What is Strategic Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

What is Strategic kind-hearted imaginativeness Management EssayStrategic Human preference Management (SHRM) is concerned with establishing a specific and managed bring on and effect relationship between an brasss actions to survive and grow and its HRM principle and practices. It is also concerned with the mechanism through which people in an organisation gain an taste of the purpose of the organisation, its goals and strategical objectives. As salutary as how the organisation related to its external environment in order to achieve these goals and objectives (SHU International MBA, Intro to SHRM unit p. 1)IntroductionHuman mental imagery management (HRM) gouge broadly be defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an government activitys roughly value asset the people work there, who individu all toldy and collectively contri providede to the achievement of its objectives for sustainable competitive advantage.As described by beer et al (1984) H uman option management involves all management closings and action that affect the relationship between the organization and employees It human election.1The different between Strategic Human Resource management (SHRM) and Human Resource Management (HRM) can be ensuren as the word of Strategy, Strategy, as it has come to be applied in business, is a market-oriented judgment it is fundamentally concerned with products and competitive advantage. The different between be integrated as followStrategic human resource management is concerned with those decisions which surrender a major and long -term effect on the employment and development of people in the organisation, and on the relationship which exist between its management and staff.An HR strategy provide express the intention of the enterprise ab step to the fore how it should manage its human resources. These intentions provide the basis for plans, development and programmes for managing chance.The aim of SHRM is to ensu re that the culture, style and social organisation of the organization, and the quality, commitment and motivation of its employees, contribute fully to the achievement of Business objective.Main features of strategic human resourse managementIt has been suggested by Hendry and Pettigrew (1986) that the main features of strategic human resource management be as followsThe use of planningA coherent approach to the design and management of personnel systems based on an employment polity and manpower strategy, often underpinned by a philosophyHRM activates and policies are matched to some explicit business strategyThe people of the organisation are seen as a strategy resource for achieving competitive advantageFormation of StrategyTo understand how the SHRM can effect the whole organisation, we extremity to go thought the Organisation social system and see the how Strategy Management works. The strategic management process is typically broken down into five step1. mission and goa ls2. environmental analysis3. strategic formulation4. strategy implementation5. strategy evaluationWe are non interested for Step 1 and Step 2, because at these two stages, the Strategy is not form yet. It was still in the planning process, after the Strategy had been developed, it pass on transfer to Step 3- Strategic Formulation.Strategic Formulation involves senior manager evaluating the interaction between strategic factors and making strategic choices that guide managers to meet their organisation goals. Some Strategies are formulated at the corporate, business and specific in operation(p) levels. hierarchy of StrategyAnother aspect of strategic management in the multidivisional business organization concerns the level to which strategic issues apply. Conventional wisdom identifies different levels of strategy a hierarchy of strategy1.corporate2.business3.functionalIts because we are not interested in Corporate-Level strategy Business-level strategy. The deeper explanatio ns will be place in the appendix.Functional-level strategyFunctional-level strategy pertains to the major functional operations within the business unit, including research and development, marketing, manufacturing, finance and HR. This strategy level is typically primarily concerned with maximizing resource productivity and addresses the question,How do we digest the business-level competitive strategy? Consistent with this, at the functional level, HRM policies and practices get to up the business strategy goals.Developing human resource strategiesHuman resource strategy contributes gain the business strategy but is also justified by, the aim should be flummox it imaginative, innovative, clear and actionable. Its must also be selective, focusing on priorities, and flexible, quickly adjusting to limiting. HR strategy should be formulated by s continuous process of analysing what is happening to the business and where it is going.So, we do recognize why we need SHRM to suppo rt organisation strategy, but how can we implement the SHRM to the organisation, and what kind of tools and practice we can use to shaping the organisation strategy in the term of Human Resource Management. The answer for this is fairly easy, we know the Top Level is the Strategy, and the bottom level is the worker on work floor. The linkage between these is a linkage mechanism, which habitual identify as Manager of that particular department.What is the responsibility of manager?In general, the get a line of a manager is to keep a advanced relationship with the employee, without the good relationship, the organisation will unable to run the periodical task to achieve what they got to achieve. In other word a manager is trying making out the most(prenominal) from the employee to optimise the company feat. And the follow is what a manager should do for their dutiesAbility to Motivate workerrecruitment and staffingemployee developmentemployee relationsLeadership communication an d cultureTeamworkAbility to motivate workerMotivation is defined as the willingness to do something conditioned upon the actions ability to satisfy some need for the individual. (Robbins De Cenzo, 2001) Motivation is the key to acquire the gambol done because without it, projects and jobs are completed with no purpose or direction. Moreover rewards and bonuses gained by employees increase their moral as well as benefiting the organization. Appraisal systems for some time provoke served to prove that the performance of employees is under control or to give the appearance of controlRecruitment and StaffingRecruitment and selection is a well-worn topic, which is treated fully in all major texts. Just remember that there is always a tension between getting the right person for a job and how much resource in terms of time and money is devoted to recruitment. The more accurate the recruitment, the more benefits the organization will achieve. This is because the employee will carry out their tasks more appropriately and will be ideal for the new post and will be able to sequester responsibilities. The more recruitment in an organization, the higher the overheads and therefore HRM require to be efficaciously managing and deciding whether there is a need of recruitment or not. gentility and developmentTraining and Development are currently big issues for many businesses in mostparts of the country, especially where there are low rate of unemployment. Moreover, Increase in training and development has increased productivity as well as employees moral. This is beneficial for both, the company and the employees. Although the costs of HRM increase in the pitiable term as training and development is very expensive but at the long term it is very beneficial for an organization as job commitment is reinforced and quality increases toEmployee relationsDevelop and maintain effective employee relations activities and programs which you can use to help realise a positiv e organizational culture. Handle difficult employees with confidence, and learn how to reinforce good behavior as well as discipline, and terminate properly if the need arises. In addition, you will imagine at ways to get your employees involved and assess their needs and opinions.LeadershipThe leadership is someone who exercises influence over people. The ability to influence also needs the permission of those to be influenced. The functions of Lead in organization may includeEnabling people and group to achieve their objectivesSetting and communication objectives.Monitoring performance and giving feedbackAdministering