Invest to Save: Report and Recommendations of the NSF-DELOS Working Group on Digital Archiving and Preservation

Digital archiving and preservation are important areas for research and development, but there is no agreed upon set of priorities or coherent plan for research in this area. Research projects in this area tend to be small and driven by particular institutional problems or concerns. As a consequence, proposed solutions from experimental projects and prototypes tend not to scale to millions of digital objects, nor do the results from disparate projects readily build on each other. It is also unclear whether it is worthwhile to seek general solutions or whether different strategies are needed for different types of digital objects and collections. The lack of coordination in both research and development means that there are some areas where researchers are reinventing the wheel while other areas are neglected. Digital archiving and preservation is an area that will benefit from an exercise in analysis, priority setting, and planning for future research. The WG aims to survey current research activities, identify gaps, and develop a white paper proposing future research directions in the area of digital preservation. Some of the potential areas for research include repository architectures and inter-operability among digital archives; automated tools for capture, ingest, and normalization of digital objects; and harmonization of preservation formats and metadata. There can also be opportunities for development of commercial products in the areas of mass storage systems, repositories and repository management systems, and data management software and tools.

Occupational therapists’ views of using a virtual reality interior design application within the pre-discharge home visit process

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: A key role of Occupational Therapists (OTs) is to carry out pre-discharge home visits (PHV) and propose appropriate adaptations to the home environment, to enable patients to function independently after hospital-home discharge. However, research shows that more than 50% of specialist equipment installed as part of home adaptations is not used by patients. A key reason for this is that decisions about home adaptations are often made without adequate collaboration and consultation with the patient. Consequently, there is an urgent need to seek out new and innovative uses of technology to facilitate patient/practitioner collaboration, engagement and shared decision making in the PHV process. Virtual reality interior design applications (VRIDAs) primarily allow users to simulate the home environment and visualise changes prior to implementing them. Customised VRIDAs, which also model specialist occupational therapy equipment, could become a valuable tool to facilitate improved patient/practitioner collaboration if developed effectively and integrated into the PHV process. Objective: To explore the perceptions of occupational therapists with regards to using VRIDAs as an assistive tool within the PHV process. Methods: Task-oriented interactive usability sessions, utilising the think-aloud protocol and subsequent semi-structured interviews were carried out with seven Occupational Therapists who possessed significant experience across a range of clinical settings. Template analysis was carried out on the think-aloud and interview data. Analysis was both inductive and driven by theory, centring around the parameters that impact upon the acceptance, adoption and use of this technology in practice as indicated by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Results: OTs’ perceptions were identified relating to three core themes: (1) perceived usefulness (PU), (2) perceived ease of use (PEoU), and (3) actual use (AU). Regarding PU, OTs believed VRIDAs had promising potential to increase understanding, enrich communications and patient involvement, and improved patient/practitioner shared understanding. However, it was unlikely that VRIDAs would be suitable for use with cognitively impaired patients. For PEoU, all OTs were able to use the software and complete the tasks successfully, however, participants noted numerous specialist equipment items that could be added to the furniture library. AU perceptions were positive regarding use of the application across a range of clinical settings including children/young adults, long-term conditions, neurology, older adults, and social services. However, some “fine tuning” may be necessary if the application is to be optimally used in practice. Conclusions: Participants perceived the use of VRIDAs in practice would enhance levels of patient/practitioner collaboration and provide a much needed mechanism via which patients are empowered to become more equal partners in decisions made about their care. Further research is needed to explore patient perceptions of VRIDAs, to make necessary customisations accordingly, and to explore deployment of the application in a collaborative patient/practitioner-based context

