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1 – 10 of over 34000
Article
Publication date: 8 August 2016

Andrea G Capodaglio, Arianna Callegari and Daniele Molognoni

Advancements in real-time water monitoring technologies permit rapid detection of water quality, and threats from waste loads. Water Framework Directive mandating the…

Abstract

Purpose

Advancements in real-time water monitoring technologies permit rapid detection of water quality, and threats from waste loads. Water Framework Directive mandating the establishment of Member States’ water resources monitoring, presence of hazardous contaminants in effluents, and perception of vulnerability of water distribution system to attacks, have spurred technical and economic interests. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

As alternative to traditional analyzers, chemosensors, operate according to physical principles, without sample collection (online), and are capable of supplying parameter values continuously and in real-time. Their low selectivity and stability issues have been overcome by technological developments. This review paper contains a comprehensive survey of existing and expected online monitoring technologies for measurement/detection of pollutants in water.

Findings

The state-of-the-art in online water monitoring is presented. Application examples are reported. Monitoring costs will become a lesser part of a water utility budget due to the fact that automation and technological simplification will abate human cost factors, and reduce the complexity of laboratory procedures.

Originality/value

An overview of applicable instrumentation, and forthcoming developments, is given. Technological development in this field is very rapid, and astonishing advances are anticipated in several areas (fingerprinting, optochemical sensors, biosensors, molecular techniques). Online monitoring is becoming an ever-important tool not only for compliance control or plant management purposes, but also as a useful approach to pollution control and reduction, minimizing the environmental impact of discharges.

Details

Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, vol. 27 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7835

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 February 2017

Nadine Strauβ and Jeroen Jonkman

The purpose of this paper is to find out how issue management and media monitoring is exercised in the digital age to anticipate crises. More specifically, it was investigated how…

3830

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to find out how issue management and media monitoring is exercised in the digital age to anticipate crises. More specifically, it was investigated how these practices differ across communication professionals, organizations, and sectors in the Netherlands. Organizations are nowadays confronted with a fast-changing environment. Anticipating dicey issues, being in control of the flow of messages, and managing various stakeholders on diverse channels becomes a primary concern for organizations these days.

Design/methodology/approach

The study relies on qualitative interviews with 17 communication professionals working in various industrial sectors in the Netherlands. Professionals were recruited from distinct organizations and from diverse sectors, including media, public affairs, technology, consultancy, municipality, lottery, oil/gas, cultural, insurance, and the financial industry. The interview data were analyzed by means of an inductive analysis and in-depth reading.

Findings

Practitioners seem to acknowledge the importance of issue monitoring. However, professionals differ with regard to their expertise in online media monitoring, depending on the sector they work for. Stakeholder mapping and the monitoring of competitors has been found to be crucial for issue management, but also to vary among large and small organizations. Eventually, monitoring in times of crises was seen indispensable. It also has the potential to empower practitioners within their organizations.

Originality/value

New technologies, external services, and automized monitoring processes have facilitated issue monitoring for professionals to a great extent, making it possible to analyze great amounts of data efficiently in short time and with fewer resources. Furthermore, the focus of media monitoring is increasingly moving toward the online sphere, including the active engagement of stakeholders. Eventually, the empowerment of practitioners through online monitoring practices in times of crises can be considered as a further step toward the positioning of communication professionals within the dominant coalition.

Details

Journal of Communication Management, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1363-254X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 February 2023

Martha Rodríguez-Villalobos, Jessica Fernandez-Garza and Yolanda Heredia-Escorza

The objective of this study was to compare three distinct methods of test monitoring in the context of distance education—non-proctored remote or online tests, traditional…

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this study was to compare three distinct methods of test monitoring in the context of distance education—non-proctored remote or online tests, traditional face-to-face proctored tests and remotely proctored tests using software—to analyze if the method in which tests are monitored influences the obtained grades.

Design/methodology/approach

The experiment was carried out at the postgraduate level in the Master's Degree in Administration program in the modality of distance education, with a total of 296 students during three terms wherein the monitoring method of the final exam varied, keeping the other variables constant. This study used a quantitative method in which the distribution of grades was analyzed; and the grades from each method were tested. Finally, using a multiple linear regression model with dichotomous variables, the impact on students' academic performance with each method was quantified.

Findings

The results indicated that the remotely proctored online test grades were seven points lower with respect to the traditional method. This result does not mean that the lower scores in the remote proctored condition were due to better adherence to academic honesty, maybe this could be due to test anxiety, technology interference or a number of other factors that would confound the validity of the final test score.

Practical implications

The results indicated that the non-proctored online test favored the grade in four points with respect to the traditional method.

Social implications

The authors conclude to support recommending non-proctored online test, this can be a closer substitute to the traditional method than remote application with software monitoring.

Originality/value

Not exist another paper to compare three distinct methods of test monitoring in the context of distance education.