rewards and punishmentsClarifying and solving problemsMaking decision on behalf of othersRepresent the group to othersProviding information, advice and expertiseCommunication and cultureCommunication is very important to a manager, the purpose of the manage is get people connected together, from the top-side of the CEO to the bottom side of the Shop-floor worker, w ithout the communication skill the manager may send the wrong meaning the audience.TeamworkTeamwork emphasizes the victoryful of business. As we know there are a lot of task cannot carried out by one people such as decision making, planning and problem solving. Teamwork can speed-up the task to achieve the goal in a efficient way.Factors to implementing change to the organisationAfter we understand the role of the management, but how cans a manager to implement the strategy to his department, the Keyword is CHANGE. The question is how can a manger to change the behaviour of the worker to ways that will match the organisation goals and strategy.Before the implementation of change, we should make sure the manager had got the capacity to handle the change. And there are three questions to ask the manager.Does he return the right lieu?Does he have the appropriate knowledge?Do we have the requirement skill?Right Attitude for the managerA change agent cannot get ahead without expec tant persistence. Change is a hard and laborious process that arouses strong feelings and emotions. Angry people, frustrated teammates, conflicting priorities, unforeseen problems or behind-the-scene resistance pose daily challenges. A project manager cannot lead her team through these minefields without determination and stamina.To avoid mid-course changes in leadership, the person must be fully committed to see the project through completion. A good way to ensure that is to appoint an ambitious individual who presents substantial potential for career advancement within the organization. She will look at the challenge as a terrific career-building opportunity and will be highly motivated to succeed. The benefits will actually extend well beyond the projects time horizon. Indeed, the initiative will provide this high-potential employee with a broader understanding of the business, an extended network of relationships and stronger leadership skills.Appropriate knowledge of what we g oing to changeI am absolute sure that the developer of the strategy do know what is needed to change to meet their target. only when the question is the project manager is in a functional- level of the business, he is a subject matter expert in their respective area of responsibility. Are we sure he got a stop understanding of what is going on of the strategy. An expertise of the strategic goal will be needed to assist the functional level to achieve what they should achieveThe necessary skillsChange is complex subject it will generate lots of pressure due to the instability and un reliablety. And also the manager has to handle manage conflicting priorities, nonuple constituencies and fast-approaching deadline Responsible for gilding the organisation through the numerous challenge of the transition. thereof, the project leader must possess the proven ability to remain highly effective under intense fire. Otherwise, thebreakdown will occur when that person is overseeing a critica l phase, so the whole project can be failed or delayed. Which is fence what we trying to do.Step for implementation of Strategy within the Human ResourceWhat is implementation?Implementation means causing changes to occur somewhere in your field of force of influence as a manager. It is impossible to implement any course of action and not have something change as a result. This means that certain things must be disrupted, discontinues, or deferred and new activities must begin. But most important, it means that after you have initiated action, things will be different. The key is in creating merely the right amount of disruption. The following guide lines should help you to accomplish the implementation of your action plan with the minimum amount of adverse disruption and maximum of success (Responsible Managers Get results- Gerald Faust 1998)Always implement changes from the top down.Always start with the best first.Set your own example.Remember that you cant motivate people to do something they dont know how to do.Recognize and reward desired performance early.Pace implementation so that the timing is consistent with the needs of your plan.Provide coaching and follow-up consulting, and, above all, be persistentStep 1 Planning the Change Process (These step are coming from article How to implement organisation change)Like any complex project, change management requires detailed planning. Being responsible for guiding the process, the change facilitation team must see to it that detailed but realistic planning is undertaken in order to minimize divergence from the vision.Step 2 Goal translationThe executive goals need to be translating to each level of the organisation in a meaningful, achievable target to each individual person within the organisation. For example if the executive goal is increase the sales by 15 %, but how can salesman known how much is the percentage increase for a particular product. Therefore the goals must be SMART (Specific, Measurab le, Additive, Reasonable and Time-bound). Furthermore the goal must is yield to a understandable language of different level of the organisation.Step 3 Barrier identification and RemovalWhen the goals are clearly understood, we can start identifying the barriers that are preventing the achievement of these goals. The people who actually do the work should identify the barrier. Whenever possible, we must involve these people in implementation decision where these view may be crucial. For that reason, Manager must be able to communicate effectively at all levels and across each function.Resistance of Change Employees resist change because they have to learn something new. In many case there is not a disagreement with the benefits of the new process, but rather a fear of the unknown incoming and about their ability to adapt to it. de Jager (2001) argues, Most people are reluctant to leave the familiar behind. We are all suspicious about the unfamiliar we are naturally concerned abou t how we will get from the old to the new, especially if it involves learning something new and risking failure de Jager (2001)Step 4 System for ManagingOnce the goals have been translated and barrier have been identify, the next critical step will be to develop a system for managing the organisation. Traditionally it will only be measured. But now it will be much larger. Not only a metrics need to designed, but meeting need to be developed, measure automation needs to be planned and specific accountability need to be determined.As far as the metrics are concerned, they need to report on goal achievement at each organisation level. And the reporting will also translated to its specificity. So if the executive goal is improved effectiveness of 25 % whence that is what the metrics needs to report on at that organisation level. Similarly the metric in the finished goods packaging area may be case packed per hour and so on.Step 5 Rewards RecognitionRewarding and recognizing employee s is essential to any business or organization. Employees like to know that the work they do is noticed and appreciated by their employers. It is important to recognize both the effort put into getting work and projects completed and the result. Recognition is one of the most effective ways to reinforce an organizations culture, support its objectives, and retain top performers. When we remember to take care of these very human needs for recognition and appreciation, we do a great deal to create an energized workplace we need in order to succeed in todays challenging times.Short Example of implementation SHRM to an organisationAge, skills and trainingASDA will have a range of employees who have worked for different lengths of time and who have different levels of skills and training. The HumanResource planner will seek to have a balance of new people entering ASDA in order to cover those who are leaving. The Human Resource Planner will also want to make sure that skill levels are ra ising within ASDA, and that training programmes are devised to make sure people have the skills to meet ASDAs jobs requirements. If all ASDAs skilled employees are just about to retire, ASDA will have to spend a lot of money on training to build up a new share of