The Latin American Comics Archive (LACA): an online platform housing digitized Spanish-language comics as a tool to enhance literacy, research, and teaching through scholar/ student collaboration

The Latin American Comics Archive (LACA)1 is an ongoing project combining capabilities for Spanish language and culture teaching, research in the Humanities, and digital technologies as a tool for expanding the access and analysis of Latin American comics for both scholars and students. Thanks to a Digital Humanities Mellon Seed Grant, LACA started out with a small representative sample of Latin American comics that were digitized and encoded in CBML over the 2016-2017 academic year. In the Fall of 2017, a pilot course allowed students and researchers to access and explore these source materials as pedagogical tools for learning and researching about Spanish language and Latin American culture. The use of digital tagging and annotation tools on the archive enabled for the analysis of the visual and verbal language of comics, as well as cultural and linguistic items or themes, and a variety of formal categories. Students and researchers were able to collaborate in the definition of key terms to be annotated and used for the research of topics in the digitized comics, with the object of ultimately creating or collaborating in critical editions of comics for use by others, and the expansion of the archive, which will eventually be open to general scholarly use by students and researchers. Integrated applications could also allow for the production of short critical interventions in comic format.El Archivo del Cómic Latinoamericano (LACA, por sus siglas en inglés) es un proyecto en curso que combina las áreas de la enseñanza del idioma español y las culturas latinoamericanas, la investigación en las Humanidades, y las tecnologías digitales para desarrollar una herramienta que permita a estudiantes e investigadores/as mayores posibilidades de acceso a y análisis de los cómics latinoamericanos. Gracias a una modesta beca del fondo Digital Humanities Mellon Seed Grant en Carnegie Mellon University, LACA se inició con el propósito de curar y digitalizar una pequeña muestra representativa de cómics latinoamericanos que luego fueron codificados en el lenguaje CBML a lo largo del año académico 2016-2017. En el otoño de 2017, se puso en práctica un curso piloto en el que el investigador principal (IP) y sus estudiantes exploraron el uso de estos materiales como herramientas pedagógicas para el aprendizaje y la investigación en torno a la lengua española y las culturas latinoamericanas. El uso de herramientas de marcaje y anotación sobre el archivo permitió el análisis de aspectos visuales y verbales propios del lenguaje historietístico, al igual que de elementos o temas culturales y lingüísticos, bajo una variedad de categorías formales. Mediante la colaboración entre estudiantes y el IP, se definieron y anotaron elementos clave para contribuir a la investigación, hacia el objetivo último de expandir el archivo con ediciones o exhibiciones de estos cómics para usuarios que sean investigadores/as y estudiantes. El desarrollo de aplicaciones integradas también podría permitir eventualmente la producción de breves intervenciones críticas originales en el formato de cómic.O Latin American Comic Archive (LACA) é um projeto em andamento que combina as áreas de ensino de espanhol e culturas latino-americanas, pesquisa em Humanidades e tecnologias digitais para desenvolver uma ferramenta que permita aos estudantes e pesquisadores maiores possibilidades de acesso e análise de histórias em quadrinhos latino-americanas. Graças a um fundo de bolsas modesta Digital Humanities Mellon Seed Grant da Universidade Carnegie Mellon, LACA foi iniciado com o objetivo de cura e digitalizar uma pequena amostra representativa de quadrinhos da América Latina que mais tarde foram codificadas em linguagem CBML longo do ano lectivo 2016- 2017 No outono de 2017, ele implementou um curso piloto em que o investigador principal (PI) e seus alunos exploraram o uso destes materiais como ferramentas educacionais para a aprendizagem ea investigação sobre a língua espanhola e culturas latino-americanas . O uso de ferramentas de marcação e anotação no arquivo permitiu a análise de aspectos visuais e verbais da linguagem histórica, bem como elementos ou temas culturais ou linguísticos, sob uma variedade de categorias formais. Através da colaboração entre os alunos ea IP, eles foram definidas e chave para contribuir para a investigação, para o objetivo final de expandir o arquivo com edições ou exposições desses quadrinhos para os usuários que são pesquisadores / e elementos estudantes marcou. O desenvolvimento de aplicações integradas poderia também permitir a produção de intervenções críticas originais curtas no formato cómico