Details

The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4880

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2019

Xiaolong Song, Jiahua Jin, Yi-Hung Liu and Xiangbin Yan

A question of interest is whether online social networks are effective in promoting behavioral changes and weight loss. The purpose of this paper is to examine the contagion…

Abstract

Purpose

A question of interest is whether online social networks are effective in promoting behavioral changes and weight loss. The purpose of this paper is to examine the contagion effect of an online buddy network on individuals’ self-monitoring behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

This study collects data from an online weight-loss community and constructs an online buddy network. This study compares the effects of the network structure of the buddy network and the actor attributes when predicting self-monitoring performance by employing the auto-logistic actor attribute models.

Findings

This study confirms the contagion effect on weigh-in behavior in the online buddy network. The contagion effect is significantly predictive when controlling for actor attribute and other network structure effects.

Originality/value

There is limited evidence that one’s weight-related behavior can be affected by online social contacts. This study contributes to the literature on peer influence on health by examining the contagion effect on weight-related behavior between online buddies. The findings can assist in designing peer-based interventions to harness influence from online social contacts for weight loss.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1993

Thomas A. Peters

The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a…

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a literature review of the first twenty‐five years of TLA poses some challenges and requires some decisions. The primary organizing principle could be a strict chronology of the published research, the research questions addressed, the automated information retrieval (IR) systems that generated the data, the results gained, or even the researchers themselves. The group of active transaction log analyzers remains fairly small in number, and researchers who use transaction logs tend to use this method more than once, so tracing the development and refinement of individuals' uses of the methodology could provide insight into the progress of the method as a whole. For example, if we examine how researchers like W. David Penniman, John Tolle, Christine Borgman, Ray Larson, and Micheline Hancock‐Beaulieu have modified their own understandings and applications of the method over time, we may get an accurate sense of the development of all applications.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Article
Publication date: 25 October 2019

Elzbieta Lepkowska-White, Amy Parsons and William Berg

This study aims to use a social media management framework and strategic orientation framework to explore how small restaurants manage social media.

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to use a social media management framework and strategic orientation framework to explore how small restaurants manage social media.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors content-analyzed social media activity and interviews with 14 managers of social media in small independent restaurants in the northeast region of the USA that employed fewer than 20 employees.

Findings

The results of the study show that most small restaurants can be classified as anarchic, hierarchical and conservative defenders, and that they mainly focus on promotional activities on social media. The majority use social media also to drive traffic to a restaurant and, thus, act as calculative pragmatists. Very few use social media strategically or creatively in any of the social media management stages, and very few monitor or use social media information to improve their operations.

Research limitations/implications

This study shows that the adopted theoretical framework in this study for social media management helps analyze social media operations in small restaurants, points to the strategic orientations applied in small restaurants, shows the intricacies of each stage and helps show what small restaurants do well and how they can improve. Future research may use larger samples, investigate frameworks particularly relevant to small restaurants, such as the resource-based view (RBV) framework, and may focus on creative and diverse strategic approaches toward social media management for small establishments.

Practical implications

As customers continue shifting to social media and review sites, more restaurants may want to invest in developing more creative approaches toward social media and do it in more structured, integrated and continuous ways. The study describes a process they may want to follow and specific tactics that could be implemented to use social media more strategically in all stages of social media management.

Social implications

Not only are small business establishments the backbone of the restaurant industry, but they also appeal to customers more than large chains. This study shows how these small businesses can utilize social media to attract more customers, engage them, learn about them and their competitive environment to market and improve their operations.

Originality/value

The authors focus on the supplier side of social media for restaurants, a perspective lacking in the literature, and specifically small restaurants that receive less attention in prior research. Few studies exist that explore how social media is incorporated in all stages of social media management. The study points to the unique challenges that small restaurants experience in the process of using social media for marketing, monitoring and using social media to improve their operations. The study uses a relatively large sample of qualitative interviews conducted with managers of small restaurants and a content analysis of their actual social media activity.

Details

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6182

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 December 2020

Daniel B. Le Roux and Douglas A. Parry

Online vigilance is a novel construct which describes individual differences in users' cognitive orientation to online connectedness, their attention to and integration of…

Abstract

Purpose

Online vigilance is a novel construct which describes individual differences in users' cognitive orientation to online connectedness, their attention to and integration of online-related cues and stimuli and their prioritisation of online communication. Its proponents argue that it is acquired through the processes of instrumental and attentional training that underlie media use behaviours. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the role of three personal characteristics (emotional intelligence, rumination and identity distress) as predictors of online vigilance in addition to media use behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors adopted an exploratory frame and followed a survey-methodology to collect data among a sample of university students (n = 812). The resulting data were analysed through a hierarchical multiple regression process in which four models were considered.

Findings

The findings indicate that while media use behaviours (daily smartphone use, social media use, messaging, video watching and media multitasking) predict online vigilance, their combined effect is weak. However, when considering these behaviours in combination with trait rumination and identity distress, a moderate effect is observable.

Research limitations/implications

While the findings do not permit causal inference, it suggests that two personal characteristics, trait rumination and identity distress, play an important role in determining an individual's tendency or ability to psychologically disconnect from their online spheres. This provides an initial step towards the theorisation of online vigilance and the identification of individuals who may be at risk of acquiring it.

