| The Virtual Curator: Multimedia Software as Discourse for the Visualisation of Material Culture | | BIBAK | 22 | |
| Suzette Worden; Colin Beardon | |||
| The 'Virtual Curator' is a piece of experimental software, which challenges
the concept of the Virtual Museum. It is an environment in which users can
work with a 'museum' of objects that are all representations. There is a
'store' of information and an 'exhibition' where users can make statements.
The museum is now a metaphor for the organisation of knowledges.
A consideration of the use of collage/montage as a coherent way of organising visual space has informed this project. The work of artists who have used collage/montage suggests models for experimentation in the creation of a visual language that does not deny its own social construction, opposes any closure of meaning and offers the viewer an active engagement in the production of meaning. Definitions of objectivity / subjectivity or fact/opinion have to be taken on board We propose to illustrate these theoretical issues, which have been informed by post-structuralist and feminist work on discourse theory, power structures, subjectivity and authorship, through a description of the Virtual Curator. Keywords: Authoring, Education, Graphic design, Multimedia | |||
| Hyper3D | | BIBAK | 22 | |
| John E. Williamson | |||
| Hyper3D, currently in BETA, is an attempt to combine the beauty and
significance of antique stereocards with the ease of use and organizational
power of hypertext and the added dimension of stereoscopic 3D computer
displays. Both the digitized stereocards and the hypertext are presented in
stereoscopic 3D.
The collection of technologies that have become known as "virtual reality" will incorporate text either directly as documents or indirectly as menus or organizational structures. Due to the very nature of the display technologies used, these text items will be presented in stereoscopic 3D. The effect of viewing, reading and comprehending text that is presented stereoscopically is a human factors question that has not yet been fully addressed. With rare exceptions, current head-mounted displays (HMDs) do not yet provide sufficient resolution to read text. In fact most current HMDs leave the user legally blind, with 20/200 to 20/400 vision. However, by using a non-immersive, stereoscopic computer display that is both affordable and readable, some of the initial human factors and human perception issues that relate to stereoscopic text can be addressed. Hyper3D, in addition to being a marketable product, is rich and flexible enough to serve as a test bed to examine these issues. Keywords: 3D, Virtual reality, Navigation, Education | |||
| VirtualMedia: Virtual Reality as a Hypermedia Navigation Tool | | BIBAK | 23 | |
| R. J. Wilkins; M. J. Weal | |||
| It is well known that navigation within existing hypermedia can be
difficult. As the size and complexity of hypermedia increases such navigation
problems will become more apparent. It is essential to provide the user with
tools that enable them to maintain their spatial awareness.
The desktop metaphor and the tools within do not readily present the user with the spatial and structural relationships which may exist within hypermedia. A new virtual space metaphor will provide the user with a consistent visual representation of any such structures. We have currently implemented two hypermedia applications which provide the user with a virtual space representations of the data and the relationships between that data. Both applications use Autocad to manipulate the virtual spaces and have been authored within the Microcosm open hypermedia system. The first application contains data about Bath (an English town). Links exist between a 3D model of the buildings and other data (photographs, descriptive text and rendered images/animations). The user can immediately see the spatial relationships between the buildings in the model and hence the other data in the system. The second application contains maintenance manuals for a cable packaging machine owned by Pirelli. The user locates a part of the machine in the 3D model and follows links to the relevant maintenance information. These two applications lead us to believe that such a spatial representation would benefit other, perhaps non-inherently spatial, hypermedia documents. A tool for producing and using such a generalised virtual space is the main subject of the poster. Keywords: 3D, CSCW, Metaphor/mental-models, Navigation, Open systems, Virtual reality | |||
| Comparing Usability of Graphical and Textual Interfaces in Hypertext | | BIBAK | 23 | |
| Pawan R. Vora; Martin G. Helander; Valerie L. Shalin; Dennis Mike | |||
| This study investigated usability of interface styles in hypertext for
information search tasks. The four types of interfaces were: graphical with
labeled links (GL), graphical with unlabeled links (GU), textual with embedded
links (TE), and textual with a separate list of links (TS). An information
database related to vitamins, food sources, and related disorders was used --
referred to as NutriText.
