User Interfaces and Visualization

Tiziana Catarci describes the aims and objectives of this cluster and puts us in the picture about work already underway in the area of user requirements relating to different groups of stakeholders.

Introduction

In current discussions on the notion of what is a digital library, it is generally associated with the technological drive to build, use, and maintain large collections of electronic documents. However, it could also be considered as a linchpin in the construction of an information-enriched environment. It should nonetheless be recognized that this higher-level vision of a digital library, however perceptive, nonetheless brings with it a range of problems which will require solutions if we are to guarantee the usability and accessibility of this environment for the different classes of users with varying needs and capabilities. The ultimate goal of the User-Interface and Visualization cluster is to develop methodologies, techniques and tools to enable future digital library (DL) designers and developers to meet not only the technological, but also the user-oriented requirements in a balanced way. The UIV cluster will address this goal by pursuing several activities:

User Requirement-related Activities

User requirements will be studied systematically. The different perspectives on a digital library will be analyzed to relate them to the requirements and technical implementation options that emerge from the ongoing development projects being undertaken by the partners of the Network of Excellence (NoE).

It is our intention to analyze methodically all the aspects and phases pertaining to the development and the usage of a DL system. The analysis will focus not only on the DL end-user, for it will also need to take into account other DL stakeholders such as librarians, content providers and maintainers. The DL life cycle will be related to both functional and non-functional requirements.

It is also part of our plan to develop a set of character profiles of DL users and we need to bear in mind that the user interface should afford accessibility to all categories of users, including those with special needs. In addition, this cluster will also explore how users can make use of a multi-modal DL-user interface which will meet their particular needs.

For further details see the update page
UIV Ongoing Activities: Collection of User Requirements - Questionnaire Formulation.

User Interface and Visualization Design Activities

We will explore the impact and corresponding DL opportunities with respect to contextual information. The cluster will carry out studies towards developing a taxonomy of relevant context models. A language specification will then be proposed which will encompass the pertinent characteristics and requirements of context models identified during the development of the taxonomy. The cluster will then model context-dependent DL aspects.

As a consequence of taking the usage situation/context into account in our work, we find ourselves rethinking the basic assumptions underlying most of the current approaches to information filtering and retrieval. This should lead to more realistic definitions of 'relevance'. It will then be possible to move to the development of a comprehensive model for relevance criteria.

The UIV cluster will investigate the exploitation of existing visualizations as well as consider novel visualizations and how they present DL results/views; it also expects to examine certain aspects of the DL life cycle. Furthermore it will also give thought towards the possibility of extending current visualizations through the suitable application of both text and multimedia data. We will therefore seek to gauge the efficacy, clarity and degree of interactivity of visualization in the digital library context. The cluster will build a theoretical framework from which user interface designers and developers can design interfaces for DL-users. With the framework in place, it should be possible for developers to gather together the various resources provided by the theoretical framework (for example tools and methodologies) and design a DL-user interface specific to a particular application domain.

Furthermore we need to bear in mind that digital library solutions of the future will have to offer components that are both integrated and customizable and which are able to provide the necessary functionality required by the environment they serve. Ultimately our goal is to begin by developing a generic user interface which will allow us to produce a design methodology, and associated guidelines, which will help us to define appropriate technical solutions. Not only should it be possible to implement the latter in a given scenario but also to ensure that the needs of users have been met as a first priority. Therefore we aim to create an integrated DL architecture which combines both user- and application-oriented functions, for example query and navigation features, and which will adapt to the needs of its users.

Therefore, for the UIV cluster, the chief outcomes, i.e. the final integrated results of this work should be the theoretical framework for user interface developers together with the design methodology and supporting documentation which will allow designers to create specific technical solutions. However additionally we are looking to provide profiles of the different classes of users; together with analyses of the DL life cycle, of functional and non-functional requirements and of the efficacy of visualization; as well as ensuring the development of both a relevance and a context model.

A temporary website for this cluster is available at: http://www.dis.uniroma1.it/~delos/

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