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Article
Publication date: 20 February 2024

Wayne de Fremery and Michael Keeble Buckland

The purpose of this paper is to provide a new and useful formulation of relevance.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a new and useful formulation of relevance.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is formulated as a conceptual argument. It makes the case for the utility of considering relevance to be function of use in creative processes.

Findings

There are several corollaries to formulating relevance as a function of use. These include the idea that objects by themselves cannot be relevant since use assumes interaction; the affordances of objects and how they are perceived can affect what becomes relevant but are not in themselves relevant; relevance is not an essential characteristic of objects; relevance is transient; potential relevance (what might be relevant in the future) can be distinguished from what is relevant in use and from what has been relevant in the past.

Originality/value

The paper shows that its new formulation of relevance brings improved conceptual and terminological clarity to the discourse about relevance in information science. It demonstrates that how relevance is articulated conceptually is important as its conceptualization can affect the ways that users are able to make use of information systems and, by extension, how information systems can facilitate or disable the co-production of creative outcomes. The paper also usefully expands investigative opportunities by suggesting relevance and creativity are interrelated.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 March 2024

Silvia Lizett Olivares-Olivares, Miriam Lizzeth Turrubiates Corolla, Juan Pablo Nigenda Alvarez, Natalia Mejía Gaviria, Mariana Lema-Velez, Miguel Angel Villarreal Rodríguez, Luis Carlos Franco Ayala, Elena María Trujillo Maza, Isabel Barriga Cosmelli and Klaus Puschel Illanes

Professional Identity Formation is the dynamic evolution to “think, act and feel” to become part of a professional community. This document presents the development and the study…

Abstract

Purpose

Professional Identity Formation is the dynamic evolution to “think, act and feel” to become part of a professional community. This document presents the development and the study that aimed to assess the usability of a m-Learning Identity App (MLIA) focused on the formation of professional identity among undergraduate medical students.

Design/methodology/approach

MLIA development included four phases: Conceptual, prototype, pilot and implementation, before further deployment. The conceptual model was designed by eight faculty members from three Latin American universities. The prototype was developed and tested with stakeholders. The pilot was performed during 5 weeks before the implementation. Cross-sectional data collected during implementation from 138 medical students who completed a survey to assess the usability of MLIA are presented. During deployment, 977 posts were made on Professional Identity Formation, and examples of these posts are presented.

Findings

The prototype and pilot phases demanded improvements. The survey explored (1) Familiarity, (2) Perceived ease of use, (3) Perceived usefulness for Professional Identity Formation, (4) Satisfaction, (5) Intention to reuse (6) Digital aesthetics and (7) Safety. Results from the usability assessment suggest that students perceived MLIA as a secure space with positive aesthetics and ease of use.

Research limitations/implications

Important limitations of the present study include, firstly, that it does not provide information on the effectiveness of the MLIA in shaping professional identity in medical students, it focuses exclusively on its development (conceptual model, prototype, pilot and implementation) and usability. Secondly, the study design did not consider a control group and, therefore, does not provide information on how the App compares with other strategies addressing self-reflection and sharing of meaningful experiences related to professional identity.

Originality/value

MLIA introduces a different approach to education, simulating a secure, easy-to-use, social media with a friendly interface in a safe environment to share academic and motivational moments, transitioning from being to becoming a professional.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 15 January 2024

Meghan Grace and Corey Seemiller

Like every generation before them, Gen Zers possess a specific set of attributes. For example, they identify as loyal, thoughtful, compassionate, and responsible. They share their…

Abstract

Like every generation before them, Gen Zers possess a specific set of attributes. For example, they identify as loyal, thoughtful, compassionate, and responsible. They share their sense of ingenuity and resourcefulness with their Gen X parental generation and embrace diversity and inclusion like their older millennial counterparts. And, they connect with their baby boomer grandparents with their shared sense of responsibility. Generation Z is motivated by achievement and making a difference. Although some believe others will let them down, the majority are optimistic about their futures and believe good things will happen for them.

Details

Gen Z Around the World
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-092-6

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 March 2024

Noura Aleisa

This study aimed to identify and analyse the key factors influencing the adoption of e-government services and to discern their implications for various stakeholders, from…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to identify and analyse the key factors influencing the adoption of e-government services and to discern their implications for various stakeholders, from policymakers to platform developers.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a comprehensive review of existing literature and detailed analysis of multiple studies, this research organised the influential factors based on their effect: highest, direct and indirect. The study also integrated findings to present a consolidated view of e-government adoption drivers.

Findings

The research found that users' behaviour, attitude, optimism bias and subjective norms significantly shape their approach to e-government platforms. Trust in e-Government (TEG) emerged as a critical determinant, with security perceptions being of paramount importance. Additionally, non-technical factors, such as cultural, religious and social influences, play a substantial role in e-government adoption decisions. The study also highlighted the importance of performance expectancy, effect expectancy and other determinants influencing e-government adoption.

