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Article
Publication date: 11 September 2007

Linn Marks Collins, Jeremy A.T. Hussell, Robert K. Hettinga, James E. Powell, Ketan K. Mane and Mark L.B. Martinez

To describe how information visualization can be used in the design of interface tools for large‐scale repositories.

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Abstract

Purpose

To describe how information visualization can be used in the design of interface tools for large‐scale repositories.

Design/methodology/approach

One challenge for designers in the context of large‐scale repositories is to create interface tools that help users find specific information of interest. In order to be most effective, these tools need to leverage the cognitive characteristics of the target users. At the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the authors' target users are scientists and engineers who can be characterized as higher‐order, analytical thinkers. In this paper, the authors describe a visualization tool they have created for making the authors' large‐scale digital object repositories more usable for them: SearchGraph, which facilitates data set analysis by displaying search results in the form of a two‐ or three‐dimensional interactive scatter plot.

Findings

Using SearchGraph, users can view a condensed, abstract visualization of search results. They can view the same dataset from multiple perspectives by manipulating several display, sort, and filter options. Doing so allows them to see different patterns in the dataset. For example, they can apply a logarithmic transformation in order to create more scatter in a dense cluster of data points or they can apply filters in order to focus on a specific subset of data points.

Originality/value

SearchGraph is a creative solution to the problem of how to design interface tools for large‐scale repositories. It is particularly appropriate for the authors' target users, who are scientists and engineers. It extends the work of the first two authors on ActiveGraph, a read‐write digital library visualization tool.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

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Article
Publication date: 2 November 2010

James Powell, Ketan Mane, Linn Marks Collins, Mark L.B. Martinez and Tamara McMahon

The purpose of this paper is to explore motivations for libraries to build location aware services.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore motivations for libraries to build location aware services.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines various techniques for generating geo‐referenced metadata, including converting placenames to coordinates and using entity extraction to discover places in unstructured text, such as abstracts. It describes several prototype services developed, which deliver geo‐referenced data in different ways – as search results overlaid onto a map, as location specific data delivered to location aware mobile devices just in time, and as raw structured metadata supplied by web services, which could be combined with other data sets in support of e‐science.

Findings

Although library metadata standards can accommodate location, catalogers rarely provide location information related to the content of the intellectual product. Entity extraction services can find location information in free text contents, such as abstracts, and even provide the appropriate coordinates for the identified places, thus enabling geo‐referenced browsing and searching of metadata. Libraries should consider multiple strategies for delivering these data, to maximize its utility for end users. Just‐in‐time information retrieval is rarely used in library systems, but is an essential technique for mobile location‐based information services.

Originality/value

The paper describes several distinct ways in which location‐based information services can be delivered to end users. It also examines techniques for enhancing bibliographic metadata with location information.

Details

Library Hi Tech News, vol. 27 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0741-9058

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