The SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics Conference) is on this August.
SVG Open 2008 - http://svgopen.org/2008/index.php - 6th International Conference on Scalable Vector Graphics - 26th to 28th August - Nuremberg - Germany - The world conference on SVG will this year take place in the center of Nuremberg. Located in the south of Germany.
I have an SVG page at - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/seeds/PeterHale/SVG/SVG.htm - with more information.
There are many computer literate people who are experts in a particular domain. This research examines enabling computer literate engineers to model problems in software by minimising the code writing they need to undertake. Software development is difficult for many engineers as they often do not have the time, experience, or access to software development tools necessary to model their problems. Using a combination of modelling via use of formulae (equations) and visualisation of the way these formulae interact it is possible to construct modelling software without requiring code. Crapo et al (2002) explain the need for a methodology for creation of systems to enable more collaborative approaches to modelling by domain expert end-users, and that this combined with visualisation would allow engineers to model problems accurately. This technique of User Driven Modelling/Programming could be widely applicable to any problem that requires linked equations to be represented and tracked, and results from these calculated. While some argue that end-user programming is an insurmountable problem, this problem could be tackled by many researchers co-operating to create specific solutions to different kinds of end user programming problems while also sharing findings, to assist with progress towards a more generic solution.
Crapo, A. W., Waisel, L. B., Wallace, W. A., Willemain, T. R., 2002. Visualization and Modelling for Intelligent Systems. In: C. T. Leondes, ed. Intelligent Systems: Technology and Applications, Volume I Implementation Techniques, 2002 pp 53-85.
More Information is available on my Home Page at - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/.
Users can specify a calculation in mathematical terms using a formula. The spreadsheet then calculates the result of the formula. Users can change the formula if it is incorrect without any need to write code or re-compile. This accounts for the popularity of spreadsheets. So it is necessary to create collaborative tools that allow users to develop software in a way they will be familiar with from their use of spreadsheets.
Burnett et al (2007) state "end-users are using various languages and programming systems to create software in forms such as spreadsheets, dynamic web applications, and scientific simulations. This software needs to be sufficiently dependable, but substantial evidence suggests that it is not." Crapo et al (2002) argue that many users of spreadsheet software can model problems accurately if they are provided with visualisation capabilities to help them build, track, and understand the information relationships, and therefore the problem modelled. Crapo explains that visualisation helps users maintain a hierarchy of sub models at different stages of development and to navigate effectively between them. The way spreadsheets are defined by formulae can aid in allowing editing and tracking of information in models provided that the relationships between formulae are adequately represented. Hanna (2005) explains that a spreadsheet program is defined by formulae and has purely declarative semantics with the order of evaluation determined purely by the dependencies between cells. However, he criticises the impoverished semantics of spreadsheets that severely limit "the ability of programmers (even expert ones) to construct reliable, correct, maintainable programs with well known consequences". There is an alternative solution of research to automatically generating correct spreadsheets, and solve errors of meaning (semantic errors) (Erwig et al, 2006). This thesis concentrates on visualisation in order to make the meaning clearer to the human modellers. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the information structuring, and visualisation capabilities of spreadsheets in order to encourage more reliable modelling and collaboration.
Burnett, M. M., Engels, G, Myers, B. A., Rothermel, G., 2007. End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar - http://www.dagstuhl.de/en/program/calendar/semhp/?semnr=2007081.
Crapo, A. W., Waisel, L. B., Wallace, W. A., Willemain, T. R., 2002. Visualization and Modelling for Intelligent Systems. In: C. T. Leondes, ed. Intelligent Systems: Technology and Applications, Volume I Implementation Techniques, 2002 pp 53-85.
Erwig, M., Abraham, R., Cooperstein, I., Kollmansberger S., 2006. Automatic Generation and Maintenance of Correct Spreadsheets?. In: Proceedings of the 27th international conference on Software engineering, St. Louis, MO, USA pp 136-145 - http://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~erwig/papers/Gencel_ICSE05.pdf.
Hanna, K., 2005. A document-centered environment for Haskell. In: 17th International Workshop on Implementation and Application of Functional Languages IFL 2005 Dublin, Ireland - September 19-21 2005.
