Looking at a digital research data archive - Visual interfaces to EASY

In this paper we explore visually the structure of the collection of a digital research data archive in terms of metadata for deposited datasets. We look into the distribution of datasets over different scientific fields; the role of main depositors (persons and institutions) in different fields, and main access choices for the deposited datasets. We argue that visual analytics of metadata of collections can be used in multiple ways: to inform the archive about structure and growth of its collection; to foster collections strategies; and to check metadata consistency. We combine visual analytics and visual enhanced browsing introducing a set of web-based, interactive visual interfaces to the archive's collection. We discuss how text based search combined with visual enhanced browsing enhances data access, navigation, and reuse.Comment: Submitted to the TPDL 201

Geographical location and interaction models and the reconstruction of historical settlement and communication: the example of Aetolia, Central Greece

Obgleich Geographie und Geschichte als Schwesterdisziplinen betrachtet werden können, sind Ansätze bei den Historikern, die mit geographisch-räumlichen Modellen zum Verständnis der Vergangenheit arbeiten, eher selten. Der vorliegende Beitrag demonstriert die Fruchtbarkeit dieses Ansatzes anhand der Rekonstruktion von Siedlungsstrukturen und der Kommunikation zwischen diesen Siedlungen im antiken Griechenland. Der Strukturwandel in den kartographisch erfaßten Siedlungsmustern und die Rekonstruktion von Handelsrouten bestätigen die geographische Version eines Modells von der 'Erhaltung der Energie'. (pmb

The striking Netherlands: time series analysis and models of socio-economic development and labour disputes, 1850-1995

In den vergangenen 150 Jahren fanden über 15.000 Streiks in den Niederlanden statt. Der vorliegende Artikel gibt einen Überblick über die Trends in der aggregierten Streikaktivität von 1850-1995. Es wird ein zusammengesetzter Index konstruiert, der die Zahl der Streiks, die Anzahl der Streikenden und die Anzahl der Streiktage widerspiegelt. Auf der Grundlage der Literatur wird ein theoretisches Modell entworfen, welches die Veränderungen in der Streikaktivität über die Zeit zu erklären versucht. Um das Modell zu testen, werden die Eigenschaften der Zeitreihen untersucht. Trotz einer Reihe von Mängeln bei den Daten wird der Versuch unternommen, das Modell mit Hilfe einer Korrelations- und Regressionsanalyse zu überprüfen. Dennoch kann das theoretische Modell nicht durch empirische Daten ersetzt werden. Die Streikaktivität scheint fast eine Random-Reihe zu sein (nach der log-Umwandlung und der Bereinigung des Trends). Es wird vorgeschlagen, die beobachteten Muster auf der Basis der Katastrophentheorie und vermittels nicht-linearer Modelle oder mit Hilfe von Chaos-Modellen zu untersuchen, aber die betrachtete Zeitreihe ist zu kurz für eine empirische Prüfung. (ICIÜbers)'In the past 150 years, about 15.000 strikes took place in The Netherlands. This article gives an overview of the trends in aggregate strike activity from 1850-1995. A composite index is constructed, which reflects the number of strikes, the number of strikers and number of strike days. On the basis of the literature, a theoretical model is constructed which seeks to explain variations in strike activity over time. In order to test the model, the properties of the time series are inspected. Despite a number of shortcomings in the data, an attempt is made to test the model using correlation and regression analysis. The theoretical model can however not be substantiated by the empirical data. The strike activity appears to be an almost random series (after log-transforming and removing the trend from the data). It is suggested that catastrophe theory and non-linear or chaotic models cast light an the patterns observed, but the series is considered too short an empirical testing.' (author's abstract

Past, present and future of historical information science

Der Bericht evaluiert Entwicklungen und Einflüsse von Forschungen im Bereich der empirisch orientierten Geschichtswissenschaft und deren rechnergestützten Methoden. Vorgestellt werden ein Forschungsparadigma und eine Forschungsinfrastruktur für die zukünftige historisch orientierte Informationswissenschaft. Die entscheidenden Anstöße dafür kommen eher von Außen, also nicht aus der scientific community der Assoziation for History and Computing (AHC). Die Gründe hierfür liegen darin, dass die AHC niemals klare Aussagen darüber gemacht hat, welches ihre Adressaten sind: Historiker, die sich für EDV interessieren, oder historisch orientierte Informationswissenschaftler. Das Ergebnis war, dass sich keine dieser Fraktionen angesprochen fühlte und kein Diskurs mit der 'traditionellen' Geschichtswissenschaft und der Informationswissenschaft zustande kam. Der Autor skizziert ein Forschungsprogramm, das diese Ambiguitäten vermeidet und die Ansätze in einer Forschungsinfrastruktur integriert. (ICAÜbers)'This report evaluates the impact of two decades of research within the framework of history and computing, and sets out a research paradigm and research infrastructure for future historical information science. It is good to see that there has been done a lot of historical information research in the past, much of it has been done, however, outside the field of history and computing, and not within a community like the Association for History and Computing. The reason is that the AHC never made a clear statement about what audience to address: historians with an interest in computing, or historical information scientists. As a result, both parties have not been accommodated, and communications with both 'traditional' history and 'information science' have not been established. A proper research program, based on new developments in information science, is proposed, along with an unambiguous scientific research infrastructure.' (author's abstract

