2021 |
The vision of an open, transferable, hybrid reading hub in urban Greece (Journal Article) Benardou, Agiatis; Kalamaras, Michalis; Sgouridi, Magdalini; Tsakonas, Giannis Journal of Greek Media and Culture, Volume: 7 (1), Pages: 125-136(12), 2021. @article{Benardou2021, title = {The vision of an open, transferable, hybrid reading hub in urban Greece}, author = {Agiatis Benardou and Michalis Kalamaras and Magdalini Sgouridi and Giannis Tsakonas}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1386/jgmc_00033_3}, year = {2021}, date = {2021-04-01}, journal = {Journal of Greek Media and Culture}, volume = {7}, number = {1}, pages = {125-136(12)}, publisher = {Intellect}, abstract = {In recent years the traditional concept of the library has been drastically diversified. Libraries appear in different forms, adding collections of content beyond books, expanding already existing services and developing new ones, while focusing on their engagement with audiences. This visual essay presents CLOISTER, a vision of an open, inclusive, non-profit, physical and digital reading space to be located in the heart of the Greek city. CLOISTER is envisioned as a sustainable, transferable and inviting library construction, that aims to disrupt the city flow by offering a new reading and collaboration space. The design of this pop-up library is inspired by the Athenian Agora, with its covered arcades and the open porticos running along building walls. The project aspires to transform Greek city squares by challenging the fixity of reading spaces and empowering the city pulse.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In recent years the traditional concept of the library has been drastically diversified. Libraries appear in different forms, adding collections of content beyond books, expanding already existing services and developing new ones, while focusing on their engagement with audiences. This visual essay presents CLOISTER, a vision of an open, inclusive, non-profit, physical and digital reading space to be located in the heart of the Greek city. CLOISTER is envisioned as a sustainable, transferable and inviting library construction, that aims to disrupt the city flow by offering a new reading and collaboration space. The design of this pop-up library is inspired by the Athenian Agora, with its covered arcades and the open porticos running along building walls. The project aspires to transform Greek city squares by challenging the fixity of reading spaces and empowering the city pulse. |
A retrospective on Telos as a metamodeling language for requirements engineering (Journal Article) Koubarakis, Manolis; Borgida, Alexander; Constantopoulos, Panos; et al., Requirements Eng, Volume: 26 , Pages: 1-23, 2021. @article{Koubarakis2021, title = {A retrospective on Telos as a metamodeling language for requirements engineering}, author = {Manolis Koubarakis and Alexander Borgida and Panos Constantopoulos and et al.}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00766-020-00329-x}, year = {2021}, date = {2021-00-00}, journal = {Requirements Eng}, volume = {26}, pages = {1-23}, abstract = {Telos is a conceptual modeling language intended to capture software knowledge, such as software system requirements, domain knowledge, architectures, design decisions and more. To accomplish this, Telos was designed to be extensible in the sense that the concepts used to capture software knowledge can be defined in the language itself, instead of being built-in. This extensibility is accomplished through powerful metamodeling features, which proved very useful for interrelating het- erogeneous models from requirements, model-driven software engineering, data integration, ontology engineering, cultural informatics and education. We trace the evolution of ideas and research results in the Telos project from its origins in the late eighties. Our account looks at the semantics of Telos, its various implementations and its applications. We also recount related research by other groups and the cross-influences of ideas thereof. We conclude with lessons learnt.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Telos is a conceptual modeling language intended to capture software knowledge, such as software system requirements, domain knowledge, architectures, design decisions and more. To accomplish this, Telos was designed to be extensible in the sense that the concepts used to capture software knowledge can be defined in the language itself, instead of being built-in. This extensibility is accomplished through powerful metamodeling features, which proved very useful for interrelating het- erogeneous models from requirements, model-driven software engineering, data integration, ontology engineering, cultural informatics and education. We trace the evolution of ideas and research results in the Telos project from its origins in the late eighties. Our account looks at the semantics of Telos, its various implementations and its applications. We also recount related research by other groups and the cross-influences of ideas thereof. We conclude with lessons learnt. |
2019 |
A world of immersive experiences (Journal Article) Benardou, Agiatis; Konstantelos, Leonidas History Scotland, Volume: 19 (2), Pages: 8-9, 2019. (BibTeX) @article{Benardou2019, title = {A world of immersive experiences}, author = {Agiatis Benardou and Leonidas Konstantelos}, year = {2019}, date = {2019-03-00}, journal = {History Scotland}, volume = {19}, number = {2}, pages = {8-9}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
2018 |
Archaeological Knowledge Production and Global Communities: Boundaries and Structure of the Field (Journal Article) Laužikas, Rimvydas; Dallas, Costis; Thomas, Suzie; Kelpšienė, Ingrida; Huvila, Isto; Luengo, Pedro; Nobre, Helena; Toumpouri, Marina; Vaitkevičius, Vykintas Open Archaeology, Volume: 4 (1), Pages: 350–364, 2018, ISSN: 2300-6560. @article{Laužikas2018, title = {Archaeological Knowledge Production and Global Communities: Boundaries and Structure of the Field}, author = {Rimvydas Laužikas and Costis Dallas and Suzie Thomas and Ingrida Kelpšienė and Isto Huvila and Pedro Luengo and Helena Nobre and Marina Toumpouri and Vykintas Vaitkevičius}, doi = {10.1515/opar-2018-0022}, issn = {2300-6560}, year = {2018}, date = {2018-09-01}, journal = {Open Archaeology}, volume = {4}, number = {1}, pages = {350–364}, abstract = {Archaeology and material cultural heritage enjoys a particular status as a form of heritage that, capturing the public imagination, has become the locus for the expression and negotiation of regional, national, and intra-national cultural identities. One important question is: why and how do contemporary people engage with archaeological heritage objects, artefacts, information or knowledge outside the realm of an professional, academically-based archaeology? This question is investigated here from the perspective of theoretical considerations based on Yuri Lotman’s semiosphere theory, which helps to describe the connections between the centre and peripheries of professional archaeology as sign structures. The centre may be defined according to prevalent scientific paradigms, while periphery in the space of creolisation in which, through interactions with other culturally more distant sign structures, archaeology-related nonprofessional communities emerge. On the basis of these considerations, we use collocation analysis on representative English language corpora to outline the structure of the field of archaeology-related nonprofessional communities, identify salient creolised peripheral spaces and archaeology-related practices, and develop a framework for further investigation of archaeological knowledge production and reuse in the context of global archaeology.