There are many computer literate people who are experts in a particular domain. Given the opportunity they will develop their own software (Scaffidi, 2005). There is a need in many domains for people to create software such as engineering models, scientific taxonomies, business systems, and in the arts. Examples of software systems that enable creation of models without necessitating code writing are spreadsheets, visual web development systems, and database management systems. Crapo et al (2002) explain the need for a methodology for creation of systems to enable more collaborative approaches to modelling by domain expert end-users that make use of structured and visualised information. Peirce (1904) explained that systems can be represented logically by humans, and this applies to software development and information representation on computers. Thus it could be made possible to represent systems with natural and visual languages. Though Nurminen et al (2003) argue that people prefer usability over automation, it is possible to achieve both by providing a stepped translation capability that ensures users are constantly kept informed of the steps taken. This approach is advocated by (Johnson, 2004). Automated translation from a people-centred view of information to software for computers can aid in software development by domain expert end-users and help ensure they can communicate models directly to computers. Software developers can then concentrate mainly on creating systems that enable domain experts to develop software, rather than developing individual software models on behalf of domain experts, which is difficult and prone to communication problems.
References
Crapo, A. W., Waisel, L. B., Wallace, W. A., Willemain, T. R., 2002. Visualization and Modelling for Intelligent Systems. In: C. T. Leondes, ed. Intelligent Systems: Technology and Applications, Volume I Implementation Techniques, 2002 pp 53-85.
Johnson, P., 2004. Interactions, Collaborations and breakdowns. In: ACM International Conference Proceeding Series; Proceedings of the 3rd annual conference on Task models and diagrams Vol 86 Prague, Czech Republic. - http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1045448&coll=GUIDE&dl=GUIDE&CFID=17319495&CFTOKEN=29205382&ret=1Fulltext [Accessed 17th February 2008].
Nurminen, J. K., Karaonen, O., Hatonen, K., 2003. What makes expert systems survive over 10 years-empirical evaluation of several engineering applications. Expert Systems with Applications 24(2) pp 199-211. - http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/630566.html [Accessed 17th February 2008].
Peirce, C.S., 1906. Prolegomena to an Apology for Pragmaticism [online]. Available from:
http://www.existentialgraphs.com/peirceoneg/prolegomena.htm [Accessed 17th February 2008].Scaffidi, C., Shaw, M., Myers, B., 2005. Estimating the Numbers of End-users and End-user Programmers. In: IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, (VL/HCC'05): 207-214 Dallas, Texas. - http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~cscaffid/papers/eu_20050923_vlhcc.pdf [Accessed 17th February 2008].
NASA has issued a request for information for an educational game to develop Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Skills for students. NASA requests a 5 page size 12 font document of ideas.
"The US space agency is exploring the possibility of developing a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game.
The virtual world would be aimed at students and would "simulate real Nasa engineering and science missions".
The agency has published a "request for information" (RFI) from organisations interested in developing the platform."
Nasa believe the game would help find the next generation of scientists and engineers needed to fulfil its "vision for space exploration".
Nasa investigates virtual space - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7195718.stm
NASA Learning Technologies Request for Information: Development of a NASA-based massively multiplayer online learning game - http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/mmo/
NASA Learning Technologies Request for Information: Development of a NASA-based Massively Multiplayer Online Learning Game PDF Document - http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/mmo/MMO_RFI.pdf
DEVELOPMENT OF A NASA-BASED MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE LEARNING GAME - http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/eps/synopsis.cgi?acqid=128415
NASA's Planning its Own Version of World of Warcraft - http://www.universetoday.com/2008/01/18/nasas-planning-its-own-version-of-world-of-warcraft/
I have a space about space research at - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/aerospace.htm.
and
Public Understanding of Science - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/seeds/PublicScience.htm.
The research question to be answered in this thesis is - To what extent is it possible to improve collaborative software development through the use of diagrams without requiring people to learn computer languages?
