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Application/Applitude

  1. Corbatto M., Dattolo A. (2019)
    Exploring AppInventory, a visual catalog of applications for assisting teachers and students. Multimedia Tools and Applications, July, 2019, pp. 1-28, Springer
    ISSN: 1573-7721
    Doi: 10.1007/s11042-019-08000-6, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85069686414
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: App 2.0 taxonomy, Innovative smart teaching and learning technologies, Multimedia design and development for smart e-learning, Multimedia for user engagement and motivation in education, Semantic knowledge structures, Visual organizers, Web 2.0 applications repository
    Abstract open

    We are witnessing a meaningful transformation of teaching and learning practices and widespread experimentation of new didactic methodologies. The availability of a huge amount of contents and learning objects on the Web is progressively transforming traditional learning design activity of teachers. However, the Web also offers another great opportunity in helping teachers adopt student centred methodologies: the availability of hundreds of Web 2.0 and mobile applications for creating and sharing digital artefacts. If incorporated into daily teaching and learning activities, they can improve the collaborative, cognitive and creative work of the students, enhancing and redefining traditional educational practices. Nevertheless, although these applications are generally easy to find and use, there is a lack of knowledge about their existence, their functions and their potential in an educational setting. In this paper we present AppInventory, a Web platform which enables teachers (and students) to visually browse through a catalog of 271 apps, semantically organized in a multi-dimensional, purpose-based taxonomy. Users can explore the catalog following personal associative paths; assign ratings, and leave comments.

  2. Moore A., Brailsford T. (2004)
    Unified Hyperstructures for Bioinformatics: Escaping the Application Prison. Journal of Digital Information, Volume 5(1), July, 2004
    ISSN: 1368-7506
    Scopus: 2-s2.0-2942707790
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Applications, Bioinformatics, Hyperstructure, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    The Next Big Thing in hypertext will be unifying different applications in bioinformatics through the ZigZag paradigm, allowing this field to live up to its promise of revolutionising the pharmaceutical industry. The paper outlines ZigZag, Ted Nelson's unique hyperstructural paradigm, and illustrates how, by examining a current bioinformatics task such as structure/binding prediction, the application of this novel paradigm has the potential to revolutionise bioinformatics completely by allowing a unified approach to a task currently fulfilled by fragmented data and applications.

  3. Dattolo A., Pitassi E. (2011)
    Folkview: A Multi-agent System Approach to Modeling Folksonomies. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Advances in User Modeling - UMAP 2011, Volume 7138, July 11-15, 2011, Girona, Spain, pp. 198-212, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag
    ISBN: 978-3-642-28508-0
    Doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-28509-7_19, Scopus: 2-s2.0-84857564457
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Authoring, Dynamic views, Folksonomy, Multy-agent system, Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    Folksonomies contain semantic information on data, and represent a meaningful mean for identifying similarities among users, resources and tags. Their strong potential is often reduced by the lack in social tagging systems of specialized functionalities for managing and modifying them, and of specific tools for generating customized and dynamic views on them. The aim of this paper is to present Folkview, an innovative way to conceive a folksonomy in terms of a multi-agent system. Each element (tag, user, resource) become an active entity and the folksonomy transforms itself from a traditional passive container of data into a computational agent, provided of a set of procedural and distributed skills. The agents actively collaborate in order to generate dynamic and customized views and supporting users in the updating, managing and modifying her personomy, and the same folksonomy.

  4. Dattolo A., Pitassi E., Onza A., Urgolo A. (2012)
    TOGO: a Contextual Tourist Mobile Guide. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Information Technologies and Information Society - ITIS 2012, November 7-9 , 2012, Dolenjske Toplice, Slovenia
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Advanced data structures, Authoring, Mobile applications, Personalized workspaces, Semantic interconnection
    Abstract open

    In this paper, we present TOGO, a general model and a limited prototype of a contextual tourist mobile guide dedicated TO the city of GOrizia. Our goal is twofold: first, we offer contextual views to the users, and, second, we provide them with a personal workspace in which they can also create new, personalized paths. In order to capture semantic interconnections among data, we use advanced data structures called zz-structures, a graph-centric system of conventions for data and computing, able to simply offer semantic modalities of navigation.