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Archaeology and material cultural heritage enjoys a particular status as a form of heritage that, capturing the public imagination, has become the locus for the expression and negotiation of regional, national, and intra-national cultural identities. One important question is: why and how do contemporary people engage with archaeological heritage objects, artefacts, information or knowledge outside the realm of an professional, academically-based archaeology? This question is investigated here from the perspective of theoretical considerations based on Yuri Lotman’s semiosphere theory, which helps to describe the connections between the centre and peripheries of professional archaeology as sign structures. The centre may be defined according to prevalent scientific paradigms, while periphery in the space of creolisation in which, through interactions with other culturally more distant sign structures, archaeology-related nonprofessional communities emerge. On the basis of these considerations, we use collocation analysis on representative English language corpora to outline the structure of the field of archaeology-related nonprofessional communities, identify salient creolised peripheral spaces and archaeology-related practices, and develop a framework for further investigation of archaeological knowledge production and reuse in the context of global archaeology. |
2017 |
Scholarly Ontology: modelling scholarly practices. (Journal Article) Constantopoulos, Panos; Pertsas, Vagianos International Journal on Digital Libraries, Volume: 18 (3), Pages: 173–190, 2017, ISSN: 1432-5012. @article{Constantopoulos2016b, title = {Scholarly Ontology: modelling scholarly practices.}, author = {Panos Constantopoulos and Vagianos Pertsas}, doi = {10.1007/s00799-016-0169-3}, issn = {1432-5012}, year = {2017}, date = {2017-09-01}, journal = {International Journal on Digital Libraries}, volume = {18}, number = {3}, pages = {173–190}, publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, abstract = {In this paper we present the Scholarly Ontology (SO), an ontology for modelling scholarly practices, inspired by business process modelling and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. The SO is based on empirical research and earlier models and is designed so as to incorporate related works through a modular structure. The SO is an elaboration of the domain-independent core part of the NeDiMAH Methods Ontology addressing the scholarly ecosystem of Digital Humanities. It thus provides a basis for developing domain-specific scholarly work ontologies springing from a common root. We define the basic concepts of the model and their semantic relations through four complementary perspectives on scholarly work: activity, procedure, resource and agency. As a use case we present a modelling example and argue on the purpose of use of the model through the presentation of indicative SPRQL and SQWRL queries that highlight the benefits of its serialization in RDFS. The SO includes an explicit treatment of intentionality and its interplay with functionality, captured by different parts of the model. We discuss the role of types as the semantic bridge between those two parts and explore several patterns that can be exploited in designing reusable access structures and conformance rules. Related taxonomies and ontologies and their possible reuse within the framework of SO are reviewed.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } In this paper we present the Scholarly Ontology (SO), an ontology for modelling scholarly practices, inspired by business process modelling and Cultural-Historical Activity Theory. The SO is based on empirical research and earlier models and is designed so as to incorporate related works through a modular structure. The SO is an elaboration of the domain-independent core part of the NeDiMAH Methods Ontology addressing the scholarly ecosystem of Digital Humanities. It thus provides a basis for developing domain-specific scholarly work ontologies springing from a common root. We define the basic concepts of the model and their semantic relations through four complementary perspectives on scholarly work: activity, procedure, resource and agency. As a use case we present a modelling example and argue on the purpose of use of the model through the presentation of indicative SPRQL and SQWRL queries that highlight the benefits of its serialization in RDFS. The SO includes an explicit treatment of intentionality and its interplay with functionality, captured by different parts of the model. We discuss the role of types as the semantic bridge between those two parts and explore several patterns that can be exploited in designing reusable access structures and conformance rules. Related taxonomies and ontologies and their possible reuse within the framework of SO are reviewed. |
2016 |
Jean-Claude Gardin on Archaeological Data, Representation and Knowledge: Implications for Digital Archaeology (Journal Article) Dallas, Costis Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume: 23 (1), Pages: 305–330, 2016. @article{Dallas2016, title = {Jean-Claude Gardin on Archaeological Data, Representation and Knowledge: Implications for Digital Archaeology}, author = {Costis Dallas}, doi = {doi:10.1007/s10816-015-9241-3}, year = {2016}, date = {2016-01-01}, journal = {Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory}, volume = {23}, number = {1}, pages = {305–330}, abstract = {This paper presents Jean-Claude Gardin’s distinctive approach to archaeological data, representation and knowledge in the context of his early engagement with semiotics and structural semantics and his grounding in fields as diverse as documentation, classification theory, material culture studies, argumentation theory and the philosophy of the human sciences. Pointing at Gardin’s ambivalence vis-à-vis the promises of automated classification and machine reasoning in archaeology, it shows that his approach goes beyond a normative, positivist conception of archaeological research, recognizing the contextual, theory-laden nature of archaeological data constitution, the priority of focusing on actual archaeological interpretation practices and the complementarity between narrative and formal representations of archaeological reasoning. It connects his early development of archaeological descriptive and typological metalanguages with his later elaboration of a theoretically informed approach to archaeological argumentation, analysis and publication, situates his logicist programme as a relevant contribution to the development of an archaeological “theory of practice”, grounded on reflexivity and modesty vis-à-vis the possibility of knowledge and the limits of scientism, and highlights aspects of Gardin’s work that point to potentially fruitful directions for contemporary research and practice in the field of archaeological informatics and digital humanities communication.