Are the Beliefs and Traditions of the Catholic Church Outdated for Research Paper

Are the Beliefs and Traditions of the Catholic Church Outdated for Todays Culture and Society - Research Paper Example And the Church’s cover-up of perverted priests who rape and molest young children is evil and has no place in today’s world. For all of these reasons, the Catholic Church, and the Church’s teachings, does not have a realistic place in today’s society, except for the teachings which are aligned with Jesus, which are based on loving and respecting one another. Discussion The Catholic Church is outmoded in today’s society because of their firm opposition to gay marriage. For instance, a Catholic School teacher was fired in Minnesota, simply because she believed in same-sex marriage (Sobel, 2012). The opposition to homosexual acts is rooted in The Bible, Leviticus 20:13 is the scripture upon which religious institutions base their opposition to homosexuality in general, and same-sex marriage in particular, for this passage states that a man who lies with another man is committing an abomination. However, to be consistent in their religious teachings, th e Catholic Church must abide by all of the scriptures in this Book, or none at all. If one scripture can be said to be irrelevant, or not apply, because the scripture was only referring to ancient times, then the same must be said for all of the Biblical passages. Biblical passages must not be sorted through and religions cannot pick and choose which scripture to enforce, and which ones to ignore. Therefore, some Biblical passages must be illuminated to show the inconsistency of using the Leviticus passage to justify The Catholic Church’s discriminatory response to homosexuals and gay marriage. The most obvious example of an outmoded scripture is Exodus 35:2, which states that the seventh day must be kept holy, and a day to worship the lord, and whoever works on this day shall be put to death. There is not a religious institution in the world, presumably, who follows this edict, and imagine the society that would. Doctors, fire fighters, emergency workers – none of the se individuals would be allowed to work if this Biblical passage would not be followed. Therefore, one better not have a heart attack on a Sunday, one better not accidentally set their house on fire on that day, one better not be a victim of a crime on that day, and one better not get into an accident on this day, because nobody should be allowed to work. The doctors who care for the sick, the firefighters who put out fires, and the police who catch criminals on Sunday should all be put to death for violating the edict regarding the Sabbath. Ridiculous? Well, as noted above, either all scriptures are taken literally or none of them are. If this scripture regarding the Sabbath cannot be taken literally, or dismissed as being antiquated, then so must the scripture regarding the two men who lie with one another. Moreover, the Catholic Church’s discriminatory stance against same-sex marriage has led to another situation where individuals are treated as other or less-than, and not allowed to marry a person of their choice, just because the Catholic Church and other churches teach that this is wrong. This essentially takes the nation back to the days before Loving v. Virginia, 388 US 1 (1967), which is the United States Supreme Court case which stated that anti-miscegenation statutes are an unconstitutional restriction on the freedom to marry. Before this case, states had laws on the books making interracial fornicating a crime, along with miscegenation. The arguments against miscegenation were that such

Cadbury Schweppes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Cadbury Schweppes - Essay Example Aside from pivoting around these two elements, its responsible role is backed by CSR vision and strategy. Additionally, Cadbury Schweppes responsible role comes from the systems it has in place along with the company's pledge to live by its values. Through these steps the company strives to promote a brand that people love.1 The idea of promoting a brand that people love is fuelled by the idea that the more people love the brand, the more likely it is for Cadbury Schweppes to retain their position and do even better. In order to promote a brand that people love, the company listens to what people want. The company also learns from its past experiences with products that people easily take to. Through this simple process, Cadbury Schweppes has managed to successfully launch many products in the global market, as they know what people want.2 Acting responsibly is one aspect that Cadbury Schweppes continues to emphasize on. This aspect has permitted the company to place great value on its shareowners. This has allowed the company to put further thought into its CSR strategy that has Five Pillars. These include: Cadbury Schweppes continues to renew its commitments towards responsible growth of its business. Renewed commitments allows the company to be prepared for future CSR journey, which is termed as the company's 'Goals and Commitments on Sustainability.' Cadbury Schweppes has goals set for each of its Five Pillars for CSR strategy that is in sync with its approach to sustainability.3 The Problem Cadbury Faces Currently: Until recently, Cadbury Schweppes had little problem with its reputation. However, in June 2006, questions were raised regarding the ethical standards and social responsibility that the company preached for so long. According to the health department, Cadbury Schweppes has circulated stock that was contaminated4. This was discovered because of few cases of food poisoning that were traced back to Cadbury Schweppes. It was discovered that there was a leaking waste pipe that dripped some contaminants into Cadbury Schweppes' chocolate fudge. This is