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Roland Böving, Prof. Udo Bleimann, Dr. Paul Walsh University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt
In: Proceedings of PELC2011
Plymouth e-Learning Conference
06. – 09. April 2011 – Plymouth, UK

Abstract:
The IT departments of larger companies are typically entrusted with the task of providing staff with access to templates in the form of documents, graphics and InDesign modules. A key aspect of such assignments is quality control, in order to ensure that all employees use the most up-to-date template versions. An additional aspect is the simple accessibility of the template components in question. This seemingly easy task quickly becomes increasingly difficult as the degree of freedom concerning color variations, and such things as department-specific logos, is increased.

Keywords:
Corporate Design , Semantic Web, K-infinity, Template Database, Merging In search of a solution to exacting requirements

Darmstadt University’s corporate design allows all departments and faculties to use an individual logo. These logo versions are available in 11 different colors and are offered in the file formats indd, png, jpg, gif, tiff, eps, wmf, bmp for the various applications. Due to the abundance of color variations and file formats, the employees theoretically have access to nearly 3,500 logos for use in their publications. As there are also templates for various print products, a solution aimed at quickly finding the appropriate templates was urgently needed. An additional requirement in providing these templates involved the implementation of an authorization concept to encompass all security aspects, so that only those templates would be offered to users who hold the authorization to use them. Furthermore, a text describing how individual template components are to be used must be offered to experts at various levels.

In addition to searching and finding templates, additional requirements were to be dealt with concerning specific issues: Which templates were used to create the resulting print media? Which photos have already been used?  Are there further print media covering the same topic?

A file system was seen as an inadequate means to implement these requirements. It would also be impractical to make use of Typo3, the central university CMS, due to the complexity of the searches. This led to the choice of k-infinity, a specialist software for semantic networks. It has already been used for the publication databases within Darmstadt University.

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Roland Böving, Prof. Udo Bleimann, Dr. Paul Walsh
University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt
In: Proceedings of CERC2011
Collaborative European Research Conference
14. – 15. January 2011 – Cork, Ireland

Abstract:
Semantic technologies are an important tool for developing structured knowledge, for linking all types of content sources and making them available for evaluation. Knowledge is thereby developed through a network of topical terms, which, in themselves, are interrelated. The academic environment poses a special challenge for semantic knowledge development as its topic environments are often heterogenic and expand rapidly. The essential question is:

Which topics are the focus of students and university staff and how can access to the required data be provided in a structured manner?

By merging and mapping existing ontologies, the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt has access to a topic network consisting of more than 200,000 terms that thematically link lectures, final papers, professional articles and internal publications, allowing these to be evaluated.

Keywords:
Maintaining Ontologies, Semantic Web, K-infinity, Hybrid System, Merging, Wikipedia

Approach:
Ontologies dedicated to technology and natural sciences are already in use in many large companies today. The benefits of providing and exchanging information, in a web-based format independent of location, by means of ontologies are indisputable. In contrast to the distinct commercial focus and product range of companies, the range of topics dealt within universities is very wide. The difficulties of building and maintaining an ontology are disproportionately greater. Different meanings and interpretations of terms and abbreviations will make automatic matching more difficult (Euzenat et al. 2007). In addition, in many sciences, new words will certainly evolve over time. The precise language of engineers is confronted by a world of relatively vague terms in social sciences. There are up to now no ontologies in the university sector #mce_temp_url#in Germany which would be sufficiently comprehensive to link all sources of knowledge in an interdisciplinary manner, in order to provide a real solution for everyday operation. This paper will contribute to this open issue, leading to an even more complex problem that has not yet been processed, namely:

How can a complex multilingual ontology, for use in a university context, be maintained with respect to its growth, quality and consistency so that it will meet future needs?

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Roland Böving, Prof. Udo Bleimann, Dr. Paul Walsh
University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt
Department of Computer Science, January 09, 2010

Abstract:
Semantic linking of learning communities information brings many advantages – the integration of various data sources, for example documents, collaborative learning units, and the flow of information into tasks and project processes. It is anticipated that semantic web technologies will influence the next generation of e-learning systems and applications. By considering the learner preferences the needs of the students are evaluated more efficiently and the learning will be more effective and retention will last longer. This thesis proposes to find a solution by using semantic technologies to find the most suitable solution for the learner.

The virtual learning communities of the University of Applied Science Darmstadt (HDa) will be connected to the HDa-Knowledge-World and benefit by the content of this complex web-based ontology with more than 200.000 topics and over 5 million related document objects.

This complex topic network has been created by matching all kinds of different ontologies from the university environment. The supporting technology used for this is k-infinity, which enables imports in xml, RDF  and OWL standards and makes further refinements and thorough evaluation of the data possible.

