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Distance education has been an important research issue of multimedia computing and communication. Since the instructional activities are implemented on cyberspace, how to control behaviors of students and to increase the degree of communication awareness have been a challenging issue. We propose a system based on the scaffolding theory. Behaviors of students are supervised by an intelligent control system, which is programmed by the instructor under our generic interface. The interface is built based on virtual reality and real‐time communication technologies. Students and instructors have their individual avatars that are controlled by a video game like navigation. Those behaviors that violate virtual campus regulations are detected and interceptive actions are performed. The proposed system is implemented on a Windows system and can be used for general purpose of distance education.

The purpose of this study is to develop and analyse the usage status, level of satisfaction and success model of a mobile library service system in Taiwan. The research results could serve as a reference for the development, evaluation and improvement of libraries’ mobile services.

This study designed a mobile library service system and used the informational system success model to evaluate its use status and level of satisfaction and, thus, to develop a success model for a mobile library service system.

Results showed that students’ level of satisfaction with the mobile library service system had a positive correlation with the usage status indicated that the system could help them to improve their work efficiency, such as by reducing time spent searching for books and cost of obtaining electronic resources. The students also expressed a willingness to continue using the mobile library service system.

In general, the students thought that the mobile library service system could reduce the time needed to search for book-related information, but that the service quality should be improved. Therefore, this study suggests that the education and training of system service personnel should be enhanced and that easy-to-use functions be provided to promote the users’ level of satisfaction and willingness to use the system.

This study developed a mobile library service system and invited students studying in the National University of Tainan, in southern Taiwan, to be the subjects in an experiment, with a goal to evaluate the success of a model mobile library. The findings showed that the overall explanatory power (R2) of this model was 55 per cent and, thus, that the findings of this work have practical significance.

The purpose of this study is to improve communication success through barrier identification and analysis so that the identified barriers can help project teams establish effective information-exchange strategies.

The recent publications on construction communication about time management are reviewed. Then, the semi-structured interviews are performed with both questionnaires and audio recordings (n1 = 18). Next, the collected data are analyzed using both statistical measures on the questionnaire survey and qualitative coding analysis on the text transcripts from an audio recording. Particularly, the identified barriers are substantiated using a scientometrics approach based on the published articles (2011–2020, n2 = 52,915) for purposeful information-sharing solutions in construction time management. Furthermore, the intervention strategies from the top 10 most-cited articles are analyzed and validated by comparisons with the results from construction surveys and relevant studies.

Based on the discussed communication difficulties, five main barriers were identified during time-cost risk management: probability and statistical concepts, availability of data from external resources, details of team member experiences, graphics (and graphical presentation skills), and spatial and temporal (a.k.a. 4D) simulation skills. For the improvement of communication skills and presentation quality regarding probability and statistical concepts, project teams should emphasize context awareness, case studies and group discussions. Details of communication techniques can be adjusted based on the backgrounds, experiences and expectations of team members.

The dataset n1 has both size and duration limits because of the availability of the invited industry professionals. The dataset n2 considers the literature from 2011 to 2020. Any before-the-date and unpublished studies are not included in the study.

A thorough comprehension of communication barriers can help project teams develop speaking, writing and analytical thinking skills that will enable the teams to better deliver ideas, thoughts and meanings. Additionally, the established discussion on barrier-removal strategies may enhance time management effectiveness, reduce project delays, avoid confusion and misunderstanding and save rework costs.

This research calls for the awareness of communication barriers in construction project execution and team collaboration. The identified barriers and the established solutions enrich the approaches of construction companies to share information with communities and society.

This is the first identification model for communication barriers in the time management of the construction industry to the authors' knowledge. The influencing factors and the countermeasures of communication difficulties highlighted by the research were not examined systematically and holistically in previous studies. The findings provide a new approach to facilitate the development of powerful communication strategies and to improve project execution.

Deep excavation in soft clay often causes additional deformations to surroundings. Then, if deformations cannot be predicted reasonably, the adjacent buildings may be threatened by the deep excavation. Based on the good field observations from ten deep excavations in Hangzhou, this paper aims to thoroughly investigate the characteristics of wall deflections and ground settlements induced by deep excavations.

On the basis of good field observation of ten deep excavations, the performances of excavations, supported by contiguous pile in Hangzhou, were studied, and also compared with other case histories.

The maximum wall deflections (dhm) rang mostly from 0.7 to 1.2 per cent H_e, where He is the final excavation depth, larger than those in Taipei and Shanghai. The observed maximum ground settlement in the Hangzhou cases generally ranges from 0.2 to 0.8 per cent H_e. Then, the settlement influence zone extends to a distance of 2.0-4.0 H_e from the excavation. The relatively large movements and influence zones in Hangzhou may be attributed to low stability numbers, large excavation widths and the creep effect. The excavation width is justified to have a significant influence on the wall deflection. Therefore, to establish a semi-empirical formula for predicting the maximum wall deflection, it is necessary to include the factor of excavation width.

The relevant literature concentrated on the characteristics of deep excavations supported by the contiguous pile wall in Hangzhou soft clay can rarely be found. Based on the ten deep excavations with good field observation in Hangzhou, the characteristics of wall deflection and ground settlements were comprehensively studied for the first time, which can provide some theoretical support for similar projects.

