The Long Tail: How Technology is turning mass markets into millions of niches. (p. 15). This passage from The Long Tail, pretty much sums it all up. The Long Tail by Chris Anderson is a good and worthwhile read for information scientists, computer scientists, ecommerce researchers, and others interested in all areas of Web research. The central premise of the book is that the combination of (1) the Pareto or Zipf distribution (i.e., power law probability distribution) that is characteristic of Web traffic and (2) the direct access to consumers via Web technology has opened up new business opportunities in the ''long tail''. Producers and advertisers no longer have to target ''the big hits'' at the head of the distribution. Instead, they can target the small, niche communities or even individuals in the tail of the distribution. The long tail is has been studied by Web researchers and has been noted in term usage on search engines, access times to servers, and popularity of Web sites. Andersen points out that the long tail also applies to products sold on the Web. He recounts that a sizeable percentage of Amazon sales come from books that only sell a few copies, a large number of songs from Rhapsody get downloaded only once in a month, and a significant number of movies from Netflix only get ordered occasionally. However, since the storage is in digital form for the songs and music (and Amazon out sources the storage of books) there is little additional inventory cost of these items. This phenomenon across all Web companies has led to a broadening of participation by both producers and consumers that would not have happened without the Web. The idea of the long tail is well known, of course. What Anderson has done is present it in an interesting manner and in a Web ecommerce setting. He applies it to Web businesses and then relates the multitude of other factors ongoing that permit the actual implementation of the long tail effect. Anderson also expands on prior work on the long tail by introducing an element of time, given the distribution a three dimensional effect. All in all, it is a nifty idea. The book is comprised of 14 chapters, plus an Introduction. Chapter 1 presents an overview of what the long tail is. Chapter 2 discusses the ''head'', which is the top of the tail where the …

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More

Object-oriented analysis

3. Classes should hide their data, we call this encapsulation, only providing a small number of controlled methods or functions in the interface for accessing that data. These factors taken together enable separation of interface from implementation. The actual designs of the algorithms employed inside the classes can be changed as better, more efficient algorithms are found. After a design is complete, changes in a class implementation must not affect its interface. The effect on current and future users is then only in terms of efficiency: their applications need not be recoded to take advantage of the new class implementation. The advantages of separation of interface from implementation include rapid prototyping and graceful refinement. See Fig. 3.

Object-Oriented Analysis and Design.

Foreword Note on graphic conventions 0. Introduction-Toward a Logic of Culture 0.1. Design for a semiotic theory 0.2. 'Semiotics': field or discipline? 0.3. Communication and/or signification 0.4. Political boundaries: the field 0.5. Natural boundaries: two definitions of semiotics 0.6. Natural boundaries: inference and signification 0.7. Natural boundaries the lower threshold 0.8. Natural boundaries: the upper threshold 0.9. Epistemological boundaries 1. Signification and Communication 1.1. An elementary communicational model 1.2. Systems and codes 1.3. The s-code as structure 1.4. Information, communication, signification 2. Theory of Codes 2.1. The sign-function 2.2. Expression and content 2.3. Denotation and connotation 2.4. Message and text 2.5 Content and referent 2.6. Meaning as cultural unit 2.7. The interpretant 2.8. The semantic system 2.9. The semantic markers and the sememe 2.10. The KF model 2.11. A revised semantic model 2.12. The model \"Q\" 2.13. The format of the semantic space 2.14. Overcoding and undercoding 2.15. The interplay of codes and the message as an open form 3. Theory of Sign Production 3.1. A general survey 3.2. Semiotic and factual statements 3.3. Mentioning 3.4 The prolem of a typology of signs 3.5. Critique of iconism 3.6. A typology of modes of production 3.7. The aesthetic text as invention 3.8. The rhetorical labor 3.9. Ideological code switching 4. The Subject of Semiotics References Index of authors Index of subjects

