Implementing an enhanced repository statistics system for QUT ePrints

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) was one of the first universities in Australia to establish an institutional repository. Launched in November 2003, the repository (QUT ePrints) uses the EPrints open source repository software (from Southampton) and has enjoyed the benefit of an institutional deposit mandate since January 2004. Currently (April 2012), the repository holds over 36,000 records, including 17,909 open access publications with another 2,434 publications embargoed but with mediated access enabled via the ‘Request a copy’ button which is a feature of the EPrints software. At QUT, the repository is managed by the library.QUT ePrints (http://eprints.qut.edu.au) The repository is embedded into a number of other systems at QUT including the staff profile system and the University’s research information system. It has also been integrated into a number of critical processes related to Government reporting and research assessment. Internally, senior research administrators often look to the repository for information to assist with decision-making and planning. While some statistics could be drawn from the advanced search feature and the existing download statistics feature, they were rarely at the level of granularity or aggregation required. Getting the information from the ‘back end’ of the repository was very time-consuming for the Library staff. In 2011, the Library funded a project to enhance the range of statistics which would be available from the public interface of QUT ePrints. The repository team conducted a series of focus groups and individual interviews to identify and prioritise functionality requirements for a new statistics ‘dashboard’. The participants included a mix research administrators, early career researchers and senior researchers. The repository team identified a number of business criteria (eg extensible, support available, skills required etc) and then gave each a weighting. After considering all the known options available, five software packages (IRStats, ePrintsStats, AWStats, BIRT and Google Urchin/Analytics) were thoroughly evaluated against a list of 69 criteria to determine which would be most suitable. The evaluation revealed that IRStats was the best fit for our requirements. It was deemed capable of meeting 21 out of the 31 high priority criteria. Consequently, IRStats was implemented as the basis for QUT ePrints’ new statistics dashboards which were launched in Open Access Week, October 2011. Statistics dashboards are now available at four levels; whole-of-repository level, organisational unit level, individual author level and individual item level. The data available includes, cumulative total deposits, time series deposits, deposits by item type, % fulltexts, % open access, cumulative downloads, time series downloads, downloads by item type, author ranking, paper ranking (by downloads), downloader geographic location, domains, internal v external downloads, citation data (from Scopus and Web of Science), most popular search terms, non-search referring websites. The data is displayed in charts, maps and table format. The new statistics dashboards are a great success. Feedback received from staff and students has been very positive. Individual researchers have said that they have found the information to be very useful when compiling a track record. It is now very easy for senior administrators (including the Deputy Vice Chancellor-Research) to compare the full-text deposit rates (i.e. mandate compliance rates) across organisational units. This has led to increased ‘encouragement’ from Heads of School and Deans in relation to the provision of full-text versions.

Putting the Repository First: Implementing a Repository to RIS Workflow for QUT ePrints

As one of the first institutional repositories in Australia and the first in the world to have an institution-wide deposit mandate, QUT ePrints has great ‘brand recognition’ within the University (Queensland University of Technology) and beyond. The repository is managed by the library but, over the years, the Library’s repository team has worked closely with other departments (especially the Office of Research and IT Services) to ensure that QUT ePrints was embedded into the business processes and systems our academics use regularly. For example, the repository is the source of the publication information which displays on each academic’s Staff Profile page. The repository pulls in citation data from Scopus and Web of Science and displays the data in the publications records. Researchers can monitor their citations at a glance via the repository ‘View’ which displays all their publications. A trend in recent years has been to populate institutional repositories with publication details imported from the University’s research information system (RIS). The main advantage of the RIS to Repository workflow is that it requires little input from the academics as the publication details are often imported into the RIS from publisher databases. Sadly, this is also its main disadvantage. Generally, only the metadata is imported from the RIS and the lack of engagement by the academics results in very low proportions of records with open access full-texts. Consequently, while we could see the value of integrating the two systems, we were determined to make the repository the entry point for publication data. In 2011, the University funded a project to convert a number of paper-based processes into web-based workflows. This included a workflow to replace the paper forms academics used to complete to report new publications (which were later used by the data entry staff to input the details into the RIS). Publication details and full-text files are uploaded to the repository (by the academics or their nominees). Each night, the repository (QUT ePrints) pushes the metadata for new publications into a holding table. The data is checked by Office of Research staff the next day and then ‘imported’ into the RIS. Publication details (including the repository URLs) are pushed from the RIS to the Staff Profiles system. Previously, academics were required to supply the Office of research with photocopies of their publication (for verification/auditing purposes). The repository is now the source of verification information. Library staff verify the accuracy of the publication details and, where applicable, the peer review status of the work. The verification metadata is included in the information passed to the Office of Research. The RIS at QUT comprises two separate systems built on an Oracle database; a proprietary product (ResearchMaster) plus a locally produced system known as RAD (Research Activity Database). The repository platform is EPrints which is built on a MySQL database. This partly explains why the data is passed from one system to the other via a holding table. The new workflow went live in early April 2012. Tests of the technical integration have all been successful. At the end of the first 12 months, the impact of the new workflow on the proportion of full-texts deposited will be evaluated.