My research involves enabling computer literate people who aren't programmers to create software. The means for this is construction of visual diagrams that represent the task, in a similar way to how family trees and taxonomies can be represented as diagrams. The visual interface is available from a website and the research involves translating this to code. The aim is to enable programming without requiring people to learn computer languages. I am particularly interested in making it possible for a wider range of people to collaborate on software development.
The methodology for this is automation by translation from a human level of abstraction to software.
The theory behind this thesis is that it is possible to create a systematic diagrammatic representation of logical thought to enable representation of user's wishes to a computer.
C.S. Peirce (1906) stated in 'Prolegomena to an Apology for Pragmaticism' "Come on, my Reader, and let us construct a diagram to illustrate the general course of thought; I mean a system of diagrammatization by means of which any course of thought can be represented with exactitude". That is the purpose of this research, but to limit the scope and so make application of this theory testable the research is restricted mainly to engineers (because they often think in terms of diagrams) and to the domain of modelling (which often requires diagrams). So the aim is to apply the research first where it can have the most use and encourage others to expand it for other domains and other users. This research is intended to simplify computing for computer literate non-programmers, this includes many engineers. The main research area is enabling users such as engineers to model the problems they encounter in manufacturing and design. However, the wider aim is to prototype research for enabling a larger range of software users to model their problems. The intention is to create collaborative tools that allow users to develop software in a way they will be familiar with from their use of spreadsheets.
The hypothesis is that it is possible to create an end-user programming environment, usable by non-programmers, which can have a wide variety of uses. The aim of this research is to create a modelling system that can be edited by computer literate non-programmers, and so demonstrate an application of end-user programming that could be used in a more generic way. The possibilities for a generic user-driven programming environment will be explained. It is possible to create an end-user visual programming environment using Semantic Web technologies, especially for modelling of information, where this approach is well suited. All that is necessary is to link the information visually via equations, and store these results for reuse and collaboration. This can make translation from humans to computers easier and more reliable than current software systems and languages. The use of Semantic Web languages as programming languages would assist greatly with interoperability as these languages are standardised for use in a wide range of computer systems.
The problem examined in this thesis is that of allowing domain experts to create decision support software. This is a way of testing the assumption that these domain expert's thoughts can be represented in a systematic diagrammatic way, and then translated to computer code. The main emphasis is on engineers, who experience problems in creating and sharing their software. The alternatives they have for creation of software are spreadsheets, which do not have collaboration and information modelling abilities sufficiently built in, or complex software that needs considerable expertise to use, and often still has insufficient collaboration or information modelling capabilities.
Peirce, C.S. - 1906. Prolegomena to an Apology for Pragmaticism http://www.existentialgraphs.com/peirceoneg/prolegomena.htm
To achieve the aims of Web Taxonomy Creation examined in my last post, a collaborative modelling approach is required. The literature on collaborative modelling is extensive. Huhns [1] and Paternò [2] both explain that alternatives to current software development approaches are required for ease of model creation. The need is to translate from a model-based visual representation understood by users to software. This makes it possible to engage with end-users and non-specialists in general. Johnson [3] explains that successful interaction requires mapping between levels of abstractions and that translation between these abstraction levels required by people and computers is difficult. Johnson explains that this problem often means systems are created that make users cope with the problems of mis-translation. The representation of rules and information can be illustrated diagrammatically and it is possible to describe algorithms through concrete examples rather than abstractly. Models must be designed and visualised so that they convey to users a representation of a problem that assists with their vision of it. This modelling approach is explored by Crapo et al [4] and is the basis of our visualisation techniques allowing the creation and understanding of taxonomies and models.
