Tutorials

Half Day (morning): 9:30 – 13:00, HS 2

Mediating between available information objects and individual information needs is a central issue within the functionality of a digital library. In the simplest case this is an information request answered by a search engine based on an analysis of information objects within the digital library's information collection. However, neither the information access activity nor the information objects within the collection are isolated entities. They are both equipped with a multifaceted context. This tutorial analyzes this context and discusses complementing approaches to make such context explicit and to use it for refining the mediation process within digital libraries.

Dagobert Soergel

Half Day (morning): 9:30 – 13:00, HS 3

This introductory tutorial is intended for anyone concerned with subject access to digital libraries. It provides a bridge by presenting methods of subject access as treated in an information studies program for those coming to digital libraries from other fields. It will elucidate through examples the conceptual and vocabulary problems users face when searching digital libraries. It will then show how a well-structured thesaurus / ontology can be used as the knowledge base for an interface that can assist users with search topic clarification (for example through browsing well-structured hierarchies and guided facet analysis) and with finding good search terms (through query term mapping and query term expansion - synonyms and hierarchic inclusion). It will touch on cross-database and cross-language searching as natural extensions of these functions. It will also mention the use of more richly structured ontologies, including Semantic Web applications. The tutorial will cover the thesaurus structure needed to support these functions: Concept-term relationships for vocabulary control and synonym expansion, conceptual structure (semantic analysis, facets, and hierarchy) for topic clarification and hierarchic query term expansion). It will introduce a few sample thesauri and some thesaurus-supported digital libraries and Web sites to illustrate these principles.

Dagobert Soergel

Half Day (afternoon): 14:30 – 18:00, HS 3

This tutorial is intended for people who have a basic familiarity with the function and structure of thesauri and ontologies. It will introduce criteria for the design and evaluation of thesauri and ontologies and then deal with methods and tools for their development: Locating sources; collecting concepts, terms. and relationships to reuse existing knowledge; developing and refining thesaurus/ontology structure; software and database structure for the development and maintenance of thesauri and ontologies; collaborative development of thesauri and ontologies; developing crosswalks / mappings between thesauri/ontologies. In summing up, the tutorial will address the question of the resources needed to develop and maintain a thesaurus or ontology.

Ian H. Witten , David Bainbridge

Half Day (morning): 9:30 – 13:00, HS 4

This tutorial will demonstrate how to build a variety of different kinds of digital library collections with the Greenstone digital library software, a comprehensive, open-source system for constructing, presenting, and maintaining information collections. Collections will be built from HTML documents; Word, PDF and PostScript documents; images in various formats; MP3 and MIDI audio; MARC records; and more. For each collection, various different full-text search indexes and metadata-based browsers will be created. Attendees who wish to are encouraged to bring their laptops, install Greenstone from a CD-ROM that we will provide, along with various sample files, and follow along with the demonstrations on their own machine.

Ian H. Witten , David Bainbridge

Half Day (afternoon): 14:30 – 18:00, HS 4

As the field of digital libraries matures and new systems and standards develop, the ability to interoperate between systems becomes paramount. This tutorial gives a practical introduction to many recent standards and de facto standards for interoperability, and illustrates them using open source digital library software - including online demonstrations of interoperation issues and solutions. Core standards that are discussed include Dublin Core, OAI-PMH, METS, and MODS. We use interoperation between Greenstone and DSpace as a motivating case study. For those demonstrations that involve Greenstone, attendees who wish to may bring their laptops, install Greenstone from a CD-ROM that we will provide, along with various sample files, and follow along with the demonstrations on their own machine.

Tutorial Slides: part1.pdf (15 MB), part2a.pdf (3.5 MB), part2b.pdf (5.3 MB), part2c.pdf (5.3 MB)

Edward A. Fox, Marcos André Gonçalves

Full Day: 9:30 – 13:00 and 14:30 – 18:00, HS 7

This tutorial will provide a thorough and deep overview and introduction to the DL field, introducing and building upon a firm theoretical foundation (starting with "5S": Streams, Structures, Spaces, Scenarios, Societies), giving careful definitions and explanations of all the key parts of a "minimal digital library", and expanding from that basis to cover key DL issues, illustrated with a well-chosen set of case studies. Attendees will receive a first draft copy of a 400+ page book under development by the co-presenters, with tentative title "Foundations for Information Systems: Digital Libraries and the 5S Framework", based in part on ideas explored in Dr. Gonçalves' dissertation.