Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Book social networks'

The master thesis addresses the topic of human ability to keep a promise, resolution and deals with this issue in the context of social networks and internet in the form of online platform called Promise-Book. In particular, the thesis contains data and research materials which could be used as references for the product's marketing strategy. The materials include: market analysis based on a questionnaire research as well as a research based on secondary data acquired from public statistics and studies provided by different internet websites, which are summarized in a SWOT analysis. The thesis also shows different options on internet advertisement and marketing strategies and determines the most suitable one for Promise-Book platform. The marketing strategy is performed in a standard way: Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning, Marketing Mix, Budget and Action Plan, Monitoring and evaluation.

L’apparition des réseaux socionumériques de lecteurs au tournant des années 2000, liée au développement du web social et aux innovations technologiques qui traversent l’industrie du livre, renouvelle les moyens par lesquels les lecteurs accèdentaux informations sur les oeuvres littéraires et en diffusent autour d’eux. Goodreads, aNobii, Shelfari, LibraryThing, Babelio, BdGest, Booknode, Critiques Libres, Entrée Livre, Lecteurs, Libfly, Livraddict, Lecture Academy, MyBoox et beaucoup d’autres plateformes dédiées à la critique de livres sont devenues des lieux incontournables de prescription littéraire. Cette thèse analyse la contribution des réseaux socionumériques de lecteurs à la prescription littéraire, à travers une approche inter‐dimensionnelle destinée à saisir les conditions de l’offre et de la demande de prescription sur Internet. D’un point de vue empirique, l’observation des sites, la réalisation d’entretiens, la diffusion d’un questionnaire et le recueil de traces d’usage, constituent autant de techniques qui nous permettent de recueillir les données nécessaires à la réalisation de l’étude. À l’arrivée, nous mettons au jour les logiques de sociabilité et les modes d’utilisation privilégiés par ces services numériques. Les stratégies, les modes de fonctionnement, les trajectoires de développement et les modèles de valorisation économique qui caractérisent les acteurs engagés sur ce secteur d’activité sont également analysés. En outre, nous portons un éclairage sur les profils et les usages des internautes qui fréquentent les réseaux socionumériques de lecteurs. Enfin, nous interrogeons leurs effets sur la visibilité en ligne des oeuvres littéraires<br>The emergence of book social networks during the 2000s, linked to the development of social media and technological innovations in the publishing industry, renews the means by which readers access information about books and share it withothers. Goodreads, aNobii, Shelfari, LibraryThing, Babelio, BdGest, Booknode, Critiques Libres, Entrée Livre, Lecteurs, Libfly, Livraddict, Lecture Academy, MyBoox and many other platforms dedicated to book reviews have become key places of literaryprescription. This thesis analyzes the contribution of book social networks to the literary prescription, through an inter‐dimensional approach that allows us to understand the conditions of supply and demand of prescription on Internet. From an empirical point of view, we observed the websites, conducted interviews, distributed a questionnaire and collected traces of use to gather the data needed to conduct the study. Firstly, we identify the logics of sociability and the usage patterns of these digitalservices. Strategies, modes of operation, trajectories of development and business models that characterize the actors involved in this sector are also analyzed. In addition, we study the profiles and uses of people who visit book social networks. Finally, wequestion the effects of these networks on the online visibility of literary works