expertise.SuccessionSuccession is the way in which one person follows another person into a particular job or role within ASDA. ASDA need to make sure it is grooming people to take on the responsibility required. If ASDA do not do this, it will suddenly find itself with a vacuum cleaner where it has not developed the people to move into the appropriate position of responsibility, and ASDA will be missing the right people in key position to hold ASDA together.Learning organisationToyota is a classics which using a life-long learning opportunity. They understand the current worker may not be able to catch-up with the current technology. Therefore they have introduce a Paid-leave learning period for those who want to going b ack to studyOperating as a learning organization and affording all our employees lifelong learning opportunities and equipping them with the skills and abilities to cope with and develop in an environment of constant change.ConclusionStrategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is a grandness area. Meaning range from a human resource system that is tailored to the demands of the business strategy to the pattern of planned human resource activities intended to change an organization to achieve its goals. Where in the first definition human resource management is a reactive management field in which humanresource management becomes a tool to implement strategy, in the latter definition it has a proactive function in which human resource activities actually create and shape the business strategy. As Strategy is equal to change, so, SHRM will be change as the changing environment. But one thing can be sure is- SHRM is a managing tool of Human factor which will assist the organization to achieve their goals, and it will controlling all the human factor, and getting the most from them, to optimize the efficiency and gain competitiveness of the organization.Reference1. Human Resource Management Strategy Action Michael Armstrong2. Strategic human resource management tooshie Bratton3. http//adtimes.nstp.com.my/jobstory/jan20a.htm The art of people management4. http//www.newfoundations.com/OrgTheory/Bolognese721.html- Employee Resistance to Organizational Change5. http//www.changemanagementgroup.com/orgdevel.phtml Organizational Development and Team Building6. Responsible Managers Get results- Gerald Faust 19987. Strategic human resource management, performance, alightment, management by David Baker8. Taking a Strategic Approach to Human Resource Management by Roy Massey9. What is human resources strategy by aim A. Thomas10. http//techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/Implement_change_manageme

Biopure Case Study Essay Example for Free

Biopure Case Study EssayThe key issue is to determine when Oxyglobin should be introduced to the market without jeopardizing Hemopures potential and how it should be marketed.In addressing the issue, the following were considered a sensitivity analysis for potential consumption of different legal injury series, associated revenues and costs, and gross profit from different distribution methods.It is recommended that Biopure1. Introduce Oxyglobin immediately at a price of $100 to veterinarians. 2. Have an mugwump sales compress distribute the product to maximize profits. 3. Advertise Oxyglobin in both veterinarian journals and trade shows. 4. Establish a successful brand to launch Hemopure in the future. 5. Oxyglobin should be advertisedBased on other Massachusetts companies initiatives that have not gotten FDA approval in the operate few years, it is safe to assume that it is a possibility not to get the approval or to be given the approval rather late as it happened to Baxte r. Further, the potential dip in the stock price if Hemopure were rejected potentiometer be avoided if the company acts quickly and takes advantage of a market that rate of flowly has no com caressition the animal slant substitute market. Obtaining market share is critical now that Biopures Oxyglobin has been approved. Biopure has a chance to be the first player to enroll this market and recover its research and development costs within two years.Even when Biopure was primarily focused on create a human caudex substitute, the opportunistic development and later approval of Oxyglobin, an animal blood substitute, is a valuable opportunity that has to be considered. Exhibits A and B place potential pauperism (1995) at 3.9 million units for noncritical shields and 0.35 million units for critical ones. Further, Exhibit C shows the probability of consumption in units after factoring in the probability that veterinarians and pet owners would try Oxyglobin at different price series. The table shows that at $100 a unit, Oxyglobin would be used in 81% of critical cases and in 28% of noncritical cases.Hemopure, the human blood substitute, was only about to enter the third phase of the FDA clinical trials. Only because Oxyglobin and Hemopure are almost identical in physiologic properties and appearance, it does not mean that they cannot be priced differently. There are currently different medical products and services for humans and animals that are differently priced. Exhibit 8 from the case shows that very few veterinarian procedures are priced over $100. In contrast, a human blood transfusion is priced above $1500 without insurance according to the Houston Memorial Hospital.Hemopures market consists of people who lose blood in large quantities like in accidents, gunshots. And and aging population (double of what it is today by 2030) in need of sanguine Blood Cells to treat certain conditions like chronic anemia and acute blood loss. Launching Oxyglobin at a l ow price would not needfully create an unrealistic price expectation for Hemopure because human health care is far more expensive than animal care. Additionally, the emerging and growing necessity for blood substitutes will yield great demand in the following years which will translate to higher selling prices for Biopure, all things equal.Despite the fact that Baxter transnational launched the first human blood substitute, HemAssist (presumably priced between $600 and $800), Baxter Internationals and Northfield Laboratories blood substitutes rely on outdated human blood as a outset of hemoglobin which is more expensive than Biopures afflictive materials (bovine blood) at $1.50 a unit. Moreover, their products need to be frozen until used, while Biopures products are shelf-stable at live temperature. This makes Biopures products more advantageous because buyers can save money on refrigeration costs as the company makes a higher profit because of their raw materials lower price.I n terms of production, Biopure has capacity to produce only one product at a time, namely, an annual capacity of 300,000 units of Oxyglobin or 150,000 units of Hemopure or some linear combination of the two. On the other hand, Baxter has a production capacity of 1,000,000 Northfields capacity is at 10,000 units per year, which is considerably less than Biopure. accord to Exhibit D, potential demand for Oxyglobin alone priced at $100 is 1.3 million. Biopure does not have any competition but cannot supply that level of output presently, which would potentially raise prices as demand skyrockets once the product is introduced in the market.Biopure conducted two surveys that showed customers willingness to try the product at a higher price depends on the somberness of the emergency. Exhibit E shows that by selling the product at $100 a unit, $137 million can be generated in revenue, which is more than the revenue that can be obtained when selling it at any other price. This has to do w ith the probability of consumption and its correlation to the gravity of pets situations in general.Veterinarians have expressed their frustration with current animal blood distribution. Biopure has two options distribution options National-Regional-Local and Independent Sales Force. Comparing distribution costs from Exhibits F and G, it is clear that going for the independent sales force approach Biopure can more than reduce costs by half. Distributing the product (at $100 a unit) with the NRL option would cost around $41 million as opposed to $18 million with independent sales distribution.Exhibits H and I show that the highest gross profit attainable is $120 million when using an independent sales force and pricing Oxyglobin at $100 a unit for veterinarians. These and all exhibits show that Biopure should launch Oxyglobin immediately and recoup the $200 million developing costs in only two years.