Forty novices answered search questions using NutriText over two sessions. In the first session, the subjects in the GL group performed significantly faster and spent less time/node than others. All subjects performed significantly better in the second session; the subjects in the groups GL and TE, however, performed faster and spent less time/node than those in the GU and TS groups. Among the groups, there were no significant differences in the first session for the navigation measures: number of unique nodes accesses (NU), number of node visits (NV), and navigation redundancy (NU/NV). This confirmed that the subjects were equally inexperienced in the information domain. In the second session, however, the GL and TE group's navigation performance was superior than the GU and TS groups. Interestingly, despite statistical significance, the subjects using textual hypertexts spend only 3 seconds more per node than those using graphical hypertexts. This suggests that subjects did not actually read the text, but focused on the highlighted buttons. Therefore, the subjects may not have understood the relation between the nodes in hypertext. Such user-imposed "incoherence" may cause disorientation in larger textual hyperdocuments. Keywords: Authoring, Empirical/data, Navigation, Usability | |||
| The Hypertext Campus Project | | BIBAK | 24 | |
| David Slater; Wilma Strang; Hassan Khan; Vicki Simpson; Sheila Hill | |||
| There is currently a perceived need to introduce computer based learning
into British higher educational institutions, with its promise of lightening
teaching obligations and, as a response to a culture increasingly driven by
technology, its ability to fulfill the needs and expectations of today's
students.
However, there is also a widespread reluctance on the part of academic staff to become involved in computer based teaching and learning strategies. Surveys suggest little awareness of what can be done, doubts over resources, and a lack of recognition accorded to courseware development as a research activity. Our work to date has addressed these issues. A widespread publicity programme has shed light for many on just what can be achieved with readily accessible technology, and a Hypertext Support Unit is available to undertake hypertext conversion of teaching material for staff without the resources to take it on themselves. The project is coordinated and managed at University level, with staff involvement actively encouraged and recognised by the Staff Development Office. While most UK research is focussed on developing discipline based courseware, we are taking hypertext to individuals. After one year, we have engaged over fifty academic staff and postgraduate students in hypertext related activities. We have started a shift in the university's cultural infrastructure, and while progress will undoubtedly be slow, we believe it is vital to the long term future of both the university and to higher education in the United Kingdom as a whole. Keywords: Authoring, Education | |||
| Tale of a Text: Hypertext and the Eighteenth-Century Novel | | BIBAK | 24 | |
| Simon A. Rakov | |||
| Hypertext fiction has an historical precedent in eighteenth-century printed
literature. The early novels of Swift, Johnson, Richardson and Sterne vary
widely in form, and self-consciously combine technology with narrative, much
like the hypertext fictions of Michael Joyce, Carolyn Guyer, or Stuart
Moulthrop. This year as the Maguire and Kirshner Fellow at the University of
Oxford, I combined textual criticism, history of technology, literary
criticism, images, and fiction to create "Tale of a Text," a hypertextual web
that compares hypertext and eighteenth-century writing. The web follows three
lines of inquiry: the physical production of narratives in print and hypertext,
the relationships between authors and their respective technologies, and the
tension between the demands of technology and the needs of a narrator. The
poster will display extracts from "Tale of a Text," and propose the
eighteenth-century novel as a useful lens for examining the progress of
hypertext narrative. In their original editions many pioneering
eighteenth-century novels helped to establish conventions of print typography,
layout and linearity; today these works give historical perspective to efforts
toward common writing practice in hypertext. Keywords: Authoring, Education, Graphic design, Literature, Metaphor/mental-models,
Navigation, Rhetoric | |||
| The HCI Bibliography -- It's Got Lots of HyperRefs, Too | | BIBAK | Web Page | 25 | |
| Gary Perlman | |||
| The HCI Bibliography is a free-access online bibliographic database on
Human-Computer Interaction. The basic goal of the project is to put an
electronic bibliography for most of HCI on the screens of all researchers,
developers, educators and students in the field through anonymous ftp access,
mail servers, and Macintosh and DOS floppy disks. As of July 1993, through the
efforts of over 100 volunteers from 13 nations, the bibliography has grown to a
resource of over 8200 entries occupying over 9 megabytes, used by over 300
sites in 23 nations.