one of the ingredients used in many Cadbury products. After the investigation, it was determined that Cadbury Schweppes stood to lose 20 m because they had to recall the stock that was affected by the contamination5. Aside from the financial loss, there is also a risk of the company losing the trust of many customers. A Strategy to Counter Cadbury's Contamination Issue: Given that there are other top companies in the market today that have suffered breakdowns in ethical procedures, Cadbury Schweppes can recover from its position. It must be remembered that there are two things that Cadbury Schweppes stands to lose with its contamination issue; 20 m in circulated stock, and the trust of its customers. By already delaying recalling this circulated stock Cadbury has done itself damage. The strategy that Cadbury needs to adopt is: saving the company from long-term damage.6 Strategy Implementation: In order to save itself from long-term damage, Cadbury Schweppes

Performance Related Pay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Performance Related Pay - Essay Example A critical look at performance pay however points to the fact that this method utilizes only performance as the determinant factor. It neglects other important determinants of pay such as no knowledge and skills, educational background and orientation, possession of relevant experience and other extraneous factors that play equally important roles in determining the amount of salary. The performance pay system may sometimes lack proper control system therefore giving superiors unwarranted control over the system. The system relies on money as the sole motivator hence it assumes that workers are so interested in monetary gains such that they will increase production as long as they are paid for it. However there exists checks and balances which if put in place will make the implementation process of this system all much easier and acceptable to the employees. Many organizations have turned into the performance pay system as their basis of rewarding, reviewing salaries as well as for job evaluation. Also many organizations have resorted into the performance pay system in order to motivate their employees who achieve outstanding and exemplary results. The pay system just like many others is vulnerable to abuse and misuse. Research has shown that there have been many cases of discrimination and segregation, which happens in organization as a direct result of an employee's gender, colour, race, political orientation as well as religious affiliation. Performance Pay and Unfair Discrimination When discrimination is applied to employees, it contributes to de-motivation and therefore affecting output. Countries have put in place anti discrimination laws to check on arbitrary and unfair discrimination against employees. Discrimination can be in various forms such as, on gender, race, nationality, marital status, ideology, political inclination, disability or religious affiliation. Anti discrimination laws protect employees and ensures that they are treated in respect to terms entered in the contract of employment. Employers should ensure equal pay regardless of individual backgrounds or circumstances. Equal pay is different from identical pay in that the latter depends on other factors such as length of service and age. Discrimination can either be direct, i.e., whereby and employer treats a person less favourably than others on the grounds of sex, marital status or race. Indirect discrimination occurs whereby the effect of a condition of employment is discriminatory. Employers should offer or make adjustments to working conditions in order to ensure that vulnerable groups are not at a disadvantage and thus they can perform or deliver like the rest of the employees. Victimization should be eliminated for it will affect the output of the victim and eventually lead to unfair reward. Management of companies can use the performance pay system as a human resource strategy in order to attract and retain the best employees. There is a significant relationship between pay and performance in order for organization to attract appropriate staff their pay must look relatively attractive. While it is in the interest of most employees to earn the best salaries possible it is worthy noting that the interest of employer and employee significantly differ. For the employer the interest is more on employee performance hence they will not mind paying more in order to getting more

Sky broadband Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sky broadband - Essay Example In theory and practice, IMC strategies are aimed at combining or integrating the elements of the communication mix, such as advertising and public relations in order to create a balanced and consistent marketing communications message that strengthens the brand. IMC, if managed correctly gives an organization a competitive advantage because of its cost effectiveness and its ability to maximize the impact of its product and services development and the communication of the organization's messages within the marketplace (Ireland, 2002). There is no shared definition of integrated marketing communications in the scholarly literature, but the tenets of IMC have been adopted by businesses globally, and scholars do agree on the theoretical underpinnings of the IMC model (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004). The literature offers some outlines for conceptual frameworks that can guide agencies and organisations to ensure an effective implementation of an integrated marketing communications program (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004). According to Fitzpatrick (2005), "... According to Fitzpatrick (2005), "one of the defining features of IMC is that it uses all forms of communication and all sources of brand or company