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The purpose of this research is to explore the feasibility of using patient‐driven, hand‐held computers in primary care settings, in order to address the apparent failure to implement prevention initiatives into the routine delivery of health care services.

During an eight‐day period, patients of an English primary care practice who were at least 16 years of age were asked to complete a health‐related survey using a hand‐held computer. They received tailored, on‐screen feedback.

A total of 143 patients (approximately 55 per cent of all patients) began using a hand‐held computer, of whom 115 (80 per cent) answered all questions. Of these, 24 per cent reported being smokers, 7 per cent and 19 per cent were at‐risk of alcohol harm in the long and short term respectively and 14 per cent rated their overall health as poor or very poor. Most patients rated their level of satisfaction with the hand‐helds as excellent (36 per cent), very good (29 per cent) or good (24 per cent), while 89 per cent agreed to their primary care physician seeing a summary of their feedback.

This is the first study to evaluate the feasibility of using hand‐held computers to conduct patient screening and feedback in primary care settings.

In the contemporary society, new digital media play a key role in organizing both companies and the public sector, as well as public transportation systems in metropolitan areas and similar technological macro‐systems. Humans are encountering digital media through the screen but the underlying mechanisms and structure of the screen, their screenness, remain relatively poorly explored in organization theory. Literature on new media, visual studies, and studies of financial trading is used with the aim of presenting a case in favour of a more integrated understanding of the role of screens in organizing, unearthing screens and portraying them not as insignificant elements of a dull infrastructure but as key components in the day‐to‐day organizing of firms and social space.

The paper draws on secondary literature addressing the role of screens and screenness in everyday organizing.

Drawing on a study of financial trading, screens are envisaged as the surfaces on which the financial traders' life‐worlds present themselves and are enacted, rendering the abstract flows of capital and innumerable financial transactions meaningful and tangible through the use of certain aesthetics and geometries of representation.

The conceptual paper combines literature from a number of disciplines and theoretical perspectives.

Information scholars frequently make use of “conceptual imports” – epistemological and methodological models developed in other disciplines – when conducting their own research. The purpose of this paper is to make the case that social semiotics is a worthy candidate to add to the information sciences toolkit.

Both traditional and social semiotics are described in detail, with key texts cited. To demonstrate the benefits social semiotic methods may bring to the information sciences, the digital display screen is then employed as a test case.

By treating the display as a semiotic resource, the author is able to demonstrate that, rather than being a transparent window by which the author may access all of the data, the screen actually distorts and conceals a significant amount of information, and severely restricts the control users have over software packages such as online public access catalogues. A programming paradigm known as language-oriented programming (LOP), however, can help to remedy these issues.

The test case is meant to provide a framework by which other information sciences issues may be explores via social semiotic methods. Social semiotics, moreover, is still evolving as a subject matter, so IS scholars could also potentially contribute to its continued development with their work.

The interface between a user and the computer can often be vital in getting data in and out of it. The interface needs to allow for ease of input and ease of displaying data on the screen — not only results, but also screen layouts, forms, menus, help information and the like. Reading text on a computer screen can be very tiring and a good interface can provide increased legibility, readability and comprehension as well as feedback to the user. Basic design principles for the user interface formulated by Wadlow et al (1991) include the premise that the interface must be consistent — actions and objects should behave similarly across different contexts. In addition, the interface should be predictable — a system in which users can anticipate computer behaviour. Furthermore the interface should have features which put certain decisions in the hands of the users, so that s/he feels in control. Since much human computer interaction takes place in a visual frame then the computer system should be visually appealing. Users should also feel that they are dealing with ‘real’ objects — that what they are doing is really happening.

During the 1980s' Decade of the Disabled, legislation, advocacy activities, and special programs stimulated increased awareness of the rights of people with disabilities for better access to education, employment, housing, and information. In response to the growing need for easier access to information found in a public library, staff at the Phoenix Public Library designed a library Special Needs Center to make the services and resources of the library totally accessible. The following policy and mission statements illustrate this effort.

