Customization of digital library of PhD dissertations for citizens

PHD UNS is digital library of PhD dissertations defended at University of Novi Sad. A web page for basic and advanced search has been developed in order to improve discoverability of dissertations stored in the digital library. This paper presents customization of PHD UNS web search pages for citizens out of academy. The customization includes extension of available representation styles and implementation of automatic recommendations of PhD dissertations. Representation styles are extended with textual representation specially designed for non-academic citizens and visual representation based on word clouds. Automatic recommendations are based on collaborative approach built on PhD download history, i.e., performed on the basis of what other ‘similar’ users have found useful. The PHD UNS digital library logs information for each dissertation downloading. Besides basic information about downloaded dissertation, those logs also contain information about client machine which requested downloading. Those logs have been used in order to prove our customization really improve non-academic users’ experience

Six Steps Toward Improving Discoverability of Ph.D. Dissertations

This study proposes six steps that scientific institutions should undertake to increase the visibility and accessibility of their dissertations; these steps were implemented in the digital library of the University of Novi Sad. An analysis was conducted thereafter to evaluate the success, and it was found that the six steps and associated strategies were successful, with 400,000 downloads having been performed since the digital library was operational. Although this study presents six steps for improving electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) discoverability in the digital library at the University of Novi Sad, these steps can easily be customized and implemented for ETD digital libraries at any scientific institution

From Idea to Functional ETD: Experiences from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia

This paper reviews different phases of introducing and usage of Electronic Theses and Dissertations – ETD at the University of Novi Sad with special emphasis on specific requirements, challenges and further directions of development and use of ETD systems at the University

CERIF – Is the standard helping to improve CRIS?

Governments and organizations are creating Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) to follow the growth of the amount of research data, providing tools to collect, preserve and disseminate that data. At the same time, we are facing the appearance of standards designed to regulate CRIS development. Common European Research Information Format (CERIF) is a standard for managing and exchanging research data. There are several types of CRIS – institutional, regional, national and international. In this work we have just considered the national and international types of CRIS worldwide. Only seven of them were CERIF compliant. The aim of this study is to conclude if the use of CERIF is increasing the number of features in CRIS and how deep CERIF-compliant CRIS are adopting CERIF. Applying all the criteria considered in our methodology, only ten CRIS were analyzed, four of which are CERIF-compliant. CERIF tends to increase similarities between CRIS, in terms of its features and its data models. However, the need for customization of such systems leads to various implementations of the standard, creating an opposite effect of the one referred before. CRIS non CERIF compliant have as central focus the researchers. The CERIF takes CRIS to focus also on projects and institutions of the research domain. With this exception, the CERIF doesn’t show an increase of the number of features. We also consider the use of Dublin Core to increase interoperability between CRIS

Bioinspired metaheuristic algorithms for global optimization

This paper presents concise comparison study of newly developed bioinspired algorithms for global optimization problems. Three different metaheuristic techniques, namely Accelerated Particle Swarm Optimization (APSO), Firefly Algorithm (FA), and Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) are investigated and implemented in Matlab environment. These methods are compared on four unimodal and multimodal nonlinear functions in order to find global optimum values. Computational results indicate that GWO outperforms other intelligent techniques, and that all aforementioned algorithms can be successfully used for optimization of continuous functions

Experimental Evaluation of Growing and Pruning Hyper Basis Function Neural Networks Trained with Extended Information Filter

In this paper we test Extended Information Filter (EIF) for sequential training of Hyper Basis Function Neural Networks with growing and pruning ability (HBF-GP). The HBF neuron allows different scaling of input dimensions to provide better generalization property when dealing with complex nonlinear problems in engineering practice. The main intuition behind HBF is in generalization of Gaussian type of neuron that applies Mahalanobis-like distance as a distance metrics between input training sample and prototype vector. We exploit concept of neuron’s significance and allow growing and pruning of HBF neurons during sequential learning process. From engineer’s perspective, EIF is attractive for training of neural networks because it allows a designer to have scarce initial knowledge of the system/problem. Extensive experimental study shows that HBF neural network trained with EIF achieves same prediction error and compactness of network topology when compared to EKF, but without the need to know initial state uncertainty, which is its main advantage over EKF