contacts as prospective message delivery channels. The ultimate goal is to influence buying behavior through directed persuasive communication targeted to a broad range of stakeholders that influence brand image and organizational reputation" (p.94). Scholars and practitioners of marketing communications believe that the increase in the number of communication channels, media fragmentation, segmentation of consumer preferences, sophistication of consumer databases and analysis, and importance of relationship building to strengthen brand image has forced institutions to consider and adopt a more sophisticated, strategic, and integrated marketing communications effort (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004). Integrated marketing communications has evolved from a concept of bundling all of an institution's communications in order to speak with one voice, to a strategic management effort that utilizes detailed consumer information to develop relevant communication (Kim, Han, & Schultz, 2004). Kim, Han, and Schultz (2004) stress the need for organizations to speak to their consumers with an integrated approach because today's consumers are not dependent on organizations to provide them with information. Technology has helped to fragment the current media environment and to increase the speed of information gathering. The result is that consumers are able to integrate their product information consumption without the aid of the organization. In addition to message integration, effective IMC must be supported by marketing budgets and appropriate staffing, skills, and

Animal studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Animal studies - Essay Example The quality of a clinical trial is vital and thus the scientist should assign control and experimental subjects randomly. This reduces the occurrence of bias and favoritism. Blinding of participants and researchers is also of great importance as concerns the treatment being given. Single-blind studies involve the blinding of participants while double-blind involves the blinding of both participants and researchers. Epidemiological studies, on the other hand, involve the observation (Thompson & Melinda 33). They are important in the studying phenomena in large populations and the determination of the factors which may be of influence on the phenomena. They indicate the relationships inherent between these factors but do not give a suggestion for data linkage to cause and effect. When conducting a clinical trial, the scientist needs to consider several things. He needs to set up both experimental and control groups, in which the experimental group is administered with the intervention while the control group is not (Thompson & Melinda 34). After the experiment is complete, the two results are compared. In an ideal situation, the researcher should design an experiment where the participants in the study are assigned to either the control or experimental groups randomly. This randomization aids in avoiding the elimination of any errors that may result from participant favoritism, and to make sure that the two groups are similar for the characteristics and factors that are under study.... The experimental group is given the intervention under study while this is not the case with the control group. After experiments on both groups are done, their responses are compared. The quality of a clinical trial is vital and thus the scientist should assign control and experimental subjects randomly. This reduces the occurrence of bias and favouritism. Blinding of participants and researchers is also of great importance as concerns the treatment being given. Single blind studies involve the blinding of participants while double blind involves the blinding of both participants and researchers. Epidemiological studies, on the other hand, involve the observation (Thompson & Melinda 33). They are important in the studying phenomena in large populations and the determination of the factors which may be of influence on the phenomena. They indicate the relationships inherent between these factors but do not give a suggestion for data linkage to cause and effect (Thompson & Melinda 33). When conducting a clinical trial, the scientist needs to consider several things. He needs to set up both experimental and control groups, in which the experimental group is administered with the intervention while the control group is not (Thompson & Melinda 34). After the experiment is complete, the two results are compared. In an ideal situation, the researcher should design an experiment where the participants in the study are assigned to either the control or experimental groups randomly. This randomization aids in avoiding the elimination of any errors that may result from participant favouritism, and to make sure that the two groups are similar for the characteristics and factors that are under study. The

Adelphia Scandal and Worldcom Scandal Essay Example for Free

Adelphia Scandal and Worldcom Scandal Essay Basic Questions 1. Rigas Entities were entities that shared a common cash management system with Adelphia and Adelphia subsidiaries, which Adelphia controlled and operated. Since the scandal broke, it is commonly referred as off-the-book entities. 2. EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) is essentially net income with interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization added back to it, and can be used to analyze and compare profitability between companies and industries because it eliminates the effects of financing and accounting decisions.