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Business textbook launched by USC author
A University of the Sunshine Coast academic has “Australianised” a popular American business technology textbook, updating and expanding it to 630 pages.
The new book, ‘Business Driven Information Systems’, will be launched at USC Bookshop on Friday 13 November from 4.30pm to 5.30pm.
Speaking at the launch will be the adapting author, Associate Professor Kathy Lynch, who is USC’s head of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) research and development.
Associate Professor Lynch, one of four co-authors, said the book was aimed at higher education students but had broad appeal. It focused first on examining business initiatives, and second on how these could be supported by technology.
She incorporated a lot of Sunshine Coast content, from business case studies such as Buderim Ginger to USC’s use of GPS tracking on Fraser Island to a profile on one of USC’s first graduates, who is now a partner in a Brisbane firm.
“I’m now a researcher but I also drew on my teaching background to insert chapters that I would have found helpful,” said the former Monash University academic.
“My cross-disciplinary experience in education and information systems was one of the reasons the publisher, McGraw-Hill, approached me to write it.”
New sections included employability skills, graduate attributes and careers in information systems – all geared towards the Australasian industry.
Associate Professor Lynch said it was her second book. Her first, ‘Introduction to Computer Networks’, was released in 1996.
Her USC research currently involves the adoption of technology in education, tourism and marine environments.
– Julie Gatehouse