Non-quantitative information such as documents and pictures pose interesting new problems in the database world. Traditional data models and query languages do not provide appropriate support for this information. Such data are typically stored in file systems, which do not provide the security, integrity, or query features of database management systems. The hypertext model has emerged as a good interface to this information; however finding information using hypertext browsing does not scale well. We develop a query interface that serves as an extension of the browsing model of hypertext systems. These queries minimize the repeated user interactions required to locate data in a standard hypertext system. HyperFile is a prototype data server interface. In this article, we describe HyperFile, including a number of issues such as query generation, query processing, and indexing.

Building models and learning patterns from a collection of data are essential tasks for decision making and dissemination of knowledge. One of the common tools to extract knowledge is to build a classifier. However, when the training dataset is sparse, it is difficult to build an accurate classifier. This is especially true in biological science, as biological data are hard to produce and error-prone. Through empirical results, this paper shows challenges in building an accurate classifier with a sparse biological training dataset. Our findings indicate the inadequacies in well known classification techniques. Although certain clustering techniques, such as seeded k-Means, show some promise, there are still spaces for further improvement. In addition, we propose a novel idea that could be used to produce more balanced classifier when training data samples are very limited.

Combinatorial group testing, given a set C of individuals (“customers”), consists of applying group tests on subsets of C for the purpose of identifying which members of C are infected (or, more generally, defective in some way). The outcome of a group test reveals only the presence or absence of infection(s) in that group, but a number of group tests exactly identifies all infected members.

This article examines the relationship of employee perceptions of information privacy in their work organizations and important psychological and behavioral outcomes. A model is presented in which information privacy predicts psychological empowerment, which in turn predicts discretionary behaviors on the job, including creative performance and organizational citizenship behavior. Results from two studies (Study 1 single organization, N = 310; Study 2 multiple organizations, N = 303) confirm that information privacy entails judgments of information gathering control, information handling control, and legitimacy. Moreover, a model linking information privacy to empowerment, and empowerment to creative performance and OCBs was supported. Findings are discussed in light of organizational attempts to control employees through the gathering and handling of their personal information.

Electronic monitoring research has focused predominantly on the reactions of monitored employees and less attention has been paid to the processes that trigger managers’ decisions to electronically monitor subordinates. Employing a distributed virtual team simulation, this study examined the effects of dependence, future performance expectations, and propensity to trust on team leaders’ decisions to electronically monitor their subordinates. Results indicate that team leaders electronically monitor subordinates more intensely when dependence on subordinates is high or future performance expectations are low. Moreover, team leaders are more likely to monitor in secret when dependence is high or propensity to trust is low. Although team leaders increased their level of electronic monitoring over time, this tendency was stronger when the leader had consistently low performance expectations. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.

The purpose of this investigation was to examine whether temporal scope—the extent to which teams have a past or expect to have a future together—affects face-to-face and computer-mediated teams’ ability to communicate effectively and make high quality decisions. Results indicated that media differences existed for teams lacking a history, with face-to-face teams exhibiting higher openness/trust and information sharing than computer-mediated teams. However, computer-mediated teams with a history were able to eliminate these differences. These findings did not extend to team-member exchange (TMX). Although face-to-face teams exhibited higher TMX compared to computer-mediated teams, the interaction of temporal scope and communication media was not significant. In addition, openness/trust and TMX were positively associated with decision-making effectiveness when task interdependence was high, but were unrelated to decision-making effectiveness when task interdependence was low.

Organizations are placing increased emphasis on identifying individuals with customer service orientation. In the present investigation we test whether interpersonal skills, as measured through Holland and Baird’‘s (1968) Interpersonal Competence Scale, provides a narrow, yet valid, measure of customer service orientation. Data were collected from a sample of bus transit operators. Interpersonal skills was positively related to operator self-reported performance, but was not related to supervisor ratings or objective measures of performance. Implications for the study and use of broad versus narrowly defined personality constructs in organizational settings are discussed.

Electronic monitoring of employees is both controversial and on the rise.  Unfortunately,research examining electronic monitoring has focused predominantly on the reactions of monitored employees.  Little is known about the processes that trigger managers’ decisions to electronically monitor subordinates.  Employing a distributed virtual team simulation, this study examined the effects of dependence and trust on managerial decisions to electronically monitor their subordinates. Results indicate that managers who are in higher dependence relationships with subordinates or have lower cognition-based trust in subordinates are more likely to engage in richer electronic monitoring of those subordinates. Moreover, although managers tend to increase the level of electronic monitoring over time, this tendency is stronger when cognition-  based trust is low versus high.  The implications of these results on electronic monitoring, trust,  and cybernetic models of control in organizations are discussed.

Privacy preserving data mining – getting valid data mining results without learning the underlying data values –has been receiving attention in the research community and beyond. It is unclear what privacy preserving means. This paper provides a framework and metrics for discussing the meaning of privacy preserving data mining, as a foundation for further research in this field.