Scaffidi et al [5] show that most people who develop software are de-facto programmers lacking a formal computing background, this will often be the case for scientists and the public contributing to taxonomies. End-user programming is particularly important in this research as we are making software development accessible to non-experts. Research by Ko [6] explains the need for engagement of end-users, including non-specialists by providing them with the capability to interact and amend software. An e-science interactive environment is ideal for involving anyone interested in science to amend or produce personal content. The environment will benefit from an interactive e-learning approach influenced by 'Semantic Learning Webs' [7]. The capabilities we will provide over the web are similar, but more collaborative and advanced than provided by spreadsheets for modelling, and web editors for knowledge sharing. We will produce an alternative methodology for scientific modelling that hides the complexity of low-level programming code from users. This is a kind of meta-design, as explained by Fischer [8] that can be standardised to create a collaborative environment for sharing information among scientists. This builds on research we have undertaken to enable end-user programming. We will visualise scientific information and make this editable online. The system created must be judged accessible and user friendly by users. In addition, it must share information successfully with other software and people. So interoperability is extremely important, examples of interoperability research we will make use of are INTEROP [9] and MOMOCS [10], and combine this with a model driven approach. In order to achieve interoperability, the utilisation of open formats should be favoured in order to maximise chances of forward compatibility with evolving scientific models. We will also create or customise editing tools such as wikis [11][12], blogs, and Semantic Web editors [13] to document the models and collect user's feedback. We will visualise scientific information and make this available online.
Web Taxonomy Creation -
http://userdrivenmodelling.blogspot.com/2008/01/web-taxonomy-creation.html.
[1] Huhns M, 2001, Interaction-Oriented Software Development, Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering.
[2] Paternò F, 2005, Model-based tools for pervasive usability, Interacting with Computers Vol 17(3), pp 291-315.
[3] Johnson P, 2004, Interactions, Collaborations and breakdowns, ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, 3rd annual conference on Task models and diagrams Vol 86.
[4] Crapo A W, Waisel L B, Wallace W A, Willemain T R, 2002, Visualization and Modelling for Intelligent Systems, Intelligent Systems: Technology and Applications, 1, pp 53-85.
[5] Scaffidi C, Shaw M, Myers B, 2005. Estimating the Numbers of End Users and End User Programmers. IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing, 21-24 September, Dallas, USA.
[6] Ko A J, 2007. Barriers to Successful End-User Programming. End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.
[7] Stutt A, Motta E, 2004. Semantic Learning Webs. Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 2004(10), Special Issue on the Educational Semantic Web.
[8] Fischer G, 2007. Meta-Design: A Conceptual Framework for End-User Software Engineering. End-User Software Engineering Dagstuhl Seminar.
[9] INTEROP -
http://interop-vlab.eu/newsletter/newsletter-nb02/[10] MOMOCS - MOdel driven MOdernisation of Complex Systems -
http://www.viewzone.org/momocs/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=20&Itemid=17[11] Hale P, 2007. Protégé Wiki
http://protege.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?UserDrivenProgramming[Accessed 29 Nov 2007].
[12] Visual Knowledge, 2007. Semantic Wiki
http://www.visualknowledge.com [Accessed 29 Nov 2007].[13] Quint V, Vatton I, 2005. Towards Active Web Clients. DocEng Bristol United.
An important contribution to Public Understanding of Science and for enabling of new insights would be creation of an online systematic representation of scientific information that gives a holistic view of related knowledge. This would reuse information and ideas provided by other researchers. These systems organise and visualise information. Letondal [1] of the Pasteur Institute provides a tool to generate web interfaces for molecular biology programs using an end-user programming approach. TreeBASE [2] is a relational database of phylogenetic information hosted by the Yale Peabody museum. Hughes [3] of the Computational Biology Unit (CBU) University of Bergen has investigated visualisation of phylogenetic trees and written an application that converts the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information) [4] taxonomic data into a format that makes it possible to visualise the whole of the NCBI tree of life. Klyne [5] of the Image Bioinformatics Research Group, Zoology Department, Oxford University makes use of Semantic Web technology to build an image publication repository. UK Moths [6] online guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland illustrates the role of amateurs who send in pictures to be categorised. Mammals Family tree [7] provides an innovative way of visualising complex trees as a taxonomy on a wheel, this is a technique which could be developed as an interactive visualization. Fishbase [8] is a web accessible and searchable resource for accessing fish information by various categories. IHOP (Information hyperlinked over Proteins) by Hoffman [9] provides a gene network for navigating more than ten million abstracts in PubMed [4]. By using genes and proteins as hyperlinks between sentences and abstracts, this converts the information in PubMed into one navigable resource. Proviision of 3D hyperbolic representations of trees is investigates by Hughes et al [10]. This capability could be provided on the web using Semantic Web Technologies [11] [12] and this would enable others to edit and interact with these represenatations.
