Metadata-based DYNamIc Query Interface for Cross(X)-searching content resources (DYNIQX)
DYNIQX will investigate current cross-search systems and effect of metadata in search, explore an innovative dynamic query interface, and carry out extensive user task-based evaluation to evaluate and compare different search systems.
Aims and objectives
Our specific objectives are as follows:
1. Investigate current cross-search and metadata-based content resources search services, identify resources suitable for cross-search or metadata-based search, and compare single source search, cross-search, and metadata-based search. Intute will carry out a user requirement analysis, which will be used to inform our study and user task-based evaluation
2. Create an innovative dynamic query portal interface for metadata-based cross searching. We will implement the dynamic query interface in our demonstrator and compare it against other approaches such as the traditional linear/top-down/hierarchical search technique. We will experiment on existing Intute databases including the Intute Repository Search
3. We will carry out questionnaire and user task-based evaluation following the TREC Interactive Track guidelines in evaluating existing search services and our dynamic query interface, and comparing different search systems
4. Identify users’ search requirements in cross search and metadata-based search through review of recently published user studies in the JISC IE, extraction of relevant requirements from the Intute Repository Search project and UKPMC service, and questionnaire studies and focus group evaluation of existing tools/portlets and the demonstrator. Early findings will in turn help us refine our demonstrator for a second round of evaluation. Our demonstrator and user evaluation will go hand in hand in order to design a portal that can most match users’ requirements. Our results will be used to inform and improve the Intute search interface and the Intute Repository Search
5. Ensure that results from all the three points above are disseminated effectively to the HE/FE.
Project methodology
The DYNIQX project mainly consists of two parallel strands, i.e., (a) user requirements analysis + task-based evaluation, and (b) demonstrator + portal building. The results from the user requirements analysis and evaluation will be used to help in demonstrator building, and (reciprocally) we will carry out user evaluation on our newly developed demonstrator. We have access to the source code from the PerX project team, who will also provide a consultancy service to this project to facilitate smooth integration. We will evaluate users undertaking searches of the current JISC IE content services and resources (which cover a range of bibliographic, full-text, aggregated services including those provided by EDINA and MIMAS ), specifically focussing on Intute and Intute Repository Search. We will create a AJAX-based portlet for wrapping these services within, and create a dynamic query driven interface for Intute and others to the extent allowed within project resource constraints. In our user task-based evaluation, we will evaluate the search service provided by a selection of these services, and compare their existing search services with the variants provided by our dynamic query driven interfaces.
Anticipated outputs and outcomes
The project deliverables consist of documentation and software components. We will deliver a detailed project plan, interim report of our progress, and final report with detailed user evaluation results, demonstrator building experience, and executive summary. We intend to release our dynamic query interface code as open source, so that other projects in the JISC can benefit from it for improving their user search interfaces. We will create a project website to facilitate dissemination and communication. We will report our results through the Open University. We will publish and present at least one paper about our work in a national or international conference. We will also use the existing mailing lists, such as Portals, JISC-development, JASIG-Announce, and JASIG-UK etc. for dissemination.
Technology / Standards used
Lead Institution
Project partners
Project Staff
Project Director
Prof. Marc Eisenstadt, Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, Tel: +44 (0) 1908 653149, Fax: +44 (0) 1908 653169, m.eisenstadt@open.ac.uk
Project Manager
Dr. Jianhan Zhu, Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, Tel: +44 (0) 1908 652073, Fax: +44 (0) 1908 653169, j.zhu@open.ac.uk
Project Team
Caroline Williams, Intute Executive, MIMAS, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, Tel: 0161 275 0620, Caroline.Williams@manchester.ac.uk
Vic Lyte, Intute Executive, MIMAS, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, Tel: 0161 275 0620, vic.lyte@manchester.ac.uk
Cristian-Marius Bârlădeanu, Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, Tel: +44 (0) 1908 652073, Fax: +44 (0) 1908 653169