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } This paper presents Jean-Claude Gardin’s distinctive approach to archaeological data, representation and knowledge in the context of his early engagement with semiotics and structural semantics and his grounding in fields as diverse as documentation, classification theory, material culture studies, argumentation theory and the philosophy of the human sciences. Pointing at Gardin’s ambivalence vis-à-vis the promises of automated classification and machine reasoning in archaeology, it shows that his approach goes beyond a normative, positivist conception of archaeological research, recognizing the contextual, theory-laden nature of archaeological data constitution, the priority of focusing on actual archaeological interpretation practices and the complementarity between narrative and formal representations of archaeological reasoning. It connects his early development of archaeological descriptive and typological metalanguages with his later elaboration of a theoretically informed approach to archaeological argumentation, analysis and publication, situates his logicist programme as a relevant contribution to the development of an archaeological “theory of practice”, grounded on reflexivity and modesty vis-à-vis the possibility of knowledge and the limits of scientism, and highlights aspects of Gardin’s work that point to potentially fruitful directions for contemporary research and practice in the field of archaeological informatics and digital humanities communication. |
2015 |
Curating archaeological knowledge in the digital continuum: from practice to infrastructure (Journal Article) Dallas, Costis Open Archaeology, Volume: 1 (1), Pages: 176–207, 2015. @article{Dallas2015b, title = {Curating archaeological knowledge in the digital continuum: from practice to infrastructure}, author = {Costis Dallas}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2015-0011}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-06-29}, journal = {Open Archaeology}, volume = {1}, number = {1}, pages = {176–207}, abstract = {As a “grand challenge” for digital archaeology, I propose the adoption of programmatic research to meet the challenges of archaeological curation in the digital continuum, contingent on curation-enabled global digital infrastructures, and on contested regimes of archaeological knowledge production and meaning making. My motivation stems from an interest in the sociotechnical practices of archaeology, viewed as purposeful activities centred on material traces of past human presence. This is exemplified in contemporary practices of interpretation “at the trowel’s edge”, in epistemological reflexivity and in pluralization of archaeological knowledge. Adopting a practice-centred approach, I examine how the archaeological record is constructed and curated through archaeological activity “from the field to the screen” in a variety of archaeological situations. I call attention to Çatalhöyük as a salient case study illustrating the ubiquity of digital curation practices in experimental, well-resourced and purposefully theorized archaeological fieldwork, and I propose a conceptualization of digital curation as a pervasive, epistemic-pragmatic activity extending across the lifecycle of archaeological work. To address these challenges, I introduce a medium-term research agenda that speaks both to epistemic questions of theory in archaeology and information science, and to pragmatic concerns of digital curation, its methods, and application in archaeology. The agenda I propose calls for multidisciplinary, multi-team, multiyear research of a programmatic nature, aiming to re-examine archaeological ontology, to conduct focused research on pervasive archaeological research practices and methods, and to design and develop curation functionalities coupled with existing pervasive digital infrastructures used by archaeologists. It has a potential value in helping to establish an epistemologically coherent framework for the interdisciplinary field of archaeological curation, in aligning archaeological ontologies work with practice-based, agencyoriented and participatory theorizations of material culture, and in matching the specification and design of archaeological digital infrastructures with the increasingly globalized, ubiquitous and pervasive digital information environment and the multiple contexts of contemporary meaning-making in archaeology.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } As a “grand challenge” for digital archaeology, I propose the adoption of programmatic research to meet the challenges of archaeological curation in the digital continuum, contingent on curation-enabled global digital infrastructures, and on contested regimes of archaeological knowledge production and meaning making. My motivation stems from an interest in the sociotechnical practices of archaeology, viewed as purposeful activities centred on material traces of past human presence. This is exemplified in contemporary practices of interpretation “at the trowel’s edge”, in epistemological reflexivity and in pluralization of archaeological knowledge. Adopting a practice-centred approach, I examine how the archaeological record is constructed and curated through archaeological activity “from the field to the screen” in a variety of archaeological situations. I call attention to Çatalhöyük as a salient case study illustrating the ubiquity of digital curation practices in experimental, well-resourced and purposefully theorized archaeological fieldwork, and I propose a conceptualization of digital curation as a pervasive, epistemic-pragmatic activity extending across the lifecycle of archaeological work. To address these challenges, I introduce a medium-term research agenda that speaks both to epistemic questions of theory in archaeology and information science, and to pragmatic concerns of digital curation, its methods, and application in archaeology. The agenda I propose calls for multidisciplinary, multi-team, multiyear research of a programmatic nature, aiming to re-examine archaeological ontology, to conduct focused research on pervasive archaeological research practices and methods, and to design and develop curation functionalities coupled with existing pervasive digital infrastructures used by archaeologists. It has a potential value in helping to establish an epistemologically coherent framework for the interdisciplinary field of archaeological curation, in aligning archaeological ontologies work with practice-based, agencyoriented and participatory theorizations of material culture, and in matching the specification and design of archaeological digital infrastructures with the increasingly globalized, ubiquitous and pervasive digital information environment and the multiple contexts of contemporary meaning-making in archaeology. |