  5. Moore A., Nelson T., Brailsford T., Ashman H. (2004)
    ZigZag for BioInformatics. Poster at the 12th International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology - ISMB/ECCB 2004, July 31, August 4, 2004, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Bioinformatics, ZigZag
  6. Dattolo A., Pitassi E., Onza A., Urgolo A. (2014)
    Contextual Navigation and Authoring in a Museum Mobile Guide. Frontiers in ICT. Towards Web 3.0, pp. 37-52, Levnajic, Zoran, Peter Lang
    ISBN: 9783653982466
    Doi: 10.3726/978-3-653-04601-4
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Contextual navigation, Gorizia, ICT, Mobile guide, Museum, Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    TOGO is a tourist mobile guide dedicated TO the town of GOrizia; it proposes the study of a general model for a museum mobile guide and an application prototype related to Palazzo Coronini Crönberg, the residence of the last count of Gorizia, now museum. This paper focuses on two main open issues: the innovative contribute offered by a contextual navigation based on semantic interconnections and the importance to create personal workspaces for the users, enabling them to author new tourist paths. In order to capture semantic interconnections among data, we use advanced data structures called zz-structures, a graph-centric system of conventions for data and computing, able to offer semantic modalities of navigation.

  7. Dattolo A., Luccio F. (2008)
    Visualizing personalized views in virtual museum tours. Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Human System Interaction - HSI 2008, May 25-27, 2008, pp. 109-114, IEEE
    Doi: 10.1109/HSI.2008.4581418, Scopus: s2.0-51849086343, WOS: 000259867600020
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Adaptive hypermedia systems, Personalized views, Software agents, Virtual museum tours
    Abstract open

    We propose a multi-agent adaptive system to support tours of virtual museums. The system stores users' personalized views in zz-structures, particular data structures capable of representing both hypertext information and contextual interconnections among different information. We present an extension of the standard zz-structure model in terms of computational agents. These agents cooperate and collaborate in order to help users visualizing their personalized views. The power of this new model resides in the (partially limited) level of freedom users have for the dynamical choice, based on some present interest or necessity, of their navigational path inside the virtual museum. ©2008 IEEE.

  8. Casoto P., Dattolo A., Tasso C. (2008)
    Sentiment Classification for the Italian Language: a Case Study on Movie Reviews. Journal of Internet Technology, Special issue on “Intelligent Agent and Knowledge Mining”, Volume 9(4), October, 2008, pp. 365-373, Wen-Shu Hwang
    ISSN: 1607-9264
    Doi: 10.1080/0952813X.2013.782352, Scopus: 2-s2.0-55349120142, WOS: 000260564500009
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Cognitive agents, Machine learning, Opinion analysis, Sentiment analysis, Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    We consider the problem of tracking the opinion polarity, in terms of positive or negative orientation, expressed in documents written in natural language and extracted from a heterogeneous set of Web sources. More specifically, we focus our attention on the movie reviews domain. We are interested in evaluating the performance obtained by a set of high performance opinion polarity classifiers for the Italian language. Classification of polarity expressed by the input documents is achieved by means of several sets of specialized autonomous or interacting agents, devoted, respectively, to document gathering, classification and visualization. In particular the results of opinion analysis are represented by means of a graphical interface, where a multi agent based implementation of zz-structures is exploited to offer graph-centric views and navigation of results. The specific experimental evaluation performed so far shows an accuracy level, which is higher than previous results reported in the literature.

  9. Andric M., Devedzic V., Hall W., Carr L. (2007)
    Keywords linking method for selecting educational web resources à la ZigZag. International Journal of Knowledge and Learning (IJKL), Volume 3(1), pp. 30-45, Tom Davenport and Miltiadis Lytras
    ISSN: 1741-1017
    Doi: 10.1504/IJKL.2007.012599, Scopus: 2-s2.0-51849147864
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Authoring support tools, Extracting metadata, Hypertext structures, Web-based teaching, ZigZag , Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    The authors of the web-based courseware typically face problems such as how to locate, select and semantically relate suitable learning resources. This paper proposes a tool that supports the authors in their tasks of selection and grouping the learning material. The ‘à la’ (Associative Linking of Attributes) in Education, enhances the search engine results by extracting the attributes (keywords and document formats) from the text. The relationships between the attributes are established and visualised in a novel hypertext paradigm using the ZigZag principles. Browsing the related metadata provides a quick summary of the document and can hence help in faster determining its relevancy. Also, the proposed solution enables better understanding of why some resources are grouped together as well as providing suggestions for the further searches. The results of a user trial indicate high levels of user satisfaction and effectiveness.

  10. Dattolo A., Luccio F. (2009)
    A formal model for supporting the adaptive access to virtual museums. Human-Computer Systems Interaction: Backgrounds and Applications, pp. 481–492, Z. S. Hippe, J. L. Kulikowski, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
    ISSN: 1867-5662
    ISBN: 978-3-642-03201-1
    Doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-03202-8_38, Scopus: 2-s2.0-84994777447, WOS: 000276236400038
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Adaptive access, Formal description, Virtual museums, Web, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    Zz-structures are particular data structures capable of representing both hypertext data information and contextual interconnections among various chunks of information. We consider an extension of the standard zz-structure model in terms of computational agents. In particular, we propose a multi-agent adaptive system in which users store their personal information inside a zz-structure and agents collaborate in order to support them in the extraction of personalized navigational views, allowing creation of personalized tours, for example tours within virtual museums. The strength of this new model resides in the level of freedom users have for the dynamical choice, based on some present interest or necessity, of their navigational path inside the virtual museum.

  11. Canazza S., Dattolo A. (2009)
    The past through the future: a hypermedia model for handling the information stored in the audio documents. Journal of New Music Research, Volume 38(4), December 17, 2009, pp. 381-396, Routledge Journals
    ISSN: 0929-8215
    Doi: 10.1080/09298210903388947, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85007587081, WOS: 000274674900004
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Audio documents, PSYCHO-MAD
    Abstract open

    The use of hypertextual structures has become very popular in humanities electronic critical editions. It provides a way of making connections between pieces of information, thus modelling what many humanities scholars actually do. Because hypertext has been popularized by the World Wide Web more than anything else, the linking mechanisms are fairly weak. Actually, there are two main open issues: the encoding models used lack separation between structure and content; and in recent years a strong request to handle various media (text, images, audio and video) has emerged. Thus, it is now time to take one step further: in this paper, we describe PSYCHO-MAD, a Powerful SYstem with Charming Hypermedia Objects for Music Audio Documents, a not-hierarchical hypermedia model for handling the information stored in the audio memories based on an extension of zz-structures. The cooperation activities of different classes of actors allow the user to create new virtual hyperdocuments and dynamic views (useful, for example, in performance of electroacoustic music open work or in ethno music events). By adopting Vannevar Bush’s point of view, the model herein elaborated connects, without preconceived limitations, documents stored in different media: annotations made by the author, scores, room programs, critical reviews, setting photos, sound recordings and video shootings.

  12. Canazza S., Dattolo A. (2007)
    Open, Dynamic Electronic Editions of Multidimensional Documents. Proceedings of the IASTED European Conference on Internet and Multimedia Systems and Applications, May 14-16, 2007, Chamonix, France, pp. 230-235, IASTED International Conference on Internet and Multimedia Systems and Applications, Acta Press
    ISSN: 1482-7905
    ISBN: 978-0-88986-653-9
    Scopus: 2-s2.0-51849159072, WOS: 000246358300038
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Data modelling, Education, Electronic editions, Multimedia information systems, Software agents, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    This paper proposes the application of a new actor-based extension of Nelson's ZigZag model in humanities, in order to create graph-centric browsing tools for Electronic Editions of multidimensional documents. The combination of the ZigZag model and of cooperation activities of different actor classes allows our model to create innovative, graph-centric browsing perspectives for the user and to offer to him/her authoring tools for the runtime creation of new virtual sources.

  13. Anderson I. (2009)
    From ZigZag™ to BigBag: Seeing the wood and the trees in online archive finding aids. Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on New Forms of Xanalogical Storage and Function, Volume 508, June 29, 2009, pp. 12-17, CEUR
    ISSN: 1613-0073
    Scopus: 2-s2.0-84891546505
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Browsing, Visualization, XML, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    This paper reports on a one year speculative research project that sought to test the technical feasibility, practical implications and usability of transforming an XML Encoded Archival Description (EAD) finding aid into an XML ZigZag™ structure and applying a relational browser interface.

  14. Dattolo A., Luccio F. (2007)
    A new actor-based structure for distributed systems. Proceedings of the 30th Jubilee International Convention: Microelectronics, Electronics and Electronic Technologies, Hypermedia and Grid Systems - MIPRO 2007, May 21 - 25, 2007, Opatija, Croatia, pp. 195-201
    ISBN: 9789532330328
    Scopus: 2-s2.0-84895872344
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Actor-based structure, Graphs, Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    In this paper we propose a formal analytic graph-based description of zz-structures, an unusual, graphic-centric way of linking and organizing information. Starting from this formalized model, we make active and operative all the entities of the system, obtaining an actor-based model, called AZ. The actors are organized in different hierarchical levels and cooperate in order to achieve common goals and solve problems. In particular, the use of actor-based technology is helpful in enhancing distributed computing capabilities, and interoperability in grid systems. The combination of zz-structures and of cooperation activities of different actor classes allows us to define dynamic virtual organizations and to analyze some of issues related to system topological evolutions.

  15. Dattolo A. (2010)
    Structuring and Navigating Ethnic Music Archives. Signal Processing, Volume 90(4), April, 2010, pp. 1077-1082, Elsevier Science
    ISSN: 0165-1684
    Doi: 10.1016/j.sigpro.2009.08.009., Scopus: 2-s2.0-72949097447, WOS: 000274547400009
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Authoring, Hypermedia structures, Multi-agents models, Navigation, Web 2.0, Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    Web 2.0 represents a new challenge for the ethno-musicology and outlines new modalities of storing and structuring music archives, counting on the active participation and interaction of users that become authors and can directly create, express themselves and communicate. This paper proposes a distributed framework, based on a multi-agent approach, aimed at aggregating ethno-music communities for sharing existing archives and other data, creating new knowledge and improving the access.

  16. Dattolo A., Pitassi E. (2011)
    Visualizing and Managing Folksonomies. Proceedings of the Workshop on Semantic Adaptive Social Web (SASWeb 2011), held in connection with the 19th International Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization, UMAP 2011, Volume 730, July 15, 2011, Girona, Spain, CEUR
    ISSN: 1613-0073
    Scopus: 2-s2.0-84890509433
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Authoring, Folksonomy, Formal description, Multy-agent system, Personalized views
    Abstract open

    Social tagging represents an innovative and powerful mechanism introduced by social Web: it shifts the task of classifying resources from a reduced set of knowledge engineers to the wide set of Web users. Tags generate folksonomies; in the current popular social tagging systems (such as delicious or Bibsonomy), they are difficult to manage, modify,and visualize in dynamic and personalized ways. The aim of this paper is to describe Folkview, an innovative way to conceive a folksonomy in terms of a multi-agent system. Folkview is able to support specific modular tools for personalizing customized and dynamic visualization features allowing users to simply update, manage and modify a folksonomy.

  17. Wideroos K. (2001)
    Awt (Associative writing tool): Supporting writing process with a ZigZag based writing tool -- work in progress. Proceedings of the 12th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia - Hypertext 2001, August 14 - 18, 2001, Århus, Denmark, pp. 35-36, ACM Press
    ISBN: 1-58113-420-7
    Doi: 10.1145/504216.504230, Scopus: 2-s2.0-0035758157
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: GZigZag, Hypermedia, Spatial Hypertext, Supporting writing process, ZigZag , ZigZag metastructure
    Abstract open

    In this paper a sketch of a tool for supporting writing process is discussed as an example of an application using GZigZag framework. GZigZag as well as Ted Nelson's ZigZag metastructure are introduced in a nutshell.

  18. Dattolo A., Corbatto M. (2019)
    VisualBib: A novel Web app for supporting researchers in the creation, visualization and sharing of bibliographies. Knowledge-Based Systems, July, 2019, Elsevier
    ISSN: 0950-7051
    Doi: 10.1016/j.knosys.2019.07.031, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85069825956
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Bibliographic indexes, Citation networks, Narrative views, Visual bibliographies, Visual organizers, Visualization, Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    Visual bibliographies, Visualization, Narrative views, Citation networks, Zz-structures, Bibliographic indexes, Web application, Visual organizers", abstract = "In this paper, we present VisualBib, a Web application, which allows users to create, visualize, modify, explore, and share bibliographies and the related citation networks, using innovative diagrams, called narrative views. The metadata are retrieved in real-time from four existing bibliographic indexes, Scopus, OpenCitations, and CrossRef/Orcid. Bibliographies and views are formally described and modelled using zz-structures, a semantic, not-hierarchical data model. VisualBib has been evaluated through two evaluation studies, one focused on the quantitative side and another on the qualitative side. Taking into account both studies, they evaluate the tool regarding the effectiveness performing tasks, usability, graphic layout and other questions specific to the VisualBib features. The evaluation throws positive significant results in all areas when compared to Scopus searching features.

  19. Corbatto M., Dattolo A. (2018)
    AppInventory: a Visual Catalogue of Web 2.0 and Mobile Applications for Supporting Teaching and Learning Activities. Proceedings of 22nd International Conference Information Visualisation (IV), July, 2018, Salerno, Italy, pp. 530-535, IEEE
    ISSN: 2375-0138
    ISBN: 978-1-5386-7202-0
    Doi: 10.1109/iV.2018.00098, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85060130019
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Application, Bibliography, Information Visualization, Visualization, Web 2.0
    Abstract open

    The availability of hundreds of Web 2.0 and mobile applications represent a great opportunity in helping teachers adopt student centred methodologies. These applications support users in creating and sharing digital artefacts, in aggregating, remixing and collecting heterogeneous materials and in communicating within working groups. When incorporated into daily teaching and learning activities (TLA), such applications can improve the collaborative, cognitive and creative work of the students, enhancing and redefining traditional educational practices. Nevertheless, although these applications are generally easy to find and use, there is a lack of knowledge about their existence, their functions and their potential in an educational setting. In this paper we describe AppInventory, a novel platform which contains a digital catalogue of applications: they are organized by applying an original taxonomy; the users can browse among them benefiting from a visual approach and semantic connections modelled using zz-structures.

  20. Dattolo A., Corbatto M. (2018)
    VisualBib: Narrative Views for Customized Bibliographies. Proceedings of 22nd International Conference Information Visualisation (IV), July, 2018, Salerno, Italy, pp. 133-138, IEEE
    ISSN: 2375-0138
    ISBN: 978-1-5386-7202-0
    Doi: 10.1109/iV.2018.00033, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85059038899
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Application, Bibliography, Information Visualization, Visualization, Web 2.0
    Abstract open