Restaurant Multi-Context-Based Information Retrieval System Ontological Model

This paper aims to improve information retrieval results by considering multi-context-based information that can be associated with retrieval. Traditional Information Retrieval has been termed inefficient because of its lack of consideration for individual user preference and contexts. An example domain where user preference and context consideration are expedient is the restaurant and food information retrieval domain. Current food-based ontologies do not provide sufficient information to tackle this challenge. We analysed existing food-based ontologies, developed and evaluated a restaurant-food-based ontology that provides application developers with a formalised restaurant-food ontology that will foster interoperability and information sharing within the domain. The ontology was developed using the methontology methodology for ontology development. Our restaurant-food ontology is based on ontology web language (OWL) and implemented in Protégé ontology editor. Using standard ontology evaluation measures of competency (in terms of precision and recall) and consistency, our results show that our ontology is 100% competent and can be used to build a range of applications that require answering a wide range of queries correctly that are general, detailed, context-based (location and environmental) and preference-based. This is currently, beyond what traditional Information retrieval and location-based systems can answer with accurac

The Mobile Generation: Global Transformations at the Cellular Level

Every year we see a new dimension of the ongoing Digital Revolution, which is enabling an abundance of information to move faster, cheaper, in more intelligible forms, in more directions, and across borders of every kind. The exciting new dimension on which the Aspen Institute focused its 2006 Roundtable on Information Technology was mobility, which is making the Digital Revolution ubiquitous. As of this writing, there are over two billion wireless subscribers worldwide and that number is growing rapidly. People are constantly innovating in the use of mobile technologies to allow them to be more interconnected. Almost a half century ago, Ralph Lee Smith conjured up "The Wired Nation," foretelling a world of interactive communication to and from the home that seems commonplace in developed countries today. Now we have a "Wireless World" of communications potentially connecting two billion people to each other with interactive personal communications devices. Widespead adoption of wireless handsets, the increasing use of wireless internet, and the new, on-the-go content that characterizes the new generation of users are changing behaviors in social, political and economic spheres. The devices are easy to use, pervasive and personal. The affordable cell phone has the potential to break down the barriers of poverty and accessibility previously posed by other communications devices. An entire generation that is dependant on ubiquitous mobile technologies is changing the way it works, plays and thinks. Businesses, governments, educational institutions, religious and other organizations in turn are adapting to reach out to this mobile generation via wireless technologies -- from SMS-enabled vending machines in Finland to tech-savvy priests in India willing to conduct prayers transmitted via cell phones. Cellular devices are providing developing economies with opportunities unlike any others previously available. By opening the lines of communication, previously disenfranchised groups can have access to information relating to markets, economic opportunities, jobs, and weather to name just a few. When poor village farmers from Bangladesh can auction their crops on a craigslist-type service over the mobile phone, or government officials gain instantaneous information on contagious diseases via text message, the miracles of mobile connectivity move us from luxury to necessity. And we are only in the early stages of what the mobile electronic communications will mean for mankind. We are now "The Mobile Generation." Aspen Institute Roundtable on Information Technology. To explore the implications of these phenomena, the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program convened 27 leaders from business, academia, government and the non-profit sector to engage in three days of dialogue on related topics. Some are experts in information and communications technologies, others are leaders in the broader society affected by these innovations. Together, they examined the profound changes ahead as a result of the convergence of wireless technologies and the Internet. In the following report of the Roundtable meeting held August 1-4, 2006, J. D. Lasica, author of Darknet and co-founder of Ourmedia.org, deftly sets up, contextualizes, and captures the dialogue on the impact of the new mobility on economic models for businesses and governments, social services, economic development, and personal identity