Hypertext and hypermedia references make up a large subset of the bibliography; at least 600 entries and perhaps 10% of the database is relevant to hypertext. The bibliography is organized into modules of journal volumes, conference proceedings, and odds and ends. The journals abstracted in the bibliography include: Hypermedia and Transactions on (Office) Information Systems. The ACM Hypertext Conference and ECHT European Hypertext Conferences as are the ACM conferences on Systems Documentation (SIGDOC) and Information Retrieval (SIGIR), and the UK Hypertext conferences and the NIST Hypertext standardization workshop. Keywords: Education, Information retrieval, Link models | |||
| Tailorable Interaction in a Language Independent Hyperstructure Programming Environment | | BIBAK | 25 | |
| Kasper Østerbye; Kurt Normark | |||
| The aim of the Aalborg Hyperstructure Programming Environment project is to
explore generic programming environments based on hypertext. The name of the
environment, which we develop in the project, is HyperPro. The internal
representation of programs as well as documentation is a network formed by
nodes and links. The external appearance of the network is governed by an
interaction engine, which is controlled by relatively simple interaction rules.
The rules are formulated in a dedicated language and organized in a hierarchy
of interaction schemes. Both presentation aspects and event responses are
formulated in this language. We believe our approach is interesting in its
attempt to provide tailorable interaction facilities of an underlying
hyperstructure, thus emphasizing the separation between interface and data
model.
Using the rule language, we have created a default behavior of HyperPro, where a single node is presented in a single window and where links are presented using the name of their destination node. We have created specializations to support programming in the languages Eiffel and Smalltalk, and documentation in LaTeX. In some of the resulting environments, we are able to present and work on several nodes and links in a single window. For all of our example languages, we have created both an authoring mode to be used for interactive work, and compilation presentations, which linearize the appropriate parts of the hyperstructure network, so that information can be handed to a compiler or a document formatter. Keywords: Navigation, Open systems, Software engineering, Text conversion, Hypertext
engineering | |||
| Visualizing Human Performance Data -- A Hypermedia Approach | | BIBAK | 26 | |
| Don Monk | |||
| The Computer Aided Systems Human Engineering: Performance Visualization
System (CASHE:PVS) is an interactive, hypermedia system for human system
designers, educators, and researchers. CASHE:PVS contains two complete and
integrated human factors reference sources and two specialized visualization
tools: the Perception & Performance Prototyper (P3) and DataViewer.
The reference sources in the CASHE:PVS information base are the Engineering Data Compendium (EDC) and the Human Engineering Design Criteria for Military Systems, Equipment and Facilities (MIL-STD-1472D). Related materials are both inter- and intra-linked. Users may place notes and create their own fine-grained links between information found in text, figures, or tables. Directed searches of the information base as well as browsing the documents are supported. Full copyright information and protection is provided for the individual entry components in the reference documents. P3 is a unique, interactive simulation capability which allows the user to experience the technical data. Variables, from multiple entries of the reference documents, are consolidated onto direct manipulation "test benches." Using one of these behavioral phenomena test benches, users may interact with the variables which underlie a phenomena under investigation. For example, if the issue is the legibility of text under vibration, the user may either select a pre-defined spectrum or custom define a representative noise spectrum that will vibrate the subject text. By actually experiencing the phenomena first-hand, coupled with traditional means of reading a textual description and studying data graphs, the designer will be able to achieve a deeper understanding of the phenomena. DataViewer provides the user with a third party data analysis package so that data from multiple references may be scaled, transformed, replotted, and compared to gain further insight from the data. Keywords: Education, Empirical/Data, Graphic design, Hypertext engineering,
Text-Conversion, Multimedia | |||
| PECON: A System to Carry Out 'Search' in Distributed Hypertext Systems | | BIBAK | 26 | |
| Dieter Meiser; H. Scheidig | |||
| The necessity to extend hypertext systems by "search functions" is well
known. At the moment, more and more "distributed hypertext systems" are being
developed and partly used in WANs. Distributed hypertext systems offer the
possibility of building up large databases. Search functions in such large
systems demand an efficient implementation. It has to be examined in how far
the techniques, which have been developed in the field of information
retrieval, can be used in hypertext systems.