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T18:14:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alessandra de Castro Barros Marassi.pdf: 3184012 bytes, checksum: 1310cb10fa2e947270ee49a5e541698a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-06-03<br>Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior<br>This research examines the communication processes that occur around the book consumption in cyberspace. The aim of this work is to analyze how the communication dynamics of on-line social networks and e-commerce influence the reader in the book consumption. To build the research, three case studies were analyzed: Amazon within the e-commerce, Goodreads as a specific digital social network for readers and the Google Books project. In the field of e-commerce data are collected from the information generated by the software and also information suggesting the decision making in the act of buying the book. When you search for a book on Amazon, the first reference on-line store selling books in the 90s, there was an interference generated by the device of the collective filter that provides data suggesting buying. In the field of digital social networks is observed that they play an active role in organizing the representation of individuals based on profiles. In the case of Goodreads, readers / users use the platform for the consumption, production and sharing of content from a list creation and development reviews. Google Books now lets you read books or parts of them, as well as offering spaces for inclusion of reviews and submit links to other platforms like Goodreads and Amazon, among others. The use of these spaces by readers encourages conversation and exchange of ideas, contributing to the creation of dialogic communication systems. The methodology involves multidisciplinary literature review and exploratory character; qualitative research (Alami) from gathering information about the reading habits of readers; visualization and data analysis. The theoretical authors involves the following areas: on the history of the book, Umberto Eco, Robert Darnton, Robert Escarpit and Roger Chatier; on consumption, Zigmunt Bauman, Jean Baudrillard, Ligia Barbosa, Rose de Melo Rocha and Nestor Garcia Canclini; on the concepts of cyberspace, Lucia Leão and for studies of social networks, Raquel Recuero, Rogério da Costa and Lucia Leão; on the history of media Friedrich Kittler<br>Essa pesquisa examina os processos comunicacionais que ocorrem em torno do consumo do livro no ciberespaço. O objetivo desse trabalho é analisar como as dinâmicas comunicacionais das redes sociais digitais e do comércio eletrônico influenciam o leitor no consumo do livro. Para construir a pesquisa, foram analisados três estudos de caso: a Amazon no âmbito do comércio eletrônico, a rede social digital específica para leitores Goodreads e o projeto Google Books. No campo do comércio eletrônico os dados são colhidos a partir das informações geradas pelos softwares e também de informações que indicam a tomada de decisão no ato de compra do livro. Ao buscar por um livro na loja on-line da Amazon, primeira referência na venda de livros na década de 90, observou-se uma interferência gerada pelo dispositivo do filtro coletivo que fornece dados de sugestão de compra. No campo das redes sociais digitais observa-se que estas desempenham um papel ativo na organização da representação de indivíduos a partir de perfis. No caso do Goodreads, os leitores/usuários utilizam a plataforma para o consumo, compartilhamento e produção de conteúdo a partir a criação de listas e desenvolvimento de resenhas. Já o Google Books permite a leitura de livros ou partes, além de oferecer espaços para inclusão de resenhas e apresentar links para outras plataformas como o Goodreads e a Amazon, entre outras. O uso desses espaços pelos leitores favorece a conversação e troca de ideias, contribuindo para a criação de sistemas comunicacionais dialógicos. A metodologia envolve pesquisa bibliográfica multidisciplinar, de característica exploratória; pesquisa qualitativa (Alami) a partir de levantamento de informações sobre o hábito de leitura dos leitores; visualização e análise de dados. A fundamentação teórica envolve autores das seguintes áreas: sobre a história do livro, Umberto Eco, Robert Darnton, Robert Escarpit e Roger Chatier; sobre consumo, Zigmunt Bauman, Jean Baudrillard, Ligia Barbosa, Rose de Melo Rocha e Nestor Garcia Canclini; sobre os conceitos de ciberespaço, Lucia Leão e para os estudos de redes sociais, Raquel Recuero, Rogério da Costa e Lucia Leão; sobre a história das mídias Friedrich Kittler

