Infosys v2n025 (August 7, 1995) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/infosys/infs-v2n025 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * INFOSYS: The Electronic Newsletter for Information Systems * * Volume 2, Number 25 ISSN: 1173-3764 August 7, 1995 * * * * Editor: Dennis W. Viehland, Massey University, New Zealand * * Listowners: Greg Welsh, American University, Washington DC * * Peter M. Weiss, Penn State * * Sponsor: boyd & fraser publishing, Danvers, Massachusetts * * * * Current Subscribers = 3,941 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TABLE OF CONTENTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS - From Edupage * * ANNOUNCEMENT - AIS Americas Conference Papers on World Wide Web * * ANNOUNCEMENT - Continuing Efforts to Globalise the MIS Quarterly * * CONTENTS - Information Systems Research, June 1995 (v6 n2) * * CONFERENCE - Info Technology and Changes in Organisational Work * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Symposium on Computers and the Quality of Life * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Applied Computing Symposium: Small Systems * * CALL FOR PAPERS -Office Systems Research Assoc Conference * * POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Assoc Professor, Systems Development * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 0722* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NEWS - From Edupage * * Dennis Viehland, Massey University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AI IS ALIVE AND WELL: A recent Commerce Dept. survey indicates that more than 70% of the top 500 US companies are using some form of artificial intelligence in their operations. Although AI software sales probably exceeded $1 billion last year, it's often overlooked as a major force in the software market. "Whenever something works, it ceases to be called AI. It becomes some other discipline instead," such as database marketing or voice recognition, says the head of Ernst & Young's information technology services. (Business Week 7/17/95 p.68) COMMERICAL ONLINE SERVICE GROWTH: A survey by the Information and Interactive Services Report indicates the number of subscribers to commercial online information services increased 17% in the past three months, for a total of about 8.5 million, 3 million of which belong to America Online, 3.2 million to CompuServe, and 1.6 million to Prodigy. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution 7/14/95 H3) APPLE'S WINDOWS 95 STRATEGY: Apple CEO Michael Spindler is readying for battle as Microsoft's Windows 95 deadline nears. To compete, Apple plans to "price aggressively" in the pre-Christmas buying season. "There is a perception we're priced at a substantial premium to our competition. It is not our intention as we move into the holiday period that that perception continues," says a company senior VP. "We're moving RISC down to the mainstream price points. By doing that, the argument that the Mac costs too much will be less and less of an issue," says Spindler. (Investor's Business Daily 7/17/95 A11) DISCARD AFTER 5,000 YEARS: Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a data storage technique that uses an ion beam to inscribe data in a space the size of 500 atoms and saves it for up to 5,000 years. The technique has been used to store the equivalent of 12,000 diskettes (or 180 CD-ROMs) onto a 1-inch long pin of stainless steel. (Information Week 7/24/95 p.12) CONSORTIUM DRAFTS OFFICE STANDARDS SPECS The Salutation Consortium, a group of 23 information technology firms including IBM, Kodak and Xerox, has prepared draft specifications that would allow devices such as copiers, phones, printers, personal digital assistants and computers communicate with one another. The interface will enable a fax machine, for instance, to look up a fax number in an electronic address book on a server. "The protocol identifies what information a device has. They're laying the groundwork for applications to be developed in about two years," says a Dataquest analyst. (Information Week 7/24/95 p.32) INTERNET ACCESS IS BIG BUSINESS: A Forrester Research report predicts that revenues from the Internet access business will top $4 billion annually by the end of the decade. Internet-related software sales will reach close to $3 billion at the same time. The company anticipates that the expanding World Wide Web will act as a catalyst, with sophisticated "SuperWeb" software products emerging in the next few years that will enable companies to directly link customers and suppliers to corporate information and transactional systems, leapfrogging the "home page" process entirely. (Telecommunications, July '95 p.18) NEURAL NET SOFTWARE SIFTS INFORMATION: The US intelligence community has been using neural network software to sort through vast streams of electronic data for the past 15 years, and now the product is going commercial. Intell X software will be used by its parent company, DataTimes Corp, to sift through the DataTimes database