Digital Library Research Laboratory
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- 5SL: A Language for Declarative Specification and Generation of Digital LibrariesGoncalves, Marcos A.; Fox, Edward A. (2002-07-01)Digital Libraries (DLs) are among the most complex kinds of information systems, due in part to their intrinsic multi-disciplinary nature. Nowadays DLs are built within monolithic, tightly integrated, and generally inflexible systems- or by assembling disparate components together in an ad-hoc way, with resulting problems in interoperability and adaptability. More importantly, conceptual modeling, requirements analysis, and software engineering approaches are rarely supported, making it extremely difficult to tailor DL content and behavior to the interests, needs, and preferences of particular communities. In this paper, we address these problems. In particular, we present 5SL, a declarative language for specifying and generating domain-specific digital libraries. 5L is based on the 5S formal theory for digital libraries and enables high-level specification of DLs in five complementary dimensions, including: the kinds of multimedia information the DL supports (Stream Model); how that information is structured and organized (Structural Model); different logical and presentational properties and operations of DL components (Spatial Model); the behavior of the DL (Scenario Model); and the different societies of actors and managers of services that act together to carry out the DL behavior (Societal Model). The practical feasibility of the approach is demonstrated by the presentation of a 5SL digital library generator for the MARIAN digital library system.
- Building Digital Libraries Made Easy: Toward Open Digital LibrariesFox, Edward A.; Suleman, Hussein; Luo, Ming (2002)Digital libraries (DLs) promote a sharing culture among those who contribute and those who use resources. This same approach works when building Open Digital Libraries (ODLs). Leveraging the intellectual and practical investment made in the Open Archives Initiative through an eXtended Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (XPMH), one can build lightweight protocols to tie together key components that together make up the core of a DL. DL developers in various settings have learned how to apply this framework in a few hours. The ODL approach has been effective with the Computer Science Teaching Center (www.cstc.org), the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (www.ndltd.org), and AmericanSouth.org. Hence, to support our Computing and Information Technology Interactive Digital Educational Library (www.citidel.org) and to provide a generic capability for other parts of the US National Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education Digital Library (www.nsdl.org), we are developing a "DL-in-a-box" toolkit. When lightweight protocols, pools of components, and open standard reference mod-els are combined carefully, as suggested in the OCKHAM discussions, both the DL user and developer communities can benefit from the principle of sharing.
- The Core: Digital Library Education in Library and Information Science ProgramsPomerantz, Jeffrey P.; Oh, Sanghee; Yang, Seungwon; Fox, Edward A.; Wildemuth, Barbara M. (Corporation for National Research Initiatives, 2006-11-01)This paper identifies the "state of the art" in digital library education in Library and Information Science programs, by identifying the readings that are assigned in digital library courses and the topics of these readings. The most frequently-assigned readings are identified at multiple units of analysis, as are the topics on which readings are most frequently assigned. While no core set of readings emerged, there was significant consensus on the authors to be included in digital library course reading assignments, as well as the topics to be covered. Implications for the range of assigned readings and topics for digital library education in library science education are discussed.
- A Framework for Building Open Digital LibrariesSuleman, Hussein; Fox, Edward A. (Corporation for National Research Initiatives, 2001-12-01)Digital libraries (DLs) have traditionally been positioned at the intersection of library science, computer science, and networked information systems. The different underlying philosophies of these three fields has had an unsettling influence on the development of DLs. While library science is fairly mature, networked information systems are constantly evolving to keep pace with Internet innovation. DLs are thus expected to demonstrate the careful management of libraries while supporting standards that evolve at an astonishing pace. This architectural moving target is a predicament that all DLs face sooner or later in their lifecycle, and one that few manage to deal with effectively. To exacerbate this problem, there has been a general desire for systems to be interoperable at the levels of data exchange and service collaboration. Such interoperability requirements necessitated the development of standards such as the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set and the Open Archives Initiative's Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). These standards have achieved a degree of success in the DL community largely because of their generality and simplicity. Informed by those lessons, this project is an attempt to consistently extend known interoperability standards to form the basis of a framework of components for building extensible DLs.
- A Hybrid Model for Role-related User Classification on TwitterLi, Liuqing; Song, Ziqian; Zhang, Xuan; Fox, Edward A. (Virginia Tech, 2018-11-15)To aid a variety of research studies, we propose TWIROLE, a hybrid model for role-related user classification on Twitter, which detects male-related, female-related, and brand-related (i.e., organization or institution) users. TWIROLE leverages features from tweet contents, user profiles, and profile images, and then applies our hybrid model to identify a user’s role. To evaluate it, we used two existing large datasets about Twitter users, and conducted both intra- and inter-comparison experiments. TWIROLE outperforms existing methods and obtains more balanced results over the several roles. We also confirm that user names and profile images are good indicators for this task. Our research extends prior work that does not consider brand-related users, and is an aid to future evaluation efforts relative to investigations that rely upon self-labeled datasets.
- In Brief: Digital Libraries Curriculum DevelopmentPomerantz, Jeffrey P.; Wildemuth, Barbara M.; Oh, Sanghee; Fox, Edward A.; Yang, Seungwon (Corporation for National Research Initiatives, 2006)Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in digital library (DL) research. Much of this research has investigated how DLs can aid education, but there has been no parallel investment in supporting teaching and learning about DL development and management. The Digital Libraries Curriculum Development project (http://curric.dlib.vt.edu/wiki/) is an effort to overcome this shortcoming in DL education.
- MARIAN: Flexible Interoperability for Federated Digital LibrariesGoncalves, Marcos A.; France, Robert K.; Fox, Edward A.; Hilf, Eberhard R.; Zimmermann, Kerstin; Severiens, Thomas (2001)Federated digital libraries are composed of distributed autonomous (heterogeneous) information services but provide users with a transparent, integrated view of collected information respecting different information sources' autonomy. In this paper we discuss a federated system for the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD), an international consortium of universities, libraries, and other supporting institutions focused on electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). The NDLTD has so far allowed its members considerable autonomy, though agreements are developing on metadata standards and on support of the Open Archives initiative that eventually will promote greater homogeneity. At present, federation requires dealing flexibly with differences among systems, ontologies, and data formats. Our solution involves adapting MARIAN, an object oriented digital library retrieval system developed with support by NLM and NSF, to serve as mediation middleware for the federated NDLTD collection. Components of the solution include: 1) the use of several harvesting techniques; 2) an architecture based on object-oriented ontologies of search modules and metadata; 3) diversity within the harvested data joined to a single collection view for the user; and 4) an integrated framework for addressing such questions as data quality, information compression, and flexible search. The system can handle very large dynamic collections. An adaptable relationship between the collection view and harvested data facilitates adding new sites to the federation and adapting to changes in existing sites. MARIAN's modular architecture and powerful and flexible data model work together to build an effective integrated solution within a simple uniform framework. We present both the general design of the system and operational details of a preliminary federated collection involving several thousand ETDs in four different formats and two languages from USA and Europe.
- The Open Archives Initiative: Realizing Simple and Effective Digital Library InteroperabilitySuleman, Hussein; Fox, Edward A. (2001-03-01)The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) is dedicated to solving problems of digital library interoperability. Its focus has been on defining simple protocols, most recently for the exchange of metadata from archives. The OAI evolved out of a need to increase access to scholarly publications by supporting the creation of interoperable digital libraries. As a first step towards such interoperability, a metadata harvesting protocol was developed to support the streaming of metadata from one repository to another, ultimately to a provider of user services such as browsing, searching, or annotation. This article provides an overview of the mission, philosophy, and technical framework of the OAI.
- An XML Log Standard and Tool for Digital Library Logging AnalysisGoncalves, Marcos A.; Luo, Ming; Shen, Rao; Ali, Mir Farooq; Fox, Edward A. (2002-09-01)Log analysis can be a primary source of knowledge about how digital library patrons actually use DL systems and services and how systems behave while trying to support user information seeking activities. Log recording and analysis allow evaluation assessment, and open opportunities to improvements and enhanced new services. In this paper, we propose an XML-based digital library log format standard that captures a rich, detailed set of system and user behaviors supported by current digital library services. The format is implemented in a generic log component tool, which can be plugged into any digital library system. The focus of the work is on interoperability, reusability, and completeness. Specifications, implementation details, and examples of use within the MARIAN digital library system are described.