Dans ce travail de recherche, nous avons interrogé les pratiques des consommateurs d’un produit culturel et technologique - le livre numérique - dans les forums publics de discussion, avec pour objectif final d’identifier des usages de consommation innovants. Notre approche transdisciplinaire, s’est appuyée sur le cadre théorique de l’interactionnisme, en empruntant les concepts clés, de l’analyse des interactions quotidiennes (Erving Goffman) et de l’analyse des interactions verbales (Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni), en s’inscrivant dans les recherches sur le Document pour l’Action et des transactions coopératives dans une perspective d’innovation produit-marché (Manuel Zacklad). Dans une démarche d’observation non participante et éthique, nous avons procédé à l’analyse qualitative de plusieurs fils de conversation sur le livre numérique, issus du forum BOOKNODE.COM. Nos interprétations suggèrent que le forum de consommateurs est un espace collaboratif auto-géré/auto-régulé, dont l’activité dominante porte sur un échange de connaissances pratiques, reposant sur une expression argumentée d’un point de vue individuel ou un retour d’expérience commenté et détaillé. Nous soutenons que le forum de consommateurs restitue spontanément des usages de consommation difficilement décelables pour l’enquêteur. Toutefois, l’absence d’un modèle d’analyse satisfaisant pour déceler ces usages nous a donné l’occasion de construire une nouvelle grille de lecture, de suggérer une démarche interprétative. L’application de notre modèle - à améliorer - dans un dispositif de co-innovation, aboutit à la construction d’une offre de nouveaux contenus et de nouvelles situations d’usages possibles<br>In this researching work, we questioned the consumer’s practices of a technological and cultural product - the digital book - in public forums of discussion, with the final objective of identifying innovative consumer habits. Our interdisciplinary approach is based on the theoretical framework of the interactionism, by borrowing the key concepts of the daily interactions analysis (Erving Goffman) and of the verbal interactions (Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni), by joining the researches on the Documents for Action (DofA) and the Cooperative Transactions in a prospect of innovation product-market (Manuel Zacklad). In an approach of non-participating and ethical observation, we proceeded to the qualitative analysis of several threads of conversations on the digital book, observed in the forum BOOKNODE.COM. Our interpretations suggest that the consumer forum in a self-managed and self-regulated collaborative space, which the dominant activity concerns an exchange of practical knowledge, based on an expression defended from an individual standpoint or a commented and detailed experience feedback. We maintain that the consumer forum returns spontaneously not readily identifiable consumer habits. However, the absence of an analysis model satisfying to detect these uses, gave us the opportunity to build a new reading grid, then to submit a new interpretative approach. The application of our model - to deal in depth - in a co-innovative plan, results in the construction of an offer of new contents or new situations of possible consumer habits

The sociotechnical system of print-on-paper for the dissemination of textual information prevails despite widespread concerns about its sustainability. On the basis of sociotechnical transitions theory the print-on-paper system is perceived as a regime. Information technology is identified as one of the generic technologies that has the potential to address the unsustainability of the incumbent regime. Its potential effects are examined through the development of the electronic book, which is defined as those IT applications providing an alternative form of textual display to printed paper. Yet, such applications have remained marginal. According to sociotechnical transitions theory the electronic book can be seen as a niche in relation to the print-on-paper regime. An alternative conceptualisation of transitions as a process of network reconfiguration is suggested. On that basis, the electronic book is depicted as a number of emergent innovation networks. Social Network Analysis methods informed by network approaches to innovation theory are applied to visualise and discuss these emergent networks. In one of the representations, the electronic book is mapped as a sociotechnical network including organisations, users and technologies. It emerges that network formation often transgresses a distinct niche-regime divide. Patterns of network interaction are explored and assessed as to whether they represent a sociotechnical transition in progress. The analysis reveals different patterns of network formation which are indicative of prospective sociotechnical trajectories where different concepts of the electronic book are emphasised. It emerges that the discussion of sustainability and the emergence of the electronic book remain largely unlinked.

Authors augment their texts using devices such as bold and italic typeface to signal important information to the reader. These typographical text signals are an example of a signal designed to have some affect on others. However, some signals emerge through the unplanned, indirect, and collective efforts of a group of individuals. Paths emerge in parks without having been designed by anyone. Objects accumulate wear patterns that signal how others have interacted with the object. Books open to important, well studied pages because the spine has worn, for example (Hill, Hollan, Wroblewski, & McCandless, 1992). Digital text and the large-scale collaboration made possible through the internet provide an opportunity to examine how unplanned, collaborative text signals could emerge. A software application was designed, called CoREAD, that enables readers to highlight sections of the text they deem important. In addition, CoREAD adds text signals to the text using font colour, based on the group's collective history and an aggregation function based on self-organising systems. The readers are potentially influenced by the text signals presented by CoREAD but also help to modify these same signals. Importantly, readers only interact with each other indirectly through the text. The design of CoREAD was greatly inspired by the previous work on history-enriched digital objects (Hill & Hollan, 1993) and at a more general level it can be viewed as an example of distributed cognition (Hollan, Hutchins, & Kirsh, 2000).<br>Forty undergraduate students read two texts on topics from psychology using CoREAD. Students were asked to read each text in order to write a summary of it. After each new student read the text, the text signals were changed to reflect the current group of students. As such, each student read the text with different text signals presented.<br>The data were analysed for each text to determine if the text signals that emerged were stable and valid representations of the semantic content of the text. As well, the students' summaries were analysed to determine if students who read the text after the text signals had stabilised produced better summaries. Three methods demonstrated that CoREAD was capable of generating stable typographical text signals. The high importance text signals also appeared to capture the semantic content of the texts. For both texts, a summary made of the high signals performed as well as a benchmark summary. The results did not suggest that the stable text signals assisted readers to produce better summaries, however. Readers may not respond to these collaborative text signals as they would to authorial text signals, which previous research has shown to be beneficial (Lorch, 1989). The CoREAD project has demonstrated that readers can produce stable and valid text signals through an unplanned, self-organising process.

