Treatment of Georeferencing in Knowledge Organization Systems: North American Contributions to Integrated Georeferencing

Recent research projects in North America that have advanced the integration of formal mathematical georeferencing and informal placename georeferencing in knowledge organization systems are described and related to visualization applications

Uncovering Hidden Clues about Geographic Visualization in LCC

Geospatial information technologies revolutionize the way we have traditionally approached navigation and browsing in information systems. Colorful graphics, statistical summaries, geospatial relationships of underlying collections make them attractive for text retrieval systems. This paper examines the nature of georeferenced information in academic library catalogs organized according to the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) with the goal of understanding their implications for geovisualization of library collections

Treatment of Georeferencing in Knowledge Organization Systems: North American Contributions to Integrated Georeferencing

Recent research projects in North America that have advanced the integration of formal mathematical georeferencing and informal placename georeferencing in knowledge organization systems are described and related to visualization applications

How Can Classificatory Structures Be Used to Improve Science Education?

There is increasing evidence that libraries, traditional and digital, must support learning, especially the acquisition and enhancement of scientific reasoning skills. This paper discusses how classificatory structures, such as a faceted thesaurus, can be enhancedfor novice science learning. Physical geography is used as the domain discipline, and the Alexandria Digital Earth Prototype project provides the test bed for instructional materials and user analyses. The use of concept maps and topic maps for developing digital learning spaces is briefly discussed

Freight Time and Cost Optimization in Complex Logistics Networks

The complexity of providing timely and cost-effective distribution of finished goods from industrial facilities to customers makes effective operational coordination difficult, yet effectiveness is crucial for maintaining customer service levels and sustaining a business. Logistics planning becomes increasingly complex with growing numbers of customers, varied geographical locations, the uncertainty of future orders, and sometimes extreme competitive pressure to reduce inventory costs. Linear optimization methods become cumbersome or intractable due to the large number of variables and nonlinear dependencies involved. Here, we develop a complex systems approach to optimizing logistics networks based upon dimensional reduction methods and apply our approach to a case study of a manufacturing company. In order to characterize the complexity in customer behavior, we define a “customer space” in which individual customer behavior is described by only the two most relevant dimensions: the distance to production facilities over current transportation routes and the customer’s demand frequency. These dimensions provide essential insight into the domain of effective strategies for customers. We then identify the optimal delivery strategy for each customer by constructing a detailed model of costs of transportation and temporary storage in a set of specified external warehouses. In addition, using customer logistics and the k-means algorithm, we propose additional warehouse locations. For the case study, our method forecasts 10.5% savings on yearly transportation costs and an additional 4.6% savings with three new warehouses