Motivated by applications in health care systems, this study focused on queueing network models with instances of simultaneous resource possession under capacity restrictions in different stages. Customers during service at certain nodes in the first-level or primary system may simultaneously need service from a second-level server. In this…

Cyber-infrastructure systems are integrated large-scale IT systems designed with the goal of transforming scientific practice by enabling multi-disciplinary, cross-institutional collaboration. Their large scale and socio-technical complexity make design decisions for their underlying architecture practically irreversible. Drawing on three…

Many institutions implement a distributed antenna system (DAS) as part of a holistic approach to providing better wireless coverage and capacity on campus. A DAS provides wireless service within a particular area or structure via a network of separate antenna nodes that are connected to a common source through fiber or coaxial cable. Because DAS…

Historically, managing access to information systems (ISs) required direct interaction with a limited number of users. Increasingly, managing access involves handling an increased numbers of internal and external students, faculty, and staff as well as partners such as workforce development centers, the U.S. Department of Education, and the…

Most UK universities can trace their current management information systems back to significant investments made in the 1990s, largely fuelled by concerns about the millenium bug and a change from character interfaces to graphical user interfaces following the introduction of the personal computer. It was during this period that institutions also…

Uninterrupted, high-bandwidth network connectivity is crucial for higher education. Colleges and universities increasingly adopt gigabit wireless solutions because of their fiber-equivalent performance, quick implementation, and significant return on investment. For just those reasons, Rush University Medical Center switched from free space optics…

Montana State University (MSU) Libraries (where the authors serve as web services librarian and digital initiatives librarian, respectively) is perhaps unique because it has no current periodicals room due to lack of space. As a result, finding current journals for research is difficult for its patrons, who do not always know how or where to…

How do you dynamically customize the programming language available in a context within an existing system, without changing the underlying system? This dissertation introduces a language design approach that addresses this problem. The basic idea is to structure programs as systems of multiple interacting levels of abstraction, where all of the…

The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, located on the National Naval Medical Center's campus in Bethesda, Maryland, is a medical education and research facility for the nation's military and public health community. In order to support its approximately 7,500 globally distributed users, the university's James A. Zimble Learning…

Electronic performance support systems (EPSS) can be used as a nucleus of a network fostering organizational learning within an organization. Presents a model for EPSS; explores three facets of the model: knowledge management, system design and individual behavior, and electronic communication. Outlines studies of computer use in the workplace.…

This white paper proposes bringing the federal government, state governments, and the private sector together as part of a new approach to making high-speed Internet services available across the country. It proposes the creation of a new federal Universal Broadband Fund (UBF) that, together with matching funds from the states and the private…

Describes the advantages of the development of open systems, i.e., a configuration which combines software and hardware from separate vendors into a single system, as a means of increasing the possible applications of library automation. (CLB)

Describes a computer network developed at the School of Engineering at Rice University which links users to a supporting mainframe and other major computing facilities, and creates an electronic studio for students. Topics discussed include network planning, design, and maintenance; software and courseware used; and implications for other academic…

The first of two program sessions at this semiannual meeting addressed the agenda of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) for the 1990s, and the report provides summaries of remarks by Elaine Sloan on the background; D. Kaye Gapen on a report from the Task Force on Review of the ARL Five-Year Plan; and Duane E. Webster on the ARL framework…

This background paper analyzes technologies for tomorrow's information superhighways. Advanced networks will first be used to support scientists in their work, but will soon be deployed more widely in business, entertainment, health care, and education. Significant progress has been made toward the development of gigabit network technology since…