Completed Projects
Abstract
How might we use advanced networked technologies in museums? How might they be used to improve the experience for visitors to the museum? We are investigating these questions through a careful analysis of what currently happens in museums and how we might want to build on or change that. We think that much can be learned from studying the kind of things that docents do when they give a guided tour. We are not proposing that museums should replace docents, but rather that they should serve as a starting point for considering the kinds of functionalities that computer systems should be provided with. This approach tries to avoid the technology-driven obsession of much innovative use of advanced technologies and instead to explore the design space of possibilities with a stronger focus on what could and should be built based on user needs.
Website
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~twidale/research/docents/Contact
Michael TwidaleThe Information Environments of Humanities Scholars
Abstract
Investigates how humanities scholars think about and organize their work and how they gather and use information sources. We are analyzing the interplay between print and digital materials in the research process and are particularly interested in the unique role of primary source materials and how enhancements in electronic texts impact their use.
Principal Investigator
Carole PalmerARIADNE Collaborative Browsing Project
Abstract
The use of library resources is stereotyped as a solitary activity, with hardly any mention in the library science and information retrieval literature on the social aspects of information systems. However, it is clear that end-users engage in significant collaboration; both with co-searchers, library staff and other interested parties. The skill of locating information is one that a growing number of people require but our knowledge of how to teach it remains rudimentary. In particular database systems fail to support both the learning of skills and the sharing of information.
Website
http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/projects/ariadne/Contact
Michael TwidaleAn Analysis of Metadata Encoding Standards
Abstract
Like most XML applications, METS, the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard, overloads a small number of generic syntactic relationships (e.g., parent/child) to represent a variety of specific semantic relationships. Human beings correctly infer the meaning of METS markup, and these understandings inform the logic and design of applications that import, export, and transform METS-encoded resources and descriptions. However, METS's flexibility and generality invite diverse interpretations, posing challenges for processing across different METS profiles and local adaptations. Robust processing requires support in the form of a general software library for reasoning about METS documents. We describe the current state of development for such a library. This METS interpretation software is an application of the BECHAMEL markup semantics framework. BECHAMEL applications translate properties and relationships expressed in conventional markup into logical assertions that unpack the overloaded XML-based syntax. The inference problems we aim to support include identifying inline and external storage objects, mapping storage objects to resources and descriptions, and correctly classifying the role of namespaces. Another goal of explicating the interpretation of METS documents is to reserialize them in XML, directly asserting as many of the inferred facts as we can. In this way we hope to improve prospects for long term digital preservation.
Website
http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~dubin/research.html#dubin05:DLFContact
David DubinBECHAMEL Markup Semantics Project
Abstract
Markup licenses inferences about a text. But the information warranting such inferences may not be entirely explicit in the syntax of the markup language used to encode the text. This paper describes a Prolog environment for exploring alternative approaches to representing facts and rules of inference about structured documents. It builds on earlier work proposing an account of how markup licenses inferences, and of what is needed in a specification of the meaning of a markup language. Our system permits an analyst to specify facts and rules of inference about domain entities and properties as well as facts about the markup syntax, and to construct and test alternative approaches to translation between representation layers. The system provides a level of abstraction at which the performative or interpretive meaning of the markup can be explicitly represented in machine-readable and executable form.
Website
http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~dubin/research.html#dubin03:llcContact
David DubinBeeSpace: An Interactive Environment for Analyzing Nature and Nurture in Societal Roles
Abstract
This project will analyze social behavior on an unprecedented whole-genome scale, using Apis mellifera, the Western honey bee, as the model organism. Honey bees live in a complex society governed by an age-related division of labor, with each individual assuming many roles during her lifetime. Both genetic heredity and environmental conditions determine what role a bee performs, and when she performs it. The biology research will generate a unique database of gene expressions for all social behavior, recording brain gene expression for hundreds of individuals, each with a specific societal role. These microarray experiments utilize the recently sequenced genome, supported by state-of-the-art statistics. The informatics research will develop an interactive environment to analyze all information sources relevant to bee social behavior. These include genome databases from honey bee and related organisms, linked to complete scientific literature relevant to insect behavior. New text mining technology will integrate molecular description with information from physiology, behavior, neuroscience, and evolution.
