Selected publications on topics: Libraries, Digital Libraries, Library Information Systems (LIS), Archives and Modern History
Acquiring knowledge about users’ opinion and what they say regarding specific features within an app, constitutes a solid steppingstone for understanding their needs and concerns. App review utilization helps project management teams to identify threads and opportunities for app software maintenance, optimization and strategic marketing purposes. Nevertheless, app user review classification for identifying valuable gems of information for app software improvement, is a complex and multidimensional issue. It requires foresight and multiple combinations of sophisticated text pre-processing, feature extraction and machine learning methods to efficiently classify app reviews into specific topics. Against this backdrop, we propose a novel feature engineering classification schema that is capable to identify more efficiently and earlier terms-words within reviews that could be classified into specific topics. For this reason, we present a novel feature extraction method, the DEVMAX.DF combined with different machine learning algorithms to propose a solution in app review classification problems. One step further, a simulation of a real case scenario takes place to validate the effectiveness of the proposed classification schema into different apps. After multiple experiments, results indicate that the proposed schema outperforms other term extraction methods such as TF.IDF and χ2 to classify app reviews into topics. To this end, the paper contributes to the knowledge expansion of research and practitioners with the purpose to reinforce their decision-making process within the realm of app reviews utilization.
Keywords: app reviews; topics extraction; reviews classification; feature extraction methods; machine learning methods; text classification; text analysis; app business strategy
The untamed big data era raises opportunities in learning analytics sector for the provision of enhanced educational material to learners. Nevertheless, big data analytics, brings big troubles in exploration, validation and predictive model development. In this paper, the authors present a data-driven methodology for greater utilization of learning analytics datasets, with the purpose to improve the knowledge of instructors about learners performance and provide better personalization with optimized intelligent tutoring systems. The proposed methodology is unfolded in three stages. First, the learning analytics summarization for initial exploratory purposes of learners experience and their behavior in e-learning environments. Subsequently, the exploration of possible interrelationships between metrics and the validation of the proposed learning analytics schemas, takes place. Lastly, the development of predictive models and simulation both on an aggregated and micro-level perspective through agent-based modeling is recommended, with the purpose to reinforce the feedback for instructors and intelligent tutoring systems. The study contributes to the knowledge expansion both for researchers and practitioners with the purpose to optimize the provided online learning experience.
Keywords: learning analytics; big data; methods; e-learning; intelligent tutoring systems; online learning platforms; learning management systems.
In the Big Data era, search engine optimization deals with the encapsulation of datasets that are related to website performance in terms of architecture, content curation, and user behavior, with the purpose to convert them into actionable insights and improve visibility and findability on the Web. In this respect, big data analytics expands the opportunities for developing new methodological frameworks that are composed of valid, reliable, and consistent analytics that are practically useful to develop well-informed strategies for organic traffic optimization. In this paper, a novel methodology is implemented in order to increase organic search engine visits based on the impact of multiple SEO factors. In order to achieve this purpose, the authors examined 171 cultural heritage websites and their retrieved data analytics about their performance and user experience inside them. Massive amounts of Web-based collections are included and presented by cultural heritage organizations through their websites. Subsequently, users interact with these collections, producing behavioral analytics in a variety of different data types that come from multiple devices, with high velocity, in large volumes. Nevertheless, prior research efforts indicate that these massive cultural collections are difficult to browse while expressing low visibility and findability in the semantic Web era. Against this backdrop, this paper proposes the computational development of a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that utilizes the generated big cultural data analytics and improves the visibility of cultural heritage websites. One step further, the statistical results of the study are integrated into a predictive model that is composed of two stages. First, a fuzzy cognitive mapping process is generated as an aggregated macro-level descriptive model. Secondly, a micro-level data-driven agent-based model follows up. The purpose of the model is to predict the most effective combinations of factors that achieve enhanced visibility and organic traffic on cultural heritage organizations’ websites. To this end, the study contributes to the knowledge expansion of researchers and practitioners in the big cultural analytics sector with the purpose to implement potential strategies for greater visibility and findability of cultural collections on the Web.
Keywords: cultural analytics; cultural data; search engine optimization; SEO strategy; SEO factors; big data; websites visibility; predictive modeling; website security; website load speed; user behavior
In the new era of marketing, being at the top results of search engines, constitutes one of the most competitive advantages to the organizations’ overall online advertising strategy. In search engines, users type their search terms to cover their informational or purchasing needs and subsequently, search engines rank websites to the relevance of users’ search terms. The higher are the rankings of the websites, the more is the percentage of visitors that explicitly come from search engines. Nevertheless this obvious one marketing advantage, there is no prior research evidence as regards the level of engagement between users and content, after they visit the websites from search engines’ results. That is, users probably visit a website that comes at the top of search engines’ results, however, they do not spend an amount of time, or they do not browse in several webpages inside of it and vice-versa. Against this backdrop, the authors proceed into the construction of a methodology composed of the retrieval of web analytics datasets and the development of computational models with the purpose to evaluate users’ engagement and content use within the websites. At the first stage, the authors proceed into the retrieval of web behavioral analytics at certain metrics for 125 sequential days as regards the time users spending, the number of pageviews they browsing, the percentage of immediate abandonments and the percentage of traffic that explicitly comes from search engines. Following a data-driven methodological approach for the development of computational models, the fuzzy cognitive mapping at the descriptive modeling stage is adopted with the purpose to indicate the possible correlations between web analytics metrics. One step further, a corroborative and predictive model is proposed through the agent-based modeling method in order to compute the date ranges that resulted in the highest and the lowest engagements of users as regards the content of seven examined courseware websites. The proposed methodology and the results of this study, work as a practical toolbox for decision makers while computing and evaluating through a data-driven way the level of engagement between visitors and the content they receive for online presence optimization on the web.
