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The emergence of new and integrated approaches to information technology projects and web-based service initiatives in libraries poses a number of challenges to those who manage them. Library managers must work closely with specialists in areas that are not always found within the library, yet there is no evidence-based data documenting the factors involved in doing so. The exploratory study summarized in this chapter documents much of what practitioners and scholars alike consider important in this arena, and contributes to the literature in two ways. First, a meta-analysis of what both practitioners and scholars have found to be important in the areas of technology project management and web-based initiatives is presented that can assist professionals currently developing web-based project launches. Additionally, by using bibliometric techniques as the basis of this analysis, a newly developed taxonomy of these approaches is provided that can assist LIS professionals with future cooperative web-based initiatives. Domain analytic techniques are utilized in the study to examine a selection (n=276) of published articles and papers to ascertain what library and information professionals have learned from embarking on such collaborations. A grounded theory approach is taken in order to develop a working taxonomy of topics and themes relating to collaborative online initiatives. The findings illustrate that library and information science project managers involved in online and web-based initiatives face five key areas of concern: information technology management, information retrieval protocols, user-specific applications, user education, and strategic planning.

Mixed-initiative interaction is a naturally-occurring feature of human-human interactions. It is characterised by turn-taking, frequent change of focus, agenda and control among the "speakers". This human-based mixed-initiative interaction can be implemented through mixed-initiative systems. This is a popular approach to building intelligent systems that can collaborate naturally and effectively with people. Mixed-initiative systems exhibit various degrees of involvement with regards to the initiatives taken by the user or the system. In any discourse, the initiative may be shared between either, a learner and a system agent, or between two independent system agents. Both the parties in question establish and maintain a common goal and context, and proceed with an interaction mechanism involving initiative taking that optimises their progress towards the goal. However, the application of mixed-initiative interaction in web-based learning is very much limited. This paper discusses the design and implementation of a web-based learning system through mixedinitiative system known as JavaLearn. JavaLearn allows the interaction between the system (in the form of a software agent) and the individual learner. Here, the system supports the learning through a problem solving activity by demanding active learning behaviour from the learner with minimal natural language understanding by the agent and embodies the application-dependent aspects of the discourse. It guides the learner to solve the problem by giving adaptive advice, hints and engages the learner in the real time interaction in the form of "conversation". The principal features of this system are it is adaptive and is based on reflection, observation and relation. The system acquires its intelligence through the finite state machine and rule-based agents.

The present paper is a cross‐sectional case study of knowledge management (KM) initiatives at Ericsson. The general aim of the study was to investigate how a large Swedish telecom corporation developed and integrated KM tools with existing organizational structure, needs and tasks, and to pinpoint opportunities and pitfalls in this regard. In order to do this the authors mapped and categorized the KM initiatives developed in the company. The method used was a series of semi‐structured interviews which focused on, among other things, getting respondents to identify the organizational needs that arise as a result of context and task. The results are presented in a two‐by‐two matrix categorizing KM initiatives as to content and mode of implementation. The paper concludes with a number of hypotheses and propositions that may be used for further investigation into how firms may go about optimally organizing their knowledge management strategies.

Examination of the challenges of dependence on the private sector of public‐sector projects is the central concern of the paper. With ongoing research suggesting that dependence on the private sector is inevitable, this paper tries to assess whether the dependence is an imperative or a yardstick for gauging efficiency.

A literature review, consideration of flagship projects as well as trends in implementation of ICTs in government have been central to the development of analysis for the paper.

The research found that when the public sector is interested in developing applications that require acceptance among citizens, then initial support of the private sector is a necessity. Countries that have depended on strict government control on delivery of internet‐based services are finding out that a degree of independence at the point of delivery tends to be more effective. It is only after a passage of time post rolling out of web‐based delivery of services that measurement of service quality can be deemed to be a measure of efficiency.

This research was desk‐based and reliant on international flagship initiatives. There is a wide range of resource endowments between developed and developing nations. This research showed that developed nations are more appropriate for study of efficiency through private‐sector involvement, and private‐sector engagement in web‐based government initiatives is an imperative in the case of developing nations.

Government agencies ought to be able to think more expansively when they are developing applications for citizens, as there are a variety of private sector solutions that can be used.

The theme itself is new in a context where new ways of running government projects are constantly being revisited.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project concerning a web-based (online) course for mentors of newly qualified teachers (NQTs).

A mixed-method approach with questionnaires and interviews was used to collect the data.

Positive attitudes towards online education were discerned and initial concerns about the use of technical tools were dissipated during the course. It was found that the mentoring-related content of the online course could be mediated. The most significant difference in the participants’ meaning making and ability to “connect theory and practice” with “concrete knowledge” was between those with experience of mentorship before or during the course and those without.

The study focuses on one cohort of mentor participants (n=18) attending one mentor education course.

The paper contributes to the value of online education for mentors of NQTs and includes some practical recommendations for mentor education providers.

This paper reports on an under-researched area. Research on professional development programmes for mentors in general is limited, and even more so when it comes to online education for mentors.

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.

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

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

Reports the outcome of research conducted as part of a project funded by the Learning and Technology Support Network – Information and Computing Studies Group (LTSN‐ICS). The paper deals with the issues perceived as being important “barriers” to using technology in teaching and learning within the academic staff community working in higher education in the UK. Data were gathered from a critical analysis of the literature, the administration of a questionnaire survey and a series of interviews with academic staff. Empirical data are used to verify some of the contentions from the literature review and to contextualise these (mainly US‐based publications) in terms of the experience of UK academics. The overall picture which emerges when examining a range of initiatives currently being undertaken across a range of academic institutions is that developments are often led by the enthusiasm of individuals with little extrinsic reward structure to encourage these innovations.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the web‐based tax filing systems of Turkey and South Korea. The comparison is based on user satisfaction which has parameters such as ease of work, adequacy of the amount of information, display speed, convenience to life, job productivity, and help service.

The tax filing systems are presented along with a background of such systems and their usability parameters. The survey instrument that has been prepared for gauging user satisfaction was applied to the users in both countries. The statistical analyses of the results are performed through t‐test and stepwise regression.

The study shows that users in the two countries felt differently in such factors as ease of work, adequacy of the amount of information, display speed, convenience to life, job productivity, and help service. Although Turkey has a complex tax system Turkish users did not find the tax filing system difficult to use and that may be attributable to the fact that they are accounting professionals who frequently use the system.

Electronic tax filing is an important e‐government application that has become increasingly common all over the world. Beyond the usual benefits of e‐government such as reducing transaction costs and providing convenience, electronic tax filing systems are particularly useful for governments to avoid tax evasion and errors. Although, by definition, web‐based tax filing systems of different countries have to be different, universal design parameters of each system and the resulting user satisfaction levels may provide guidelines for new systems.

Unlike other types of information systems, which have been comparatively analyzed in the context of more than one country, this is not applicable to e‐government systems. To the authors' knowledge the present article is the first attempt to compare and analyze two countries' different e‐government systems.