and select information of interest to specific customers. Another program, called Summarizer, will do the same thing with e-mail, creating a synopsis of each message to help managers decide which mail to read first. Neural network software is considered superior to intelligent agent software for information sorting because it can learn along the way, and automatically adjust to changing needs. (Business Week 7/31/95 p.87) 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 July 13, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25, and 30, 1995 issues. \EOA 0723* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - AIS Americas Conference Papers on World Wide Web * * Dennis Galletta, Univ of Pittsburgh * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In a pioneering (and perhaps a little too brave) move (and some debate), we at the Inaugural AIS Americas Conference on Information Systems have decided to place the conference papers on the World Wide Web. Besides their other fine volunteer duties, Reagan Ramsower and Manju Ahuja worked hard to get all of the papers uploaded, FTP'd, and downloaded to the Baylor server. Manju and Reagan have a few odd papers that are giving them a little trouble, but the bulk of the papers have been transferred. The papers can be found under the AIS-Americas Conference home page at: http://hsb.baylor.edu/ramsower/acis/ We will have a questionnaire at the conference that asks about the usefulness of having the conference papers on the Web in advance, among other things. You might want to think this issue over the next few weeks before you get there. There are several advantages and disadvantages in pre-conference paper accessibility, and we'll soon see which list outweighs the other! \EOA 0724* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ANNOUNCEMENT - Continuing Efforts to Globalise the MIS Quarterly * * Robert Zmud, Florida State University * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Continuing Our Efforts to "Globalize" the MIS Quarterly The MIS Quarterly has strived in the past to increase the participation of non-North Americans as authors, reviewers and editorial board members. While the Quarterly has achieved some success in this regard, the current Senior Editors are not satisfied with current levels of non-North American authors and reviewers. The purpose of this note is to reach out to non-North Americans and inform them of our recent efforts to increase non-North American participation with the journal as well as to explain how manuscript reviewers and editorial board members are selected. The Senior Editors have recommitted ourselves to an openness with regard to the research methods applied in manuscripts. Our concern is not with the nature of the methods used but rather with the appropriateness of these methods to the questions which are being asked and quality of the use of these methods. We truly believe the Quarterly is not biased against manuscripts which adopt other than positivistic perspectives and methods. If it seems that positivistic articles tend to dominate the Quarterly, a sound explanation does exist -- the majority of submitted manuscripts adopt such a perspective. In addition to encouraging non-North American authors to submit manuscripts for publication consideration, the Senior Editors desire to increase the use of international reviewers. There are two reasons for this. First, the use of international reviewers brings multiple perspectives to bear in our collective efforts to use the review process to improve manuscripts. Second, and very importantly, the primary criteria used in appointing individuals as Associate Editors is their performance as manuscript reviewers -- we appoint as Associate Editors only individuals who have consistently and frequently performed in an outstanding manner as a manuscript reviewer. The major reason we do not have more non-North American Associate Editors is that the current AE board is using too few non-North American reviewers. What, then, should you do if you wish to offer (or, reoffer) your services as a reviewer for the Quarterly? I suggest that you look over the names of current Senior Editors and Associate Editors, identify those you feel have research interests similar to your own, and send these individuals a note (either electronic or paper-based) indicating your willingness to serve as a manuscript reviewer and describing your own research interests and accomplishments. The Research interests for most of the current members of the MIS Quarterly Editorial board are available from http://www.cox.smu.edu/mis/misq/archivist/editor.html. The names of the members of the current board also appear on the inside front cover of the June 1995 issue. I, and the other members of the Quarterly's editorial board, look forward to hearing from you. Bob Zmud Editor-in-Chief MIS Quarterly bzmud@cob.fsu.edu \EOA 0725* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONTENTS - Information Systems Research, June 1995 (v6 n2) * * John