Originality/value

While numerous studies have explored e-government adoption, this research offers a novel classification based on the relative effects of each determinant. Integrating findings from diverse studies and emphasising non-technical factors introduce an interdisciplinary approach, bridging the gap between information technology and fields like sociology, anthropology and behavioural sciences. This integrative lens provides a fresh perspective on the topic, encouraging more holistic strategies for enhancing e-government adoption globally.

Details

Journal of Innovative Digital Transformation, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2976-9051

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 March 2024

Vinay Surendra Yadav and Rakesh Raut

Substantial pressure from civil society and investors has forced governments around the world to take climate neutrality initiatives. Several countries have pledged their…

Abstract

Purpose

Substantial pressure from civil society and investors has forced governments around the world to take climate neutrality initiatives. Several countries have pledged their nationally determined contributions towards net-zero. However, there exist various obstacles to achieving the same and the agriculture sector is one of them. Thus, this study identifies and models the critical barriers to achieving climate neutrality in the agriculture food supply chain (AFSC).

Design/methodology/approach

Sixteen barriers are identified through a literature survey and are validated by the questionnaire survey. Furthermore, the interactions amongst the barriers are estimated through the application of the “weighted influence non-linear gauge system (WINGS)” method which considers the both intensity of influence and the strength of the barrier. To mitigate these barriers, a framework based on green, resilient and inclusive development (GRID) is proposed.

Findings

The obtained results reveal that lack of collaboration amongst AFSC stakeholders, lack of information and education awareness, and lack of technical expertise obtained a higher rank (amongst the top five) in three indicators of the WINGS method and thus are the most significant barriers.

Originality/value

This paper is the first attempt in modelling the climate neutrality barriers for the Indian AFSC. Additionally, the mitigating strategies are prepared using the GRID framework.

Details

The International Journal of Logistics Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-4093

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2024

İrem Taştan and Zeynep Ozdamar Ertekin

This study aims to explore how a postmodern tribe enacts and re-interprets ideologies as a part of consumers’ collective experience, to enhance our understanding of consumer…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how a postmodern tribe enacts and re-interprets ideologies as a part of consumers’ collective experience, to enhance our understanding of consumer communities in conjunction with ideological capacities.

Design/methodology/approach

The community of “presenteers” is conceptualized as a self-organized tribe with heterogeneous components that generate capacities to act. Netnographic observation was conducted on 18 presenteer accounts and lasted around six months. Real-time data were collected by taking screenshots of the posts and stories that these users created and publicly shared. Data were analysed by adopting assemblage theory, combining inductive and deductive approaches. Firstly, a qualitative visual-textual content analysis of the tribe’s defining components was conducted. Then, the process continued with the thematic analysis of the ideological underpinnings of the tribe’s enactments.

Findings

Findings shed light on the ways in which consumer communities interpret the entanglement of religious, political, and cultural ideologies in shaping their experiences. In the case of the presenteers tribe, findings reflect a novel ideological interplay between neo-Ottomanism, post-feminism and consumerism.

Research limitations/implications

The study offers a deep dive into a unique tribe that is being organized around the consumer-created practice of “presenteering” and investigates consumer communalization in alignment with the ideological turn in culture-oriented interpretative research on consumers, consumption, and markets. This exploration helps to bridge the research on the communalization of consumers with the recent discussions of ideology in the postmodern market.

Originality/value

The study offers a deep dive into a unique tribe that is being organized around the consumer-created practice of “presenteering” and investigates consumer communalization in alignment with the ideological turn in culture-oriented interpretative research on consumers, consumption, and markets. This exploration helps to bridge the research on the communalization of consumers with the recent discussions of ideology in the postmodern market.

Details

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-2752

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2024

Alexandra Thrall, T. Philip Nichols and Kevin R. Magill

The purpose of this study is to examine how young people imagine civic futures through speculative fiction writing about artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The authors…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine how young people imagine civic futures through speculative fiction writing about artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The authors argue that young people’s speculative fiction writing about AI not only helps make visible the ways they imagine the impacts of emerging technologies and the modes of collective action available for leveraging, resisting or countering them but also the frictions and fissures between the two.

Design/methodology/approach

This practitioner research study used data from student artifacts (speculative fiction stories, prewriting and relevant unit work) as well as classroom fieldnotes. The authors used inductive coding to identify emergent patterns in the ways young people wrote about AI and civics, as well as deductive coding using digital civic ecologies framework.

Findings

The findings of this study spotlight both the breadth of intractable civic concerns that young people associate with AI, as well as the limitations of the civic frameworks for imagining political interventions to these challenges. Importantly, they also indicate that the process of speculative writing itself can help reconcile this disjuncture by opening space to dwell in, rather than resolve, the tensions between “the speculative” and the “civic.”

Practical implications

Teachers might use speculative fiction writing and the digital civic ecologies framework to support students in critically examining possible AI futures and effective civic actions within them.

Originality/value

Speculative fiction writing offers an avenue for students to analyze the growing civic concerns posed by emerging platform technologies like AI.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 January 2024

F.D. Ayegbusi and A.S. Idowu

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of entropy generation of some embedded thermophysical properties on heat and mass transfer of pulsatile flow of…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of entropy generation of some embedded thermophysical properties on heat and mass transfer of pulsatile flow of non-Newtonian nanofluid flows between two porous parallel plates in the presence of Lorentz force are taken into account in this research.

