Personal Knowledge Models with Semantic Technologies

Conceptual Data Structures (CDS) is a unified meta-model for representing knowledge cues in varying degrees of granularity, structuredness, and formality. CDS consists of: (1) A simple, expressive data-model; (2) A relation ontology which unifies the relations found in cognitive models of personal knowledge management tools, e. g., documents, mind-maps, hypertext, or semantic wikis. (3) An interchange format for structured text. Implemented prototypes have been evaluated

Using Unified Personal Information in Workspaces

Knowledge workers (KWers) deal with personal information and use tools like, e.g., desktop workspaces to support their work. But KWer support is hindered by personal information fragmentation, i.e., applications keep a set of personal information while not interconnecting it. This thesis addresses this in the domains personal task management and meeting management by using a common unified personal information model as offered by the semantic desktop personal information management (PIM) system

User Interfaces for Personal Knowledge Management with Semantic Technologies

This thesis describes iMapping and QuiKey, two novel user interface concepts for dealing with structured information. iMapping is a visual knowledge mapping technique based on zooming, which combines the advantages of several existing approaches and scales up to very large maps. QuiKey is a text-based tool to interact with graph-structured knowledge bases with very high interaction efficiency. Both tools have been implemented and positively evaluated in user studies

QuiKey – An Efficient Semantic Command Line

Abstract. QuiKey is an interaction approach that offers interactive fine grained access to structured information sources in a light weight user interface. It is designed to be highly interaction efficient for searching, browsing and authoring semantic knowledge bases as well as incremen-tally constructing complex queries. Empirical evaluation using a compar-ative GOMS Analysis and a user study confirm interaction efficiency.

An infrastructure for the development of Semantic Desktop applications

In einem permanent wachsenden Ausmaß wird unser Leben digital organisiert. Viele tagtägliche Aktivitäten manifestieren sich (auch) in digitaler Form: einerseits explizit, wenn digitale Informationen für Arbeitsaufgaben oder in der Freizeit entstehen und verwendet werden; andererseits auch implizit, wenn Informationen indirekt, als Konsequenz unseres Handelns, erzeugt oder manipuliert wird. Ein großer Teil dieser Informationsbestände ist persönlicher Natur, d.h., diese Information hat einen bestimmten Bezug zu uns als Person. Die Speicher- und Rechenleistung der Geräte, mit denen wir üblicherweise mit solchen persönlichen Daten interagieren, wurde in den letzten Jahren kontinuierlich erhöht, und es besteht Grund zur Annahme, dass sich diese Entwicklung in der Zukunft fortsetzt. Während also die physische Leistung von Datenspeichern enorm erhöht wurde, hat deren logische und organisatorische Leistung seit der Erfindung der ersten Personal Computer praktisch stagniert. Nach wie vor sind hierarchische Dateisysteme der de-facto-Standard für die Organisation von persönlichen Daten. Solche Dateisysteme repräsentieren Daten als diskrete Einheiten (Dateien), die Blätter eines Baums von beschrifteten Knoten (Verzeichnisse) darstellen. Die Unterteilung des persönlichen Datenraums in kleine Einheiten unterstützt die Handhabung solcher Strukturen durch den Menschen, allerdings können viele Arten von Organisationsinformation nicht adäquat in einer Baumstruktur dargestellt werden. Dies wirkt sich negativ auf die Qualität der Datenorganisation aus. Aktuelle Forschung im Bereich Personal Information Management liefert zwar mögliche Ansätze, um hierarchische Systeme zu ersetzen, tendiert jedoch manchmal dazu, die Arbeit mit Information überzuformalisieren. Dies ist insbesondere kritisch, weil der durchschnittliche Anwender von PIM-Systemen über keine Erfahrung mit komplexen logischen Systemen verfügt. Diese Arbeit präsentiert ein alternatives Organisationsmodell für persönliche Daten, die darauf abzielt, eine Balance zwischen der unstrukturierten Charakteristik von Dateisystemen und den formalen Eigenschaften von logik-basierten Systemen zu finden. Nach einer vergleichenden Studie der aktuellen Forschungssituation im Bereich Semantic Desktop und Personal Information Management wird dieses Modell auf drei Ebenen vorgestellt. Zunächst wird ein abstraktes Modell sowie eine Abfrage-Algebra in Form von abstrakten Operationen auf dieses Modell vorgestellt. Dieses Modell erlaubt die Abbildung von im Personal Information Management gebräuchlichen Daten, aber erfordert keine völlige Umstellung auf Seiten des Benutzers. Anschließend wird dieses abstrakte Modell in konkreten Repräsentationen übergeführt, und es wird gezeigt, wie diese Repräsentationen effizient bearbeitet, gespeichert, und ausgetauscht werden können. Schließlich wird die Anwendung dieses Modells anhand von konkreten prototypischen Implementierungen gezeigt.The extent to which our daily lives are digitized is continuously growing. Many of our everyday activities manifest themselves in digital form; either in an explicit way, when we actively use digital information for work or spare time; or in an implicit way, when information is indirectly created or manipulated as a consequence of our action. A large fraction of these data volumes can be considered as personal information, that is, information that has a certain class of relationship to us as human beings. The storage and processing capacity of the devices that we use to interact with these data has been enormously increasing over the last years, and we can expect this development to continue in the future. However, while the power of physical data storage is permanently increasing, the development of logical data organization power of personal devices has been stagnating since the invention of the first personal computers. Still, hierarchical file systems are the de-facto standard for data organization on personal devices. File systems represent information as a set of discrete data units (files) that are arranged as leaves on a tree of labeled nodes (directories). This structure, on the one hand, can be easily understood by humans, since the separation into small information units supports the manual manageability of the personal data space, in comparison to systems that employ continuous data structures. On the other hand, hierarchical structures suffer from a number of deficiencies which have negative impact on the quality of personal information management, and it lacks of expressive mechanisms which in turn would help to improve information retrieval according to user needs. Significant research effort has been invested in order to improve the mechanisms for personal information management. The resulting works represent potential alternatives or supplements for systems in place, but sometimes run the risk of over-formalizing information management; a problem that is especially apparent in situations where a non-expert end user is the direct consumer of such services. The contribution of this thesis is to present an alternative organizational model for management of personal data that strikes a balance between the unstructured nature of file systems and the highly formal characteristics of logic-based systems. After a comparative analysis of the current situation and recent research effort in this direction, it describes this organizational metaphor on three levels: First, on a conceptual level, it discusses an abstract data model, a corresponding query algebra, and a set of abstract operations on this data model. This formal framework is suitable to represent common data structures and usage patterns that can be found in personal information management, but on the same time does not enforce a complete paradigm shift away from established systems. Second, on a representation level, it discusses how this model can be efficiently processed, stored, and exchanged between different systems. Third, on an implementation level, it describes how concrete realizations of this data model can be built and used in various application scenarios

Ontologiebasierte Indexierung und Kontextualisierung multimedialer Dokumente für das persönliche Wissensmanagement

Die Verwaltung persönlicher, multimedialer Dokumente kann mit Hilfe semantischer Technologien und Ontologien intelligent und effektiv unterstützt werden. Dies setzt jedoch Verfahren voraus, die den grundlegenden Annotations- und Bearbeitungsaufwand für den Anwender minimieren und dabei eine ausreichende Datenqualität und -konsistenz sicherstellen. Im Rahmen der Dissertation wurden notwendige Mechanismen zur semi-automatischen Modellierung und Wartung semantischer Dokumentenbeschreibungen spezifiziert. Diese bildeten die Grundlage für den Entwurf einer komponentenbasierten, anwendungsunabhängigen Architektur als Basis für die Entwicklung innovativer, semantikbasierter Lösungen zur persönlichen Dokumenten- und Wissensverwaltung.Personal multimedia document management benefits from Semantic Web technologies and the application of ontologies. However, an ontology-based document management system has to meet a number of challenges regarding flexibility, soundness, and controllability of the semantic data model. The first part of the dissertation proposes necessary mechanisms for the semi-automatic modeling and maintenance of semantic document descriptions. The second part introduces a component-based, application-independent architecture which forms the basis for the development of innovative, semantic-driven solutions for personal document and information management

Trust and context in cyberspace

Every day we place trust or reliance on other people and on inanimate objects, but trust may be diminished in the world of information resources and technology. We are often told that information needs higher standards of verification in digital realms than in the paper world. Similarly, when we encounter digital records and archives we may be uncertain how far we can trust them. In the past, trust in records was said to be reinforced by trust in archivists and archival institutions. However, trust in professional experts and institutions is waning; notions of expert objectivity are increasingly challenged. This paper explores an idea proposed by David Weinberger, that ‘transparency is the new objectivity’. Where records are concerned, documentation of provenance and context forms a basis for enhancing their transparency and thus for evaluating their trustworthiness. Many commentators have expressed anxiety that, in digital environments where resources are reused and remixed at will, records may become decontextualized. But in computer science questions are now being asked about how data can be trusted and verified, and knowledge of their provenance is increasingly seen as a foundation for enabling trust. Many computer scientists argue that, while data should be reusable, each piece of data should carry evidence of its history and original contexts to help those who encounter it to judge its trustworthiness. Some researchers have set out to develop systems to capture and preserve information about data provenance. In the longer term, this research may help archivists meet the challenges of gathering and maintaining contextual information in the world of digital record-keeping. Methods of automatically harvesting certain kinds of contextual information are under investigation; automated solutions are likely to expedite what are currently time-consuming manual processes. However, merely being presented with information about provenance is not enough. Insofar as individuals or institutions supply us with that information, we have to decide how far we trust what those people or institutions tell us. There is still a place for expert voices, but experts cannot be seen as infallible providers of objective information