Multi-modality Search and Recommendation on Palestinian Cultural Heritage Based on the Holy-Land Ontology and Extrinsic Semantic Resources

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Mohammed Maree ◽  
Amjad Rattrout ◽  
Muhanad Altawil ◽  
Mohammed Belkhatir
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Handheld Devices ◽  
Holy Land ◽  
Cultural Importance ◽  
Current Location ◽  
Retrieval Strategies ◽  
Semantic Resources ◽  
Tourism Services

The Cultural Heritage (CH) sector and its associated tourism services have been affected notably by the advancement of the Internet as well as the explosive growth of smartphones and other handheld devices. These days, visitors can access reliable CH content using Web and mobile-based interfaces. However, conventional CH systems still lack the ability to provide meaningful semantically overt results that precisely meet user information needs in this domain. In addition, they often ignore the user search context and experience, which hinders their ability to adapt their behavior to the preferences, tasks, interests, and other user functionalities. In this article, we aim to address the issue of designing a precision-oriented multilingual and multi-criteria semantic-based mobile recommender system specifically targeting Palestine's CH, a country with great historical and cultural importance. We aim to better facilitate users’ access to CH content by providing them with multiple search functionalities. In this context, a user can search for relevant information using keywords (a.k.a. tags) or sentence-like queries and the system retrieves all relevant documents based on their semantic similarity. A second option is to search using current location information to retrieve correlated historical places and events. Finally, starting from a picture of interest, a third option makes it possible to extract captions describing its content that can be used to search for additional contextually relevant information. Additionally, the proposed system aims at personalizing users’ experience through progressively delivering output that meets their information needs based on a number of parameters such as users' logging data, interests, previous searches, and location-based information. A prototype of the proposed system has been developed and tested using Android smartphones and a manually constructed ontology enriched with CH links to the Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) and DBpedia. By comparing our system with similar systems in this domain, findings demonstrate that it provides additional search features and functionalities to users. The proposed Holy-Land ontology is the first of its kind attempting to encode knowledge about Palestine's CH. It plays a crucial role in our proposal, serving as a pivotal entity in the combination of language-based, location-based, and visual-based retrieval strategies.

Early Childhood Development Practitioners’ Information Practices through GMISP Lens: The Case of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

Libri ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-217
Author(s):  
Kepi Madumo ◽  
Constance Bitso
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Early Childhood Development ◽  
Information Service ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Childhood Development ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Key Informant

Abstract In the interest of developing relevant information services for ECD practitioners in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM), as ECD is one of the national priorities, a study was conducted to ascertain their information needs and information-seeking behaviour. Using Leckie, Pettigrew and Sylvain’s General Model of the Information Seeking of Professionals (GMISP) as the theoretical framework, and situated within interpretivist paradigm, the study took a qualitative approach to collect data, with the results based on group discussions and an interview with a key informant. The research focused on establishing Grade R practitioners’ information needs, with information sources they often consulted, actions and strategies used when seeking information, as well as challenges they face when seeking information. Grade R practitioners need information to increase their knowledge for optimum performance of their duties. To satisfy the demand for information, it is recommended that the EMM libraries and Gauteng Department of Education school libraries should consider a coordinated and accessible library and information service (LIS) that supports ECD practitioners. The plans and design of LIS in the EMM should accommodate the information needs expressed by the Grade R practitioners.

scholarly journals Creation and Use of Online Gateway for School Libraries from Free Web 2.0 Tools

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Jude M. Gorospe
Keyword(s):  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
School Library ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Information Services ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Web 2.0 Tools ◽  
Online Tools ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Free Search

The school library is challenged to remain relevant in the 21st century learning environment. With young learners always consulting Google and other free search engines for subject assignment and other information needs and with the underwhelming quality of much web-based information, the school library must find an interesting and effective way to deliver authoritative and relevant information services through online tools. However, effective information services online are most often hosted from subscribed or paid Web 2.0 sites. These online services are capable of interactivity among learners and flexibility for individual schools’ administrative concerns. However, the ability to afford these services is frequently beyond the financial capability of schools from developing countries. The researcher explored the possibility of creating a school library website that serves as a pathfinder to online resources and electronically delivers other library-based school services using free Web 2.0 tools.

