This book is a result of the ISD'99, Eight International Conference on Infonnation Systems Development-Methods and Tools, Theory, and Practice held August 11-13, 1999 in Boise, Idaho, USA. The purpose of this conference was to address the issues facing academia and industry when specifying, developing, managing, and improving infonnation systems. ISD'99 consisted not only of the technical program represented in these Proceedings, but also of plenary sessions on product support and content management systems for the Internet environment, workshop on a new paradigm for successful acquisition of infonnation systems, and a panel discussion on current pedagogical issues in systems analysis and design. The selection of papers for ISD'99 was carried out by the International Program Committee. Papers presented during the conference and printed in this volume have been selected from submissions after fonnal double-blind reviewing process and have been revised by their authors based on the recommendations of reviewers. Papers were judged according to their originality, relevance, and presentation quality. All papers were judged purely on their own merits, independently of other submissions. We would like to thank the authors of papers accepted for ISD'99 who all made gallant efforts to provide us with electronic copies of their manuscripts confonning to common guidelines. We thank them for thoughtfully responding to reviewers comments and carefully preparing their final contributions. We thank Daryl Jones, provost of Boise State University and William Lathen, dean, College of Business and Economics, for their support and encouragement.

Preface. 1. State Dependent Behavioral Aspects of Objects - Automatic Synthesis; R. Polovina. 2. A CORBA Compenent Modeling Method Based on Software Architecture; C.-J. Moon, et al. 3. Dynamic Database Object Horizontal Fragmentation; C.I. Ezeife, J. Zheng. 4. An Electronic EKD Method Guide Over the Web; J. Barrios, et al. 5. Case-Based Reasoning, Genetic Algorithms and the Pile Foundation Information System; O. Babka, et al. 6. Java, Web, and Distributed Objects; Y.-W. Chiou. 7. A Data Registry-based Environment for Sharing XML Documents; H.-S. Na, et al. 8. Evaluation of a Methodology for Construction of TMN Agents in the Aspects of Cost and Performance; S.-H. Park, D.-K. Baik. 9. A Taxonomy of Strategies for Developing Spatial Decision Support System; S.L.R. Neto, M. Rodrigues. 10. Understanding IS Strategy Implementation: A Process Theory Based Framework; C.E. Moe, et al. 11. On Method Support for Developing Pre-Usage Evaluation Frameworks for Case-Tools; B. Lundell, B. Lings. 12. ASSISTing Asynchronous Software Inspection by Auto-Collation of Defect Lists; F. Macdonald, et al. 13. Metamodeling: Theory and Practical Implications; M. Drbohlav. 14. Critical Systems Thinking and the Development of Information Technology in Organisations: Another Perspective; D.R.T. Martínez. 15. Information Systems and Process Orientation: Evaluation and Change Using Business Actions Theory; U. Melin, G. Goldkuhl. 16. Towards the Shift-Free Integration of Hard and Soft IS Methods; S.K. Probert, A. Rogers. 17. Improved SoftwareQuality through Reviews and Defect Prevention: An Incremental Improvement Path; E.M. Gray, et al. 18. Identifying Success in Information Systems: Implications for Development Methodologies; S. Page. 19. Researching Organisational Memory; F. Burstein, H. Linger. 20. Data Mining Using Neural Networks and Statistical Techniques: A Comparison; J. Zurada, A.F. Salam. 21. The Year 2000 Problem in Small Companies in Slovenia; B. Verber, et al. 22. Using Discourse Analysis to Understand IS Planning and Development in Organizations: A Case Study; J.A.A. Sillince, G. Harindranath. 23. Information Systems Development Methodology &endash; The BPR Challenge; V. Repa. 24. Pervasive IT Systems: Ensuring A Positive Contribution to the Bottom Line; R. Moreton. 25. The Challenge: Providing an Information System for a Clinical Laboratory; H.M. Aus, et al. 26. The Concept of Improving and Developing an Information System for the Needs of Managing a Polish Enterprise; A. Nowicki. 27. The Implications of Changing Organisational Structures for the Future of the Information Systems (IS) Function; R. Moreton, M. Chester. 28. Middleware Orientation-Inverse Software Development Strategy; J. Král. 29. Selected Determinants of Applying Multimedia Techniques for Designing Decision Support Systems; C.M. Olszak. 30. Toward Effective Risk Management in IS Development: Introduction to Risk Based Scorecard; P. Krawczyk. 31. Hypermedia Based Distance Learning Systems and its Applications; C.A. Schumann, et al. 32. Multi-media Instructional Support: Status, Issues, and