Website
http://www.beespace.uiuc.edu/Principal Investigator
Chip BruceFunding
$4,999,999, National Science FoundationBetter Repositories Are Information Networks (BRAIN)
Abstract
About 40% of US universities have or are building institutional repositories, and another 40% are planning them. About 80% of all journals now permit authors to self-archive (on a personal web site or in an institutional repository). About 15% of faculty publishing new scholarly articles actually do this. BRAIN aims to raise the rate of voluntary participation in institutional repositories.
Website
http://brain.lis.illinois.edu/wiki/index.php/Main_PagePrincipal Investigator
John UnsworthBioGeoMancer
Abstract
The BioGeomancer (BG) Project is a worldwide collaboration of natural history and geospatial data experts. The primary goal of the project is to maximize the quality and quantity of biodiversity data that can be mapped in support of scientific research, planning, conservation, and management. The project promotes discussion, manages geospatial data and data standards, and develops software tools in support of this mission.
Website
http://www.biogeomancer.org/Principal Investigator
Biological Information Specialist
Abstract
The objectives of this NSF funded project are to develop curriculum, establish internships, integrate course work with informatics research, share the educational approach, and expand understanding of the role of informatics in scientific progress. The BIS program is aimed at making progress toward the problem of "getting past the prototype" by educating information professionals responsible for the implementation, evaluation, continual improvement, sustainability, and integration of information and data systems about biology. BIS professionals are trained to exploit existing data standards and work toward "long-lived data" and interoperability, and to build and integrate the increasing number of digital libraries, repositories, indexing systems, ontologies, taxonomies, vocabularies, and tools associated with digital data and products.
Website
http://cirss.lis.illinois.edu/SciCom/bis.htmlCo Principal Investigator
, Carole PalmerFunding
National Science FoundationFunding
$249,189, National Science FoundationChicago Community Informatics: Places, Uses, Resources
Abstract
In this Early Career Development project, Dr. Williams will use a social capital/social network model to research actual and potential IT use in six disadvantaged communities across Chicago. The research will analyze how people and communities are already using computers and the Internet, and how their own lives and identities might be represented as part of our nation's cyberinfrastructure.
Principal Investigator
Kate WilliamsFunding
$199,796, Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCivic Commitment and Student Life
Abstract
Principal Investigator
Ann Peterson-KempCommunity Funds of Knowledge
Abstract
Principal Investigator
Ann Peterson-KempCommunity Informatics Corps: The Next Generation
Abstract
The grant enables expansion of the Community Informatics (CI) Corps master's program at GSLIS and allows GSLIS to extend the alliance among LIS schools participating in Community Informatics. The CI Corps recruits and mentors Latina/o, African American, and other students interested in the experiences of underserved groups in society, who are eager for a career that focuses on community building.
Co Principal Investigator
Ann Peterson-Kemp, Chip BruceFunding
$996,243, Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCommunity Informatics Corps: The Next Generation
Abstract
The grant enables expansion of the Community Informatics (CI) Corps master's program at GSLIS and allows GSLIS to extend the alliance among LIS schools participating in Community Informatics. The CI Corps recruits and mentors Latina/o, African American, and other students interested in the experiences of underserved groups in society, who are eager for a career that focuses on community building.