In our approach, search is implemented as spreading activation. In large hypertext systems, one search process can lead to a lot of hits. In the access to the results, the user should be supported by the system. In PECON, the result of the search is firstly described in the form of paths. Then Petri Nets overly this structure. The access to the elements found is ensured by running the Petri Net. Keywords: Information retrieval, Navigation | |||
| Tailoring Hypertext Documents in Context: First User Testing Results | | BIBAK | 27 | |
| Nathalie Mathe | |||
| The Computer Integrated Documentation (CID) system enables integration of
various technical documents in a hypertext framework. It includes an
intelligent context-sensitive indexing and retrieval mechanism, which utilizes
on-line user relevance feedback and user profile information to refine its
indexing links over time. This allows CID to provide helpful responses based
on previous usage of the documentation. To evaluate CID learning capabilities,
we conducted user testing experiments using a think-out aloud protocol. Two
NASA domain experts used CID to answer queries in the Space Station Program
Definition Requirements Document.
Results showed that tailoring of hypertext documents during usage has been very well received by users. CID main advantage is to let users incorporate knowledge into a document over time, without disturbing the task they accomplish: CID only requires users to choose their user profile on log-on, then to click on Success or Failure button whenever they want to give feedback. Giving positive feedback not only marks a reference as successful, but also lets users retrieve references reinforced under the same or similar user profiles. This mechanism seems to be extremely useful for filtering information and building personalized views of large documents over time, as well as for sharing knowledge between users (access tailoring done by someone else). Users also requested more capabilities to make a better use of CID reinforcement mechanism: better visualization, filtering of, and access to previous reinforcements; being able to reinforce any hypertext link; and being able to save several reinforcements under one label. Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Empirical/data, Information retrieval, Link models,
Navigation, Usability | |||
| A Hypertext for Blind People | | BIBAK | 27 | |
| Mauricio F. Lumbreras | |||
| Nowadays there are many works about powerful interfaces, which allow us
appropriate access to hypertexts. The focus is generally placed on adequate
graphic design, sometimes using video or computer animation as the media for
carrying information.
This choice does not take into account the gap which is produced between normal and blind users. The information media used by blind people, such as audio cassettes and Braille texts, are acceptable but they cause some difficulties, especially those related to the search of information. The advantages of hypertexts are widely known, but how can hypertexts be built considering the limitations that blind people have? The critical items to consider in their design are: 1) Physical medium for information output. 2) The conceptual model. A new technology allows us to create 3D sound with headphones, so that it is possible to create a world of objects that generate sound from different points in space. Additionally, each of these sounds has intuitive semantics. If the user can navigate in this environment and we provide a suitable metaphor to support a hypertextual model, the user will be able to access information in a hypertext more easily. Our work is focused on sound simulation inside a building. A mapping is done between one building and one hierarchical hypertext. By means of this metaphor, the user can navigate in a familiar environment, where each entity (corridor, elevator, room, etc.) has intuitive semantics. Keywords: 3D, Handicapped, Metaphor/mental-models, Multimedia, Navigation, Virtual
reality | |||
| A Hypermedia Link Service as an Operating System Extension | | BIBAK | 28 | |
| A. J. Lewis | |||
| Open hypermedia systems are becoming more popular amongst today's
researchers and developers. A natural extension to the concept is a system
that incorporates hypermedia support at an operating environment level for
users of a system. The idea has been developed by such projects as the SUN
Link Service, however, approaches like this require that applications that use
that support be written specially with this aim in mind.
Using Macrocosm, the Macintosh version of Microcosm currently under development at the University of Southampton, as a research platform, a different approach to this problem is being investigated. The intention is that this system will allow any application to access and use the available Macrocosm facilities, regardless of whether the applications were implemented with any knowledge of Macrocosm. Macrocosm consists of a set of communicating filters, at whose core resides the system-level filter manager. Key features of the Macrocosm system include a dynamic menu system, which acts as a universally available floating palette from which the currently available Macrocosm facilities are on offer. Macrocosm has been implemented with an extreme view to the openness of the system -- only the communications protocols are rigidly defined, while any hypermedia structures and linking mechanisms are entirely tailorable, and are attached to the system as modular additions. Keywords: Link models, Multimedia, Open systems, Text conversion, Hypertext
engineering | |||
| Icon and Diagram Use in Data Navigation: I Know I'm There, but Where is That | | BIBAK | 28 | |
| Geoffrey J. Kordell; Marc M. Sebrechts | |||
| A popular instructional hypermedia system about conflict in the Middle East
was used to test the hypothesis that diagrammatic information can improve
hyperspace navigation. Three variants of the system provided alternative
access to a fixed database. In the first "icon map" condition subjects used
icons to access four high-level divisions of the database (history timeline,
religion, geography, and bibliographic and documentary resources). The second
"static schematic" condition augmented the icon map by displaying a static
diagram of the database, including all major nodes and links. The final
"active schematic" condition included an active version of the static
schematic; subjects could access any node by selecting it directly from the
diagram. Forty-two students spent approximately one hour using one of the
three variants of the system to answer questions about the Middle East.
