A reduced CRM-compatible form ontology for the virtual emigration museum

In this paper we discuss the construction of a Reduced CRMcompatible form ontology for the virtual Emigration Museum based in the international standard for museum ontologies, CIDOC-CRM. To extract knowledge from the information of the virtual Emigration Museum when navigating through it, abstract data models should be used to conceptualize, the emigration documents stored in a relational database. In that way, resorting to an ontology (as abstract layer), the information contained in those documents can be accessed by the end-users (the museum visitors) to learn about the emigration phenomena. We also describe how we instantiate the ontology through a parser that automatically translates a plain text description of emigration data into RDF. Finally, we also discuss the choice of a triple storage system to save the RDF triples in order to enable the use of SPARQL to query the RDF data.This work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013. The work of Ricardo G. Martini is supported by CNPq, grant 201772/2014-0

Uma Ontologia CIDOC-CRM para o Museu Virtual da Emigração

In this article we describe the use of the international standard for museum ontologies, CIDOC-CRM, to build a concrete ontology for ME, a virtual museum for the Emigration phenomena. Although the digital document repository is a conventional relational database, more abstract data models should be used to enable conceptual navigation over the information to help end-users (the museum visitors) to extract knowledge from the navigation (the visit). Thus, we will emphasize the design of a Reduced CRM-compatible form to describe the objects of our assets (people that emigrate in some moment to some other country), and the relations holding among them that better express the emigration movements. We also discuss the choice of RDF to expose the ontology triples via Apache Jena Fuseki server, a SPARQL end-point accessible over HTTP, and an engine (Jena ARQ) to query the RDF data. Finally, it was possible to transform these data into RDF and apply SPARQL queries, returning the desired results

Formal description and automatic generation of learning spaces based on ontologies

Tese de Doutoramento em InformaticsA good Learning Space (LS) should convey pertinent information to the visitors at the most adequate time and location to favor their knowledge acquisition. This statement justifies the relevance of virtual Learning Spaces. Considering the consolidation of the Internet and the improvement of the interaction, searching, and learning mechanisms, this work proposes a generic architecture, called CaVa, to create Virtual Learning Spaces building upon cultural institution documents. More precisely, the proposal is to automatically generate ontology-based virtual learning environments from document repositories. Thus, to impart relevant learning materials to the virtual LS, this proposal is based on using ontologies to represent the fundamental concepts and semantic relations in a user- and machine-understandable format. These concepts together with the data (extracted from the real documents) stored in a digital repository are displayed in a web-based LS that enables the visitors to use the available features and tools to learn about a specific domain. According to the approach here discussed, each desired virtual LS must be specified rigorously through a Domain-Specific Language (DSL), called CaVaDSL, designed and implemented in this work. Furthermore, a set of processors (generators) was developed. These generators have the duty, receiving a CaVaDSL specification as input, of transforming it into several web scripts to be recognized and rendered by a web browser, producing the final virtual LS. Aiming at validating the proposed architecture, three real case studies – (1) Emigration Documents belonging to Fafe’s Archive; (2) The prosopographical repository of the Fasti Ecclesiae Portugaliae project; and (3) Collection of life stories of the Museum of the Person – were used. These real scenarios are actually relevant as they promote the digital preservation and dissemination of Cultural Heritage, contributing to human welfare.Um bom Espaço de Aprendizagem (LS – Learning Space) deve transmitir informações pertinentes aos visitantes no horário e local mais adequados para favorecer a aquisição de conhecimento. Esta afirmação justifica a relevância dos Espaços virtuais de Aprendizagem. Considerando a consolidação da Internet e o aprimoramento dos mecanismos de interação, busca e aprendizagem, este trabalho propõe uma arquitetura genérica, denominada CaVa, para a criação de Espaços virtuais de Aprendizagem baseados em documentos de instituições culturais. Mais precisamente, a proposta é gerar automaticamente ambientes de aprendizagem virtual baseados em ontologias a partir de repositórios de documentos. Assim, para transmitir materiais de aprendizagem relevantes para o LS virtual, esta proposta é baseada no uso de ontologias para representar os conceitos fundamentais e as relações semânticas em um formato compreensível pelo usuário e pela máquina. Esses conceitos, juntamente com os dados (extraídos dos documentos reais) armazenados em um repositório digital, são exibidos em um LS baseado na web que permite aos visitantes usarem os recursos e ferramentas disponíveis para aprenderem sobre um domínio espec ífico. Cada LS virtual desejado deve ser especificado rigorosamente por meio de uma Linguagem de Domínio Específico (DSL), chamada CaVaDSL, projetada e implementada neste trabalho. Além disso, um conjunto de processadores (geradores) foi desenvolvido. Esses geradores têm o dever de receber uma especificação CaVaDSL como entrada e transformá-la em diversos web scripts para serem reconhecidos e renderizados por um navegador, produzindo o LS virtual final. Visando validar a arquitetura proposta, três estudos de caso reais foram usados. Esses cenários reais são realmente relevantes, pois promovem a preservação digital e a disseminação do Património Cultural, contribuindo para o bem-estar humano