This thesis deals with different aspects of the Spanish Labor Market. The first chapter explores the impact of product market competition on job instability. Empirical results show that job instability rises with competition. The second chapter addresses the existence of network effects on immigrants' remitting behavior. Using a unique data base, I find positive network effects on the probability of remitting as well as on quantity remitted. The final chapter studies the role of the recent construction boom in explaining decisions to drop out of high-school. The construction boom is shown to increase the likelihood of dropping out of high-school.<br>Esta tesis trata diferentes aspectos del mercado laboral español. El primer capítulo explora el impacto de la competencia en el mercado de productos sobre la inestabilidad del empleo. Los resultados empíricos muestran que la inestabilidad en el empleo crece con el nivel de competencia. El segundo capítulo plantea la existencia de efectos de las redes sociales de inmigrantes sobre el envío de remesas. Mediante el uso de una base de datos exclusiva, he encontrado efectos positivos de las redes sociales sobre la probabilidad de enviar remesas así como sobre la cantidad enviada. El último capítulo estudia el papel del reciente boom de la construcción en el abandono escolar durante la educación secundaria. Se demuestra que el boom de la construcción ha incrementado la probabilidad de abandono escolar durante la educación secundaria.

In den Sozialwissenschaften profiliert sich derzeit eine disziplinübergreifende Netzwerkforschung, die sich durch eine relationale Theorieperspektive auszeichnet. Die empirische Forschung greift dabei vermehrt auf das Methodenrepertoire der Social Network Analysis (SNA) zurück. Für die Humangeographie kann der soziologische Blick der Netzwerkforschung auf unterschiedliche Weise um „Raumbezüge“ ergänzt und in verschiedenen Forschungsfeldern zur Anwendung gebracht werden. Trotz ihres vielfältigen Potenzials nimmt die SNA in der geographischen Methodenausbildung in Deutschland bisher einen eher untergeordneten Stellenwert ein. Dieses Buch richtet sich an Studentinnen und Studenten, die sich für (humangeographische) empirische Netzwerkforschung interessieren und einen einfachen Einstieg suchen. Es führt verständlich in zentrale Fachbegriffe der SNA und die grundlegenden Funktionen der Analyse-Software UCINet ein. Von der Dateneingabe und -aufbereitung, über die Visualisierung bis hin zu netzwerkanalytischen Berechnungen werden die ersten Schritte vorgestellt und nachvollziehbar erläutert.<br>Within social sciences and humanities, network research has meanwhile developed into an established cross-disciplinary research perspective, which is based on relational theoretical approaches. Thereby, empirical studies are increasingly drawing on the method repertoire of Social Network Analysis (SNA). For Human Geography, the sociological focus of network research can be complemented by spatial aspects in a variety of ways and applied in several fields of study. Despite its considerable potential, SNA has, to date, played a rather minor role in method training in geographical undergraduate and graduate study programs. This book addresses students interested in (geographical) empirical social network research seeking a basic introduction. It familiarizes the reader with central terms of SNA and with essential functions of the analysis software UCINet. The first steps are presented and explained comprehensibly – from data entry, via visualization to basic network-analytical calculations.

