Multimedia database system differs significantly from traditional database system. The introduction of non-numerical media types, such as image, video, and audio, requests the development of database technology to handle the challenge. At the same time, the demands for multimedia applications are growing rapidly. The central repository of almost every multimedia application is exclusively a multimedia database system. Thus, the efficient query and retrieval information from the database becomes an important issue. To fulfill the task of information retrieval, a multimedia query language, which takes into account the complex spatial and temporal relationships as well as media information, should be integrated with the database system. One of the difficulties in dealing with multimedia data is how to effectively express its very rich semantics in a query. It might be with obstacle for some users to translate the perceptions of multimedia information into the expression of query language. Therefore, a friendly and easy-to-user graphical user interface is needed on top the query language to help the user to construct queries. In this thesis, an interactive query interface for multimedia database named MEDIAQUINT is proposed. It focuses on supplying visual query facilities to end-users so that they can formulate the query based on their memory representation of the interested multimedia scenario. The system architecture and implementation of the graphical user interface are presented.

Active Browsing is a technique whereby a learning appretice assists a designer in locating software artifacts in reusable software libraries by inferring the user's search goal from the user's normal browsing actions. The aim of this research is to improve the response time and success rate of Active Browsing. Two methods are proposed for this. The Negative Inference method improves the success rate of active browsing by producing a more accurate representation of the user's goal. The Selective Search method improves the response time of the learning apprentice by limiting the system's evaluation of the library to a fraction of the library. The Negative Inference method adds finer-grained features to the system's internal representation of the user's goal and rules for negative inference (i.e., inferring features that the user is not interested in). The Selective Search method defines a technique for partitioning the library and a strategy, called a migration policy, which determine which items to evaluate. An implementation of both methods, based around a browser used to explore object oriented code, is described. This implementation is used to validate experimentally both methods. With Negative Inference the active browser's success rate is twice that of the normal active browser, and it ranks the search goal much more accurately at all stages of the search. With selective search, the active browser achieves similar success rate while only evaluating a quarter of the library.

The popularity of mother blogs is increasingly attracting sponsors looking to market their products to mother blog audiences. This combination of commercial and informational content calls on readers and writers to distinguish between informational content and commercial activity. This thesis examines how mother bloggers integrate sponsored content into their blogs and how both writers and readers interpret the credibility of these posts. The study takes place within a conceptual framework of source and message credibility. Using a qualitative and interpretive approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with readers and writers. Although the results are not generalizable, they suggest determining the credibility of these posts is a social process, informed by participants’ existing knowledge and framed within the community of mother bloggers. The results add to our understanding of credibility perceptions when commercial and informational content comingle and have implications for other online communities that require ongoing information evaluation.

<p> Software updates are critical to the security of software systems and devices. Yet users often do not install them in a timely manner, leaving their devices open to security exploits. This research explored a re-design of automatic software updates on desktop and mobile devices to improve the uptake of updates through three studies. First using interviews, we studied users&rsquo; updating patterns and behaviors on desktop machines in a formative study. Second, we distilled these findings into the design of a low-fi prototype for desktops, and evaluated its efficacy for automating updates by means of a think-aloud study. Third, we investigated individual differences in update automation on Android devices using a large scale survey, and interviews. In this thesis, I present the findings of all three studies and provide evidence for how automatic updates can be better appropriated to fit users on both desktops and mobile devices. Additionally, I provide user interface design suggestions for software updates and outline recommendations for future work to improve the user experience of software updates.</p>

The access and sharing of research data have been emphasized by the government, funding agencies, and scholarly communities. The increased access to research data increases the impact, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness, of scientific activities and funding. The access, however, is facilitated not just by appropriate policies but also by the employment of effective infrastructure mechanisms, including enhancing data with effective metadata (Simmhan, Plale, & Gannon, 2005). Identifiers are important metadata that traditionally have been used for entity identification, linking, and referencing in various domains (Altman & King, 2007). To enable effective metadata creation support for research data, it is essential to gain a better understanding of the current uses of identifier systems with research data. As many research institutions plan to provide some types of research data services (Tenopir, Birch, & Allard, 2012), it is important to study the current practices of data curation in IRs. In particular to develop effective data management infrastructure configuration templates, it is essential to understand user needs and related activities for data curation in IRs, including different roles played by IR staff and role-specific differences in needs for skills and infrastructure support (Foster, Jennings, & Kesselman, 2004). Furthermore, it is important to investigate both the current practices of identifier use and the requirements for quality and functionalities for identifier schemas in order to design effective metadata support for research data curation in IRs. Studying the practices of research data curation requires multifaceted contextual analysis (Borgman, Wallis, & Enyedy, 2007). Hence this study, too, required a research design that could help examine and capture various sociotechnical and cultural factors that may affect data curation, including the selection and uses of identifier schemas for data. The study used Activity Theory (Engeström, 1987; Leontiev, 1978) and Information Quality Assessment Framework (Stvilia, Gasser, Twidale, & Smith, 2007) to guide the design of a protocol for semi-structured interviews. This study reports on data collected from fifteen participants from thirteen different universities in the US. The selection of participants was guided by two criteria. To be eligible for participation in the study, participants had to work for an IR that stored and curated research data objects and housed by one of the 108 institutions classified as RU/VH (very high research activity) in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The study identified data curation activities and contexts (i.e., tools, norms, rules, and division of labor), perceived roles played by IR staff (e.g., data curator, IR manager, and metadata specialist), role-specific sets of activities and skills, and perception of quality identifiers in IRs. The findings of this study can inform the development of best practices and effective infrastructure support for data curation in the context of IRs, as well as teaching data curation in LIS schools. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2015. / June 22, 2015. / Data curation, Data identifiers, Institutional repositories, Research data / Includes bibliographical references. / Besiki Stvilia, Professor Directing Dissertation; Anke Meyer-Baese, University Representative; Corinne Jörgensen, Committee Member; Richard J. Urban, Committee Member.

