M. Cristina Pattuelli and Matthew Miller
The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel approach to the development and semantic enhancement of a social network to support the analysis and interpretation of digital…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel approach to the development and semantic enhancement of a social network to support the analysis and interpretation of digital oral history data from jazz archives and special collections.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-method approach was applied including automated named entity recognition and extraction to create a social network, and crowdsourcing techniques to semantically enhance the data through the classification of relations and the integration of contextual information. Linked open data standards provided the knowledge representation technique for the data set underlying the network.
Findings
The study described here identifies the challenges and opportunities of a combination of a machine and a human-driven approach to the development of social networks from textual documents. The creation, visualization and enrichment of a social network are presented within a real-world scenario. The data set from which the network is based is accessible via an application programming interface and, thus, shareable with the knowledge management community for reuse and mash-ups.
Originality/value
This paper presents original methods to address the issue of detecting and representing semantic relationships from text. Another element of novelty is in that it applies semantic web technologies to the construction and enhancement of the network and underlying data set, making the data readable across platforms and linkable with external data sets. This approach has the potential to make social networks dynamic and open to integration with external data sources.
Details
Keywords
M. Cristina Pattuelli and Debbie Rabina
This study aims to investigate the use of a popular portable e‐reader device, the Kindle 2, among library and information science (LIS) students and its effects on individual…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the use of a popular portable e‐reader device, the Kindle 2, among library and information science (LIS) students and its effects on individual reading practices and the potential applications for library services.
Design/methodology/approach
Using journal logs and diary‐interviews as methods of data collection, the study analyzes the use of the Kindle over a one‐week period by a pool of 20 LIS students at Pratt Institute's School of Information and Library Science.
Findings
The findings reveal four key areas that provide a framework for data interpretation: usage patterns, user interaction, effect on reading habits, and future applications. One major finding is that the portability of the device and its convenience of use anywhere and any time is pivotal for enhancing the students' reading experience and outweighs the limitations of the device's usability.
Research limitations/implications
Results may not be generalizable due to the small size and homogeneity of the sample.
Originality/value
The social and cultural impacts of e‐book readers in everyday life have received little attention so far. In particular, questions about the effects of e‐readers on individual reading practices and the potential applications for library delivery systems have yet to be examined. This study is one of the first to investigate the use of portable e‐book readers.
Details
Keywords
Cristina Pattuelli and Sara Rubinow
This paper investigates the semantic structure underlying DBpedia, one of the largest and most heavily used datasets in the current Linked Open Data (LOD) landscape. The analysis…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the semantic structure underlying DBpedia, one of the largest and most heavily used datasets in the current Linked Open Data (LOD) landscape. The analysis attempts to shed light on this new type of knowledge organization tool.
Design/methodology/approach
The research followed a case study methodology to analyze DBpedia using the domain of jazz as the application scenario.
Findings
The study reveals an evolving knowledge organization tool where different descriptive and classification approaches are employed concurrently. The semantic constructs employed in the DBpedia knowledge base vary significantly in terms of their degree of formalization, stability, cohesiveness and consistency. As such, they challenge the tolerance threshold for data quality and the traditional notion of authority control.
Research limitations/implications
The analysis is conducted on a limited portion of a large knowledge base. Initial findings provide a basis for further research and study.
Practical implications
Revealing the knowledge organization underlying DBpedia increases the understanding of its power, its limitations and its implications for the new semantic context provided by LOD. Having an understanding of the range of entities and properties available enables LOD users to formulate queries with higher precision.
Originality/value
This study is the first conducted from the perspective of the knowledge organization community.