Rapid proliferation of different types of interaction devices that use more natural channels (voice, touch, gesture) for interfacing with the digital medium illustrates the trend towards the creation of more "humane" interaction mechanisms. However, the current historical paradox is that modern technological advances are dramatically…

Describes a knowledge management system that was developed to help provide structure for dynamic and static data and to aid in the analysis of complex experimentation. Topics include quantitative and qualitative data; mining operations using artificial intelligence techniques; information architecture of the system; and transforming data into…

Explains transliteration and describes Greeklish, a Windows application that automatically produces English to Greek transliteration and back-transliteration (retransliteration), based on an algorithm with a table of associations between the two character sets. Describes how the table can be modified for personal preferences and discusses its…

Presents a method for augmenting a Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) document repository with database functionality. Introduces an implementation method for a complex-object modeling technique, and describes interface techniques tailored for text databases and concepts for a Structured Document Database Management System (SDDBMS)…

Describes an information retrieval, visualization, and manipulation model which offers the user multiple ways to exploit the retrieval set, based on weighted query terms, via an interactive interface. Outlines the mathematical model and describes an information retrieval application built on the model to search structured and full-text files.…

Reviews automated-systems activities in libraries during the past year and profiles major vendors. Topics include new partnership arrangements driven by competition; library-systems revenues; Y2K issues; Windows-based interfaces; consulting; outsourcing; development trends; global system sales; and sales by type of library. (LRW)

Discusses the use of interface metaphors in computer system design. Describes empirical research that shows users can experience cognitive dissonance with metaphors and suggests that the concept of a logical analogue rather than that of a metaphor should guide system designers. (Contains 66 references.) (LRW)

Examines how electronic documents, particularly electronic journals, could be enhanced to make them more valuable to end-users. Describes the development of PROPIE (Proposed Information Environment) that demonstrated the potential to support various interaction needs and discusses the results of an empirical evaluation of PROPIE. (Author/LRW)

Discusses usability as an interface design concept to improve information retrieval on the World Wide Web. Highlights include criteria for a usable Web site; usability testing; usability resources on the Web; and a sidebar that gives an example of usability testing by Hewlett-Packard. (LRW)

Considers some of the most fundamental problems in music information retrieval, challenging the common assumption that searching on pitch alone is likely to be satisfactory for all purposes. Discusses special issues related to polyphonic music, user-interface issues, and the notion of relevance for music information retrieval. (Contains 52…

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are pervasive elements of most modern technical software and represent a convenient tool for student instruction. For example, GUIs are used for [chemical] process design software (e.g., CHEMCAD, PRO/II and ASPEN) typically encountered in the senior capstone course. Drag and drop aspects of GUIs are challenging for…

Describes a user interface that provides global visualizations of large document sets to help users formulate the query that corresponds to their information needs. Highlights include concept hierarchies that users can browse to specify and refine information needs; knowledge discovery in databases and texts; and multidimensional modeling.…

Explains the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) protocol as a set of rules for passing information from a Web server to an external program such as a database search engine. Topics include advantages over traditional client/server solutions, limitations, sample library applications, and sources of information from the Internet. (LRW)

Discusses digital libraries, interoperability, and interfaces to access them, and proposes one universal protocol for communication for simple archives based on the hypertext transfer protocol (http). Describes the creation of a special class of digital objects called buckets, archives based on a NASA collection, and a set of digital library…

Presents "Islands," an interactive graphical interface for construction, modification, and management of queries during a search session on a bibliographic database. Discusses motivation and bibliographic search semantics and compares the Islands interface to the Dialog interface. (Author/LRW)