Interdisciplinary research is often problem-based, arising to serve needs that cannot be fulfilled without crossing domain boundaries. Interdisciplinary researchers face a number of issues such as poor communication, methodological differences, and sources of funding. As any academic team comes together it has to organize, develop work processes, and create deliverables. Teams that form for a relatively short time to accomplish a specific goal (e.g., for the duration of a grant) have the added pressure of a deadline. Interdisciplinary time-limited teams must do all this while communicating and negotiating across disciplinary boundaries, most likely with different disciplinary norms and vocabularies. This study fills a gap at the junction of studies of teamwork processes and academic interdisciplinarity and contributes to theoretical knowledge of the process of academic interdisciplinary teamwork. This study explores an intrinsically transient interdisciplinary research team's process of collaboration across domain boundaries to design an educational technology intervention. It combines grounded theory method and social network analysis, using purposive samples of 4260 team e-mails and eight intensive interviews with key informants. The study takes a social approach to research, using Strauss's social worlds perspective, Kazmer's intrinsically transient social worlds model, and Star's boundary object theory as sensitizing concepts to explore the boundaries of the social worlds of the team and how they segmented and changed over time, the roles of the team members, challenges that emerged and strategies developed to address them, and how the team members bridged the social worlds of the team. The importance of iterative design emerged as a strong concept from the findings and this concept extended to the workings of the team as well. A model of interdisciplinary team technology development in a time-limited setting is proffered that includes inputs (activities, the project goals, and roles and responsibilities as originally understood by the team), outputs (the system, publications, project reports, and applications for new grants), intervening elements (rules, policies, and procedures and technology issues), and strategies to keep progress moving (multiple deadlines, entrepreneurialism, and a flexible role structure). Future research should be used to validate, refine, and expand the theory; to refine the research design and the instrumentation; and to further explore theoretical implications. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2014. / October 22, 2014. / grounded theory, interdisciplinary teamwork, iterative design, situational analysis, social network analysis, social worlds / Includes bibliographical references. / Paul F. Marty, Professor Directing Dissertation; Pat Villeneuve, University Representative; Michelle M. Kazmer, Committee Member; Besiki Stvilia, Committee Member.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 263-280) / The purpose of this research project was to examine the constituent elements of the information communication process in basic and applied science in South Africa and to establish what cognitive, behavioural and environmental factors lead to the scientists' encounter with the communication process and the consequences of such an encounter. The aim was further to address the role of informal communication, the impact of information and communication technologies, and the effect that various structural and environmental changes that have occurred over the last decades, have had on the communication process. The methodological approach of the study was based on a conceptual analysis of the literature integrated with an empirical investigation into the communication of information amongst a group of scientists in South Africa.

