This report presents research and development of dedicated system architecture, designed to enable its users to interact with each other as well as to access information on Points of Interest that exist in their immediate environment. This is accomplished through managing personal preferences and contextual information in a distributed manner and in real-time. The advantage of this system architecture is that it uses mobile devices, heterogeneous sensors and a selection of user interface paradigms to produce a sociotechnical framework to enhance the perception of the environment and promote intuitive interactions. The thrust of the work has been on software development and component integration. Iterative prototyping was adopted as a development method in order to effectively implement the users’ feedback and establish a platform for collaboration that closely meets the requirements and aids their decision-making process. The requirement acquisition was followed by the system-modelling phase in order to produce a robust software prototype. The implementation includes component-based development and extensive use of design patterns over native programming. Conclusively, the software product has become the means to evaluate differences in the use of mixed reality technologies in a ubiquitous scenario. The prototype can query a number of context sources such as sensors, or details of the personal profile, to acquire relevant data. The data (and metadata) is stored in opensource structures, so that they are accessible at every layer of the system architecture and at any time. By proactively processing the acquired context, the system can assist the users in their tasks (e.g. navigation) without explicit input – e.g. by simply creating a gesture with the device. However, advanced interaction with the application via the user interface is available for requests that are more complex. Representations of the real world objects, their spatial relations and other captured features of interest are visualised on scalable interfaces, ranging from 2D to 3D models and from photorealism to stylised clues and symbols. Two principal modes of operation have been implemented; one, using geo-referenced virtual reality models of the environment, updated in real time, and second, using the overlay of descriptive annotations and graphics on the video images of the surroundings, captured by a video camera. The latter is referred to as augmented reality. The continuous feed of the device position and orientation data, from the GPS receiver and the digital compass, into the application, makes the framework fit for use in unknown environments and therefore suitable for ubiquitous operation. This is one of the novelties of the proposed framework, because it enables a whole range of social, peer-to-peer interactions to take place. The scenarios of how the system could be employed to pursue these remote interactions and collaborative efforts on mobile devices are addressed in the context of urban navigation. The conceptual design and implementation of the novel location and orientation based algorithm for mobile AR are presented in detail. The system is, however, multifaceted and capable of supporting peer-to-peer exchange of information in a pervasive fashion, usable in various contexts. The modalities of these interactions are explored and laid out in several scenarios, but particularly in the context of user adoption. Two evaluation tasks took place. The preliminary evaluation examined certain aspects that influence user interaction while being immersed in a virtual environment, whereas the second summative evaluation compared the utility and certain usability aspects of the AR and VR interfaces.

Saudi Arabia is struggling to provide quality healthcare services in light of the growing population, rapid spread of chronic diseases, and limited resources available. In addition to these obstacles, the Saudi society is a highly conservative one, and certain traditions may sometimes limit how healthcare services can be offered. This work examines the impact of a Telecare solution on the healthcare system at the National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA). It focuses on diabetes, and the challenges faced by both the healthcare officials at NGHA, and the patients. These challenges also include social factors that may pose at obstacle in delivering healthcare services. The ‘Telecare for Managing Diabetes – TeMaD’ system is designed and developed using the Soft Systems Methodology. It was then integrated into the hospital information systems at King Abdulaziz Medical City in the Central Region, and consisted of 52 participating patients, and four involved Diabetic Educators. HbA1c levels of all patients were recorded prior to commencement of the study. Patients were required to use TeMaD for a 3-month period, then, had their HbA1c levels recorded again after completion of the study. Overall observation of the results showed a reduction in the HbA1c levels of 83% of the patients. Participating patients expressed their acceptance of the system, indicating that TeMaD allowed them to overcome some obstacles such as lack of transportation. It also assisted the majority of participants to better manage their diabetes and ease communication with their diabetic educators. Most patients requested that the system be offered permanently at the clinic. Diabetic educators were in favour of integrating TeMaD into the current healthcare system at NGHA, and they were enthusiastic about its numerous benefits. Telecare solutions can be used to enhance the quality of healthcare services, meet current demands, and address obstacles faced by the healthcare system in Saudi Arabia, including social factors that are unique. They can be adopted by neighbouring Gulf States which share common obstacles in healthcare.

No description available.

Background: Controlled vocabularies in the molecular biology domain exist to facilitate data integration across database resources. One such tool is the Gene Ontology (GO), a classification designed to act as a universal index for gene products from any species. The Gene Ontology is used extensively in annotating gene products and analysing gene expression data, yet very little research exists from a library and information science perspective exploring the design principles, philosophy and social role of ontologies in biology. Aim: To explore how molecular biologists, in creating the Gene Ontology, devised guidelines and rules for determining which scientific concepts are included in the ontology, and the criteria for how these concepts are represented. Methods: A domain analysis approach was used to devise a mixed methodology to study the design of the Gene Ontology. Concept analysis of a GO term and a critical discourse analysis of GO developer mailing list texts were used to test whether ontological realism is a tenable basis for constructing objective ontologies. A comparison of the current GO vocabulary construction guidelines and a study of the reasons why GO terms are removed from the ontology further explored the justifications for the design of the Gene Ontology. Finally, a content analysis of published GO papers examined how authors use and cite GO data and terminology. Results: Gene Ontology terms can be presented according to different epistemologies for concepts, indicating that ontological realism is not the only way objective ontologies can be designed. Social roles and the exercise of power were found to play an important role in determining ontology content, and poor synonym control, a lack of clear warrant for deciding terminology and arbitrary decisions to delete and invent new terms undermine the objectivity and universal applicability of the Gene Ontology. Authors exhibited poor compliance with GO data citation policies, and in re-wording and misquoting GO terminology, risk exacerbating the semantic problems this controlled vocabulary was designed to solve. Conclusions: The failure of the Gene Ontology to define what is meant by a molecular function, the exercise of power by GO developers in clearing contentious concepts from the ontology, and the strict adherence to ontological realism, which marginalises social and subjective ways of classifying scientific concepts, limits the utility of the ontology as a tool to unify the molecular biology domain. These limitations to the Gene Ontology design could be overcome with the development of lighter, pluralistic, user-controlled ‘open ontologies’ for gene products that can work alongside more traditional, ‘top-down’ developed vocabularies.

