Information Technology * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Australasian Conference on Information Systems * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Fifty Years after ENIAC (Technology & Society) * * POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Assistant Professor, Information Systems * * POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Chair, Business Computer Info Systems * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 0419* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * EDITOR'S NOTE - INFOSYS Guest Editor * * Dennis Viehland, Massey University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * This is my last issue for the year. I am pleased to welcome Ake Gronlund of Umea University in Sweden as guest editor of INFOSYS. Ake will finish off 1994 and start volume 2 in 1995. I will return in mid-January from overseas travel and a well-deserved New Zealand Holiday. INFOSYS' first year has been a successful one by any measure. Certainly the volume of messages, the number of subscribers, and notoriety (the favourable kind) INFOSYS has given me have all exceeded my expectations. I look forward to doing it again, only better, in 1995. If you are attending ICIS next month be sure to look me up and introduce yourself. It is always a fun experience to connect a face and voice with an e-mail address. \EOA 0420* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS - From EDUPAGE * * Dennis Viehland, Massey University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TECHNOPHILES ARE TAKING OVER: The average PC household spends about 18 hours a week on the computer, nearly double the time spent in front of the tube, according to an AST Research survey of recent computer buyers. A third of those families subscribe to online services, sometimes more than one. "We're going through a sea change in terms of people's attitudes toward technology -- from very unaccepting to quite accepting," says an IBM senior VP. Whereas in 1985 only 22% of the population felt positive toward technology, by 1995 that number is expected to rise to 56%, and by 2005, 68%. (Business Week 11/28/94 p.89) CREATING A "VIRTUAL SUPERCOMPUTER: The National Scalable Cluster Project will enable computer users to benefit from the combined computing power of many machines working together in various locations on a specific problem. The result of the $4 million project will be a kind of "virtual supercomputer," harnessing a portion of the horsepower of many computers linked around the world. "The Internet is an information highway, and we're going to try to transition it to a computing highway," says one of the project's participants. (Chronicle of Higher Education 11/23/94 A23) "ROAD TO NOWHERE"?: "The information superhighway remains a road to nowhere in the minds of Americans," concludes a survey by America's Research Group. While a total of 48% of those questioned expect the superhighway to be at least "somewhat important," 52% had never heard of it. Women consistently outranked men in attaching some importance to the superhighway's future potential. (Investor's Business Daily 11/25/94 A3) PENTIUM FLAW HAS SOME SCIENTISTS STEAMED A defect in Intel's Pentium chip can cause computers to reach incorrect answers in complex division problems that make use of the chip's floating point processor. Intel says it discovered the problem early last summer and has changed its production process to eliminate it, but since its public disclosure in the Nov. 7 Electrical Engineering Times, the Internet has been clogged with angry messages from scientists and engineers who feel Intel has been a little too cavalier in its response to the problem. "The chip is fine. Statistically, the average person might see this problem once in every 27,000 years," says an Intel spokesman. (Wall Street Journal 11/25/94 B4) NETWORK SANTA: Santa will answer mail sent to him at santa@northpole.net, courtesy of North Pole Productions, a division of Internet Access Inc., in Canada. He is also browsable at http://northpole.net/santa.html. SECURITY LAX AMONG TECHNOLOGY MANAGERS: A recent survey of 1,250 technology managers shows that fewer than 25% consider information security to be extremely important, significantly down from about 34% last year. "Budget and staff shortages are way ahead of security worries at this time," says one respondent. Nearly 60% blame lax security on lack of staff, and 55% cite insufficient budgets to do a good job. "It's a classic dilemma -- good security leads to no events, which in turn causes management to cut the security budget," says another respondent. (Information Week 11/28/94 p.34) HOTEL PHONE SYSTEMS COULD BE LETHAL TO YOUR MODEM: Workers on the go already have discovered that laptop communications often don't work with the digital phone systems found in some hotels. But now it appears just plugging your phone card into a wall jack can "fry" a credit-card-style modem. These micromodems lack the mechanical relays that prevent larger models from succumbing to the high voltages present on some digital systems. (Business Week 12/5/94 p.15) Editor's Note: Edupage, a