Image retrieval using automatic region tagging

The task of tagging, annotating or labelling image content automatically with semantic keywords is a challenging problem. To automatically tag images semantically based on the objects that they contain is essential for image retrieval. In addressing these problems, we explore the techniques developed to combine textual description of images with visual features, automatic region tagging and region-based ontology image retrieval. To evaluate the techniques, we use three corpora comprising: Lonely Planet travel guide articles with images, Wikipedia articles with images and Goats comic strips. In searching for similar images or textual information specified in a query, we explore the unification of textual descriptions and visual features (such as colour and texture) of the images. We compare the effectiveness of using different retrieval similarity measures for the textual component. We also analyse the effectiveness of different visual features extracted from the images. We then investigate the best weight combination of using textual and visual features. Using the queries from the Multimedia Track of INEX 2005 and 2006, we found that the best weight combination significantly improves the effectiveness of the retrieval system. Our findings suggest that image regions are better in capturing the semantics, since we can identify specific regions of interest in an image. In this context, we develop a technique to tag image regions with high-level semantics. This is done by combining several shape feature descriptors and colour, using an equal-weight linear combination. We experimentally compare this technique with more complex machine-learning algorithms, and show that the equal-weight linear combination of shape features is simpler and at least as effective as using a machine learning algorithm. We focus on the synergy between ontology and image annotations with the aim of reducing the gap between image features and high-level semantics. Ontologies ease information retrieval. They are used to mine, interpret, and organise knowledge. An ontology may be seen as a knowledge base that can be used to improve the image retrieval process, and conversely keywords obtained from automatic tagging of image regions may be useful for creating an ontology. We engineer an ontology that surrogates concepts derived from image feature descriptors. We test the usability of the constructed ontology by querying the ontology via the Visual Ontology Query Interface, which has a formally specified grammar known as the Visual Ontology Query Language. We show that synergy between ontology and image annotations is possible and this method can reduce the gap between image features and high-level semantics by providing the relationships between objects in the image. In this thesis, we conclude that suitable techniques for image retrieval include fusing text accompanying the images with visual features, automatic region tagging and using an ontology to enrich the semantic meaning of the tagged image regions

Digital Interaction and Machine Intelligence

This book is open access, which means that you have free and unlimited access. This book presents the Proceedings of the 9th Machine Intelligence and Digital Interaction Conference. Significant progress in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and its wider use in many interactive products are quickly transforming further areas of our life, which results in the emergence of various new social phenomena. Many countries have been making efforts to understand these phenomena and find answers on how to put the development of artificial intelligence on the right track to support the common good of people and societies. These attempts require interdisciplinary actions, covering not only science disciplines involved in the development of artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction but also close cooperation between researchers and practitioners. For this reason, the main goal of the MIDI conference held on 9-10.12.2021 as a virtual event is to integrate two, until recently, independent fields of research in computer science: broadly understood artificial intelligence and human-technology interaction

Negotiating ludic normativity in Facebook meme pages

Title: Negotiating ludic normativity in Facebook meme pages Author: Ondřej Procházka Affiliation: Department of Culture Studies, Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences This thesis explores the capacity of Internet memes to inflect social realities in the communities organized around them on social media, particularly Facebook. Memes are not mere playful ‘jokes’ or ‘parodies’ spreading virally on the Internet in countless variations, they are also powerful tools for political investment aimed to sway public attention and opinions. Memes have been increasingly documented as a vital component in the unprecedented spread and ‘normalization’ of hateful sentiments and ideologies characterized by ‘fake news’ and ‘post-truth’ politics appealing to emotions rather than ‘facts’ in the digital mainstream. Based on author’s more than five-year observation of communities around Countryball memes, this work argues that much of the socio-cultural and communicative dynamics involving memes can be understood in terms of ludic play. The object of the study – Countryballs memes – are simple meme-comics featuring ball-shaped creatures in colors denoting nation-states while satirically reinventing international ‘drama’ through the prism of socio-cultural and linguistic stereotypes. Having become a household name among memes, Countryballs offer communicative resources to playfully engage not only with wider socio-political issues, but also to with the linguistic, semiotic and ideological boundaries of our communicative norms shaped by the affordances of social media. The present work demonstrates how play can be used as a useful concept for understanding not only how matters of public attention are packed, framed and transmitted in the digital culture via (Countryball) memes, but more importantly how such matters are in fact interpreted by those who engage with them. More specifically, it shows how play enables alternative modes of expression and meaning making with different normative patterns and preferences which stand outside ‘standard’, ‘rational’ or ‘civil’ expectations. And it is precisely ludic play that fosters different types of communication and sociality which are often done ‘just for fun’, however serious or offensive their effects may be. To identify these effects and their implications in the contemporary digital age, the thesis employs a discourse-analytical methodology informed by current advances in digital ethnography and sociolinguistics. It focuses on negotiations among participants in memetic communities about what counts as ‘appropriate’, ‘acceptable’ or ‘correct’ in their socio-communicative behavior. Together in four case studies, the present work provides a comprehensive account of how participants articulate, police, break and re-construct ludic normativity in connection with recent socio-political issues and digital culture at large. This includes the role of memes in the newly emerging forms of communication, in the rise of populism and nationalism, algorithmic manipulation and exploitation, curating digital content and more. The concept of play is continually revisited throughout the discussion against the developments in the scholarship on Internet memes and their ludic genealogy. In doing so, the thesis also revisits some of the traditional concepts such as the notion of ‘community’ and ‘communicative competence’ to arrive at more precise accounts of the concrete processes of globalization and digitalization in our societies and their effects