Requirement Model For Student Monitoring Systems

exigency Model For Student monitor administrationsThe focus of this study is to sign a good requirement exemplar for Student Attendance Monitoring Systems (SAMS) in secondary enlighten. It is aimed at dust designer who want to know how to design an efficient SAMS. At the end of this study, a SAMS prototype get out be designed based on the requirement manikin and also analyze drug exploiter acceptance of this establishment.A generation ago, any in principle or in practice, attendance was not optional. Today, often in principle and almost in practice, it is optional (Romer, 1993). consort to Lim, Sim and Mansor (2009), most educational institutions administrators ar concerned about student irregular attendance. Shendell et al. (2004) defines it can affect student in overall academic performance. Romer (1993) found that attendance did contribute significantly to the academic performance of students. There are a slightly stronger relationship between attendance and perfo rmance. Also, Durden Ellis (1995) conclude that attendance does matter for academic achievement. Thus, it makes student attendance mandatory in develops (Romer, 1993), (Woltz, 1955).Yet, almost everyone noticed that attendance in drills is far from perfect (Romer, 1993). There have a lack of school attendance info and a lack of consistency in the definition and measurement of non-attendance (Bourke, Rigby Burden, 2000). Large schools are more(prenominal) likely to have paradoxs with student attendance than small ones (Epstein Sheldon, 2002). Everyday, school staffs spends much quantify to handle students attendance. There are many puzzles when recording data manually (Richard, 2005). Some cartridge clips, the attendances record books were missing. In real situation, it is hard for school staffs to attempt students record by looking at attendances record books one by one. School staffs usually spend much time to find the students record especially when there are many fami ly unites in the school.Furthermore, parents may miss to get any information or letter from schools when their children didnt attend to school. According to Epstein Sheldon (2002), high school staffs communications with parents about attendance can increased student attendance and reduced chronic absenteeism.Hence, by creating school attendance formation is one of the ruff rootages to address this problem. The system should help school staffs to take attendance for student especially in secondary schools. It must make the process of taking the attendance easier, faster and secure as compared to conventional method. The conventional method of taking attendance by calling names or signing on wallpaper is very time consuming, inefficient, and insecure (Ervasti, Isomursu, Kinnula, 2009), (Lim, Sim Mansor, 2009). It is a one way that helps teachers or school staffs reducing the taken time to carry out routine processes and change them connected with parents by sending real-time information on their childrens attendance immediately if students are not-attended to school more than the limit. Thus, teacher have more time for teaching. (Ervasti, Isomursu, Kinnula, 2009).Problem StatementIn schools, attendance is important and mandatory. Nowadays, due to enlarge of information technology environment, it is efficient to use School Attendance Monitoring System (SAMS) to manage attendance in secondary schools. In recent years, system designers have expands many ways and characteristics in design a good system. The problem of this study is to identify important characteristics to design a good SAMS, wad up a requirement model, and build a prototype for testing user acceptance. The requirement model must meet the user need, goals and constraints in order to determine the important feature, relations and design implications. The requirement must be stipulate clearly about what and how the SAMS should perform.ObjectivesTo create a SAMSs requirement model for secon dary school.To design and build a prototype of SAMS.To help other system developer deep down related area.ScopeThe study will be conducted within the Kampar district, Perak. All schools chosen for survey will be secondary schools only. Similarly, there are niner secondary schools in Kampar district (sample size). People who manage secondary school organizations are the only respondents of the study. The population is between 15 to 25 or more school staffs. The particular focus areas of the study would include attendance system which is already used in secondary schools.LITERATURE REVIEWAccording to Epstein Sheldon (2002), reducing the rates of student chronic absenteeism has been and continues to be a goal of many schools and school systems. In 1999, a student tracking system involving a database is beingness trialed in government and non-government schools Western Australia (Bourke, Rigby Burden, 2000). The student tracking system involved a set of processes, procedures and s ystems which can identify and monitor the location of students.In the Torres flip schools, they used a system called Student Information Management System (SIMS). The SIMS provides a good quality data regarding student attendance. This computer-based system collates individual class attendance records on a weekly basis (Bourke, Rigby Burden, 2000).The relationship between staffs and parents was seen as vitally important by parents and principals. The student survey results indicated that attendance levels were significantly higher among students when teachers got in touch with their parents to talk about how they were going at school (Bourke, Rigby Burden, 2000). Therefore, in schools where students have attendance problems, school staffs may need to go beyond the school building to involve parents in reducing absenteeism (Epstein Sheldon, 2002). Hence, student attendance monitoring system should help school staffs and parents easy to communicate.There are varieties of opportuni ties for implementing IT in management education. Technology can be used to facilitate the display of information, to increase access to external explicit information, and to increase the sharing and building of knowledge (Leidner Jarvenpaa, 1995) but some of the use of this technology is not yet widespread, efficient and practical for implementation of data management (Wayman, et. al., 2004).Implementation of an application system can present many unforeseen quarrels. The first step toward implementing a student data analysis system should be to thoroughly assess the data, needs, and resources usable to a school or district. The successful implementation is important for the long-term development of a data based decision-making climate (Wayman, et. al, 2004).Fig. 1 shows the model for structured functional requirement which has been explained by Malet et al. (2007)Figure 1 Model for Integrated Functional RequirementIn Fig. 1, functions can be linked with specific processes. T he technological realization of functions takes place in these processes. Functions can also be related to specific positions in the product structure. As a result of linking the requirements with functions, functions to processes and the product structure, an validating relation between requirements, processes and the product structure has been established (Malet et al., 2007).There are many views of softwares development or development process though that has evolved over the years. What follows is a brief discussion of the theories of the software development process that recently used today. The first formal description of the software development process model is produce in 1970 by Winston W. Royce.Below is one of the software development processs modelFigure 2 Conceptual model of software development processAccording to Royce (1970), firstly, developer must analyze user requirements. After that, make requirement specifications by clearly set out necessary features of system based on user requirement. Then, developer can design a suitable solution and do implementation by develop the proposed solution. In addition, developer must test the system to ensure that the solution solves the original problem and works in context. Lastly, developer must maintain the system.METHODOLOGYFig. 