summary of news items on information technology, is a service of Educom. This is an abbreviated list of news items of interest to the IS community from the November 22, 27, 29, and December 1, 1994 issues. \EOA 0421* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - MetaCASE on the World Wide Web * * Ian Ferguson, University of Sunderland * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MetaCASE on the World Wide Web I am developing a World Wide Web home page on the subject of MetaCASE. It can be found at the following URL: http://osiris.sunderland.ac.uk/rif/metacase/metacase.home.html It contains information on MetaCASE tools, standards, suppliers researchers, mailing lists, and the forthcoming MetaCASE 95 Conference. If you have any interest in metaCASE, you should find something useful in these pages. I am, however, still looking for information. If you know of any people, places or things to do with metaCASE that aren't in the pages already, (particularly books, journals, conferences and net- resources), please let me know about them and I'll put them in (with full credit given to whoever locates them!) Ian Ferguson Research Associate School of Computing and Information Systems University of Sunderland E-mail: cs0rfe@isis.sund.ac.uk \EOA 0422* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - ICIS'94 Research Exchange * * Sid Huff, Univ of Western Ontario * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ICIS'94 Research Exchange International Conference on Information Systems Vancouver, British Columbia The ICIS'94 Program Committee announces the availability of the Research Exchange, a new service provided for attendees of the ICIS Conference in Vancouver. The purpose of the Exchange is to provide a venue at which attendees may discuss their research (or teaching) interests with colleagues. The Research Exchange will operate out of the Peacock Room in the Hyatt Regency Hotel, and will provide approximately 10 numbered tables each of which will seat 8 to 10 people. Anyone wishing to make use of this service may contact colleagues in advance of the conference and reserve a table. You may reserve a table in advance by contacting munro@acs.ucalgary.ca no later than Wednesday, December 7, 1994. First come, first served. Working on the honour system, tables may be reserved in one half hour time periods for 60 minutes maximum. The Research Exchange will be in operation for the following hours: Thursday, December 15, 1994: 10:30 am - 5:30 pm Friday, December 16, 1994: 8:30 am - 5:30 pm Saturday, December 17, 1994: 8:30 am - noon You may also reserve a Research Exchange table during the conference, through sign-up sheets that will be posted in the Peacock Room. The table reservations will be handled on a first-come first-served basis. Since this is the first conference in which ICIS has offered the Research Exchange function, we expect there to be many vacant tables available at any given hour during the conference, hence there should be no great concern about the need to reserve in advance. The final version of the ICIS Program has been posted on Internet, at the address http://mis.commerce.ubc.ca/ICIS/ICIS.html and you are advised to check this before booking a Research Exchange table. To reserve a table in advance (see earlier), please provide the following information (example only): Time: Thursday, December 15, 1994 (1:30-2:30 pm) Name: Fred Bloggs E-Mail: bloggs@myschool.abc.ca Hotel: Hyatt Regency Topic: End-User Computing Instructions/Comments: All attendees welcome Participants in the Research Exchange should note that while flip charts may be available, projection equipment will not. Thus, if you have any material you wish to discuss with your group, please bring sufficient copies with you. \EOA 0423* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - Working Paper Series * * R Davison, City Poly of Hong Kong * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The following Working Papers have been issued recently by the Department of Information Systems at the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong. For further information please contact Robert Davison (isrobert@cphkvx.cphk.hk). Department of Information Systems City Polytechnic of Hong Kong Working Paper Series 94/14 Dr. June Verner and Narciso Cerpa Prototyping: Experienced Practitioners' Views 94/22 Dr. T.T. Moores Management Issues in the Development of Information Systems: A Hong Kong Study 94/23 Dr. T.T. Moores & Dr. R.E.M. Champion A Methodology for Measuring the Risk Associated with a Software Requirements Specification 94/24 Dr. T.T. Moores & Dr. R.E.M. Champion Modelling an Enterprise Perspective for Software Requirements Specification 94/25 Dr. T.T. Moores Producing Task Based Estimates of Software Development Projects 94/26 Dr. N. Bolloju A Calculus for Fuzzy Queries on the Fuzzy Entity-Relationship Model 94/27 Dr. N. Bolloju Formulation of Qualitative Models Using Fuzzy Logic 94/28 Miss Linda Lai Complementarity of Systems Enquiry and Data Analysis in Information Systems Development 94/29 Mrs Eva Y.W. Wong Data Protection Legislation in Hong Kong: A Practical Perspective 