Keywords: data-driven marketing, search engine marketing, websites content engagement, websites traffic evaluation, web analytics, behavioral analytics, agent-based models in marketing
Optimized paid search advertising campaigns composed of multiple data analytics insights and prior experiences of search engine marketing performances. However, when advertisers compete in the battle of paid search ads rankings in search engines, complexity in optimization is increased. The higher the ranking position of search ads are, the higher the probability to be clicked by the search engines users. Despite the existing knowledge of the factors that contribute to the higher ranking position in search ads, such as proper relevancy amongst users’ search terms, text ads and landing pages content, little is known about search engines users’ behavior after ads clicking. Low interaction or immediate abandonments from the landing pages potentially leads to a waste of budget spent on each paid advertising campaign. In this respect, advertisers should pay much more attention to the engagement of paid traffic visitors after clicking on search ads, and not only on ads rankings and rates of search impression shares in search engines. In this paper, the authors develop a computational data-driven methodology with a purpose to estimate and predict paid traffic visitors’ engagement in seven courseware websites after clicking on the search ads. The higher the engagement with the landing page is, the higher will be the probability for conversions. At the first stage, web behavioral analytics are retrieved for 120 consecutive days in certain web metrics such as the volume of paid traffic visitors, the average pages per session, the average session duration and the bounce rate. Statistical analysis of the extracted web behavioral datasets takes place for understanding the cohesion, validity, and intercorrelations between the web metrics. KMO and Bartlett’s test of Sphericity and Pearson coefficient of correlation are adopted. It is noted that, in an overall point of view, results indicate low rates of engagement after search ads clicking. One step further, agent-based modeling and simulation is adopted as a methodology for abstracting and calibrating paid traffic visitors’ behavior inside the examined websites. Poisson distributions are implemented for predicting the potential engagement of paid traffic visitors in specific date ranges. Through this, the paper highlights its practical contribution to decision makers with the purpose to develop search engine marketing campaigns composed of relevant to the users search ads and sufficient content engagement after ads clicking.
Keywords: Digital Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Advertising Optimization, Web Analytics, Behavioral Analytics, Data-Driven Modeling, Agent-Based Models in Marketing, Modeling and Simulation in Marketing
Display advertising constitutes one of the most efficient digital marketing strategies for the development of organizations’ brand awareness. Proper targeting of display ads campaigns, potentially leads to the improvement of web users’ consideration and engagement about products and services that organizations offer through their websites. As prior studies indicate, this kind of consideration and engagement which resulted through display ads, leads web users to type the name of the brand in search engines. The submitted search terms that contain the brand name of the organizations are called Branded Keywords, and the traffic that comes from them as Branded Search Traffic. In this paper, the authors propose a computational data-driven methodology for the estimation and prediction of display advertising effectiveness in terms of optimizing brand popularity in search engines. One step further, preliminary research efforts of the authors indicate that branded search traffic visitors show higher interaction with the content of the websites regarding the time they spend and the number of pageviews they are browsing. In this respect, if display advertising campaigns increase the number of branded keywords and hence, the volume of branded search traffic, then this raises opportunities to optimize users’ engagement inside websites. Against this research gap, the authors proceed into a data-driven methodological process that is expanded in three major stages. In the first stage, the web mining process of extracting several web behavioral analytics metrics takes place for 125 continuous days at 7 courseware websites. At the second stage, analysis and interpretation of possible intercorrelations between the web analytics metrics take place with the purpose to integrate a computational model that relies on web behavioral data harvesting and their statistical analysis. Subsequently, in the third stage, the authors develop a data-driven computational model that relies on the agent-based modeling approach for estimating and predicting the optimal interaction rates of branded search traffic visitors of the examined websites. Agent-based models are suitable for describing, estimating and predicting the complexity within the systems and how their users behave and interact inside them. The results of the study constitute a practical toolbox for advertisers and decision makers in order to understand their display advertising effectiveness in terms of brand popularity and branded search traffic improvement for their websites.
