Considerando a questão da interoperabilidade

This article concerns the path taken during my scientific research related to the construction and management of digital assets for the design, development, and management of databases, within the scope of the INET-md in Portugal. Its general objective is to facilitate the interoperability, Web dissemination, search, and retrieval of the INET-md's digital collections. This investigation aims to reinforce the alliance between the areas of Information Science and Computer Science. From the Information Science, it brings the applications used for organization, management, and publication of digital assets collections on the Web; and from the Computer Science, it brings syntactic concepts (metadata and protocols) to communicate and exchange data and semantic concepts (ontologies and semantic annotations) to describe data. Both types of concepts can promote interoperability between distinct digital repositories and platforms, providing improvements in information search and retrieval activities.Este artigo diz respeito ao caminho percorrido durante a minha investigação científica relacionada à construção e gestão de ativos digitais para a conceção, desenvolvimento e gestão de bases de dados, no âmbito do INET-md em Portugal. Seu objetivo geral é facilitar a interoperabilidade, disseminação na Web, busca e recuperação das coleções digitais do INET-md. Esta investigação visa reforçar a aliança entre as áreas de Ciência da Informação e Ciência da Computação. Da Ciência da Informação, traz os aplicativos utilizados para organização, gestão e publicação de acervos de ativos digitais na Web; e da Ciência da Computação, traz conceitos sintáticos (metadados e protocolos) para comunicar e trocar dados e conceitos semânticos (ontologias e anotações semânticas) para descrever dados. Ambos os tipos de conceitos podem promover a interoperabilidade entre distintos repositórios e plataformas digitais, proporcionando melhorias nas atividades de busca e recuperação de informações.publishe

An Ontology-Based Framework for Heterogeneous Data Sources Integration

Ontologies have been extensively used to model domain-specific knowledge. The main reason for this success is due to their capability to be at the “semantic” level, away from data structures and implementation strategies. In addition, ontology formalisms have allowed certain kinds of reasoning to be automated within a reasonable time complexity. Due to ontology data independence and automated reasoning, ontologies are well suited for integrating heterogeneous databases, enabling interoperability among isparate systems, and specifying interfaces to independent, knowledge-based services

Usability evaluation of a community-led innovation mobile app

Digital media can facilitate collaborative processes among local agents, value endogenous resources, and promote assets associated with territory. This article presents the results of a study concerning the development and validation of a mobile app for promoting the relationship among agents of the Portuguese Centro region’s communities/entities. This paper focuses on the results of a heuristic evaluation of the mobile app carried out with two groups of experts in Digital Technologies, Tourism, Health, and Well-Being, besides providing an overview of the mobile app that was developed and a theoretical background regarding community-led innovation, usability, and heuristics. For the CeNTER app prototype evaluation itself, the use of Nielsen's heuristics, a MATCH-MED scale, together with a Think-Aloud Protocol allowed us to improve its usability. This article contributes to a reflection about the evaluation of mobile apps in the scope of territorial-based innovation initiatives, engaging its stakeholders in the process.publishe

An Ontology-Based Framework for Heterogeneous Data Sources Integration

Ontologies have been extensively used to model domain-specific knowledge. The main reason for this success is due to their capability to be at the “semantic” level, away from data structures and implementation strategies. In addition, ontology formalisms have allowed certain kinds of reasoning to be automated within a reasonable time complexity. Due to ontology data independence and automated reasoning, ontologies are well suited for integrating heterogeneous databases, enabling interoperability among isparate systems, and specifying interfaces to independent, knowledge-based services

Hypermediation functionalities in digital platforms for collaborative and social interaction

The purpose of this article is to identify how Mobile Apps/Platforms have promoted Hypermediation Processes, establishing functionalities that enhance hypermediation. This determines how it improves interactions and audience engagement with online media content, allowing the user to not only be a passive spectator but also actively participate through the interaction provided by the system. Considering that the hypermediation concept is still not widely established, a theoretical introduction is presented, aiming to define it. To map the hypermediation traits, we conducted a systematic literature review to identify functionalities that enhance hypermediation in current mobile apps/platforms. It comprises articles from Scopus and Web of Science databases, published between 2016 and 2021. Further, the research strategy used keywords in English and Spanish, and it was made in accordance with the PRISMA Statement. A total of 29 articles were analysed to identify hypermediation functionalities that play a relevant role in fostering communication and engagement in collaborative and social interaction contexts. Simultaneously, this article discusses how hypermediation can be understood in the CeNTER platform scope as an example of a digital platform for community-led initiatives. This study's results made it possible to identify the functionalities of hypermediation that are essential to promote community initiatives and local development.publishe

An iterative process for the evaluation of a mobile application prototype

This study is part of a research conducted under the CeNTER Program, an interdisciplinary project that aimed to promotethe development of the Centro Region of Portugal. The general contribution of this paper is the evaluation of a mobile application prototype to promote the collaboration between the various agents involved in the areas of Tourism, Health and Wellbeing. It presents two assessment stages, conducted with experts and end-users. For the evaluation with experts, an inspection technique based on a heuristic evaluation was employed. For the evaluation with end-users, different methods were used, which included the collection of quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data were obtained through two User Experience evaluation tools (SUS and AttrakDiff) and from usability metrics of effectiveness and efficiency, which are key factors related to the usability of a product. Qualitative data were obtained using the Think-aloud protocol, which allowed the collection of immediate feedback on their experience of interacting with the prototype. Although there are still improvements to be addressed, the prototype was positively evaluated. Furthermore, the obtained opinions showed that the CeNTER application is a sustainable and timely contribution, with an interesting potential to foster community-led initiatives. Finally, this article offered an understanding for the evaluation of mobile applications, which foster the same subject approached in this study.publishe

End-user evaluation of a mobile application prototype for territorial innovation

This study is part of a larger research effort taking place under the umbrella of CeNTER Program, an interdisciplinary project that aims to promote the development of the Centro Region of Portugal. The general contribution of this paper is the evaluation of a mobile application prototype that promotes collaboration between the various agents involved in Tourism, Health and Wellbeing. For the evaluation of the prototype, different methods were employed, which included the collection of quantitative and qualitative data. Quantitative data were obtained through the combination of two User Experience evaluation tools (SUS and AttrakDiff) and from usability metrics of effectiveness and efficiency, which are key factors related to the usability of a product. Qualitative data were obtained using the Think-aloud protocol, which allowed immediate feedback from end-users on their experience of interacting with the prototype. Although there are still several improvements to be addressed, the overall end-users’ opinions show that the CeNTER application is a sustainable and timely contribution, with an interesting potential to help foster community-led initiatives. The article offers a better understanding for the evaluation of mobile applications, which foster the same subject approached in this study.publishe