Digital Curation beyond the ‘Wild Frontier’: A Pragmatic Approach (Journal Article) Dallas, Costis Archival Science, Pages: 1-37, 2015. @article{Dallas2015, title = {Digital Curation beyond the ‘Wild Frontier’: A Pragmatic Approach}, author = {Costis Dallas}, url = {http://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-015-9252-6}, doi = {10.1007/s10502-015-9252-6}, year = {2015}, date = {2015-01-01}, journal = {Archival Science}, pages = {1-37}, abstract = {This paper advocates the necessity of developing a pragmatic alternative to the dominant custodial theorization of digital curation as an ‘‘umbrella concept for digital preservation, data curation, electronic records, and digital asset management’’. Starting from a historical account and an examination of prevalent definitions, it points to the current dependence of digital curation on a prescriptive approach rooted in its cognate field of digital preservation, aiming to serve the needs of professional stewardship. It demonstrates the disconnect of this theorization with the rich historical traditions of museum curatorship where the notion of curation originated, its inability to act as a framework for understanding the diversity and pervasiveness of contemporary digital curation practices ‘‘in the wild’’ (such as content curation, personal archiving, and pro-am digitization), and its dependence on a ‘‘wild frontier’’ ideology dissonant with contemporary critical cultural heritage scholarship. The alternative, pragmatic approach views digital curation as a ‘‘contact zone’’ practice, routinely performed by a broad range of actors including researchers, artists, users, and communities, on dynamically evolving objects, domain knowledge representations, and interactions, beyond the curation life cycle prescribed for custodial environments. On this basis, this study calls for a formalreconceptualization of digital curation, adequate knowledge representation of its objects, evidence-based research on curation practices, and establishment of curation-enabled digital infrastructures suitable for curation in the continuum. Reaching beyond a custodial view, this approach aims to establish digital curation as a field of intellectual inquiry relevant to emerging pervasive curation practices in the digital environment.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } This paper advocates the necessity of developing a pragmatic alternative to the dominant custodial theorization of digital curation as an ‘‘umbrella concept for digital preservation, data curation, electronic records, and digital asset management’’. Starting from a historical account and an examination of prevalent definitions, it points to the current dependence of digital curation on a prescriptive approach rooted in its cognate field of digital preservation, aiming to serve the needs of professional stewardship. It demonstrates the disconnect of this theorization with the rich historical traditions of museum curatorship where the notion of curation originated, its inability to act as a framework for understanding the diversity and pervasiveness of contemporary digital curation practices ‘‘in the wild’’ (such as content curation, personal archiving, and pro-am digitization), and its dependence on a ‘‘wild frontier’’ ideology dissonant with contemporary critical cultural heritage scholarship. The alternative, pragmatic approach views digital curation as a ‘‘contact zone’’ practice, routinely performed by a broad range of actors including researchers, artists, users, and communities, on dynamically evolving objects, domain knowledge representations, and interactions, beyond the curation life cycle prescribed for custodial environments. On this basis, this study calls for a formalreconceptualization of digital curation, adequate knowledge representation of its objects, evidence-based research on curation practices, and establishment of curation-enabled digital infrastructures suitable for curation in the continuum. Reaching beyond a custodial view, this approach aims to establish digital curation as a field of intellectual inquiry relevant to emerging pervasive curation practices in the digital environment. |
2014 |
A critical introduction to metadata for e-science and e-research (Journal Article) Garoufallou, Emmanouel; Papatheodorou, Christos International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies (IJMSO), Volume: 9 (1), Pages: 1-4, 2014. @article{Garoufallou2014, title = {A critical introduction to metadata for e-science and e-research}, author = {Emmanouel Garoufallou and Christos Papatheodorou }, url = {http://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJMSO.2014.059143}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, journal = {International Journal of Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies (IJMSO)}, volume = {9}, number = {1}, pages = {1-4}, abstract = {Scientific research is moving towards multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration and therefore powerful tools and infrastructures based on interoperability principles are needed to support this trend. This paper introduces the special issue on the metadata for e-science and e-research of the International Journal on Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies. This special issue seeks to draw attention to the on-going challenges that scientists and systems developers face in the area of metadata and data management for e-science and e-research. In particular, the objectives of this special issue are (a) to present some of the latest research in this field, especially in relation to the use of metadata for addressing challenges associated with the management of scientific and research data across a broad range of applications; and (b) to highlight some of the challenges associated with the use of metadata, and encourage further research in this area. The special issue includes four papers reporting innovative approaches to key issues in the area of metadata for e-science and e-research, such as metadata modelling and standardisation, data quality and data re-use.