Co Principal Investigator
Ann Peterson-Kemp, Chip BruceFunding
$996,243, Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCommunity Informatics for Youth: Using the Extension Network to Recruit Future LIS Professionals
Abstract
Under this grant, GSLIS and the University of Illinois Extension's statewide 4-H network will partner to reach youth and youth leaders with engaging, educational activities to recruit underserved youth into Library and Information Science (LIS). Five Illinois communities--Champaign-Urbana, Chicago, Danville, East St. Louis, and Rockford--with a high concentration of minority, low-income, and English-language-learner populations will pilot the program. Junior high and high school youths will participate in a variety of activities designed to give them familiarity with a range of information science topics, and a variety of LIS careers. The project will also produce a curriculum for use elsewhere.
Co Principal Investigator
Ann Peterson-Kemp, Chip BruceFunding
$778,895, Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCommunity Informatics for Youth: Using the Extension Network to Recruit Future LIS Professionals
Abstract
Under this grant, GSLIS and the University of Illinois Extension's statewide 4-H network will partner to reach youth and youth leaders with engaging, educational activities to recruit underserved youth into Library and Information Science (LIS). Five Illinois communities--Champaign-Urbana, Chicago, Danville, East St. Louis, and Rockford--with a high concentration of minority, low-income, and English-language-learner populations will pilot the program. Junior high and high school youths will participate in a variety of activities designed to give them familiarity with a range of information science topics, and a variety of LIS careers. The project will also produce a curriculum for use elsewhere.
Co Principal Investigator
Ann Peterson-Kemp, Chip BruceFunding
$778,895, Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCommunity Inquiry Labs (iLabs)
Abstract
The Community Inquiry Laboratory (iLab) project develops both conceptual
frameworks and open source software:
* Community emphasizes support for
collaborative activity and for creating knowledge that is connected to people's values,
history, and lived experiences.
* Inquiry points to support for open-ended,
democratic, participatory engagement.
* Laboratory indicates a space and resources
to bring theory and action together in an experimental and critical manner.
iLab
software is itself developed through an open process of inquiry in which users
participate. People around the world have used iLabs to create interactive websites for
school and university courses, research projects, neighborhood action, etc.
Website
http://ilabs.inquiry.uiuc.edu/Co Principal Investigator
Chip Bruce, Ann Peterson-KempFunding
National Science FoundationComputer-Supported Social Networks
Abstract
This work is being conducted through a variety of studies that address the way computer media are used to support social networks. The work explores how work, learning, and social relations are maintained online, as well as what kinds of relations make up a collaborative, learning, work, and/or friendship tie.
Contact
Caroline HaythornthwaiteCultural Heritage and Museum Practices (CHAMP)
Abstract
Principal Investigator
Ann Peterson-KempCultural Heritage and Museum Practices (CHAMP)
Abstract
Principal Investigator
Ann Peterson-KempData Curation Education Program
Abstract
The primary goal of the Data Curation Education Program (DCEP) is to design a program of graduate study that can serve as a model for training data curators (DCs) within the context of a larger LIS education. Secondarily, we intend to integrate this graduate training with ongoing research and practice to produce specialists that understand the research culture and can make substantive contributions to the mission of scientific, humanities, social science, and cultural heritage institutions and libraries.
Principal Investigator
Allen RenearFunding
$852,502, Institute of Museum and Library ServicesDevelopment of International Educational Guidelines for Digital Librarianship
Abstract
Funded by IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions), this research explores the variety of educational models for developing digital librarians around the world. Working with members of the IFLA Education and Training Section the results will be used to determine the feasibility of establishing international guidelines for educating digital librarians.
Co Principal Investigator
Terry L. WeechFunding
International Federation of Library Associations and InstitutionsDistributed Knowledge
Abstract
This work explores the process of knowledge construction across divides in discipline, geography, etc. This work is undertaken with the aim of providing a better understanding of such processes in order to facilitate collaborative work across knowledge divides, and to inform design of computer-supported collaborative environments for such work.