Modeling and implementation of digital library of theses and dissertations

Циљ – Циљ је моделирање и имплементација дигиталне библиотеке теза и дисертација која ће омогућити размену података са CRIS системима базираним на CERIF моделу података као и размену података путем OAI-PMH протокола у различитим форматима метаподатака (Dublin Core, EDT-MS, итд.), претрагу дигиталне библиотеке, као и испунити све локалне захтеве наметнуте од стране научне институције или државе у којој се налази научна институција. Методологија – Анализиране су различите врсте система које поседују метаподатке о тезама и дисертацијама. Уочено је да у овим системима постоји више стандарда и протокола који омогућују интероперабилност ових система: CERIF стандард, AOI-PMH протокол, итд. Анализирана је могућност креирања једног модела података која ће омогућити интероперабилност са другим системима који садрже метаподатке о тезама и дисертацијама. Креиран је један такав модел употребом CASE алата PowerDesigner. Такође, моделовање дигиталне библиотеке је урађено уз ослонац на овај алат употребом UML дијаграма. Имплементација је извршена употребом Java платформе уз ослонац на библиотеке отвореног кода и приликом имплементације усвојена су добра решења из анализираних система. Резултати – Дефинисан је скуп метаподатака о тезама и дисертацијама који садржи све метаподатке прописане CERIF моделом података, затим све прописане Dublin Core форматом и EDT-MS форматом и све метаподатке о тезама и дисертацијама који се користе за потребе Универзитета у Новом Саду. Дефинисани метаподаци се могу складиштити у CERIF компатибилном моделу података који складишти метаподатке о тезама и дисертацијама у MARC 21 формату који је основа за дигиталну библиотеку која је предмет ове дисертације. Имплементирана је дигитална библиотека која може да се претражује путем веб апликације, да размењује податке са светском и европском мрежом теза и дисертација. Кориснички интерфејс за унос метаподатка о тезама и дисертацијама имплементиран је тако да не захтева познавање усвојених стандарда. Практична примена – Дигиталне библиотека је имплементирана као део CRIS UNS система који се користи на Универзитету у Новом Саду. У дигиталној библиотеци постоји више од 3500 дисертација које су одбрањене на Универзитету у Новом Саду од његовог оснивања. Вредност – Дат је модел података о тезама и дисертацијама који обезбеђује размену података по различитим стандардима. Овај модел је интероперабилан са Европским информационим системима научно-истраживачке делатности који су базирани на CERIF моделу података. Имплементирана дигиталне библиотека може бити чвор у светској као и у европској мрежи дигиталних библиотека теза и дисертација које захтевају комуникацију између својих чворова по OAI-PMH протокола у ETD-MS или Dublin Core формату. Имплементацијом ове дигиталне библиотеке за очекивати је да се повећава доступност теза и дисертација Универзитета у Новом Саду, а самим тим и рејтинг универзитетаCilj – Cilj je modeliranje i implementacija digitalne biblioteke teza i disertacija koja će omogućiti razmenu podataka sa CRIS sistemima baziranim na CERIF modelu podataka kao i razmenu podataka putem OAI-PMH protokola u različitim formatima metapodataka (Dublin Core, EDT-MS, itd.), pretragu digitalne biblioteke, kao i ispuniti sve lokalne zahteve nametnute od strane naučne institucije ili države u kojoj se nalazi naučna institucija. Metodologija – Analizirane su različite vrste sistema koje poseduju metapodatke o tezama i disertacijama. Uočeno je da u ovim sistemima postoji više standarda i protokola koji omogućuju interoperabilnost ovih sistema: CERIF standard, AOI-PMH protokol, itd. Analizirana je mogućnost kreiranja jednog modela podataka koja će omogućiti interoperabilnost sa drugim sistemima koji sadrže metapodatke o tezama i disertacijama. Kreiran je jedan takav model upotrebom CASE alata PowerDesigner. Takođe, modelovanje digitalne biblioteke je urađeno uz oslonac na ovaj alat upotrebom UML dijagrama. Implementacija je izvršena upotrebom Java platforme uz oslonac na biblioteke otvorenog koda i prilikom implementacije usvojena su dobra rešenja iz analiziranih sistema. Rezultati – Definisan je skup metapodataka o tezama i disertacijama koji sadrži sve metapodatke propisane CERIF modelom podataka, zatim sve propisane Dublin Core formatom i EDT-MS formatom i sve metapodatke o tezama i disertacijama koji se koriste