PLE’s no 1.º ciclo do ensino básico: o Site da Turma

A introdução das tecnologias de informação e comunicação no 1.o Ciclo do Ensino Básico, nas escolas portuguesas, tem sido um processo lento e instável, o que tem condicionado a introdução de cenários inovadores e experiências capazes de responder às necessidades da sociedade digital. Este artigo apresenta o projeto Manual Digital II, uma experiência inovadora assente em teorias construtivistas da aprendizagem, que tem como objetivo produzir conteúdos pedagógicos digitais, com base em processos inovadores de conceção, produção e aplicação, destinados a crianças, educadores, professores e pais. De três anos de trabalho, resultaram quatro aplicações multimédia desenvolvidas de acordo com as orientações curriculares do Ministério da Educação para a Educação Pré-escolar, e para o 1.o Ciclo do Ensino Básico, para as áreas de língua portuguesa, matemática, estudo do meio, língua inglesa e TIC Cidadania. Foi também criada uma plataforma de aprendizagem - o ‘Site da Turma’ - especialmente desenhada para crianças desta faixa etária e sobre a qual refletimos neste artigo. Acompanhando o desenvolvimento e implementação do projeto foram desenvolvidos estudos com diferentes desenhos metodológicos, com intuito de analisar o impacto dos recursos didáticos criados nos contextos formais e informais de aprendizagem. Os resultados obtidos com a utilização do ‘Site da Turma’ sugerem a necessidade de mudança de práticas pedagógicas do professor e o maior fomento da utilização das tecnologias digitais na Educação Infantil e Básica inicial.The introduction of Information Technology and Communication in Portuguese Primary Education has been a slow and gradual process, which has prevented the introduction of innovative scenarios and experiences capable of responding to the needs of the digital society. This paper presents the Manual Digital II project, an innovative experience based on constructivism learning theories, which aims to produce digital educational contents based on innovative design, production and application processes, for children, educators, teachers and parents. In three years of work four multimedia applications were developed, according to the curriculum guidelines established by the Ministry of Education, for Pre-school Education, in the various areas of knowledge, and Primary Education, in the areas of Portuguese Language, Mathematics, Environmental Studies, English and ICT Citizenship. A learning platform, ‘Class Site’, was also developed, specially for this age group, which we discuss in this paper. In order to analyze the impact of these multimedia applications upon formal and informal learning contexts several studies were developed. The findings resulting from the analyses of the ‘Class Site’ use suggests the need to change practices and to foster greater use of digital technology in this level of education

Animal Healthcare Robots: The Case for Privacy Regulation

Animal healthcare robots are a form of healthcare or wellness devices that possess the appearance of animals or pets and that collect data on the user. The appearance, use, and nature of data collected by these robots illustrate two types of devices for which privacy regulation falls short: Internet of Things (“IoT”) devices and healthcare devices. This paper surveys the animal healthcare robots currently in the market, details the special privacy concerns associated with such robots, examines the current state of potentially relevant privacy laws, and makes recommendations for privacy regulation in the future

A review of the evidence on the use of ICT in the Early Years Foundation Stage

This report reviewed existing evidence on the potential of technology to support the development of educational policy and practice in the context of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Reference is made to the use of ICT by young children from aged birth to five years and its potential impacts, positive and negative on their cognitive, social, emotional educational, visual and physical development

Adaptive Multimedia Content Delivery for Scalable Web Servers

The phenomenal growth in the use of the World Wide Web often places a heavy load on networks and servers, threatening to increase Web server response time and raising scalability issues for both the network and the server. With the advances in the field of optical networking and the increasing use of broadband technologies like cable modems and DSL, the server and not the network, is more likely to be the bottleneck. Many clients are willing to receive a degraded, less resource intensive version of the requested content as an alternative to connection failures. In this thesis, we present an adaptive content delivery system that transparently switches content depending on the load on the server in order to serve more clients. Our system is designed to work for dynamic Web pages and streaming multimedia traffic, which are not currently supported by other adaptive content approaches. We have designed a system which is capable of quantifying the load on the server and then performing the necessary adaptation. We designed a streaming MPEG server and client which can react to the server load by scaling the quality of frames transmitted. The main benefits of our approach include: transparent content switching for content adaptation, alleviating server load by a graceful degradation of server performance and no requirement of modification to existing server software, browsers or the HTTP protocol. We experimentally evaluate our adaptive server system and compare it with an unadaptive server. We find that adaptive content delivery can support as much as 25% more static requests, 15% more dynamic requests and twice as many multimedia requests as a non-adaptive server. Our, client-side experiments performed on the Internet show that the response time savings from our system are quite significant