Contact
Caroline HaythornthwaiteECHODep: A Partnership in the National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program
Abstract
The ECHO DEPository is a 3-year digital preservation research and development project at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in partnership with OCLC and funded by the Library of Congress under their National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP). Other project partners include NCSA, Tufts University, Michigan State University, and state libraries from Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
Website
http://www.ndiipp.uiuc.edu/Co Principal Investigator
John Unsworth, Beth SandoreFunding
$3,100,000, Library of CongressElectronic Journals in the Humanities: Patterns of Use and Measures of Impact
Abstract
Principal Investigator
Carole PalmerEnhancing Knowledge Discovery for Humanities through the Software Environment for the Advancement of Scholarly Research
Abstract
The project will address the "80 percent problem": 80 percent of the information needed for business and research is unstructured, meaning it's not in easily searchable databases (think of email, text documents, and even images, audio, and video); 80 percent of the required information is "open source," meaning it's not proprietary or top secret; and people are spending 80 percent of their time hunting for the information they need and just 20 percent actually using it.
Co Principal Investigator
John UnsworthFunding
$1,124,800, The Andrew W. Mellon FoundationFolktales Facets and FRBR
Abstract
The goal of this multiple-phased research project is the development of a next-generation catalog prototype implementation with enhanced records for access to the folktale collection in the Center for Children's Books that gives special consideration to the shared and unique information seeking tasks of three distinct user groups: scholars, practitioners and laypeople. Bibliographic records for folktale resources frequently omit indicators of the rich, cultural heritage these items represent and provide only minimal access to their intellectual contents. Record enhancements may incorporate existing folktale classifications such as the Aarne-Thompson tale-type index and controlled vocabularies as well as current developments in cataloguing practices and standards such as FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records).
Website
http://cirss.lis.illinois.edu/CollMeta/Folktales.htmlCo Principal Investigator
Kathryn La Barre, Carol TilleyFunding
$15,000, OCLC/ALISE Library and Information Science Research Grant ProgramGraduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education Program
Abstract
The National Science Foundation's Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) Program supports teaching fellowships for graduate students in the sciences, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) disciplines. The fellows collaborate with SMET and Education faculty and participating K-12 teachers to integrate the use of computer-based modeling, scientific visualization, and informatics in science and mathematics education.
Website
http://gk12-uiuc.net/pn/Contact
Chip BruceFunding
National Science FoundationHerbis
Abstract
This project offers proof of concept and an initial implementation of 'one-button' specimen imaging and data capture. Clicking the shutter on a digital camera initiates a sequence that culminates with the population of label data and a specimen image into a structured collection database. Our ultimate goal is to reduce the total cost of digital collection data capture by significantly reducing human labor required and total project duration. Significant gains can be achieved by developing appropriate protocols and methodologies, then packaging them as web services. Much of this can be accomplished by applying existing technology to data acquisition bottlenecks.
Website
http://www.herbis.org/Principal Investigator
How Timeless Are the Classics? Documenting the Children's Canon, 1909-1996
Abstract
The creation of a searchable electronic database of the titles designated "first purchase" for children's library collections from 1909 to the present.
Principal Investigator
Christine JenkinsHumanities text-mining in the Digital Library (MONK)
Abstract
MONK (Metadata Offer New Knowledge) is a digital environment designed to help humanities scholars discover and analyze patterns in the texts they study. It supports both micro analyses of the verbal texture of an individual text and macro analyses that let you locate texts in the context of a large document space consisting of hundreds or thousands of other texts. Shuttling between the "micro" and the "macro" is a distinctive feature of the MONK environment, where you may read as closely as you wish but can also practice many forms of what Franco Moretti has provocatively called "distant reading."
Website
http://www.monkproject.org/Principal Investigator
John UnsworthFunding
$999,883, The Andrew W. Mellon FoundationInformation and Discovery in Neuroscience
Abstract
This project aims to specify information technology needed to 1) improve neuroscientists' ability to synthesize existing research results and share information and 2) support different modes of discovery and collaboration. Through field studies at neuroscience labs we are identifying high impact information, critical information problems, and constraints on the transfer and exchange of information within research teams and between specializations and disciplines.