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Scientific research is moving towards multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration and therefore powerful tools and infrastructures based on interoperability principles are needed to support this trend. This paper introduces the special issue on the metadata for e-science and e-research of the International Journal on Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies. This special issue seeks to draw attention to the on-going challenges that scientists and systems developers face in the area of metadata and data management for e-science and e-research. In particular, the objectives of this special issue are (a) to present some of the latest research in this field, especially in relation to the use of metadata for addressing challenges associated with the management of scientific and research data across a broad range of applications; and (b) to highlight some of the challenges associated with the use of metadata, and encourage further research in this area. The special issue includes four papers reporting innovative approaches to key issues in the area of metadata for e-science and e-research, such as metadata modelling and standardisation, data quality and data re-use. |
Introduction to the focused issue on the 17th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Digital Libraries (TPDL 2013) (Journal Article) Aalberg, Trond; Papatheodorou, Christos International Journal on Digital Libraries (IJDL), Volume: 14 (3-4), Pages: 81-82, 2014. @article{Aalberg2014, title = {Introduction to the focused issue on the 17th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Digital Libraries (TPDL 2013)}, author = {Trond Aalberg and Christos Papatheodorou}, url = {http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00799-014-0119-x/fulltext.html}, doi = {10.1007/s00799-014-0119-x}, year = {2014}, date = {2014-01-01}, journal = {International Journal on Digital Libraries (IJDL)}, volume = {14}, number = {3-4}, pages = {81-82}, publisher = {Springer Berlin Heidelberg}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } |
2013 |
An approach to analyzing working practices of research communities in the humanities (Journal Article) Benardou, Agiatis; Constantopoulos, Panos; Dallas, Costis International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing, Volume: 7 (1-2), Pages: 105-127, 2013. @article{Benardou2013, title = {An approach to analyzing working practices of research communities in the humanities}, author = {Agiatis Benardou and Panos Constantopoulos and Costis Dallas}, url = {http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/ijhac.2013.0084}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-01-03}, journal = {International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing}, volume = {7}, number = {1-2}, pages = {105-127}, abstract = {The need for a firm understanding of the working practices of researchers in the humanities emerges as a prerequisite for the development of effective digital research infrastructures. This paper will focus on the rationale behind the design and implementation of two related studies conducted in the context of two European e-Infrastructures projects, DARIAH and EHRI. Within DARIAH the challenge involved conducting, analysing and understanding research practices of arts and humanities researchers, a largely ill-defined community encompassing a wide spectrum of disciplines. Each of them deals with a variety of objects employing an extensive number of methods. In the context of EHRI, the challenge is slightly different, due to the involvement of a better-defined research community. Holocaust researchers share well-identified objects, common ground on methods, and handle similar setbacks. In this paper we discuss the approach adopted for designing and implementing qualitative user-centric studies aimed at capturing activities, methods, and types of information objects employed by researchers grounded in identified research goals and questions. It addresses both generic and specific entities and processes, and supports the understanding of researchers’ working practices in settings as diverse and wide as DARIAH, or as specialized as EHRI. The outcomes of the analysis of working practices are used in determining user requirements for digital infrastructures to serve the respective research communities.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } The need for a firm understanding of the working practices of researchers in the humanities emerges as a prerequisite for the development of effective digital research infrastructures. This paper will focus on the rationale behind the design and implementation of two related studies conducted in the context of two European e-Infrastructures projects, DARIAH and EHRI. Within DARIAH the challenge involved conducting, analysing and understanding research practices of arts and humanities researchers, a largely ill-defined community encompassing a wide spectrum of disciplines. Each of them deals with a variety of objects employing an extensive number of methods. In the context of EHRI, the challenge is slightly different, due to the involvement of a better-defined research community. Holocaust researchers share well-identified objects, common ground on methods, and handle similar setbacks. In this paper we discuss the approach adopted for designing and implementing qualitative user-centric studies aimed at capturing activities, methods, and types of information objects employed by researchers grounded in identified research goals and questions. It addresses both generic and specific entities and processes, and supports the understanding of researchers’ working practices in settings as diverse and wide as DARIAH, or as specialized as EHRI. The outcomes of the analysis of working practices are used in determining user requirements for digital infrastructures to serve the respective research communities. |
