To be successful, information managers constantly need to reassess the effectiveness of their information services, and to ascertain whether they are delivering the services their users actually need. Given that information services can now transcend the restrictions of a particular physical location or specific opening hours, it is more essential than ever to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by new technologies. Through the use of case studies, this resource shows how to revamp an existing service, as well as how to create one from scratch. Key issues covered include: . Introducing the concept of the e-information service . What kind of an information service do you want to provide? . Where are the customers? . What kind of information do your customers need and in what formats? . Who needs to be involved in your plans? . Budgeting for your e-information service . Keeping in touch with your customers . Keeping one step ahead of your competitors. Also includes an illustrated glossary of sample electronic services and a list of further information sources. Regardless of the type or size of your organization, this reference will help broaden your horizons, as well as those of your users."

In these turbulent times, with the challenges of a constantly changing job market, shifting information-seeking behaviour and a vast array of new resources continually being produced, library and information services need to constantly keep one step, or more, ahead of their users. The benefits of analysing user behaviour are self-evident: better strategic planning, cost benefits and better use of budgets, better marketing, satisfied customers, satisfied management, and a library or information unit that is central to the needs of your parent organization. However, paradoxically, user needs and levels of expectation, including those of remote users, are often not fully explored. This accessible text goes back to the basics and investigates the following key issues: Why this book? Defining your users Understanding users: the what, why, where, when, how and who What is the current knowledge of user behaviour and needs: is it really predictable? Great expectations: how LIS professionals can manage and train users Using information about past user behaviour Making the most of knowing your users Keeping track of changes in what users want Tracking the future: electronic and social networking Future perfect? Readership: This book will help any library or information professional anywhere to take a fresh look at this important area and to tackle it in their organization, so as to ensure that their users will always obtain exactly what they want. Webmasters and knowledge managers will also find much to interest them.

The nuts-and-bolts for building your own online business and making it succeed Is there a fortune in your future? Start your own online business and see what happens. Whether you're adding an online component to your current bricks-and-mortar or hoping to strike it rich with your own online startup, the sixth edition of this popular and practical guide can help. Find out how to identify a market need, handle promotion, choose Web hosting services, set up strong security, pop up prominently in search engine rankings, and more. The book explores the hottest business phenomenon today—social media marketing—with full coverage of Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and other technologies that are now firmly part of the online business landscape. Dives into all aspects of starting and establishing an online business, including the very latest big trends Highlights business issues that are of particular concern to online businesses Reveals how to identify a market need, handle promotion, choose Web hosting services, set up strong security, pop up prominently in search engine rankings, and more Covers the hottest social media marketing opportunities, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and blogs Shows you specific types and examples of successful online businesses Provides the latest on B2B Web site suppliers, such as AliBaba.com Build a better online business from the ground up, starting with Starting an Online Business For Dummies, 6th Edition!

Computers for Librarians is aimed primarily at students of library and information management and at those library and information service professionals who feel the need for a book that will give them a broad overview of the emerging electronic library. It takes a top-down approach, starting with applications such as the Internet, information sources and services, provision of access to information resources and library management systems, before looking at data management, computer systems and technology, data communications and networking, and library systems development. It also provides an interesting set of case studies, which help to put theoretical and technical issues into context. Computers for Librarians can be read as a survey of where we are in terms of the electronic library, but it is also intended as an educational resource, and includes self-learning aids such as learning objectives, keywords and review questions for each chapter.

Hsu and Pant in Innovative Planning for Electronic Commerce and Enterprises: A Reference Model have proposed a management planning model for developing strategic goals for e-commerce enterprises. The authors feel they may be provocative sometimes; however, the field is so new that there is no working model for an e-commerce enterprise with a proven success record. In this book, Hsu and Pant develop a framework for a working model. This framework has three parts: (1) The first part is the planning model and a methodology. The planning model is based on principles derived from the literature and the author's research. The methodology also uses Value Chain Analysis to connect e-commerce goals with business processes. (2) The second part evaluates the model and calibrates it to industrial cases and established scholarly results in the field. (3) The last part consists of three exploratory plans for some industrial applications, including supply chain integration, Internet banking, and customer service (ordering) for heavy industry. About fifty cases are discussed in the book at various degrees of depth. The three industrial cases illustrate how to apply the planning model using the methodology. Hence, the book's e-commerce reference model is obtained from the planning model, its methodology, and the industrial benchmarks.

"This book examines the stakeholders of e-government and reveals the stages of growth or service maturity levels, shedding light on the paradigms and fundamental discourses of the e-government adoption process"--Provided by publisher.

The report on the main findings of a project analyzing the European electronic information services (EIS) market. This is the 1st international study of this kind covering both the supply side & the demand side of EIS, plus additional important factors influencing the development of these markets, e.g. the national information policies, the markets for printed information products, the technical infrastructure in the different countries, the different library systems, information intermediaries & brokers, potential users/end-users, etc. Charts & tables.

Drawing lessons from the eFez Project in Morocco, this volume offers practical supporting material to decision makers in developing countries on information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D), specifically e-government implementation. The book documents the eFez Project experience in all of its aspects, presenting the project’s findings and the practical methods developed by the authors (a roadmap, impact assessment framework, design issues, lessons learned and best practices) in their systematic quest to turn eFez’s indigenous experimentations and findings into a formal framework for academics, practitioners and decision makers. The volume also reviews, analyzes and synthesizes the findings of other projects to offer a comparative study of the eFez framework and a number of other e-government frameworks from the growing literature.

Information professionals are increasingly responsible not only for running traditional information and library services but also for providing an online presence for their organisation. This book shows how best practice in delivering online information services should be based on actual user needs and behaviour. A series of case studies provide real life examples of how social science information is being used in the community. The book then draws on these case studies to outline the main issues facing service providers: such as usability, metadata and management. The book concludes with a look to the future and how both technological and organisational changes will shape online information services. Case studies show how - in practical terms - information science issues relate to users’ behaviour Written by experts in the field, with each chapter drawing on both case studies and extensive experience in the field Can be used as a detailed reference or an overview