Website
http://www.isrl.uiuc.edu/~neuro/Principal Investigator
Carole PalmerFunding
$345,331, National Science FoundationInvestigating Data Curation Profiles across Research Domains
Abstract
Investigators in the Distributed Data Curation Center in the Libraries at Purdue University, and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign will address the question "which researchers are willing to share data, when, with whom, and under what conditions?" The team will produce case studies of researcher data/metadata workflow, curation profiles describing policies for archiving and making available research data, a matrix to compare parameters across disciplines, system requirements for managing data in a repository, and recommendations for implementing results under diverse systems. The project will describe the roles of librarians and identify the skill sets they need to facilitate scholarly communication and data sharing.
Co Principal Investigator
Carole PalmerFunding
$272,229, Institute of Museum and Library ServicesLanguage Evolution
Abstract
Language is an information system. We're building computer-based models of language evolution so that societies of autonomous agents can develop their own languages, and as a foundation for theories of dynamic information systems of all kinds (e.g. mutually co-adapting distributed subject indexes, website structure evolution).
Website
http://www.isrl.uiuc.edu/amag/langevgroup/Contact
Les GasserLibrarians Serving Community-based Higher Education: Preparing the Next Generation of Community College Librarians
Abstract
This project partners NILRC along with ten libraries in community colleges in Illinois and Missouri to build a diverse professional workforce that understands community-based library staffing and service strategies as well as the challenges of serving a non-traditional, diverse, commuter-based student population. GSLIS will work with the University of Illinois College of Education to provide a varied curriculum. The partner libraries offer the students mentoring throughout the graduate program and for six months following graduation.
Principal Investigator
Linda C. SmithFunding
$354,896, Institute of Museum and Library ServicesLibrary Access Midwest Program (LAMP)
Abstract
LIS Access Midwest Program (LAMP) is a regional network of academic libraries and information science schools dedicated to promoting careers within the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) by targeting promising undergraduate students at its member institutions to participate in activities and events designed to increase their awareness of the profession and to provide support for subsequent graduate studies in Library and Information Science. LAMP seeks to employ a range of recruitment techniques including summer institutes and internships, peer and professional mentorship and guidance, and financial assistance for the completion of a Masters degree in LIS.
Website
http://www.lisaccess.org/Principal Investigator
Rae-Anne MontagueFunding
$971,915, Institute of Museum and Library ServicesMarkup Languages for Complex Documents
Abstract
For all the developments in XML since 1998, one thing that has not changed is the understanding of XML documents as serializations of tree structures conforming to the constraints expressed in the document's schema. Notwithstanding XML's many strengths, there are problem areas which invite further research on some of the fundamental assumptions of XML and the document models associated with it. It is a challenge to represent in XML anything that does not easily lend itself to representation by context-free or constituent structure grammars, such as overlapping or fragmented elements, and multiple co-existing complete or partial alternative structures or orderings. For the purpose of our work, we call such structures complex structures, and we call documents containing such structures complex documents. The MLCD (Markup Languages for Complex Documents) project aims to integrate alternative approaches by developing both an alternative notation, a data structure and a constraint language which as far as possible is compatible with and retains the strengths of XML-based markup, yet solves the problems with representation and processing of complex structures. MLCD started in 2001 and is expected to complete its work in 2007. The project is a collaboration between a group of researchers based at several different institutions.
Website
http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~dubin/research.html#huitfeldt06:DHContact
David DubinMathematical Models in Information Retrieval
Abstract
Gerard Salton is often credited with developing the vector space model (VSM) for information retrieval (IR). Citations to Salton give the impression that the VSM must have been articulated as an IR model sometime between 1970 and 1975. However, the VSM as it is understood today evolved over a longer time period than is usually acknowledged, and an articulation of the model and its assumptions did not appear in print until several years after those assumptions had been criticized and alternative models proposed. An often cited overview paper titled "A Vector Space Model for Information Retrieval" (alleged to have been published in 1975) does not exist, and citations to it represent a confusion of two 1975 articles, neither of which were overviews of the VSM as a model of information retrieval. Until the late 1970s, Salton did not present vector spaces as models of IR generally but rather as models of specific computations. Citations to the phantom paper reflect an apparently widely held misconception that the operational features and explanatory devices now associated with the VSM must have been introduced at the same time it was first proposed as an IR model.