Generating Natural Language Description from OWL Ontologies, the NaturalOWL System (Journal Article) Androutsopoulos, Ion; Lampouras, Gerasimos; Galanis, Dimitris Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, Volume: 48 , Pages: 671-715, 2013. @article{Androutsopoulos2013, title = {Generating Natural Language Description from OWL Ontologies, the NaturalOWL System}, author = {Ion Androutsopoulos and Gerasimos Lampouras and Dimitris Galanis}, url = {https://www.jair.org/media/4017/live-4017-7471-jair.pdf}, year = {2013}, date = {2013-01-02}, journal = {Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research}, volume = {48}, pages = {671-715}, abstract = {We present NaturalOWL, a natural language generation system that produces texts describing individuals or classes of OWL ontologies. Unlike simpler OWL verbalizers, which typically express a single axiom at a time in controlled, often not entirely fluent natural language primarily for the benefit of domain experts, we aim to generate fluent and coherent multi-sentence texts for end-users. With a system like NaturalOWL, one can publish information in OWL on the Web, along with automatically produced corresponding texts in multiple languages, making the information accessible not only to computer programs and domain experts, but also end-users. We discuss the processing stages of NaturalOWL, the optional domain-dependent linguistic resources that the system can use at each stage, and why they are useful. We also present trials showing that when the domain-dependent llinguistic resources are available, NaturalOWL produces significantly better texts compared to a simpler verbalizer, and that the resources can be created with relatively light effort.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } We present NaturalOWL, a natural language generation system that produces texts describing individuals or classes of OWL ontologies. Unlike simpler OWL verbalizers, which typically express a single axiom at a time in controlled, often not entirely fluent natural language primarily for the benefit of domain experts, we aim to generate fluent and coherent multi-sentence texts for end-users. With a system like NaturalOWL, one can publish information in OWL on the Web, along with automatically produced corresponding texts in multiple languages, making the information accessible not only to computer programs and domain experts, but also end-users. We discuss the processing stages of NaturalOWL, the optional domain-dependent linguistic resources that the system can use at each stage, and why they are useful. We also present trials showing that when the domain-dependent llinguistic resources are available, NaturalOWL produces significantly better texts compared to a simpler verbalizer, and that the resources can be created with relatively light effort. |
2011 |
An ontological representation of the digital library evaluation domain (Journal Article) Tsakonas, Giannis; Papatheodorou, Christos Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), Volume: 62 (8), Pages: 1577-1593, 2011. @article{Tsakonas2011, title = {An ontological representation of the digital library evaluation domain}, author = {Giannis Tsakonas and Christos Papatheodorou}, url = {http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.21559/abstract}, year = {2011}, date = {2011-01-01}, journal = {Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (JASIST)}, volume = {62}, number = {8}, pages = {1577-1593}, abstract = {Digital library evaluation is a complex field, as complex as the phenomena it studies. The interest of the digital library society still remains vibrant after all these years of solidification, as these systems have entered real-life applications. However the community has still to reach a consensus on what evaluation is and how it can effectively be planned. In the present article, an ontology of the digital library evaluation domain, named DiLEO, is proposed, aiming to reveal explicitly the main concepts of this domain and their correlations, and it tries to combine creatively and integrate several scientific paradigms, approaches, methods, techniques, and tools. This article demonstrates the added value features of the ontology, which are the support of comparative studies between different evaluation initiatives and the assistance in effective digital library evaluation planning.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Digital library evaluation is a complex field, as complex as the phenomena it studies. The interest of the digital library society still remains vibrant after all these years of solidification, as these systems have entered real-life applications. However the community has still to reach a consensus on what evaluation is and how it can effectively be planned. In the present article, an ontology of the digital library evaluation domain, named DiLEO, is proposed, aiming to reveal explicitly the main concepts of this domain and their correlations, and it tries to combine creatively and integrate several scientific paradigms, approaches, methods, techniques, and tools. This article demonstrates the added value features of the ontology, which are the support of comparative studies between different evaluation initiatives and the assistance in effective digital library evaluation planning. |
2010 |
Understanding the information requirements of arts and humanities scholarship: implications for digital curation (Journal Article) Benardou, Agiatis; Constantopoulos, Panos; Dallas, Costis; Gavrilis, Dimitris The International Journal of Digital Curation, Volume: 5 (1), Pages: 18-33, 2010. @article{Benardou2010, title = {Understanding the information requirements of arts and humanities scholarship: implications for digital curation}, author = {Agiatis Benardou and Panos Constantopoulos and Costis Dallas and Dimitris Gavrilis}, url = {http://www.ijdc.net/index.php/ijdc/article/viewFile/144/206}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-03}, journal = {The International Journal of Digital Curation}, volume = {5}, number = {1}, pages = {18-33}, abstract = {This paper reports on research of scholarly research practices and requirements conducted in the context of the Preparing DARIAH European e-Infrastructures project, with a view to ensuring current and future fitness for purpose of the planned digital infrastructure, services and tools. It summarises the findings of earlier research, primarily from the field of human information behaviour as applied in scholarly work, it presents a conceptual perspective informed by cultural-historical activity theory, it introduces briefly a formal conceptual model for scholarly research activity compliant with CIDOC CRM, it describes the plan of work and methodology of an empirical research project based on open-questionnaire interviews with arts and humanities researchers, and presents illustrative examples of segmentation, tagging and initial conceptual analysis of the empirical evidence. Finally, it presents plans for future work, consisting, firstly, of a comprehensive re-analysis of interview segments within the framework of the scholarly research activity model, and, secondly, of the integration of this analysis with the extended digital curation process model we presented in earlier work.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } This paper reports on research of scholarly research practices and requirements conducted in the context of the Preparing DARIAH European e-Infrastructures project, with a view to ensuring current and future fitness for purpose of the planned digital infrastructure, services and tools. It summarises the findings of earlier research, primarily from the field of human information behaviour as applied in scholarly work, it presents a conceptual perspective informed by cultural-historical activity theory, it introduces briefly a formal conceptual model for scholarly research activity compliant with CIDOC CRM, it describes the plan of work and methodology of an empirical research project based on open-questionnaire interviews with arts and humanities researchers, and presents illustrative examples of segmentation, tagging and initial conceptual analysis of the empirical evidence. Finally, it presents plans for future work, consisting, firstly, of a comprehensive re-analysis of interview segments within the framework of the scholarly research activity model, and, secondly, of the integration of this analysis with the extended digital curation process model we presented in earlier work. |