Keywords: Display Advertising, Brand Awareness, Branded Search Traffic, Branded Keywords, Data-driven Marketing, Agent-based Models in Marketing, Web Analytics, Websites Traffic
The paper aims at presenting the use of ontological techniques for creating a common semantic denominator for linking subject-oriented metadata of cultural artifacts to diverse digital resources falling into the same semantic spectrum. This will result in both linked data, where the parameters abide, and an enriched information output for the user. Semantic metadata can be derived either by the artifacts’ types, meaning, symbolism, depiction, referrals, and tagging and/or implied by any string of meanings that the human mind perceives as related to the artifact. The same holds for the semantic nature of digital resources. Semantic metadata of any digital resource can designate type, subject, place, time period, references, relations, and tagging. The linking of those using ontology techniques is explored through structure and graphic representations of relevant examples. This paper contributes in providing an innovative way of linking subject-oriented metadata to cultural objects and to digital resources available on the Web. In addition, it provides another use and enhancement of an ontology environment focusing in the cultural sector.
Purpose – Institutional repositories (IR) are usually used to archive and manage digital collections including research results, educational material, etc. Learning management systems (LMS) form a popular basis for e-learning and blended learning. This paper aims to study how to integrate IR and LMS to support accessibility of disabled students and students with learning difficulties (dyslexic students) in higher education. Customised ontologies focusing on disabled students can be used to facilitate indexing, and access of items in the repository. Design/methodology/approach – The authors propose a simple methodological approach to establish an integrating system for supporting accessibility. First, the authors review research works related to adaptive learning environments (ALEs) and blended learning, and discuss issues of the interoperability of IR and LMS. Then, based on the review, the authors discuss the use of an integrated ALE for supporting disabled students in the domain of higher technological education. The integrated system is based on IR, LMS and assistive and adaptive technology. The open source software platform DSpace is used to build up the repository applications Use of the web ontology language (OWL) ontologies is also proposed for indexing and accessing the various, heterogeneous items stored in the repository. Various open source LMS (e.g. openeclass) could be used to build up the integrated system. Finally, the authors describe experimentation with a prototype implemented to provide the mentioned capabilities. Findings – The technology is mature enough for building up integrated systems, combining capabilities of IR and LMS, for supporting disabled students. The use of ontologies focused on disabled students could facilitate the use of such integrated systems. Customisation and operation of a platform, for the selection and use of portions of OWL ontologies, could be based on the open source software Protégé. Such a platform forms a basis to create an appropriate ontology suitable for specific domains, e.g. the domain of technological education. Finally, the authors argue that the combined use of the OWL platform and the DSpace repository with open source LMS platforms could support domain experts for creating customised ontologies and facilitating searching. Originality/value – A new perception of the term integrated system for supporting disabled students in the higher education context is presented. This perception tries to combine the IR technology that supports the self-archiving approach of information, open LMS technology and the user-centred approach to support students and manage the “life of information”.
Purpose – This paper aims to examine the Self-Other Agreement between leaders and employees in the sector of Libraries and Information Services (LIS) to construct a sustainable and strategic communicational process among library directors and staff. Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 135 leaders-employees of 17 organisations of LIS in more than five countries answered on a quantitative methodological research instrument in a multiplicity of variables. Statistical analysis of independent samples t-test was used to testify our research hypotheses. Findings – Results indicated that there is a difference in means between the two independent samples (leaders-employees). There are library leaders who rate themselves quite high, and there are employees who rate their leaders with lower evaluations. Research limitations/implications – This research extends and improves the matter of Self-Other Agreement in the sector of LIS through the collection of data that indicated a possible gap of communication and trustworthiness between leaders and employees. Practical implications – Regardless of the difference or the consensus of ratings among leaders and employees, the results of this research could be served as a stimulus plus as a starting point for library leaders by correcting or developing relations of communication and trustworthiness between them and their followers. Originality/value – Self-Other Agreement is one of the major factors that positively or negatively affect the overall operation of the organization in the way a leader could perceive the additional feedback. In the sector of LIS, the study of Self-Other Agreement is a rich and unexplored research area which deserves further analysis.
Conservation activities, before and after decay detection, are considered as a prerequisite for maintaining cultural artifacts in their initial/original form. Taking into account the strict regulations where sampling from art works of great historical value is restricted or in many cases prohibited, the application of Non-Destructive Testing techniques (NDTs) during the conservation or even decay detection is highly appreciated by conservators. Non-destructive examination include the employment of multiple analysis approaches and techniques namely Infrared Thermography (IRT), Ultrasonics (US), Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), VIS–NIR Fiber Optics Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS), portable X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (ESEM-EDX), Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and micro-Raman Spectroscopy. These produce a huge amount of data, in different formats, such as text, numerical sets and visual objects (i.e. images, thermograms, radargrams, spectral data, graphs, etc). Moreover, conservation documentation presents major drawbacks, as fragmentation and incomplete description of the related information is usually the case. Assigning conservation data to the objects’ metadata collection is very rare and not yet standardized. The Doc-Culture Project aims to provide solutions for the NDT application methodologies, analysis and process along with their output data and all related conservation documentation. The preliminary results are discussed in this paper.