Originality/value

Online vigilance is a novel construct which has only been investigated in a small number of studies. However, its emphasis on psychological connectedness presents a unique and important development in the context of permanently online, permanently connected living. The present study is the first to explore its association with personal characteristics.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 35 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Omid Pourali, Hashem Ghasemi Kadijani and Farideh Mohammadi Khangheshlaghi

An effective chemical conditioning technique was successfully tested and investigated to control and minimize the chemistry-related damages within mixed metallurgy steam and water…

Abstract

Purpose

An effective chemical conditioning technique was successfully tested and investigated to control and minimize the chemistry-related damages within mixed metallurgy steam and water cycle of Heller dry cooled combined cycle power plants (CCPPs), in which cooling water and condensate are completely mixed in direct contact condenser. This study aims to perform a comprehensive experimental research in four mixed metallurgy steam and water cycle.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive experimental study was carried out in four mixed metallurgy steam and water cycle fabricated with ferrous- and aluminum-based alloys which have various corrosion resistance capabilities in contact with water. Chemical conditioning was conducted using both volatile and non-volatile alkalizing agents, and, to perform chemical conditioning effectively, quality parameters (pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, sodium, silica, iron, aluminum and phosphate) were monitored by analyzing grab and online samples taken at eight key sampling points.

Findings

Results indicated that pH was the most critical parameter which was not mainly within the recommended ranges of widely used standards and guidelines at all key sampling points that generally increases the occurrence of chemistry-related damages. The other quality parameters were mostly satisfactory.

Originality/value

In this research, the development of a suitable chemical conditioning technique in mixed metallurgy steam and water cycle, fabricated with ferrous and aluminum-based alloys, was studied. The obtained results in this thorough research work was evaluated by comparison with the chemistry limits of the widely used standards and guidelines, and combined use of volatile and solid alkalizing agents was considered as a promising chemical conditioning technique for utilization in mixed metallurgy units of Heller dry cooled CCPPs.

Details

Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, vol. 64 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0003-5599

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 12 May 2021

Jiyou Jia and Yunfan He

The purpose of this study is to design and implement an intelligent online proctoring system (IOPS) by using the advantage of artificial intelligence technology in order to…

1759

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to design and implement an intelligent online proctoring system (IOPS) by using the advantage of artificial intelligence technology in order to monitor the online exam, which is urgently needed in online learning settings worldwide. As a pilot application, the authors used this system in an authentic university online exam and checked the proctoring result.

Design/methodology/approach

The IOPS adopts the B/S (Browser/Server) architecture. The server side is implemented with programming language C and Python and stores the identification data of all examinees and their important behavior change status, including facial expression, eye and mouth movement and speech. The browser side collects and analyzes multimodal data of the examinee writing the online test locally and transfers the examinee’s most important behavior status change data to the server. Real-time face recognition and voice detection are implemented with the support of open-source software.

Findings

The system was integrated into a Web-based intelligent tutoring system for school mathematics education. As a pilot application, the system was also used for online proctored exam in an undergraduate seminar in Peking University during the epidemic period in 2020. The recorded log data show that all students concentrated themselves on the exam and did not leave the camera and did not speak.

Originality/value

During the epidemic period of the novel coronavirus outbreak, almost all educational institutions in the world use online learning as the best way to maintain the teaching and learning schedule for all students. However, current online instruction platforms lack the function to prevent the learners from cheating in online exams and cannot guarantee the integrity and equality for all examinees as in traditional classroom exams. The literature review shows that the online proctoring system should become an important component of online exams to tackle the growing online cheating problem. Although such proctoring systems have been developed and put on the market, the practical usage of such systems in authentic exams and its effect have not been reported. Those systems are heavyweight and commercial product and cannot be freely used in education. The light-weight IOPS developed by the authors could meet the need for online exam as a stable and practical approach and could contribute to the growing online learning and distance learning.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 August 2023

Shengnan Han, Shahrokh Nikou and Workneh Yilma Ayele

To improve the academic integrity of online examinations, digital proctoring systems have recently been implemented in higher education institutions (HEIs). The paper aims to…

1717

Abstract

Purpose

To improve the academic integrity of online examinations, digital proctoring systems have recently been implemented in higher education institutions (HEIs). The paper aims to understand how digital proctoring has been practised in higher education (HE) and proposes future research directions for studying digital proctoring in HE.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review was conducted. The PRISMA procedure was adapted for the literature search. The topics were identified by topic modelling techniques from 154 relevant publications in seven databases.

Findings

Seven widely discussed topics in literature were identified, including solutions for detecting cheating and student authentication, challenges/issues of uptakes and students' performance in different proctoring environments.

Research limitations/implications

This paper provides insights for academics, policymakers, practitioners and students to understand the implementation of digital proctoring in academia, its adoption by HEIs, impacts on students' and educators' performance and the rapid increase in its use for digital exams in HEIs, with particular emphasis on the impacts of the systems on digitalising examinations in HE.

Originality/value

This review paper has systematically and critically described the state-of-the-art literature on digital proctoring in HE and provides useful insights and implications for future research on digital proctoring, and how academic integrity in online examinations can be enhanced, along with digitalising HE.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 38 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 34000