The two volume Informing Science series is the first attempt to survey and synthesize research in the informing science transdiscipline. Part textbook, part collection of readings, the two volumes present both important research findings relating to the field and highlight fertile directions for future research. Volume Two: Design and Research Issues applies the building blocks of informing science described in Volume One: Concepts and Systems to design and research questions. It begins by looking at alternative approaches to informing system design. These include structured methodologies, agile approaches, effectuation, and emergent models. A series of chapters follows that present research findings related to a series of topics that have played an important role in the development of informing science as a research area. These include the relationship between rigor and research methods, threats to informing (such as misinformation and disinformation), the nature of informing impact, information cascades, the relationship of culture to informing, and the research-practice gap. The book concludes with a chapter that considers possible extensions to the current informing science research agenda and an afterword that presents the author’s reflections on the development of series and its long term future.

The aim of this book is to synthesize the role of information throughout the history of civilization’s development. This will be defined through the convergence of (a) the cumulative evolution and revolution of the intellect (cognition as data, information, concepts, knowledge, and wisdom), (b) labor, and (c) politics which seek to control the environment, society, and the world, applying culture and infrastructure as tools. Whereas researchers reveal the myriad of dimensions of the social order and its historiography, this book provides a synthesis of the relations, which is limited to information (and its informing systems) and civilization within the context of historiosophie (history with judgment). The method presented in this book—the architectural approach to the dynamics of civilizational development—is a new layer over the quantitative history based on statistical data. In an architectural synthesis of civilization, we seek a “big picture” of “civilization waves” in order to develop some criteria-oriented views of the world and its future predictability. To understand the crises and conflicts of civilization which are driven by technology in recent centuries, such a synthesis as well as optimism for human proactive adaptation, survival, and, development must be undertaken. This approach to civilizational development should allow humans to eventually “reinvent the future” in a continuous manner. We, in due course, should be able to predict the “rate of change” and provide “civilization bridging solutions” based on original thinking. It is important to remind ourselves that information is as old as our world (about 15 billion years) because plants and trees and, in general, non-human nature produces all sorts of information, for example, the changing colors of plants and trees, which is associated with the different seasons. When the first living organisms appeared on our planet, they had ability to inform as well by changing forms, colors, signals and, so one. The first signs of life on our planet came into being about 3.85 billion years ago. Therefore, organism-based life on the Earth actually came to be over a period of just 130 million years. Hominids diverged from apes some 10-6 million years ago (instinct-driven info-communication, i.e., behavior less controlled by cognition), and the first humans (bipeds with large brains who could use tools and sound-driven info-communication) took form around 6-2.5 million years ago in Southeast Africa. Homo symbolicus, who could skillfully use language, appeared about 60,000 years ago. The origin of civilization some 6,000 years ago marks the beginning of the first advanced info-communication systems applied by humans, who could even record information.

Digital technology is ever-changing, which means that those working or planning to work in IT or apply IT systems must strategize how and what applications and technologies are ideal for sustainable civilization and human development. Developmental trends of IT and the digitalization of enterprise, agriculture, healthcare, education, and more must be explored within the boundaries of ethics and law in order to ensure that IT does not have a harmful effect on society. The Strategies of Informing Technology in the 21st Century is a critical authored reference book that develops the strategic attitude in developing and operating IT applications based on the requirements of sustainable civilization and ethical and wise applications of technology in society. Technological progress is examined including trends in automation, artificial intelligence, and information systems. The book also specifically covers applications of digital informing strategies in business, healthcare, agriculture, education, and the home. Covering key concepts such as automation, robotization, and digital infrastructure, it is ideal for IT executives, CIS/MIS/CS faculty, cyber ethics professionals, technologists, systems engineers, IT specialists and consultants, security analysts, students, researchers, and academicians.

The two volume Informing Science series is the first attempt to survey and synthesize research in the informing science transdiscipline. Part textbook, part collection of readings, the two volumes present both important research findings relating to the field and highlight fertile directions for future research. Volume One: Concepts and Systems focuses on the key building blocks of informing science. It begins with an overview of the transdiscipline, tracing its evolution from Cohen’s original proposal to its present state. Next, it considers a series of concepts that frequently elude attempts at rigorous definition. Among these: theory, research, information, knowledge and complexity. With working definitions established, it goes on to explore basic systems theory, introducing the concept of an informing system. The key elements of such systems—the channel, the sender/informer, and the receiver/client—are then examined individually. The volume concludes with two overview chapters. The first of these looks at the analysis of a basic informing system, in which a single informer interacts directly with a clearly specified client or set of clients. The last chapter extends these ideas to the more complex topologies (e.g., multiple channels, multiple informers, multiple clients, layers of informing) that are more typical in real world informing contexts.

This unifying volume offers a clear theoretical framework for the research shaping the emerging direction of informatics in health care. Contributors ground the reader in the basics of informatics methodology and design, including creating salient research questions, and explore the human dimensions of informatics in studies detailing how patients perceive, respond to, and use health data. Real-world examples bridge the theoretical and the practical as knowledge management-based solutions are applied to pervasive issues in information technologies and service delivery. Together, these articles illustrate the scope of health possibilities for informatics, from patient care management to hospital administration, from improving patient satisfaction to expanding the parameters of practice. Highlights of the coverage: · Design science research opportunities in health care · IS/IT governance in health care: an integrative model · Persuasive technologies and behavior modification through technology: design of a mobile application for behavior change · The development of a hospital secure messaging and communication platform: a conceptualization · The development of intelligent patient-centric systems for health care · An investigation on integrating Eastern and Western medicine with informatics Interest in Theories to Inform Superior Health Informatics Research and Practice cuts across academia and the healthcare industry. Its audience includes healthcare professionals, physicians and other clinicians, practicing informaticians, hospital administrators, IT departments, managers, and management consultants, as well as scholars, researchers, and students in health informatics and public health.

This book walks you step-by-step through the entire research process, covering everything you need to successfully conduct a sports research project in the real world.