3 shows the requirement modeling process which has been explained by Malet et al. (2007)Figure 3 Requirement modeling processThe first step is elicitation of requirements. The requirements will be based on collected data. The sites are the secondary school managing departments. The sampling regorge will be based on the list of the secondary schools within area of Kampar district, Perak. The sample size will be nine secondary schools. The population is between 15 to 25 or more employees including principal, clerks, and teachers. The method of data collection is by questionnaire and interview. According to Creswell (1994), measurement instrument can helps in get a quantifiable data. A questionnaire will be given to each employee within the sampling to get employees personal details, personal experiences of using any school attendance system, problem with existing attendance system and an opinion or suggestion for the future systems developer. The purpose of the study and how to answer the questionnaire will be explained to the employees downstairs study. During interview session, the informants will be selected individuals within the sample employees who had an experience of using any school attendance system.The second step is analyzing the requirements. All user requirements will be investigated. The data will be analyzed and displayed using SPSS 16.00. The percentage, the mean and statistic formula (ANOVA) will be used when describing the data. It will be interpreted and translated into a form that suitable for other developer (sequence diagram, activity diagram, class diagram etc.). A requirement specifications model will be defined by clearly set o ut necessary features of SAMS.The third step is managing the requirements. In this step, a prototype of SAMS will be design and built based on user requirement model by using several types of tool such as Dreamweaver CS4, Photoshop CS4 and etc. The programming language that will be used for building the system is PHP. During this system development lifecycle, requirements might be change and evolve. These changes need to be tracked and traced (Malet et al., 2007).Lastly, the fulfillment of requirements needs to be validated with virtual or sensual tests. A product is deemed successful (by means of satisfying the customer) if all requirements are fulfilled (Malet et al.,2007). SAMS will be tested to ensure that the solution solves the original problem and integrate the system to make sure that the solution will working in circumstance. The user acceptance testing will be done by choosing user randomly within the sample.Requirements modeling takes place in all phases of product devel opment. More emphasis needs to be put on later(prenominal) development phases such as usage, recycling and maintenance. The knowledge gained in these phases, once included in the development process, can accelerate the development of new products (Malet et al.,2007). judge FINDINGSAt the end of this study, the requirement model can help any system designers to design good SAMS for secondary schools. They will know how to design useful, usable and desirable SAMS such as in the system should contain the right functions, secure and must be user friendly. SAMS should contain all these basic needs of attendance system.Below shows the flow of Students Attendance Monitoring Systems (SAMS)1Recordattendance2Checkattendance3Processdata4Savedata5SendemailFigure 4 The flow of Students Attendance Monitoring Systems (SAMS).SAMS should helps school staffs records students attendance, checks either student is present or absent, process the attendance data, save it and send an email to the parents if student was absent more than three days.SIGNIFICANCEThe aimed of requirement model for Student Attendance Monitoring System (SAMS) is to help system designer in designing a good attendance system and also conduct them to develop the attendance system in the future. Attendance system are important because can gives many benefit to schools such as security on attendance, reduce work time on taking attendance and create connection between school staffs and parents.CONCLUSIONThere is no comprehensive and generally accepted manual on how to design good human factors into computer systems (Shackel, 1984) but there are a lot of guideline on how to design a system. However, this requirement model can guide any system designers who want straightly focus to design Student Attendance Monitoring System (SAMS). Creativity and innovation are involve to make a great SAMS. The system should be usable. Usability consists of many pieces such as system performance, system functions, user interface s organization and so on.REFERRENCESBourke, C. J., Rigby, K., Burden J. (2000). part Practice in School Attendance Improving the SchoolAttendance of Indigenous Students. Commonwealth of Australia. 1-62.Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research design. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks,California Sage.Durden, G. C. Ellis, L. V. (1995). The effectuate of Attendance on Student Learning in Principles of sparings, The American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings of the Hundredth and Seventh Annual Meeting of the American Economic association Washington, 85(2), 343-346.Epstein, J. L., Sheldon, S. B. (2002). Present and Accounted for Improving Student Attendance ThroughFamily and Community Involvement. Educational Research and Improvement. 95(5). 308-318.Ervasti, M., Isomursu, M., Kinnula, M. (2009). Bringing Technology into School NFC-enabled SchoolAttendance Supervision. ACM 978-1-60558-846-9 09Leidner, D. E. Jarvenpaa S. L. (1995). The employment of Information Technology to Enhance ManagementSchool Education A Theoretical View. MIS Quarterly Special Issue on IS Curricula andPedagogy, 19(3), 265-291.Lim, T. S., Sim, S. C. Mansor, M. M. (2009). RFID Based Attendance System, Symposium on IndustrialElectronics and Applications (ISIEA 2009), 2, 778-782.Maletz, M., Blouin, J. G., Schnedl, H., Brisson, D., Zamazal, K. (2007). A Holistic Approach forIntegrated Requirements Modeling in the Product Development Process. The Virtual Vehicle-Research Center, Graz, Austria. 1-10.Richard, L. (2005). Handling Qualitative Data A pragmatical Guide. Thousand Oaks, California Sage.Romer, D. (1993). Do Students Go to Class? Should They?. Journal of Economics Perspectives, 7(3), 167-174.Royce, W. W. (1970). Managing the Development of Large software package Systems. Proceedings IEEE WESCON. 1-9.Shackel, B. (984). Information Technology A challenge to ergonomics and design. Behaviour andInformation Technology. 3. 263-275.Shendell, D. G., Prill, R., Fisk, W. J., Apte, M. G., Blake, D. Faulkner, D. (2004). Associationsbetween Classroom CO2 Concentrations and Student Attendance in Washington and Idaho. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory LBNL Paper LBNL-54413. Retrieved from http//www.escholarship.org/uc/item/88r0924rWayman, J. C., Stringfield, S., Yakimowski, M. (2004). Software Enabling School ImprovementThrough Analysis Of Student Data. Research on the Education of Students, 67.Woltz, C. K. (1955). Compulsary Attendance at School. Law and Comtemporary Problems. 20(1), 3-22.

