Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces Commons^™

Beyond Description: Converting Web Site Usage Statistics Into Concrete Site Improvement Ideas, Julie Arendt, Cassie Wagner

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Web site usage statistics are a widely used tool for Web site development, but libraries are still learning how to use them successfully. This case study summarizes how Morris Library at Southern Illinois University Carbondale implemented Google Analytics on its Web site and used the reports to inform a site redesign. As the main campus library at a research university with about 20,000 undergraduate and graduate students, the library included resources from multiple library departments on a single site. In planning the redesign, Morris Library's Virtual Library Group combined usage reports with information from other sources, such as usability tests …

Eliciting User Requirements Using Appreciative Inquiry, Carol Kernitzki Gonzales

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Many software development projects fail because they do not meet the needs of users, are over-budget, and abandoned. To address this problem, the user requirements elicitation process was modified based on principles of Appreciative Inquiry. Appreciative Inquiry, commonly used in organizational development, aims to build organizations, processes, or systems based on success stories using a hopeful vision for an ideal future. Spanning five studies, Appreciative Inquiry was evaluated for its effectiveness with eliciting user requirements. In the first two cases, it was compared with traditional approaches with end-users and proxy-users. The third study was a quasi-experiment comparing the use of …

Website Accessibility Issues In Western Australian Public Libraries, Vivienne L. Conway

Theses : Honours

Website accessibility is a very real and pressing issue for public libraries internationally. Tim Berners-Lee credited with founding the Web, states "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." (Henry & McGee, 2010). There is wide-spread support for adherence to the Web Content Advisory Guidelines Version 1.0 and 2.0 (WCAG) throughout Federal, State and Local levels of government in Australia. The Guidelines have also been affirmed by the Australian Human Rights Commission, disability advocacy groups such as Vision Australia, and the Australian Library and Information Association. The Australian Government …

Second Life Complements The Internet For Reference Librarians, Florence Tang

Georgia Library Quarterly

The article describes the Second Life culture as an interactive virtual environment from the perspective of a reference librarian. The cited advantages of using Second Life are synchronous interaction with other people, clearer appearance of chat text messages, incorporation of social norms, and accessibility. Among the noted obstacles to using Second Life are its price, intentional distress of other avatars, empty virtual public places, less hierarchy among participants, chatting via rapid typing, and quick change of landscapes and avatars.

Energetic Path Finding Across Massive Terrain Data, Andrew N. Tsui

Master's Theses

Before there were airplanes, cars, trains, boats, or bicycles, the primary means of transportation was on foot. Unfortunately, many of the trails used by ancient travelers have long since been abandoned. We present a software tool which can help visualize and predict where these forgotten trails might lie through the use of a human-centered cost metric. By comparing the paths generated by our software with known historical trails, we demonstrate how the tool can indicate likely trails used by ancient travelers. In addition, this new tool provides novel visualizations to better help the user understand alternate paths, effect of terrain, …

Exploitation Of Geographic Information Systems For Vehicular Destination Prediction, Richard T. Muster

Theses and Dissertations

Much of the recent successes in the Iraqi theater have been achieved with the aid of technology so advanced that celebrated journalist Bob Woodward recently compared it to the Manhattan Project of WWII. Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms have emerged as the rising star of Air Force operational capabilities as they are enablers in the quest to track and disrupt terrorist and insurgent forces. This thesis argues that ISR systems have been severely under-exploited. The proposals herein seek to improve the machine-human interface of current ISR systems such that a predictive battle-space awareness may be achieved, leading to shorter …

Tampa Public Mood Ring, Collaborative Project

Dyson College- Seidenberg School of CSIS : Collaborative Projects and Presentations

This entry adheres to the use of the quad chart template to provide a succinct description only of the current research project undertaken by the participants. It provides for the following information

1. Participants and Affiliations
2. Overall Project Goals
3. Illustrative picture
4. Specific research/artistic/pedagogic foci

Location, Location, Location: A Transaction Comparison Of Catalog Searches Originating From The Library Homepage And Aleph, Jimmy Ghaphery, Thomas Mcnulty, Susan Teague Rector

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Jimmy Ghaphery, Head, Library Information Systems, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU); Thomas McNulty, Integrated Library Systems Librarian, VCU; Susan Teague-Rector, Web Applications Manager, VCU. We will analyze several weeks of search terms from February 2009 in order to determine how different points of entry impact user searches. Specifically we will compare user searches originating from a search tool on the library homepage and searches originating directly from Aleph. This session should be of interest to those who are involved with usability and OPAC design as well as system administrators tasked with measuring OPAC activity.