Exploitation of folksonomies in subject analysis (Journal Article) Kakali, Costantia; Papatheodorou, Christos Library & Information Science Research, Volume: 32 (3), Pages: 192-202, 2010. @article{Kakali2010, title = {Exploitation of folksonomies in subject analysis}, author = {Costantia Kakali and Christos Papatheodorou }, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740818810000368}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-03}, journal = {Library & Information Science Research}, volume = {32}, number = {3}, pages = {192-202}, abstract = {Social tagging is one of the most popular of social media applications and has attracted the interest of a number of libraries and museums, which have developed services that facilitate user-community collaboration. This paper presents a methodology for the exploitation of social tagging in subject indexing, and explores that method through a case study in an academic library setting. The findings reveal the characteristics of users' tagging behavior, which mainly enhances the subject description of documents. The results suggest the articulation of alternative policies concerning knowledge organization schemes, technological infrastructures, and information services.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Social tagging is one of the most popular of social media applications and has attracted the interest of a number of libraries and museums, which have developed services that facilitate user-community collaboration. This paper presents a methodology for the exploitation of social tagging in subject indexing, and explores that method through a case study in an academic library setting. The findings reveal the characteristics of users' tagging behavior, which mainly enhances the subject description of documents. The results suggest the articulation of alternative policies concerning knowledge organization schemes, technological infrastructures, and information services. |
Retrieving Information from Hybrid Spaces Using Handhelds (Journal Article) Veronikis, Spyros; Gavrilis, Dimitris; Zoutsou, Kyriaki; Papatheodorou, Christos International Journal on Advances in Systems and Measurements, Volume: 2 (1), Pages: 84-96, 2010. @article{Veronikis2010, title = {Retrieving Information from Hybrid Spaces Using Handhelds}, author = {Spyros Veronikis and Dimitris Gavrilis and Kyriaki Zoutsou and Christos Papatheodorou}, year = {2010}, date = {2010-01-02}, journal = {International Journal on Advances in Systems and Measurements}, volume = {2}, number = {1}, pages = {84-96}, abstract = {Hybrid spaces consist of information resources of both physical and electronic form. With the advent of electronic publishing and WWW hybrid libraries became popular and widely acknowledged for their high informative quality and anytime availability. On the other hand, modern computing handheld devices and wireless communication networks can support their users in accessing and using these information volumes wherever a need arises. Therefore, the user can query an information system about the electronic resources and simultaneously explore the nearby physical resources, in a way that enhances awareness of available information collections and relations among them, and also create a new experience while seeking in a hybrid space. In this paper we present the design methodology of creating such a service in an academic library, as well as the evaluation model, the procedure and the results from assessing satisfaction for the use of that service. Our findings imply that users believe that the unified search for physical and electronic resources is an important feature when seeking information in big physical and electronic collections.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Hybrid spaces consist of information resources of both physical and electronic form. With the advent of electronic publishing and WWW hybrid libraries became popular and widely acknowledged for their high informative quality and anytime availability. On the other hand, modern computing handheld devices and wireless communication networks can support their users in accessing and using these information volumes wherever a need arises. Therefore, the user can query an information system about the electronic resources and simultaneously explore the nearby physical resources, in a way that enhances awareness of available information collections and relations among them, and also create a new experience while seeking in a hybrid space. In this paper we present the design methodology of creating such a service in an academic library, as well as the evaluation model, the procedure and the results from assessing satisfaction for the use of that service. Our findings imply that users believe that the unified search for physical and electronic resources is an important feature when seeking information in big physical and electronic collections. |
2009 |
Solving differential equations with constructed neural networks (Journal Article) Tsoulos, Ioannis; Gavrilis, Dimitris; Glavas, Euripidis Neurocomputing, Volume: 72 (10-12), Pages: 2385-2391, 2009. @article{Tsoulos2009, title = {Solving differential equations with constructed neural networks}, author = {Ioannis Tsoulos and Dimitris Gavrilis and Euripidis Glavas}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925231208005560 http://www.dcu.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Solving-differential-equations.pdf}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-01-02}, issuetitle = {Lattice Computing and Natural Computing (JCIS 2007) / Neural Networks in Intelligent Systems Designn (ISDA 2007)}, journal = {Neurocomputing}, volume = {72}, number = {10-12}, pages = {2385-2391}, abstract = {A novel hybrid method for the solution of ordinary and partial differential equations is presented here. The method creates trial solutions in neural network form using a scheme based on grammatical evolution. The trial solutions are enhanced periodically using a local optimization procedure. The proposed method is tested on a series of ordinary differential equations, systems of them as well as on partial differential equations with Dirichlet boundary conditions and the results are reported.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } A novel hybrid method for the solution of ordinary and partial differential equations is presented here. The method creates trial solutions in neural network form using a scheme based on grammatical evolution. The trial solutions are enhanced periodically using a local optimization procedure. The proposed method is tested on a series of ordinary differential equations, systems of them as well as on partial differential equations with Dirichlet boundary conditions and the results are reported. |
