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This paper aims to present a brief overview of the European “Gentle User Interfaces for Elderly People” (GUIDE) project, which is creating a software framework and design tools that allow developers to efficiently integrate accessibility and personalisation features into their applications, minimizing intervention with existing development process and tools. The GUIDE project aims to fill the accessibility, expertise, time, budget and framework gap between mainstream applications and accessibility systems through its user modelling and multimodal adaptation systems.

The paper looks at the GUIDE project which involves users in early design process, understands their requirements, formulates them into user models and implements the model into a software framework to personalize interfaces with change of range of abilities and context of use. It proposes a research solution to industry and works closely with it so that the research can make a market impact.

Early evaluation of the system shows it can accommodate a wide range of users and enhance their quality of participation with digital media. The project also contributes to develop standards for hybrid TV and the interoperable user model.

The GUIDE project is a first of its kind to take an end‐to‐end approach to accessible computing through presentations on user‐centred design, accessibility solutions, a software framework for industrial developers and standardization issues for legislators and regulators.

The main purpose of this paper is to present how meaningful e‐learning units can be created by using an online tool called Meaningful E‐learning Units (MeLU). The paper also aims to describe how created e‐learning units can be shared by teachers and students.

This tool can help to produce e‐learning units that consist of six components: introduction context/scenario, activities, rules and roles, assessment, and concluding activities. A sample of an e‐learning unit called “Creating Tessellations” was created by using the tool and is presented in this paper.

It is easy to create e‐learning units by using the MeLU tool as it provides a large number of templates for teachers to choose. The tool also allows multimedia elements to be added to or deleted from the unit. Also, this tool enables teachers to share their e‐learning units with others and to customize existing units for their use.

The proposed form of e‐learning lessons could help to advance the integration of ICT‐enabled constructivist learning in schools. The potential to further enhance MeLU's capacity and to further develop it to incorporate Web 3.0 technologies are also discussed.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This paper aims to discuss a new tool for requirements gathering in the Web 2.0 era. It seeks to investigate the features that this kind of tool should have in order to be as widely applicable and useful as possible. Further, it aims to explore the extent to which business requirements for enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems can be collected and discussed collaboratively in a worldwide community of business process experts.

The paper is a combination of empirical research, hermeneutics and design research.

The proposed Living Requirements Space (LRS) platform has the potential of becoming an international forum for collecting and discussing business requirements for ERP systems.

The LRS platform will allow ERP developers, ERP systems implementers, and academics to better understand the evolution of business requirements for ERP systems. It will create a knowledge base of ERP business requirements, that is, a repository that guarantees open and unrestricted access to content. It will thus allow for more international ERP systems and far more comprehensive education on and understanding of business processes and ERP systems.

LRS is an open access tool that allows for the gathering of ERP systems requirements in a vendor‐ and project‐independent approach that is unbiased towards any geographic region.

This paper discusses an ongoing research programme, which explores the development of the software‐as‐a‐service business model by different service providers (xSPs). With the demise of the first phase of the ASP market, due to the failure of vendors to provide business value to potential and existing customers, Web services promise to resolve some of these problems by integrating software applications across heterogeneous technology platforms and business environments. Whether this will be achieved is the subject of continuing debate. This paper presents the preliminary findings from a study, which uses the Microsoft .NET technology platform to develop Web services. Two Web‐enabled prototype databases are discussed. The paper concludes that Web services is still relatively new, but if key technical and business challenges are resolved, it may provide value for the customer where ASPs failed.

This paper aims to provide knowledge about methods used to evaluate the accessibility of Iranian web sites through a real research environment.

The main theoretical base of this article is that almost all research conducted to evaluate the accessibility of web sites has used only one of three methods (namely manual, automatic and users' experiences). However, it seems that using a combination of these three methods is actually necessary. Consequently, taking a critical approach this article examines 18 Iranian ministerial web sites using the three methods.

Findings in both documents and evaluative studies show that each of the methods has deficits and it is necessary to employ a combination of the methods in order to conduct a reliable accessibility assessment. The different rankings of ministerial web sites in various evaluations have confirmed this view.

Identifying the advantages and disadvantages of the three methods and employing them in real research environments to assess the accessibility of ministerial web sites has been a useful exercise. The work can not only be a starting point for further discussions on the reliability of accessibility evaluation methods, but can also be applied to other types of web site.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

The paper provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The Internet may seem accessible to those using standard equipment such as a monitor, keyboard, and mouse, but in reality many who are using non‐standard devices or software to surf the Web will face difficulties accessing information. These alternative methods require that Web sites be designed to accommodate this need. Although many are knowledgeable about the US legislation Section 508 dealing with this issue, less is known about what other countries require. This paper provides an overview of the accessibility standards outlined by the Canadian Government for its Web sites. It also contains a review of four software products designed to assess violations of these standards. Each software tool is compared on a series of practical and functional indicators. For small to medium sites, A‐Prompt and Bobby are recommended and for large or multiple sites, InFocus and AccVerify are better choices. Limitations of each software product are also noted.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

The paper introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

The findings provide information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss new approaches for managing personal knowledge in the Web 2.0 era. The paper questions whether Web 2.0 technologies (social software) are a real panacea for the challenges associated with the management of knowledge. Can Web 2.0 reconcile the conflicting interests of managing organisational knowledge with personal objectives? Does Web 2.0 enable a more effective way of sharing and managing knowledge at the personal level?

Theoretically deductive with illustrative examples.

Web 2.0 plays a multifaceted role for communicating, collaborating, sharing and managing knowledge. Web 2.0 enables a new model of personal knowledge management (PKM) that includes formal and informal communication, collaboration and social networking tools. This new PKM model facilitates interaction, collaboration and knowledge exchanges on the web and in organisations.

Based on these findings, professionals and scholars will gain a better understanding of the potential role of Web 2.0 technologies for harnessing and managing personal knowledge. The paper provides concrete examples of how Web 2.0 tools are currently used in organisations.

As Web 2.0 has become integrated in our day‐to‐day activities, there is a need to further understand the relationship between Web 2.0 and PKM.