Information Brokers Research Articles

Power, panics, and pronouns

Linguistic and anthropological analyses of the globalization of sexual frameworks typically emphasize how putatively global models remain disjunctive with localized understandings. Few scholars have examined how NGOs in the Global North compile the information needed to advocate for LGBT rights, much of which is generated by activists in the Global South. In this paper, I draw on fieldwork at a Northern-based LGBT human rights NGO to explore how brokers produce and circulate knowledge amidst the complex challenges of information politics. As brokers of information, activists face structural, linguistic, and technological impediments that complicate their work. They also grapple with doubts about facticity, motives, and potential repercussions that affect whether information is deemed “good enough” for advocacy. Understanding how activists practically navigate these challenges is critical as linguists and anthropologists move beyond reductive global-local dichotomies and advocates seek to do solidarity work as effectively and responsibly as possible.

Economic incentive-based brokerage schemes for improving data availability in mobile-P2P networks

In mobile ad hoc peer-to-peer (M-P2P) networks, data availability is typically low due to rampant free-riding, frequent network partitioning and mobile resource constraints. This work proposes the E-Broker system for improving data availability in M-P2P networks. The main contributions of E-Broker are threefold. First, it proposes the EIB (Economic Incentive-based Brokerage) scheme, which incentivizes relay peers to act as information brokers for performing value-added routing and replication in M-P2P networks, thereby effectively improving data availability. Second, it proposes the EIB+ (enhanced Economic Incentive-based Brokerage) scheme, which extends the EIB scheme by incorporating three different broker scoring strategies for providing additional incentives to brokers towards providing better service. Moreover, EIB+ facilitates load-sharing among the peers. Third, it experimentally determines the number of brokers, beyond which the mobile peers are better off without a broker-based architecture i.e., they can directly access data from the data-providing peers. Our performance evaluation indicates that the proposed schemes are indeed effective in improving query response times, data availability and query hop-counts at reasonable communication traffic cost in M-P2P networks as compared to a recent existing scheme.

Playing information games:démarcheursin the second-hand car markets of Cotonou, Bénin

This paper discusses demarcheurs, intermediaries in the second-hand car markets in Cotonou, Benin. An ethnographic case study shows how demarcheurs make a profit by creating barriers between car buyers and sellers. In this way the paper presents an alternative interpretation of intermediaries: not as brokers of market information in fragmented business networks but as skilful information manipulators who pretend to be important. By analysing how demarcheurs interpret the car business as an information game, the paper tries to make understandable the cultural logic of their economic behaviour. This shows that market information is socio-culturally constructed knowledge and that intermediaries play a crucial role in its construction.

An Assessment of Information Brokerage in Academic Libraries in Nigeria: University of Calabar Library in Perspective.

This study is an assessment of information brokerage in the University of Calabar Library in the discharge of its functions to aid teaching, learning and research from 2005 to 2010. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study and the total sampling procedure was used in selecting the seven divisional heads of the study. A checklist of University of Calabar Library Information Brokerage Delivery (IBD) Systems was prepared together with an interview schedule and used to elicit information from these librarians. The results showed that the University of Calabar Library has been engaging in information brokerage activities in the different units of the library through information merchandizing. It was discovered that patronage on brokerage activities and services were disproportionate among the units surveyed. The study showed that brokerage on publication services and system/technical services rated highest between the period covered by the study. The two brokerage delivery systems undertook 113 and 925 transactions and generated a substantial amount of income for the library. The study concludes that the University of Calabar Library is engaging enormously in information brokerage and thereby sustaining Entrepreneurship Education in library and Information Science in Nigeria. It is recommended that subject specialist librarianship be encouraged in academic libraries to facilitate the attainment of financial goals in the specialized services delivery in University Library as well as other tertiary institutions’ libraries in Nigeria.KEY WORDS: Information Brokerage; Information Products and Services; University of Calabar Library; Fee-Based Services; Entrepreneurship Education.