The purpose of this study is to present a simplified analytical method to estimate ground lateral displacement due to excavation. Excavations of foundation pit will inevitably lead to soil movements that may adversely impact surrounding facilities or structures. Thus, estimation of the ground displacement induced by excavation is essential in engineering practice.

Based on a theory of elastic mechanics, a simplified analytical method for predicting the ground lateral displacement resulting from foundation pit excavation is proposed.

As the distance from the soil to the supporting structure increases, the maximum ground lateral displacement decreases nonlinearly but at a reduced rate. Poisson’s ratio of soil has a mild influence on the ground lateral displacement, whereas the influence of the supporting structure’s deflection modes is significant.

The advantage of the proposed simplified analytical method lies in that it considers the supporting structure’s arbitrary deflections, giving it wider practical applicability than previous methods.

The purpose of this paper is to present a model for building information modelling (BIM) implementation at small and medium-sized construction contractor organisations (SMOs). The proposed BIM adoption model assesses BIM implementation benefits, costs and challenges faced by SMOs. Correlation between BIM adoption in SMOs and the associated impacting factors, including knowledge support and BIM adoption motivation, is captured through the model.

A literature review of BIM adoption in construction was first presented. Research data, collected from 80 SMOs in Australia through a conducted survey, are then analysed. Descriptive analysis and structural equation modelling were used to investigate SMOs’ understanding of BIM, and to qualify the correlations among the proposed latent variables impacting BIM implementation at SMOs, respectively. Additionally, this study used χ² test to compare differences between BIM users and non-BIM users regarding BIM understanding, interested applications and attitudes towards implementation benefits and challenges.

Potential benefits associated with BIM implementation are a major motivation factor when it comes to BIM adoption at SMOs. In addition, existing staff’s capability in using BIM tools positively affects the establishment of an organisational knowledge-support system, which determines the decision of adopting BIM eventually. Ultimately, there is a need for further emphasis on staff engagement in the implementation process.

The results presented in this paper are applicable to SMOs in the building sector of construction. BIM implementation at organisations involved in non-building activities, including civil works and infrastructure, needs to be assessed in the future.

The results indicate that rather than placing the focus mainly on benefits of BIM implementation, successful implementation of BIM in practice requires adequate effort to assess implementation problems, establish knowledge support and engage staff in using BIM.

Results of this study provide an insight into the adoption challenges of BIM in SMOs, given that the focus of previous studies has been mostly placed on BIM adoption in architectural firms and large contractors.

This research conducts bibliometric analyses and network mapping on smart libraries worldwide. It examines publication profiles, identifies the most cited publications and preferred sources and considers the cooperation of the authors, organizations and countries worldwide. The research also highlights keyword trends and clusters and finds new developments and emerging trends from the co-cited references network.

A total of 264 records with 1,200 citations were extracted from the Web of Science database from 2003 to 2021. The trends in the smart library were analyzed and visualized using BibExcel, VOSviewer, Biblioshiny and CiteSpace.

The People’s Republic of China had the most publications (119), the most citations (374), the highest H-index (12) and the highest total link strength (TLS = 25). Wuhan University had the highest H-index (6). Chiu, Dickson K. W. (H-index = 4, TLS = 22) and Lo, Patrick (H-index = 4, TLS = 21) from the University of Hong Kong had the highest H-indices and were the most cooperative authors. Library Hi Tech was the most preferred journal. “Mobile library” was the most frequently used keyword. “Mobile context” was the largest cluster on the research front.

This study helps librarians, scientists and funders understand smart library trends.

There are several studies and solid background research on smart libraries. However, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to conduct bibliometric analyses and network mapping on smart libraries around the globe.

This study aims to explain how hotel guests form attitudes toward facial recognition technology in Singapore by integrating technology acceptance model (TAM), privacy calculus theory and personal innovativeness.

A self-administered online questionnaire was developed with measurements adopted from past research. Guests who stayed in four- or five-star hotels in Singapore were recruited via systematic random sampling. Structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the proposed integrated models.

Results showed that hotel guests performed calculative cognitive processes, weighing the benefits and risks of using facial recognition check-in system. Contradictory to the past research which suggested that trust activates both perceived risk and benefits, this study demonstrated that trust independently directed consumer attention on the benefits gained while risk perception was triggered by privacy concern. Furthermore, the current study revealed that the ease of use of facial recognition check-in system could possibly backfire.

The research indicates that the effort to adopt new technology in the hotel industry is promising in view of the growing millennials and Generation Z population who are digital natives. Furthermore, the current study highlights ways to elevate institutional trust and divert consumers’ attention from risk perception to enhance their positive attitude and behavior toward accepting facial recognition check-in system.

This study integrated TAM with privacy calculus theory and personal innovativeness in examining the acceptance of facial recognition check-in system in the hotel industry in Singapore. This study is also the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to investigate the relationships among privacy concern, perceived risk, institutional trust and perceived benefits, as well as their effects on consumers’ attitudes and behavior toward the biometric system.