La percezione della qualitŕ dei prodotti tipici da parte del consumatore in Sicilia

2012 ◽  
pp. 143-172
Author(s):  
Gaetano Chinnici ◽  
Biagio Pecorino ◽  
Alessandro Scuderi
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Dietary Habits ◽  
National Level ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Purchasing Decisions ◽  
Farm Produce ◽  
The Common ◽  
Components Analysis ◽  
Increasing Demand

The common agricultural policy over the years has expanded the tools of promotion and protection of farm produce quality. At the national level but also from Europe we are witnessing a change in consumer behavior: they become more and more relevant information needs, safety and food security, increasing demand for quality products and the willingness to pay for those products that meet consumer expectations. The paper focuses on the perceived quality of local products in order to identify those variables that influence purchasing decisions and dietary habits and consumer group. The survey was conducted using a principal components analysis to summarize the information that characterizes the choices of consumption, followed by cluster analysis which allowed us to confirm the presence of different segments of consumers of local products.

Biomedical Librarianship in the Post-Genomic Era

2018 ◽  
pp. 1338-1351
Author(s):  
Shubhada Prashant Nagarkar
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Collection Development ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Library Collection ◽  
Sequence Databases ◽  
Changing Role

Post genomic era is known for the explosive growth in biomedical information. Bibliographic and sequence databases are increasing continuously and have voluminous data sets. Biomedical librarians are facing challenges in retrieval of relevant information from these electronic databases and related sources of information. This chapter discusses the changing role of biomedical librarians in post genomic era. The chapter covers features of the biomedical librarianship including library collection development, users' information needs and strategies adopted to provide services. Moreover, it focuses on the competencies required by librarians to face the challenges of management of information and services needed by biomedical researchers in the post genomic era.

Cultural heritage literacy: A survey of academics from humanities and social sciences

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 818-831
Author(s):  
Semanur Öztemiz
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Literacy Skill ◽  
University Faculty ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
New Literacy ◽  
Gender Status ◽  
Humanities And Social Sciences

In the 21st century, some factors, such as the awareness of multiculturalism, the preservation of local culture and the recognition of national cultural heritage, have led to the need for a new literacy skill called cultural heritage literacy. This study aimed to draw attention to the concept of cultural heritage literacy, defining the competencies of this literacy and investigating these competencies among academics from the humanities and social sciences at Hacettepe University Faculty of Letters, Turkey. Cultural heritage information needs and the information behaviours of academics were found to have differences in practices and perceptions across age, gender, status and subject disciplines. Within the scope of the study, a questionnaire with 30 questions was given to 114 academics from the humanities and social sciences at Hacettepe University Faculty of Letters, Turkey. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and a chi-square test. The findings show that most of the academics reported having strong cultural heritage literacy abilities. There are statistically significant correlations between participants’ demographic features and cultural heritage literacy. It is expected that this study will contribute to the professionals of cultural heritage institutions. By considering cultural heritage literacy skills, professionals of cultural heritage institutions can develop new information services for cultural-heritage literate people.

scholarly journals Wildland Fire Science for Management: Federal Fire Manager Information Needs, Sources, and Uses

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 126-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare M. Ryan ◽  
Lee K. Cerveny
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
Wildland Fire ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Fire Science ◽  
Information Accessibility ◽  
Us Forest Service ◽  
Types Of Information ◽  
University Scientists

Abstract A Web-based survey of wildland fire managers in federal agencies in the western United States explored fire science information needs and sources, why particular sources are used, and barriers to obtaining and using information. The fire managers we surveyed rely heavily on internal agency information sources (colleagues, technical experts, and resource advisors) and are more likely to face barriers in their ability to access and use relevant information (lack of time, funding, and personnel) than problems with the quality or availability of data. Information accessibility and applicability are important to managers when deciding which information sources to use. Managers frequently access research provided by US Forest Service Research and Development specialists and university scientists through various publications, the Internet, and direct communication with scientists. Understanding the types of information fire managers need, the sources they access for information, and the barriers they face in obtaining and using information may lead to improved fire science and its dissemination, as well as more effective and efficient fire management.

Improving Results Aggregation Strategies in Distributed Information Retrieval

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 94-104
Author(s):  
Benjamin Ghansah ◽  
Sheng Li Wu ◽  
Nathaniel Ekow Ghansah
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Distributed Information ◽  
Distributed Information Retrieval ◽  
Result Diversification ◽  
Result Merging ◽  
Ranked List

The top-ranked documents from various information sources that are merged together into a unified ranked list may cover the same piece of relevant information, and cannot satisfy different user needs. Result diversification(RD) solves this problem by diversifying results to cover more information needs. In recent times, RD has attracted much attention as a means of increasing user satisfaction in general purpose search engines. A myriad of approaches have been proposed in the related works for the diversification problem. However, no concrete study of search result diversification has been done in a Distributed Information Retrieval(DIR) setting. In this paper, we survey, classify and propose a theoretical framework that aims at improving diversification at the result merging phase of a DIR environment.