Ontologies for interaction: Enabling serendipitous interoperability in smart environments

The thesis describes the design and development of an ontology and software framework to support user interaction in ubiquitous computing scenarios. The key goal of ubiquitous computing is serendipitous interoperability, where devices that were not necessarily designed to work together should be able to discover each other’s functionality and be able to make use of it. Future ubiquitous computing scenarios involve hundreds of devices. Therefore, anticipating all the different types of devices and usage scenarios a priori is an unmanageable task. An iterative approach was followed during the design process, with three design iterations documented in the thesis. The work was done in close cooperation with designers and other project partners, in order to elicit requirements and maintain a more holistic view of the various application areas. The thesis describes an interaction model that shows the various concepts that are involved in user interaction in a smart space, including how these concepts work together. Based in the interaction model, a theory of semantic connections is introduced that focuses on the meaning of the connections between the different entities in a smart environment. Ontologies are formal representations of concepts in a domain of interest and the relationships between these concepts. They are used to enable the exchange of information without requiring up-front standardisation. The ontology described in the thesis helps developers to focus on modelling the interaction capabilities of smart objects and inferring the possible connections between these objects, making it easier to build smart objects and enable device interoperability on a semantic level. Rather than just describing the low-level hardware input event that triggered an action, interaction events in the ontology are modelled as high-level input actions which report the intent of the user’s action directly. This allows developers to write software that respond to these high-level events, without having to support every kind of device that could have generated that event. The event hierarchy can be inferred using semantic reasoning. The software architecture implements the publish/subscribe messaging paradigm, enabling smart objects to subscribe to changes in data, represented in triple form, and be notified every time these triples are updated, added or removed. Semantic reasoning is performed on an information broker, simplifying the implementation on the smart objects. A pilot deployment, composed of heterogeneous smart objects designed and manufactured by a range of companies and institutions, was used to validate the design. A performance evaluation was performed, where the results indicated acceptable response times for a networked user interface. A usability analysis of the ontology and system implementation was performed using a developer questionnaire based on an existing usability framework. Various ontology design patterns were identified during the course of the design, and are documented in the thesis. The resulting design artefact is an ontology for user interaction with devices in a smart environment, where devices are able to share interaction events and make use of each other’s functionality.

Study on the Integration Framework and Reliable Information Transmission of Manufacturing Inte-grated Services Platform

To achieve integration on heterogeneous application systems, and ensure reliable transmission of information in the manufacturing integrated service platform, some technologies and methods are studied, such as the hierarchical architecture, center architecture model, security mechanism of J2EE, the integrated architecture, asynchronous communication mode, and advantages of reliable transmission of the information oriented middleware. Combine J2EE platform and J2EE connector architecture, an integrated framework is proposed, which includes client layer, middle layer and heterogeneous information system layer. With the information oriented middleware and its information broker, the framework not only can promote business logic which is separated from the client side and server side, meet easily the increasingly complex and ever-changing needs of the business logic, but also can achieve reliable information transmission. As a result, it will make development and maintenance and application of the manufacturing integrated service platform become more convenient, and will provide the integrated heterogeneous application systems with reliable communications services.

Co-investment networks of business angels and the performance of their start-up investments

The venture capital literature has established the positive impact of co-investment networks on the performance of start-up investments. In early stages, however, often angel financing is the primary source of external equity. Using a novel in-depth dataset of US high technology start-ups we investigate the effects of business angel networks. Start-ups of better connected angel investors are more likely to receive subsequent funding by venture capitalists and business angels more often exit successfully. Thereby, angel investors seem to rely on their direct contacts, whereas their network position and possibility to act as information brokers plays a far smaller role.

