Can you teach all of the people some of the time? The development and evaluation of information literacy programs at the University of Queensland Library

Information skills and computer literacy are now seen by many within the academic community as essential. They are key graduate attributes required by students for lifelong learning and leadership roles in business and industry, government and society. Trends in the higher education sector bringing a renewed focus to teaching and preparing students for a global knowledge economy are outlined.

This paper focuses upon the power of a teaching and learning policy framework which supports the integration of information literacy into the curriculum. The increasing ease with which collaborative partnerships are formed between academic planners, course coordinators and librarians is highlighted by case studies of successful programs. Challenges are identified and change strategies described.

ERA distribution of information systems journals

The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative being conducted by the Australian Research Council (ARC), mandates a single journal and conference ranking scheme over every academic discipline in Australia. A universal publication outlet ranking list mandated by a government agency is unique and has attracted interest and comment both within Australia and overseas. Equally, the interest shown has come from all sectors involved in academic publishing – authors, reviewers, publishers – and from commercial and open access publishers. This paper investigates the distribution of information systems journals over the various ERA parameters and comments on a claim of bias whereby the ranking of a journal is positively influenced by the number of years it has been in existence in the areas of information systems and business journals. Clear evidence of the diversity of the information systems discipline is observed. The benefits of a multidisciplinary foundation for information systems is also noted. Longer established journals are shown to attract higher rankings and possible reasons for and implications flowing from this are discussed.

Indigenous research ethics : new modes of information gathering and storytelling in journalism

Veteran Indigenous affairs reporter Tony Koch emphasises the importance of respect, trust and listening in his journalism practice. This paper draws on Koch’s insights as well as recent scholarship on the policies and value of listening to support the proposal that Indigenous research ethics provide a concrete framework for improving media representations of Indigenous people and their access to news media. The university ethics process cannot replicate the understanding Koch has gained from 25 years of interacting with Indigenous people and their communities. However, this paper argues it provides a pathway along which journalism academics and their students can learn to engage with Indigenous people, navigate Indigenous public spheres and produce high-quality reporting that reflects Indigenous people’s aspirations. Journalists within the academy, who are not subject to the commercial or organizational pressures of the news industry, are especially well placed to collaborate with Indigenous people to deliver new ways of conducting research and telling stories that privilege their perspectives. Koch’s newsgathering practice demonstrates that many principals of this progressive approach are also achievable in mainstream journalism.

Incorporating a knowledge perspective into security risk assessments

Purpose – Many methodologies exist to assess the security risks associated with unauthorized leakage, modification and interruption of information used by organisations. This paper argues that these methodologies have a traditional orientation towards the identification and assessment of technical information assets. This obscures key risks associated with the cultivation and deployment of organisational knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to explore how security risk assessment methods can more effectively identify and treat the knowledge associated with business processes.

Design/methodology/approach – The argument was developed through an illustrative case study in which a well-documented traditional methodology is applied to a complex data backup process. Follow-up interviews were conducted with the organisation’s security managers to explore the results of the assessment and the nature of knowledge “assets” within a business process.

Findings – It was discovered that the backup process depended, in subtle and often informal ways, on tacit knowledge to sustain operational complexity, handle exceptions and make frequent interventions. Although typical information security methodologies identify people as critical assets, this study suggests a new approach might draw on more detailed accounts of individual knowledge, collective knowledge and their relationship to organisational processes.

Originality/value – Drawing on the knowledge management literature, the paper suggests mechanisms to incorporate these knowledge-based considerations into the scope of information security risk methodologies. A knowledge protection model is presented as a result of this research. This model outlines ways in which organisations can effectively identify and treat risks around process knowledge critical to the business.

How dynamic capabilities drive performance in the Indian IT industry : the role of information and co-ordination

This study examines key issues and effects of capability management on a fast-growing area of knowledge-intensive global business services – IT outsourcing and offshoring. An exploratory study is undertaken of Indian companies providing complex process-oriented offshore IT services to their global customers. The analysis of the data related to the service provider side shows that developing dynamic capabilities is strongly driven by management and top-clients and results in the development of business processes and in establishing a strategic partnership with the client organization. Key findings are that information exchange and coordination are the key to a leveraging firm performance.

The place of information and communication technology-mediated consultations in primary care : GPs' perspectives

Background: New information and communication technologies such as email and text messaging have been shown to be useful in some aspects of primary care service delivery. Little is known about Scottish GPs’ attitudes towards the adoption of these technologies as routine consultation tools.

Objectives: To explore GPs’ perceptions of the potential place of new non-face-to-face consultation technologies in the routine delivery of primary care; to explore GPs’ perceived barriers to the introduction of these technologies and to identify the processes by which GPs feel that new consultation technologies could be incorporated into routine primary care.