Regardless of condition, the optimal strategy appeared to consist of an initial
browsing phase followed by specific search. Subjects who failed to go through
an overview of the materials often encountered the relevant data, but failed to
include it in their summary report. Available diagrams were often ignored or
misused. Content knowledge was far more important than knowledge about the
structure of the database in setting expectations about information location.
Navigating mental space may be very different from navigating a data space.
This perspective gives some legitimacy to the seemingly paradoxical claim, "I
know where I am but where is that." Keywords: Education, Empirical/data, Information retrieval, Link models,
Metaphor/mental-models, Multimedia, Navigation | |||
| AMHYRST: AutoMated HYpertext Reuse Search Tool | | BIBAK | 29 | |
| Tomas Isakowitz; Robert J. Kauffman | |||
| The Problem: Searching for Reusable Software Objects: CASE tools that
emphasize reuse are increasingly recognized by senior management for the value
that they deliver in helping their firms to achieve higher levels of software
development productivity and reduced software costs. Locating and retrieving
software objects for reuse purposes, however, is so time consuming that
developers tend to build from scratch instead of searching for objects to
reuse. Thus, a cost-effective search mechanism is needed to support search for
reuse.
The Proposed Solution: Our design to support the search for reusable objects, AMHYRST, blends automated classification of software objects and hypertext. The software repository is automatically classified -- based on reuse criteria -- by an automated object reuse classifier. Software developers access the classified repository by formulating queries. Answers to these queries are automatically organized -- based on the classification schema -- into a hypertext system that facilitates their detailed inspection. Results: A key aspect of our approach lies in the specification of a classification schema that reflects the mental model that developers utilize when searching for reusable objects. This results in an intuitive, easy-to-use reuse search tool. We have conducted field studies that led us to construct such a classification schema. A prototype system that integrates automatic classification and hypertext navigation has been constructed. Initial experiences show that the tool enables higher levels of reuse. Keywords: Information retrieval, Metaphor/mental-models, Software engineering | |||
| Palimpsest: A Data Model for Change Oriented Revision Control | | BIBAK | 29 | |
| David G. Durand | |||
| Problem: The Palimpsest data model developed at Boston University is a data
model for revision control that allows simultaneous editing in the presence of
communication failures. The goal is to localize and reduce possible conflicts
while allowing intelligent application resolution and examination of conflicts.
It is not based on a particular implementation strategy but rather a set of
assumptions about system environments for collaborative editing at a distance.
Method: We have removed the traditional assumption that serializability is appropriate for human-controlled concurrent editing. Our solution is similar to some proposed in software engineering: the changes that create data are primary objects of the model. States of the data are derived from a generalized, non-serial set of changes (like an "editing history"). We assume that applications will need to be aware of collaborative editing, and that such awareness will be at the level of data representation, rather than user-interface or presentation. Results: The model meets our goals, and is very general (for instance traditional hypertext objects like nodes and links are derived objects not, primitives). We are now working on implementation strategies and test-applications. Palimpsest should serve well as an implementation model and a well-defined conceptual tool when application awareness and user-resolution of conflicting changes or variant versions are involved. Keywords: Authoring, CSCW, Software engineering, Versioning | |||
| The Information City -- A Step towards Merging of Hypertext and Virtual Reality | | BIBAK | 30 | |
| Andreas Dieberger | |||
| The Information-City is a three dimensional user interface for large
hypertext collections. It uses the metaphor of a city to represent documents
as buildings in a virtual environment the user navigates and makes heavy use of
Jay Bolter's "writing on the world" concept to visualize as much information
about the documents as possible without overloading the user (e.g. age,
relevancy, accessibility). The city is restructured according to user interest
profile and document similarity to create "districts of interest". The city
metaphor shall help the user to build a conceptual map of the environment. As
autonomous actor the system helps the user to locate information by providing
light cues and transportation (taxi and subway metaphors). Significant
information is pointed out by open doors for instance. Visualization of
hypertext nets as house structures is done using hypertext abstractions, so
called building blocks. These constructs define a hierarchical subset of the
hypertext web that can be visualized different than the rest of the web --
namely as halls and rooms. A second, purely textual version of the information
city is constructed in a MUD (Multi User Dungeon) system and will be available
on the internet. This system is used to study collaborative navigational
behaviour in a multi user environment (development of landmarks and navigation
paths). Findings of this version will be used to improve the graphical version
of the information city. At the time of writing an authoring tool using
building blocks is under construction. Keywords: 3D, Metaphor/mental-models, Navigation, Virtual reality | |||
| Authoring Intent-Based Video Documents | | BIBAK | 30 | |
| Andrew Csinger; Kellogg S. Booth | |||
| Current technology restricts the "links" of the hypergraph representing an
information space to what the author can foresee at "compile-time". Either the
author supplies all of the content by linearizing the presentation, or the
reader requires significant resources to infer missing content and often gets
lost in hyperspace.