Building future generation service-oriented information broker networks

Future generation networks target collecting intelligence from multiple sources based on end-users' data and their social interaction in order to draw useful conclusions on enabling users to execute their rights to online privacy. These networks form a rising class of service-oriented broker platforms. Designers and providers of such network platforms during the design and development of their systems focus primarily on technical specifications and issues. However, given the importance and richness of user information collected, they should already at the design phase take into account legal and ethical requirements. Failure to do so, may result in privacy violations, which may, in turn, affect the success of the network due to increasing awareness with respect to users’ privacy and security concerns, and may incur future costs. In this paper, we show how the di.me system balanced technical and legal requirements through both its design and implementation, while building a decentralized social networking platform. We report on our advances and experiences through a prototypical technology realizing such a platform, analyze the legal implications within the EU legal framework, and provide recommendations and conclusions for user-friendly service-oriented broker platforms.

Family as a whole: elective surgery patients’ perception of the meaning of family involvement in decision making

This study aimed to explore patient perception of the meaning of family involvement in elective surgery decision making in Taiwan. Informed consent is based on respecting patient autonomy. However in cultures where family plays a key role in medical decision making, a patient's perspective of family involvement has not been fully investigated. Based on a phenomenological approach, this study conducted semistructured interviews to elicit the experiences of 10 elective surgery patients in southern Taiwan who had family present during their surgery decision making. An adapted version of Colaizzi's (1978) method was used to analyse narratives. Three themes emerged from the elective surgery patients' perception of the meaning of family involvement in their surgery decision-making process: (1) Primacy of family well-being, (2) family as information broker, and (3) family as patient advocate. Patients articulated reciprocal relationships amongst family members, and they expressed overall family well-being as their ultimate concern when making their treatment decision. The essence of the elective surgery patients' perception of the meaning of family involvement in decision making was 'family as a whole'. Patients' concern for overall family well-being and their perspective that family plays a supportive role in transmitting information and acting as patient advocate during the decision-making process may both enhance and restrict individual patient autonomy. In cultures where family is central in decision making, appropriately involving the family in medical decisions should not be overlooked. Understanding and acknowledging the important roles of family in medical decision making from the patients' perspective can enable health professionals to more effectively communicate with patients and their family. Then, health professionals can empower the individual who is making the medical decision based on his or her own needs.

Building a Knowledge-Driven Society: Scholar Participation and Governance in Large Public Works Projects

Previous studies have found no relationship between scholar participation and public project performance. Building on the work of Lindblom (1977; 1990), I propose a model depicting scholars' roles in social organizations and governance. A study of thirty-two cases of large public works projects in China and seventeen projects in thirteen other countries shows a moderately positive relationship. The study further shows the greatest influence on project success occurs when participating scholars serve as information brokers and entrepreneurial activity organizers. Successful scholar participation occurred through five working principles: (1) there is dispersed and specialized knowledge production; (2) there is dispersed and asymmetric knowledge possession; (3) knowledge-driven volitions and consensus are criteria for knowledge; (4) the satisfaction of diverse and heterogeneous individual needs is realized through knowledge-driven institutional arrangements; and (5) there are multiple methods of knowledge application. In general, scholar participation seems to be more effective in projects in which there is low political intervention, and in village and county projects. The results of the study provide a theoretical and empirical foundation for further research on scholar participation in social organizations.

Mapping Tobacco Quitlines in North America: Signaling Pathways to Improve Treatment

This study was designed to better understand how the network of quitlines in the North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC) interact and share new knowledge on quitline practices. Network relationship data were collected from all 63 publicly funded quitlines in North America, including information sharing, partner trust, and reputation. There was a strong tendency for US and Canadian quitlines to seek information from other quitlines in the same country, with few seeking information from quitlines from the other country. Quitlines with the highest reputation tended to more centrally located in the network, but the NAQC coordinating organization is highly central to the quitline network-thus demonstrating their role as a broker of quitline information. This first "snapshot" of US and Canadian quitlines demonstrated that smoking cessation quitlines in North America are not isolated, but are part of an interconnected network, with some organizations more central than others. As quitline use expands with the inclusion of national toll-free numbers on cigarette packs, how quitlines share information to improve practice will become increasingly important.