Metadata Interoperability in Public Sector Information (Journal Article) Bountouri, Lina; Papatheodorou, Christos; Soulikias, Vasilis; Stratis, Mathios Journal of Information Science, Volume: 35 , Pages: 204-231, 2009. @article{Bountouri2009, title = {Metadata Interoperability in Public Sector Information}, author = {Lina Bountouri and Christos Papatheodorou and Vasilis Soulikias and Mathios Stratis}, url = {http://jis.sagepub.com/content/35/2/204.short}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-01-02}, journal = {Journal of Information Science}, volume = {35}, pages = {204-231}, abstract = {Over recent years, there has been a worldwide growing need for interoperability among the systems that manage and reuse public sector information. This paper explores the documentation needs for public sector information and focuses on metadata interoperability issues. The research work studies a variety of public sector information metadata standards and guidelines internationally accepted and presents two methodologies to obtain interoperability. The first develops an application profile, while the second is based on the semantic integration approach and results in the creation of an ontology. The outcomes of the two approaches are compared under the prism of their scope and usage in terms of interoperability during the metadata integration process. }, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Over recent years, there has been a worldwide growing need for interoperability among the systems that manage and reuse public sector information. This paper explores the documentation needs for public sector information and focuses on metadata interoperability issues. The research work studies a variety of public sector information metadata standards and guidelines internationally accepted and presents two methodologies to obtain interoperability. The first develops an application profile, while the second is based on the semantic integration approach and results in the creation of an ontology. The outcomes of the two approaches are compared under the prism of their scope and usage in terms of interoperability during the metadata integration process. |
Representing Context-Dependent Information in Cultural Collections (Journal Article) Gergatsoulis, Manolis; Lilis, Pantelis; Lourdi, Irene; Papatheodorou, Christos International Journal of Semantic Computing, Volume: 3 (2), Pages: 255-276, 2009. @article{Gergatsoulis2009, title = {Representing Context-Dependent Information in Cultural Collections}, author = {Manolis Gergatsoulis and Pantelis Lilis and Irene Lourdi and Christos Papatheodorou }, url = {http://www.worldscinet.com/ijsc/03/0302/S1793351X09000756.html}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-01-02}, journal = {International Journal of Semantic Computing}, volume = {3}, number = {2}, pages = {255-276}, abstract = {An extension of the Dublin Core Collections Application Profile (DCCAP) suitable for representing context-dependent collection level metadata, is presented in this paper. The extended model, called Multidimensional DCCAP, is based on a multidimensional extension of RDF. Contexts are specified by assigning values to a set of appropriately chosen parameters called dimensions. The proposed extension allows the user to encode metadata for each defined context enriching substantially in this way the expressive power of the metadata model. Multidimensional DCCAP metadata model allows to represent the collection development evolution as well as to keep information created for various users categories, with various degrees of detail, or even in different languages.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } An extension of the Dublin Core Collections Application Profile (DCCAP) suitable for representing context-dependent collection level metadata, is presented in this paper. The extended model, called Multidimensional DCCAP, is based on a multidimensional extension of RDF. Contexts are specified by assigning values to a set of appropriately chosen parameters called dimensions. The proposed extension allows the user to encode metadata for each defined context enriching substantially in this way the expressive power of the metadata model. Multidimensional DCCAP metadata model allows to represent the collection development evolution as well as to keep information created for various users categories, with various degrees of detail, or even in different languages. |
Semantic Integration of Collection Description: Combining CIDOC/CRM and Dublin Core Collections Application Profile (Journal Article) Lourdi, Irene; Papatheodorou, Christos; Doerr, Martin D-Lib Magazine, Volume: 15 (7/8), 2009. @article{Lourdi2009, title = {Semantic Integration of Collection Description: Combining CIDOC/CRM and Dublin Core Collections Application Profile}, author = {Irene Lourdi and Christos Papatheodorou and Martin Doerr}, url = {http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july09/papatheodorou/07papatheodorou.html}, year = {2009}, date = {2009-01-02}, journal = {D-Lib Magazine}, volume = {15}, number = {7/8}, abstract = {This article is motivated by the demand for unified access to the wealth of distributed digital cultural collections, allowing users to make queries and discover information about them through integrated processes. Our effort originates from the semantic interoperability perspective and considers CIDOC/CRM as the mediating schema, which integrates in an optimal way the semantics of the collection-level metadata schemas and application profiles. The research reveals the complexity of mapping metadata schemas to ontologies and resolves particular difficulties by presenting the crosswalk between Dublin Core Collections Application Profile and CIDOC/CRM. }, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } This article is motivated by the demand for unified access to the wealth of distributed digital cultural collections, allowing users to make queries and discover information about them through integrated processes. Our effort originates from the semantic interoperability perspective and considers CIDOC/CRM as the mediating schema, which integrates in an optimal way the semantics of the collection-level metadata schemas and application profiles. The research reveals the complexity of mapping metadata schemas to ontologies and resolves particular difficulties by presenting the crosswalk between Dublin Core Collections Application Profile and CIDOC/CRM. |