“Networked Interactive Digitized information will change the world”Professor Hermann Maurer, School of Computer Science, Graz University of Technology, AustriaCo-presented with Dr. Bilal Zaka, COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan |
Abstract
It is interesting to note how many libraries or companies are digitizing their documents to make them available for different user groups: The general public, members of a certain user group or for groups with special access rights.
It is surprising to see how little imagination is involved in this process. Digital material is usually presented in a database of PDF files, or a set of files on a WWW server, etc. In this way 24 h access is possible and sometimes downloads to laptops or tablets are possible so that a large amount of information or books can be carried along with little weight. It is not realized that by adding more digital possibilities a whole new world starts to exist: Information with comments and discussions, synchronous or asynchronous, allowing to add information for others, linking sections of material to other relevant material possibly residing somewhere else, and more.
We have coined the term NID for Networked Interactive Digital material, and have indeed finished the implementation of some possible functions and applied it to different types of data, see <1>.
Our system allows to upload Word, PDF or PPT presentations on a WWW server, to define a hierarchy of users with various rights from uploading, editing, making comments, accessing certain parts of the “library” at issue, defining user groups with whom information can be exchanged, and more. To avoid complications, let us call all such digitized material a “NID-Book”, even if it is just a small brochure created from a short file. NID books are stored in IIF format <2>, and are thus compatible with material on some of the world largest libraries. They can be grouped in categories and subcategories, and each book or category usually allows a full-text search, even if the text is hidden in pictures. At any point of a page of a book an “annotation” can be added where both appearance of the link and the destination can vary widely, the latter e.g. to some webpage, or a book page, or pictures, clips etc. with the possibility to control access and edit inappropriate material. Conversely, a link from anywhere to a particular NID book page is possible. Discussions can be started on any NID book page: in practice, such a discussion is often just a query, which is shown with an expert answer by anyone interested.
The range of possible applications of NID is mind-boggling: from adding much value to an ordinary library, to supporting distance teaching via integrated quizzes or judging students by the quality of their remarks or contributions, to providing an environment for a department in an institution to share information and help each other (asynchronously or synchronously).
The system also incorporates unusual features like object recognition (entering in object search mode e.g. “person” will find all pages that have pictures showing a person), side by side display of pages from different books (allowing to see arguments pro and contra a topic of interest with one glance, where relevant entries may have been detected by the system), or using high resolution mode to check if a picture is a copy of an original painting).
The NID idea has the potential to replace all current digital libraries and turn into the ultimate tool for collaboration, for research and for knowledge transfer and knowledge preservation.
<1> https://austria-forum.org/af/AEIOU/NID-Books
<2> https://iiif.io/
Bio
Professor Hermann Maurer
Dr. phil. (Mathematics), University of Vienna 1965. Professor of Computer Science, University of Calgary 1966-1971, University of Karlsruhe 1971-1977, since 1978 TU Graz. Visiting professor at six non-European universities. Various awards, including the Austrian Cross of Honor for Art and Science, First Class and three honorary doctorates.
Published several books and hundreds of scientific papers. Supervised 60 dissertations or habilitations and 400 diploma theses. Involved in large research projects and company start-ups. Research initially more theoretical, then computer-aided new media, currently new technologies and knowledge structuring. More than you ever want to know about him can be found at
http://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Maurer_Hermann