Challenges in distributed information search in a semantic digital library

Nowadays an enormous quantity of heterogeneous and distributed information is stored in the current digital libraries. Access to these collections poses a serious challenge, however, because present search techniques based on manually annotated metadata and linear replay of material selected by the user do not scale effectively or efficiently to large collections. The artificial intelligent and semantic Web provides a common framework that allows knowledge to be shared and reused. In this paper we propose a comprehensive approach for discovering information objects in large digital collections based on analysis of recorded semantic metadata in those objects and the application of expert system technologies. We suggest a conceptual architecture for a semantic and intelligent search engine. OntoFAMA is a collaborative effort that proposes a new form of interaction between people and Digital Library, where the latter is adapted to individuals and their surroundings. We have used Case Based-Reasoning methodology to develop a prototype for supporting efficient retrieval knowledge from digital library of Seville University

Expert knowledge management based on ontology in a digital library

The architecture of the future Digital Libraries should be able to allow any users to access available knowledge resources from anywhere and at any time and efficient manner. Moreover to the individual user, there is a great deal of useless information in addition to the substantial amount of useful information. The goal is to investigate how to best combine Artificial Intelligent and Semantic Web technologies for semantic searching across largely distributed and heterogeneous digital libraries. The Artificial Intelligent and Semantic Web have provided both new possibilities and challenges to automatic information processing in search engine process. The major research tasks involved are to apply appropriate infrastructure for specific digital library system construction, to enrich metadata records with ontologies and enable semantic searching upon such intelligent system infrastructure. We study improving the efficiency of search methods to search a distributed data space like a Digital Library. This paper outlines the development of a CaseBased Reasoning prototype system based in an ontology for retrieval information of the Digital Library University of Seville. The results demonstrate that the used of expert system and the ontology into the retrieval process, the effectiveness of the information retrieval is enhanced

Towards improved performance and interoperability in distributed and physical union catalogues

Purpose of this paper: This paper details research undertaken to determine the key differences in the performance of certain centralised (physical) and distributed (virtual) bibliographic catalogue services, and to suggest strategies for improving interoperability and performance in, and between, physical and virtual models. Design/methodology/approach: Methodically defined searches of a centralised catalogue service and selected distributed catalogues were conducted using the Z39.50 information retrieval protocol, allowing search types to be semantically defined. The methodology also entailed the use of two workshops comprising systems librarians and cataloguers to inform suggested strategies for improving performance and interoperability within both environments. Findings: Technical interoperability was permitted easily between centralised and distributed models, however the various individual configurations permitted only limited semantic interoperability. Significant prescription in cataloguing and indexing guidelines, greater participation in the Program for Collaborative Cataloging (PCC), consideration of future 'FRBR' migration, and greater disclosure to end users are some of the suggested strategies to improve performance and semantic interoperability. Practical implications: This paper informs the LIS research community and union catalogue administrators, but also has numerous practical implications for those establishing distributed systems based on Z39.50 and SRW, as well as those establishing centralised systems. What is original/value of the paper?: The paper moves the discussion of Z39.50 based systems away from anecdotal evidence and provides recommendations based on testing and is intimately informed by the UK cataloguing and systems librarian community

Semantic Web Modelling: Challenges and Opportunities in Small and Large Museum Collections

Semantic Web technologies foster connection and contextualization. They can benefit museum collections by disclosing information in a scalable and interoperable way, aggregating previously heterogeneous and siloed data. Based on formal languages such as RDF, RDFS or OWL they can describe the meaning and the connections among disparate data to define concepts, entities, and relationships and to facilitate multifaceted retrieval, reasoning, data integration and knowledge reuse. Benefits of Semantic Web technologies to the broader DH domain include but not limited to harmonised views of distributed sources, semantic-based content aggregation, enrichment, search, browsing and recommendation. Over the last decades we have witnessed a proliferation of semantic web projects in the broader cultural heritage domain at a national and European level. Infrastructure programmes, such as EUROPEANA, DARIAH, PARTHENOS and ARIADNEplus, to name but a few, have delivered rich interoperable structures and innovations that advanced the tasks of data integration, sharing, analysis, retrieval, and visualisation. As conceptual models mature and expand, and CIDOC-CRM is becoming an undeniable standard in the domain, we reflect on the challenges and opportunities encountered when semantic web technologies are applied both to regional small and large, globally renowned museum collections. The role and application of semantic modelling is examined through two distinct case studies; a) the regional Archaeological Museum of Tripolis (Greece) of limited digital presence, but with a unique collection of regional antiquities that employed semantic methods to enrich and share their digitised collections holdings and b) the Sloane Lab (UK) that aims to aggregate a multitude of catalogue records (both historic and current, from multiple disciplines) dispersed across the British Museum, Natural History Museum and British Library. The presentation delivers useful insight and highlights the opportunities and challenges both for small heritage organisations and large global institutions when applying high-level semantics to withdraw silo barriers of museum items and enable interoperable and multi-layered representations

Organizational challenges of the semantic web in digital libraries

The Semantic Web initiative holds large promises for the future. There is, however, a considerable gap in Semantic Web research between the contributions in the technological field and the research done in the organizational field. This paper examines, from a socio-technical point of view the impact of Semantic Web technology on the strategic, organizational and technological levels. Building on a comprehensive case study at the National Library in Norway our findings indicate that the highest impact will be at the organizational level. The reason is mainly because inter-organizational and cross-organizational structures have to be established to address the problems of ontology engineering, and a development framework for ontology engineering in digital libraries must be examined

Organisational challenges of the semantic web in digital libraries: A Norwegian case study

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2009 Emerald Group Publishing LimitedPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine from a socio-technical point of view the impact of semantic web technology on the strategic, organisational and technological levels. The semantic web initiative holds great promise for the future for digital libraries. There is, however, a considerable gap in semantic web research between the contributions in the technological field and research in the organisational field. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive case study of the National Library of Norway (NL) is conducted, building on two major sources of information: the documentation of the digitising project of the NL; and interviews with nine different stakeholders at three levels of NL's organisation during June to August 2007. Top managers are interviewed on strategy, middle managers and librarians are interviewed regarding organisational issues and ICT professionals are interviewed on technology issues. Findings – The findings indicate that the highest impact will be at the organisational level. This is mainly because inter-organisational and cross-organisational structures have to be established to address the problems of ontology engineering, and a development framework for ontology engineering in digital libraries must be examined. Originality/value – ICT professionals and library practitioners should be more mindful of organisational issues when planning and executing semantic web projects in digital libraries. In particular, practitioners should be aware that the ontology engineering process and the semantic meta-data production will affect the entire organisation. For public digital libraries this probably will also call for a more open policy towards user groups to properly manage the process of ontology engineering

Improving Knowledge Retrieval in Digital Libraries Applying Intelligent Techniques

Nowadays an enormous quantity of heterogeneous and distributed information is stored in the digital University. Exploring online collections to find knowledge relevant to a user’s interests is a challenging work. The artificial intelligence and Semantic Web provide a common framework that allows knowledge to be shared and reused in an efficient way. In this work we propose a comprehensive approach for discovering E-learning objects in large digital collections based on analysis of recorded semantic metadata in those objects and the application of expert system technologies. We have used Case Based-Reasoning methodology to develop a prototype for supporting efficient retrieval knowledge from online repositories. We suggest a conceptual architecture for a semantic search engine. OntoUS is a collaborative effort that proposes a new form of interaction between users and digital libraries, where the latter are adapted to users and their surroundings