Usability study of digital libraries: ACM, IEEE-CS, NCSTRL, NDLTD

If digital libraries are to be used effectively, their user interfaces should be tested and enhanced. We observed 48 participants as they worked with the following digital libraries: ACM, IEEE-CS, NCSTRL, and NDLTD. We discuss how the features of these digital libraries influence the subjects’ efforts to perform search and retrieval tasks. Data analysis indicates that the IEEE-CS digital library was rated the best overall and NDLTD had the best search time. We present user recommendations and propose a taxonomy of features that we believe are essential for the design of future digital libraries. Noteworthy is the observation that users’ judgements on the importance of different features varied widely between the beginning and end of their test sessions. Received: 15 December 1997 / Revised: June 1999     

A systematic review of digital twin about physical entities,virtual models,twin data,and applications

The digital twin is a crucial technology for realizing smart manufacturing and industrial digital transformation, which has received extensive attention and research from industry and academia. After 20 years of development, the application area of digital twins has been pervasive. Due to the diversity of application areas, various reference models and research methods have been presented for the components of the digital twin. Therefore, this paper provides systematic research of current studies on the basic components of the digital twin. This paper analyzed 117 articles from 2017 to 2022. By clarifying the relationship between the digital twin and the cyber-physical system, it first clarified the definition, characteristics, and application areas of the digital twin. On this basis, the research methodology of the core components of the digital twin (physical entities, virtual models, and twin data) is analyzed. At the same time, the application areas of digital twins are analyzed and delineated, and the application potential of the digital twin is explored. Finally, the research results and future research recommendations are presented.     

Digital Products, Wedges, and Covering Spaces

The paper [9] introduces the important tool of the digital covering space for studying the digital fundamental group. From a classical construction of algebraic topology [16,17,19], we show the existence of digital universal covering spaces and their significance for the study of the digital fundamental group. Laurence Boxer is Professor and past Chair of Computer and Information Sciences at Niagara University, and Research Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He received a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; Master’s and PhD in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Master’s in Computer Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Boxer’s research interests are in the fields of algorithms and digital topology. He is co-author of Algorithms Sequential and Parallel: A Unified Approach, an innovative textbook whose second edition is published by Charles River Media.     

Digital diversity among upper secondary students: A multilevel analysis of the relationship between cultural capital,self-efficacy,strategic use of information and digital competence

This paper addresses digital diversity among upper secondary students. Since 2006 digital skills and competence has been embedded as key competence in the Norwegian national curriculum. A sample of 593 Norwegian students from 43 upper secondary schools participated in a survey with a digital competence quiz and a self-report questionnaire. Analysis showed differences in students' digital competence and indication of digital diversity on both student and school level. A multilevel analysis reveals that cultural capital, language integration at home, self-efficacy, strategic use of information and average grades of the students predict 20% of the variation in students' digital competence score and 49% of the variation between schools' average digital competence score.     

Content-based image authentication: current status, issues, and challenges

With today’s global digital environment, the Internet is readily accessible anytime from everywhere, so does the digital image manipulation software; thus, digital data is easy to be tampered without notice. Under this circumstance, integrity verification has become an important issue in the digital world. The aim of this paper is to present an in-depth review and analysis on the methods of detecting image tampering. We introduce the notion of content-based image authentication and the features required to design an effective authentication scheme. We review major algorithms and frequently used security mechanisms found in the open literature. We also analyze and discuss the performance trade-offs and related security issues among existing technologies.     

Original, Authentic, Copy: Conceptual Issues in Digital Texts

This article focuses on the conceptual issues faced by scholarlyeditors and textual studies specialists. Theoretical debatein this general field is still active as digital texts presentspecial problems and magnify others. Older theory and methodologyare hampered by unacknowledged, sometimes inappropriate culturalvalues and other limitations, and are not always useful in connectionwith digital texts. Nevertheless, the distinction between theabstract work and its concrete expression is influential bothwithin and outside the field. In this approach, the conceptof authenticity relates to the degree of change a work undergoesor the accuracy of the ‘instructions’ for its reconstitution.Whether the digital text is best thought of as immaterial ormaterial is not as crucial as might first appear. The way adigital text is made visible is important, though potentiallyparadoxical. In order to be workable, the concept of authenticationby instructions needs further technical assistance, like thatprovided by the Just-in-Time Markup System. But, despite itslimitations, traditional textual scholarship still has muchto offer textual studies in digital environments.     

Digital parallelism, perpendicularity, and rectangles

The slope of digital line segments is defined and an algorithm to evaluate it is presented. Parallelism and perpendicularity of two digital line segments are also defined. Finally, rectangular digital regions are defined and characterized, and an algorithm that determines whether or not a given digital region is a digital rectangle is presented.     

Empathy,CIOCEO relationship,and digital transformation

This study investigates how one personality trait of CIOs and CEOs, i.e., their empathy, affects CIOCEO relationships and then the outcomes of firms’ ongoing digital transformation. We hypothesize that the cognitive and emotional empathy of CIOs and CEOs can establish mutual understanding and trust, which in turn improve digital transformation. We empirically validate these hypotheses based on a survey of 105 pairs of matched CIOs and CEOs. The findings reveal asymmetric effects: CIOs’ empathy improves CIOCEO relationships and then digital transformation, but CEOs’ empathy does not show significant effects. We then discuss our findings and implications to theory and practice.     

Toward a mathematical model of motivation,volition, and performance

The goal of this study was to (1) empirically examine factors that affect human performance in a simulation-based learning environment, employing the framework of the integrative theory of Motivation, Volition, and Performance (MVP) (Keller, 2008a) and (2) develop and statistically evaluate a mathematical MVP model that can be applied to other digital learning environments. The development of a mathematical MVP model can provide empirical support for the elements included in the MVP theory and serve as a tool for designing effective digital learning environments. A regression analysis of motivational, volitional, and performance data of 62 graduate students that interacted with an online simulation revealed a significant model that explained approximately 70% of the variation in student satisfaction through motivational and volitional processing variables suggested by the MVP theory. Students' interest and curiosity toward the learning environment had the highest positive predicting power on students' satisfaction, while the volition processing variable had the lowest predicting power. Implications for the digital learning environments design and directions for future research are discussed.     

Parallel,overlapped, and intersected digital straight lines

A digital straight line is represented by a chain code of directions which satisfy Freeman's three criteria. Given two chain codes of digital straight lines and their starting pixels where their equations are not known, the paper will describe how to determine if they are parallel, overlapped, or intersected. An algorithm with only integer arithmetic is also implemented to find the intersection.     

Live digital,remember digital: State of the art and research challenges

The so called trend “live digital, remember digital” is acquiring higher relevance within the international research community, due to its several appealing challenges in a multitude of different fields within the Information and Communication Technologies. Today, many people live daily connected to the Internet through their mobile phones, laptops, tablets, etc. and the need to audit or log every single digital interaction emerges in many environments. By seamlessly recording those digital interactions and storing them in a privacy-preserving fashion, a number of benefits are brought to end users, like the provision of user-tailored services, amongst many others. In this paper we will particularly focus on the study of the security and privacy challenges within this field, as well as on the analysis of the currently existing solutions addressing these issues and we will propose an architecture for the so called live digital systems.     

Localization of local soil classes in an arid region of Mexico,using satellite imagery

A map of local soil classes (LSCs) was used to make digital maps of soil classes using computer-assisted cartography. The objectives were to establish classes of the local soils of an arid locality; to determine their physical and chemical characteristics; to relate the content of clay (Cl), organic matter (OM) and electrical conductivity (EC) to the levels of reflectance from the classes of soil; and to obtain a digital map of classes of local soils using a supervised classification of the image and verify its precision. The map of LSCs was used as basis for generating information about the physical and chemical characteristics of soils. The information was related to digital levels of a Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) image, and a supervised classification was performed. The precision of the digital maps was verified. The results show that a map of LSCs can be used as basis for generating digital maps.     

The significant other: the value of jewellery in the conception,design and experience of body focused digital devices

In this paper, we demonstrate how craft practice in contemporary jewellery opens up conceptions of ‘digital jewellery’ to possibilities beyond merely embedding pre-existing behaviours of digital systems in objects, which follow shallow interpretations of jewellery. We argue that a design approach that understands jewellery only in terms of location on the body is likely to lead to a world of ‘gadgets’, rather than anything that deserves the moniker ‘jewellery’. In contrast, by adopting a craft approach, we demonstrate that the space of digital jewellery can include objects where the digital functionality is integrated as one facet of an object that can be personally meaningful for the holder or wearer.     

Applications of an interaction,process, integration and intelligence (IPII) design approach for ergonomics solutions

This paper first reviews current ergonomics design approaches in delivering digital solutions to achieve a unified experience from interaction and business process design perspectives. Then, it analyses the opportunities that new technologies may bring in for enhancing current ergonomics design approaches from integration and intelligence design perspectives. To address the challenges in today’s ergonomics practices in delivering digital solutions, an interaction, process, integration and intelligence (IPII) design approach is proposed. A case study is presented that implemented the IPII approach. The quantitative data gathered from the case study demonstrates that the IPII approach has achieved significant advantages in reaching the goal of a unified experience and operational benefits for delivering digital solutions. The IPII approach also demonstrates improvements compared to today’s ergonomics design approaches, such as user-centred design, for digital solutions. Finally, the paper highlights the contributions of the IPII approach for future ergonomics practices in delivering digital solutions.

Practitioner Summary: In addition to the interaction design for the UI of digital solutions, as is the case in current typical ergonomics practice, the IPII adds three additional design components: process, integration and intelligence design. The case study demonstrates the advantages of the IPII, providing an enhanced approach for designing digital solutions.