The quality of the metacommunication of the interface and search system of the CAPES Portal of e-Journals

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 398-409
Author(s):  
Gracielle Mendonça Rodrigues Gomes ◽  
Beatriz Valadares Cendon
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Search System ◽  
Inspection Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems

Purpose The study aims to propose the use of the semiotics inspection method (SIM) which is an interpretative and qualitative method from semiotics engineering (SE) for the evaluation of the communicability of systems and to evaluate digital libraries and information retrieval systems (IRS). The paper presents the results of the application of this method in the evaluation of the quality of the communicability of the interface and search system of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) Portal of e-Journals, a major scientific digital library in Brazil. There are proposed solutions to improve this system included. Design/methodology/approach The study used the SIM to evaluate the system. Two evaluators inspected the system. They performed the comparison and the analysis of three types of metamessages (metalinguistic, static and dynamic). The metamessages generated by the evaluators were contrasted to find inconsistencies and ambiguities in the CAPES Portal of e-Journals. Finally, the last step of the method was the final assessment about the inspection. Findings The evaluators identified 52 problems of communicability. These problems were ranked according to severity ratings established by Nielsen (1994). They were grouped in ten types of problems present in the interface and in the search system of the CAPES Portal of e-Journals. Originality value This research contributes theoretically to the field of information retrieval and to the area of human–computer interaction and, in particular, to the theory of SE by adapting SE methods that allow the evaluation of communicability to the context of the scientific IRS. Results obtained through scientific methods should contribute to development of the interface and search tools of IRS to better support query formulation and retrieval of relevant information and more efficiently satisfy the information needs of individuals.

scholarly journals Perception, Motivation, and Satisfaction of Female Tourists with Their Visit to the City of Cordoba (Spain)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7595
Author(s):  
Alexandra Lenis Escobar ◽  
Ramón Rueda López ◽  
Manuel Pérez-Priego ◽  
María de los Baños García-Moreno García
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Statistical Techniques ◽  
Heritage Sites ◽  
Historical Heritage ◽  
Tourism Services ◽  
The City ◽  
Non Parametric

The cultural and historical heritage of a city is a major resource for attracting tourists. Therefore, determining how to perceive and identify the characteristics of persons visiting a locality attracted by its heritage is relevant for the purpose of better meeting their expectations and needs. This research focuses on understanding the perceptions, motivations, and satisfaction of women visiting Cordoba (Spain). Thus, on the basis of a questionnaire completed by women visiting Cordoba between the months of June and November 2019, statistical analysis was conducted. Using various multivalent case-grouping techniques, segments of tourists holding similar perceptions of cultural heritage were detected. Moreover, non-parametric statistical techniques highlighted significant differences between the valuations obtained in the various segments. This analysis exposed a segment of women who, known as absorptive tourists, are characterized by a high cultural motivation to visit the city of Cordoba linked to the heritage sites they have visited. The conclusions obtained herein should be useful for adjusting the city’s provision of tourism services to satisfy the demand of female tourists visiting the city.

scholarly journals Reference service evaluation at an African academic library: the user perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 64 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 552-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Luo ◽  
Viscount B. Buer
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Evaluation Study ◽  
User Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Library Users ◽  
Reference Service

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a detailed discussion of a large-scale library reference evaluation study conducted at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW) in Ghana. The study seeks to evaluate the reference service from the user perspective, focusing on how users use and perceive the service. Design/methodology/approach – Self-administered survey was used as the data collection instrument. One thousand questionnaires were distributed to library users in a three-week period, and the response rate was 63.7 per cent. Findings – The reference service had a high non-use rate of 42.6 per cent, which was primarily attributed to library users’ self-sufficiency and lack of awareness of the service. The top three motivations for library users to use the reference service were class assignments, personal interests and using library facilities. Although their overall altitude was positive, users felt that reference librarians were more successful at exhibiting customer service qualities than performing tasks related to identifying users’ information needs and searching/locating relevant information to fulfill the needs. Practical implications – The knowledge gained from this study will deepen the understanding of how the reference service is utilised and perceived by library users and offer insights on how to enhance the services to optimise the user experience. Originality/value – This study yields an enriched view of reference service provision in the African context. Its findings will help other academic libraries in Africa successfully plan and implement their own reference evaluation efforts and ultimately encourage more evidence-based library practices in the developing world.

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