With the rise of global transnational terrorist networks (GTTNs), there has been an increase in scholarly output on the subject. While many scholars have focused on the ways in which these networks enable terrorist organizations to achieve their goals, few have studied the transformative impact that GTTNs have on group cohesion. In order to fill this gap, I seek to answer the question how, if at all, GTTNs affect the likelihood of armed groups experiencing fragmentation. In doing so, I propose three ways in which GTTNs can influence cohesion among their members and explore these in the cases of al-Shabaab and Boko Haram, while using the Taliban as a counterfactual. Although I find that both GTTN members and non-members experience fragmentation, the ways in which fragmentation manifests itself differs. Whereas the Taliban experienced fragmentation following key events, al-Shabaab and Boko Haram experienced splits as a result of long-term processes. Thus, GTTN membership ostensibly reinforces internal processes that may cause factions to split from the organization, thereby increasing the risk of fragmentation. However, more research is required on the different ways through which GTTNs exert influence over their members and the effect this has on the risk of fragmentation.

博士<br>國立臺灣科技大學<br>管理研究所<br>101<br>Technological service providers using electronic, networking and digital content to offer services such as online social networking (OSN) and electronic book (e-book) have attracted increased attention and a growing number of users in recent years. This dissertation presents two studies in an extended and unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model, which also include the factors satisfaction, credibility trust, and benevolence trust, using an empirical survey of 676 OSN users in Study1, and a survey of 400 e-book users or potential users in Study 2 to examine the influence of these factors. The results of regression analysis showed that the four key constructs of UTAUT (social influence, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and facilitating conditions), as well as satisfaction, credibility trust, and benevolence trust, are all direct determinants of OSN users’ behavioral intention. By comparing the coefficients of regression analysis, the relative importance of each determinant was also derived. Results further indicate that benevolence trust has a considerably stronger effect on OSN users’ behavioral intention than any other factor, and that performance expectancy, credibility trust, and benevolence trust are all direct determinants of e-book behavioral intention. A discussion is offered on the implications of these findings for online social networking and electronic book producers and managers with respect to their future marketing and operations strategies.

An African Perspective on Poverty Proverbs in the Book of Proverbs: An Analysis for Transformational Possibilities. This thesis contributes to the emerging global scholarly discussion on prioritising the practical relevance of biblical interpretation, particularly in Africa. Taking poverty as a case study, this thesis employs the notion of the popular social origin of proverbs to critically analyse the subject in the Book of Proverbs. A social anthropological approach, historical-critical methods, rhetorical criticism and contextual exegesis are used to analyse proverbs regarding the poor in the Book of Proverbs and African proverbial material. On one hand, the investigation reveals that many Western scholars take their cue from the `official' social context of the Book of Proverbs. However, the impact of an unconscious subjectivity owing to the Western secularising influence on their studies into poverty has posited a conservative status quo in the way the Book of Proverbs addresses it. On the other hand, an investigation of similar traditional African proverbial material on the poor reveals a holistic transformative possibility. Its life-centred dynamism is located in an integrative worldview that comprises mutual assistance, collective responsibility, family, community, social, political, religious and economic networks as one whole. Because cultural parallels exist between the society of ancient Israel and traditional African societies, the thesis argues the use of the African proverbial performance context in the interpretation of proverbs concerning the poor in the Book of Proverbs. The result of such cross-cultural application highlights the possible transformative social, economic, political and religious supportive networks essential to a viable and sustainable holistic development of society. Consequently, such a holistic approach to poverty may enable Bible readers to make meaning and empower the will of African Christians to rise practically to the challenge of poverty eradication in all spheres of their lives. A caution also to the universal church is to be found in the fact that the Book of Proverbs made an essential contribution to the transformation of the social, economic, political and religious life of Israel. Approaching the Book of Proverbs in terms of a popular context is a fact that can no longer be simply ignored.<br>Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies<br>D.Th.

