Search results

The paper has three purposes: the first is to provide a deeper understanding of the ideology and work practices of free and open source software development, the second to characterize the free software movement as a new type of computerization movement and the third to present a conceptual diagram and framework with an analysis showing how the free software computerization movement has evolved into an occupational community.

Qualitative data were collected over a four year period using a virtual ethnography in a study of free and open source software development and, in particular, a study of a free software community, GNUenterprise, located at www.gnuenterprise.org, which has the goal of developing a free enterprise resource planning software system.

It is concluded that the ideology of the free software movement continues to be one of the factors which mobilize people to contribute to free and open source software development. This movement represents a new type of computerization movement which promotes the investment of time in learning a new software development process instead of investment of money in the acquisition and use of new technology.

The research findings are limited by a detailed study of only one free software development project.

This paper is of significance to software developers and managers of firms who wish to incorporate free and open source software into their companies.

This research presents an original conceptual diagram and framework for how computerization movements have emerged into an occupational community.

This review reports on the current state and the potential of tools and systems designed to aid online searching, referred to here as online searching aids. Intermediary mechanisms are examined in terms of the two stage model, i.e. end‐user, intermediary, ‘raw database’, and different forms of user — system interaction are discussed. The evolution of the terminology of online searching aids is presented with special emphasis on the expert/non‐expert division. Terms defined include gateways, front‐end systems, intermediary systems and post‐processing. The alternative configurations that such systems can have and the approaches to the design of the user interface are discussed. The review then analyses the functions of online searching aids, i.e. logon procedures, access to hosts, help features, search formulation, query reformulation, database selection, uploading, downloading and post‐processing. Costs are then briefly examined. The review concludes by looking at future trends following recent developments in computer science and elsewhere. Distributed expert based information systems (debis), the standard generalised mark‐up language (SGML), the client‐server model, object‐orientation and parallel processing are expected to influence, if they have not done so already, the design and implementation of future online searching aids.

At the California State Polytechnic University the library buys software to support three models of microcomputers: IBM PC, Apple, and Macintosh. On campus there are three comptuer labs which are maintained by the Computer Center. The library itself contains an IBM PC lab with 40 micros and two different types of printers. The development of a microcomputer software collection began in October 1984, after the Guidelines for Using AACR2 Chapter 9 for Cataloging Microcomputer Software were published and when the OCLC format for machine‐readable data files became available. At the present time the collection comprises about ninety different packages which are housed in Reserve and have a checkout period of four hours.

The purpose of this article is to describe CDSware (CERN Document Server Software), a software developed at CERN.

CDSware supports the creation of electronic preprint servers, Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs) and document systems on the web. It complies with the OAI‐PMH (Open Archive Initiative – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) and uses MARC 21 as its underlying bibliographic standard. It is open source software, licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

CDSware has been created for the handling of large repositories including various types of materials, like descriptions of museum objects, collections of confidential or public documents, etc.

All technical details of the software are described to enable comparison with all other open source software for managing and bibliographic organization of digitized context.

The paper presents a detailed description of highly (technically and bibliographically) developed software in order to help libraries in deciding which open source software is more suitable for their digitization project.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of open source to a non‐technical audience and give an overview of its current and potential applications in libraries.

The paper is based on a literature review.

Open source already aids libraries and has great potential but is hobbled by its intrinsically technical appeal.

The paper makes observations about information technology trends which might affect the take up of open source and introduces open source comprehensively but succinctly.

‘Britain will have in the future, as in the past, the finest public library service in the world.’ That was the prediction of Richard Luce, Minister for the Arts, speaking at the CLSI Annual Lecture on Library Automation. The Minister was speaking at the invitation of Patrick Regester, Managing Director of CLSI, who invited Mr. Luce to outline his proposals for the future financing of public libraries in England as published in the Government's Green Paper, Financing our Public Libraries.

The dynamic evolution and new direction of nonprint media in the information professions continually change the emphasis and character of activities, services and equipment. It is essential for libraries and other information agencies to keep abreast with the latest developments in the field.

Originating in the USA and Northern Europe, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) found on the internet its fertile environment. In more recent years, FOSS is becoming an increasingly important element in strategies for development and implementation of information and communication technologies also in developing countries. Mainstream research on FOSS has catered to the underlying principles or freedom, open organizational forms, and on its economical aspects. The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the actual consequences of FOSS, often left in the background.

The paper examines where FOSS principles' assumptions are likely to be more evident: in contexts of developing countries, which are geographically and organizationally far from the original environment of FOSS. A mixed methodology characterizes this work: quantitative and qualitative methods bring readers' attention to unusual empirical settings and downplayed organizational processes of information technology (IT) implementation and adoption.

The consequences of FOSS on IT implementation and actual use are ambivalent. It is argued that FOSS adoption does not happen spontaneously, neither by decree, and that the relevance of open technologies as public goods remains in the different role of local actual technical and organizational capabilities, and environment conditions.

Such a focus complements existing studies on the economical relevance of FOSS, which are not the focus of this paper.

Connected Health is an emerging and rapidly developing field never before witnessed across the healthcare sector. It has the potential to transform healthcare service systems by increasing its safety, quality and overall efficiency. However, as healthcare technologies or medical devices continuously rely more on software development, one of the core challenges is examining how Connected Health is regulated – often impacting Connected Health innovation. The purpose of this paper is to present an understanding of how Connected Health is regulated. Many of these regulatory developments fall under “medical devices”, giving rise to Software-as-a-Medical Device (SaaMD).

Through an extensive literature review, this paper demystifies Connected Health regulation. It presents the outcome of expert discussions which explore the key regulatory developments in the context of Connected Health to provide a practical guide to understanding how regulation can potentially shape healthcare innovation.

Several key issues are identified, and the authors present a comprehensive overview of regulatory developments relating to Connected Health with a view to support the continued growth of IT-enabled healthcare service models. The authors also identify the key challenges in Connected Health and identify areas for future research.

A key outcome of this research is a clearer understanding of the opportunities and challenges that regulation and standards present to Connected Health. Furthermore, this research is of critical importance in a first attempt towards recognising the impact of regulation and standards compliance in Connected Health.

The National Agricultural Library (NAL), the North Carolina State University(NCSU) Libraries, and the NCSU Computing Center are collaborating on a research and demonstration project to identify and investigate issues involved in a networked, computer‐based document delivery system for library materials. The project uses scanned images of documents to generate highly detailed, machine‐readable page images, and transmits those images through the data transmission capabilities of the NSFnet/Internet to computers located in libraries, in research areas, and on scholars' desks at agricultural research stations and extension offices throughout the United States. By using commercial, graphics‐capable, networked hardware platforms combined with commercial and public domain software, a non‐proprietary, computer‐based document delivery system should be within the reach of the land grant library community by the mid‐1990s.