Το περιεχόμενο του παρόντος βιβλίου εμφαίνεται από τον τίτλο του. Αποτελεί μια εισαγωγή στην Αρχειονομία, στην επιστήμη, δηλαδή, της διαχείρισης των αρχείων. Απευθύνεται, κατά κύριο λόγο, στους φοιτητές που σπουδάζουν στο ευρύτερο πεδίο των επιστημών της πληροφόρησης και αποτυπώνει την πολύχρονη συναφή εκπαιδευτική και επαγγελματική μας δραστηριότητα, στο τμήμα Βιβλιοθηκονομίας και Συστημάτων Πληροφόρησης του ΤΕΙ Αθήνας και στα Γενικά Αρχεία του Κράτους. Το βιβλίο αποσκοπεί να διευκρινίσει βασικά θέματα, επιχειρώντας να απαντήσει σε ερωτήματα όπως: τί είναι αρχείο; πως και γιατί δημιουργείται; γιατί τηρούμε τα αρχεία; ποιός ο ρόλος τους στην καθημερινή κοινωνική δραστηριότητα, σε ατομικό και συλλογικό επίπεδο; ποια η σημασία τους για την μελέτη του παρελθόντος; Ομοίως επιχειρεί να αναδείξει την ύπαρξη και τη σημασία των Αρχείων ως διακριτών πολιτιστικών οργανισμών ανάλογων με τις Βιβλιοθήκες και τα Μουσεία. Τέλος εξετάζονται οι βασικές μεθοδολογικές αρχές της αρχειονομίας, όπως και οι σημαντικές αλλαγές που επιφέρει στα αρχεία και τη διαχείριση τους, η σύγχρονη ψηφιακή τεχνολογία. Θεωρητικά, το βιβλίο έχει ως αντικείμενο τα αναλογικά ιστορικά αρχεία. Εκ των πραγμάτων, όμως, εξετάζει και τα ενεργά (διοικητικά) αρχεία, καθώς οι σύγχρονες επιστημονικές απόψεις υποστηρίζουν τον ενιαίο χαρακτήρα του αρχειακού υλικού. Φυσικά, δεν ήταν δυνατό να αποσιωπηθεί η νέα ψηφιακή πραγματικότητα στο χώρο των αρχείων, είτε αυτή αφορά τη διαχείριση ψηφιοποιημένων τεκμηρίων είτε την πρόσβαση στο πλούσιο περιεχόμενο του διαδικτύου. Η διαχείριση και η διατήρηση των πρωτογενώς ψηφιακών τεκμηρίων (έννοιες που σχεδόν ταυτίζονται στη σύγχρονη ψηφιακή πραγματικότητα) αποτελούν ένα ακόμη ζήτημα, το οποίο προκαταρκτικά εξετάζεται στο βιβλίο.
The open source platform of DSpace could be defined as a repository application used to provide access to digital resources. DSpace is installed and used by more than 1000 organizations worldwide. A predefined taxonomy of keyword, called the Controlled Vocabulary, can be used for describing and accessing the information items stored in the repository. In this paper, we describe how the users can create, and customize their own vocabularies. Various heterogeneous items, such as research papers, videos, articles and educational material of the repository, can be indexed in order to provide advanced search functionality using new controlled vocabularies.
Applications of clustering and classification techniques can be proved very significant in both digital and physical (paper-based) libraries. The most essential application, document classification and clustering, is crucial for the content that is produced and maintained in digital libraries, repositories, databases, social media, blogs etc., based on various tags and ontology elements, transcending the traditional library-oriented classification schemes. Other applications with very useful and beneficial role in the new digital library environment involve document routing, summarization and query expansion. Paper-based libraries can benefit as well since classification combined with advanced material characterization techniques such as FTIR (Fourier Transform InfraRed spectroscopy) can be vital for the study and prevention of material deterioration. An improved two-level self-organizing clustering architecture is proposed in order to enhance the discrimination capacity of the learning space, prior to classification, yielding promising results when applied to the above mentioned library tasks.
This paper aims to report the steps taken to create the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model (CIDOC-CRM) extensions and the relationships established to accommodate the depiction of conservation processes. In particular, the specific steps undertaken for developing and applying the CIDOC-CRM extensions for defining the conservation interventions performed on the cultural artifacts of the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Greece are presented in detail. A report on the preliminary design of the DOC-CULTURE project (Development of an integrated information environment for assessment and documentation of conservation interventions to cultural works/objects with nondestructive testing techniques [NDTs], www.ndt-lab.gr/docculture), co-financed by the European Union NSRF THALES program, can be found in Kyriaki-Manessi, Zervos & Giannakopoulos (1) whereas the NDT&E methods and their output data through CIDOC-CRM extension of the DOC-CULTURE project approach to standardize the documentation of the conservation were further reported in Kouis et al. (2).