Architectural approaches to build the Museum of the Person

The Museum of the Person (Museu da Pessoa, MP) is a virtual museum aimed at exhibiting life stories of common people. Its assets are composed of several interviews involving people whose stories we want to perpetuate. So the museum holds an heterogeneous collection of XML (eXtensible Markup Language) documents that constitute the working repository. The main idea is to extract automatically the information included in the repository in order to build the web pages that realize the museum's exhibition rooms. This project started by creating a specific ontology (OntoMP) for the knowledge repository of MP. That ontology is intended to allow a conceptual navigation over the available information. We will adopt the standard for museum ontologies CIDOC-CRM (CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model) refined with FOAF to represent OntoMP. The objective of this paper is to discuss different architectural approaches to build a system that will create the virtual rooms from the XML repository to enable visitors to lookup individual life stories and also intercross information among them. The first architecture is based on a TripleStore and uses SPARQL (SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language) technology to extract the information, while the second proposal is based on a Relational Database and uses CaVa Generator to query the repository and build the exhibition spaces.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Formal Description and Automatic Generation of Learning Spaces Based on Ontologies

AbstractA good virtual Learning Space (LS) should convey pertinent learning information to the visitors at the most adequate time and locations to favor their knowledge acquisition.Considering the consolidation of the internet and the improvement of the interaction, searching, and learning mechanisms, we propose a generic architecture, called CaVa, to create virtual Learning Spaces building up on cultural institution documents. More precisely, our proposal is to automatically create ontology-based virtual learning environments.Thus, to impart relevant learning materials to the virtual LS, we propose the use of ontologies to represent the key concepts and semantic relations in an user- and machine-understandable format. These concepts together with the data (extracted from the real documents) stored in a digital storage format (XML datasets, relational databases, etc.) are displayed in an ontology-based learning space that enables the visitors to use the available features and tools to learn about a specific domain.According to the approach here discussed, each desired virtual LS must be specified rigorously through a domain specific language (DSL) that was designed and implemented.To validate the proposed architecture, three case studies will be used as instances of CaVa architecture

Annotated documents and expanded CIDOC-CRM ontology in the automatic construction of a virtual museum

The Museum of the Person (Museu da Pessoa, MP) is a virtual museum with the purpose of exhibit life stories of common people. Its assets are composed of several interviews involving people whose stories we want to perpetuate. So the museum holds an heterogeneous collection of XML (eXtensible Markup Language) documents that constitute the working repository. The main idea is to extract automatically the information included in the repository in order to build the virtual museum’s exhibition rooms. The goal of this paper is to describe an architectural approach to build a system that will create the virtual rooms from the XML repository to enable visitors to lookup individual life stories and also inter-cross information among them. We adopted the standard for museum ontologies CIDOC-CRM (CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model) refined with FOAF (Friend of a Friend) and DBpedia ontologies to represent OntoMP. That ontology is intended to allow a conceptual navigation over the available information. The approach here discussed is based on a TripleStore and uses SPARQL (SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language) to extract the information. Aiming at the extraction of meaningful information, we built a text filter that converts the interviews into a RDF triples file that reflects the assets described by the ontology.This work has been supported by COMPETE: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043 and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2013. The work of Ricardo Martini is supported by CNPq, grant 201772/2014-0

