Knowledge Organization Systems (KOS) in the Semantic Web: A Multi-Dimensional Review

Since the Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) specification and its SKOS eXtension for Labels (SKOS-XL) became formal W3C recommendations in 2009 a significant number of conventional knowledge organization systems (KOS) (including thesauri, classification schemes, name authorities, and lists of codes and terms, produced before the arrival of the ontology-wave) have made their journeys to join the Semantic Web mainstream. This paper uses "LOD KOS" as an umbrella term to refer to all of the value vocabularies and lightweight ontologies within the Semantic Web framework. The paper provides an overview of what the LOD KOS movement has brought to various communities and users. These are not limited to the colonies of the value vocabulary constructors and providers, nor the catalogers and indexers who have a long history of applying the vocabularies to their products. The LOD dataset producers and LOD service providers, the information architects and interface designers, and researchers in sciences and humanities, are also direct beneficiaries of LOD KOS. The paper examines a set of the collected cases (experimental or in real applications) and aims to find the usages of LOD KOS in order to share the practices and ideas among communities and users. Through the viewpoints of a number of different user groups, the functions of LOD KOS are examined from multiple dimensions. This paper focuses on the LOD dataset producers, vocabulary producers, and researchers (as end-users of KOS).Comment: 31 pages, 12 figures, accepted paper in International Journal on Digital Librarie

Contributions of Marine Libraries in ODINAFRICA to Oceanogrphic Research: IMROP Researchers

In marine information management, THE ODINAFRICA project participated in training librarians, the creation of a pan-African network of National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), product development and targeted services for national and regional end users. Currently, over 40 marine-related institutions in 25 African countries including Mauritania have tried to address the challenges faced in access to data and information for coastal management. NODC of Mauritania was established in 2001 under the responsibility of the Mauritanian Institute of Oceanographic Research and Fisheries (IMROP). IMROP has developed several products and services such as ODINAFRICA NODC, project websites, newsletters and brochures, ocean data catalogues (metadata), library catalogues, and directories of experts and institutions. IMROP's librarians also participated in several training sessions on the management of marine information. This paper discusses the project’s achievements. A questionnaire was administered to 20 IMROP researchers about their use of products and services and to plan for the maintenance of the various services and databases

Evaluating product search and recommender systems for E-commerce environments

Online systems that help users select the most preferential item from a large electronic catalog are known as product search and recommender systems. Evaluation of various proposed technologies is essential for further development in this area. This paper describes the design and implementation of two user studies in which a particular product search tool, known as example critiquing, was evaluated against a chosen baseline model. The results confirm that example critiquing significantly reduces users' task time and error rate while increasing decision accuracy. Additionally, the results of the second user study show that a particular implementation of example critiquing also made users more confident about their choices. The main contribution is that through these two user studies, an evaluation framework of three criteria was successfully identified, which can be used for evaluating general product search and recommender systems in E-commerce environments. These two experiments and the actual procedures also shed light on some of the most important issues which need to be considered for evaluating such tools, such as the preparation of materials for evaluation, user task design, the context of evaluation, the criteria, the measures and the methodology of result analyse

Twitter: Businesses Increasing Their Revenues 140 Characters at a Time

With the consumer market becoming more competitive by the day, businesses must find innovative yet cost effective means of reaching their target markets and steadily increasing their revenues. While businesses compete with one another to remain the best, they must have a strategic market plan that differentiates their products and/or services from their competitors. In an effort to do this, many businesses have begun using social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn as a means of reaching their target markets. Such sites have opened businesses to a new level of advertising where they reach consumers faster, have the ability to be more innovative, and spend less money than they would with conventional means of advertising. In addition to these social networking sites, Twitter has emerged, gaining interest from businesses looking to get their products and/or services out to consumers through a new medium. With the number of users increasing daily and the ease of passing information along from one user to the next, businesses have begun to see their new found means of advertising on Twitter as the way to increase their revenues 140 characters at a time. This project highlights how the understanding of the benefits of social media marketing is essential to businesses venturing into the use of Twitter. This understanding allows businesses to frame the use of Twitter to successfully fit their business strategies, while the Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) shows the connection between the use of social networking sites by businesses and how it relates to the manner in which consumers are receptive to the information such sites provide. Various studies conducted on the use of Twitter by companies along with a case study on FM Global, a mutual insurance company, highlight how Twitter can be used by businesses as a marketing tool for branding purposes and increasing revenues

The impact of using Instagram on the purchase decision of pink marketing customers: (an applied study of the beauty centers in Amman)

The article aims to investigate the effect of using Instagram on the purchase decisions of Pink Marketing Customers. This study uses a quantitative descriptive cause-effect and cross-sectional approach. To implement this study, data were collected from 41 beauty centers in Amman using a questionnaire. After confirming the suitability of the data, it was coded against SPSS. Then normal distribution, validity, and reliability of the tool were assured, followed by descriptive analysis and correlation between the variables. Finally, the effect was tested by multiple regressions. The study showed many results, most notably the presence of an effect of using Instagram with its dimensions (Brand Familiarity, Product matching, Electronic word of mouth) on the purchase decision of Pink Marketing customers. This study was conducted on beauty centers in Amman, so this study recommends conducting future research to collect more data over a longer period to verify the validity and reliability of the current model and measurement tool. The study recommends conducting more research to include other beauty centers in Jordan and beauty centers outside Jordan to ensure that the results can be generalized. Today, the application the use of Instagram in the purchase decision process in beauty centers in Amman has become one of the most important things that beauty centers must take into account. That is why the use of Instagram must be applied in the vision, mission, and strategies of beauty centers in Amman to direct daily plans and operations toward achieving competitive advantages. This study recommends that other beauty centers consider the importance of using Instagram because of its impact on business continuity. This study can be considered one of the few studies that deal with the use of Instagram and explores its impact on the purchase decision in beauty centers in Amman

Extremism, fake news and hate: effects of social media in the post-truth era

This thesis examines the utilization of social media platforms (particularly Facebook & Twitter) by political actors, contemporary media, and ordinary people to disseminate false or misleading information. Furthermore, it examines how social media have aided in the mobilization of previously unpopular extremist social/political movements in the US. This research provides a rich historical account of news media and its dissemination technology. Additionally, the thesis looks to several theories to show that these events are best understood as examples of larger processes endemic to modern capitalist societies. Utilizing news media and archival records to create event catalogs, this research illustrates how fake news spreads though social media using three distinct events, the birther conspiracy, the pizzagate conspiracy, and a Russian attempt to sow discord in US politics. Finally, this research shows how several virtual “imagined communities” utilized social media to mobilize physically in one of the largest white nationalist rallies in recent memory. In contrast to similar works, this thesis demonstrates how social media in conjunction with alternative media have created competing knowledges defined by political discourses that now routinely conflict in profound ways