Business Commons^™

What Color Is Your Paratext?, Geoffrey Bilder, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Department Faculty Publications

In the final vision session of the 2009 NASIG Annual Conference, Geoffrey Bilder from CrossRef discussed the problem of how to identify trustworthy scholarly information on the Internet. This problem is exacerbated by readers’ growing distrust of intermediaries such as publishers and librarians, by the fact that the Internet lacks the traditions that have developed in scholarly communication to ensure trust, and by the sheer amount of information now readily available. Paratext is understood as anything outside of a text that sets expectations about that text. In the past, paratext, for example a publisher logo, provided important clues as to …

The Epistemic Consumption Object And Postsocial Consumption: Expanding Consumer‐Object Theory In Consumer Research, Detlev Zwick, Nikhilesh Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

We introduce the concept of the epistemic consumption object. Such consumption objects are characterized by two interrelated features. First, epistemic consumption objects reveal themselves progressively through interaction, observation, use, examination, and evaluation. Such layered revelation is accompanied by an increasing rather than a decline of the object’s complexity. Second, such objects demonstrate a propensity to change their “face‐in‐action” vis‐à‐vis consumers through the continuous addition or subtraction of properties. The epistemic consumption object is materially elusive and this lack of ontological stability turns the object into a continuous knowledge project for consumers. Via this ongoing cycle of revelation and discovery, consumers …

Bringing The Market To Life: Screen Aesthetics And The Epistemic Consumption Object, Detlev Zwick, Nikhilesh Dholakia

College of Business Faculty Publications

This article argues that the new ‘visuality’ (Schroeder, 2002) of the Internet transforms the stock market into an epistemic consumption object. The aesthetics of the screen turn the market into an interactive and response-present surface representation. On the computer screen, the market becomes an object of constant movement and variation, changing direction and altering appearance at any time. Following Knorr Cetina (1997, 2002b) we argue that the visual logic of the screen ‘opens up’ the market ontologically. The ontological liquidity of the market-on-screen simulates the indefiniteness of other life forms. We suggest that the continuing fascination with online investing is …

Finding Quality Business Information On The Internet, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Department Faculty Publications

Article on strategies for finding reliable business information on the Internet. The article appeared in the Fall 2002 issue of the MBA Alumni Newsletter online, published by the University of Rhode Island College of Business Administration.

Web Based Business Information On A Budget, Andrée Rathemacher, Carol West, Alex Caracuzzo

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Notes for a presentation, "Web Based Business Information on a Budget," at the New England Library Association Annual Conference 1999, Traditions: Where We've Been... Where We're Going. The presentation took place in Manchester, New Hampshire on September 27, 1999.

Business Web Page Design, Andrée Rathemacher, Kelli Belmonti

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Flier for ACRL New England Chapter Business Librarians' Interest Group (BLIG) Fall Program, "Business Web Page Design." The program was held on November 12, 1998 at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Finding Business Information On The Internet, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Thank you letter from Carol Surprenant, Director of the University of Rhode Island Research Center in Business and Economics, for presenting a workshop, "Finding Business Information on the Internet," offered as part of the Business Intelligence Expo. The Business Intelligence Expo was held in Providence, Rhode Island, on October 21, 1997.

The one-hour workshop was offered twice during the Expo and covered business information available on the Internet. With a total of 25 attendees, this workshop was the most heavily attended of all workshops at the Expo.

Your Ticket To The Information Highway, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Thank you letter and program evaluations for a workshop, "Your Ticket to the Information Highway," sponsored by the Institute for Labor Studies and Research (ILSR). The workshop was held on November 15, 1996 in Providence, Rhode Island.

The purpose of the three-hour workshop was to “provide a basic understanding of the Internet, demonstrate labor-related sites, and give [participants] hands-on experience ‘surfing the Net.’” The workshop was one of a series of three intended to help participants become more effective union leaders. It received unanimously positive evaluations from the ten participants.