Data Showcases: the Data Journal in a Multimodal World

   As an experiment, the Research Data Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences (RDJ) has temporarily extended the usual format of the online journal with so-called ‘showcases’, separate web pages containing a quick introduction to a dataset, embedded multimedia, interactive components, and facilities to directly preview and explore the dataset described. The aim was to create a coherent hyper document with content communicated via different media (multimodality) and provide space for new forms of scientific publication such as executable papers (e.g. Jupyter notebooks). This paper discusses the objectives, technical implementations, and the need for innovation in data publishing considering the advanced possibilities of today's digital modes of communication. The data showcases experiment proved to be a useful starting point for an exploration of related developments within and outside the humanities and social sciences. It turns out that small-scale experiments are relatively easy to perform thanks to the easy availability of digital technology. However, real innovation in publishing affects organization and infrastructure and requires the joint effort of publishers, editors, data repositories, and authors. It implies a thorough update of the concept of publication and adaptation of the production process. This paper also pays attention to these obstacles to taking new paths

Does sustainability sell? The impact of sustainability claims on the success of national brands’ new product introductions

In the hope of benefiting from the increasing focus on sustainability in Western markets, national brands are introducing new sustainable products. We investigate the success of new sustainable products with a unique dataset combining household panel data, consumer survey data, expert panel survey data, and advertising expenditure data. We show that sustainable new product introductions achieve lower sales than their conventional counterparts. Investing in corporate social responsibility activities compensates for this negative effect and is therefore a viable strategy to boost sales of new sustainable products. Importantly, making sustainable new products clearly innovative mitigates the negative effect of a sustainability claim on new product sales, whereas price promotions aggravate the negative effect. We furthermore caution that the negative effect of sustainability may not decrease as sustainability becomes more mainstream, even if our data covers a period before the currently increased interest in sustainability

Good, better, engaged? The effect of company-initiated customer engagement behavior on shareholder value

In today’s connected world, customer engagement behaviors are very important. Many companies launch initiatives to stimulate customer engagement. However, despite evidence that customer engagement behavior also matters to share-holders, academic research on the firm value consequences of customer engagement campaigns is limited. This study is the first to investigate the value-related consequences of firm-initiated customer engagement behaviors, using shareholder evaluations of the public announcements of such initiatives. We find that companies’ customer engagement initiatives, on average, decrease market value, which is likely because the shareholders are sensitive to the risk of these initiatives backfiring.Nevertheless, initiatives that stimulate word-of-mouth are viewed less negatively than initiatives that solicit customer feedback, as are initiatives that are supported by social media. Companies that operate in a competitive environment or do not advertise much can create value by stimulating customer engagement, while companies with a strong corporate reputation are likely to not benefit from it

Observing trajectories of KOSs Across Space and Time: The DANS KOS Observatory (KOSo)

Knowledge Organization Systems (KOSs) include a wide variety of schemas ranging from ontologies, to classifications, thesauri, taxonomies, semantic networks, etc. These schemas can be updated and revised (or conversely become obsolete or lost) and are therefore prone to change over time. A wish expressed frequently by the research front in the KO community was for an “observatory” of KOSs. In 2017, via the KNAW Visiting Professor programme, DANS [1] began to focus more on understanding how KOSs change over time, how they can be archived, how version identification and control can be addressed, and also, how KOSs can be aligned to the ‘FAIR’ Data Principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable). This research ambition coupled with community interest lead to the creation of the KOSo (Knowledge Organization Systems Observatory). Concretely, the observatory involves the identification of KOSs within the social sciences and humanities or the life sciences. KOSs have been described and ordered in the observatory through a process of empirical association in order to resist the potential pitfall of already organizing these resources through the lens of other KOSs (e.g. already describing the KOS in terms of existing controlled vocabularies). KOSo employs both metadata terms and formal classifications, using the Information Coding Classification in a synthetic format together with the KO Literature Classification, thus rendering for each KOS a domain-centric term faceted with a KOS-form term. Additionally, we classify domains using the NARCIS Classification, which is a framework to represent the research foci of the Dutch national research infrastructure