94/30 Miss Linda Lai A Synergistic Approach to Information Systems Project Management 94/31 Mrs Jessica Chiu Targetting Individual Characteristics of Managers as a Measure to Improve Software Training: A Hong Kong Focus \EOA 0424* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONFERENCE - The Information Superhighway Conference * * Arie Segev, CITM * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Information Superhighway Conference (Business at the Dawn of the Information Superhighway Era: Challenges, Opportunities, and Strategies) was announced in article 0404 in INFOSYS v1 n46. Please note: The correct e-mail address for Conference information is citm@haas.berkeley.edu The full conference program, registration information, registration form, and logistics information is available by e-mail from the address listed above or on the World Wide Web at the following URL: http://haas.berkeley.edu/~citm/conference.html \EOA 0425* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Scientific & Technical Info Systems SIG of ASIS * * Natalie Schoch, Univ of Maryland-College Prk * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Scientific and Technical Information Systems Special Interest Group American Society for Information Science (ASIS) Annual Meeting October 9-12, 1995 Chicago, Illinois The Scientific and Technical Information Systems Special Interest Group (SIG/STI) of the ASIS is seeking participants for a panel discussion on partnerships in access to scientific information for the 1995 ASIS Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, October 9-12, 1995. Topics may include but are not limited to --design of scientific databases --descriptions of completed research or research in progress on the use or evaluation of scientific information systems --establishment and/or use of scientific communications networks --demonstrations of pertinent products Submissions from both scientists and information specialists are of interest with special consideration given to those projects involving both. If you would like to join the panel, please submit a brief proposal of your topic (200 words or less) by December 12, 1994 to Natalie Schoch at the address below. Questions about the program and additional information can also be directed to this address. Final program copy is due March 15, 1995. Natalie Schoch, Ph.D. Rm. 4121E Hornbake Building South Wing College of Library and Information Services University of Maryland at College Park College Park, MD 20742-4345 Voice: 301/405-2052 Fax: 301/314-9145 E-mail: nk28@umail.umd.edu \EOA 0426* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Canadian Association for Information Science * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Canadian Association for Information Science 23rd Annual Conference (CAIS/ACSI '95) Connectedness: Information, Systems, People, Organisations June 7-10, 1995 Edmonton, Alberta Information science is at the centre of a variety of types of connectedness. Changes in technology are driving and are driven by their interdependence with social and organizational concerns. This conference will address how seemingly disparate areas are interconnected by offering a forum for a variety of perspectives. CAIS invites experts, researchers, and academia to submit research and scholarly papers on: --Computer networking (eg, local interface standards, global high capacity connections, Internet accessibility, user interfaces) --Collaboration and Partnerships (eg, partnerships between people and organizations in a technological environment, information policy development) --Bibliographic networking (eg, standardization among indexing and abstracting databases, automatic indexing technique) --Interdisciplinarity (eg, theory and practice; results of joint research between academic disciplines) The final date for receipt of proposals will be February 1, 1995. Proposals should not exceed 500 words in length. Authors will be notified of acceptance by March 1, 1995. Manuscripts should not exceed 3,000 words and should have proper references, tables, graphs, and illustrations if necessary. Manuscripts should be submitted in hard and machine-readable copy by April 30, 1995. Authors will be notified of acceptance and possible revisions of papers. To submit a proposal or to obtain further information about computing, housing, food, travel, or other aspects of the conference please contact: CAIS/ACSI '95 School of Library and Information Studies 3-20 Rutherford South University of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta CANADA T6G 2J4 Hope Olson: (403)492-5372 or Robin Inskip: (403)492-0179 or the Program Chair: Alvin Schrader: (403)492-4719 E-mail: cais95@slis.ualberta.ca \EOA 0427* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Evaluation of Information Technology * * Ann Brown, City University Business School * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Evaluation of Information Technology Conference 11-12 July 1995 Henley Management College, UK The advisory group for the conference on the Evaluation of Information Technology invites submission of papers. The conference will bring