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High Level Semantic Networking – Using K-infinity to Build a Multiontological Learning Enviroment
Roland Böving, Prof. Udo Bleimann, Dr. Paul Walsh
University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt
Department of Computer Science, January 09, 2010
Ontologien erstellen – Semantische Suche – k-infinity Handbuch – Ontologien mergen

Abstract:
Semantic linking of learning communities information brings many advantages – the integration of various data sources, for example documents, collaborative learning units, and the flow of information into tasks and project processes[1][2][8]. It is anticipated that semantic web technologies will influence the next generation of e-learning systems and applications [10][11]. By considering the learner preferences the needs of the students are evaluated more efficiently and the learning will be more effective and retention will last longer. This thesis proposes to find a solution by using semantic technologies to find the most suitable solution for the learner.

The virtual learning communities of the University of Applied Science Darmstadt (HDa) will be connected to the HDa-Knowledge-World and benefit by the content of this complex web-based ontology with more than 200.000 topics and over 5 million related document objects.

This complex topic network has been created by matching all kinds of different ontologies from the university environment. The supporting technology used for this is k-infinity, which enables imports in xml, RDF [56 and OWL [9] standards and makes further refinements and thorough evaluation of the data possible.

Approach:
Creating a semantic network that takes real-world experiences into account.

Students’ social skills, family background, gender, native language and personal preferences must all be taken into account when preparing learning material and deciding how it is to be presented. The idea is to use IT architecture to help students learn in a way that reflects their needs. A self-learning system which constantly adds empirical data is required, as this enables the system to promptly and uniquely adapt the content of the learning material to individual students as well as groups.

The requirements for such a complex system are very high. Fundamental to it is an automatic evaluation of all types of attributes as well as the relations of the different knowledge objects to one another. A semantic topic network, which meets the needs of all faculties, staff members and students of a university, is the basis of the whole architecture. This means that such a topic network must reflect all the topics of all faculties. By linking all types of documents, whether they are thesis papers, books or technical journals, or research projects, lectures and e-learning modules, each individual topic node will become a supporting knowledge object. Any expert knowledge can be accessed via such a topic node.

A university topic network of this kind must hold more than 100,000 topics, to meet the needs of all user groups. Defining such a huge quantity of topics and linking them meaningfully with one another is a mammoth task and requires appropriate resources. We are in the process of linking as many of the existing HDa ontologies to one another as possible, so that we can quickly set up a high-quality topic network. These ontologies include the library topic tree, faculty media wikis, and a bought-in ontology focussing on technology and chemistry. Amalgamating these topic networks, all with their very different approaches, into a resultant ontology understood by users as “a world”, is the first major step towards a new interdisciplinary learning infrastructure.

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Roland Böving, Prof. Udo Bleimann, Dr. Paul Walsh
University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt
Department of Computer Science, April, 2010

In: Conference Proceedings of the 5th Plymouth e-learning conference 2010 – “Learning without limits: Facing the Challenges”, ed. S. Wheeler, Plymouth, 14

Abstract:
Semantic technologies are an important tool for accessing structured knowledge, connecting the contents of very diverse sources with one another and allowing them to be evaluated. Knowledge is accessed via a network of topic terms, which in turn are related to one another.

The university environment represents a particular challenge when it comes to interpreting knowledge semantically, as it often involves very heterogenous and rapidly expanding topic landscapes. The crucial question is: What are the topics which students and staff members of a university are concerned with and how can structured data be accessed?

An evaluable topic network of over 100,000 terms is the minimum prerequisite for guaranteeing a differentiated analysis and high-quality search results. This type of base frame results in a significantly better semantic search than a pure string search (using Google, for example). However, creating a topic world covering all the research and teaching areas of a university is a mammoth task if it is to be developed from scratch.

The ideal way to quickly establish a topic network that meets the needs of both students and lecturers is to use existing ontologies, such as media wikis, library hierarchies and scientific ontologies, and to amalgamate them with one another for this purpose.

These ontologies, which have arisen as a result of very different objectives, constitute the essential knowledge carriers of a university. However, the amalgamation process enables these original ontologies to remain consistent in themselves while being expandable. We call the resulting topic network the Next Generation Topic Map (NGTM), as it facilitates both independent data modelling and a continuous import with automatic linking to other ontologies. This allows the characteristics and features of the original ontologies to be maintained.

The actual value of the new topic world is derived from linking the topics to lectures, projects, books, professional articles, thesis papers and much more. The key to this creation of value is a web-based semantic search, which can, for example, be offered directly on the university main page. The clustering of search results by document and object types ensures clarity. Such a system makes activities and expert knowledge transparent, to the great advantage of all university members.

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