Many libraries are using Internet access to improve patron services. In the United States, an estimated 21 percent of public libraries have some type of Internet connection, with libraries in urban areas (having a patron base over one million) connected at a rate of 75 percent. These libraries are taking different approaches to providing Internet and online services to their patrons. Some have connections from terminals located inside the library; others allow dial‐in access from patrons' offices or homes. As services grow in sophistication, so do patron interfaces. Many new computers sport full‐color, mouse‐driven graphic user interfaces (GUIs), which allow access to CD‐ROM products, World Wide Web sites, and other multimedia products.

Reading and understanding information presented in tabular format have posed specific challenges for blind individuals who use screen readers to access computers. In this article the results of a study of the types of problems blind individuals using screen readers experienced, when reading tables on the World Wide Web, have been summarized. Nine blind participants were asked to extract information from tables with varying levels of complexity. The participants used combinations of commonly used screen readers and Web browsers. The presentation of information in the tables was systematically varied through use of several HTML coding methods. The participants in the study found tasks that required them to extract information from tables challenging and often frustrating. Suggestions for making tables accessible to users of screen readers are provided.

The EU‐funded project ‘Middleware Platform for eMPOWERing older people and people with cognitive impairments ‐ MPOWER’ is aimed at developing a technical middleware platform that enables rapid development of flexible, domain‐specific applications that can be personalised for individual use. We focused on creating a set of reusable components that can easily be combined in order to provide the most relevant services in the user's home, eg. calendar services, messaging services and different sensor technologies. In order to evaluate the feasibility of the platform, two full‐scale proof of concept applications (POCAs) were developed and deployed to real‐life environments; one ‘smart home’ solution in Poland and one individual internet‐based digital plan in Norway. This paper presents the findings from the POCA development and trial in Norway.Seven older people and their family carers from the municipality of Trondheim participated in the pilot trial (February 2008‐April 2009), which aimed to evaluate the services provided through an individual internet‐based digital plan displayed as a calendar page. Both family carers and staff from domiciliary services could, from their home computer, add appointments and messages on the user's digital calendar. The respondents were five women and two men, aged between 65 and 92, and only three of them, the two men and one of the women, had used a computer before getting involved in the MPOWER trial.Data collection regarding use, usability, utility and acceptance took place on a regular basis after a preset schedule. Analysis followed the developmental evaluation theory, which is useful when there is uncertainty about the effects (value) of an intervention, and when it is uncertain what causes or influences these effects. Results were presented as case histories, and the analysis of the causes of the observed effects are presented in a discussion section and divided into personal, technical and structural issues.The main conclusion is that the digital calendar with a message board demonstrated the potential to support older people at home, particularly older people with memory problems who need support in structuring the day and keeping an overview of their daily activities and appointments.

In order to remain competitive, businesses need to rely heavily on the productivity utilization of microcomputer technology. Microcomputer manufacturers have responded to this need with such a dazzling array of computers and optional equipment that it is becoming progressively more difficult to choose the most appropriate machine. Assists managers with the specification, selection and acquisition of microcomputers. The selection process includes profiling the user, and understanding key computer components and options including physical size, chip features and power, data bus pathways, memory, video, keyboard, mouse, price, acquisition sources, and vendor support services. Understanding what these items are, how they work, and how they work together enables managers to make informed choices relative to hardware acquisition.

The aim of the paper is to compare the computer administration method (touch‐screen) with the original paper‐and‐pen approach when measuring patients' perceptions of care quality.

The study group consisted of 199 patients who responded to touch‐screen and 219 who responded to paper‐and‐pen questionnaires, receiving care between January and March 2003 at two out‐patient clinics in one county in Sweden. The response rate was 75 per cent. A modified version of the quality from the patient's perspective questionnaire was used.

Two main findings emerged: first, both methods yielded almost identical results in quality of care ratings, and second, the touch‐screen method was perceived to be easier to use and to take less time to complete.

The paper shows that both methods are acceptable, but the touch‐screen method appears to be preferred by patients.