http://hdl.handle.net/10222/13382 2013-06-19T09:31:52Z http://hdl.handle.net/10222/13842 Social Tagging as a Knowledge Organization and Resource Discovery Tool Allam, Hesham The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the social tagging phenomenon, including how it evolved and the debate surrounding its benefits and limitations. Further, social tagging's potential as a new tool for knowledge organization and resources discovery will be considered. Finally, some questions concerning social tagging will be presented for future research. The paper reflects an interdisciplinary overview of the technical aspect of social tagging along with a behavioural look at why and how it is used as a tool to discover and organize knowledge. 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10222/13841 Thrills, Chills, and Controversy: The Success of R. L. Stine's Goosebumps Tanner, Nicole This paper investigates the popularity of and controversy surrounding R. L. Stine‘s Goosebumps series. The books were very popular with children in the 1990s, yet the fact that they are series novels and they belong to the horror genre led many parents, teachers, and librarians to blast the novels as inappropriate and even evil. Others felt that it was important that their children were reading, period. Controversy ensued when attempts were made to ban the books from public and school libraries and restrict children from reading them. Many parents were angered by the attempts at censorship and felt that their children had the right to read whatever they wanted. Throughout the years, Stine‘s novels became less popular, but they never disappeared, and children everywhere continue to get goosebumps. 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10222/13840 Downgrading Complexity in the Exxon Valdez Crisis: Using Information as a Risk Mitigation Tool in Complex Adaptive Systems Snow, Eric In a high-stakes crisis environment, trial and error can be too costly an approach. The Exxon Valdez oil spill provides an example of how complex adaptive systems can have simple, preventable problems and complex, unpredictable problems can come together with disastrous consequences. Not every possible contingency can be accounted for. However, research and experience can be applied to mitigate these types of risks by using information to reduce or "downgrade" the complexity of the contributing situations. The Cynefin contexts of complexity can be used to assess problems when they arise. Downgrading the level of complexity for a given problem can turn formerly complex or complicated situations into simple ones that require less knowledge and resources to resolve and can reduce the risk of failure. The possibility and consequences of failure may remain, but downgraded complexity can reduce the likelihood of this failure and make problems more manageable when they do occur. 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10222/13839 Breeding Baby Bureaucracies: Essential Factors for the Effective Development of New Organizations Snow, Eric New government organizations face a range of challenges in establishing themselves during and after their initial creation. Without proper consideration, these challenges can hamper organizational development or even cause it to collapse altogether. This paper seeks to identify these challenges in order to explore the strengths and weaknesses of new organizations and to investigate how best to use this knowledge to ensure the successful development of new organizations. This will be accomplished through the discussion of past experiences and the exploration of literature on organizational development. Research points to a set of key criteria that help to reinforce organizations over the course of their development, mitigate potential threats, and establish organizations both internally and within their broader environment. These criteria include the development of a clear organizational objective, support from other institutions, exceptional leadership, and effective use of time. The best practices established here may serve as a framework for the development of new organizations in the future. 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z