There is no doubt that eProcurement technology has turned cumbersome paper-based processes into highly connected online systems. The most basic parameters of eProcurement range from shopping for or sourcing goods, to creating purchase requisitions and getting them approved, to placing orders with suppliers, to receiving invoices--all…

In a year where the general economy presented enormous challenges, libraries continued to make investments in automation, especially in products that help improve what and how they deliver to their end users. Access to electronic content remains a key driver. In response to anticipated needs for new approaches to library automation, many companies…

The youngest workforce generation seems to crave games and simulations, and even older workers are coming to enjoy them. But what do new trends in these areas mean for the company, the learners, and the organization's strategic goals? In this article, two experts in the field, Clarissa Graffeo and David Metcalf of the Mixed Emerging Technology…

21-year-old Aaron Swartz is attempting to turn the library world upside down. He is taking on the subscription-based WorldCat, the largest bibliographic database on the planet, by building a free online book catalog that anyone can update. Many academic librarians are wary of Mr. Swartz's project because it will allow nonlibrarians, who may be…

According to the Internet World Stats (2010), the growth rate of internet usage in the world is 444.8 % from 2000 to 2010. Since the number of internet users is rapidly increasing with each passed year, e-learning is often identified with web-based learning. The institutions, which deliver e-learning service via the use of computer and internet,…

Street hawking in its simplest form is the selling of things along the roads and from one place to the other. In Nigeria this is done almost all the time by young children both males and females. The girl hawkers come to the cities in groups and then go in different directions of the city to hawk their goods. They remain in the city from the early…

Purpose: To examine the impact of an experimental consumer-choice voucher benefit on the selection of independent and agency personal assistance services (PAS) providers among rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries with disabilities. Methods: The Medicare Primary and Consumer-Directed Care Demonstration enrolled 1,605 Medicare beneficiaries in 19…

Much recent discussion has focused on the pros and cons of cloud computing. Some institutions are attracted to cloud computing benefits such as rapid deployment, flexible scalability, and low initial start-up cost, while others are concerned about cloud computing risks such as those related to data location, level of service, and security…

A major motorcycle vendor, based in the U.S. Midwest, is the world's largest custom V-Twin motorcycle manufacturer and domestically the second largest motorcycle manufacturer behind Harley-Davidson. This project describes the process used used by a K-State undergraduate distance learning student to design and develop the initial version of a…

Digital learning makes possible the "unbundling" of school provisions--that is, it allows children to be served by providers from almost anywhere, in new and more customized ways. At the same time, because it destandardizes and decentralizes educational delivery, digital education is far harder to bring under the yoke of the…

In 1985 Richard Stallman, a computer programmer, released "The GNU Manifesto" in which he proclaimed a golden rule: One must share computer programs. Software vendors required him to agree to license agreements that forbade sharing programs with others, but he refused to "break solidarity" with other computer users whom he assumed also wanted to…

Drawing on a study of new forms of educational privatization, this article examines how ideas from institutional theory can be useful in analyzing the complex dynamics behind interim assessment technologies. The study was based on qualitative research methods and included interviews, a small-scale questionnaire, participant observation, and…

Electronic resource management (ERM) systems have inundated the library marketplace. Both integrated library systems (ILS) vendors and subscription agents are now offering products and service enhancements that claim to help libraries efficiently manage their electronic resources. Additionally, some homegrown and open-source solutions have emerged…

As libraries' collections increasingly go digital, so too does their dependence on knowledgebases to access and maintain these electronic holdings. Somewhat different from other library-based knowledge management systems (catalogs, institutional repositories, etc.), the data found in the knowledgebases of link resolvers or electronic resource…

This article presents an interview with Patrick Sommers, president of reference/information publisher "Gale" (part of Cengage Learning). Sommers took the helm in October 2007, after running system vendor Sirsi beginning in 2001 and engineering both the 2005 merger with Dynix and the 2007 sale of the newly created SirsiDynix to Vista Equity…