Incorporating Historical and Geographical Dimensions into a Search Interface

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Incorporating Historical and Geographical
Dimensions into a Search Interface

• Michael Buckland
• Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative
• University of California, Berkeley
• Association of American geographers
• San Francisco, CA 17 April 2007

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Acknowledgements Summarizes work done by and
with Kim Carl, Fredric Gey, Ray Larson, Vivien
Petras, Jeanette Zerneke and others. Supported
by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library
Services.
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• Support the Learner What, Where, When and Who
• Supported by the Institute of Museum and Library
  Services
• Five ideas . . .
• 1. Understanding requires knowing context.
• 2. Using internet resources should be as easy as
  using a library reference collection.
• 3. Find context of any museum object, document,
  or performance What is related to it what it
  is, where it came from, when it originated, and
  who associated with it?
• WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and WHO as a useful structure.
• Make better use of existing descriptive metadata.

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Any document, object, performance or query
Connect it with its context and other resources.
Facet Vocabulary Displays WHAT
Thesaurus Cross- e.g. LCSH
references WHERE Gazetteer Map WHEN
Period directory Timeline WHO Biograph.
dict. Interpersonal e.g. Whos Who
relationships
Any catalog Archives, Libraries, Museums, TV,
Publishers
Any resource Audio, Images, Texts, Numeric data,
Objects, Virtual reality, Webpages
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Linking portal with resources Local Relational
database - - Generates pages dynamically - -
Search term recommender system - - Vocabulary
mapping tables - - Library of maps Remote -
- Federated search e.g. Z39.50 - - Structured
URLs
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• WHAT Subject headings Cross-references
  within and between indexes

LCSH Kung fu films see Martial Arts
films Previously Hand-to-hand fighting, oriental,
in motion pictures
Automobile - PASS MOT VEH, SPARK IGN ENG
(U.S. Import/Export
statistics) - TL 205 (Library of Congress
Classification) - 180/280 (US Patent
classification) - 3711 (Standard Industrial
Classification)
NEED TO MAP TO BETWEEN UNFAMILIAR VOCABULARIES
Computer HS 847120 Digital auto data proc mach
contng in the same housing a CPU and input
output device.(International Harmonized
Commodity Classification System).
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Guidance from users query to remote systems
vocabulary
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But language evolves differently in different
social groups.
Different words for the same thing
or the same word for different things . . .
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Cardiac arrest A single topic, but different
specialists dont want same literature! So how to
select differently?
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Linking vocabularies WHAT, WHERE, WHEN Library
subject headings Topic Geographic subdivision
Chronological subdivision Place name
gazetteer Place name Type Spatial markers
(Lat long) When Time Period Directory Period
name Type Time markers (Calendar) Where
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Mapping diverse vocabulariesFeature types to
Subject Headings
National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
Geographic Description Codes -- 600 types of
physical object, e.g. School, Plateau,
Dike Library of Congress Subject Headings
gt100,000 topics and combinations to form complex
topics Most GDC have comparable LCSH, ordinarily
in plural. - GDC School LCSH School
buildings. LCSH School means an institution. -
Ambiguity of Farm, Plantation, c. physical /
institution. - 38 LCSH same, usually plural
61 match incl variant spellings synonyms 22
boader 4 narrower 12 problematic. - GDC
weak on historic features, e.g. Ancient site. -
Object / topic issues North Dakota
Antiquities.
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Linking vocabularies WHAT, WHERE, WHEN Library
subject headings Topic Geographic subdivision
Chronological subdivision Place name
gazetteer Place name Type Spatial markers
(Lat long) When Time Period Directory Period
name Type Time markers (Calendar)
Where Now re-align the WHAT, WHERE, and WHEN . .
.
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Well-developed facet indexes include other
facets. What Where When Who WHAT (LCSH)
A A A A WHERE (Place Gazet.) M M M - WHEN
(Period dir.) M M M - WHO (Biogr dict.)
M M M M M Mandatory A If Applicable
Need vertical interoperability between
vocabularies, e.g. for What topical mapping
from NGA Gazetteer Geographic Description Code
Lthse (Lighthouse) to LCSH Lighthouses. and
place name interoperability for Where.
Horizontal associations occur within records.
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Linking portal with resources Local Relational
database - - Generates pages dynamically - -
Search term recommender system - - Vocabulary
mapping tables - - Library of maps Remote -
- Federated search e.g. Z39.50 - - Structured
URLs
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Use external search engine to forward query to
remote resource Interface Herzl, Theodor,
founder of Israel, lived most of his life in
Austria, 1860 to 1904 CHESHIRE Z39.50 query to
Library of Congress template https//sherlock.si
ms.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/CheshireZSearch.tcl? searc
hsubject____________ targetlcnumwanted20 f
ormathtml recsyntaxmarc Insert
name https//sherlock.sims.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/Ch
eshireZSearch.tcl? searchsubjectHerzlTheodorta
rgetlcnumwanted20formathtmlrecsyntaxmarc
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https//sherlock.sims.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/Cheshir
eZSearch.tcl?searchsubjectHerzlTheodortargetl
cnumwanted20formathtmlrecsyntaxmarc
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Structured URLs templates for searching remote
sites Wikipedia Template http//en.wikipedia.or
g/wiki/_________ http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The
odor_Herzl
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Structured URLs templates and cross-vocabulary
mappings e.g. Metropolitan Museum of Art Time
line Of Art History (TOAH) 11 time periods,
01-10, e.g. 04 1,000 B.C. 1 A.D. 11
1900 A.D. present Geographical hierarchy (some
variation by time period), e.g. ss South
southeast Asia ssa South Asia (India,
Himalayas,) eu Europe euwcm Austria,
Germany, Switzerland http//www.metmuseum.org/toa
h/ht/__/___/ht_____.htm e.g. http//www.metmuse
um.org/toah/ht/04/ssa/ht04ssa.htm http//www.metm
useum.org/toah/ht/11/euwcm/ht11euwcm.htm
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http//www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/__/___/ht_____.ht
m Insert s04 and ssa http//www.metmuseum.org/to
ah/ht/04/ssa/ht04ssa.htm
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http//www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/__/___/ht_____.ht
m Insert 11 and euwcm http//www.metmuseum.org/
toah/ht/11/euwcm/ht11euwcm.htm
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Prototype 4W search interface
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Search term recommender service for LC Subject
Headings
Buttons for searchable resources local catalogs
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Recommender service lists statistically
associated Subject Headings
Potentially related people
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Potentially related period?
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Find out more about this area.
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Different Browsing Options!
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Interface generates menu page
General information about the country of India
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General information about the country of India
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ECAI Cultural Atlases presenting history in its
geographical chronological contexts
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The Electronic Cultural Atlas InitiativeAdvancing
scholarship through increased attention to place
and time.http//ecai.org
Understanding means knowing context.

Join us at our next ECAI conferences! Moscow,
Russia, May 28-June 1 Berkeley, CA, Oct
17-20. Project website ecai.org/imls2004 The
4W portal at ecai.org/imls4W The 4W
California portal at ecai.org/imls4W buckland_at_
ischool.berkeley.edu