Website
http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~dubin/research.html#dubin04:trendsContact
David DubinMulti Agent Systems
Abstract
Multi-Agent Systems research at the ISRL covers basic studies of multi-agent systems, including coordination models, computational organization theory, and multi-agent infrastructure. The Multi-Agent Systems Group is home of the MACE3J experimental platform.
Website
http://www.isrl.uiuc.edu/amag/Contact
Les GasserMusic Information Retrieval
Abstract
The objective of the International Music Information Retrieval Systems Evaluation Laboratory (IMIRSEL) project is the creation of a large, secure corpus of audio and symbolic music data accessible to the music information retrieval (MIR) community for the testing and evaluation of various MIR techniques. As part of the IMIRSEL project, a cross-platform JAVA based visual programming environment called Music to Knowledge (M2K) is being developed for a variety of music information retrieval related tasks. The primary objective of M2K is to supply the MIR community with a toolset that provides the ability to rapidly prototype algorithms, as well as foster the sharing of techniques within the MIR community through the use of a standardized set of tools. Due to the relatively large size of audio data and the computational costs associated with some digital signal processing and machine learning techniques, M2K is also designed to support distributed computing across computing clusters. In addition, facilities to allow the integration of non-JAVA based (e.g., C/C++, MATLAB, etc.) algorithms and programs are provided within M2K.
Website
http://www.music-ir.org/Principal Investigator
J. Stephen DownieFunding
$504,854, National Science FoundationFunding
$390,000, The Andrew W. Mellon FoundationOpen Annotation Collaboration
Abstract
The overarching goals of the Open Annotation Collaboration (OAC) are to facilitate to emergence of a Web and resource-centric interoperable annotation environment that allows leveraging annotations across the boundaries of annotation clients, annotation servers, and content collections, to demonstrate the utility of this environment, and to see widespread adoption of this environment. To this end the OAC has made available the draft annotation data model and ontology developed during Phase I. OAC Phase II focuses on directly engaging humanities scholars and involving existing collections of digital content that have well-defined communities of scholars interested in annotating such content.
Principal Investigator
Tim ColeFunding
$673,944, The Andrew W. Mellon FoundationOver the Shoulder Learning
Abstract
Outside of conventional classes, outside of schools and universities, how do people learn things? Often they ask a colleague to help show them what to do. It sounds obvious, but all our work on interface design, help systems, manuals and even training seems to ignore it. What would systems be like if they actively tried to support this process? That is what this research tries to address.
Website
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~twidale/research/otsl/Contact
Michael TwidaleFunding
$442,184, National Science FoundationPalmer Cox's Brownies as Comic Art
Abstract
Principal Investigator
Carol TilleyPaseo Boricua Community Library Project
Abstract
The Paseo Boricua Community Library Project encompasses a variety of activities around community librarianship and informatics in the Chicago neighborhood of Paseo Boricua.
Website
http://www.cii.uiuc.edu/research.php?link=1#pbclpPrincipal Investigator
Ann Peterson-KempPlants, Pathogens and People
Abstract
This project seeks to enhance agriculture literacy through video and web-based materials. At this site you can explore the interactions among plants, the diseases that harm them, and the people who depend upon them. Here you can find resources on the biology, the history, the economic importance, and other aspects of plant diseases. You can do activities in the laboratory or the field to see how different forces of nature or actions of people affect the course of plant diseases. And you can have a dialogue with other people to learn how to use this site more effectively and to make it even better.
Website
http://www.ppp.uiuc.edu/Contact
Chip BruceFunding
National Science FoundationPreserving Creative America: Preserving Virtual Worlds
Abstract
Interactive media are highly complex and at high risk for loss as technologies rapidly become obsolete. The Preserving Virtual Worlds project will explore methods for preserving digital games and interactive fiction. Major activities will include developing basic standards for metadata and content representation and conducting a series of archiving case studies for early video games, electronic literature and Second Life, an interactive multiplayer game. Second Life content participants include Life to the Second Power, Democracy Island and the International Spaceflight Museum. Partners include the University of Maryland, Stanford University, Rochester Institute of Technology and Linden Lab.
Website
http://pvw.illinois.edu/pvw/Principal Investigator
Jerome McDonoughFunding
$590,000, Library of CongressPreserving Electronic Publications
Abstract
This work, with the Illinois State Library, will develop a framework for monitoring and evaluating changes made to electronically published state government documents to ensure permanent public access.
Website
http://www.isrl.uiuc.edu/pep/Contact
Larry JacksonFunding
Illinois State LibraryQuality and Reliability Dynamics
Abstract
Temporal and social dynamics of the quality and reliability of information and information systems. How do information systems improve, fail, and fit in their social contexts? How does information quality evolve in large information bases?
Website
http://www.isrl.uiuc.edu/qrd/Contact
Les GasserSemantic Analysis for Digital Preservation
Abstract
Description of structural and semantic relationships and properties of, within, and between resources is seen as a key issue in digital preservation. But the markup languages used to encode descriptions for migration between and storage within digital repositories are subject to the same interpretive problems that complicate other uses of markup. This paper reports on a project that aims to address these problems by explicating facts that otherwise would not support automated inferencing. These facts are expressed as RDF (Resource Description Framework) triples, stored in and retrieved from a scalable RDF-based repository.
Website
http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~dubin/research.html#dubin06:extremeContact
David DubinSocial Informatics of E-Learning
Abstract
This work is being conducted through studies and collaborations with students and faculty at GSLIS and beyond. The emphasis of this work is on e-learning as a socio-technical implementation, and is informed by writing on computer- mediated communication, computer-supported cooperative work, community, and collaboration. Overall the approach taken is that of social informatics which examines the joint and mutually shaping impact of social and technical implementations.
Principal Investigator
Caroline HaythornthwaiteStakeholder Alignment in Socio-Technical Systems
Abstract
Stakeholder alignment is one of, if not the central challenge in complex, socio-technical systems, all of which operate as virtual meta-organizations. These are “sociotechnical systems” in that the constituent organizations bring both social and technical expertise that is essential for success – all on a distributed basis. Examples of such systems include air, ground, and water transportation systems; supply chains; information systems; defense and security systems; research and development systems; health and medical research/delivery systems; the World Wide Web; safety systems; and many others. These “meta organizations” lack a single governing authority, so stakeholders have substantial latitude for independent action. It is only through forms of alignment that systems design, ongoing systems operations, continuous improvement, and periodic transformation can take place. Both science and engineering of the future depend on advancing such capabilities, since each depends on alignment of stakeholders in public and private sectors, spanning multiple fields and disciplines, and distributed across locations in varied cultural contexts. This proposal seeks support to bring increasing rigor and impact to our understanding of stakeholder alignment in diverse socio-technical systems.
Principal Investigator
John UnsworthFunding
$7,500, National Science FoundationWISE: An Online Consortial Initiative to Build Multi-Institutional Capacity for Library & Information Science Education
Abstract
Web-based Information Science Education (WISE) is a unique and groundbreaking opportunity in online education. Leading library and information science schools have extended their reach on a global basis to broaden the educational opportunities available to students. WISE uses advanced online technology to enrich education and foster relationships among students, faculty, and universities. The vision of this initiative is to provide a collaborative distance education model that will increase the quality, access, and diversity of online education opportunities in library and information science.
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