DIBS: Efficient distributed information brokerage in large-scale sensor networks

This paper is focused on the problem of designing a distributed information brokerage infrastructure for sensor networks. We propose a solution, called DIBS, which is suitable for networks of any size with or without geographic location information, supports a wide range of applications, and allows any number of these applications to be deployed at any time without the need to reprogram the network. The design of DIBS consists of two key components: the design for a content-based routing substrate for sensor networks, and the design for a suite of subscription, publication, and notification protocols running on top of this substrate. Our theoretical findings are complemented by a simulation-based evaluation.

GPS-Free, Boundary-Recognition-Free, and Reliable Double-Ruling-Based Information Brokerage Scheme in Wireless Sensor Networks

We study the information brokerage schemes in wireless sensor networks, which allow consumers to obtain data from producers by replicating and retrieving data in a certain set of sensors, and propose a novel information brokerage scheme, termed RDRIB. Unlike existing information brokerage schemes, RDRIB guarantees successful data retrieval without using any boundary detection algorithm and the geographic location information acquired by the global positioning system (GPS). In RDRIB, the double-ruling technique is used to replicate and retrieve the data within a constructed virtual boundary, and simulations show that RDRIB has good performance in terms of the replication memory overhead, the replication message overhead, the retrieval message overhead, the retrieval latency, and the construction message overhead.

Assessing Needs for Mental Health and Other Services Among Transition-Age Youths, Parents, and Providers

This qualitative study assessed the needs for mental health and other services among transition-age youths who were receiving services in youth-specific programs. Thirteen focus groups were conducted between June 2008 and January 2009. The purposefully sampled participants included transition-age youths age 18 to 24 who were receiving services in youth-specific programs (N=75, eight groups), parents of transition-age youths (N=14, two groups), and providers in the youth-specific programs (N=14, three groups). The qualitative analysis used an inductive approach in which investigators focused on generating themes and identifying relationships between themes. Through a process of repeated comparisons, the categories were further condensed into broad themes illustrating service needs. Youths expressed needs for improved scheduling of services, stronger patient-provider relationships, and group therapies that address past experiences of violence, loss, and sexual abuse and that provide skills for developing and nurturing healthy relationships. Parents and providers expressed needs for increased community-based and peer-led services. Youths, parents, and providers all expressed needs for more housing options and for mentors with similar life experiences who could serve as role models, information brokers, and sources of social support for youths who were pursuing education and employment goals. Findings from the focus groups suggest that there is room for improvement in the provision of services that are relevant to the current needs and life experiences of transition-age youths. Even within age-specific programs, improvements in services are needed to foster transitions to independence.

Co-Investment Networks of Business Angels and the Performance of Their Start-Up Investments

The venture capital literature has established the positive impact of coinvestment networks on the performance of start-up investments. In early stages, however, often angel financing is the primary source of external equity. Using a novel in-depth data set of U.S. high technology start-ups we investigate the effects of business angel networks. Start-ups of better connected angel investors are more likely to receive subsequent funding by venture capitalists and business angels more often exit successfully. Thereby, angel investors seem to rely on their direct contacts, whereas their network position and possibility to act as information brokers plays a far lesser role.

Grassroots Environmental Activism and the Internet: Constructing a Green Public Sphere in China

The past three decades have seen the resurgence of China's civil society through the blossoming of NGOs that campaign for various marginalised interests, including environmental protection. Many studies have examined the co-evolution of the Internet and China's civil society. This paper examines the role of the Internet in strengthening grassroots environmental activism, taking into consideration the corporatised character of Chinese NGOs. Through a detailed ethnographic case study of a leading grassroots environmental group, the Global Village of Beijing (GVB), I argue that Internet technologies effectively empower resource-poor activists in their self-representation, information brokering, network building, public mobilisation and construction of discourse communities. The Net therefore contributes to the nascent formation of a green public sphere in China by fostering a discourse that counterbalances rapid economic development. Also discussed here are issues that hamper this process, including resource limitations, the fragmentation of online discourse communities, and the marginalisation and “caging” of environmental discourse.

Biodiversity information platforms: From standards to interoperability

One of the most serious bottlenecks in the scientific workflows of biodiversity sciences is the need to integrate data from different sources, software applications, and services for analysis, visualisation and publication. For more than a quarter of a century the TDWG Biodiversity Information Standards organisation has a central role in defining and promoting data standards and protocols supporting interoperability between disparate and locally distributed systems.Although often not sufficiently recognized, TDWG standards are the foundation of many popular Biodiversity Informatics applications and infrastructures ranging from small desktop software solutions to large scale international data networks. However, individual scientists and groups of collaborating scientist have difficulties in fully exploiting the potential of standards that are often notoriously complex, lack non-technical documentations, and use different representations and underlying technologies. In the last few years, a series of initiatives such as Scratchpads, the EDIT Platform for Cybertaxonomy, and biowikifarm have started to implement and set up virtual work platforms for biodiversity sciences which shield their users from the complexity of the underlying standards. Apart from being practical work-horses for numerous working processes related to biodiversity sciences, they can be seen as information brokers mediating information between multiple data standards and protocols.The ViBRANT project will further strengthen the flexibility and power of virtual biodiversity working platforms by building software interfaces between them, thus facilitating essential information flows needed for comprehensive data exchange, data indexing, web-publication, and versioning. This work will make an important contribution to the shaping of an international, interoperable, and user-oriented biodiversity information infrastructure.

Evaluation of the online-presence (homepage) of burn units/burn centers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

PurposeA successful online presence is an important key factor in the competition among hospitals today. However, little is known about the internet presence and the quality of websites of burn units on the World Wide Web. The aim was to assess the online presence of hospitals provided by specialized burn units in German speaking countries with a focus on the rate and the performance of actively run websites. MethodsA multicenter, observational, cross-sectional study was performed over a period of 1.5 month (October–December 2010). Forty-four burn units were assessed by using a previously generated criteria list. The list included 36 criteria with following topics: “research and teaching”; “patient care”; “clinical emphases”, “general information”; “information brokerage”. ResultsOverall, the websites examined offered a good overview about their different online services with many multimedia-based elements included. All websites consisted of hyperlinks, general multimedia-based elements and information on means of communication with the hospital, respectively. In contrast, the quality of specific information for burn patients was relatively poor. With regard to the need of elderly people, the usability and the layout, the different websites offer a lot of options for future improvements. ConclusionBurn centers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland already consider the World Wide Web as an important tool for self-promotion and communication. The potential of burn center websites to function as a knowledge base for first aid as well as preventive measurements should be considered and realized in future web site designs.

Transforming Public-Private Networks An XBRL-Based Infrastructure for Transforming Business-to-Government Information Exchange

Companies are required by law to report all kinds of information to various public agencies. Since most public agencies are autonomous and define their information demands independent of each other, companies have to report information to various agencies in different ways. Accordingly, governments are initiating programs that aim to transform business-to government information exchange to reduce the administrative burden for companies and improve the accountability at the same time. Yet little research is available on the type of transformations needed and the role of the infrastructure. Drawing on a case study, this paper investigates the interplay between technical infrastructure and transformation. In this case study an information brokerage infrastructure based on the Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) was developed providing a one stop shop for companies and public agencies. The case study shows that the infrastructure should be flexible enough to accommodate changes over time but stable enough to attract a large user-base. The increase in efficiency and effectiveness of information exchange processes requires extensive transformation from both public and private parties.

Information Cost, Broker Compensation, And Collusion In Insurance Markets

We examine the impact of intermediation on insurance market transparency and performance. in a differentiated insurance market under imperfect information, consumers can gain information about product suitability by consulting an intermediary. We analyze current broker compensation methods: commissions and fees. although insurers’ equilibrium profits are equivalent under both systems, social welfare is always higher under a fee-for-advice system than under a commission system. Both systems offer the opportunity to increase profits via collusion. under a commission system, collusion enables insurers to separate consumers into groups purchasing different contracts. insurers may then extract additional rents from some consumers. this advantage can explain why brokers tend to be compensated by insurers.