Popular among online shoppers, comparison-shopping provides a new sales channel for small to medium enterprises to contend with brand name vendors. ""Comparison-Shopping Services and Agent Designs"" provides a collection of comprehensive research articles on the latest technologies involved with online consumer services. This ""Premier Reference Source"" provides e-commerce and agent technology researchers, academicians, and practitioners with a useful overview as well as references to the latest advancements in the field.

There is a large increase in the amount of information available on World Wide Web and also in number of online databases. This information abundance increases the complexity of locating relevant information. Such a complexity drives the need for improved and intelligent systems for search and information retrieval. Intelligent Agents are currently used to improve the search and retrieval information on World Wide Web. The use of existing search and retrieval engines with the addition of intelligent agents allows a more comprehensive search with a performance that can be measured. Intelligent Agents for Mining and Information Retrieval discusses the foundation as well as the pratical side of intelligent agents and their theory and applications for web data mining and information retrieval. The book can used for researchers at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels as well as a reference of the state-of-art for cutting edge researchers.

Geography teachers and school library media specialists will find this resource indispensable for providing classroom lessons and activities in critical thinking for geography students in grades 7-12. It is filled with over 75 primary source Internet sites covering such topics as Places and Regions, Physical Systems, Human Systems, Environment and Society, and the Uses of Geography, and will be an invaluable tool in helping teachers and librarians meet the standards set forth in the 1994 publication "Geography for Life: National Geography Standards."

Each site is accompanied by a site summary that describes the site contents and usefulness to geography teachers and school library media specialists. Site subjects include: Urban Landscapes, Volcanoes and Earthquakes, Weather, The U.S. Census, and the World Wildlife Fund Global Network. The questions and activities that follow are designed to develop critical thinking skills for both oral and written presentations. An appendix of additional geography resources includes Internet addresses for approximately 25 sites relating to maps, primary sources, and critical thinking. This will provide teachers and librarians with even more resources for developing lessons to help each student meet all 18 of the National Geography Standards.

The latest advances in technology development have been particularly useful to actor-network theory as a structure for much of its research. With a socio-technical approach to the understanding of information systems and applications, the actor-network theory aims to bring support for social influence on technological innovations. Social and Professional Applications of Actor-Network Theory for Technology Development presents a platform for the approaches and implementations on the actor-network theory and its relationship with technology development. This book provides researchers and practitioners with a better understanding of the usefulness of the social and technical connection.

The interrelation of globalization, communication, and media has prompted many individuals to view the world in terms of a new dichotomy: the global "wired" (nations with widespread online access) and the global "tired" (nations with very limited online access). In this way, differing levels of online access have created an international rift - the global digital divide. The nature, current status, and future projections related to this rift, in turn, have important implications for all of the world's citizens. Yet these problems are not intractable. Rather, with time and attention, public policies and private sector practices can be developed or revised to close this divide and bring more of the world's citizens to the global stage on a more equal footing. The first step in addressing problems resulting from the global digital divide is to improve understanding, that is, organizations and individuals must understand what factors contribute to this global digital divide for them to address it effectively. From this foundational understanding, organizations can take the kinds of focused, coordinated actions needed to address such international problems effectively. This collection represents an initial step toward examining the global digital divide from the perspective of developing nations and the challenges their citizens face in today's error of communication-driven globalization. The entries in this collection each represent different insights on the digital divide from the perspectives of developing nations - many of which have been overlooked in previous discussions of this topic. This book examines globalization and its effects from the perspective of how differences in access to online communication technologies between the economically developed countries and less economically developed countries is affecting social, economic, educational, and political developments in the world's emerging economies. This collection also examines how this situation is creating a global digital divide that will have adverse consequences for all nations. Each of the book's chapters thus presents trends and ideas related to the global digital divide between economically developed countries and less economically developed nations. Through this approach, the contributors present perspectives from the economically developing nations themselves versus other texts that explore this topic from the perspective of economically developed countries. In this way, the book provides a new and an important perspective to the growing literature on the global digital divide. The primary audiences for this text would include individuals from both academics and industry practitioners. The academic audience would include administrators in education; researchers; university, college, and community college instructors; and students at the advanced undergraduate and graduate levels.

The performance testing of Web applications is not understood properly and no skill sets are available to address the challenges faced by practitioners. In addition, there is currently a lack of available research on the performance aspects of the application. ""Integrated Approach to Web Performance Testing: A Practitioner's Guide"" fills this void and provides an integrated approach and guidelines to performance testing of Web-based systems. Based upon a mix of theoretical and practical concepts, this book provides a detailed understanding of the various aspects of performance testing in relation to the different phases of the software development life cycle. Using a rich mixture of examples, checklists, and templates, this book illustrates the different facets of application performance. ""Integrated Approach to Web Performance Testing: A Practitioner's Guide"" applies a practical approach to making appropriate choices of tools, methodologies and project management for performance testing.