The problems with traditional (hyper-)authoring approaches are particularly severe in the video domain, where the intrinsic, unstructured linearity of the medium calls for a dynamic, automatic approach that supports both the annotation and presentation of video records. In the presentation of video information, the need to generate user-tailored presentations (in the absence of the author) is particularly pressing; a knowledge-based approach permits automatic run-time edit-list preparation based upon explicit, consultable user models. A model of the reader is used to create a subgraph of the hypergraph; the complete graph is the information space created by the author(s), while the subgraph is the presentation space. The system gives the reader additional facilities to modify the subgraph and navigate through the presentation space at run-time. The emphasis in this work is the construction of an adequate model of the user; this model is used to fashion the right "links" in the hypergraph that ties related parts of the multimedium together. Using a minimal AI approach, we are implementing a video authoring prototype that partially overcomes the limitations of traditional approaches to authoring, with consequent savings in human effort in both the annotation and presentation phases of video authoring. Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Authoring, Graphic design, Information kiosks,
Information retrieval, Metaphor/mental-models, Multimedia, Navigation, Open
systems, Rhetoric, Video | |||
| Measuring Hypertext Usability with Structure Recall | | BIBAK | 31 | |
| Edward Carter; Chris Mellish | |||
| This poster describes the development of a quantitative measure of the
usability of Hypertext documents.
In the course of a larger project, a series of link-generation schemes were developed which linked a database of 'pre-formed' nodes into Hyperstructures. These various linking processes had to be evaluated, preferably with a measure independent of the domain of the document database and the expertise of a user. An experiment was devised in which subjects gained familiarity with a generated Hypertext by performing a series of trivial Query/Lookup tasks. Subjects were then required to reconstruct the Hypertext that they had been using, but without reference to the original texts. A correlation between the actual Hypertext and the recalled version provides a numerical score that, we argue, reflects the usability of the Hypertext within certain pragmatic limits. This 'usability score' appears to be significantly independent of both the domain of the test Hypertext and the general level of expertise of the user. Although the technique we describe is relatively limited in application, the apparent independence and reliability of the measure is a significant result and we suggest ways in which the recall measure may be extended for application to large databases or dynamic Hypertext systems. Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Information retrieval, Navigation, Text conversion,
Hypertext engineering, Usability | |||
| Biblical Information Systems | | BIBAK | 31 | |
| Theo J. D. Bothma | |||
| Biblical information offers a very complex information environment. There
are texts of varying lengths, e.g. full text documents of Hebrew and Greek
manuscripts and translations of the Bible, dictionaries, grammars and
exegetical commentaries, as well as the rich cultural-historical world of the
Ancient Near East, supplemented by drawings, maps and photographs. The full
spectrum of Biblical information is briefly outlined on the poster.
