International Journal of Web Information Systems 

About: International Journal of Web Information Systems is an academic journal published by Emerald Publishing Limited. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Web modeling & Computer science. It has an ISSN identifier of 1744-0084. Over the lifetime, 417 publications have been published receiving 4014 citations. The journal is also known as: IJWIS & Web information systems.

Ontology‐based activity recognition in intelligent pervasive environments

Abstract: Purpose – This paper aims to serve two main purposes. In the first instance it aims to it provide an overview addressing the state‐of‐the‐art in the area of activity recognition, in particular, in the area of object‐based activity recognition. This will provide the necessary material to inform relevant research communities of the latest developments in this area in addition to providing a reference for researchers and system developers who ware working towards the design and development of activity‐based context aware applications. In the second instance this paper introduces a novel approach to activity recognition based on the use of ontological modeling, representation and reasoning, aiming to consolidate and improve existing approaches in terms of scalability, applicability and easy‐of‐use.Design/methodology/approach – The paper initially reviews the existing approaches and algorithms, which have been used for activity recognition in a number of related areas. From each of these, their strengths and w...

A survey on context‐aware web service systems

Abstract: Purpose – This survey aims to study and analyze current techniques and methods for context‐aware web service systems, to discuss future trends and propose further steps on making web services systems context‐aware.Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyzes and compares existing context‐aware web service‐based systems based on techniques they support, such as context information modeling, context sensing, distribution, security and privacy, and adaptation techniques. Existing systems are also examined in terms of application domains, system type, mobility support, multi‐organization support and level of web services implementation.Findings – Supporting context‐aware web service‐based systems is increasing. It is hard to find a truly context‐aware web service‐based system that is interoperable and secure, and operates on multi‐organizational environments. Various issues, such as distributed context management, context‐aware service modeling and engineering, context reasoning and quality of context, se...

NoSQL databases: a step to database scalability in web environment

Abstract: Purpose – The paper aims to focus on so‐called NoSQL databases in the context of cloud computing.Design/methodology/approach – Architectures and basic features of these databases are studied, particularly their horizontal scalability and concurrency model, that is mostly weaker than ACID transactions in relational SQL‐like database systems.Findings – Some characteristics like a data model and querying capabilities of NoSQL databases are discussed in more detail.Originality/value – The paper shows vary different data models and query possibilities in a common terminology enabling comparison and categorization of NoSQL databases.

A survey on model versioning approaches

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a feature‐based characterization of version control systems (VCSs), providing an overview about the state‐of‐the‐art of versioning systems dedicated to modeling artifacts.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a literature study of existing approaches, a description of the features of versioning systems is established. Special focus is set on three‐way merging which is an integral component of optimistic versioning. This characterization is employed on current model versioning systems, which allows the derivation of challenges in this research area.Findings – The results of the evaluation show that several challenges need to be addressed in future developments of VCSs and merging tools in order to allow the parallel development of model artifacts.Practical implications – Making model‐driven engineering (MDE) a success requires supporting the parallel development of model artifacts as is done nowadays for text‐based artifacts. Therefore, model versioning ca...

“Crowd logistics”: the contribution of social crowds in logistics activities

Abstract: Purpose The paper aims to provide the necessary basis for a novel interdisciplinary research field. Various types and implementations of crowdsourcing have emerged in the market; many of them are related to logistics. While we can identify plenty of crowd logistics applications using information technology capabilities and information sharing in practice, theories behind this phenomenon have received only limited attention. This paper accounts for filling this research gap by analyzing the crowd’s contributions in logistics of goods and information. Design/methodology/approach This paper is part of an ongoing research endeavor in the field of location-based crowdsourcing. It represents conceptual work that builds on a literature review enriched with an in-depth analysis of real-world examples in the field of crowd logistics. Using a scoring method, we provide an example how a company may evaluate the alternatives of crowd logistics. The main approach is an analysis of variants of how the social crowd may be integrated in logistics processes. The work is conceptual in its core. Thereby, we use real-world examples of crowdsourcing applications to underpin the evaluated variants of crowd logistics. Findings The paper presents relevant theoretical background on crowd logistics. The authors differentiate between variants of crowd logistics with their flow of materials, goods and information. Thereby they zoom in the type, significance and process flow of the crowd’s contributions. They discuss potential advantages and challenges of logistics with the performing crowd and deeply discuss opportunities and challenges from a business and from an individual’s perspective. Finally, they highlight a route map for future research directions in this novel interdisciplinary research field. Research limitations/implications As this work is conceptual in its core, generalizations may be drawn only with great care. Still, we are in a position to propose a route map for further research in this area in this paper. Also the integration of an analysis of a scale of real-world applications allows us to highlight our research’s practical relevance and implications. Originality/value The main contribution of this paper is an in-depth analysis and consolidation of innovative crowd logistics applications to provide an overview on recent implementations. The authors propose a categorization scheme and contribute with a route map for further research in the field of crowd logistics.