Extending the 5S Framework of Digital Libraries to support Complex Objects, Superimposed Information, and Content-Based Image Retrieval Services

Advanced services in digital libraries (DLs) have been developed and widely used to address the required capabilities of an assortment of systems as DLs expand into diverse application domains. These systems may require support for images (e.g., Content-Based Image Retrieval), Complex (information) Objects, and use of content at fine grain (e.g., Superimposed Information). Due to the lack of consensus on precise theoretical definitions for those services, implementation efforts often involve ad hoc development, leading to duplication and interoperability problems. This article presents a methodology to address those problems by extending a precisely specified minimal digital library (in the 5S framework) with formal definitions of aforementioned services. The theoretical extensions of digital library functionality presented here are reinforced with practical case studies as well as scenarios for the individual and integrative use of services to balance theory and practice. This methodology has implications that other advanced services can be continuously integrated into our current extended framework whenever they are identified. The theoretical definitions and case study we present may impact future development efforts and a wide range of digital library researchers, designers, and developers

Access to Digital Cultural Heritage: Innovative Applications of Automated Metadata Generation Chapter 1: Digitization of Cultural Heritage – Standards, Institutions, Initiatives

The first chapter "Digitization of Cultural Heritage – Standards, Institutions, Initiatives" provides an introduction to the area of digitisation. The main pillars of process of creating, preserving and accessing of cultural heritage in digital space are observed. The importance of metadata in the process of accessing to information is outlined. The metadata schemas and standards used in cultural heritage are discussed. In order to reach digital objects in virtual space they are organized in digital libraries. Contemporary digital libraries are trying to deliver richer and better functionality, which usually is user oriented and depending on current IT trend. Additionally, the chapter is focused on some initiatives on world and European level that during the years enforce the process of digitization and organizing digital objects in the cultural heritage domain. In recent years, the main focus in the creation of digital resources shifts from "system-centred" to "user-centred" since most of the issues around this content are related to making it accessible and usable for the real users. So, the user studies and involving the users on early stages of design and planning the functionality of the product which is being developed stands on leading position

A digital library content metadata generator for e-print

A Digital Library is normally consisting of or made upon a collection of digital objects plus the information and services for storing, accessing and retrieving them. Digital Libraries by nature is a very complex information system. Despite efforts being made to streamline its creation and content population into an out of the box experience, there is still room for automation. For the creation of Digital Library or Online Repositories as it also known, the availability of free open source software such as EPrints developed at University of Southampton, United Kingdom is has simplified the creation process. While the Digital Library software packages such as EPrints have made it easier to create and run Digital Libraries, optimization and customization still needs to be done in order to achieve an optimally usable solution. One the most time consuming tasks involved in setting up a Digital Library is populating these repositories. This can be a very manual task that consumes a large amount of time without automation. One the most time consuming tasks involved in setting up a the content or collections of Digital Library is the data entry that provides detailed information on the available resources which is usually made up of metadata elements that provide information on the content stored. The Digital Library Content Metadata Generator (COMGEN) developed as a part of this project is designed to reduce the workload, time consumption and error prone manual data entry that are being done the traditional way in populating Digital Libraries. COMGEN is built to demonstrate the feasibility of automatic content generation by extracting existing metadata from the source file and transforming it into a usable format for use with the EPrints Import Tool to automatically add new content and populate the Digital Library/Repository. (Abstract by author

Towards a Holistic Approach to Policy Interoperabilityin Digital Libraries and Digital Repositories

Underpinning every digital library and digital repository there is a policy framework, which makes the digital library viable - without a policy framework a digital library is little more than a container for content. Policy governs how a digital library is instantiated and run. It is therefore a meta-domain which is situated both outside the digital library and any technologies used to deliver it, and within the digital library itself. Policy is also a key aspect of digital library and digital repository interoperability in a common and integrated information space. Policy interoperability - that is the exchange and reuse of policies - is a step beyond policy standardisation. Furthermore, effective and efficient policy frameworks are also one of the Digital Curation Center (DCC), DigitalPreservationEurope (DPE), nestor and Center for Research Libraries (CRL) core criteria for digital repositories. In this article, we share our research on policy interoperability levels and the experimental survey on policy interoperability conducted with real-life digital libraries, as a contribution towards the definition of a Policy Interoperability Framework

Self-organizing distributed digital library supporting audio-video

The StreamOnTheFly network combines peer-to-peer networking and open-archive principles for community radio channels and TV stations in Europe. StreamOnTheFly demonstrates new methods of archive management and personalization technologies for both audio and video. It also provides a collaboration platform for community purposes that suits the flexible activity patterns of these kinds of broadcaster communities