L. King, Univ of California-Irvine * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Information Systems Research, Volume 6, Number 2 "Actualizing Organizational Memory with Information Systems." By Eric W. Stein and Vladimir Zwass. "Application of Social Cognitive Theory to Training for Computer Skills." By Deborah R. Compeau and Chris A. Higgins. Understanding Information Technology Usage: A Test of Competing Models. By Shirley Taylor and Peter A. Todd. "A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the User Information Satisfaction Instrument." By William J. Doll, T.S. Raghunathan, Jeen-Su Lim, and Yash P. Gupta. \EOA 0726* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CONFERENCE - Info Technology and Changes in Organisational Work * * Matthew Jones, University of Cambridge * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * IFIP WG8.2 Working Conference Information Technology and Changes in Organisational Work 7-9 December 1995 University of Cambridge Cambridge, England The IFIP W8.2 Information Technology and Changes in Organisational Work Conference will be held 7-9 Decembe 1995. Plenary speeches include: --Bruno Latour "Meditating on the Services Rendered by Computer Sites to Social Theory and Philosophy" --Shoshana Zuboff "The Emperor's New Information Economy" Conference Fee: 195 UK Pounds (75 UK Pounds for PhD students) Abstracts of accepted papers will be made available via the IFIP WG8.2 gopher service at Binghamton: gopher://bingnet1.cc.binghamton.edu/11/funding/local/Ifipwg82 and the 8.2 WWW page: http://www.som.binghamton.edu/ifipwg82/ifipwg82.html For information on Cambridge see http://www.cam.ac.uk/ For further information, contact: Dr Matthew R Jones University of Cambridge Management Studies Group Department of Engineering Mill Lane Cambridge CB2 1RX UK Voice: UK +1223 338188/338171 Fax: UK +1223 338076 E-mail: mrj1@eng.cam.ac.uk \EOA 0727* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Sixth Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy March 27-30, 1996 Cambridge, Massachusetts The sixth annual Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy (CFP96) will be held in Cambridge, MA, on March 27-30, 1996. The conference is hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery and the World Wide Web Consortium. CFP96 will bring together experts and advocates from the fields of computer science, law, business, public policy, law enforcement, library science, and government to explore how information technologies are affecting freedom and privacy. Topics to be addressed at CFP96 include: --regulation of content on computer networks --intellectual property considerations of digital libraries and electronic communications media --enhanced access to public government information --control of cryptographic technology --illegal activity in cyberspace and challenges for law enforcement --privacy implications of national/personal identification systems --standards for transborder data flow and data protection --proper secondary uses of information in government and electronic commerce --roles for libraries regarding information access and networking --liability of system operators and network access providers Presentations at CFP traditionally take the form of interactive panels and discussions, rather than formal papers. The CFP96 Program Committee is currently soliciting proposals for presentations, and we invite your suggestions. We especially invite proposals that place issues in an international context and involve participants from different countries. Proposals may be for individual talks, panel discussions, debates, or other events in appropriate formats. (We welcome ideas for "other events".) Each proposal should be accompanied by a one-page statement describing the topic and format. Descriptions of multi- person presentations should include a list of proposed participants and session chair. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to cfp96@mit.edu by 1 September 1995. For more information on CFP96, consult the conference web page at web.mit.edu/cfp96 or send e-mail with a blank subject line and blank body to cfp96-info@mit.edu. \EOA 0728* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Symposium on Computers and the Quality of Life * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Symposium on Computers and the Quality of Life (CQL'96) Sponsored by ACM Special Interest Group on Computers and Society February 14-15, 1996 Philadelphia, Pennslyvania USA CQL'96 will provide a unique opportunity for multi-disciplinary dialog on the critical computing issues that are shaping our society for the next millennium. We welcome participation from computer scientists, educators, philosophers, social scientists, psychologists, ethicists, lawyers, policymakers, computer industry representatives, and decision-makers in this dialog. The symposium will feature technical sessions, policy discussions, nationally recognized speakers, and tutorials. We are soliciting research and policy