Inclusion of Children With Disabilities

Inclusion of Children With DisabilitiesContemporary research and theoretical perspectives concerning the best modality to cater forchildren with supererogatory Educational Needs in early childhood years in the United Kingdomfavour inclusion of children with most kinds of hindrance inwardly the mainstreameducational climb. This position is strongly l perpetu onlyy bestrided by English legislation which hasstrengthened the endorsement of inclusion over the past 20 years, as result be seen in thebody of this paper. The sense in which inclusion is meant when used in Ofsted positionpapers or policy documents or embraced by local anaesthetic Educational Authorities and espousedon local Council websites, is for children with reported emotional, physical orpsychological disadvantage, to be accommodated within the existing structures of earlychildhood and primary trail settings.The status inclusion has been noted for its susceptibility to ambiguous usage, as it mayrefer to enhancing dividenerships between children and parents in the educational process,or concerned with minimising on the tout ensemble barriers to encyclopaedism and fraternity, whoeverexperiences them and wherever they are located within the cultures, policies and devotes of a school. In this view, there is an emphasis on mobilising under-usedresources within staff, students, governors, parents and other members of the schoolscommunities. The diversity of students is stressed as a rich resource for supportingteaching and breeding. Moreover, more recently inclusive education has been viewedas disabled and non-disabled children and young people learning together in ordinarypre-school readying, schools, colleges and universities, with appropriate networks ofsupport. The tension between the more precise usage referring to provision ofmainstream educational access for children with special educational ineluctably (SEN), and thebroader sense of the term as a reference to removing all(prenomin al) types of exclusion on the basis ofclass, gender, race or religion, has been noted in a report averring that whilst schools atthe m the project began were increasingly being encouraged to become more inclusiveand were able to access guidance on approaches to developing inclusive practices, thisrequired them to recognize sense of often different and frequently nebulous definitions ofbecoming inclusive in various texts. Some of these texts, for example, understoodinclusion limitedally in proportion to children identified as having special educational necessitate. Others saw it as an issue not simply in special needs education, but in provisionfor all groups of children who had historically under-achieved in the education system, aversion of inclusive education related directly to the governments wider tender inclusionagenda concerned with ensuring that all social groups participated in the opportunitiesand activities of mainstream indian lodge.Nonetheless, The Centre for Incl usive Education has outlined attributes of an educationalsetting marked by an inclusive ethos. Some notable features include valuing allstudents and staff equally increasing the participation of students in, and reducing theirexclusion from, the cultures, curricula and communities of local schools restructuring thecultures, policies and practices in schools so that they respond to the diversity of studentsin the locality reducing barriers to learning and participation for all students, not onlythose with impairments or those who are categorised as having special educationalneeds learning from attempts to overcome barriers to the access and participation ofparticular students to make changes for the benefit of students more widely viewing thedifference between students as resources to support learning, rather than as problems tobe overcome acknowledging the responsibility of students to an education in their localityimproving schools for staff as sound as for students emphasising t he role of schools inbuilding community and developing values, as well as in increasing achievementfostering mutually sustaining relationships between schools and communities andrecognising that inclusion in education is one aspect of inclusion in society.In addition to this helpful delineation, this charitable research body has distinguished thesocial model of disability, (which they favour as more equitable), from the medical modelof disability, (which they deem to be outmoded and more prone to promote exclusion).The charter states, that according to the social model of disability, barriers to learningand participation arise from the interactions between learners and the learningenvironment or from the nature of the setting itself. This contrasts with a medical modelin which disabilities and difficulties are attributed to inherent deficits in individuals to beidentified and treated as ab natural in segregated settings.The rationale for inclusion is usually posited because children whatever their disabilityor learning difficulty have a part to play in society after school. An early start inmainstream playgroups or nursery schools, followed by education in ordinary schools andcolleges, is the best preparation for an integrated life. Education is part of, not separatefrom, the rest of childrens lives. Disabled children can, and are, being educated inmainstream schools with appropriate support.The imperative for Special Educational Needs children, from an early childhood age on,to be accommodated within mainstream educational settings, is also supported by itsrepresentation as a matter of human rights. The assertion that all children have a right tolearn and not be discriminated against is endorsed by disabled adults who demand an endto segregation right across the social spectrum. Further arguments to support the catameniapolitical posture with regard to mainstreaming SEN children, focus upon the educationalbenefits to those with special needs, suggesting th ey do better academically and socially,as well as assisting educational resources on the whole to be used more efficiently.Moreover, the social imperatives include the conviction that segregation and exclusionteaches children to be ignorant and prejudiced, making the bridge building process ofnormal relationships beyond their grasp and therefore more difficult in later adult life.Finally, it is noted that inclusion confronts deeply held, false beliefs about theimpossibility of ever including all children in mainstream, the supposedly huge expenseof full inclusion, and the so-called sanctity of parental choice.Recent legislation since approximately 1990 has had a profound gear up upon theeducational policies and provision of education for early childhood years SEN children.The Education travel 1993 (section 160) was subsequently consolidated into the EducationAct 1996 (section 316). In 1993 the general principle that children with specialeducational needs should, (where this is wh at parents wanted), normally be educated atmainstream schools was enshrined into law, conditional on school to accommodate needsof both SEN children and mainstreamed children. Moreover, the relation emanatingfrom the UNESCO world conference in Salamanca, Spain in 1994, urged all governmentsto adopt as a matter of law or policy the principle of inclusive education, enrolling allchildren in regular schools, unless there are compelling reasons for doing other wise.The new British government in 1997 published Excellence for All Children Meeting Special Educational Needs, which embodied a strategy to improve standards forpupils with specials educational needs. The policy, Meeting Special Educational Needs A Programme of Action was published in 1998. It undertook to look back the statutory manakin for inclusion in conjunction with the disability Rights Task Force. The TaskForces report From Exclusion to Inclusion published in 1999 recommended astrengthened right for parents of childr en with statements of special educational needs toa stern at a mainstream school.The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 apparently delivered astrengthened right to a mainstream education for children with special educational needs.The Act has amended the Education Act 1996 and transformed the statutory frameworkfor inclusion into a positive endorsement of inclusion. The Act seeks to enable morepupils who have special educational needs to be included successfully within mainstreameducation. One implication is that in theory at least, parents who have early childhoodSEN children have a genuine right to choose either mainstreaming or dedicated SENschooling for their child. In addition to the implementation of these legislative measures,the SEN specialist standards have been designed as an audit tool to help teachers andheadteachers to identify specific training and development needs in relation to the effectiveteaching of pupils with severe and/or complex SEN.The statut ory framework for SEN leaves no doubt that the supposal of the law is thatchildren with special educational needs should be educated