Exploration of documents concerning Foundlings in Fafe along XIX Century

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Informatics EngineeringThe abandonment of children and newborns is a problem in our society. In the last few decades, the introduction of contraceptive methods, the development of social programs and family planning were fundamental to control undesirable pregnancies and support families in need. But these developments were not enough to solve the abandonment epidemic. The anonymous abandonment has a dangerous aspect. In order to preserve the family identity, a child is usually left in a public place at night. Since children and newborns are one of the most vulnerable groups in our society, the time between the abandonment and the assistance of the child is potentially deadly. The establishment of public institutions in the past, such as the foundling wheel, was extremely important as a strategy to save lives. These institutions supported the abandoned children, while simultaneously providing a safer abandonment process, without compromising the anonymity of the family. The focus of the Master’s Project discussed in this dissertation is the analysis and processing of nineteenth century documents, concerning the Foundling Wheel of Fafe. The analysis of sample documents is the initial step in the development of an ontology. The ontology has a fundamental role in the organization and structure of the information contained in these historical documents. The identification of concepts and the relationships between them, culminates in a structured knowledge repository. Other important component is the development of a digital platform, where users are able to access the content stored in the knowledge repository and explore the digital archive, which incorporates the digitized version of documents and books from these historical institutions. The development of this project is important for some reasons. Directly, the implementation of a knowledge repository and a digital platform preserves information. These documents are mostly unique records and due to their age and advanced state of degradation, the substitution of the physical by digital access reduces the wear and tear associated to each consultation. Additionally, the digital archive facilitates the dissemination of valuable information. Research groups or the general public are able to use the platform as a tool to discover the past, by performing biographic, cultural or socio-economic studies over documents dated to the ninetieth century.O abandono de crianças e de recém-nascidos é um flagelo da sociedade. Nas últimas décadas, a introdução de métodos contraceptivos e de programas sociais foram essenciais para o desenvolvimento do planeamento familiar. Apesar destes avanços, estes programas não solucionaram a problemática do abandono de crianças e recém-nascidos. Problemas socioeconómicos são o principal factor que explica o abandono. O processo de abandono de crianças possui uma agravante perigosa. De forma a proteger a identidade da família, este processo ocorre normalmente em locais públicos e durante a noite. Como crianças e recém-nascidos constituem um dos grupos mais vulneráveis da sociedade, o tempo entre o abandono da criança e seu salvamento, pode ser demasiado longo e fatal. A casa da roda foi uma instituição introduzida de forma a tornar o processo de abandono anónimo mais seguro. O foco do Projeto de Mestrado discutido nesta dissertação é a análise e tratamento de documentos do século XIX, relativos à Casa da Roda de Fafe preservados pelo Arquivo Municipal de Fafe. A análise documental representa o ponto de partida do processo de desenvolvimento de uma ontologia. A ontologia possui um papel fundamental na organização e estruturação da informação contida nos documentos históricos. O processo de desenvolvimento de uma base de conhecimento consiste na identificação de conceitos e relações existentes nos documentos. Outra componente fundamental deste projecto é o desenvolvimento de uma plataforma digital, que permite utilizadores acederem à base de conhecimento desenvolvida. Os utilizadores podem pesquisar, explorar e adicionar informação à base de conhecimento. O desenvolvimento deste projecto possui importância. De forma imediata, a implementação de uma plataforma digital permite salvaguardar e preservar informação contida nos documentos. Estes documentos são os únicos registos existentes com esse conteúdo e muitos encontram-se num estado avançado de degradação. A substituição de acessos físicos por acessos digitais reduz o desgaste associado a cada consulta. O desenvolvimento da plataforma digital permite disseminar a informação contida na base documental. Investigadores ou o público em geral podem utilizar esta ferramenta com o intuito de realizar estudos biográficos, culturais e sociais sobre este arquivo histórico

Topic Maps and library and information science : an exploratory study of Topic Maps principles from a Knowledge and Information Organization perspective

Purpose: This master thesis attempts to present a ‘state of the art’ of the placement of Topic Maps (ISO13250) in Library and Information Science, through an extensive literature review and a synthesis based on their principles. It was sited from a Knowledge and Information Organization perspective, represented by the work by Elain Svenonius The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization and some of the concepts of Knowledge Organization. This thesis also intends to present a conceptual and theoretical framework for future research. Design/methodology/approach: The study under review presents a qualitative approach based on Grounded Theory principles to analyse the literature and build the conceptual framework for its analysis. The literature reviewed consisted of more than sixty documents, which included, among others, journal articles, conference presentations and papers, student reports and thesis, as well as a book chapter. Moreover, this was complemented with information obtained from mailing lists, blog postings and websites, and some unstructured interviews. Findings: Topic Maps appears to be a development aligned within the tradition of Knowledge and Information Organization but is completely adapted to the context of the Web and the digital environments. In a LIS perspective, it is bibliographic meta-language able to represent, extend and mostly integrate all the existing Knowledge Organization Systems in a standards-based generic model applicable to digital content and online presentation. Conceptually, Topic Maps is in the borders of the LIS discipline with Knowledge Representation and Computer Science, where LIS conceptual models play the role of intermediaries by providing the ontologies to the ‘bibliographic universe’. Topic Maps questions traditional LIS views and principles. Even though some of them still remain the same, as the meaning-based identification of entities, the notions of ‘document’ and ‘subject’ require further studies. Some important applications give account of the capabilities and potentials for further developments and research on Topic Maps in LIS. The main field of application is the Digital Humanities and TEIcodified texts presentation.Joint Master Degree in Digital Library Learning (DILL

Hacking Cultural Heritage : the Hackathon as a Method for Heritage Interpretation

Hackathons were originated from both the evolution of and revolution caused by personal computers. Initially, they have been implemented as a collaborative method for solving computer-related problems or conceptualizing new possibilities based on specific infrastructures. Only later on, when Cultural Institutions had undergone intensive digitization, Hackathons started to be part of their repertoire. Because of the special nature of Cultural Institutions, Hackathons for Cultural Heritage cannot be understood in the same way as their counterparts happening in a purely engineering domain. Problem solving and conceptualization through collaborative programming are entangled with the significance of the content matter they intend to deal with: the institutionsa collections. Based on these considerations, this thesis aims at explaining the underlying principles, interactions, and infrastructures of the Hackathon as a method for Heritage Interpretation. Moreover, the thesis also proposes a Fast-speed IT Platform, which was designed within the context of the Two-speed IT infrastructure, where a foundational, stable, and slow infrastructure is complemented by an additional creative, experimental, and agile infrastructure, which is capable of promptly responding to the needs of communities. The platform is an effort to implement strategies for interpreting, recontextualizing, and telling stories with Digital Collections. In addition, the platform aims at mitigating problems concerning technical knowledge that is usually required for taking advantage of the affordances of Digital Collections as a creative material