Presents an elucidative discussion about productivity and efficiency, illustrating its potentials of use and conceptual differencesCovers the concepts and techniques for analysis of productivity and efficiency, analyzing critical benefits and limitations Explains didactically and in detail how to use DEA for analysis of productivity and efficiency Provides an innovative method for using DEA Offers a free online computer tool to operationalize the concepts and method proposed in the book

This volume collects the papers selected for presentation at the Third Inter- tional Conference on Metadata and Semantic Research (MTSR 2009), held in Milan at the University of Milano-Bicocca (October 1-2, 2009). Metadataandsemanticresearchistodayagrowingcomplexsetofconceptual, theoretical, methodological, and technological frameworks, o?ering innovative computational solutions in the design and development of computer-based s- tems.Fromthis perspective,researchersworkinginthisareamusttackleabroad range of issues on methods, results, and solutions coming from di?erent classic areas of this discipline. The conference has been designed as a forum allowing researchers to present and discuss specialized results as general contributions to the ?eld. In order to give a novelperspective in which both theoreticaland application aspects of metadata research contribute in the growth of the area, this book mirrors the structure of the conference, grouping the papers into three main categories: (1) Theoretical Research: Results and Proposals; (2) Applications: Case Studies and Proposals; (3) Special Track: Metadata and Semantics for Agriculture,FoodandEnvironment.Thebookcontains31fullpapers(10forthe ? rstcategory,10forthesecondand12forthethird),selectedfromapreliminary initial set of about 70 submissions. Many people contributed to the success of the conference and the creation of this volume, from the initial idea to its implementation. Our ?rst ackno- edgement is to the members of the Steering Commitee, GeorgeBokosand David Raitt. We would also like to thank all Program Committee members and - viewers for their collaboration. Special thanks to Carlo Batini, on behalf of the DepartmentofComputerScience,SystemsandCommunicationoftheUniversity of Milan-Bicocca, who kindly hosted our conference.

In companies that produce goods and services, productivity and efficiency improvements are a constant challenge. This book reviews the differences between productivity and efficiency. It proposes a new method and makes available a computational tool for implementation that contributes to facilitating the use of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The book presents a discussion about productivity and efficiency, illustrating the potentials of use and conceptual differences. It covers the concepts and techniques for analysis of productivity and efficiency, analyzing critical benefits and limitations, explains in detail how to use DEA for analysis, provides innovative methods for using DEA, offers a free online computer tool with a direction guide, shows real empirical applications, and covers other techniques that can be used to complement the analysis performed. The book is for professionals, managers, consultants, students working and taking courses in productive systems of goods and services. Ancillary materials include a free online computer tool to operationalize the concepts and methods proposed in the book, a guide on how to use the method and the software developed for the DEA application. Solutions manual, instructor's manual, PowerPoint slides, and figure slides also will be available upon qualified adoption.

This book constitutes the post-conference proceedings of the International Workshop on Ontology, Conceptualization and Epistemology for Information Systems, Software Engineering and Service Sciences (ONTOSE 2010), held at the CAiSE 2010 conference in Hammamet, Tunisia, June, 2010. The 10 papers presented in this volume were carefully revised and selected from 25 submissions. They are grouped in sections on enterprise and service architectures, ontology applications, ontology visualization and query expansion, and ontologies for services.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Metadata and Semantic Research, MTSR 2018, held in Limassol, Cyprus, on October 23-26, 2018. The 19 full and 16 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 77 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on metadata, linked data, semantics, ontologies and SKOS; digital libraries, information retrieval, big, linked, social and open data; cultural collections and applications; Knowledge IT Artifacts (KITA) in professional communities and aggregations; Digital Humanities and Digital Curation (DHC); European and national projects; agriculture, food and environment; open repositories, research information systems and data infrastructures.