Secure multi-party computation (SMC) balances the use and confidentiality of distributed data. This is especially important for privacy-preserving data mining (PPDM). Most secure multi-party computation protocols are only proven secure under the semi-honest model, providing insufficient security for many PPDM applications. SMC protocols under the malicious adversary model generally have impractically high complexities for PPDM. We propose an accountable computing (AC) framework that enables liability for privacy compromise to be assigned to the responsible party without the complexity and cost of an SMC-protocol under the malicious model. We show how to transform a circuitbased semi-honest two-party protocol into a simple and efficient protocol satisfying the AC-framework.

The problem of sharing manufacturing, inventory or capacity to improve performance is applicable in many decentralized operational contexts. However, solution of such problems commonly requires an intermediary or a broker to manage information security concerns of individual participants. Our goal is to examine use of cryptographic techniques to attain the same result without the use of a broker. To illustrate this approach, we focus on a problem faced by independent trucking companies that have separate pickup and delivery tasks and wish to identify potential efficiency enhancing task swaps while limiting the information the companies must reveal to identify these swaps. We present an algorithm that finds opportunities to swap loads without revealing any information except the loads swapped, along with proofs of the security of the protocol. We also show that it is incentive compatible for each company to both follow the protocol correctly as well as provide their true data. We apply this algorithm to an empirical dataset from a large transportation company and present results that suggest significant opportunities to improve efficiency through Pareto improving swaps. This paper uses cryptographic arguments in an operations management problem context to show how an algorithm can be proven incentive compatible as well as demonstrate the potential value of its use on an empirical dataset

Virtual coordinate system (VCS) based routing provides a practical, efficient and scalable means for point-to-point routing in wireless sensor networks.  Several VCS-based routing protocols have been proposed in the last few years, all assuming that nodes behave correctly.  However, many applications require deploying sensor networks in adversarial environments, making VCS-based routing protocols vulnerable to numerous attacks.
    In this paper, we study the security of VCS-based routing protocols. We first identify novel attacks targeting the underlying virtual coordinate system. The attacks can be mounted with little resource, yet are epidemic in nature and highly destructive to system performance. We then propose lightweight defense mechanisms against each of the identified attacks. Finally, we evaluate experimentally the impact of the attacks and the effectiveness of our defense mechanisms using a well-known VCS-based routing protocol, BVR.

This report outlines the history of the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) and details the OWL Usability Project through the summer of 2006. The paper also discusses test methodologies,  describes test methods, provides participant demographics, and presents findings and recommendations of the tests. The purpose of this report is to provide researchers,  administrators, and pedagogues interested in usability and Writing Labs access to information on the Purdue OWL Usability Project. We hope our findings—and this open source approach to our research—will contribute positively to the corpus on usability and Writing Lab studies.
  On August 26, 2005, the Writing Lab launched its redesigned OWL. Although the redesign improved on the original site (launched in 1994), tests show the new OWL could be refined to improve usability.
  A pilot usability test conducted in early February 2006 showed participants did not understand all the OWL resources and were sometimes confused while using the OWL. Based on the results of the pilot test, we conducted two generations (G1 and G2) of formal usability tests between late February and early July 2006. The results of the tests indicate the following: 
  • Participants who had previously used OWL preferred the redesigned OWL to the original OWL
  However:  • Participants wanted design features the redesigned OWL does not currently offer • Participants took time and number of mouse clicks to complete some tasks than expected • Participants could not complete some tasks • Some participants’ responses to the redesigned OWL were neutral, which does not represent the positive impression the Writing Lab desires for its new OWL.
  In addition to the results above, we also encountered two unexpected, but very important,  findings: first, usability testing can work as a dynamic, user-centered method of invention;  second, previous and new user impressions of the OWL are different. Participants who visited the old OWL and the new OWL reacted more positively than those participants who had not visited the old OWL. We interpret this data as a sign of success for the new OWL. Based on test data, we recommend: 
  1. Design links/pages around the types of visitors using the OWL (user-based taxonomy)  2. Move the navigation bar from the right side to the left side of the OWL 3. Add a search function 4. Incorporate graphical logos in the OWL Family of Sites homepage 5. Continue testing to measure usability and to generate new ideas for design and content.
  Online Writing Lab programmers have integrated some of these changes, and overall, we believe the redesign is a success. Test participants call the new site “impressive” and “a great site.”  Participant attitudes are probably best described by this unsolicited comment: “It still needs work, but it’s better than the old site!” Theory-based, data-driven updates on the redesign continue, and usability testing will work to help the Writing Lab and its OWL users. We believe that the information presented in this report, as well as other open-source venues connected with this project, can positively impact usability and Writing Lab studies and can serve as a guide to inform multidisciplinary research and cooperation.