Using Spatial Hypertext as a Workspace for Digital Library Providers and Patrons

这个目标研究项目是调查数字图书馆用户使用空间超文本来建立个人和共享的带注释的数字信息空间，以及数字图书馆提供者组织、注释和维护数字信息集合。空间超文本是一类信息工作空间，用户在一组二维空间中收集源材料作为信息对象，并通过视觉和空间线索暗示材料的属性和材料之间的关系。空间超文本易于表达不断变化的解释，因此非常适合任务和材料（或用户对它们的理解）随时间变化的任务。PI及其同事正在对现有的空间超文本系统Visual Knowledge Builder进行以下方面的扩展：(1)支持元数据增量规范的基于建议的方法；(2)生成对话框，用于将工作区中的可视化解释转换为元数据；(3)历史注释、过滤和编辑，用于查看集合如何随时间变化。通过将创建个人数字信息空间的手段从文本模式扩展到视觉模式，本研究有望扩大NSDL对用户的影响。

This Targeted Research project is investigating the use of spatial hypertext by digital library patrons tobuild personal and shared annotated digital information spaces, and by digital library providers to organize,annotate, and maintain collections of digital information. Spatial hypertext is a class of informationworkspace in which users collect source materials as information objects in a set of two-dimensional spaces and imply attributes of and relationships between the materials via visual and spatial cues. The ease of expressing evolving interpretations makes spatial hypertext well suited for tasks where the task and materials (or the user's understanding of these) change over time. The PI and colleagues are extending an existing spatial hypertext system, the Visual Knowledge Builder, in the following areas: (1) suggestion-based methods supporting the incremental specification of metadata; (2) dialog generation for converting the visual interpretation that occurs in the workspace into metadata; and (3) history annotation, filtering, and editing for viewing how collections change over time. By expanding the means to create personal digital information spaces beyond textual modes into visual ones, this investigation promises to broaden the impact of the NSDL on users.