The role of communication is a catalyst for the proper function of an organization. This paper focuses on libraries, where the communication is crucial for their success. In our opinion, libraries in Greece are suffering from the lack of communication and marketing strategy. Communication has many forms and manifestations. A key aspect of communication is body language, which has a dominant communication tool the neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). The body language is a system that expresses and transfers messages, thoughts and emotions. More and more organizations in the public sector and companies in the private sector base their success on the communication skills of their personnel. The NLP suggests several methods to obtain excellent relations in the workplace and to develop ideal communication. The NLP theory is mainly based on the development of standards (communication model) that guarantees the expected results. This research was conducted and analyzed in two parts, the qualitative and the quantitative. The findings mainly confirm the need for proper communication within libraries. In the qualitative research, the interviewees were aware of communication issues, although some gaps in that knowledge were observed. Even this slightly lack of knowledge, highlights the need for constant information through educational programs. This is particularly necessary for senior executives of libraries, who should attend relevant seminars and refresh their knowledge on communication related issues.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a survey carried out on a sample of Greek university students (including students of library and archival science) that aimed to map and clarify perceptions of the archive among the students as well as their understanding of the nature of archival science. Moreover, it intends to investigate the information regarding student’s opinions and expectations about their archival studies. Design/methodology/approach – Two separate groups took part in this research and were asked to answer a questionnaire with 16 closed-type multiple-choice questions. The first group included 244 individuals, all of them Higher-Educational Institutions students from almost all academic fields. The second group contained 130 students from the three Information Departments of Greece. Findings – The conclusions verify Greek society’s view of archives. Even though no consistent definition of the archive seems to exist among the sample of students on which this survey drew, there is a clear understanding of the archive as a source of information emerging from the questionnaires as a shared undisputed fact. Practical implications – The research indicates that archival science is an important part of the information studies. The survey results were taken into account during the revamping of the curriculum of the Department of Library Science and Information Systems, Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Athens. Originality/value – The study has advanced the understanding of archival science as an informational discipline which has to contribute a great part in the integrated field of information.
Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to offer an overview of students’ and teachers’ perceptions of school libraries’ impact on academic performance in secondary education in Greece, using sociological analysis to assess the data and contextualise it in the particular case and social context of Greece after the crisis. Design/methodology/approach – This paper developed structured questionnaires for the key categories of users visiting school libraries, teachers and students, trying to explore a set of questions which would give us a better image of their behaviour. The results from our empirical study, following the creation and distribution of a purpose made questionnaire in secondary schools in the area of Athens, was then evaluated in the context of sociological analysis. This paper argued that social factors may explain discrepancy in opinions regarding school libraries’ (SLs) role. Findings – The data which the paper present elucidates, not only the frequency and ways in which pupils of an age up to 14 years use SLs but also their own and their teachers’ assumptions as to the degree in which SLs affect their performance. In this way, the data documents currently dominant perceptions of key categories of users in the Greek context but also reveals, via its critical assessment, the kinds of social factors that enhanced or hindered its impact on learning and academic performance in secondary education in Greece. Research limitations/implications – The paper consists of a study based on a limited sample of users from Greek schools in Athens; hence, its results are indicative. Practical implications – The paper considers possibilities in which educational and cultural policies in relation to SLs should shift attention following the findings and their interpretation. Social implications – The paper provides policy implications regarding Greek education. The paper provides some recommendations as to ways in which SLs and research in their users may provide a fresh way of implementing strategies as to their role in Greek education in the period of recession. Originality/value – This study focuses exclusively on the Greek context, taking into consideration, for the analysis of the data derived from the empirical survey undertaken in Greek schools, sociological parameters tied to the Greek context after the crisis.
The current global financial crisis is the biggest economic upheaval for all libraries around the world and especially for those in Southern Europe. Due to this crisis, Greek and Cypriot libraries face many problems deriving mostly from their state funding and personnel reduction. The paper focuses on the effects on operation and services of Greek and Cypriot libraries, and the impact caused by salary reductions and personnel layoffs on their actual survival. A survey was conducted through an online questionnaire available in Lime Survey to all Greek and Cypriot academic, public and special libraries. Responses were gathered and analysed. In conclusion, the paper proposes some ideas for the development of new services and activities that may help libraries to deal with the effects of financial crisis and help them stay alive and to reactivate their users support.
It is widely acknowledged that employees of an organization are often a weak link in the protection of its information assets. Information security has not been given enough attention in the literature in terms of the human factor effect; researchers have called for more examination in this area. Human factors play a significant role in computer security. In this paper, we focus on the relationship of the human factor on information security presenting the human weaknesses that may lead to unintentional harm to the organization and discuss how information security awareness can be a major tool in overcoming these weaknesses. A framework for a field research is also presented in order to identify the human factors and the major attacks that threat computer security.
Several studies have shown that consumers perceive higher risks buying online than in conventional way. Perceived risks affect all purchase decisions and consumers’ behavior, by deterring them to buy. These risks come from the lack of trust of shoppers toward online vendors’ credibility. The main field of research in this paper is to investigate how trust is affecting the consumers engagement to e-commerce, in order to conclude in which security measures should be taken in order to mitigate perceived risks. A framework for a field research is also given in order to identify the causal relationships between electronic service quality and e-loyalty, e-satisfaction and e-trust.
The cultural heritage artifacts Conservation Documentation format is not universally agreed upon nor has it always been considered an important aspect of the conservation profession. Conservation records present major drawbacks, which are the fragmentary and incomplete description of the contained information and related processes. On the other hand, as strict regulations prohibit invasive testing in the conservation of art works and monuments of great historical value, new type of examination methods such as Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT&E) techniques have become essential and are widely used by scientists. In this context, the present paper presents the DOC-CULTURE project approach to standardize the documentation of the NDT methods and their output data through CIDOC-CRM exploitation.