Web Taxonomy Creation - http://userdrivenmodelling.blogspot.com/2008/01/web-taxonomy-creation.html
References
[1] Letondal C. - http://www.pasteur.fr/~letondal/ - Pasteur Institute, Computing Center.
[2] TreeBASE - http://www.treebase.org/treebase/index.html - a Database of Phylogenetic Knowledge.
[3] Hughes T. Phylogenetic tree visualisation - Tim's Home Page - http://www.ii.uib.no/~tim/frontPages/treesPage.shtml.
[4] Wheeler DL, Chappey C, Lash AE, Leipe DD, Madden TL, Schuler GD, Tatusova TA, Rapp BA (2000). Database resources of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Nucleic Acids Res 2000 Jan 1;28(1):10-4
[5] Klyne G, 2007, Building a Semantic Web accessible image publication repository - http://imageweb.zoo.ox.ac.uk/drupal/files/20071002-SWeb-applications.pdf - Image Bioinformatics Research Group - Zoology Department - Oxford University.
[6] UKMoths - http://www.ukmoths.org.uk/ - Welcome to UKMoths, your online guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland.
[7] Mammals family tree - Use zoom tool to see mammal details on the circle's edge - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6503045.stm - BBC News Science - Mammal rise 'not linked' to dinos - PDF Family tree visualisation.
[8] Fishbase - http://www.fishbase.org/search.php.
[9] Hoffman R, Information hyperlinked over Proteins - http://www.ihop-net.org/UniPub/iHOP/ - A gene network for navigating the literature.
[10] Hughes T, Hyun Y and Liberles, 2004. Visualising very large phylogenetic trees in three dimensional hyperbolic space. DA. BMC Bioinformatics. BMC Bioinformatics Apr 29;5:48.
[11] Eklund P, Roberts N, Green S, 2002. OntoRama: Browsing RDF Ontologies using a Hyperbolic-style Browser, The First International Symposium on Cyber Worlds, CW02, Theory and Practices, IEEE Press. (2002) pp 405-411.
[12] Talis Engage - http://www.talis.com/engage/ - Community information at your fingertips - an online community information solution that allows citizens to organise, create and publish details of their events, organisations and groups.
Code Generation 2008 - http://www.codegeneration.net/conference/index.php - 25th-28th June 2008 - Cambridge, UK - A growing number of developers are using or planning to use model-based code generation - are you ready for the next evolutionary step in software? - WHO'S CG2008 FOR? - CG2008 is for software practitioners and those with a stake in the future of their development organisation.
Final Call for Speakers:
Submission Deadline: Friday January 18th 2008
We are seeking high-quality session proposals covering topics on
model-driven software development (including Software Factories,
Model-Driven Architecture (MDA), Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs),
Generative Programming, Software Product Lines and related areas).
Sessions could cover topics such as:
- Code Generation and Model Transformation tools and approaches
- Defining and implementing modelling languages
- Domain Analysis and Domain Engineering
- Language evolution and modularization
- Meta Modelling
- Runtime virtual machines versus direct code generation
- Tool and technology adoption
Real-world case studies based on any aspect of these and related
approaches are particularly encouraged although more theoretical
sessions are also welcome.
Accepted speakers have their conference fees waived. We will also be
offering a discount on conference fees to non-speaking academic
participants. More information will be available when the programme goes
online on 25th February.
Visit http://www.codegeneration.net/conference/index.php for more
details on the event or contact me for more information.
What people said about our previous conference - Code Generation 2007:
"I've been working in domain-specific modelling for a dozen years ...
and in this time this has been the highest-quality conference on this
topic that I've been to - and I've been to a few."
"The combined-for that matter, individual-expertise present was
remarkable, and presented a tremendous opportunity for knowledge exchange."
"The presentations were all top quality, making it often difficult to
decide between the concurrently running sessions. The wealth of MDD
knowledge present and the event was impressive, not only from the
presenters, but from the other delegates as well."
