Intelligent Personalized Searching

Search engine is a very useful tool for almost everyone nowadays. People use search engine for the purpose of searching about their personal finance, restaurants, electronic products, and travel information, to name a few. As helpful as search engines are in terms of providing information, they can also manipulate people behaviors because most people trust online information without a doubt. Furthermore, ordinary users usually only pay attention the highest-ranking pages from the search results. Knowing this predictable user behavior, search engine providers such as Google and Yahoo take advantage and use it as a tool for them to generate profit. Search engine providers are enterprise companies with the goal to generate profit, and an easy way for them to do so is by ranking up particular web pages to promote the product or services of their own or their paid customers. The results from search engine could be misleading. The goal of this project is to filter the bias from search results and provide best matches on behalf of users’ interest

Utilising ontology-based modelling for learning content management

Learning content management needs to support a variety of open, multi-format Web-based software applications. We propose multidimensional, model-based semantic annotation as a way to support the management of access to and change of learning content. We introduce an information architecture model as the central contribution that supports multi-layered learning content structures. We discuss interactive query access, but also change management for multi-layered learning content management. An ontology-enhanced traceability approach is the solution

Mining learning preferences in web-based instruction: Holists vs. Serialists

Web-based instruction programs are used by learners with diverse knowledge, skills and needs. These differences determine their preferences for the design of Web-based instruction programs and ultimately influence learners' success in using them. Cognitive style has been found to significantly affect learners' preferences of web-based instruction programs. However, the majority of previous studies focus on Field Dependence/Independence. Pask's Holist/Serialist dimension has conceptual links with Field Dependence/Independence but it is left mostly unstudied. Therefore, this study focuses on identifying how this dimension of cognitive style affects learner preferences of Web-based instruction programs. A data mining approach is used to illustrate the difference in preferences between Holists and Serialists. The findings show that there are clear differences in regard to content presentation and navigation support. A set of design features were then produced to help designers incorporate cognitive styles into the development of Web-based instruction programs to ensure that they can accommodate learners' different preferences.This work is partially funded by National Science Council, Taiwan, ROC (NSC 98-2511-S-008-012- MY3; NSC 99- 2511-S-008 -003 -MY2; NSC 99-2631-S-008-001)

Guide on the Side and LibWizard Tutorials side-by-side: How do the two platforms for split-screen online tutorials compare?

Split-screen tutorials are an appealing and effective way for libraries to create online learning objects where learners interact with real-time web content. Many libraries are using the University of Arizona’s award-winning, open source platform, Guide on the Side; in 2016, Springshare released a proprietary alternative, LibWizard Tutorials. This article reviews the advantages and limitations of this kind of tutorial. It also examines the differences between each platform’s distinctive characteristics. These platforms create similar split-screen tutorials, but have differences that affect diverse aspects of installation, administration, authoring and editing, student learning, data management, and accessibility. Libraries now have the opportunity to consider and compare alternative platforms and decide which one is best suited to their needs, priorities and resources

Tools for second language support

The second language problem is the context in which non-native English speakers are required to interact with English-based computer systems. In other papers, we have characterized this setting and proposed methods of supporting such users. The present paper details several tools that we have developed to assist in our work with second language support. A prime consideration in such tool development is to facilitate easy management of alternative language resources. The need for criteria to direct second language support and the role of such tools in helping to evaluate such criteria is detailed here

Semantic Web Technologies for Digital Libraries: From Libraries to Social Semantic Digital Libraries (SSDL), Over Semantic Digital Libraries (SDL)

Digital libraries have been an important source of information throughout the history of mankind. It has been present in our societies in different forms. Notably, traditional libraries have found their on the desktops of internet users. They have taken the shape of semantic digital libraries, which are accessible at any time, and accordingly provide a more meaningful search. This paper further discusses social semantic digital libraries that also incorporate the social and collaborative aspect

An active, ontology-driven network service for Internet collaboration

Web portals have emerged as an important means of collaboration on the WWW, and the integration of ontologies promises to make them more accurate in how they serve users’ collaboration and information location requirements. However, web portals are essentially a centralised architecture resulting in difficulties supporting seamless roaming between portals and collaboration between groups supported on different portals. This paper proposes an alternative approach to collaboration over the web using ontologies that is de-centralised and exploits content-based networking. We argue that this approach promises a user-centric, timely, secure and location-independent mechanism, which is potentially more scaleable and universal than existing centralised portals