papers, survey articles, case studies, and tutorials to be presented at CQL'96 that address the following themes: --National Information Infrastructure: access, privacy, security --Computers in the workplace: health, monitoring, automation --Computer applications that benefit society: health, environment --Computer applications that adversely impact society --Research agenda for social impact of computer technology --Teaching ethical and social impact of computer technology Submission of Papers: Authors should submit five (5) copies of a complete paper, double-spaced, using a 12-point font. A paper should be no more than 10 pages long (about 5,000 words) and should have a separate cover page with the title, subject area, all author's names, mail and e-mail addresses and phone numbers. The author to whom correspondence should be directed must be identified. Panel Proposals: Panel proposals must include a brief abstract of the topic, the resume of the moderator, and the list of proposed panelists. Please submit five (5) copies of any panel proposal. Tutorial Proposals: Half-day tutorials will be held on Thursday, February 15. Tutorial proposals should include the course title, a one-page course outline, a 200-word description or the tutorial, the intended audience and a brief biography of the instructor(s). Please submit five (5) copies of any tutorial proposal. Key Deadlines: Proposals received by Co-Chairs September 1, 1995 Notification of acceptance October 30, 1995 Materials should be sent to appropriate Program Co-Chair: Blaise Liffick (Papers) Computer Science Millersville University Millersville, PA 17551 Voice: (717) 872-3536 Fax: (717) 871-2320 E-mail: liffick@cs.millersv.edu Joyce Currie Little (Panel and Tutorial Proposals) Computer and Information Sciences Towson State University Baltimore, MD 21204 Voice: (410) 830-2981 Fax: (410) 830-2604 E-mail: jclittle@toe.towson.edu \EOA 0729* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS - Applied Computing Symposium: Small Systems * * Hossein Saiedian, U of Nebraska * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 11th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC '96) Special Track on Small Computing Systems February 17-19, 1996 (During the ACM Computing Week) Marriott Hotel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The ACM SIGICE is sponsoring a track on Small Computing Systems. Papers on any aspect of physically or economically small systems, including PCs, workstations, and minicomputers and the application of these systems across all disciplines are solicited. Original papers dealing with any aspect of computing applications will be considered for presentation and publication in the SAC '96 Proceedings. This includes three categories of submissions: --original and unpublished research --reports of innovative computing applications in the arts, sciences, education, engineering, business, and government --reports of successful technology transfer to new problem domains Submission guidelines must be strictly followed: --Submit 6 copies of manuscript to the SAC '96 Small Computing Systems track chair at the address below. --Author name(s) and address(es) are NOT to appear in the body of the paper, and self-reference should be in third person. --Body of paper should not exceed 4,000 words (approx 15 pages, double-spaced) without prior approval. --Separate cover sheet should be attached to each copy, containing title, author(s) and affiliation(s), and address (including e-mail and fax number) to which correspondence should be addressed. Papers and panel proposals must be submitted September 1, 1995 Author notification of acceptance or rejection November 1, 1995 Submission of camera-ready copy Decemer 15, 1995 Conference begins February 17, 1996 Direct correspondence, inquiries and submissions relating to the Small Computing Systems Track to: Professor Hossein Saiedian Department of Computer Science, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182 USA, Voice: (402) 554-2849, Fax: (402) 554-2975, E-mail: hossein@unomaha.edu \EOA 0730* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS -Office Systems Research Assoc Conference * * Bob Brookshire, James Madison Univ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Office Systems Research Association Fifteenth Annual Research Conference "Solutions for the Future" February 29-March 2, 1996 Orlando, Florida USA The OSRA Conference Committee invites you to submit papers for the 1996 OSRA Research Conference. You may select the refereed or non- refereed track. Submissions should address topics relating to the application of information technologies to solve organizational problems. Although the refereed track is primarily research findings, other papers are welcomed. The non-refereed track includes panel discussions, curriculum materials, current issues, and other sessions of interest to practitioners and educators. Conference Chair: Dr. Donna J. Cochrane Bloomsburg University Bloomsburg, PA 17815 USA E-mail: dcochr@planetx.bloomu.edu The Conference Committee will consider a broad range of Office Information Systems/End-User Information Systems-related (OIS/EUIS) topics, including, but not limited to the following: --The information highway --Information technology management --Human factors --End-user computing --Technology and training --Reengineering --OIS/EUIS implementation --OIS/EUIS technologies --Multimedia --University and industry partnerships Refereed Submissions: Your name and affiliation should appear only on title page. Submit four double-spaced copies (no more than 15 pages) of your completed paper by September 8, 1995. Non-refereed Submissions: Submit one double-spaced copy of your paper (no more than 15 pages) or a detailed outline of your panel or session proposal by September 8, 1995. Indicate on your title page that the paper/proposal is being submitted for the non-refereed track. Send all submissions to: Dr. Linda Wiggs OSRA Call for Papers Coordinator Southeast Missouri State University One University Plaza Cape Girardeau, MO 63701 USA Phone: (314) 651-2093 Fax: (314) 651-2200 E-mail: c674bub@semovm.semo.edu For general information about OSRA, contact: Dr. Heidi Perreault OSRA Executive Director Southwest Missouri State University 901 S. National Avenue Springfield, MO 65804-0089 USA Voice: (417) 836-6319 Fax: (417) 836-6337 E-mail: hrp262f@wpgate.smsu.edu \EOA 0731* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT - Assoc Professor, Systems Development * * Jens Kaasboll, University of Oslo * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * At the Systems Development Group, Department of Informatics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway, there is an open permanent position as "1. amanuensis" (associate professor) in systems development. The group has previously focused their research on functional integration through redesign (the FIRE-project), and now wishes to continue and redirect this emphasis through a strategy focusing on "Advanced applications of networking technology: use, development and diffusion". Examples of topics of current research are: --concepts and methods for IS-development --studies of use of networking technology --computer supported cooperative work --human computer interaction Applicants should have a general background in informatics, and should document research competence in systems development at least at PhD level. The associate professor should be able to teach at undergraduate, graduate, and PhD level, and will be given responsibility for tutoring Master's and PhD students within her/his research area. Applicants who can contribute to one or both of the above mentioned themes of "redesign" and "advanced applications of networking technology" are especially welcome. The multidisciplinary focus of the group puts strong emphasis on research method, and applicants with documented experience with relevant research methods, development of research methods, etc. will be given priority. The tight cooperation within the group, with partners outside the University, and the continued development of the group, require applicants to have good cooperative skills, and general coordination and group management abilities. Applicants without formal pedagogical qualifications may be employed on the condition that they enrol in a course in university pedagogics offered by the University. As most of the teaching and administration use Norwegian, applicants who do not speak a Scandinavian language will have to follow a course in Norwegian. The closing date for receipt of applications is 30 September 1995. Salary: NOK 263,772 per year plus travel funding. Associate Professors with at least two years of experience may ask to be considered for promotion to full professor (NOK 307,693 per year). Detailed requirements for application can be obtained from: P}l S|rgaard (+47-2285 2431, pal.sorgaard@ifi.uio.no) or Jens Kaasb|ll (+47-2285 2429, jens.kaasboll@ifi.uio.no). See also: http://www.ifi.uio.no/~systarb/ \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 . * * * * INFOSYS is sponsored by boyd & fraser, publishers of educational * * materials for computer and information education. Contact Bill * * Lisowski or visit http://www.bf.com/bf.html * * or gopher.bf.com for more information about boyd & fraser. * * * * 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 pub/infosys/ * * infosys.calendar * * --Gopher: gopher to auvm.american.edu; choose INFOSYS * * --WWW: forthcoming * * * * INFOSYS Back Issues are archived by Robert McArthur at: * * AUSTRALIA: http://www.fit.qut.edu.au/~mcarthur/infosys/ * * by Eric Morgan (N Carolina State Univ) at: * * USA: ftp://ftp.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/infosys/ * * USA: wais://wais.lib.ncsu.edu/infosys * * USA: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/infosys-index.html * * by Brian Fitzgerald (University College Cork) at: * * EUROPE: http://www.ucc.ie/htbin/infosys * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *