Considering Complex Objectives and Scarce Resources in Information Systems' Analysis.

Fuente: ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
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Main Author: Crowther, Warren
Format: Recurso educativo Open Access
Language:en
Published: 1985
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author Crowther, Warren
author_facet Crowther, Warren
Crowther, Warren
collection Education Resources Information Center
contents Considering Complex Objectives and Scarce Resources in Information Systems' Analysis. Crowther, Warren Access to Information Action Research Cost Effectiveness Developing Nations Information Needs Information Retrieval Information Services Information Systems Information Theory Political Attitudes Productivity Resources Systems Analysis User Needs (Information) User Satisfaction (Information) The low efficacy of many of the library and large-scale information systems that have been implemented in the developing countries has been disappointing, and their appropriateness is often questioned in the governmental and educational institutions of more industrialized countries beset by budget-crunching and a very dynamic transformation of information requirements. This article examines the conceptual and practical deficiencies of current misapplications of the systems approach, which result in inappropriate or disappointing systems. It suggests that more importance should be given to the analysis of opportunity costs and contingencies when scarce resources are at stake, and to the consideration of the complex objectives of the institutions that are to benefit from these systems; the choice of information technologies and the economic evaluation of the options must respond to these conditions. It is also suggested that action research principles can help overcome many of the conceptual and practical problems in systems analyses. (Author/KM)
format Recurso educativo Open Access
id eric_ED273302
institution ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
language en
publishDate 1985
record_format eric
spellingShingle Considering Complex Objectives and Scarce Resources in Information Systems' Analysis.
Crowther, Warren
Access to Information
Action Research
Cost Effectiveness
Developing Nations
Information Needs
Information Retrieval
Information Services
Information Systems
Information Theory
Political Attitudes
Productivity
Resources
Systems Analysis
User Needs (Information)
User Satisfaction (Information)
Considering Complex Objectives and Scarce Resources in Information Systems' Analysis. Crowther, Warren Access to Information Action Research Cost Effectiveness Developing Nations Information Needs Information Retrieval Information Services Information Systems Information Theory Political Attitudes Productivity Resources Systems Analysis User Needs (Information) User Satisfaction (Information) The low efficacy of many of the library and large-scale information systems that have been implemented in the developing countries has been disappointing, and their appropriateness is often questioned in the governmental and educational institutions of more industrialized countries beset by budget-crunching and a very dynamic transformation of information requirements. This article examines the conceptual and practical deficiencies of current misapplications of the systems approach, which result in inappropriate or disappointing systems. It suggests that more importance should be given to the analysis of opportunity costs and contingencies when scarce resources are at stake, and to the consideration of the complex objectives of the institutions that are to benefit from these systems; the choice of information technologies and the economic evaluation of the options must respond to these conditions. It is also suggested that action research principles can help overcome many of the conceptual and practical problems in systems analyses. (Author/KM)
title Considering Complex Objectives and Scarce Resources in Information Systems' Analysis.
topic Access to Information
Action Research
Cost Effectiveness
Developing Nations
Information Needs
Information Retrieval
Information Services
Information Systems
Information Theory
Political Attitudes
Productivity
Resources
Systems Analysis
User Needs (Information)
User Satisfaction (Information)
url https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED273302