Opening Books and the National Corpus of Graduate Research

Virginia Tech University Libraries, in collaboration with Virginia Tech Department of Computer Science and Old Dominion University Department of Computer Science, request $505,214 in grant funding for a 3-year project, the goal of which is to bring computational access to book-length documents, demonstrating that with Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). The project is motivated by the following library and community needs. (1) Despite huge volumes of book-length documents in digital libraries, there is a lack of models offering effective and efficient computational access to these long documents. (2) Nationwide open access services for ETDs generally function at the metadata level. Much important knowledge and scientific data lie hidden in ETDs, and we need better tools to mine the content and facilitate the identification, discovery, and reuse of these important components. (3) A wide range of audiences can potentially benefit from this research, including but not limited to Librarians, Students, Authors, Educators, Researchers, and other interested readers. We will answer the following key research questions: (1) How can we effectively identify and extract key parts (chapters, sections, tables, figures, citations), in both born digital and page image formats? (2) How can we develop effective automatic classication as well as chapter summarization techniques? (3) How can our ETD digital library most effectively serve stakeholders? In response to these questions, we plan to first compile an ETD corpus consisting of at least 50,000 documents from multiple institutional repositories. We will make the corpus inclusive and diverse, covering a range of degrees (master’s and doctoral), years, graduate programs (STEM and non-STEM), and authors (from HBCUs and non-HBCUs). Testing first with this sample, we will investigate three major research areas (RAs), outlined below. RA 1: Document analysis and extraction, in which we experiment with machine/deep learning models for effective ETD segmentation and subsequent information extraction. Anticipated results of this research include new software tools that can be used and adapted by libraries for automatic extraction of structural metadata and document components (chapters, sections, figures, tables, citations, bibliographies) from ETDs - applied to both page image and born digital documents. RA 2: Adding value, in which we investigate techniques and build machine/deep learning models to automatically summarize and classify ETD chapters. Anticipated results of this research include software implementations of a chapter-level text summarizer that generates paragraph-length summaries of ETD chapters, and a multi-label classifier that assigns subject categories to ETD chapters. Our aim is to develop software that can be adapted or replicated by libraries to add value to their existing ETD services. RA 3: User services, in which we study users to identify and understand their information needs and information seeking behaviors, so that we may establish corresponding requirements for user interface and service components most useful for interacting with ETD content. Basing our design decisions on empirical evidence obtained from user analysis, we will construct a prototype system to demonstrate how these components can improve the user experience with ETD collections, and ultimately increase the capacity of libraries to provide access to ETDs and other long-form document content. Our project brings to bear cutting-edge computer science and machine/deep learning technologies to advance discovery, use, and potential for reuse of the knowledge hidden in the text of books and book-length documents. In addition, by focusing on libraries\u27 ETD collections (where legal restrictions from book publishers generally are not applicable), our research will open this rich corpus of graduate research and scholarship, leverage ETDs to advance further research and education, and allow libraries to achieve greater impact

Simple identification tools in FishBase

Simple identification tools for fish species were included in the FishBase information system from its inception. Early tools made use of the relational model and characters like fin ray meristics. Soon pictures and drawings were added as a further help, similar to a field guide. Later came the computerization of existing dichotomous keys, again in combination with pictures and other information, and the ability to restrict possible species by country, area, or taxonomic group. Today, www.FishBase.org offers four different ways to identify species. This paper describes these tools with their advantages and disadvantages, and suggests various options for further development. It explores the possibility of a holistic and integrated computeraided strategy

Hybrid modeling to support the smart manufacturing: concepts, theoretic contributions and real-case applications about Hybrid and Wisdom-based Systems

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Cities Made of Boundaries: Mapping Social Life in Urban Form

Cities Made of Boundaries presents the theoretical foundation and concepts for a new social scientific urban morphological mapping method, Boundary Line Type (BLT) Mapping. Its vantage is a plea to establish a frame of reference for radically comparative urban studies positioned between geography and archaeology. Based in multidisciplinary social and spatial theory, a critical realist understanding of the boundaries that compose built space is operationalised by a mapping practice utilising Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Benjamin N. Vis gives a precise account of how BLT Mapping can be applied to detailed historical, reconstructed, contemporary, and archaeological urban plans, exemplified by sixteenth to twenty-first century Winchester (UK) and Classic Maya Chunchucmil (Mexico). This account demonstrates how the functional and experiential difference between compact western and tropical dispersed cities can be explored. The methodological development of Cities Made of Boundaries will appeal to readers interested in the comparative social analysis of built environments, and those seeking to expand the evidence-base of design options to structure urban life and development