This dissertation explores and describes the in-character and out-of-character information worlds and digital literacy practices of role-players, those that create and enact their characters' or avatars' stories, both within and outside of WildStar, a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) (Carbine Studios, 2015). Utilizing Jaeger and Burnett's (2010) theory of information worlds alongside the Partnership for 21st Century Learning's (2011a) framework for information, media, and information communication technology literacy skills as lenses for qualitative content analysis, the researcher describes the social context(s) of the digital literacy practices used by role-players. These skills are crucial for success in the 21st century, in general, as well as in the virtual worlds of MMORPGs due to the amount of information and research needed to advance through the game (Martin, 2011, 2012; Martin et. al, 2012; Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2011a). This study employs a hybrid ethnographic approach, which is multi-sited and adaptive to allow for a closer following of the research phenomenon and the opportunity to explore emergent behaviors, is accelerated and data intensive, and includes overt engagement in role-playing activities alongside informants in addition to traditional observation. Qualitative data was collected from in-game chatlogs, screenshots, audiovisual recordings, and a sampling of community artifacts, such as forums and other community-mediated websites. Additionally, 17 sets of semi-structured interviews were conducted both in- and out-of-character to better understand the intersections between the informants' real and virtual lives. The findings both confirm and expand upon previous work on the social aspects of digital literacy practices of MMORPG players. Role-playing, as a social and creative activity, is highly dependent on the effective exchange of information. This exchange of information is impacted by the social norms, information values, and boundaries within and across the community. For instance, out-of-character information or disputes should never find their way into an in-character dialogue unless it has been previously discussed during role-playing events or storylines, or unless consent has been granted by both parties involved beforehand. Intuitively, the digital literacy practices of role-players consist of a symbiotic interaction and combination of the normative information behaviors and information value systems of the community. This reinforces the contextual nature of digital literacy and may suggest that issues with the transference of digital literacy skills for use across different settings, such as academic, work, personal, etc., are due to conflicting information value systems despite potentially similar types of information or information behaviors being used. As the first study to apply the theory of information worlds to an ethnographic study of role-players in a MMORPG, the researcher evaluates and potentially expands upon the theory in order to determine its usefulness given the research context and methodology. Additionally, the methodological complications caused by the competing aspects of a study dually tasked with creating a detailed description and protecting the informants of a small and open online community are discussed. Finally, the researcher also discusses how role-playing might be used in the library or classroom for digital literacy skills instruction. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Information in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / March 28, 2016. / digital literacy, ethnography, information worlds, MMORPG, Role-Playing / Includes bibliographical references. / Don Latham, Professor Directing Dissertation; Vanessa Dennen, University Representative; Gary Burnett, Committee Member; Shuyuan Mary Ho, Committee Member.

This dissertation, titled Investigating Music Information Objects, is a study of the nature, description, representations, and ideas related to music information objects (MIOs). This research study investigates how music practitioners from various traditions describe and conceptualize MIOs, using a theoretical framework to classify such descriptors and characteristics (the term "attributes" might also apply). The introduction in Chapter 1 provides an overview of purpose, problem statement, significance of this research, research questions, approach, and theoretical framework used. Next, Chapter 2 is a literature review of relevant research. Chapter 3 describes the method and analysis procedures that were used. Chapter 4 presents the research findings, and Chapter 5 discusses implications of the study for Information Science and music information research; provides theoretical extensions to the existing framework; and, offers conclusions taken from this study's findings, along with areas for future research. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / March 25, 2016. / description, information, music, organization, philosophy of information, world music / Includes bibliographical references. / Corinne Jörgensen, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Michelle M. Kazmer, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Pat Villeneuve, University Representative; Paul F. Marty, Committee Member; Richard J. Urban, Committee Member.

Cyberbullying is a problem that many young adults ages 12 to 18 have experienced on a daily basis. Adult support is critical in both the prevention and intervention of cyberbullying. Although parents, teachers, and school administrators have been highlighted as sources of support for cyberbullied young adults, librarians have not been studied as a source of support although school and public librarians engage with teens on a daily basis. Through empathetic services, i.e., activities carried out in everyday in which librarians provide empathy, librarians can support young adults who are experiencing and/or witnessing cyberbullying. Empathy in the library has been infrequently researched within LIS, often under different labels such as pastoral care and customer service. The purpose of this research was to investigate how rural school and public librarians can be a source of support for rural cyberbullied young adults. The study was guided by three research questions in which I explored the types of support rural young adults desired and received from rural librarians as well as the types of support rural librarians perceived they offered. I also contextualized the results with relational communication theory to investigate an additional dimension for understanding empathetic services in the present and possible future research. In this project, I used two qualitative methods: semi-structured interviews and structured video autoethnography. The 14 participants in this project included three school librarians, four public librarians, and seven young adults. The participants were all residents of rural Southwest Georgia. In this project, I focused on rural young adults and rural librarians within this region. In addition to the participants, I also acted as a participant and maintained a personal written autoethnography to reflect on my research process. In my analysis, I found that while young adults often saw librarians as sources for information, mentorship, and everyday help, they also saw potential for librarians to engage in advocacy and empathy in the library for teens. In many interviews and video entries, the librarians frequently highlighted their important role in information provision and instruction for young adult. While a few librarians acknowledged that they provided social, emotional, psychological, and empathetic support for their young patrons, librarian participants typically diminished the importance of this role in their work. However, librarians revealed a desire to not only increase their improve their role as a provider of information and instruction but also to increase the social, emotional, psychological, and empathetic support they provided in their libraries. Since this is an exploratory project, I proposed that future research is needed into relational communication theory as a framework for empathetic services. I also suggested that empathy in the library is a little researched area in LIS and often overlooked by librarians in the field. Additional research is needed in the important role of empathetic services in librarianship. This research fills a gap in the literature about rural librarians as a source of support for rural cyberbullied young adults and introduces the term "empathetic services". / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Information in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / February 8, 2016. / cyberbullying, empathy, librarians, libraries, rural, young adults / Includes bibliographical references. / Marcia A. Mardis, Professor Directing Dissertation; Vanessa Dennen, University Representative; Melissa Gross, Committee Member; Don Latham, Committee Member.