What A User Wants: Redesigning A Library's Web Site Based On A Card-Sort Analysis, Laura Pope Robbins, Lisa Esposito, Christ Kretz, Michael Aloi

Publications

Web site usability concerns anyone with a web site to maintain. Libraries, however, are often the biggest offenders in terms of usability. In our efforts to provide users with everything they need to do research, we often overwhelm them with sites that are confusing in structure, difficult to navigate, and weighed down with jargon. Dowling College Library recently completed a redesign of its web site based upon the concept of usability. For smaller libraries in particular, this can be a challenge. The web site is often maintained by one or two people and finding the time and resources to conduct …

Designing Search: Effective Search Interfaces For Academic Library Websites, Susan Teague Rector, Jimmy Ghaphery

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Academic libraries customize, support and provide access to myriad information systems, each with complex graphical user interfaces (GUIs). The number of possible information entry points on an academic library Web site is both daunting to the end user and consistently challenging to library Web site designers. Faced with the challenges inherent in designing online search interfaces and the ever-growing amount of resources available online, VCU Libraries sought to explore how to build effective search interfaces that, at the same time, support a wide variety of computer users and provide comprehensive access to assorted collections of electronic resources. Over a 9 …

[Accepted Article Manuscript Version (Postprint)] The Social Implications Of Enjoyment Of Different Types Of Music, Movies, And Television Programming, Alice Hall

Communication and Media Faculty Works

This study investigated how information about an individual’s enjoyment of various genres of music, film, and TV programming could influence an observer’s expectations of that individual. An online survey of young adults found that the influence of information about another person’s genre preferences varied across genres. Enjoyment of some genres, including jazz music, film comedies, and television comedies, tended to raise expectations of the individual, whereas enjoyment of others, including heavy metal music, anime films, and television soap operas, tended to lower them. The implications of the findings are discussed in relation to uses and gratifications perspectives as well as …

Integrating Game Technology And Discrete Event Simulation To Analyze Mass Casualty Scenarios, Jason Loveland

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In the last 10 years, video games have become complex simulation environments with high resolution 3D graphics enabled by powerhouse rendering engines, multi-player client server networks, user friendly displays and graphical user interface , while remaining relatively inexpensive. There is a critical need for systems engineering analysis and rapid trade studies due to changes in operations caused by current events such as terrorist attacks, asymmetric threats, natural disasters, etc. Modem games provide a unique way to visualize and interact with these complex environments, scenarios, missions, and operations. A discrete event simulator (DES) provides an environment to model system architecture behavior, …

Review Of Internet Invention: From Literacy To Electracy, By Gregory L. Ulmer, 2003, Alan Clinton

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.

Too Quick? Log Analysis Of Quick Links From An Academic Library Website, Jimmy Ghaphery

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Since the summer of 2001, Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries has offered a “Quick Links” menu in the top right-hand side of many of its pages. Transaction log files have been run in order to analyze the use of the Quick Links, and several changes have been made based on those logs. This article will discuss those findings and offer contextual ideas for the use of Quick Links in comparison to the rest of the library website.

Image Compression And Its Effect On Data, Khaled S. Alkharabsheh

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis is intended to define and study different image compression techniques, software programs, image formats (from early ones such as “GIF” to most recent ones such as “JPEG 2000”), compression effect on compressed data (compressed images), and its effectiveness and usefulness in reducing the file size and its transmission time, as a result.