za potrebe Univerziteta u Novom Sadu. Definisani metapodaci se mogu skladištiti u CERIF kompatibilnom modelu podataka koji skladišti metapodatke o tezama i disertacijama u MARC 21 formatu koji je osnova za digitalnu biblioteku koja je predmet ove disertacije. Implementirana je digitalna biblioteka koja može da se pretražuje putem veb aplikacije, da razmenjuje podatke sa svetskom i evropskom mrežom teza i disertacija. Korisnički interfejs za unos metapodatka o tezama i disertacijama implementiran je tako da ne zahteva poznavanje usvojenih standarda. Praktična primena – Digitalne biblioteka je implementirana kao deo CRIS UNS sistema koji se koristi na Univerzitetu u Novom Sadu. U digitalnoj biblioteci postoji više od 3500 disertacija koje su odbranjene na Univerzitetu u Novom Sadu od njegovog osnivanja. Vrednost – Dat je model podataka o tezama i disertacijama koji obezbeđuje razmenu podataka po različitim standardima. Ovaj model je interoperabilan sa Evropskim informacionim sistemima naučno-istraživačke delatnosti koji su bazirani na CERIF modelu podataka. Implementirana digitalne biblioteka može biti čvor u svetskoj kao i u evropskoj mreži digitalnih biblioteka teza i disertacija koje zahtevaju komunikaciju između svojih čvorova po OAI-PMH protokola u ETD-MS ili Dublin Core formatu. Implementacijom ove digitalne biblioteke za očekivati je da se povećava dostupnost teza i disertacija Univerziteta u Novom Sadu, a samim tim i rejting univerzitetaAim – The aim is modeling and implementation of a digital library of theses and dissertations which will enable data exchange with CRIS systems based on CERIF data model and also data exchange through OAI-PMH protocol in variety of metadata formats (Dublin Core, ETD-MS, etc.), search of digital library, and which will meet all local requirements imposed by scientific institutions or countries in which the research institution is located. Methodology - The variety types of systems which have metadata about theses and dissertations have been analyzed. It was observed that these systems are based on several standards and protocols that allow interoperability of these systems such as: CERIF standard, AOI-PMH protocol, etc. We analyzed the possibility of creating a data model that will enable interoperability with other systems which contain metadata about theses and dissertations. The model is created using the PowerDesigner CASE tool. Also, the modeling of digital libraries was done relying on this tool using UML diagrams. The implementation was done using the Java platform and using set of open source libraries and some good ideas (solutions) from the analyzed systems have been adopted for the implementation. Results - A set of metadata about theses and dissertations that contains all the metadata required by CERIF data model, all the metadata prescribed by Dublin Core format and by EDT-MS format as well as all the metadata about theses and dissertations used for the purposes of the University of Novi Sad is defined. Defined metadata can be stored in the CERIF compatible data model which stores metadata about theses and dissertations in the MARC 21 format. A digital library based on this model that can be searched by web applications and also can exchange data with the world and european network of theses and dissertations is implemented. The user interface for input metadata about theses and dissertations is implemented in such manner that it does not require knowledge of the adopted standards. Practical application - Digital library is implemented as part of CRIS UNS system used at the University of Novi Sad. The digital library stores more than 3500 PhD dissertations defended at the University of Novi Sad since its inception. Value – A data model about theses and dissertations enabling data exchange by different standards is provided. This model is interoperable with the European information systems of scientific-research activities based on the CERIF data model. Implemented digital library can be a node in the worlds as well as European networked digital library of theses and dissertations that require communication between its nodes by OAI-PMH protocol in ETD-MS or Dublin Core format. It is expected that the implementation of this digital library is going to increase the availability of theses and dissertations from the University of Novi Sad, and therefore the ranking of the university