A tensor encoding model for semantic processing

This paper develops and evaluates an enhanced corpus based approach for semantic processing. Corpus based models that build representations of words directly from text do not require pre-existing linguistic knowledge, and have demonstrated psychologically relevant performance on a number of cognitive tasks. However, they have been criticised in the past for not incorporating sufficient structural information. Using ideas underpinning recent attempts to overcome this weakness, we develop an enhanced tensor encoding model to build representations of word meaning for semantic processing. Our enhanced model demonstrates superior performance when compared to a robust baseline model on a number of semantic processing tasks.

Evaluating the success of large-scale, integrated information systems through the lens of IS-impact and IS-support

This study proceeds from a central interest in the importance of systematically evaluating operational large-scale integrated information systems (IS) in organisations. The study is conducted within the IS-Impact Research Track at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The goal of the IS-Impact Track is, "to develop the most widely employed model for benchmarking information systems in organizations for the joint benefit of both research and practice" (Gable et al, 2009). The track espouses programmatic research having the principles of incrementalism, tenacity, holism and generalisability through replication and extension research strategies. Track efforts have yielded the bicameral IS-Impact measurement model; the ‘impact’ half includes Organisational-Impact and Individual-Impact dimensions; the ‘quality’ half includes System-Quality and Information-Quality dimensions. Akin to Gregor’s (2006) analytic theory, the ISImpact model is conceptualised as a formative, multidimensional index and is defined as "a measure at a point in time, of the stream of net benefits from the IS, to date and anticipated, as perceived by all key-user-groups" (Gable et al., 2008, p: 381). The study adopts the IS-Impact model (Gable, et al., 2008) as its core theory base. Prior work within the IS-Impact track has been consciously constrained to Financial IS for their homogeneity. This study adopts a context-extension strategy (Berthon et al., 2002) with the aim "to further validate and extend the IS-Impact measurement model in a new context - i.e. a different IS - Human Resources (HR)". The overarching research question is: "How can the impacts of large-scale integrated HR applications be effectively and efficiently benchmarked?" This managerial question (Cooper & Emory, 1995) decomposes into two more specific research questions – In the new HR context: (RQ1): "Is the IS-Impact model complete?" (RQ2): "Is the ISImpact model valid as a 1st-order formative, 2nd-order formative multidimensional construct?" The study adhered to the two-phase approach of Gable et al. (2008) to hypothesise and validate a measurement model. The initial ‘exploratory phase’ employed a zero base qualitative approach to re-instantiating the IS-Impact model in the HR context. The subsequent ‘confirmatory phase’ sought to validate the resultant hypothesised measurement model against newly gathered quantitative data. The unit of analysis for the study is the application, ‘ALESCO’, an integrated large-scale HR application implemented at Queensland University of Technology (QUT), a large Australian university (with approximately 40,000 students and 5000 staff). Target respondents of both study phases were ALESCO key-user-groups: strategic users, management users, operational users and technical users, who directly use ALESCO or its outputs. An open-ended, qualitative survey was employed in the exploratory phase, with the objective of exploring the completeness and applicability of the IS-Impact model’s dimensions and measures in the new context, and to conceptualise any resultant model changes to be operationalised in the confirmatory phase. Responses from 134 ALESCO users to the main survey question, "What do you consider have been the impacts of the ALESCO (HR) system in your division/department since its implementation?" were decomposed into 425 ‘impact citations.’ Citation mapping using a deductive (top-down) content analysis approach instantiated all dimensions and measures of the IS-Impact model, evidencing its content validity in the new context. Seeking to probe additional (perhaps negative) impacts; the survey included the additional open question "In your opinion, what can be done better to improve the ALESCO (HR) system?" Responses to this question decomposed into a further 107 citations which in the main did not map to IS-Impact, but rather coalesced around the concept of IS-Support. Deductively drawing from relevant literature, and working inductively from the unmapped citations, the new ‘IS-Support’ construct, including the four formative dimensions (i) training, (ii) documentation, (iii) assistance, and (iv) authorisation (each having reflective measures), was defined as: "a measure at a point in time, of the support, the [HR] information system key-user groups receive to increase their capabilities in utilising the system." Thus, a further goal of the study became validation of the IS-Support construct, suggesting the research question (RQ3): "Is IS-Support valid as a 1st-order reflective, 2nd-order formative multidimensional construct?" With the aim of validating IS-Impact within its nomological net (identification through structural relations), as in prior work, Satisfaction was hypothesised as its immediate consequence. The IS-Support construct having derived from a question intended to probe IS-Impacts, too was hypothesised as antecedent to Satisfaction, thereby suggesting the research question (RQ4): "What is the relative contribution of IS-Impact and IS-Support to Satisfaction?" With the goal of testing the above research questions, IS-Impact, IS-Support and Satisfaction were operationalised in a quantitative survey instrument. Partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling employing 221 valid responses largely evidenced the validity of the commencing IS-Impact model in the HR context. ISSupport too was validated as operationalised (including 11 reflective measures of its 4 formative dimensions). IS-Support alone explained 36% of Satisfaction; IS-Impact alone 70%; in combination both explaining 71% with virtually all influence of ISSupport subsumed by IS-Impact. Key study contributions to research include: (1) validation of IS-Impact in the HR context, (2) validation of a newly conceptualised IS-Support construct as important antecedent of Satisfaction, and (3) validation of the redundancy of IS-Support when gauging IS-Impact. The study also makes valuable contributions to practice, the research track and the sponsoring organisation.