Best wishes for a happy and successful 2008.
I have an Events page at which has mainly computing and aerospace events listed and linked to - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/Events.htm.
I gave a SWIG-UK Powerpoint Presentation - at Hewlett-Packard Bristol UK - semantic web interest group - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/InteractiveModellingandVisualisationofInformation.ppt or http://cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/InteractiveModellingandVisualisationofInformation.ppt - November 23rd 2007.
This was on Interactive Modelling of Information, Visualisation and Translation Between different software and ontology representations.
There were many interesting presentations and links to all the talks are at - http://swig.networkedplanet.com/special.html.
More information about my research can be found at http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/ or http://cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/.
I had a comment saying Links don't work unless I remove www from the url. I'm not sure why the link seems OK as it is from my computer but not others so have put both options.
A comment from Tonya on my previous post requesting advice for my creation of a Usability Survey pointed me to this very useful resource -
http://cii.wikispaces.com - The Cii Wiki was created to provide a resource for those considering computer interactive interviewing (Cii), that is, using computers for conducting online surveys and polls.
I would recommend people who are creating online surveys to look at this site, and would welcome any other ideas for sites that can help me, or any general advice.
My survey is available at the top of my home page - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/. I would welcome any participation.
Thank You
I'm developing a survey on usability, I don't think it's quite right yet, but I would still welcome anyone using it to leave feedback on my research topic (or about the survey) - Click Here to take part in a usability survey, and support my PhD research, for anyone who does not want to remain anonymous, I would be pleased to take an interest in their research.
The survey compares these interfaces -
Taxonomy - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/ELearning/ELearningDemonstration1.htm.
Diagrammatic - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/~phale/ELearning/ELearningDemonstration2.htm.
And asks for further advice on end-user programming.
I'm interested in feedback from anyone, whatever their level of IT skills.
I'm developing a survey on usability, I don't think it's quite right yet, but I would still welcome anyone using it to leave feedback on my research topic (or about the survey) - Click Here to take part in a usability survey, and support my PhD research, for anyone who does not want to remain anonymous, I would be pleased to take an interest in their research.
The necessary efforts of organisations dealing with cimate and space to reach out to the public can be assisted by interactive online visualisation that encourages public involvement, and this can be further linked to events where the public is involved. An example of such events is the Hewlett-Packard Science Lectures.
Online media can assist in this role and the new Semantic Web and Web 2.0 technologies enable production of software for explanation, visualisation and modelling of scientific and engineering problems. Also this enables development of online software which can be used by non-programmers to developer further software, so generating a cycle of development that could generate a large community of users and new programmers. This encourages communication and collaboration amongst the public as well as scientist and engineers. This involves creation of Semantic Wikis, modelling and visualisation tools that could be linked to scientific models such as climate models, and interactive forums.
An example application could be a link from climate models that allow members of the public to adjust parameters and see the results of such changes (even though the results are generated on high powered computers at the Met Office). This could be made to work in a similar way to the link between personal PCs and servers, where the client does not have to be aware of which servers are performing background tasks. This is similar to other projects such as the BBC Climate experiment, SETI@home and Stardust@home, but would involve the users active involvement in its development.
As an example - Astronomy, has harnessed skills of this very diverse range of people to make new discoveries (Mutchler and Schenk). The SETI@home project encouraged computer owners to use spare capacity for analyzing radio telescope data. The Open University Climate Modelling experiment used a similar approach. Stardust@home asks for volunteers to search for intersteller dust particles and tracks through photos on their computer. The GalaxyZoo project combines the computer and internet technology and human skills, and asks people to identify galaxy types.
This extract from the article - NASA's new outreach plan explains NASA's plans to promote public undersanding of their organisation.
NASA's new outreach plan - The Space Review - by Jeff Foust - Monday, July 2, 2007 - It has long been a central tenet of the space advocacy community that the public would be more willing to support NASA—and, in turn, press the White House and Congress to give NASA more money—if the general public simply knew more about what NASA did and how it was relevant to them.