A Theory of Semiotics

Considering the increasingly challenging resource environments in many business schools, this study examined whether course technologies, learner behaviors or instructor behaviors best predict online course outcomes so that administrators and support personnel can prioritize their efforts and investments. Based on reviewing prior online and blended management education literature, we hypothesized that instructor behaviors would be most predictive of online course outcomes. However, our study of 48 online Master of Business Administration courses found that although instructor behaviors (operationalized as teaching presence) was the strongest predictor of any of our three outcome variables (perceived learning), only student behaviors (operationalized as social presence) significantly predicted all three (course grades, perceived learning and delivery medium satisfaction). Technological characteristics, operationalized using variables from the technology acceptance model and media variety, predicted perceived learning (perceived ease of use) and delivery medium satisfaction (perceived usefulness). The paper provides recommendations for instructors and administrators based on the findings, specifically advocating for a balance between instructor and administrator involvement in course design, presentation and conduct. The paper concludes by describing research opportunities regarding the roles of social presence in and collaborative approaches to online learning in business schools.

System, scholar or students? Which most influences online MBA course effectiveness?

Many universities are pushing for an increase in on-line course offerings to offset the rising cost of providing high quality educational opportunities and to better serve their student populations. However, enrollments in online courses are not always sufficient to offset their own costs. One possible way of improving enrollments is through marketing campaigns targeted to specific demographic groups. In this study, we extend prior research on online learning by investigating how students’ perceptions of e-learning systems, prior to their enrollment in an online course, vary across socio-economic status and gender. Findings suggest that working-class students perceive e-learning systems more positively than their middle-class peers, but that little difference exists between genders. Armed with this knowledge, universities may improve online course enrollments by marketing online courses specifically to working-class students or through campaigns aimed at improving middle-class students’ perceptions of e-learning systems.

Socioeconomic Status- and Gender-Based Differences in Students' Perceptions of E-Learning Systems.

Risk knowledge and concern as influences of purchase intention for internet of things devices

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Student Assistants in the Classroom: Designing Chatbots to Support Student Success

Object-oriented systems development has attracted great interest in the information systems (IS) field because of a belief that using object-oriented development (OD) makes it easier to develop and maintain software plus achieve software reuse. However, the transition from structured to OD may be especially challenging for IS developers. In fact, some argue that structured development (SD) knowledge may interfere with the ability to learn OD approaches because of a form of proactive interference. To understand how knowledge of SD concepts influences the ability to gain OD knowledge, we assessed a team of IS developers' understanding of structured and object-oriented concepts at the beginning of their first OD project and repeated our assessment 1 year later. Developers increased their understanding of some object-oriented concepts, but these changes were associated with increases in understanding of one of the SD concepts. Further, at the beginning and end of the project, developers' mental models were highly consistent with one another and that of an OD expert with regard to most OD concepts. It appears that the formal training that developers received allowed them to attain a good understanding of most object-oriented concepts. These findings challenge the idea that structured developers must 'unlearn' SD to adopt OD approaches. Future research may wish to examine the different types of software development knowledge to ascertain

Managing change in an information systems development organization: understanding developer transitions from a structured to an object-oriented development environment 1

Today, many firms are striving to enhance customers’ purchase intentions by leveraging online consumer communities but a better understanding of the underlying phenomena is needed to guide their efforts most effectively In this study we analyse how three hotel firms engage potential customers through FlyerTalk, an online consumer community of frequent travellers (FlyerTalkcom) Our results suggest that for some firms, the frequency and perceived value of their participation are two important factors that can potentially be managed toward positive purchasing intention effects

Leslie Jordan Albert

Papers

Socioeconomic Status- and Gender-Based Differences in Students' Perceptions of E-Learning Systems.

Risk knowledge and concern as influences of purchase intention for internet of things devices

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Student Assistants in the Classroom: Designing Chatbots to Support Student Success

Managing change in an information systems development organization: understanding developer transitions from a structured to an object-oriented development environment 1

Influencing customer’s purchase intentions through firm participation in online consumer communities