The social car : new interactive vehicular applications derived from social media and urban informatics

Digital information that is place- and time-specific, is increasingly becoming available on all aspects of the urban landscape. People (cf. the Social Web), places (cf. the Geo Web), and physical objects (cf. ubiquitous computing, the Internet of Things) are increasingly infused with sensors, actuators, and tagged with a wealth of digital information. Urban informatics research explores these emerging digital layers of the city at the intersection of people, place and technology. However, little is known about the challenges and new opportunities that these digital layers may offer to road users driving through today’s mega cities. We argue that this aspect is worth exploring in particular with regards to Auto-UI’s overarching goal of making cars both safer and more enjoyable. This paper presents the findings of a pilot study, which included 14 urban informatics research experts participating in a guided ideation (idea creation) workshop within a simulated environment. They were immersed into different driving scenarios to imagine novel urban informatics type of applications specific to the driving context.

Selective essays in competitive environments

This thesis is a collection of essays that utilises descriptive and empirical tools to examine competitive environments such as in academia, superrich and sport. The essays capture different aspects of the winner-take-all phenomenon by looking at citation and publication inequality in a top tier economics journal namely the American Economic Review. How globalisation and corruption influence the accumulation of extraordinary wealth and finally, how in a fairly equal competition, that is in the National Rugby League in Australia, wearing red shirts could lead to a comparative advantage and hence, tip the balance between winning and losing. The results within academia indicate that a highly unequal distribution exist, in which only a few top authors or institutions produce the majority of output. Furthermore, the results obtained in the superrich environment indicate that corruption and globalisation enhances the accumulation of extraordinary wealth. Finally, the results in the sport environment are mixed. While we find support for a positive effect of wearing red jerseys in our descriptive analysis, we find a negative effect when we control at the team level. However, when we investigate the relative difference in the degree of redness between home and away team, we find a quite strong positive effect of wearing red shirts even after controlling at the team level.

Personality, genre and videogame play experience

This study explored relationships between personality, videogame preference and gaming experiences. Four hundred and sixty-six participants completed an online survey in which they recalled a recent gaming experience, and provided measures of personality and their gaming experience via the Game Experience Questionnaire (GEQ). Relationships between game genre, personality and gaming experience were found. Results are interpreted with reference to possible implications for a positive impact on wellbeing of videogame play and possible means of improving the breadth of appeal of specific genres.

Towards visualising people’s ecology of hybrid personal learning environments

Ambient media architecture can provide place-based collaborative learning experiences and pathways for social interactions that would not be otherwise possible. This paper is concerned with ways of enhancing peer-to-peer learning affordances in library spaces; how can the library facilitate the community of library users to learn from each other? We report on the findings of a study that employed a participatory design method where participants were asked to reflect and draw places, social networks, and activities that they use to work (be creative, productive), play (have fun, socialize, be entertained), and learn (acquire new information, knowledge, or skills). The results illustrate how informal learning – learning outside the formal education system – is facilitated by a personal selection of physical and socio-cultural environments, as well as online tools, platforms, and networks. This paper sheds light on participants’ individually curated ecologies of their work, play, and learning related networks and the hybrid (physical and digital) nature of these places. These insights reveal opportunities for ambient media architecture to increase awareness of and connections between people’s hybrid personal learning environments.

Multi-cursor multi-user mobile interaction with a large shared display

When using a mobile device to control a cursor on a large shared display, the interaction must be carefully planned to match the environment and purpose of the systems use. We describe a ‘democratic jukebox’ system that revealed five recommendations that should be considered when designing this type of interaction relating to providing feedback to the user; how to represent users in a multi-cursor based system; where people tend to look and their expectation of how to move their cursor; the orientation of screens and the social context; and, the use of simulated users to give the real users a sense that they are engaging with a greater audience.