In this paper, we explore the use of Social Media in Archives. The last five years the archival services worldwide have started using Social Media for various purposes, such as content delivery and promotion of their work. Based on this fact, we created an online survey that was sent to various archival services in order to see how they are using these platforms and aiming to present comparative results between them (Greek and non-Greek archival services). The results of our research revealed, among others, that there is an extended use of Facebook, YouTube and blogs by the archival services, while the comparison between Greek and non-Greek services revealed a “gap” between the two cases.
Purpose - This paper investigates risk reduction strategies in online shopping through the perspective of buyer’s trust. Design/methodology/approach - An explanatory research approach is adopted in order to identify cause-and-effect relationships between e-quality and customers’ loyalty, satisfaction and trust. This approach is accomplished through field research, which is based on a structured questionnaire that utilizes the E-S-QUAL tool, which is a multiple-item general scale for measuring electronic service quality. The sample is consisted of 92 e-buyers (consumers). Findings - The field research revealed that three e-quality dimensions, namely ease of use, customization and assurance, e-scape and responsiveness have significant positive effects on e-loyalty and e-satisfaction. Regarding e-trust, only customization and assurance exerts a significant positive effect. Research limitations/implications - The field research provides in depth understanding of relationships among e-loyalty, e-satisfaction, and e-trust. The majority of the respondents are young people living in Athens, Greece, highly educated with a relative low monthly income. Originality/value - This study investigates how trust is affecting the consumers’ engagement to e-commerce, suggesting the appropriate security that should be taken in order to mitigate perceived risks. Reviewing security measures can help reduce risks of an e-company, and simultaneously enforce the level of trust and customers intentions to buy.
Purpose - This paper investigates the association of Lack of Awareness and human factors, and the association of Lack of Awareness and significant attacks that threat computer security in Higher Education. Design/methodology/approach - Five human factors and nine attacks are considered, in order to investigate their relationship. A field research is conducted on Greek employees in Higher Education in order to identify the human factors that affect information security. The sample is consisted of 103 employees that use computers at work. Pearson correlation analysis between Lack of Awareness and nine (9) computer security risks is performed. Findings - Examining the association of Lack of Awareness with these attacks that threat the security of computers, all nine factors of important attacks exert significant and positive effect, apart from Phishing. Considering the relationship of Lack of Awareness to human factors, all five human factors used are significantly and positively correlated with Lack of Awareness. Moreover, all nine important attacks, apart from one, exert a significant and positive effect. Research limitations/implications - The paper extends understanding of the relationship of the human factors, the Lack of Awareness, and information security. The study has focused on employees of the Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Athens, namely teachers, administrators, and working post-graduate students. Originality/value - The paper has used weighted factors based on data collection in Higher Education to calculate a global index for Lack of Awareness, as the result of the weighted aggregation of nine (9) risks, and extends the analysis performed in the literature to evaluate the effectiveness of Security Awareness in Computer Risk Management.
The cultural heritage artifacts Conservation Documentation is not universally agreed upon nor has it always been considered an important aspect of the conservation profession. Conservation records present major drawbacks, which are the fragmentary and incomplete description of the contained information and related processes. On the other hand, art works and monuments of great historical value are subject to examination only through Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation (NDT&E) techniques. In this context, the present paper presents the DOC-CULTURE project approach to standardize the documentation of the conservation and the NDT&E methods and their output data through CIDOC-CRM extension.
The Department of Library Science and Information Systems of the TEI of Athens is using a Moodle installation as its eclass platform for the past four semesters. Moodle is a freely distributed open source software, and has been one of the most popular Course Management Systems. The faculty has invested a significant amount of time and effort and has created 50 online courses, which provide students with all the necessary course material (multiple bibliographies, presentations, e-books and other text and multimedia resources). The online resources also include activity modules, assignments and quizzes that utilize the interactive and collaborative environment of Moodle. This study presents the evaluation of the department’s e-class, which has been based on two online questionnaires, one addressed to the faculty and the other to the students. The questionnaires attempted to collect data concerning the users’ attitudes and profiles (visiting frequency, favorite activities) and their opinions about the functionality and usefulness of the eclass in enhancing the teaching and learning experience. The results fully confirm the faculty’s view that the e-class is an indispensable addition to the departments teaching tools and demonstrate that it is extensively used and highly appreciated by both faculty and students.