In many GeoBioPhysical applications, some information inside any image may be the keys to solve different kinds of problems and classify features. This kind of data and information has to be handled with care; i.e. it’s not allowed to be lost during the compression process. On …

Trends. War On Personality And Personality And War: Comments On Nass And Lee (2002), Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses another article – Identity and deconstruction, by Clifford Nass and Kwan Min Yee – published in volume 3 (2002) of Archives of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy in which the authors demonstrate that people reliably attribute personality characteristics to computer-synthesized speech, exploring the ramifications in a political psychological context.

Creating A User Friendly Website For The Boys & Girls Clubs Of Black Hawk County, Kimberly M. Carter

Graduate Research Papers

Website design can be overwhelming for many viewers. Many times viewers discontinue using sites, because it.is not easy to navigate through the site. In creating the website for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Black Hawk County, user-friendliness was the focal point of the project. The Chief Professional Officer along with the staff at the Boys & Girls Clubs assisted with the development of a website by providing information that was to be included on the site. To ensure a professional look the designer relied on the four basic principles of design: contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. The design simplicity …

My Library At Virginia Commonwealth University: Third Year Evaluation, Jimmy Ghaphery

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

My Library is a personalization tool that allows the library user to consolidate frequently used library resources and services. Since 1998, My Library has been available as a web page to users of the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries. An evaluation of My Library use at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) was completed and published in 2000. This article reports on a follow up study that took place between March 2000 and December 2001. The article also discusses the value of My Library as a teaching tool at VCU.

Web-Based Counselling System, Supramaniam Suvarna

Student Works (2000-2009)

Web counselling has brought us in a new virtual world of communication and solving problems together. Computer counseling has already evolved before the web has taken its roots. Initially it was more on programs which counsels and acts like educators. When the web evolved, online counselling was introduced where there were many mediums fro communication and counselling available. More people, who know the web, started experimenting on this medium for communication and counselling. Now, since most people who log on the web were there for communication like e-mail, chat and forum rather than finding information, e-mail servers like hotmail and …

Pangkalan Data Perintah-Perintah Am Dan Pekeliling Kementerian Pendidikan, Kok Foong Chen

Student Works (2000-2009)

Ministry of Education Malaysia's Web Based Circular Information System (MOE's WBCIS) ajms to enhance the level of searching and_ retrieval of government docunents by providing an effective and faster way of locating circulars on education. In an effort to achieve Vision 2020~ MOE's WBCIS takes the initiative from the implementation of to upgrade the quality of document delivery in and efficient and effective manner. The objectives of MO E's WBCIS, among others, are to help the MOE staffs to manage the circular system easily and fast The system provides an interactive and effective search engine that enables users to search …

Interactive Multimedia Learning Arithmetic And Iq, Kesavan Raja Gopal

Student Works (2000-2009)

One of the most rapidly changing and exiting areas of education today is the development of computer based learning materials, especially interactive multimedia program that run on personal computer. These new technologies offer children, student and other people access to materials as never before Through the condensed storage capabilities of computer, multimedia can deliver large amount of information in the ways that make it manageable, approachable and useful. And by making it possible to access illustration and photographs, sound and video, as well as large amount of text, interactive multimedia program present learning arithmetic and IQ test to children in …

Smart Board Chat System, Chye Ong David Gan

Student Works (2000-2009)

People need to connect with other people and business processes to get their work done. Much like the step between the telegraph to the telephone, the step to Internet technology connects people with a richer flow of information. Collaboration can bring people all over the world together with more efficient use of time and at lower cost, by eliminating the need to travel. The emergence and wide-spread adoption of the World Wide Web (WWW) offers a great deal of potential for the developers of collaborative technologies, both as an enabling infrastructure and a platform for integration with existing end-user environments. …

Online Chatting System For Online Community System, Boon Hong Lim

Student Works (2000-2009)

Online Community is a web application that provides a complete and efficient communication environment for the online user. Any online user can create a community to connect a group of online users. Therefore, online user can create a private area to share their information and knowledge with other online user in the secure environment. Online community can be divided into 3 main modules Online Information System, Administration System and Online Chatting System. This project is focus on the on the Online Chatting System. Online Chatting System is a java Chat application that based on the Online Community. The main purpose …

Sistem Belajar Dan Menulis Jawi, Md. Salim Salhafiza

Student Works (2000-2009)

