ABSTRACT
The concepts and techniques related to the evaluation of information systems are in their infancy. In the scientific and technical information (STI) arena, most information systems are retrieval oriented. This chapter reports on an evaluation of an information system that was conducted in an experimental environment. The system being evaluated has many similarities to an STI system, although it deals with the organization’s competitive environment rather than its technological environment. Information usage behavior is assessed in the demonstration study in terms of the amount of use that is made of the system and the substantive nature of the usage. The system evaluation demonstration study was conducted for the Strategic Issue Competitive Information System system using 45 experienced manager risers in a simulated business environment. The results of the demonstration study evaluation may be expressed in terms of a series of “hypotheses” which were tested using the measures of attitudes, perceived value, information usage, and decision performance.