-from Investopedia 3. Self-dealing basically refers to when directors of a company improperly uses company finances or resource for personal gain. This can include directors taking company loans that the directors do not intend to repay, using company money for extraordinary personal use, or using company property for personal gain. See more: Is the Importance of being earnest a satirical play essay Advanced Questions 1. Both Adelphia scandal and WorldCom scandal were not prevented by company’s external auditor, though Deloitte and Touche and Arthur Andersen both rated their client as high risk. As for the differences, Adelphia did not have an independent internal auditor. However, WorldCom had an independent internal auditor and blows the whistle. 2. I will say Deloitte and Touche is most responsible for not detecting and stopping. As an external auditor, they should pay attention to organizations financial records and examine on any mistakes or fraud. At least, Deloitte and Touche should have stopped Timothy Rigas from serving as CFO and Director of Adelphia’s Accounting Committee. After all, it was obviously against the rules. 3. Timothy Rigas received a reasonable prison sentence as we can see from the WorldCom case; Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years. As for John Rigas, a former CEO who was guilty of more than 15 counts of fraud. Rationally speaking, it seems to be a fair judgment. However, it sounds too rough to keep an old man who has been suffered from cancer in jail.

Data Storage for Art Gallery

Data Storage for Art Gallery Executive Summary This assignment is based upon an Art Gallery. Being the system analyst and designer the art gallery is hopeful I demonstrate professionalism and propose a computerized cataloging system which they require. Currently the Art Gallery has 8 exhibition rooms where they display art items from around the word. These items dont only belong to the Art Gallery but by other owners, be it other galleries or private collectors. These items are borrowed to enhance the exhibition rooms which change exhibits every 3 months. The gallery is lead by a curator and 6 assistant curators to see about its daily operations. One of the major issues of the art gallery is the paper based form which they use to keep record exhibits in storage or in exhibition, in addition and borrowing and returning of items to their respective owners. There are several technologies available in which these paper forms can be transferred directly into the catalogue system which I am designing for the art gallery. These technologies would be reviewed and the best suited technology would be recommended for the transfer of the paper forms to the computerized system. In building this catalogue it is required that only the curator and assistant curators have read, write, edit and delete functions once the system is properly installed. These functions would be given with discretion to the user according to rank i.e. the curator would be given access to the entire catalogue system granting him permissions to all CRUD functions whereas the 6 assistant curators would have specific access and could only delete certain items in the system. This is required for security issues. In this proposal submitted must be a prototype interface so the users can see how the system would look before the interchange from the current paper based system to the computerized catalogue. The prototype would demonstrate the following functions: Adding a new item Editing item details Searching for the location of an item Listing items due for return This system would make the curator and assistant curators demonstrate efficiency and effectiveness in the art gallery as it is a step into the modern way or storing data which is used by many businesses worldwide. Unified Modelling Language, or UML, is a set of diagrammatic techniques, which are specifically tailored for object-oriented development, and which have become an industry standard for modelling object-oriented systems. In developing this cataloguing system for the art gallery, specialized diagrams would be used to model the system throughout the development process. These diagrams would represent part of the system but not the whole thing. Some of the diagrams that would be shown are: use case diagrams use case specifications activity diagrams class diagrams sequence diagrams state machines communication diagrams Use Case Diagrams Use case diagrams are description of the system from the users point of view. This would entail an actor, use case and system boundary. Three use case diagrams are presented to the art gallery to the show some functional requirements of the system but not the whole system. The art gallery system, maintaining the art list and returning the art item are demonstrated below. This use case describes all the functions carried out in the art gallery system which includes all the actors from the curator, assistant curator, owner and the public. Some of the use cases include maintain art list, maintain owner list, maintain exhibition, manage store rooms, borrow and returning of art. Maintain Art list is a function carried out by the curator. This use case was generated from the Art Gallery System use case in figure 1. It extends to describe the description of what the curator could do in the cataloguing system, which are CRUD functions. Returning of art is a function which the assistant curator performs. This use case was developed from the Art Gallery System in Figure 1 and gives a details listing of the function the assistant curator can perform. Use Case Specification The use case description is a narrative description of the functional requirements from the use case. It describes the use case goal and gives the description of what usually happens and the normal course of events. Following are the use case specifications from the previous use case diagrams. Use Case: Maintain Art List Actors: Curator Goal: Managing the entire art list Description: The curator logs into the system, the user name and password is verified. Access is granted and the curator