Collaboration Among Designers: Analysing an Activity for System Development

Workplace studies provide an important input to system development, yet there is no straightforward way of translating empirical results into requirements. This study contributes to the development of methods by reporting an activity theory based approach consisting of (i) field observations, (ii) modelling and (iii) a specific task analysis for system requirements. The research informed the further development of the Build-it system, a multi-user system designed to support co-located interaction between designers in engineering and architecture, and other stakeholders such as clients, operators, or inhabitants. The background research was conducted in four engineering companies and comprised of meeting observations, a questionnaire on design collaboration (n=94) and the analysis of 20 artefacts. The findings indicate that collaboration is of critical importance to the design process, and at least some of the tasks in engineering design could be supported by a system like Build-it. The task analysis for system requirements involved potential users from engineering but extended the scope to other domains, namely architecture and chemical process engineering (n=22). In all three domains a multi-user system like Build-it would be advantageous; however, the specific requirements varied more than expected. The study critically reflects on the use of generic concepts and the process of conducting research for the purpose of understanding work for design.     

水文情报信息管理系统研究设计

通过对水文情报信息流程的详细了解和水文情报信息管理工作的需求分析,从实现功能及数据库设计需要出发,构建了以数据导入、数据处理、数据维护等主要功能模块为系统总架构。采用Visual Basic6.0为开发工具,应用Microsoft Access创建数据库,开发水文情报信息管理系统,对水文情报信息进行实时、科学和规范化管理。     

Linking Business Processes and Information Systems Provision in a Dynamic Environment

This paper discusses decision and communication processes which link strategic activity in a business with information systems development activity. We develop a model which illustrates these processes as observed in one company (AXA Sun Life, Bristol HQ), but we suggest there may be generalizable features. We use Role Activity Diagrams as our diagramming method.In most organizations it is impractical to achieve a fully articulated business model and IS architecture. Organizations do try to make development (or acquisition) of information systems which will serve business needs as orderly as they can, in circumstances which are inherently complex and unstable. We suggest that the degree of regularity which is achieved in IS development within the business context comes not so much from following one overarching plan, as from a continuous process of adjustment, in which local short-term plans are weighed against current understanding of the business's key interests. What is needed to aid this process is a general framework of communication and decision making within which plans can be reviewed and modified in the light of changing circumstances. This paper presents an attempt to reveal and represent such a framework.     

国内信息可视化研究进展

论文以CNKI收录的1996-2012年间360篇信息可视化文献为研究对象,用文献计量、社会网络分析法,从文献年代分布、基金资助分布、来源期刊分布、作者及其合作、研究机构及其合作、研究热点及其演化等方面可视化揭示了国内信息可视化研究进展。     

Choosing Between Competing Design Ideals in Information Systems Development

Whenever information systems are developed, they serve some interests at the expense of others. Just what those interests are and who possesses them need to be understood and debated as they involve value judgments. This paper contends that advice concerning the design of information systems must not be limited to technical design, but should also address what is good or bad, or right or wrong in any particular situation—a notion termed a design ideal. The paper offers an approach on how such value judgments involving competing design ideals may be approached in a rational way. This necessitates the adoption of a wider concept of rationality, one, which allows the insights of critical philosophical analysis to be brought to bear on the question of how information systems can best serve all project stakeholders. In order to address likely objections to our proposal, the conclusions discuss several research issues.     

Understanding the Philosophical Underpinnings of Software Engineering Research in Information Systems

The Information Systems (IS) discipline, and related research, focuses on the development, understanding, and use of technology to meet business needs. Technology, in particular software, is the basis for IS research, making software engineering a critical component of research in the IS domain. While the importance of software development is well accepted, what constitutes high quality software engineering research is not well defined. Perhaps this is because some software development clearly is not research and it is hard to distinguish between pure application development, and systems development that pushes the boundaries of knowledge. Sir Karl Popper argued that the scientific quality of research is not based on its empirical method, but on the nature of the questions asked. Our research suggests that software engineering can meet Popper's criteria for scientific research.Drawing on well-established research philosophies, we propose a software engineering research methodology (SERM) and discuss the utility of this methodology for contributing to and expanding the IS body of knowledge. We also describe the considerations that need to be addressed by SERM to enhance acceptability of software engineering research in IS. Our suggestions are corroborated with a review of current IS software engineering research reported in leading IS journals.     

