About DSSResources.COM

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is DSSResources.COM?
• How can I contact the editor and/or webmaster?
• What types of materials are published at the DSSResources.COM web site?
• Can I submit material to DSSResources.COM?
• How should I cite DSSResources.COM?
• What if I have trouble accessing DSSResources.COM web pages?
• What other features should I know about?
  • Email notifications: The DSSResources.COM DSS News mailing list
  • Ask Dan!
• How can I help support DSSResources.COM?
  • Advertising
  • Comments and suggestions
  • Sponsorship
  • Subscriptions
• What is the history of DSSResources.COM?
• Has the DSSResources.COM site won any awards?
• Who visits DSSResources.COM?
• What is the web hosting "set-up" for DSSResources.COM?
• Can I put a link to DSSResources.COM on my web page?
• Can I get a password for the Subscriber Zone?

DSSResources.COM (Decision Support Systems Resources) is a web-based knowledge repository. The mission of this site is to help people who are interested in learning about how to use information technologies and software to improve decision making. The target audience is IS professionals, IS students, managers interested in MIS and academics in MIS/DSS. This site is needed because Decision Support technology is evolving very rapidly. IT managers, IS students and academics face a difficult challenge to stay up-to-date about these changes and to make good, informed choices about building and maintaining systems to support decision making in organizations. I firmly believe organizations can develop decision support capabilities that provide a sustainable competitive advantage.

You can read rough translations of the above overview based on babelfish in the following languages: En Français; Auf Deutsch; In Italiano; Em Português; En Español.

We are all challenged by too much information and too many sources of information. Much of the information is hard to find or "noisy". This web site is an integrated source of information relevant to Decision Support Systems. DSSResources.COM is a "living" hypertext document. My challenge is to have it reflect the state-of-the-art in DSS research and practice. The site hopefully leads the way in some areas. DSSResources.COM is a "community of practice" and I hope it contributes to effective knowledge transfer and creation. I try to track technological developments and help keep visitors "up to speed" and "ahead of the curve" on where DSS development is headed. DSSResources.COM can help in selecting resources and save significant time that might be spent in "surfing the Web". I try to check the Web resources regularly and I believe the links, papers and tutorials are relevant to people interested in learning more about DSS. I try to keep my local content accurate and current. I hope the site is well-designed and that it helps visitors find relevant content quickly. Finally, DSSResources.COM is an opportunity for me to cooperate with others interested in Decision Support Systems and to share my knowledge. Please help me keep this site current and well-organized. DSS Resources changed URLs to DSSResources.COM on September 29, 1999. Thanks Dan Power.

The DSSResources.COM editor is Professor Daniel J. Power. He can be contacted by sending email to power@dssresources.com. A short biographical sketch for Dan Power is on the web. You can also check his home page for more information.

If material is related to Decision Support and Decision Support Systems (DSS) it will be considered for the site. We are especially interested in adding short technical pages on development topics, reviews of software, and web-based survey and short opinion or expository articles.

YES. Materials should be submitted via electronic mail or through posting on a web site. Contact Dan Power before submitting materials.

Cite DSSResources.COM web pages in the same way as an article appearing in a book or magazine. For example, an appropriate bibliography entry for the DSS Vendors page would be:

Power, D. J., "Decision Support Systems Vendor List", DSSResources.COM, URL http://DSSResources.COM/vendorlist, accessed "today's date", 200X.

The overall web site should be cited like a book as:

Power, D. J., DSSResources.COM, URL http://DSSResources.COM, accessed "today's date", 200X.

If attempts to access the server result in a message that the server is unavailable, please send mail to power@dssresources.com to notify the editor.

Suggestions for new features are always welcome. We're working on expanding:

• The DSSResources.COM mailing list

  DSSResources.COM has a bi-weekly newsletter, DSS News, so that we can notify the Decision Support Systems community about news, features, and new capabilities. It is about Decision Support Systems, including business intelligence, data warehousing, model-driven DSS, group DSS, knowledge-driven DSS and web-based DSS. We feature an Ask Dan! column in each newsletter. The newsletter list is maintained by the University of Northern Iowa. You can join the list by sending a message to: MAILSERV@uni.edu where the body of the message contains: SUB dssnews.

• Ask Dan!

  "Ask Dan!" lets you engage in a public dialogue focused on the DSS Resources web pages and DSS topics. Anyone can ask a question. The question and answer pair will be publicly posted.

Currently, the operating costs for DSSResources.COM are modest. We are actively trying to identify sponsors for the site and increase revenues from text and banner advertising. The "for fee" subscriber zone for the DSS Hyperbook and other premium content also generates some revenues. If you wish to find out more about subscribing click here!