continues to function. A search is carried out on a particular art ID to ensure it does not exist, once affirmed the curator may create the new record with all the art details required. Other functions granted to the curator are update, delete and print functions which follow along the same line. Once the curator is finished with the particular functions so desired he then logs out the system. Use Case: Maintain Art List Actors: Curator Goal: Managing the entire art list Overview: The curator logs into the system, the user name and password is verified. Access is granted and the curator continues to function. A search is carried out on a particular art ID to ensure it does not exist, once affirmed the curator may create the new record with all the art details required. Other functions granted to the curator are update, delete and print functions which follow along the same line. Once the curator is finished with the particular functions so desired he then logs out the system. Typical course of events: Alternative courses: Step 6 the art information may already exist in the system in the event of adding a new art item and may choose a new art ID. Use Case: Returning Art Actor: Assistant Curator Goal: To return art to respective owner Description: The assistant curator logs into the system, the user name and password is verified. A search is carried to verify all items that are due. The list is obtained and the assistant curator/s may contact the respective owner making them aware the due date is soon. The contract is ended for borrowing the art item, a report is printed and the art is returned. Once successful the assistant curator logs out. Use Case: Returning Art Actor: Assistant Curator Goal: To return art to respective owner Overview: The assistant curator logs into the system, the user name and password is verified. A search is carried to verify all items that are due. The list is obtained and the assistant curator/s may contact the respective owner making them aware the due date is soon. The contract is ended for borrowing the art item, a report is printed and the art is returned. Once successful the assistant curator logs out. Typical course of events: Description: The art gallery system includes the daily operations of the art gallery; this includes the maintaining art list, owners list and exhibition carried out by the curator. The assistant curators also maintain the exhibition rooms, the storage rooms and carry out the functions of borrowing and returning the art items. The owner of the art items are also included in the borrowing and returning of the items and viewing the exhibitions in conjunction with the public. Activity Diagrams Activity diagrams show the internal flow of control in a process. Activity diagrams can be used to represent sequence, selection and iteration and they can also illustrate where all activities can be carried out in parallel. According to IBM.com Activity diagrams are helpful in the following phases of a project: Before starting a project, you can create activity diagrams to model the most important workflows. During the requirements phase, you can create activity diagrams to illustrate the flow of events that the use cases describe. During the analysis and design phases, you can use activity diagrams to help define the behaviour of operations. This diagram shows the activity of events in swim lanes with the assistant curator, art list and the owner. It shows the process of the activity of events taking place in the returning process. Class Diagrams The class diagram is central to object-oriented analysis and design, it defines both the software architecture. It is used to model classes and the relationships between classes, and also to model higher-level structures comprising collections of classes grouped into packages. The class diagram appears through successive iterations at every stage in the development process. Designed are class diagrams illustrating the super class, hierarchy and attributes and operations for the proposed catalogue system for the Art Gallery. Transfer Methods Currently the Art Gallery stores and processes all information on paper based forms which outlines the name, location, owner, value of art, due date, etc. This system could cause problems in finding location of art items and generating due dates because of the frequent change in the exhibitions and in storage. The Art Gallery wishes to fully change this paper based style and produce a catalogue which would improve the efficiency and effectiveness in the work place that would entail the same information from the paper forms. The system would also grant permission to only the Curator and Assistant Curators to have read, write, edit and delete functions. In order to commence this catalogue all the paper forms must be transferred to the computerised system. There are many techniques in which this catalogue could be created, but only the most efficient one would be chosen as it is critical to implement this system. These techniques range from human data entry, document scanning and even voice recognition tools. The mentioned techniques and technologies would be compared and contrasted where only the best option would be chosen to perform the functions needed. Human Data Entry Beginning with the very basic and most popular way of entering information into a system is human data entry. This operation is fully dependant on the data entry clerk or in the Art Gallerys case the assistant curator to read the document and manually key information from the paper forms into the catalogue on the computer system. This process would be strenuous and lengthy as it is a fully manual process. There are only six assistant curators employed at the Art Gallery and this would be highly impossible to implement in a short period. The curators not only have to borrow and