Presenting information in manual assembly

Ever since industrialization, manufacturing companies have competed with each other in trying to make the best and the cheapest product and the automotive industry is definitely no exception. The arms race between truck and car manufacturers has pushed manufacturing technology and production practice to where it is today. However, whereas companies have traditionally competed with the engineering excellence and technology of their products, the human effort in production is often neglected. After all, there are still many tasks that require the flexibility and intelligence of a human worker. This thesis focuses entirely on the information context of assembly workers. It investigates and discusses their general information behaviour in terms of information need, syntax of information, information sources and technology as well as basic cognitive abilities used to utilize information such as attention and memory. The thesis presents relevant literature on the subject of information behaviour and pinpoints potential hazards of information design in manual assembly. It also identifies three hypotheses that suggest improved productivity and quality of work as a result of certain changes in the information landscape. One hypothesis deals with the layout of information, a second deals with the syntax used to identify parts and a third deals with the information medium used to convey information. Analysis of empirical data gathered shows, among other things, that using unstructured and batched information favours productivity of work; using a syntax with semantic content as opposed to traditional article numbers without any semantic content also improves productivity of work; and using a mobile information unit betters the quality of work. The purpose of the thesis is to present the beginnings of a road map towards the greater understanding of information presentation in manual assembly. As previous research on this application area has been scarce, it draws upon existing theories found in other sciences, primarily cognitive science and its applications such as Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), information theory and human error

TV in the Age of the Internet: Information Quality of Science Fiction TV Fansites

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indiana University, Information Science, 2011Communally created Web 2.0 content on the Internet has begun to compete with information provided by traditional gatekeeper institutions, such as academic journals, medical professionals, and large corporations. On the one hand, such gatekeepers need to understand the nature of this competition, as well as to try to ensure that the general public are not endangered by poor quality information. On the other hand, advocates of free and universal access to basic social services have argued that communal efforts can provide as good or better-quality versions of commonly needed resources. This dissertation arises from these needs to understand the nature and quality of information being produced on such websites. Website-oriented information quality (IQ) literature spans at least 15 different academic fields, a survey of which identified two types of IQ: perceptual and artifactual fitness-related, and representational accuracy and completeness-related. The current project studied websites in terms of all of these, except perceptual fitness. This study may be the only of its kind to have targeted fansites: websites made by fans of a mass media franchise. Despite the Internet's becoming a primary means by which millions of people consume and co-produce their entertainment, little academic attention has been paid to the IQ of sites about the mass media. For this study, the four central non-studio-affiliated sites about a highly popular and fan-engaging science fiction television franchise, Stargate, were chosen, and their IQ examined across sites having different sizes as well as editorial and business models. As exhaustive of samples as possible were collected from each site. Based on 21 relevant variables from the IQ literature, four qualitative and 17 exploratory statistical analyses were conducted. Key findings include: five possibly new IQ criteria; smaller sites concerned more with pleasing connoisseuring fans than the general public; larger sites being targeted towards older users; professional editors serving their own interests more than users'; wikis' greater user freedom attracting more invested and balanced writers; for-profit sites being more imposing upon, and less protecting of, users than non-profit sites; and the emergence of common writing styles, themes, data fields, advertisement types, linking strategies, and page types