What was my thesis about ?
In case you were wondering what was my PhD thesis about – here is are some tips (thanks to Woordle):
My PhD Viva Voce on Video
Few days ago I found enough time to write about the last stages of my PhD process, namely my viva voce and what followed afterwards.
A friend of mine, Lukasz, told me that he still had the videos he recorded during my presentation. He was so kind to publish them on Vimeo.
Here they are:
Sebastian’s PhD Deffence 1 from Lukasz Porwol on Vimeo.
Next week: my PhD defense (Semantic Digital Libraries )
The day has come to wrap up the research I have been doing for the last couple of years. After closing the write up and submitting my thesis in February this year, my PhD defense is approaching very soon.
Here is some information about it. If you are around Galway next Monday – you are welcome to come and watch my presentation at the open session.
When: May, 18th 2009
Where: Conference Room, DERI, NUI Galway (IDA Business Park, Lower Dangan, Galway, Ireland)
Schedule:
- 10.00 – 10.30 – Open session
- 10.30 – 11.30 – Closed session – you & the 3 examiners (fingers crossed!)
- 11.30 – 12.00 – Closed session – examiners only
Abstract:
Until recently, libraries were the prime source of information for both students and scholars. Now this information is published using online with digital library systems. Current digital libraries have to provide efficient information discovery solutions to adapt to the fast development of new technologies; they also have to cater to the current generation of students. The research on the Semantic Web and online social networks contributes to the digital libraries domain by supporting interoperability with formal semantics, improving interlinking of information and encouraging users to contribute and share knowledge.
Semantic technologies support more flexible information management than that offered by classic digital libraries. Information on library resources can be gathered from heterogeneous sources, including contributions from the communities of library users. These annotations, combined with legacy data, build the foundations for more efficient information discovery in digital libraries.
This thesis reviews architectures, abstract models, metadata standards, and various technologies for building digital library management systems. We derive requirements for advanced digital libraries and propose an architecture model and a set of ontologies for semantic digital libraries. Finally, we present information discovery services using semantic and social technologies, and the prototype implementation of a semantic digital library that fulfills the aforementioned requirements.
Our hypothesis is that semantic and social technologies applied to a digital library management system deliver more efficient information discovery solutions, while the library users become more satisfied and can remember more of the information they have learned when using the library. We present two information discovery services that use semantic and social technologies; we also show a prototype of a semantic digital library. We support our hypothesis by discussing the results of initial evaluations of both services and a comprehensive evaluation of the semantic digital library prototype.
If you are interested in doing a PhD yourself check a collection online PhD programs.
What is keeping me so busy recently? (1)
One of the things missing in my PhD Thesis was a chapter on an architecture of a generic SemDL. But before one can move to SemDL architecture, first you need to understand the research in “classic” DLs, and what are the plans for the future. In order to do that, I had to:
1) Take this pile of almost 100 articles on digital libraries architectures, read them, annotate them
2) Compile all this information into a mindmap
3) Write up the results into a missing chapter in my thesis 