Design/methodology/approach

The governing partial differential equations (PDEs) were nondimensionalized using suitable nondimensional quantities to transform the PDEs into a system of coupled nonlinear PDEs. The resulting equations are solved using the spectral relaxation method due to the effectiveness and accuracy of the method. The obtained velocity and temperature profiles are used to compute the entropy generation rate and Bejan number. The influence of various flow parameters on the velocity, temperature, entropy generation rate and Bejan number are discussed graphically.

Findings

The results indicate that the energy losses can be minimized in the system by choosing appropriate values for pertinent parameters; when thermal conductivity is increasing, this leads to the depreciation of entropy generation, and while this increment in thermal conductivity appreciates the Bejan number, the Eckert number on entropy generation and Bejan number, the graph shows that each time of increase in Eckert will lead to rising of entropy generation while this increase shows a reduction in Bejan number. To shed more light, these results were further demonstrated graphically. The current research was very well supported by prior literature works.

Originality/value

All results are presented graphically, and the results in this article are anticipated to be helpful in the area of engineering.

Details

World Journal of Engineering, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1708-5284

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 September 2023

Ali Akbar Izadi and Hamed Rasam

Efficient thermal management of central processing unit (CPU) cooling systems is vital in the context of advancing information technology and the demand for enhanced data…

Abstract

Purpose

Efficient thermal management of central processing unit (CPU) cooling systems is vital in the context of advancing information technology and the demand for enhanced data processing speeds. This study aims to explore the thermal performance of a CPU cooling setup using a cylindrical porous metal foam heat sink.

Design/methodology/approach

Nanofluid flow through the metal foam is simulated using the Darcy–Brinkman–Forschheimer equation, accounting for magnetic field effects. The temperature distribution is modeled through the local thermal equilibrium equation, considering viscous dissipation. The problem’s governing partial differential equations are solved using the similarity method. The CPU’s hot surface serves as a solid wall, with nanofluid entering the heat sink as an impinging jet. Verification of the numerical results involves comparison with existing research, demonstrating strong agreement across numerical, analytical and experimental findings. Ansys Fluent® software is used to assess temperature, velocity and streamlines, yielding satisfactory results from an engineering standpoint.

Findings

Investigating critical parameters such as Darcy number (10−4DaD ≤ 10−2), aspect ratio (0.5 ≤ H/D ≤ 1.5), Reynolds number (5 ≤ ReD,bf ≤ 3500), Eckert number (0 ≤ ECbf ≤ 0.1) , porosity (0.85 ≤ ε ≤ 0.95), Hartmann number (0 ≤ HaD,bf ≤ 300) and the volume fraction of nanofluid (0 ≤ φ ≤ 0.1) reveals their impact on fluid flow and heat sink performance. Notably, Nusselt number will reduce 45%, rise 19.2%, decrease 14.1%, and decrease 0.15% for Reynolds numbers of 600, with rising porosity from 0.85 to 0.95, Darcy numbers from 10−4 to 10−2, Eckert numbers from 0 to 0.1, and Hartman numbers from 0 to 300.

Originality/value

Despite notable progress in studying thermal management in CPU cooling systems using porous media and nanofluids, there are still significant gaps in the existing literature. First, few studies have considered the Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer equation, which accounts for non-Darcy effects and the flow and geometric interactions between coolant and porous medium. The influence of viscous dissipation on heat transfer in this specific geometry has also been largely overlooked. Additionally, while nanofluids and impinging jets have demonstrated potential in enhancing thermal performance, their utilization within porous media remains underexplored. Furthermore, the unique thermal and structural characteristics of porous media, along with the incorporation of a magnetic field, have not been fully investigated in this particular configuration. Consequently, this study aims to address these literature gaps and introduce novel advancements in analytical modeling, non-Darcy flow, viscous dissipation, nanofluid utilization, impinging jets, porous media characteristics and the impact of a magnetic field. These contributions hold promising prospects for improving CPU cooling system thermal management and have broader implications across various applications in the field.

Details

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0961-5539

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2023

Bob Heere, Daniel Lock and Danielle Cooper

The purpose of this article is to propose an overall framework for brand community formation that separates antecedents that lead to the formation of a brand community from those…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to propose an overall framework for brand community formation that separates antecedents that lead to the formation of a brand community from those outcomes that are associated with established communities.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors approached this review through an interdisciplinary literature review that delineated psychological, structural and behavioral processes that underline the formation of the brand community, often illustrated by contemporary cases in the sport industry.

Findings

The findings outline 18 different constructs, categorized in three overarching dimensions, separating structural, behavioral and psychological constructs. The authors posit these 18 constructs are at the heart of brand community formation. These constructs provide managers with a guide to inform their efforts to form a new brand community.

Originality/value

It is emphasized that brand community formation is a complex process that is paradoxical in nature and requires organizations to balance a non-interventionist approach that would allow for consumer empowerment, with a pro-active approach that creates conditions for a successful brand community formation process.

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