The document NASA's new outreach plan describes how NASA plans to implement the plan and communicate those messages to the public. That effort will be linked with NASA’s year-long celebration, starting this October, of its 50th anniversary (the agency was officially created on October 1, 1958.) The core message and related themes will be used in a variety of 50th anniversary events, including a series of "NASA Future Forums" around the country: one-day conferences about the role of innovation in economic development, in particular the role NASA plays. Also in the works are a lecture series, new public service announcements, and targeted outreach to state and local leaders linked to upcoming shuttle missions.
Online media will also play a role in this outreach effort. According to the document, NASA is in the process of redesigning its web site to leverage a suite of technologies and techniques collectively known as "Web 2.0" that emphasize communication and collaboration among users. The new web site will include dynamic, customizable content; "social bookmarks" akin to web sites like Digg and del.icio.us; and the ability for the public to comment on NASA content. The document also mentions the creation of a "NASATube" and "NASApedia", presumably similar to the video-sharing site YouTube and editable encyclopedia Wikipedia, respectively.
References
BBC Climate change - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/portal/climate_change/default.stm - news, opinion & explanation from around the BBC.
GalaxyZoo - http://galaxyzoo.org/ - Welcome to GalaxyZoo , the project which harnesses the power of the internet - and your brain - to classify a million galaxies. By taking part, you'll not only be contributing to scientific research, but you'll view parts of the Universe that literally no-one has ever seen before and get a sense of the glorious diversity of galaxies that pepper the sky.
HP Science Lectures - Bristol, UK - http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/lectures/ - The Hewlett-Packard Science Lectures were established in 1996 as a forum for improving the public understanding of science. Held at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Bristol, they provide an opportunity for the public to hear distinguished lecturers discuss a broad range of scientific topics, from current research to the interaction between science, technology, art and society.
Mutchler M, Schenk H, Amateur Astronomers and the Hubble Space Telescope - http://www-int.stsci.edu/~mutchler/amateur.html.
Open University Climate Modelling - http://www.open2.net/sciencetechnologynature/worldaroundus/grassroots.html - The development of the climateprediction.net climate model was almost as involved and intricate as the climate it sought to map - here, Bob Spicer recalls the inspirations and frustrations of getting the model created; on the next page, he reveals exactly what the number crunching is for.
SETI@home - http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/ - SETI@home is a scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data.
Stardust@home - http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ - August 10, 2007 - Stardust Phase 2 Begins - Today marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in the story of Stardust@home. With the launch of the new and improved Stardust@home Phase 2 volunteers ("dusters") will be able to search for interstellar dust particles at an unprecedented level of sensitivity. Even the subtlest tracks and particles, which may have eluded detection in the first phase of the project, now stand an excellent chance of being found by ever-vigilant dusters.
More Information is available at - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/seeds/PublicScience.htm.
A future task to be undertaken would be the inclusion of uncertainty in automatically produced models, for situations where accurate information cannot be provided for the model. This would require provision of a way of handling uncertainty for parameters within the ontology, e.g. as 3 values describing a triangular distribution rather than a unique absolute value. The decision support meta-program could be expanded to write out the code to run Monte-Carlo sampling, hence making use of the statistical uncertainty capability. Miller and Baramidze (2005) examine efforts to develop mathematical semantic representations above the syntactical representations of MathML. this effort should make it possible for standardisation of the representation of mathematical expressions that relate nodes, and their values and expressions, to each other. The next stage in the research surrounding this thesis will be provision of constraints to prevent invalid mathematical expressions. Miller and Baramidze also explain their research in Discrete-Event Modelling Ontology (DeMO) for simulation and modelling. This uses OWL to define a simulation and modelling class hierarchy. It would be very useful to create an example to demonstrate this with a practical model to test the use of this ontology.
References
MathML - http://www.w3.org/Math/.
Miller, J. A., Baramidze, G., 2005. Simulation and the Semantic Web. In. Proceedings of the 2005 Winter Simulation Conference. - http://www.informs-cs.org/wsc05papers/297.pdf.
More Information is available at -
Modelling - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/seeds/Modelling.htm.
Semantic Web Modelling - http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk/amrc/seeds/ModellingSemanticWeb.htm.