Present systems dealing with Biblical information vary in sophistication from electronic concordances to integrated information systems. A brief overview of some existing systems is provided, indicating their strong points and limitations, especially regarding linguistic information. In any system the Biblical texts should be the main access point. Each of the other information entities, e.g. an online grammar, syntactic database, dictionary or history should be accessible separately, independent of the Biblical texts. This information should, however, be linked to the Biblical texts so that the user can obtain help on the language or interpretation of any specific verse. This can be accomplished by means of a hierarchical structure, with a rich network of cross references. A detailed flow diagram of the lay-out of a system is presented and the various technologies to be used in such a system are indicated. The poster therefore consists of two sections, viz a theoretical description, outlining the problems and possible solutions and a schematic layout of a comprehensive Biblical information system. Keywords: Education, Information retrieval | |||
| Media Independent Hypermedia | | BIBAK | 32 | |
| Nick Beitner | |||
| The use of explicit authoring, though effective and predictable, is not
conducive to authoring large volume hypermedia with varied media types and ever
increasing collections of data. The use of current implicit linking strategies
goes only a small way towards solving this problem. A number of models exist
that, through the use of a dictionaries containing a restricted set of
keywords, allow descriptions of documents and, subsequently, implicit
relationships to be derived. There are no links as such but the association of
attributes with documents provide a link structure that allows wide access to
similar documents. These links only apply where there is similarity between
documents through association of shared attributes/keywords. While this model
is useful it fails to provide us with any structure for describing paths
through our data and there is no facility for relational structure with which
we are familiar in hypermedia. The use of dictionaries as a means of allowing
abstraction from the media allows potential for a media and representation
independent authoring environment. With the addition of structure between the
attributes in a dictionary a whole host of new relations can be expressed
between documents. The expression of natural relations between attributes as
well as arbitrary links at the attribute level allow minimum authoring to
specify maximum connectivity throughout the data. This model provides
separation between the authoring of links at an abstract level and the need for
authors to handle data of multiple media types. Keywords: Authoring, Information retrieval, Multimedia, Navigation, Open systems | |||
| A Study of the Relationship between Hypertext Authors and Readers | | BIBAK | 32 | |
| Lisa Baron; Edward Brown; Mark Chignell | |||
| The process of authoring hypertext links is poorly understood. One
remaining unresolved problem concerns how the needs of readers who have
different task perspectives may be communicated to link authors.
We carried out an experiment into how authoring and reading strategies change depending on the purpose (task) of the author and reader. In two conditions, authors and readers had either compatible or incompatible purposes with respect to a hypertext document. Five subjects participated as link authors while twenty-eight subjects participated as readers. Twenty screens of text on birds were used for the database content. Each author created two linked documents -- one multi-purpose and one special-purpose (anatomy of birds). Each reader used only one database (2 readers per database). Readers were given two sets of questions on bird anatomy and bird behavior. There was a nonsignificant trend for compatible hypertexts to produce faster and more accurate performance. Both semantic (similar, contrast, part-of, kind-of) and rhetorical (summary, explanation, continuation, illustration) link types were used in the hypertext documents created by authors. Three of the subjects used a preponderance of rhetorical link types while the remaining authors used a preponderance of semantic links. Overall more rhetorical links were authored (almost 60 percent of links). Despite this, readers tended to use the fewer available semantic links more frequently, so that the ratio of semantic to rhetorical links used in reading was closer to 50/50. Keywords: Authoring, Link models, Rhetoric, Task analysis | |||
| User Interface Design Guidelines for a Hypertext Framework | | BIBAK | 33 | |
| V. Balasubramanian; Murray Turoff | |||
| We believe that navigational tools alone are not sufficient to solve the
problems of disorientation and cognitive overhead in hypertext systems.
Hypertext systems tend to suffer from a lack of coherence due to ambiguity in
meanings assigned to nodes and links. Although there have been earlier
attempts to incorporate semantics into hypertext networks, a general framework
for hypertext functionality wholly based on a cognitive model (Guilford's
Structure of the Intellect Model) was first proposed recently. This framework
classified nodes into six different semantic types and links into twelve
different types. It was reported that all current hypertext systems fall under
this framework, in their own limited ways, and that this semantic morphology
could be extended to all future systems. Such a comprehensive framework would
help designers develop better interface metaphors and implementation models for
hypertext systems.