Mystery at the library : encouraging library exploration using a pervasive mobile game

This paper presents Secret SLQ, a pervasive mobile game that aims to encourage eight to fourteen year olds to engage with the State Library of Queensland. The game sets out to encourage people to visit and explore the library, as well as educate a generation of young people and parents who may visit the library but have no idea of the treasures that it holds. The research explores how smartphone technology can be used to deliver an engaging and educational experience. The game aims to provide a fun and interactive way to guide participants through a multi-leveled library building, to search for unique QR codes to unlock clues, answer quiz questions and progress further up a leaderboard. This paper outlines the design and initial deployment of the game, reporting on results from a usability study and discussing initial observations made by librarians. Findings indicate that the mobile platform is suitable for delivering such experiences but consideration is needed when embedding games in such large environments so as not to confuse players as they play.

A gamified mobile application for engaging new students at university orientation

The term gamification describes the addition of game elements to non-game contexts as a means to motivate and engage users. This study investigates the design, delivery and pilot evaluation of a gamified, smartphone application built to introduce new students to the campus, services and people at university during their first few weeks. This paper describes changes to the application made after an initial field study was undertaken and provides an evaluation of the impact of the redesign. Survey responses were collected from thirteen students and usage data was captured from 105 students. Results indicate three levels of user engagement and suggest that there is value in adding game elements to the experience in this way. A number of issues are identified and discussed based on game challenges, input, and facilitating game elements in an event setting such as university orientation.

Food for thought : designing for critical reflection on food practices

This workshop is a continuation and extension to the successful past workshops including [4, 5, 6]. The workshop addresses the opportunities and challenges for the design of digital interactive systems that engage individuals in critical reflection on their everyday food practices - including designing for engagement in more environmentally aware, socially inclusive, and healthier behaviour. These three themes represent the focus of much recent HCI work related to food. The workshop aims to further the conversation on these themes through understanding specifically how the process of critical reflection can be encouraged by interactive technology. While the focus will be on food as an application area, the intention is to also explore, more generally, how the process of critical reflection can be facilitated through interactive technology. The workshop provides a unique forum to discuss existing theoretical and pragmatic approaches, and to envision novel ways to design technology that encourages sustained critical reflection.

Ensemble-based DDoS detection and mitigation model

This work-in-progress paper presents an ensemble-based model for detecting and mitigating Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, and its partial implementation. The model utilises network traffic analysis and MIB (Management Information Base) server load analysis features for detecting a wide range of network and application layer DDoS attacks and distinguishing them from Flash Events. The proposed model will be evaluated against realistic synthetic network traffic generated using a software-based traffic generator that we have developed as part of this research. In this paper, we summarise our previous work, highlight the current work being undertaken along with preliminary results obtained and outline the future directions of our work.

Flourishing and video games

Studies dedicated to understanding the relationship between gaming and mental health, have traditionally focused on the effects of depression, anxiety, obsessive usage, aggression, obesity, and faltering ‘real life’ relationships. The complexity of game genre and personality aside, this review aims to define a space for a positive relationship between videogame play and wellbeing by applying current videogame research to the criteria that defines the wellbeing construct ‘flourishing’. Self- determination theory (SDT), and flow provide context, and areas of overlap are explored.

Finding your research voice : the application of bibliometrics as an analytic literature tool on the pedagogic field of higher education

This paper documents the use of bibliometrics as a methodology to bring forth a structured, systematic and rigorous way to analyse and evaluate a range of literature. When starting out and reading broadly for my doctoral studies, one article by Trigwell and Prosser (1996b) led me to reflect about my level of comprehension as the content, concepts and methodology did not resonate with my epistemology. A disconnection between our paradigms emerged. Further reading unveiled the work by Doyle (1987) who categorised research in teaching and teacher education by three main areas: teacher characteristics, methods research and teacher behaviour. My growing concerns that there were gaps in the knowledge also exposed the difficulties in documenting said gaps. As an early researcher who required support to locate myself in the field and to find my research voice, I identified bibliometrics (Budd, 1988; Yeoh & Kaur, 2007) as an appropriate methodology to add value and rigour in three ways. Firstly, the application of bibliometrics to analyse articles is systematic, builds a picture from the characteristics of the literature, and offers a way to elicit themes within the categories. Secondly, by systematic analysis there is occasion to identify gaps within the body of work, limitations in methodology or areas in need of further research. Finally, extension and adaptation of the bibliometrics methodology, beyond citation or content analysis, to investigate the merit of methodology, participants and instruments as a determinant for research worth allowed the researcher to build confidence and contribute new knowledge to the field. Therefore, this paper frames research in the pedagogic field of Higher Education through teacher characteristics, methods research and teacher behaviour, visually represents the literature analysis and locates my research self within methods research. Through my research voice I will present the bibliometrics methodology, the outcomes and document the landscape of pedagogy in the field of Higher Education.