Librarians' expanding claim on tasks in the process of scholarship is the subject of this qualitative study by a participant observer and employee of a large, team-based academic research library. The grounded theory describes gendered strategies of inclusion, usurpation, demarcation and exclusion in use by librarians as they compete and collaborate for control over tasks with both faculty, publishers, computing and student service professionals, as well as other occupational groups within the library. These competitive and collaborative strategies result in the emergence of three distinct jurisdictional and career trajectories for librarians: professional librarians, information professionals, and instructional support technicians. Recommendations are made for furthering the professional project of librarians, include strengthening the certification of librarians at the Ph.D. level, recasting information literacy instruction as navigation instruction, developing a vision of knowledge management fitting to public sector values, and encouraging librarians to bring career staff into certified instructional technology support roles.

This is a scan of Memorablia Ranganathan edited by M.A. Gopinath. It contains quotes from Ranganathan's other books. and below is the Introduction by M.A. Gopinath, the Editor: 1. Memorablia Ranganathan is an attempt to make live the thoughts of Prof. S. R. Ranganathan. 2. He was a thinker, analyser, consolidator of his thoughts and used to put them in a crisp and telling manner. 3. His thoughts ranged on many subjects, but most of them were on libraries, library and information science and service. 4. To help Ranganathan Reader with a sort of a ready reckoner on his thoughts and expressions, they are brought together in the form of a book. 5. This forms part of Ranganathan Birth Centenary Celebrations and this book is published in this series. 6. This document is compiled by the younger generation of librarians. 7. It also contains a short biography of Ranganathan. This is a title in the dLIST Classics project. © Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science (SRELS). Permission for non-profit use granted by SRELS. To purchase reprints of this work, please visit Ess Ess Publications at http://www.essessreference.com/.

Folksonomies have the potential to add much value to public library catalogues by enabling clients to: store, maintain, and organize items of interest in the catalogue using their own tags. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the tags that constitute folksonomies are structured. Tags were acquired over a thirty-day period from the daily tag logs of three folksonomy sites, Del.icio.us, Furl, and Technorati. The tags were evaluated against section 6 (choice and form of terms) of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) guidelines for the construction of controlled vocabularies. This evaluation revealed that the folksonomy tags correspond closely to the NISO guidelines that pertain to the types of concepts expressed by the tags, the predominance of single tags, the predominance of nouns, and the use of recognized spelling. Potential problem areas in the structure of the tags pertain to the inconsistent use of the singular and plural form of count nouns, and the incidence of ambiguous tags in the form of homographs and unqualified abbreviations or acronyms. Should library catalogues decide to incorporate folksonomies, they could provide clear guidelines to address these noted weaknesses, as well as links to external dictionaries and references sources such as Wikipedia to help clients disambiguate homographs and to determine if the full or abbreviated forms of tags would be preferable.

The way and pace at which information is generated, organized and used is witnessed rapid strides in recent times. Hence, the discipline of LIS meant to manage and provide information service may not be taught effectively and practiced perfectly through a framed curriculum in the formal education steam alone. Driven by the market demands and user needs, the discipline is embracing other disciplines like computers, communication technology, cognition research etc. to continuously monitor and augment their skills to arrive at â pinpointed information from the delugeâ . Manual means of tackling information will not help the user/professional to solve emerging problems in the actual research setup and also the present day researchers expect a faster response to their information needs. Information management and servicing in a highly matured and skill intensive activity and it requires people with different educational backgrounds. Electronic access is increasingly providing a large proportion of current information instead of print and allowing access through a variety of platforms on a twenty-four hour basis. As the traditional custodians of information, librarians need to be aware of the implications of these changes and develop technological and managerial skills that will enable them to make effective use of information to meet their organization and changing needs. However, many librarians lack confidence to learn and master the skills required in adopting the increasingly sophisticated technology. It is vital that they must be kept in touch with modern developments and maintains a proactive approach to work in an ever-changing information world. Professional profiles are changing so rapidly and very radically these days impacting the librarianâ s portfolio, since libraries are becoming knowledge management organizations with librarians as their active agents. Perhaps the most important development of libraries during the current decade has been the move from organizational self-sufficiency to a collaborative survival mode as personified by the growth of library consortia. Information technology is now a level of cooperation that is much broader and deeper than ever before

This is a scan of Documentation and Its Facets: Being a symposium of seventy papers by thirty-two authors, edited by S.R. Ranganathan. In Part A Ranganathan provides a description of his introduction to Documentation (Information Science). Other authors, besides Ranganathan, describe the field of documentation. This is a title in the dLIST Classics project. © Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science (SRELS). Permission for non-profit use granted by SRELS. To purchase print reprints of this work, please visit Ess Ess Publications at http://www.essessreference.com/.

Keynote address at A-LIEP 2006. / The article scans global and library trends to discuss the future of 21st century libraries. In spite of both the importance and difficulty of addressing the future of libraries, there has been no shortage of attempts to do so. The author draws insights from leading futurist to articulate the relevance of libraries in Singapore. Libraries are important in the context of the evolving experience economy in capturing tacit knowledge and understanding learning patterns. The author posits that library education in the future would have to incorporate both tacit and explicit knowledge management.