碩士<br>國立臺灣大學<br>圖書資訊學研究所<br>103<br>Not every item that customers browse or buy can represent their desired preferences. An additional problem is that the degree of preference that each item represents can be different. By using the “exemplar view” theory of cognitive psychology, this study proposes using the concept of “representativeness” to determine whether a few books can represent one’s reading preference. This study’s main aim is to measure the degree to which a book in a user’s online bookshelf is able to represent their preferences by collecting data from aNobii online bookshelves. This data can be used to build a user’s reading profile. A reading profile can be used to generate an item-to-item network by calculating the similarity of each book-to-book pair in a user’s bookshelf. By applying social network analytical (SNA) metrics such as “centrality” and “coreness” to the network one can determine a book’s “representativeness.” Results show that the degree of centrality or coreness of books were significantly correlated to the user’s self-assessed “representativeness.” There was also significant correlation between the social network analytical metrics and the user’s self-assessed “genre knowledge” and “involvement” for books on their bookshelf. It means that it is feasible to use social network analytical metrics to determine how representative a book is of a user’s reading preference. The other objective of this study is to explore the moderated effect of a user’s preference diversity. It is assumed that a user’s preference diversity would affect the correlations between the centrality of books and the user’s self-assessed representativeness. Results show that the correlation between social network analytical metrics and a book’s representativeness is weaker in those who have highly diverse preferences than those who have less diverse preferences.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Library and Information Studies)--University of California, Berkeley, May 1991.<br>eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-244).

A presente dissertação, «No encalço de Novos Autores: A edição da revista literária Granta em Portugal», tem por objeto de estudo a publicação Granta Portugal. Trata-se de um produto literário de origem inglesa, franquiado pela editora Tinta-da-China em 2013, com edição temática e periodicidade semestral, cujo conceito consiste na publicação de obras de autores consagrados juntamente com trabalhos de Novos Autores (tanto de texto como de imagem). A dissertação centra-se na realização de uma análise a duas perspetivas que fazem parte da mesma «atividade coletiva»: a visão da editora (Tinta-da-China) e a perceção dos autores em princípio de atividade ou em progressão (Novos Autores). O propósito é averiguar que efeitos se refletiram na atividade particular destes intervenientes, com base nos números 1 a 4 da revista, publicados em 2013 e 2014. O procedimento metodológico parte da identificação dos conceitos para discussão, nomeadamente, a Granta Portugal, a editora Tinta-da-China e os Novos Autores, bem como do reconhecimento das respetivas dimensões e indicadores que constituem o modelo de análise. Foi aplicada uma metodologia qualitativa, cujo método de investigação – que se considerou ser o mais ajustado à finalidade do estudo – consistiu na utilização de três instrumentos, a saber: análise documental, observação participante e entrevistas qualitativas semidiretivas e não- -diretivas. Perante a apresentação do estudo empírico são demonstradas as conclusões alcançadas sobre os efeitos da edição da Granta Portugal. Entre estas destaca-se a ponderada gestão estratégica editorial da Tinta-da-China, na sua qualidade de editora independente, tanto em relação a novos projetos como a novos vínculos contratuais, assim como a sua missão empenhada de descobrir e promover os autores. Os Novos Autores prosseguem a sua atividade com pouca rede de segurança, mas com o propósito de obterem reconhecimento pelas suas aptidões, a longo prazo.<br>The object of the research in this dissertation, ‘Tracking New Authors: the publication of the literary magazine Granta in Portugal’, is the magazine Granta Portugal. It is a literary product of British origin, first published in Portugal by the publishing house Tinta-da-China in 2013, with themed issues that come out on a bi-annual basis. The concept is to publish works by established authors alongside those of New Authors (of both text and image). The dissertation is centred on an analysis of two aspects that are part of the same ‘collective activity’: the vision of the publisher (Tinta-da-China) and the perception of authors just starting out or developing (New Authors). The aim is to ascertain what effects were reflected in the specific activity of these contributors, based on issues 1 to 4 of the magazine, published in 2013 and 2014. The methodological procedure adopted sets out to identify the concepts for discussion, notably Granta Portugal, the publisher Tinta-da-China, and the New Authors, along with the recognition of the respective sizes and indicators that make up the analysis model. A qualitative methodology has been applied, for which the research method – deemed the most suited to the research objective – consisted of the use of three instruments, namely: documentary analysis, participant observation, and semi-structured and unstructured qualitative interviews. Based on the empirical research presented, conclusions are made in respect of the effects that the publication of Granta Portugal has had. Notable among these are Tinta-da-China’s careful strategic editorial management, as an independent publisher, with regard to both new projects and new contractual ties, as well as its determined mission to discover and promote authors. The New Authors engage in their activity without much of a safety net, but with the long-term aim of obtaining recognition for their talents.