together academics and practitioners from Europe and elsewhere who are involved in the study, management, development and application of information technology, with particular emphasis on the measurement of information technology benefits. In addition to papers describing research, the advisory group is also seeking papers describing practical cases. Three copies of papers (no more than 5,000 words) should be submitted by 17 February 1995 to: Ms Ann Brown Programme Chair, IS Division City University Business School Frobisher Crescent Barbican Centre London EC2Y 8HB Important dates: Paper submission deadline: 17 February 1995 Notification of acceptance: 7 April 1995 Camera ready copies due: 31 May 1995 \EOA 0428* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Australasian Conference on Information Systems * * Graham Pervan, Curtin University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 6th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS'95) September 27-29, 1995 Curtin University Perth, Australia The annual Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS) is the meeting point for Australasian information systems researchers. Its purposes are to facilitate communication between information systems researchers in Australia, New Zealand and in other countries; to provide an avenue whereby researchers can report to their peers; to provide exemplars of research and the reporting of research; and to assist people embarking on academic careers to commence establishing a track record in research publication. The conference program will include plenary sessions involving invited speakers, and panel sessions. A significant proportion of the program is, however, reserved for the presentation of contributed papers. It is ACIS policy that papers will be considered on their merits, irrespective of topic, perspective, theoretical stance, or research design. In order to encourage contributions from researchers interested in any aspect of information systems, there is no specific conference theme. Information systems researchers are invited to register immediately with the Program Committee their intention to contribute a paper on any relevant information systems topic to the conference, and to request a copy of the "Instructions for Authors". All papers will be subjected to a blind refereeing process. Advice will be given to both successful and unsuccessful authors. Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings. Important Dates: Registration of Intention to Submit March 3, 1995 Draft Version for Review by Referees April 22, 1995 Advice of Acceptance or Rejection June 16, 1995 Final Version for Publication July 21, 1995 Direct submissions and enquiries to: A/Prof. Graham Pervan Mr Michael Newby ACIS'95 Organising Committee ACIS'95 Program Committee School of Information Systems School of Information Systems Curtin University Curtin University GPO Box U1987 GPO Box U1987 Perth, WA 6001 AUSTRALIA Perth, WA 6001 AUSTRALIA Voice: (09) 351 7390 (09) 351 7684 Fax: (09) 351 3076 (09) 351 3076 E-mail: pervan@ba1.curtin.edu.au newby_m@cc.curtin.edu.au \EOA 0429* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Fifty Years after ENIAC (Technology & Society) * * Joe Herkert, N Carolina State U * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Computers and Society: Fifty Years after ENIAC Special issue of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine The 50th anniversary of the pioneering electronic computer ENIAC is an opportune time to assess the intricate relationships between computers and society. The complexity of this issue is underscored by the many predictions of the computer's social effects that have not come to pass. A few giant "electronic brains" were not enough to satisfy the computing demands of the United States during the Cold War, "paperless offices" most certainly did not appear in the 1980s (or by the mid-1990s!), minicomputers and personal computers have done much to alter the character of large-scale computing symbolized by ENIAC and its mainframe successors. Since the path of the computer's technical development has been as unpredictable as the accompanying social changes, now seems a good time to take stock of what we have learned about computers and society since the time of ENIAC. The December 1995 issue of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine will be devoted to exploring these issues. Papers dealing with the history, current status, and/or future predictions of the relationships between computers and society in all areas will be welcomed. Broad topics of interest are computers and communication, ethical issues in computing, computers in the workplace, computers and leisure, and issues of privacy and intellectual property. Submit manuscripts to: Professor Ronald Kline Dept. of Electrical Engineering Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14850 The deadline for submissions is April 1, 1995. \EOA 0430* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Assistant Professor, Information Systems * * Eugenia Fernandez, Penn State University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Responsibilities: Teach upper-level and graduate courses in Information Systems, such as MIS, Database, Business Telecommunications, programming, and expert systems. In addition to teaching responsibilities, all tenure track faculty are expected to pursue scholarly research and publications, participate in curriculum development and University and professional activities, and advise undergraduate and graduate students. Qualifications: It is expected that candidates will have an earned doctorate in Management Information Systems from a school of business administration. Salary is highly competitive with AACSB accredited schools and is commensurate with qualifications. Starting date: Fall 1995 Application: Please submit letter of application; resume; and the names, addresses, and phone numbers of five references to: Dr. Mehdi Khosrowpour Chair, Search Committee c/o Ms. Dorothy Guy Penn State Harrisburg, Department MN 777 W. Harrisburg Pike Middletown, PA 17057-4898 Voice: (717) 948-6344 Review of resumes to begin on December 2, 1994. \EOA 0431* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Chair, Business Computer Info Systems * * Mike Vanecek, University of North Texas * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Nominations and applications are invited for the position of Chair of the Department of Business Computer Information Systems (BCIS), College of Business Administration, at the University of North Texas. The BCIS Department has 22 full-time faculty and offers undergraduate, masters, and doctoral degrees for about 600 majors. The undergraduate and graduate programs are fully accredited by the AACSB. The University is a comprehensive state institution with an enrollment of more than 25,000, located in Denton, Texas, a community of 70,000 situated 35 miles north of Dallas and Ft. Worth. Candidates must hold the rank of full professor (or be immediately promotable to full professor effective December 31, 1994) and be tenurable based on the evaluation criteria within the BCIS Department at the University of North Texas and have an earned doctorate in Management Information Systems or Management Science. The successful candidate should have at least three years administrative experience at the department coordinator level or above and should have a record of publication within the last seven years in blind peer reviewed journals having a major national or international reputation. In addition, within the past five years the successful candidate should demonstrate: --knowledge and familiarity with the design and operation of main frame business computing systems --a record of successful fund raising from public or private sources --a successful working relationship with business leaders from the Fortune 500 companies --teaching experience in MIS or MSci. The WWW URL for UNT is http://www.unt.edu/ Salary negotiable. UNT has a strong benefits package. Applications will be accepted until March 31, 1995 or until the position is filled, which ever occurs first. Include three professional references with the resume. Send all nominations and applications to: Dr. J. Wayne Spence Search Committee Chair BCIS Department UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS Denton, Texas 76203-3677 E-mail: spence@cobaf.unt.edu \EOA * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ABOUT INFOSYS * * INFOSYS is an electronic newsletter for faculty, students, and * * practitioners in the field of Information Systems. INFOSYS * * publishes news items, requests for assistance, calls for papers * * announcements of professional meetings and conferences, position * * announcements, journal table of contents, and other items of * * interest to the Information Systems community. * * * * INFOSYS is published biweekly, more frequently if volume requires * * it. INFOSYS operates as an electronic mailing list on listserv * * software at American University in Washington, DC. The editor is * * Dennis W. Viehland . * * * * To subscribe to INFOSYS send the following one-line e-mail * * message to listserv@american.edu: subscribe infosys yourfirstname * * yourlastname (e.g., subscribe infosys John Smith). You will * * receive a welcome letter that will tell you more about INFOSYS * * and listserv. To cancel your subscription send the following * * message to listserv@american.edu: unsubscribe infosys * * * * Guidelines for submitting articles to INFOSYS are published in * * the Welcome message each new subscriber receives (or e-mail "get * * infosys welcome" to listserv@american.edu). Send articles to * * infosys@american.edu or d.viehland@massey.ac.nz. * * * * The INFOSYS Calendar of Upcoming Events is updated fortnightly * * and can be obtained in the following ways: * * --E-mail: send the following one-line message to * * listserv@american.edu: get infosys calendar * * --FTP: anonymous FTP to ftp.american.edu; file is \infosys\ * * infosys.calendar * * --Gopher: gopher to auvm.american.edu; choose INFOSYS * * --WWW: forthcoming * * * * INFOSYS Back Issues are archived by Robert McArthur at: * * http://www.fit.qut.edu.au/~mcarthur/infosys/ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *