User Access (WP4)
The interface to be exposed to the library users is of course of primary importance, as it will be the crucial factor on which the system will be judged: a good multilingual processing with a scarcely usable GUI (graphic user interface) for search would translate into a global failure and into non adoption by libraries.
In the particular case of this project we will have to take into account also features which are usually not available to standard search engine and which need careful consideration. In particular:
- Navigation in the space of possible ambiguities raised by translations;
- Possibility to trigger user-based translation enrichment(WP 2).
Apart from the case where the adopting library is willing to develop its own access GUI, we distinguish two
cases for interface deployment:
- Environments where the library just wants to guarantee the cleanest, most traditional search facilities (integrated with OPAC search): this will be the default web based interface and does not present special problems, except guaranteeing a maximal ergonomicity in term of query expansion controls. The interface will use plain DHTML and css technology, and it will be validated according to W3C standards.
- Environments where the adaptors are willing to invest into innovative interfaces which might pose some problems in terms of non functional requirements (new generation browsers, recent versions of the JVM, special permissions) but which would otherwise guarantee a much more efficient search strategy (this will be in particular the case of digital libraries rather than traditional OPAC based catalogues). We will have to use client side interfaces technologies, ranging from javascript, applets, Activex controls, Flash, etc. Which one of these technologies will be selected is a matter of technical study to be carried over in the course of the project.
Work package leader:
Xerox Research Centre Europe
Deliverables:
- D 4.1. “Simple” interface (with report on usability and accessibility): M12 [public report]
- D 4.2. “Advanced” interface (with report on usability and accessibility): M18 [public report]
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