Publications & presentations

The following papers and presentations about the AMG framework are available

Papers:

  • [PDF] Kris Cardinaels, Michael Meire, Erik Duval, Automating Metadata Generation: the Simple Indexing Interface, preprint of an Article accepted for publication in ACM 1-59593-046-9/05/0005 © [2005] International World Wide Web Conference Committee, WWW 2005, May 10-14, 2005, Chiba, Japan.
    Abstract: In this paper, we focus on the development of a framework for automatic metadata generation. The first step towards this framework is the definition of an Application Programmer Interface (API), which we call the Simple Indexing Interface (SII). The second step is the definition of a framework for implementation of SII. Both steps are presented in some detail in this paper. We also report on empirical evaluation of the metadata that the SII and supporting framework generated in a real-life context.
    UPDATE: in the paper we mention the "Simple Indexing Interface". When talking to other people about it, this terminology seems to be ambigious and confusing. What we meant by it, is an interface that is only concerned with generating metadata for a certain learning object. As such, it was not intended to deal with putting an object into a repository.
    Therefore, we think that the following distinction should be made (the chosen terminology is not an official one, except for the last one, SQI):
    • a "Simple (Automatic) Metadata Generation Interface": an interface describing a general approach for applications dealing with generating metadata for a certain learning object.
    • a "Simple Insert Interface": a general interface for inserting learning material into some kind of repository.
    • a "Simple Indexing Interface": this could be considered a combination of the 2 previous ones; or put another way: an interface, using the 2 previous ones. The idea would be to give it as input a learning object. In a first step, metadata could be generated for it (using the "Simple (Automatic) Metadata Generation Interface"), after which it could be inserted into a repository (using the "Simple Insert Interface").
    • "Simple Query Interface" (SQI): this interface is already under development for some time, and it is becoming a mature interface at this moment.
  • [DOC] Xavier Ochoa, Kris Cardinaels, Michael Meire, Erik Duval, Frameworks for the Automatic Indexation of Learning Management Systems Content into Learning Object Repositories, submitted.
    Abstract: Learning Management Systems (LMS) generally offer big repositories of learning material, but the lack of publicly available metadata to describe the learning objects makes it very difficult to share and reuse these objects. If metadata could be generated for these objects in order to index them in Learning Object Repositories (LOR), the gained amount of resources could solve the sub-critical mass problem of most existing Learning Object Repositories. This work proposes two orthogonal frameworks that could facilitate the analysis, design and implementation of Automatic Indexers for LMS content. One of them focuses on the methodology needed to pass from an LMS to a LOR, while the other focuses on the technological aspect of the Automatic Metadata Generation. Prototype implementations of Automatic Indexing Systems for real LMSs (SIDWeb and Toledo-Blackboard) show that the amount of effort needed to construct them was small compared with the benefits that this kind of systems could have in educational technologies. While the metadata seems to be good enough at first sight, further research of the quality of automatically generated metadata is needed.
  • K. Cardinaels, E. Duval, and H. Olivié, Issues in Automatic Learning Object Indexation, Proceedings of ED-MEDIA World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications (Barker, P. and Rebelsky, S., eds.), pp. 239-240, 2002.





Presentations: