Exploring manuscripts: sharing ancient wisdoms across the semantic web

Recent work in digital humanities has seen researchers in-creasingly producing online editions of texts and manuscripts, particularly in adoption of the TEI XML format for online publishing. The benefits of semantic web techniques are un-derexplored in such research, however, with a lack of sharing and communication of research information. The Sharing Ancient Wisdoms (SAWS) project applies linked data prac-tices to enhance and expand on what is possible with these digital text editions. Focussing on Greek and Arabic col-lections of ancient wise sayings, which are often related to each other, we use RDF to annotate and extract seman-tic information from the TEI documents as RDF triples. This allows researchers to explore the conceptual networks that arise from these interconnected sayings. The SAWS project advocates a semantic-web-based methodology, en-hancing rather than replacing current workflow processes, for digital humanities researchers to share their findings and collectively benefit from each other’s work

Pattern-based design applied to cultural heritage knowledge graphs

Ontology Design Patterns (ODPs) have become an established and recognised practice for guaranteeing good quality ontology engineering. There are several ODP repositories where ODPs are shared as well as ontology design methodologies recommending their reuse. Performing rigorous testing is recommended as well for supporting ontology maintenance and validating the resulting resource against its motivating requirements. Nevertheless, it is less than straightforward to find guidelines on how to apply such methodologies for developing domain-specific knowledge graphs. ArCo is the knowledge graph of Italian Cultural Heritage and has been developed by using eXtreme Design (XD), an ODP- and test-driven methodology. During its development, XD has been adapted to the need of the CH domain e.g. gathering requirements from an open, diverse community of consumers, a new ODP has been defined and many have been specialised to address specific CH requirements. This paper presents ArCo and describes how to apply XD to the development and validation of a CH knowledge graph, also detailing the (intellectual) process implemented for matching the encountered modelling problems to ODPs. Relevant contributions also include a novel web tool for supporting unit-testing of knowledge graphs, a rigorous evaluation of ArCo, and a discussion of methodological lessons learned during ArCo development

Automatic extraction of knowledge from web documents

A large amount of digital information available is written as text documents in the form of web pages, reports, papers, emails, etc. Extracting the knowledge of interest from such documents from multiple sources in a timely fashion is therefore crucial. This paper provides an update on the Artequakt system which uses natural language tools to automatically extract knowledge about artists from multiple documents based on a predefined ontology. The ontology represents the type and form of knowledge to extract. This knowledge is then used to generate tailored biographies. The information extraction process of Artequakt is detailed and evaluated in this paper

Acceptability, conflict, and support for coastal resource management policies and initiatives in Cebu, Philippines

2010 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.Efforts to address the decline of coastal and habitat resources by Coastal Resource Management (CRM) initiatives are done via application of frameworks such as Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) and Ecosystem Based Management (EBM). Recent literature stresses the necessity to complement biological monitoring with social science monitoring of coastal areas by applying social science concepts in CRM. Linkages between social science concepts such as a conflict, acceptance, and public support for CRM with research themes of governance, communities, and socioeconomics are crucial for advancing our understanding of the social success of CRM initiatives. In light of the scholarly and applied need, this thesis focuses on analyzing stakeholder perceptions, conflict, and public support for CRM policies and initiatives in Southern Cebu, Philippines. In particular, this thesis examines stakeholder attitudes and normative beliefs of CRM scenarios, and links these perceptions with public support of CRM policies and initiatives implemented at the levels of the community, municipality, and the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Network. This thesis presents two manuscripts applying qualitative and quantitative social science methods for understanding stakeholder perceptions of conflict, acceptance, and public support for CRM policies. The first manuscript applies the Potential for Conflict Index (PCI2), a statistic that graphically displays the amount of consensus and the potential for conflict to occur in a CRM scenario. Specifically, the PCI2 displays fishers' normative beliefs concerning their consensus and acceptability of CRM policies and initiatives. Face-to-face interviews with fishers serve as data for calculating the PCI2. This manuscript compares fishers' normative beliefs concerning their evaluations of CRM policies among the municipalities of Oslob, Santander, and Samboan in Southern Cebu. Overall, fishers' differing evaluations reflects the way CRM is implemented and enforced in each of these municipalities. Fishers' evaluations allow local governments to understand acceptability of CRM policies as well as make better management decisions concerning policy compliance, consensus for policies, and conflict within a municipality. The second manuscript of this thesis applies qualitative conflict mapping methods to the investigation of institutional conflict and accountability within a coastal municipality in Southern Cebu. Using in-depth interviews, conflict mapping methods enables the analysis of stakeholder attitudes of institutional conflict and accountability for CRM. This manuscript investigates institutional relationships among stakeholders accountable for CRM. Lastly, this manuscript examines how institutional relationships and stakeholder perceptions affect CRM at the community, municipality, and the MPA Network. The interpretive analysis reveals that conflicts concerning institutional accountability for CRM are often at the root of problems for implementing and enforcing coastal management initiatives and policies within the different communities of the municipality. Theoretical implications of this thesis include the application of normative theories and qualitative conflict analysis frameworks for understanding stakeholder perceptions of conflict and public support for CRM initiatives. Managerial applications of this thesis include the use of quantitative (PCI2) and qualitative (conflict mapping) social science monitoring methods applicable for understanding social science concepts such as stakeholder perceptions, conflict, and public support for CRM policies and initiatives. Future studies could include the combined use of PCI2 and conflict mapping as complementary research methods for investigating collaborative local government decision making processes crucial for the social success of CRM initiatives

A CRM-based pathway to improving organisational responsiveness: an empirical study

Successful organisations are characterised by how they adjust their organisational practices in response to the external environment. The concept of organisational responsiveness has been used to describe this ability to respond to market changes. The role played by customer relationship management (CRM) in supporting this process is considered, with a focus on the contribution made by how CRM is approached and embedded in the organisation, effective information systems, and staff empowerment. Drawing on data from an empirical study of financial services firms in Brazil, the findings show that improved organisational responsiveness is more effectively enabled by a ‘CRM approach – systems effectiveness – staff empowerment’ pathway, rather than the simple ‘CRM approach – systems implementation’ pathway adopted by many firms. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are explored

Exploraty Multivariate Statistical Methods Applied to Pharmaceutical Industry CRM Data

Dissertação apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Estatística e Gestão de InformaçãoAn analysis of the current CRM systems in the Pharmaceutical Industry, the way the pharmaceutical companies developed them and a comparison between Europe and United States was done in this study. Overall the CRM in the pharmaceutical industry is far-behind, when compared with other business areas, like consumer goods, finance (banking) or insurance companies, being pharmaceutical CRM specifically less developed in Europe when compared to United States. One of the big obstacles for the success of CRM in the pharmaceutical industry is the poor analytics applied to the current CRM programs. Improving Sales and Marketing Effectiveness by apllying, multivariate exploratory statistical methods, specifically Factor Analysis and Clustering into pharmaceutical CRM data from a Portuguese pharmaceutical company was the main goal of this thesis. Their overall usefulness when applied to the business was demonstrated, and specifically in relation to the cluster methods, SOMs outperformed the hierarchical methods by producing a more meaningful business solution