Although efforts for the introduction of ICT in public health care system had begun already in the mid’ of 80s, the results have not yet reached the desired expectations. In order to meet the requirements of the future health care system, in the age of the “smart machine”, the continuous investment in IT without a clear return is unsustainable. Electronic health records are based on the coded data descriptions. Well known data coding schemes e.g. ICD-10, ICPC, GMDN family, have been successfully translated into Greek however less than a third of doctors use these schemes in the clinical IT assessment. Cost continues to be the biggest barrier in IT adoption; some current IT solutions are not usable, particularly for smaller public hospitals in Greece. Therefore, the cost of transforming paper-based data to e-patients’ records does not allow doctors to share valuable information. In the Greek health information platform, a different approach of data exchange, across and outside the public hospitals should be implemented. The hospital should involve the Health Information scientists to assist the doctors in accessing and managing clinical information. The sharing of medical information should ensure that all core patient data conform to the related rules of health information resources management, and are based on international health coding and classification systems. The Health Information management education and training on ICT, must be achieved and maintained. The health information scientists should be educated and prepared for advanced clinical applications, and should use as a tool the evidence-based practice, in order to provide secure access to data to those people that they “need to know”.
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the modern museum, as the latter emerges from the scholarship of the History of collecting, is its ability to contain and generate knowledge in an ordered and systematic way. The paper traces the history of the modern concept of the museum against the history and philosophy of information, looking at museum collections as objects derived from and contingent on notions peculiar to information history and philosophy such as the notion of the index and the archive. The cases of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford and the Bodlean Library also in Oxford are analyzed. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of The 2nd International Conference on Integrated Information.
Over the past year, many Institutional Repositories have been launched by Greek Universities. In this framework, the Library of the Technological Educational Institute of Athens has designed and is launching an Institutional Repository containing Faculty's published and unpublished work, students’ theses and a major “Institutional Archival Collection”. However, the library had a long history of mistrust, mainly deriving from its long periods of understaffing and poor services. Thus, it was evident that the Institute had to rebuild trust and promote the IR. The first step in launching IRs was to set up policies regarding the content, the self-archiving procedure, the use of personalized services for users and the introduction of relevant routines. In the process, it became apparent that the organizational culture had to be redesigned. These lead to the formulation of ‘best practices’ which would secure the effective and widespread use of the repository by all members of the academic community. A bibliographic review was carried out regarding repository policies. In addition, observation techniques were used in assessing the use of the repository. Furthermore, a questionnaire was distributed to users in order to assess the effectiveness, ease of use and level of understanding of the repository's functions.
This is a brief presentation of the framework and philosophy followed by the Department of Library Science and Information Systems in the development of its new curriculum. The belief that information organizations, such as libraries, archives and museums have common goals and manage the same resource; i.e. information, leads to the proposition presented here, that they should be regarded as an integrated unit. Furthermore, the development of new technologies offers a common platform via which all information organizations can acquire, organize and disseminate information in the form of electronic data and metadata.
The belief that information organizations, such as libraries, archives and museums have common goals and manage the same resource, i.e. information, leads to the proposition presented here, that they should be regarded as an integrated unit. Furthermore, the development of new technologies offers a common platform via which all information organizations can acquire, organize and disseminate information in the form of electronic data and metadata. This study focuses on assessing the results of the implementation of a curriculum based on the aforementioned principle. The study collected data from the student work experience program which took place after a three year implementation of the new curriculum. The work experience program took place in diverse information organizations and both parties involved, i.e. students and employers participated in the research. The research was designed to explore the degree of knowledge gained and the ability of students to apply it to diverse information organizations. Furthermore, it attempted to determine the needs of information organizations in specific areas of knowledge. The methodology used included two surveys with cross corresponding questions, one addressed to the students during the work experience program and the other to the hosting organizations. Results highlight the emerging student's professionalism and indicate that students can manage at a good level all major information science tasks independently of the type of organization or the form of their collections. It became evident that students are able to work and implement professional tasks likewise in libraries, archives and museums. Similarly, organizations perceive their abilities and knowledge in the same way, independently of their nature. Suggestions for further improvement of the curriculum, deriving from the research described here, include the incorporation of a course or a module within a course regarding user education/information literacy.
Over the past year the Library of the TEI of Athens has launched an Institutional Repository containing Faculty’s published and unpublished work, students’ theses and a major collection called “Institutional Archives”. The latter was also used as a vehicle for promoting the Repository and had attracted a lot of interest from all faculty members and the Institute’s administration. While in the making, special effort was made to secure faculty’s understanding of the undertaking and faculty’s participation. Information was communicated through e- letters from the Library, the Deans and the Institute’s President as well. A web site was developed and a feedback mechanism was set in place. A system of approaching individually each faculty member and create customized lists of publications to be incorporated in the IR had given surprisingly good results. The assessment of these measures in relation to faculty’s willingness to participate in the IR is examined. Furthermore, faculty’s attitude towards self-archiving is also examined. A bibliographic review was carried out regarding faculty attitudes and factors that shape it. A questionnaire was distributed to all faculty members in order to assess the effectiveness of the communication system and the degree of their willingness to practice self archiving. This explored faculty reactions and determined the effectiveness of the IR. Major findings include the faculty’s positive reception of the IR due to the fact that the information was communicated properly through the aforementioned mechanism and their enthusiasm and overcoming of hesitations after understanding the capabilities of the IR.