DSSResources.COM continues to exist because Dan Power's research area is Decision Support Systems, because people read it and return, and because people continue to send nice comments and favorable feedback. Please email to send suggestions, compliments, feedback.

DSSResources.COM welcomes your advertising. Check http://dssresources.com/admin/adinfo.html for advertising information. We are looking for sponsors. Help us share the knowledge of computerized decision support systems.

DSS Research Resources began publishing DSS related materials during summer 1995. The original logo was:

A brief description of DSSResources.COM's history is available online. You can see the home page from April 12, 1997 by clicking here.

YES. On March 16, 1999 our DSS Resources was chosen as an itmWEB Site "Five Star Selection". DSSResources.COM is featured in the U.S. Five Star Selections Listing. This Listing is composed of sites which either make an outstanding contribution to the Information Technology profession or which provide an exceptional on-line IT resource. The itmWEB Site is a collection of tools and resources for information technology professionals. Russ Finney (rfinney@itmweb.COM) at itmWEB noted "Daniel - great resource! I don't get to give this award to many .edu sites so it is a real pleasure to send this to you."

The site received the datawarehouse.com "Editor's Choice Award" . The reviewer said "This is a very well done page that is certainly worth a visit if you've never been there and a second visit if you haven't been there in the past week.  It just had a face lift and looks great.  It now features pages like "DSS Quiz," "DSS Roulette," and "DSS Web Tour." Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 15:35:16 -0600, From: Jason Renaud (jrenaud@dmreview.COM). See press release.

In November 1998, DSS Resources received the Links2Go Key Resource Award. "Congratulations! Your page: http://dss.cba.uni.edu/DSShome.html has been selected to receive a Links2Go Key Resource award in the Decision Support Systems topic! The Links2Go Key Resource award is both exclusive and objective. Fewer than one page in one thousand will ever be selected for inclusion. Further, unlike most awards that rely on the subjective opinion of "experts," many of whom have only looked at tens or hundreds of thousands of pages in bestowing their awards, the Links2Go Key Resource award is completely objective and is based on an analysis of millions of web pages. During the course of our analysis, we identify which links are most representative of each of the thousands of topics in Links2Go, based on how actual page authors, like yourself, index and organize links on their pages. "

Links2Go Key Resource Decision Support Systems Topic

On February 22, 1999 DSS Resources at dss.cba.uni.edu was accepted for inclusion in the Argus Clearinghouse (http://www.clearinghouse.net).

On September 11, 2000 DSSResources.COM received the "Critical Mass Award". Bill Darling wrote, "Congratulations!!......Your site definitely qualifies for the "Critical Mass Award". A very nice site, excellent design, tasteful original graphics, and your content is informative, entertaining, presented well and easy to access. A worthy enterprise and a positive contribution to the Web."

We received notice on September 16, 2000 that DSSResources.COM received Visual Xtreme's "Bronze" award of excellence. Jeff Krzyzanowski said "Your positive contributions continue to make the web a better place to visit." Sites are judged based on ease of navigation, content, graphic quality, page layout and design. Use of the latest web technologies is considered in the overall rating.

A related resource, the ISWorld DSS Research page was created and submitted to ISWorld November 29, 1995. That page was peer reviewed and accepted by ISWorld September 5, 1996. The page was included in the ISWorld Hall of Fame. In 1998, the DSS Research page was identified as an ISWorld Top Resource.

DSSResources.COM is included in many directories and web link lists.

Many people from all over the world who are interested in Decision Support Systems visit DSSResources.COM. A version of DSS Resources has been on the web since October 1995.

On September 29, 1999 DSSResources.COM was launched. We average 600 distinct hosts visiting a week. We also receive many return visitors (approximately 50% of our visitors are return visitors).

The DSSResources.COM Web site is hosted by AQHost.com. We use PHP/MySQL for dynamic content.

YES. Please let me know if you have a link to DSSResources.COM. The DSSResources.COM Logo can also be used on your page. I am maintaining all of my rights to the DSS Resources and DSSResources.COM name, logo and contents. Permission to link to the pages can be revoked for inappropriate, unwarranted linking or other reasons at my discretion. Unless otherwise indicated, this Web Site and its contents are the property of Daniel J. Power ("D. J. POWER") and are protected, without limitation, pursuant to U.S. and foreign copyright and trademark laws. DSSResources.COM is a service mark. All rights reserved. See the legal disclaimer.

YES. Key portions of DSSResources.COM are available only to paid subscribers. If you wish to find out more about subscribing click here! Current subscribers can follow all links, can read the DSS Hyperbook and can access the Subscriber Zone Index page. The DSSResources.COM Subscriber Zone provides access to premium services and resources. We hope to find a sponsor who will help us eliminate the subscriber zone.