in mainstream schools. TheEducation Act 1996, reinforced through an amended regulation inserted by the SEN andDisability Discrimination Act 2001, makes this principle clear Where a statement ofspecial educational needs is maintained for a child, then he or she moldiness be educated in amainstream school, unless that is incompatible with the wishes of his or her parents, orthe provision of efficient education for other children. In so stating, the law formaliseswhat has been increasingly the practice in the majority of LEAs over the last decade.In this context, use of the word inclusion leads frequently to confusion, since the samenoun is also applied to a potbelly of policies designed to secure the full participation in society(social inclusion) of people deemed for a variety of reasons to be at risk. Clearly, not allpupils with SEN are at risk of so cial exclusion, though some are equally clearly, not allchildren at risk of social exclusion have SEN.The process of diagnosis of children for SEN classification is is some ways problematic.According to the Audit Commission (2002), One in five children a total of 1.9 million in England and Wales are considered by their school to have special educational needs(SEN). Despite the significant numbers involved, they have remained low profile ineducation policymaking and public awareness. subject field targets and performance tablesfail to reflect schools work with them and a lack of systematic monitoring by schoolsand local education authorities (LEAs) means that poor practice may go unchallenged.The Wrexham County Borough Council website illustrates the process of diagnosis.Only a small percentage of children with special needs require a statutory assessmentand a statement. The SEN cipher of Practice identifies a staged approach to meeting thespecial needs of children. schools are required to adopt a graduated response to specialneeds that include a range of strategies and varying levels of intervention. As a parentyou should be informed by school if your child has special educational needs and howthese needs are being met. The SEN Code of Practice identifies the stages ofidentification and meeting special educational needs as follows Monitoring, Early YearsAction/School Action , Early Year Action Plus/School Action Plus, Statutory Assessmentand Statement of Special Educational Needs.The existence of an annual review is heartening from a stigmatization and needs equityperspective. Ones childs statement will be reviewed annually. The LEA will notify theschool when your childs review should take place and the school will set the date andorganise the review. The purpose of the review is to look at the progress made over theprevious twelve months in relation to the objectives on the statement.The Derby LEA illustrates the role of statutory authorities. A statutor y assessment is adetailed investigation to find out on the nose what your childs special educational needs areand what special help your child needs. It is only necessary if a mainstream school orearly education setting cant provide all the help that your child needs.Issues pertaining to gender, social class, culture and language have been well addressedbyu Topping. Despite the focus on social and educational inclusion and on joined-upthinking the discourses of SEN and of equal opportunities, in terms of race and gender,have remained distinctly discrete. Although the literature on learning difficulties anddisability sometimes makes reference to social class, the gender or ethnicity (race) ofpupils is rarely mentioned. Similarly, research on ethnicity and gender issues rarelyacknowledges Special Educational Needs (SEN) and disabilities.

The Computer Ethics | Essay

The Computer Ethics EssayThe computer and the net profit is probably the greatest tool that people rely on in the upstart world today. However, they are the most unrestricted form of technology. Identity theft, stealing, fraud, and plagiarizing can now be done electronically and anonymously. There are people in the world that intend to hurt others through the computer. As such, it is pregnant to non only understand a code of ethics to prevent harming yourself and others, precisely to withal develop methods to protect yourself.Code of EthicsIt is of all time important that when in operation(p) a computer that one does not harm other people. Unethical decisions in the work of the computer are as varying and harmful as acts committed directly against other people. The internet is very vast, and it does contain development and data, but it also provides dangers. There are as galore(postnominal) dangerous activities through the internet as outside the computer and then any(pre nominal). Viruses, hacking, committing fraud, plagiarizing can all be done through a computer. Therefore, a code of honor should be established for anyone wishing to use the computer.Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics. The Computer Ethics convey created the Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics.1. chiliad shalt not use a computer to harm other people.2. Thou shalt not interfere with other peoples computer work.3. Thou shalt not snoop around in other peoples computer files.4. Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.5. Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.6. Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you hurt not paid.7. Thou shalt not use other peoples computer resources without authorization or proper compensation.8. Thou shalt not appropriate other peoples intellectual output.9. Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the platform you are writing or the system you are designing.10. Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that insure consid eration and pry for your fellow humans. (Lee)Personal Care. A computer is personal property to the owner, and he or she may do as they wish with the computer. However, a computer is the corresponding as any property such as a house or a car. It is important to reckon care of the computer so that it operates safely as long as possible. This means to avoid any behaviors that would harm the computer or that result harm you. An casing is giving personal information to sites that should not be trusted and could result in identity theft. Maintain an anti-virus software program to prevent virus attacks and always offer and update the Computer. If a computer was a car, the same rule applies. A car should regularly be checked and sent for a tune-up.Respect holding. As always, it is important to take care of your computer. However, it is just as important to respect and properly use other computers. The same old rule applies treat others property as you trust your property to be trea ted. There are several risky behaviors on the computer that can harm it, and should be avoided on another persons computer. As a general rule, treat another computer better than your own. Not only does this apply to a friends personal computer, but also to the computers at school or at the library that provide public access. Remember that access to these computers is a privilege and should be respected.There are several important behaviors to observe when operating a different computer than your own. First, never operate a computer without permission. There may be special circumstances that you may be unaware. Second, always take commodity care of the equipment the keyboard, the mouse, CDs, and hard drive itself. Finally, never download material or do anything potentially harmful to the computer. An illegal act could face trouble for the owner or harm the computer and information it contains.Intellectual PropertyIntellectual property is any creation of the mind. Certain property i s protected under Copyright Law, such asScientific discoveriesWorks of art or literatureInventionsDesignsFilms or television programsTrademarks and namesComputer programsEntertainmentThe internet and Intellectual Property. As mentioned several times, the profit is a source of a vast amount of information. The Internet is not a library or book, the Internet is for the most part unmanaged, unedited, unsupervised anyone can post information on Internet for all to see. (Emmans) Information or creative works are not limited to copyright protected companies or organizations. Anyone can place information or creative work on the Internet. There are no physical boundaries to protect against the infringement of copyright. With free access to the Internet, any user may steal information anonymously and claim it as their own and this makes Intellectual Property almost unenforceable on the Internet.Protecting Against Plagiarism. Fortunately, there are tools available on the Internet to ensure users that they properly give credit to the information on the Internet. First, many sites available assist school-age childs in creating the proper citations for their sources. Good exemplifications of these include Easybib and Citationmachine. These sites allow the user to enter the information of the source that they used, from either the Internet or elsewhere, and