return art items, but mange the store rooms and exhibitions so time would be limited in such, to perform data entry. It is assumed that if this technique is chosen at least two of the assistant curators would perform the functions of keying the information into the system. Therefore this option is not best suited for the art gallery due to time constraint and the amount forms that would be re-processed even though a specific number of records wasnt given, it is alleged that there are a profound amount of documents to be entered into the catalogue. Advantages of Human Data Entry Method requires simple software systems and low-end computing hardware Less costly in the sense of hardware and software in addition depending on cost of manpower A large number of PCs would be available for use after census Disadvantages of Human Data Entry Requires more staff Time consuming compared to automated data entry Human errors may consist Standardisation of operations is difficult as performance may be individually dependant Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) According to tiscali.co.uk OMR is a technique that enables marks made in predetermined positions on a computer input form be detected optically and input to a computer. Optical Mark Recognition is used to process data entry form in various institutes and companies. This technology shines a light beam onto the document and is able to detect the marks filled from check boxes and fill-in fields on a printed form, and then the software interprets the output from the scan and translates it to the desired format, bearing in mind the use of a keyboard is nonexistent. OMR is best applicable for processing large number of hand filled forms which are needed to be processed quickly and accurately, which may include survey reply cards, questionnaires and ballots. The speed of OMR is very fast as it could process approximately 85-130 pages per minute and up to 4000 pages per hour depending on the type of machine used. Advantages of Optical Mark Recognition Improved data accuracy Faster than human data entry Capture speeds around 4000 forms per hour Equipment is relatively inexpensive as costs are predictable and defined It is simple to install and run Well established technology that is used by many countries Disadvantages of Optical Mark Recognition There are restrictions as to form design Restrictions on type of paper and ink OMR cannot recognise hand written or machine printed characters Images are not captured by scanners so electronic retrieval is not possible Response boxes should be correctly marked with appropriate pen or pencil The Art Gallery forms are hand written documents and OMR technology doesnt recognise hand written documents therefore this technology is at fault with the requirements of the Art Gallery. Even though this technology has many advantages and of its use worldwide, another type of technology must be considered for transferring the paper based forms to the computerized system. Optical Character Recognition According to wisegeek.com Optical Character recognition is the process of converting printed or hand written materials into text or word processing files that can be easily stored and edited. All OCR systems require hardware and software for analysing the images. A scanners is used to scan the text on a page, then breaks the fonts into a series of dots called bitmap in addition it reads most common font and can determine where lines start and stop. The bitmap is then translated to computer text. This technology fits the requirements of the Art Gallery as it is able to read hand written documents. There have been a lot of advances to this technology over the years as to improve the recognition of handwriting or fonts similar to hand writing. As we observed before in human data entry if we wanted to document one of the forms which is currently used by the Art Gallery someone would have to manually type the document word for word, but with OCR you just scan the document and it could be converted to several formats such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PDF or HTML. OCR would save a lot of time as it is fast in reading documents, just scan a document and it would be ready in seconds. A lot of businesses have chosen this technology as it cuts time in producing a document which would usually take days to complete can now be accomplished in a minute. As stated in the scenario the documents which the Art Gallery has are neatly handwritten characters which are easy to read so the problems with recognising font wouldnt be of a problem to hinder the operations carried out by this technique. Advantages of Optical Character Recognition Quicker processing, up to 60 sheets per minute Savings in costs and efficiencies by not having the paper questionnaires Scanning and recognition allowed efficient management and planning for the rest of the processing workload Reduced long term storage requirements, hard copy documentation could be destroyed after the initial scanning, recognition and repair Quick retrieval for editing and reprocessing Minimizes errors associated with physical handling of the questionnaires Disadvantages of Optical Character Recognition Higher costs of equipment High calibre IT staff required to support the system Handwriting on census forms be as close as possible to the model handwriting to avoid recognition error Possibility for error during character substitution which would affect data quality Tuning of recognition engine to accurately recognize characters is critical with trade-off between quality and cost Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) Intelligent Character Recognition is sometimes compared with Optical Mark Recognition because of their similarities, but the difference with ICR is its advancement in recognition patterns allowing the technology to