电子商务系统分析设计方法比较研究

回顾了电子商务系统开发方法的历史演变过程,从全局层、概念设计层、导航设计层和系统实施层四个层次对五种主流的电子商务系统开发方法RMM、OOHDM、CMD-WEB、WSDM和Autoweb进行了全面的分析和比较,指出了各自的优势和劣势。     

基于活动理论的信息技术教育应用研究

本文在分析研究活动理论的基础上,具体探讨了信息技术的教学环境、学习者特征和学习任务等诸多问题,将活动理论应用于信息技术教育,构建出的一种新型活动教学模式,为推动信息技术教育的发展提供参考。     

Editorial—A Survey of Research Questions for Intelligent Information Systems in Education

Education is an application domain in which many research questions from Intelligent Information Systems may prove their worth. We discuss three themes in this editorial: distributed education and learner modeling, semantic analysis of text, and intelligent information management.     

南京地税信息系统网络安全分析与设计

本文详细地介绍南京地税信息系统网络安全面临的风险和解决方案,并对改善税务系统网络信息化所出现的问题进行了分析。     

GSP药品经营企业管理信息系统的架构设计

设计一个符合GSP管理规范的药品经营企业管理信息系统,应用于药品经营企业。采用组件扩容技术,结合现代管理方法,进行系统设计,并阐述系统的应用架构、技术架构及组件功能特点。完成药品经营企业管理信息系统的架构设计。组件扩容技术为设计、开发药品经营企业管理信息系统提供了一种高效快捷的方法。     

Information systems practice, education and research

Abstract. The launch of a new journal in information systems prompts thought and debate concerning the state of the subject area and some contemplation on its past and future. This introductory paper reflects the views of the editors, views which will not be shared by all. We find a wide spectrum of interpretations and experiences concerning the nature of information systems and this wide range of views is both a strength and a weakness. It is a weakness in the sense that it is very difficult to put boundaries around the area and establish common definitions and accepted norms. The latter are usually associated with more stable and established disciplines that have accepted underlying theories. It is a strength in the sense that the wide variety of views, experiences and background subjects adds richness to the discipline. From the point of view of the Journal of Information Systems this should mean a wide variety of interesting topics from which we can draw. Our paper begins with an introduction to the debate about the nature of information systems, a debate which is continued in the following paper. We also give an overview of practice, education and research in information systems. In order to keep the paper to a reasonable length, this overview will necessarily be selective and will probably be Anglocentric.     

Building an Information System for Collaborative Researchers: A Case Study from the Brain-tumor Research Domain

A Neuro-Oncology Information System (NOIS) has been designed and implemented to support collaborative brain-tumor research, and is being used currently by researchers around the nation. The NOIS serves two groups of brain-tumor researchers, each with complex organizational structures. The complexity of these structures adds greatly to the task of designing an information system to support brain-tumor research. In particular, a lack of a central source of authority among collaborating group members, and the constantly shifting understanding of research objectives and the means to achieve them, have significant impact on the NOIS design and implementation. In this paper, we suggest guidelines for designing, implementing and maintaining an information system in the face of continually shifting goals and priorities in the user community. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Information Systems Frontiers in Knowledge Management

There can be no doubt that contemporary developments in information technology, including information systems developments, have changed business and organizational practices in many ways. For example, the world's financial systems are so closely coupled that that a small decrease in interest rates in the United States may cause a disproportionately large rise in stock market values in South East Asia. The information revolution has created entirely new ways of marketing, such that we now see very changed relationships between producers, distributors and customers. It has also led to changes in the way in which organizations are managed, the way in which they are structured, and the way in which they deal with their products and services. In particular, it creates a number of opportunities and challenges that affect the way in which data is converted into information and then into knowledge. It poses many opportunities for management of the environment for these transfers, such as to enhance the productivity of individuals and organizations. This paper discuses interactions and intersections between organizations, information technology and information systems, and the ways in which the creative use of information systems changes organizational environments.     