Two thirds of global Internet users are non-English speakers. Despite this, most scholarly literature on the Internet and computer-mediated-communication (CMC) focuses exclusively on English. This is the first book devoted to analyzing Internet related CMC in languages other than English.<br><br>The volume collects 18 new articles on facets of language and Internet use, all of which revolve around several central topics: writing systems, the structure and features of local languages and how they affect internet use, code switching between multiple languages, gender issues, public policy<br>issues, and so on. The scope of languages discussed in the volume is unusually broad, including non-native English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Spanish, Japanese, Thai, and Portuguese. This book will be of great interest to anyone studying linguistics, applied linguistics, communication, <br>anthropology and information sciences.

Web Project Management presents a solid Web project management method for building commercial Web sites. Developed by pres.co, a leading interactive agency, this refined eight-stage approach lets you closely manage your project's contributors, quality, costs, and schedules. Importantly, the book also details how to define, measure and understand the success of your project on an ongoing basis. This book is an indispensable resource, whether you are a project manager, online manager, Web director, consultant or producer.
* Includes insider tips from the perspective of the world's leading Web developers.
* Focuses on project management as it relates to e-commerce.
* Teaches you to organize and put together a team, develop goals, manage schedules and budgets, overcome pitfalls, maintain, evaluate and evolve a commercial Web presence.
* Includes an introduction to the key principles of Web project management and a case study of the Channel 5 Web site-a popular project managed by the author.
* Provides templates, via a companion Web site, that you can use to develop your own project documentation, a discussion forum, links to related sites, a glossary of terms, a database of useful white papers, and an Internet knowledge quiz.

A selection of international perspectives on on-line learning and the virtual university. The essays are divided into three sections: Overview and Theoretical Background; Projects and Tools; and Conclusions and Visions.

This book focuses on novel and state-of-the-art scientific work in the area of detection and prediction techniques using information found generally in graphs and particularly in social networks. Community detection techniques are presented in diverse contexts and for different applications while prediction methods for structured and unstructured data are applied to a variety of fields such as financial systems, security forums, and social networks. The rest of the book focuses on graph-based techniques for data analysis such as graph clustering and edge sampling. The research presented in this volume was selected based on solid reviews from the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks, Analysis, and Mining (ASONAM '17). Chapters were then improved and extended substantially, and the final versions were rigorously reviewed and revised to meet the series standards. This book will appeal to practitioners, researchers and students in the field.

Emerging new technologies such as digital media have helped artists to position art into the everyday lives and activities of the public. These new virtual spaces allow artists to utilize a more participatory experience with their audience. Digital Media and Technologies for Virtual Artistic Spaces brings together a variety of artistic practices in virtual spaces and the interest in variable media and online platforms for creative interplay. Presenting frameworks and examples of current practices, this book is useful for artists, theorists, curators as well as researchers working with new technologies, social media platforms and digital culture.

The Internet has generated a large amount of information that is created and shared between individuals and organizations. Because of the amount of information flying through cyberspace, the time to locate and digest the information increases exponentially, but the question of what information can be shared and how to share them remains unsolved. ""Advances in Electronic Business, Volume 2"" explores the semantic web and intelligent web services, two methods created to help solidify the meaning and relationship of data, and explains how they relate to business processes. Professionals, policy-makers, academics, researchers, and managers in IT, business, and commerce will find this book useful in understanding the semantic web and intelligent web services impact on e-commerce.

The popularization of the Internet, due in larger part to the advent of multifunctional cell phones, poses new challenges for health professionals, patients, and caregivers as well as creates new possibilities for all of us. This comprehensive volume analyzes how this social phenomenon is transforming long-established healthcare practices and perceptions in a country with one of the highest numbers of Internet users: Brazil. After an opening text that analyzes the Internet and E-Health Care as a field of study, the book comprises six parts. The first part introduces the emergence and development of the internet in Brazil, its pioneering experience in internet governance, digital inclusion, and online citizen participation. The second part is dedicated to internet health audiences by analyzing the cases of patients, the young, and the elderly seeking and sharing health information online, especially in virtual communities. The third part is dedicated to the challenges that the expansion of the internet in healthcare poses to all of us, such as the evaluation of the quality of health information available online and the prevention of the risks involved with online sales, cyberbullying, and consumption of prescription medicines. The fourth presents some innovative e-learning experiences carried out with different groups in Brazil, while the fifth part analyses some practical applications involving the Internet and health, including studies on M-Health, the Internet of things, serious games and the use of new information and communication technologies in health promotion. The last chapter analyses the future of healthcare in the Internet Age. The authors establish a critical and creative debate with international scholarship on the subject. This book is written in a direct and comprehensible way for professionals, researchers, students of communication and health, as well as for stakeholders and others interested in better understanding the trends and the different challenges related to the social phenomenon of the internet in health.

In today's society, the utilization of social media platforms has become an abundant forum for individuals to post, share, tag, and, in some cases, overshare information about their daily lives. As significant amounts of data flood these venues, it has become necessary to find ways to collect and evaluate this information. Social Media Data Extraction and Content Analysis explores various social networking platforms and the technologies being utilized to gather and analyze information being posted to these venues. Highlighting emergent research, analytical techniques, and best practices in data extraction in global electronic culture, this publication is an essential reference source for researchers, academics, and professionals.