recognise all fonts and different styles of handwriting. This technology also allows automatic updates to the recognition of new hand writing patterns in its database. This technology is best suited for the transferring of the forms in the Art Gallery because it would recognise the handwriting on the forms without any editing taking place. The process of documenting the forms to the computerised system would entail the form being scanned; the data is captured then analyzed and translated using ICR software that enables pattern-matching and automatic indexing. Just like OCR the data could be transferred into several formats such as Word, Excel, Access, PDF, XML etc. According to managedoutsource.com some features and benefits of using ICR are: Can recognize any text of a form or a check Allows manual key boarding reduction or deletion Maximum process automation of documents Recognize text regardless of its specific typeface, style or size. Batch processing Automated updating, reports display and automated mass spectra interpretation Automatic checking of the information against databases and dictionaries Costs reduction for your business Because of the similarity with ICR and OCR the advantages and disadvantages may be the same. Therefore the following disadvantages are reiterations of OCR disadvantages as described earlier. Recommendation Voice recognition technology is another aspect of converting the paper based forms to the computerized system but due to all the training involved in this technology only the fastest and most reliable techniques were discussed. It is recommended that the museum use the Intelligent Character Recognition method for the transfer of the forms to the computerized system. Even though it is stated that the forms are easy to read and in standard English the Optical Character Recognition would have been the ideal choice, but doesnt know what the future holds while the process is actually being implemented and what errors may occur. One of the major downfalls the company would face with the ICR technology is its cost. This equipment quite costly and the budget of the Art Gallery are unknown. Instead of buying the machine it could be rented at a cheaper cost, because this technology is only being used to transfer the old forms and nothing further. This would result in a more economical status for the museum. Another form is to buy the machine and rent it out to other businesses who demand the use of this technology for the same purpose. The income generated from the ICR machine could be used in the borrowing of the art items from other galleries and private collectors. Prototype User Interface According to agilemodeling.com a prototype user interface is an iterative technique where users are involved in the development of the User Interface for the system. Since the actual system isnt necessary to demonstrate to the users all desired are snapshots of the designed prototype interface. Includes are the searching for the location of an item, editing an items details, adding a new item and listing the due for return to their owners by a selected date. In the searching process there are two options available to the user, by either entering the Art ID or browsing the current collection with the option of choosing the item type or by selecting the item. Once an option of choice is chosen the art details would be listed below. In the art item details there would be the name of the item what type of art it is, and its current location, further information could be granted to either see what exhibition room or store room it is located in. This form is designed to add a new art item into the catalogue. It gives the option of entering all the art details into the form, once completed the curator has the option of going to another record and view all records in the catalogue or add another record in the system, once completed the curator could close the form. This image is similar to adding the art information; the only difference is the editing aspect. The curator and assistant curators have specific functions where editing is concerned. First they search the record by browsing through the forms and choose the edit button to make changes to the art information. Once completed the new information is automatically saved then the user can close the form. Generating due dates is a function which the assistant curator does in the returning of an art item process. The assistant curator has two options of searching for the due dates. Either by entering a desired date and then the catalogue would list all the due art items on that particular day or by entering an art id which would display the due date of the item. When the search is completed the assistant curator could then print out a report of the information gathered or close the form and continue with the returning art item process. Security Issues Security is a continuous process of protecting an object from unauthorized access. It is as a state of being or feeling protected from harm. That object in that state may be a person, an organization or property such as a computer system. Many businesses suffer the loss of their business due to lack of security. Security doesnt only have to be securing the computer system of the Art Gallery but also its physical surroundings. Objects in the art gallery can either be tangible or non-tangible, tangible objects being hardware and paintings, and intangible being information and data in the system that the art gallery depends on for its continuation. There Art Gallery has many art items which are on loan from different galleries and private collectors which may be priceless or one of a kind art work so losing this could cost the art gallery fortunes. Listed below are the possible threats to security to the art gallery system. Physical Security This may vary in different