Metadata-enhanced visual interfaces to digital libraries

Abstract

Information visualization offers a variety of ways in which digital library collections can be represented on the interface and shown to the user. Metadata, a key component of solid digital libraries, has been utilized to enhance visual user interfaces to digital libraries. This paper reports on a study conducted to investigate and analyze a specific category of digital library visual interface that supports information seeking, exploration and retrieval based on metadata representations, namely metadata-enhanced visual interfaces. This study examined 21 metadata-enhanced digital library visual interfaces from the following perspectives: (a) information access and retrieval features; (b) metadata elements; (c) visualization techniques and metaphors.The results demonstrated that the combined use of visualization techniques and metaphors is becoming increasingly prevalent as a design strategy to support users' information exploration. The results also suggest that visual interfaces enhanced with metadata are becoming more widespread to provide a richer representation of digital collections.

Connecting Music and Place: Exploring Library Collection Data Using Geo-visualizations

“…The literature on data visualizations for use in cultural heritage institutions has been less saturated, though it is growing in recent years. Much of this research comes in the form of case studies that focus on how visualizations can: assist librarians in collection assessment activities (Kilb & Jansen, 2016;Lowery, 2011), facilitate user understandings of print library collections (Finch & Flenner, 2016), or improve access to digital collections (Deal, 2014;Shiri, 2008;Hoek & Mayr, 2014).…”

Metadata visualization of scholarly search results

“…T he main purp ose of this approach is to support the key search activities of search results exploration and query reformulation. Bow T ie Academic Search moves beyond t he traditional information retrieval interfaces, and instead provides a "metadat a-enhanced visual interface" that aims to incorporate t he human element int o library search systems [99].…”

“…Considering the significant role of metadata elements for retrieval purposes [99] and the great potential of information visualization to improve user experience [110], Bow Tie Academic Search makes use of the rich metadata associated with academic documents and employs information visualization techniques to support searchers during their search process.…”

Interactive multimedia ethnography

“…In terms of way-finding, in view of the enormous quantities and variety of evidence data that is becoming available in online research repositories, new, more visual ways of viewing the user query and relevant search results are needed [Shiri 2008]. These may more easily enable the user to view and understand the quantity of relevant information, including the visual signposting of related information that can serve to enhance the user's experience through providing opportunities for resource discovery.…”

“…There is, however, still a gap between these two levels of operation [Beer et al 2009]. More work is required in linking the two ends together to provide the "middleware"' that can draw content from the repository into the display in ways that can facilitate exploratory search and meaningful analysis [Shiri 2008]. …”