Information technology has the potential to transform working procedure in the health care sector. Clinicians have used Health Information Management and Technology (HIM&T) for more than two decades to assist in achieving better healthcare delivery outcomes. Medical knowledge is too complex for humans to master in a single mind, and to remember everything about each patient. Medical data consist of many kinds of data from different sources, requiring the development of many medical decision support systems. Creating and indexing records for hospitals and health systems present difficult challenges, because the medical records contain sensitive information. Increased computerization and other policy factors have contributed to privacy risks. Transforming from paper-based to Electronic Medical Records (EMR) allows healthcare providers to share information across their care ecosystem. Access to this digital lifeline, connecting the EMR to the digital web platforma, is critical to saving lives, preventing medical errors and improving efficiency of healthcare delivery. Choosing the international classification systems for patients, ICD, DRGs, grouped patients according to the resources consumption required for treatment and other clinical characteristics. Information Technology provides solutions to this problem. A vital element of healthcare delivery is to ensure that the patient is always at the centre of everything clinicians do.
The effects of book and paper conservation treatments on the intrinsic data of the artifacts are examined. The tangible data present in an object are grouped in three layers, with the third layer being associated with the object’s material properties. The wealth of information that can be drawn from the data of the third layer and their significance is discussed. The obfuscation of critical data or their complete loss after specific treatments is a possible outcome, and conservators, stakeholders and the public should be aware of what may be lost after a conservation intervention.
The contribution of competent keynote speakers to the organization of events plays an important role in shaping participants’ perceptions for attending them. The increase in participation levels lies on the communication strategy that includes the participation of competent keynote speakers so as to attract more participants. The research reveals that the new e-mail marketing communication, based on the announcement of the keynote speaker’s participation, positively influences the perceptions of potential participants so as to visit the library's website. By ensuring the participation of competent keynote speakers, the event manages to add value to its services, based on the organizational communication theory that mainly succeeds in private organizations (Cheney, 2007). Adding value in the services offered by a library event can contribute to the achievement of higher levels of participation. The research further highlights the importance of competent keynote speakers’ involvement in motivating potential participants to attend an event. The optimization of the entire process is achieved with the contribution of the dynamic simulation model.
The main purpose served by the existence of multimedia in e-libraries is to attain the transfer of data to the reader in an easy and perceptible manner. This methodology attempts to maximize the abilities of readers to assimilate information always as compared to the information assimilated from a plain text. The simplest libraries on the web are etymological and translation-oriented dictionaries. For that reason, and following the secondary and primary qualitative research, in order to perform the qualitative research multimedia elements were created and integrated into a dictionary on the Internet.
Multiple resources concerning health and medical information are disposable through the Internet. Because of the severity that usage of information retrieved from that kind of web sites can cause to public health, it is crucial to develop skills that help making the right choice of resources that will be used. This paper, proposes certain criteria that would be preferable to be used in evaluating and assessing medical and health oriented sites, as well as presenting The Health on the Net Foundation that "has elaborated the Code of Conduct to help standardize the reliability of medical and health information available on the World-Wide Web".
The “Neophytos Doukas” municipal library possesses a small but valuable historical collection. Due to its nature, and the fact that is located in a small remote village in mountainous Northern Greece (Ano Pedina, Zagori), the library is faced with a variety of problems ranging from the lack of resources to outdated but valuable collections, together with the inability to meet today’s information needs. Most of these encountered problems are more or less typical of small libraries burdened by historical collections very rarely used but too valuable to discard. Equally, the “Neophytos Doukas” library has kept its traditional role and modus operandi, protecting the collection but not really servicing a clientele, nevertheless, as the information revolution grew, the library’s role increasingly became more redundant. Considering the cited needs, we proposed to use the new technologies not only to revive the library, but to also conserve and promote the use of the old collections along with the provision of new services. The “Neophytos Doukas” library was used as a pilot project for achieving reorganization while promoting and increasing the usage and services of a ‘typical’ small village library. Thus, the major goal for this project was to take a ‘dormant’ library turning it into a vivid organization. As a first step in digitization, the Greenstone platform was used in order to create a library which may place the historical collection on the map and make it available to the international research community. At the same time the use of the network through the library’s facilities enabled and provided the much needed access to a wealth of information to the local community. In this work the first step for the creation of the digital library is presented. In summarizing, the digital library was designed in such a manner that it can accommodate archival and museum collections stored in the village and the surrounding region. Dublin Core is used for the metadata description and along with translations it promises information access to a larger audience.
This article examines, from the viewpoint of archival science, the possibility of creating a common framework for information science in the academic and professional fields alike. Information management, both as an academic platform and as an occupation, makes it necessary for library studies and archival science to co-exist in the curricula of higher education institutions, and for libraries and archives to cooperate on a practical level.
The Asia Minor catastrophe'constitutes the deepest scar in the history of contemporary Hellenism, and its effects strongly marked the future course of the nation. The tragedy of 1922, sealed by the blood of thousands of innocent people, ended the centuries-long Greek presence in Asia Minor and in this aspect was the'most significant factor of ethnological contraction which characterizes the path of Hellenism in our century'. 2 However, the Hellenism of Asia Minor was not lost; it was only uprooted.