ways, if there is poor security measures such as little or no implementation of swipe cards, biometrics, security guards, surveillance cameras and identification cards, this may result in a negative effect on the company as there may be imposters wishing to harm the operations of the business. Businesses sometimes think if securing your computer with anti-virus and firewalls would help secure your business but the little things like an unauthorized person gaining access to the building and removing the server, stealing hardware or by vandalizing equipment could make businesses suffer continuity. Therefore the Art Gallery should have proper implementation security guards, surveillance cameras, swipe cards and other media to help with securing the exhibition rooms and store rooms in the Art Gallery. Physical Attacks Physical attacks may result in the event of malicious activity, natural disasters or it may be an accident these attacks results from denial of service. Listed are some physical attacks that may be harmful to the Art Gallery: Fire destruction of art and equipment Water flooding or leaks in the art gallery Electrical Power Surges Temperature air condition failure Natural Disasters Hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. Equipment Failure failure in servers, surveillance cameras, swipe readers. Tampering of equipment With respect to the physical attacks once proper planning and prevention of the above mentioned are complied with the art gallery may be protected against any harmful measures. Faulty Software Faulty software may be unintentional mishaps, it doesnt necessary means sabotage in a business but manufacture problems. These could occur if there is a glitch in the Operating System causing it to malfunction; software was misconfigured during installation or database software malfunction or exploitable weakness. Malicious Software Malicious software is software designed to destroy a computer system without the owners informed consent. Malicious software could be developed by hackers or internal employees in the workplace. Some malicious software may include Computer Viruses Worms Trojan Horse Logic Bomb Hackers toolkit Spyware Dishonest adware Crime ware These malicious software can be contracted due to illegal use of the company internet for personal use other than work related or implanted into the system intentionally. Unauthorised Access Unauthorized Access may take form in different forms. A common way of unauthorized access is by leaving a system logged on and walking away from your desk, another co-worker may intentionally spy on your computer and steal information this is also called eavesdropping. Counter authentication is another form of unauthorised access which may include individuals guessing passwords, password interception, password cracking and session replay. Session Hijacking is the exploitation of a valid computer session to gain access to information or services in a computer system. Denial of Service Denial of service is designed to interrupt normal system functions and affect legitimate users to access the system. Hostile users send a flood of fake requests to a server making the connection impossible to establish. This may result in significant server downtime and financial loss for many companies. All these mentioned security issues are threats to the art gallery; even though some attacks are based on a networked system it is assumed that the Art Gallery would implement a network for the computerised system. Consequences to breach of security According to the threats discussed earlier they play serious threats to the Art Gallery. Once the art gallery has a breach in security it could harm the continuity of the business depending on the level of attack. Firstly starting off with physical attacks, a natural disaster can destroy the entire building with all the exhibits and computers which could terminate the continuation of the business continuity. Other physical attacks like flooding and fire may harm the business but it could be prevented or stopped once proper implementation of fire extinguishers and proper storage of computer system and art exhibits a secured. The difference is a natural disaster is sometime unpredictable. The loss of vital information pertaining to the catalogue with the owner details of art, and information could eventually result in physical theft of art items in the gallery. Some items in the art gallery may be priceless and belongs to persons all over the world; therefore loosing these items would endure the gallery into a financial disorder. Art Gallerys integrity and reputation could blemish as it would turn into a public scandal embarrassing they security measures and all private and confidential information exposed. Permissions User accounts are the best way of ensuring only the curator and assistant curators have write, edit and delete permissions in the proposed catalogue. Every user account is associated with a username and password, the users contact information, account restrictions allowing access to the database at only certain hours of the day and account status allowing the administrator to temporarily disable an account. The curator would be the administrator of the database allowing him access to any and everything he desires which may include the maintaining the art list, maintaining owners list, maintaining the location of art items etc. These functions would allow the curator have all CRUD functions in the database. Being the administrator no one can delete the account because the system depends on an administrator to function and administrator status could be granted to any a supervisor of the 6 assistant curators. The assistant curators would be granted general access to the database but granted certain permissions. 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