Hypertext and the Docuverse: A Research Memo

The term docuverse was first developed by Apple Computer guru Allen Kay in the late 1960’s. The underlying idea can be traced back decades earlier, to the visionary Vannevar Bush and the Memex (Bush, 1945). According to Kay, a docuverse is a set of related documents together with the linkages between them. In this paper, a docuverse is conceived as a collection of related scholarly documents together with the links, ties and bonds that can bring them together into an integrated logical and conceptual whole. Kay who also coined the term hypertext, which refers to an electronic document with existing and anticipated hypermedia technology. have already made possible the construction of an electronic web of all the related documents of social science (and any other academic discipline, professional field or interdiscipline) like third sector studies

The Social Work Docuverse

The impact of electronic technology on social work has not been fundamental or transformative in any way comparable to the impact upon a variety of other professions and disciplines. A major potential impact of electronic systems for communications-based knowledge systems like social work lies in the area of textual processing systems which are only beginning to come to the fore. This article concentrates on one such set of technology -- hypermedia -- which already makes possible the construction and delivery of a social work docuverse which contains an electronic knowledge base of the field. Actual realization of such a web and exploration of the vast networks of linkages it implies will be an enormous task which should be the first major scholarly enterprise facing social welfare scholars in the new millennium. Several major problems must be overcome in creating such a vast undertaking include a number of critical organizational, legal, educational and political issues. The very nature of the emerging technology together with the inherited traditions of professional education make such a task inherently a matter of the common good of the profession

Extending document models to incorporate semantic information for complex standards

This paper presents the concept of hybrid semantic-document models to aid information management when using standards for complex technical domains such as military data communication. These standards are traditionally text based documents for human interpretation, but prose sections can often be ambiguous and can lead to discrepancies and subsequent implementation problems. Many organisations will produce semantic representations of the material to ensure common understanding and to exploit computer aided development. In developing these semantic representations, no relationship is maintained to the original prose. Maintaining relationships between the original prose and the semantic model has key benefits, including assessing conformance at a semantic level rather than prose, and enabling original content authors to explicitly define their intentions, thus reducing ambiguity and facilitating computer aided functionality. A framework of relationships is proposed which can integrate with common document modeling techniques and provide the necessary functionality to allow semantic content to be mapped into document views. These relationships are then generalised for applicability to a wider context

Integrated XML andGML in Geographical Information System

This project basically concentrated on the study of extensible Markup Language (XML) and Geography Markup Language (GML) in Geographical Information System (GIS). The objective of the project is to convert the spatial data (e.g.: coordinates, area, etc) by using the XML and GML and then coding will be integrated and viewed in the web browser by using the Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG)technology. Basically, this project is done to find a new way to overcomethe weaknesses of map digitizing and taking advantage of the GML technology in Geographical Information System. The project scope is concentrate on the usage of XML andGML in GIS. Research is done onXML technologies, which are provided for GML. The technologies included technology for encoding and data modeling (Data Type Definition, XML Schema), technology for transforming (XSLT) and technology for graphic rendering (SVG). Research on GML is focused on manipulation of spatial data to convert to simple features such as point, line and polygon. This project combines XML, GML and SVG technologies in order to meet the project objectives. In completing this project, waterfall model is use as the methodology for the system development. The project is developed according tothe four phases of system development, which are planning, analysis, design and implementation. The discussion ofthis project will be more on GML compatibility and the advantages of using SVG to view the map. The simple display of map created will be able to show thatGML is suits for handling geo-spatial data overthe Internet. The user would be able to view the map and zooming feature is provided by SVG

Hybrid semantic-document models

This thesis presents the concept of hybrid semantic-document models to aid information management when using standards for complex technical domains such as military data communication. These standards are traditionally text based documents for human interpretation, but prose sections can often be ambiguous and can lead to discrepancies and subsequent implementation problems. Many organisations produce semantic representations of the material to ensure common understanding and to exploit computer aided development. In developing these semantic representations, no relationship is maintained to the original prose. Maintaining relationships between the original prose and the semantic model has key benefits, including assessing conformance at a semantic level, and enabling original content authors to explicitly define their intentions, thus reducing ambiguity and facilitating computer aided functionality. Through the use of a case study method based on the military standard MIL-STD-6016C, a framework of relationships is proposed. These relationships can integrate with common document modelling techniques and provide the necessary functionality to allow semantic content to be mapped into document views. These relationships are then generalised for applicability to a wider context. Additionally, this framework is coupled with a templating approach which, for repeating sections, can improve consistency and further enhance quality. A reflective approach to model driven web rendering is presented and evaluated. This reflective approach uses self-inspection at runtime to read directly from the model, thus eliminating the need for any generative processes which result in data duplication across source used for different purpose

A Semantic Web Based Search Engine with X3D Visualisation of Queries and Results

Parts of this PhD have been published: Gkoutzis, Konstantinos, and Vladimir Geroimenko. "Moving from Folksonomies to Taxonomies: Using the Social Web and 3D to Build an Unlimited Semantic Ontology." Proceedings of the 2011 15th International Conference on Information Visualisation. IEEE Computer Society, 2011.The Semantic Web project has introduced new techniques for managing information. Data can now be organised more efficiently and in such a way that computers can take advantage of the relationships that characterise the given input to present more relevant output. Semantic Web based search engines can quickly educe exactly what is needed to be found and retrieve it while avoiding information overload. Up until now, search engines have interacted with their users by asking them to look for words and phrases. We propose the creation of a new generation Semantic Web search engine that will offer a visual interface for queries and results. To create such an engine, information input must be viewed not merely as keywords, but as specific concepts and objects which are all part of the same universal system. To make the manipulation of the interconnected visual objects simpler and more natural, 3D graphics are utilised, based on the X3D Web standard, allowing users to semantically synthesise their queries faster and in a more logical way, both for them and the computer

Xml Beyond The Tags

XML is quickly being utilized in the field of technical communication to transfer information from database to person and company to company. Often communicators will structure information without a second thought of how or why certain tags are used to mark up the information. Because the company or a manual says to use those tags, the communicator does so. However, if professionals want to unlock the true potential of XML for better sharing of information across platforms, they need to understand the effects the technology using XML as well as political and cultural factors have on the tags being used. This thesis reviewed literature from multiple fields utilizing XML to find how tag choices can be influenced. XML allows for the sharing of information across multiple platforms and databases. Because of this efficiency, XML is utilized by many technologies. Often communicators must tag information so that the technologies can find the marked up information; therefore, technologies like single sourcing, data mining, and knowledge management influence the types of tags created. Additionally, cultural and political influences are analyzed to see how they play a role in determining what tags are used and created for specific documents. The thesis concludes with predictions on the future of XML and the technological, political, and cultural influences associated with XML tag sets based on information found within the thesis

Oracle8i with Java/XML - Does It Work?

A web database application was developed using Oracle8i with the Java and XML components. The purpose was to test whether these different technologies can work together to build a simple business application and bring it to the web using the Oracle built in Java technology, and to have its data displayed dynamically using the Extensible Markup Language technology. Problems were found when trying to use JavaServer Pages with the Oracle XML SQL Utility. Technologies examined include Java stored procedures, JavaServer Pages, XSQL, the Oracle XML SQL Utility, XML, and XSLT. Oracle 8I version 8.1.7 was used