Abbreviations: IPII: interaction, process, integration and intelligence; IEA: International Ergonomics; Association; HFE: human factors/ ergonomics; HCD: human-centred design; UX: user experience; UI: user interface; ISO: International Organization for Standardization; UCD: user-centred design; ERP: enterprise resource planning; E2E experience: end-to-end experience; UXD: user experience design; AI: artificial intelligence; ML: machine learning; HCI: human-computer interaction; IaaS: infrastructure as a service; PaaS: platform as a service; SaaS: software as a service; CRM: customer relation management; SCM: supply chain management; HCM: human capability management; BI: business intelligence; BOMA: Bill of Materials Application; POC: proof of concept; TCM: transition change management; SMEs: subject matter experts; PMO: program management office; UAT: user acceptance test; iBPMS: intelligent business process management suite     

A model of online reading engagement: Linking engagement,navigation, and performance in digital reading

A model of online reading engagement is outlined. This model proposes that online reading engagement predicts dedication in digital reading. Dedication in digital reading according to the model is reflected in task-adaptive navigation, and task-adaptive navigation predicts digital reading performance over and above print reading skill. Information engagement is assumed to positively predict task-adaptive navigation, while social engagement is assumed to negatively predict task-adaptive navigation. These hypotheses were tested using OECD PISA 2009 Digital Reading Assessment data from 17 countries and economies (N = 29,395). Individual task responses served as the primary unit of analysis. Linear mixed models were used to predict navigation behavior from the interaction of information and social online reading engagement with navigation demands. High information engagement was associated with more task-adaptive navigation behavior, as shown by significant positive interactions between information engagement and tasks’ navigation demands. In contrast, high social engagement was associated with less adaptive navigation behavior, as shown by negative interactions between social engagement and navigation demands. Generalized linear mixed models were used to predict task performance by the interaction of navigation demands and navigation behavior. Adaptive navigation behavior predicted digital reading task performance, as shown by significant interactions between navigation behavior and navigation demands. These results are in support of the proposed model of online reading engagement.     

Debunking the ‘digital native’: beyond digital apartheid,towards digital democracy

This paper interrogates the currently pervasive discourse of the ‘net generation’ finding the concept of the ‘digital native’ especially problematic, both empirically and conceptually. We draw on a research project of South African higher education students' access to and use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to show that age is not a determining factor in students' digital lives; rather, their familiarity and experience using ICTs is more relevant. We also demonstrate that the notion of a generation of ‘digital natives’ is inaccurate: those with such attributes are effectively a digital elite. Instead of a new net generation growing up to replace an older analogue generation, there is a deepening digital divide in South Africa characterized not by age but by access and opportunity; indeed, digital apartheid is alive and well. We suggest that the possibility for digital democracy does exist in the form of a mobile society which is not age specific, and which is ubiquitous. Finally, we propose redefining the concepts ‘digital’, ‘net’, ‘native’, and ‘generation’ in favour of reclaiming the term ‘digitizen’.     

Digital convexity, straightness, and convex polygons

New schemes for digitizing regions and arcs are introduced. It is then shown that under these schemes, Sklansky's definition of digital convexity is equivalent to other definitions. Digital convex polygons of n vertices are defined and characterized in terms of geometric properties of digital line segments. Also, a linear time algorithm is presented that, given a digital convex region, determines the smallest integer n such that the region is a digital convex n-gon.     

Question,answer, compare: a cross-category comparison of answers on question and answer websites

Online information seekers make heavy use of websites that accept their natural language questions. This study compared the three types of such websites: social question and answer (Q&A), digital reference services, and ask-an-expert services. Questions reflecting daily life, research, and crisis situations were posed to high use websites of all three types. The resulting answers’ characteristics were analyzed in terms of speed, transparency, formality, and intimacy. The results indicate that social Q&A websites excel in speed, ask-an-expert websites in intimacy, and digital reference services in transparency and formality.     

Study of using a multi-touch tabletop technology to facilitate collaboration,interaction, and awareness in co-located environment

This study aimed to evaluate how differently co-located users perform and interact while solving problems by using existing and newly developed interaction mechanisms of a multi-touch tabletop system on a large-size tabletop display. Furthermore, this study aimed to investigate users’ perceived situation awareness due to the system. This study conducted one experiment and introduced three newly developed interaction mechanisms: two-way rubber band, drag-and-response, and centre collection area. Two-way rubber band enables users not only to send but also to request digital objects. Drag-and-response allows users to accept or to reject digital objects sent by others; therefore, it eliminates conflicting situations and interference. Centre collection area stores, organises, and manages shared digital resources on a surface of a tabletop display, so that users have an overall picture of available resources. This paper discusses results of an experiment, research findings, and implications along with conclusions and several suggestions for future development and research.     

DISCRETE, NONLINEAR CURVATURE-DEPENDENT CONTOUR EVOLUTION

There has been much recent interest in curvature-dependent contour evolution processes, particularly when the resultant family of contours satisfies the heat (diffusion) equation. Computer simulations of these processes have used high-precision computation to closely approximate the solutions to the equation. This paper describes a class of low-precision contour evolution processes, based on a digital approximation to the curvature of the contour derived from its chain code, that can be applied to contours in low-resolution digital images. We have found that these methods perform quite similarly to the PDE-based methods at much lower computational cost. Our methods are also not limited to using linear functions of the contour’s curvature; we give several examples of digital contour evolution processes that depend nonlinearly on curvature, and discuss their possible uses.