the device creates the proper citation. Jus the same, there are websites available to check the authenticity of a source of information, either a website or another type of information. An example is Turnitin.com, which allows t from each oneers to analyze students work for plagiarized information. Other sites can be used to find if other website is credible or not. Finally, databases are an excellent tool for student or researchers. Databases contain well-documented articles from professional journals to even whole books, while also providing the source information. Any student should take advantage of the tools av ailable on the Internet to properly cite information and to find real sites.Placing Information on the Internet. When placing items on the Internet always make sure that the source of the information or media is cited. Also, when running a website, always include information to the ownership of the site and when it was updated. In this way, people can cite your website if they wish. Also, when maintaining a website, update regularly and maintain the site constantly. A website that has not been updated in years or does not have the proper links does not appear to be a good website.Limiting AccessFree Speech. In American, everyone has a right to free speech, but where does this cross the line on the Internet? While people have a freedom of speech, there are limits in the physical world. For example, a person cannot slander or falsify against someone that will harm them. For example, claiming that a political opponent stole money from the treasury when this is not true is illegal. Howe ver, in the realm of the Internet, where there are no boundaries or enforcement, anything that can be said is said without punishment.The Internet is an excellent source of information, but as said before, websites should be evaluated before they are considered trustworthy or capable. An excellent example is Wikipedia, a free-access reference site. The site is well maintained and there is plenty of information with credible sources. However, anyone can edit a page on Wikipedia, and some of the facts may be false if not blatantly. In addition, on the Internet, there is a large amount of media, music, videos and images, even derogatory images and videos. Given that there is free-access, children may accidentally find these inappropriate images from innocent searches.Schools and Libraries. Schools and Libraries can help protect students and children from unrestricted access to the Internet. School and Library servers can now be fitted with restrictions that will block harmful or inappr opriate websites. For students, this is very helpful in keeping them from exploring harmful sites while still having access to find information. In Libraries, it is important to protect the computers and restrictions on the internet help in this task, since many people come and go on the computers. (Emmans)Parental Control. Still the best protection for children is paternal oversight. Children should not operate the computer or navigate the Internet themselves. This should also be applied to teenagers. Cindy Emman writes, A minor walking into a store to resolve to buy pornography can be stopped a minor logging into the Internet can easily pose as an adult no one is the wiser. Parents should monitor teens use of the computer and teach their children proper use of the internet. (Emmans)ConclusionThere are many concerns for the use of the computers. There are many harms that are created by others and there are harms created by the operator. Fortunately, there are methods developing to defend against harmful viruses, internet theft, and plagiarizing. The key for the prosperity of the computer is that each owner of the computer exhibits proper behavior, and anyone can turn to the Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics as a guide. Remember never do anything that would harm another.

A World Without Cars Essay -- Environment Pollution Ecology Essays

A World Without CarsJames Q. Wilson the author of the phrase Cars and Their Enemies briefly ponders the possibility of our innovation without personal railcars. He speculates whether our current society would welcome the invention of the personal automobile into a fictitious world without cars. Wilson immediately answers no. Wilson knows, as umteen well-informed individuals and experts do, that the personal automobile is responsible for contributing to pollution, destruction of rural and wilderness land, and depletion of natural resources. And an advanced society such as we live in today would not likely choose to burden our health, land, and resources for the sake of luxury and thingmajig, or at the very least, the personal automobile would not be as accessible as it is today. Because, in all reality, our current society does embrace inventions that compromise our societys well-being such as oil and chemical refineries, pesticides, and even convenience foods such as fast food a nd many refined prepackaged foods. Wilsons opinions in his article, Cars and Their Enemies and discussions I have had on-line in the 305 class about Wilsons article have demonstrated to me that the personal automobile is an example of how many people are unwilling to acknowledge how personal convenience and luxury contribute to the disablement of our world. Wilsons encouragement to the readers of his article to imagine life as we presently know it without the automobile begins with Wilson outlining exactly why the personal automobile is destructible in so many ways. He points out that academic and social critics believe that cars burn fuel inefficiently (304) ejecting large amounts of unpleasant gases into the air (304) vast quantiti... ... of the personal automobile has damaged and continues to damage our world certainly provides a more informed awareness. Awareness, knowledge, and understanding possibility can lead to solutions to work towards improving the world we currently l ive in and the world in the future. However, I feel that it is a battle between selfish and personal desires and the urgent needs of our society and world. sluice if an increased awareness and desire to work towards alleviation of the problems of pollution, outward expansion, and depletion of natural resources occurs, Im afraid, as time goes by, it is becoming increasingly too late. I think the cliche, hindsight is 20/20 is certainly applicable here. Works CitedWilson, James Q. Cars and Their Enemies. The Presence of Others. Ed. Lunsford, Andrea A., and John J. Ruskiewicz. Boston Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 303-313.

How to Research Your Family Tree :: Free Expository Process Essays

How to Re attempt Your Family treeDo you constantly wonder who your ancestors were? Do you ever wonder if youre related to anyone famous in history? I would guess that at most geological period you have pondered these questions. I know that I have. only when how do you find out who your ancestors were and what they were like? Genealogy is the study of your ancestors and their descendants. In the last few years I havebecome very interested in family tree and want to start researching my family history. With very limited experience in the field, where would I start? I figured that I could get at least some information from the Internet, so that is where I went.My home page on the Internet is by dint of ALL so I started with its weathervane page (www.aol.com). On the weave page is a direct link to genealogy areas of ALL and links to other sites on the web. On ALL sites, Genealogy Community Center, you can search for surnames by home pages that are linked to ALL. Of course, you c an just about imagine that with all the surnames out there this might be a bar task. Its not, if you know what you are looking for. Of all the web sites, I visited every one said work backwards from what you know to what you dont know. I started with the farthest point I could remember. I began by searching for the surname Walker. There are thousand of links to Walker families, so I chose a few that looked promising. I went to http//voyager.dvc.edu/bmckinney/www.sisna.com/users/ryoung/walker/wgaf22.html. This site has an extensive history on Walker families. Names, birth dates, and death dates are all part of the information that is provided. The hardest part of genealogy is duplicate names to names and birth dates to birth dates to get accurate information. If you locate that information, it can lead you to people you didnt know about. But the challenge is getting through the thousands of names that come up.I decided that I really needed to narrow my search so I tried a different web site that could help me. I went to Ancestry.com (http//voyager.dvc.edu/bmckinney/www.ancestry.com). This web site offers searches of large databases such as the Social Security Death Index. The web site is not only when free. You can use several of the databases to get information you may need but to use the large databases like birth records, death records, and obituaries you have to be a member of the web site.