Journal of Digital Information (Texas Digital Library - TDL E-Journals)
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252 research outputs found
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Map-Based Horizontal Navigation in Educational Hypertext
No full textThe paper discusses the problem of horizontal (non-hierarchical) navigation in modern educational courseware. It considers why horizontal links disappear, how to support horizontal navigation in modern hyper-courseware, and looks at our earlier attempts to provide horizontal navigation in Web-based electronic textbooks. Map-based navigation -- a new approach to support horizontal navigation in open corpus educational courseware -- which we are currently investigating, is presented. We describe the mechanism behind this approach, present a system, KnowledgeSea, that implements this approach, and provide some results from a classroom study of this system
Vocabulary Mapping for Terminology Services
No full textThe paper describes a project to add value to controlled vocabularies by making inter-vocabulary associations. A methodology for mapping terms from one vocabulary to another is presented in the form of a case study applying the approach to the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Thesaurus and the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Our approach to mapping involves encoding vocabularies according to Machine-Readable Cataloging (MARC) standards, machine matching of vocabulary terms, and categorizing candidate mappings by likelihood of valid mapping. Mapping data is then stored as machine links. Vocabularies with associations to other schemes will be a key component of Web-based terminology services. The paper briefly describes how the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) is used to provide access to a vocabulary with mappings
Ubiquitous Metainformation and the WYWWYWI Principle
No full textComputer systems should provide what you want, when you want it (the WYWWYWI principle, pronounced "why why why"), but they frequently do not. Our research encourages a new philosophy of design based on the WYWWYWI principle, and the tools for authors to provide this easily. Comprehensive metainformation embodies the WYWWYWI principle. Metainformation includes the structural relationships, content-based relationships, user-declared link-based relationships, and metadata around an element of interest. Combined, the metainformation goes a long way towards establishing the full semantics for (the meaning of and context around) a system\u27s elements. We take a three-pronged approach to providing metainformation on a grand scale. First, we provide a systematic methodology for systems analysts to determine the relationships around elements of interest in their information domains - relationship analysis. Relationship analysis will result in a comprehensive set of a domain\u27s structural relationships. Second, we provide a Metainformation Engine, which automatically generates sets of structural and content-based relationships around elements of interest as links, as well as metadata within static and virtual documents. Third, we provide an infrastructure for widespread link-based services within both static and virtual documents. This approach provides the inspiration as well as a sound foundation for a ubiquitous embracing of the WYWWYWI principle in the everyday systems people use, both on the Web and beyond
Supporting Collaborative Analysis and Design with Hypertext Functionality
No full textMany research efforts and several commercial products have attempted to harness the potential of argumentation-based hypertext tools to enhance the design process. Yet few researchers have reported successful applications of this technology in industry settings. This paper reports on Conversational Modeling, a technique that has been used successfully in a number of collaborative systems analysis, requirements gathering and work process redesign projects in a telecommunications company. The success of the technique appears to be due to the combination of hypertext functionality, a structured modeling framework, and group facilitation strategies. The combination of these elements addresses some of the difficulties reported in the design rationale literature with regard to argumentation-based hypertext tools
The ABC Ontology and Model
No full textThis paper describes the latest version of the ABC metadata model. This model has been developed within the Harmony international digital library project to provide a common conceptual model to facilitate interoperability between metadata ontologies from different domains. This updated ABC model is the result of collaboration with the CIMI consortium whereby earlier versions of the ABC model were applied to metadata descriptions of complex objects provided by CIMI museums and libraries. The result is a metadata model with more logically grounded time and entity semantics. Based on this model we have been able to build a metadata repository of RDF descriptions and a search interface which is capable of more sophisticated queries than less-expressive, object-centric metadata models will allow
Digital Archive Network for Anthropology
No full textThe Digital Archive Network for Anthropology (DANA) is a federation of distributed, interoperable databases, each with specific content of value to archaeology, physical anthropology and ethnology. DANA will include two-dimensional imagery and accurate, three-dimensional models of material objects (i.e. artifacts and fossils). These models can be variously manipulated to be viewed from all angles, and are sufficiently precise to allow for a range of detailed measurements. This network will allow reliable, "anytime, anywhere" access to content and services for education and research. The project is currently funded by the National Science Digital Libraries (NSDL) program (NSF 2001), with the goal of developing and implementing a digital libraries collection for anthropological materials. This presentation describes the DANA project, with a focus on the real contributions and potential benefits that derive from the use of information technology to advance research and education in anthropology
Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services (THREDDS): Incorporating Interactive Analysis Tools into NSDL
No full textThe overarching goal of Unidata\u27s Thematic Real-time Environmental Distributed Data Services (THREDDS) is to provide students, educators and researchers with coherent access to a large collection of real-time and archived datasets from a variety of environmental data sources at a number of distributed server sites. The datasets will be conveniently accessible from a collection of THREDDS-enabled data analysis and display tools. THREDDS will provide real-time data delivery via reliable, event-driven "push" technology as well as transparent access to datasets using "pull" systems that make it possible to access data on remote servers as if they were on the user\u27s own computer. The system will be built on a set of software components and data servers that are already in operation or under development. The heart of THREDDS is metadata contained in publishable inventories and catalogs (PICats). The creation, publication and distribution of PICats will be facilitated by the discovery system and services provided by DLESE. For example, sites receiving real-time environmental data can create PICats describing data products automatically as they arrive using decoders and crawlers. On the other hand, since PICats do not have to reside on the server with the data, researchers will be able to create PICats for online publications that point to datasets residing on several data servers. Similarly, educators will incorporate PICats of illustrative datasets into modules that also include tools for data analysis and visualization, and students will be able to use PICats to point to datasets related to their research projects, just as they now use URLs to point to relevant documents. This paper presents an overview of THREDDS and an update on the current status
Atmospheric Visualization Collection: Developments in the NSDL
No full textThe Atmospheric Visualization Collection is one of the NSF National STEME Digital Library projects, which seek to develop the digital library through novel collaborative methods. This project is based on research-oriented data collected from the Department of Energy\u27s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program. It seeks to establish educational materials that are appropriate for all levels of learning while incorporating interactive assessment and development activities. Learning activities include online and offline tools for visualization and manipulation of atmospheric data, interfaces for independent learning, educational units that include streaming video and hypothesis testing, and code development opportunities
Federated Searching Interface Techniques for Heterogeneous OAI Repositories
No full textFederating repositories by harvesting heterogeneous collections with varying degrees of metadata richness poses a number of challenging issues: (1) how to address the lack of uniform control for various metadata fields in terms of building a rich unified search interface, and (2) how easily new collections and freshly harvested data in existing repositories can be incorporated into the federation supporting a unified interface? This paper focuses on the approaches taken to address these issues in Arc, an Open Archives Initiative-compliant federated digital library. At present Arc contains over 1M metadata records from 75 data providers from various subject domains. Analysis of these heterogeneous collections indicates that controlled vocabularies and values are widely used in most repositories. Usage is extremely variable, however. In Arc we solve the problem by implementing an advanced searching interface that allows users to search and select in specific fields with data we construct from the harvested metadata, and also by an interactive search for the subject field. As the metadata records are incrementally harvested we address how to build these services over frequently-added new collections and harvested data. The initial result is promising, showing the benefits of immediate feedback to the user in enhancing the search experience as well as in increasing the precision of the user\u27s search