校园网集成化信息系统的总体设计与实现

探讨了高等学校园网集成化信息系统的总体设计问题。具体讨论了以下几个方面的内容：如何确定开发建设策略;如何确定总体需求与总体目标;如何制定开发建设的总体规划;如何选择开发建设的模式。     

Implications from Decision Science for the Systems Development Life Cycle in Information Systems

Nomology, a decision science approach to structuring qualitative decisions, is used to show that the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) corresponds to a generic structure based on a Convincing process embedded within a Committing process, both of which were formalised originally by Kant as dialectical processes. The key decision issue in the SDLC is shown to be that of ownership of the process by the decision-maker. Consequently the decision when to move from one stage of development to the next should be determined subjectively by the decision-maker or organisation. Comparing the SDLC with other similarly structured systems suggests that each stage of the SDLC is best implemented objectively as an Adjusting process in which balance should be retained with regard to three issues, what should be done, where should it be done, and which way should it be done. Also, the generic nature of the structure suggests that practitioners could borrow from similar decision processes in other fields, including hierarchies of activities, types of thinking and Oriental philosophy.     

从信息网络发展看信息通信专业融合

介绍了信息网络发展的历程,从信息网络发展看信息通信融合的趋势,分析了电网企业信息通信融合的现状和未来。     

Information Systems Knowledge: Foundations, Definitions, and Applications

A key component of research within information systems is the use of valid instruments to measure numerous aspects of technology, organizations, and people. Validated instruments exist for many different variables and more are available all the time. Knowledge of a particular domain is an integral part of working competently, effectively, and successfully within that domain (N.M. Degele, World Futures, 50, 743–755, 1997). Therefore, this paper will describe the rationale for the development of an instrument to measure the information systems knowledge of individuals. This rationale is rooted in several streams of research, such as absorptive capacity and certainty of knowledge, and focuses on three main questions: why measure knowledge of information systems, how to measure this knowledge, and what to actually measure. The definitions of knowledge and information systems knowledge are developed and refined through an analysis of the literature covering the philosophical, psychological, and educational aspects of knowledge. The resulting models of knowledge and specifically information systems knowledge are then applied to research streams within the information systems discipline as well as practitioner-oriented needs.     

A View of Software Development Environments Based on Activity Theory

We view software development as a collaborative activity that is typically supported by a software development environment. Since these environments can significantly influence the collaborative nature of a software development project, it is important to analyze and evaluate their capabilities with respect to collaboration. In this paper, we present an analysis and evaluation of the collaborative capabilities of software development environments using an activity theory perspective.The discipline of software engineering (SE) emerged to study and develop artifacts to mediate the collective development of large software systems. While many advances have been made in the past three decades of SE's existence, the historical origins of the discipline are present in that techniques and tools to support the collaborative aspects of large-scale software development are still lacking. One factor is a common ``production-oriented' philosophy that emphasizes the mechanistic and individualistic aspects of software development over the collaborative aspects thereby ignoring the rich set of human-human interactions that are possible over the course of a software development project.We believe that the issues and ideas surrounding activity theory may be useful in improving support for collaboration in software engineering techniques and tools. As such, we make use of the activity theory to analyze and evaluate process-centered software development environments (PCSDEs).     

行业管理信息系统通用平台的开发

论文通过分析管理信息系统开发中存在的问题,提出了一种通用平台的开发思想,并分别详细叙述了通用平台的用户界面、通用管理系统、功能模块库和通用数据库框架的具体设计,最后对此通用平台的优点进行了描述。