Sistem Belajar Mengeja dan Menulis Jawi ini adalah sebuah sistem multimedia pembelajaran Jawi bagi kanak-kanak di dalam lingkungan umur 7 tahun hingga 9 tahun. Tujuan utama ia dibangunkan adalah untuk menyediakan alternatif kepada kanak-kanak untuk mempelajari jawi dalam persekitaran yang menggembirakan. Ini diharapkan dapat menarik minat kanak-kanak mempelajari Jawi serta seterusnya mengurangkan bilangan kanak-kanak yang ‘buta Jawi’. Sistem ini akana memudahkan kanak-kanak mempelajari cara-cara mengeja dan menulis Jawi menggunakan pendekatan kaedah grafik dan audio serta animasi menarik. Sistem ini akan dibangunkan menggunakan model GUIDE dengan pendekatan Interaksi Komputer Manusia (Human Computer Interaction). Perisian utama yang digunakan membangunkan sistem adalah Macromedia …

Sistem Pengenalan Huruf-Huruf Jawi Menggunakan Konsep Paparan 7 Segmen, Hanapi Zuriyana

Student Works (2000-2009)

Sistem yang akan saya bangunkan ialah sistem mengenal huruf-huruf jawi. Proses pengenalan adalah berdasarkan konsep paparan 7 segmen. Konsep paparan 7 segmen adalah seperti yang digunakan di dalam kalkulator-kalkulator di mana terdapat 7 garis putus-putus yang disusun secara menegak dan melintang untuk mengeluarkan output-output nombor. Tetapi untuk sistem ini, konsep paparan 7 segmen tersebut digunakan untuk mengeluarkan output-output huruf-huruf jawi sebanyak yang mungkin. Perisian yang akan digunakan untuk membangunkan sistem ini ialah Visual Basic 6.0 dan juga Microsoft Access 2000. Tujuan sistem ini dibangunkan ialah untuk mengenal huruf-huruf jawi mengunakan segmen-segmen dan teknik-teknik yang mudah. Sistem yang akan terhasil nanti …

Webtv, Soon Hing Leong

Student Works (2000-2009)

This graduation project report was a partial requirement of the Bachelor Degree of Information Technology. This project focused on the testing and implementation of streaming multimedia files using multicast and unicast technology through Local Area Network with conserving network resources. It is also an effort being carried out to provide a multimedia and interactive base entertainment system for Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology. Multimedia has become a popular catchword during the last few years. The idea behind a multimedia network is a single network combining an improving all current technologies that realizes fast and convenient access for the …

Development Of A Networked Interactive Information Environment Within A National Park, John Clifton

Theses

For the most part, the Killarney National Park (KNP) currently disseminates information to visitors in paper format and by word of mouth in a non-coherent fashion. Society as a whole is moving towards an Information Age delivered through an electronic medium. This project aims to facilitate the KNP in delivering a new electronically presented information experience to its global visitors.

Electronic media facilitate the delivery of in-depth multimedia as well as multilingual information. This information will be made available on demand to visitors and delivered through a variety of media including information points and handheld devices to facilitate the various …

Advanced Searchers???, Jimmy Ghaphery

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Log analysis from 2001 focused on use and popularity of advanced search features of an online library catalog (OPAC).

Vcu's My Library: Librarians Love It. . . . Users? Well, Maybe, Jimmy Ghaphery, Dan Ream

VCU Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

Virginia Commonwealth University's My Library project (circa 1998-1999) has chosen "ease of use" as its primary design criteria. The development of this tool using Perl scripting is described, and reports derived from usage logs are analyzed here. My Library tends to appeal a great deal to a small number of users as a personal tool. Librarians have found it popular as a class teaching tool, with pages designed for specific classes in library instruction receiving the heaviest use.

Building Web Sites That Attract Visitors, C. David Shepherd, Daniel Fell

Faculty Articles

The article discusses the use of web sites for health care service marketing. The potential benefits of Internet services for users and care providers are mentioned, but challenges in implementation are also listed. A three generation model of web site design is offered, distinguishing various levels of interactivity, customization, and perceived value. Suggestions are offered applying this model to health care service web sites and their marketing potential.