A first step towards the implementation of a hypertext system based on this framework is to develop an appropriate user interface that would reduce the mismatch between the framework and the metaphor (functional opacity) and the mismatch between the metaphor and the implementation model (system opacity). Various guidelines and usability principles exist for the purpose of designing user interfaces for interactive systems. In this poster, we present our research efforts in applying a specific set of fourteen user interface design guidelines to the aforementioned hypertext framework. We have chosen these guidelines since they were found to be more systematic and comprehensive than other similar guidelines. We present some examples of a preliminary prototype. The next step is to implement a model incorporating this prototype and study the effectiveness of such an approach. Keywords: Graphic design, Link models, Metaphor/mental-models, Navigation, Usability | |||
| Designing Hypermedia Applications | | BIBAK | 33 | |
| P. Balasubramanian; Tomas Isakowitz; Edward A. Stohr | |||
| In this work we propose a methodology for designing and constructing
organizational hypermedia applications. A good hypermedia system overcomes the
inherent limitations of computer screens relative to paper. It also exploits
the possibilities for rapid search and complex associations that can be
provided in an electronic form. This is a time consuming process often
requiring the linking of many chunks of information residing in vastly
different media and connected in arbitrarily complex ways. A design
methodology must focus on how these connections are represented, manipulated
and stored. Finally, it is important to consider the dynamic interaction of
the user with the hypertext (i.e. the "browsing semantics"). From our
experiences in building hypermedia applications we concluded that:
a) Capturing the underlying information structure of the application domain is
important. b) A methodology that helps the developer through the design, screen-by-screen and link-by-link would be most helpful. The methodology that we propose is called Relationship Management Design methodology (RMD) utilizes tools from systems analysis and design together with entity-relationship (E-R) diagrams. The above methodology will facilitate the development process and help produce more complete and consistent designs of the application. We have developed the MBA handbook using this approach and this application is currently being used by the students. However, the development of an effective hypermedia design approach will require computerized tools that lead to computer-aided hypermedia design (CAHD). We wish to develop a RMD editor to assist users in drawing the RMD diagrams, an RMD compiler to apply the various rules and build the application and a screen design tool to customize the screens for each entity. Keywords: Authoring, Information retrieval, Multimedia, Navigation | |||
| The Functional Model of the Link | | BIBAK | 34 | |
| Helen Ashman; Janet Verbyla | |||
| The Functional Model of the link has been developed to augment retrieval
functionality and link creation in large, multiuser information collections
with continually evolving underlying data. It extends the principle of
externalisation which has been initiated by the open (hypermedia) systems.
Open systems store their link computation parameters externally; the Functional
Model system also stores the link computation instructions externally. This
work also maximises the dynamism of links, permitting the dynamic computation
of the source set of the link as well as the destination set. This allows
automatic linking of new and modified information.
The Functional Model represents every link specification as a pair of rules: the first describes the conditions an object must satisfy to be a source for the link, the second describes how to find the destination(s) from the selected source. Every link type can be represented in this way. A Functional Model system can support all the existing facilities available in open hypermedia systems. It has the added advantages of easy upgrading and exchange of link specifications, making it possible to customise the retrieval mechanisms of a retrieval system to suit site and individual user requirements, and to make use of new technologies as they become available. Furthermore, it has potentially unlimited functionality since the computation specifications can be in any language and can be sent to any specialised application for processing. Finally, existing retrieval systems can import all this functionality merely by establishing a communication channel with the hypermedia system. Keywords: Authoring, Information retrieval, Link models, Navigation, Open systems | |||
| A CAI System for Linear Algebra Based on 'World Wide Web', Xmosaic and a Few Special Purpose Programs | | BIBAK | 34 | |
| S. Arnesen; H. Bjar; T. Gulliksen | |||
| Our objective was to see if it was possible to create a CAI-system that
actually helps students while using open standards and if possible free
software making it possible to give a large number of students to the system at
a relatively low cost.
The course selected for study is the entry-level linear algebra course. This course is perceived as a difficult one where several rather abstract concepts are being introduced. The basic standards selected was the SGML based HTML markup language for hypertext documents, the Xmosaic browser for HTML-based World Wide Web documents developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. These are all freely available tools that allow applications based on them to be run on multiple platforms. To facilitate the use of mathematical notation and markup based on pedagogical concepts we had to extend the basic tools. For this we extended HTML to allow us to include formulas from TeX and plots and animations from Mathematica. Perhaps more interesting is the special markup introduced for pedagogical elements such as explanation of concepts, revealing of hints, and gradual revealing a document. The initial courseware is structured as reviews of previous exams. Keywords: Education, Navigation | |||