A major investment in professional development is necessary to ensure the fundamental success of instructors in technology-integrated classrooms and in online courses. However, while traditional models of professional development rely on face-to-face instruction, online methods are also gaining traction-viable means for faculty development.Virtual Mentoring for Teachers: Online Professional Development Practices offers peer-reviewed essays and research reports contributed by an array of scholars and practitioners in the field of instructional technology and online education. It is organized around two primary themes: professional development models for faculty in online environments and understanding e-Learning and best practices in teaching and learning in online environments. The objective of this scholarship is to highlight research-based online professional development programs and best practices models that have been shown to enhance effective teaching and learning in a variety of environments.

Sektion 1: Internet als Business-Plattform.- Elektronische Koordination interorganisatorischer Geschaftsprozesse zwischen privaten Haushalten und Versicherungen im Rahmen von Tele-Insuring.- Internet-Nutzung im Business-to-Business-Bereich: Stand der Entwicklung, Typologie und Anwendungsbeispiele.- Aufbau eines Elektronischen Handelsplatzes fur Java-Applets.- Preisstrategien fur ein integriertes Universal-Internet.- Sektion 2: Optimierung von Geschaftsprozessen.- Value-Based Management of Inter-Organizational Business Processes.- A Hierarchical Planning Procedure Supporting the Selection of Service Providers in Outtasking Decisions.- A Multiagent System-Approach for the Design of Information Systems in Virtual Organizations.- Office-Automation in Municipal and County Administration with an Integrated Workflow Based Information System.- Efficiency and Cost Implications of Capital Allocation Mechanisms: A Contribution to the Market-versus-Hierarchy-Discussion.- Sektion 3: Groupware- und Workflow-Strategien.- Organisatorischer Wandel bei Einfuhrung von Groupware.- Increased Competitiveness using a Groupware based Project Controlling System.- Architektur zur informationstechnologischen Unterstutzung von Kooperationen.- Enterprise Knowledge Medium (EKM) - Konzeption und Einsatz eines computergestutzten Planungs- und Kontrollsystems im prozessorientierten Unternehmen.- Unterstutzung der Workflow-Entwicklung durch ein unternehmensweites Repository fur Geschaftsprozessrealisierungen.- Sektion 4: Groupware-Anwendungen.- New perspectives for higher education processes as a team-based approach - Back-office information technology for higher education and training.- Konfiguration des Informationsdienstes in Groupware.- Sektion 5: Wirtschaftliche Programmerstellung.- Global Production: The Case of Offshore Programming.- Metriken fur die IV-Diagnose, Konzept und prototypische Implementierung.- Produktinformationssysteme in Business Networks.- Sektion 6: SAP und Client-Server-Integration.- System Migration and System Integration: Two SAP Cases.- Unternehmensweite Datenkonsistenz durch Integration bestehender Informationssysteme.- Client/Server Architecture: what it promises - what it really provides.- IS Project Risk in Polish Organizations.- Sektion 7: Organisation und Datenmanagement.- Flexible Organizations Through Object-oriented and Transaction-oriented Information Systems.- Determinants and Outcomes of Electronic Data Interchange Integration.- Referenz-Informationsmodelle fur den Handel: Begriff, Nutzen und Empfehlungen fur die Gestaltung und unternehmensspezifische Adaption von Referenzmodellen.- Entwicklung eines Data Warehouse fur das Produktionscontrolling: Konzepte und Erfahrungen.- Sektion 8: Neue Chancen durch Multimedia.- Der Markt fur interaktive elektronische Medien aus oekonomischer Sicht.- Sektion 9: Anwendungen von Internet/Intranet.- Improving Competitiveness of Direct Banking via IT-Enabled Incentive Schemes.- Die Nutzung von Internet-Diensten im Rahmen des Elektronischen Datenaustauschs - Architekturvarianten und ein Anwendungsszenario.- Sektion 10: Organisation und Workflow.- Neue Organisationsformen und IT: Herausforderung fur die Unternehmensgestalter.- INCOME/WF - A Petri Net Based Approach to Workflow Management.- On the Object-Oriented Modelling of Distributed Workflow Applications.- Sektion 11: Reorganisation des Unternehmens.- Synthesizing Business and Information Systems (IS): Towards a Common Business-IS Model based on Agents.- Planungs- und Kontrollmodelle zur Steuerung prozessorientierter Organisationen auf der Basis einer Intranet-Anwendung.- Neue Kernprozesse fur Versicherer mit Agenturnetz.- Sponsorenverzeichnis.- Autoren- und Adressverzeichnis.

The growth of Internet use and technologies has increased exponentially within the business sector. When utilized properly, these applications can enhance business functions and make them easier to perform. Exploring the Convergence of Big Data and the Internet of Things is a pivotal reference source featuring the latest empirical research on the business use of computing devices to send and receive data in conjunction with analytic applications to reduce maintenance costs, avoid equipment failures, and improve business operations. Including research on a broad range of topics such as supply chain, aquaculture, and speech recognition systems, this book is ideally designed for researchers, academicians, and practitioners seeking current research on various technology uses in business.