Methods: Qualitative interview study: 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews carried out with maximum variation sample of GPs across Scotland.

Results: Whilst the face-to-face consultation was seen as central to much of the clinical and diagnostic work of primary care, many GPs were conditionally willing to consider using new technologies in the future, particularly to carry out administrative or less complex tasks and therefore maximize practice efficiency and patient convenience. Key considerations were access to appropriate training, IT support and medico-legal guidance.

Conclusions: GPs are conditionally willing to use new consultation media if clinically appropriate and if medico-legal and technical support is available.

A note on the property rights theory and the ex ante value of information

This paper examines the ex ante value of information in the property rights model where the possibility exists that an investing agent can be provided with relevant information before investments are undertaken. When contracts are incomplete, from an ex ante perspective, informing the investing agent does not necessarily increase the expected surplus resulting from a relationship between two economic agents. The paper highlights the fact that the second-best nature of the problem that arises from contractual incompleteness can ensure this.

Prevention of information harvesting in a cloud services environment

We consider a cloud data storage involving three entities, the cloud customer, the cloud business centre which provides services, and the cloud data storage centre. Data stored in the data storage centre comes from a variety of customers and some of these customers may compete with each other in the market place or may own data which comprises confidential information about their own clients. Cloud staff have access to data in the data storage centre which could be used to steal identities or to compromise cloud customers. In this paper, we provide an efficient method of data storage which prevents staff from accessing data which can be abused as described above. We also suggest a method of securing access to data which requires more than one staff member to access it at any given time. This ensures that, in case of a dispute, a staff member always has a witness to the fact that she accessed data.

Privacy and the access of information in a smart house environment

In this paper we present a framework for addressing privacy issues raised by the monitoring of assisted living smart house environments. In home environments, the conflict between the goals of the surveillance, and the private nature of the home, raises the issue of occupant privacy. This issue needs to be addressed if applications are to be accepted by the occupant. We identify four key properties required for the design of privacy sensitive ubiquitous computing applications. Subsequently, we develop a dynamic and flexible method for implementing privacy measures through controlling access to data, and an interface to provide feedback to the occupant, enabling them to control the implemented privacy measures. We form a generic framework for implementing privacy sensitive ubiquitous computing applications based on previous applications within the field. This framework was then extended and used to develop a specific framework for a privacy sensitive smart house. The approach proposed in the framework dynamically applies privacy measures to multi-modal data according to the situation, or context, of the environment. We further test an implementation of the privacy measures, and detail methods to implement feedback and control. The approach aims to decrease the invasiveness of the surveillance, while retaining the purpose of the assisted living environment.

International outsourcing of information technology services : review and future directions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the development of the empirical literature on international outsourcing of information technology services (ITS) over the 1992-2007 period and to identify future research areas.

Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 78 empirical academic publications on international outsourcing of ITS conducted between 1992 and 2007 across 46 scholarly journals constitutes the main data for analytical purposes. The sample is compiled following extensive electronic searches of the main academic databases. After clustering the studies in the sample according to their main research areas, a narrative approach is used to review developments in each cluster and to identify emerging research areas.

Findings – Four main areas of research are identified, namely outsourcing decision, outsourcing management (OSM), outsourcing outcome and the role of offshore service providers (OSPs). The review suggests that research efforts to date have been predominantly on outsourcing decision and OSM, mostly from the perspective of clients. Future research opportunities exist in the areas of outsourcing strategy and performance, the behaviour and performance of OSPs particularly within the context of firms from less-developed countries competing globally, and the nature of competition among OSPs both within and among countries.

Originality/value – This is the first review which focuses on empirical studies of outsourcing for ITS. This paper identifies several gaps in the literature and points to the need for more research on outsourcing from the perspective of OSPs.

Style of information usage and use of accounting information : a Malaysian study

Purpose – Since the 1990s, there has been a growing interest in style of information usage. However, most studies on style of information usage are conducted in developed countries. There is limited research on style of information usage in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap in the existing literature by examining relationships between style of information usage and use of financial and non-financial information in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopted a survey method, for which a written questionnaire was prepared and mailed out to companies in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Terengganu and Pulau Pinang.

Findings – Findings of the study show that diagnostic style of information usage is positively associated with use of financial information, while interactive style of information usage is positively associated with use of non-financial information. Further analysis on types of non-financial information used by managers who adopt interactive style of information usage reveals that customer-related non-financial information such as quality, customer satisfaction and flexibility play a more important role in their decision-making processes.

Originality/value – The paper provides insights into relationships between style of information usage on and use of accounting information in developing countries. Findings of the study can be applied to assist management accountants in meeting managers’ information requirements.