    Existing citation indexes of scientific literature, like Scopus, WOS, Google Scholar and OpenAire, collect metadata of papers and authors. By using appropriate queries, it is possible to access these metadata, find specific papers and all associated details, as well as retrieve indices, metrics and information about authors. However, a big issue is that they generally do not aggregate the results of subsequent searches and do not offer explicit representations of author/citation relationships between found items. This paper introduces VisualBib, a Web application prototype conceived to support researchers who wish to create, modify, visualize and share bibliographies. Starting with a small set of papers or with a restricted number of authors, it generates, in real-time, an interactive visual representation of the corresponding bibliography; the user can explore the network of cited/citing references and dynamically add new papers in order to build up customized bibliographies which are represented using holistic, aggregated and graphical views

  21. Andric M., Devedzic V., Hall W., Carr L. (2005)
    “à la” in Education: Keywords Linking Method for Selecting Web Resources. Proceedings of the 2005 Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education: Supporting Learning Through Intelligent and Socially Informed Technology, pp. 25--32, IOS Press
    ISBN: 1-58603-530-4
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Authoring support tools, Extracting metadata, Hypertext structures, Web-based teaching, ZigZag , Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    The authors of the Web-based courseware typically face problems such as how to locate, select and semantically relate suitable learning resources. As the concept of the Semantic Web has not yet matured, the authors resort to a keyword-based search and bookmarking. This paper proposes a tool that supports the authors in their tasks of selection and grouping the learning material. The ?à la? (Associative Linking of Attributes) in Education, enhances the search engine results by extracting the attributes (keywords and document formats) from the text. The relationships between the attributes are established and visualised in a novel hypertext paradigm using the ZigZag principles. Browsing the related metadata provides a quick summary of the document that can help in faster determining its relevancy. Also, the proposed solution enables better understanding why some resources are grouped together as well as providing suggestions for the further search. The results of a user trial indicate high levels of user satisfaction and effectiveness.

  22. Corbatto M., Dattolo A. (2018)
    A Web Application for Creating and Sharing Visual Bibliographies. Semantics, Analytics, Visualization, Volume 10959, April, 2018, Lyon, France, pp. 78-94, LNCS, Gonzalez-Beltran A., Osborne F., Peroni S., Vahdati S., Springer
    ISBN: 978-3-030-01379-0
    Doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-01379-0, Scopus: 2-s2.0-85058996659
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Application, Bibliography, Information Visualization, Visualization, Web 2.0
    Abstract open

    The amount of information provided by peer-reviewed scientific literature citation indexes such as Scopus, Web of Science (WOS), CrossRef and OpenCitations is huge: it offers users a lot of metadata about publications, such as the list of papers written by a specific author, the editorial and content details of a paper, the list of references and citations. But, for a researcher it could also be interesting to: extract these data in real time in order to create bibliographies, for example, by starting with a small set of significant papers or a restricted number of authors, progressively enriching them by exploring cited/citing references; dispose them in a graphical and aggregate representation; be able to easily share them with other interested researchers. With these main intents, we modelled and realized VisualBib, a Web application prototype, which enables the user to select sets of papers and/or authors in order to create customized bibliographies, and visualize them in real time, aggregating data from different sources in a comprehensive, holistic graphical view. The bibliographies are displayed using time-based visualizations, called narrative views, which contain explicit representations of the authorship and citing relations. These views may help users to: describe a research area; disseminate research on a specific topic and share personal opinions; present or evaluate the entire production of a researcher or research groups in a fresh way.

  23. Moore A., Goulding J., Brailsford T., Ashman H. (2004)
    Practical Applitudes: Case Studies of Applications of the ZigZag Hypermedia System. Proceedings of the 15th ACM conference on Hypertext and Hyperme- dia - Hypertext 2004, August 09 - 13, 2004, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, pp. 143-152 , ACM Press
    ISBN: 1-58113-848-2
    Doi: 10.1145/1012807.1012851, Scopus: 2-s2.0-11244290460
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Application, Applitude, Bioinformatics, Case studies, PIM, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    ZigZag is a paradigm of hypermedia that consists of a multidimensional system of principled interconnections. Its basic features and specifications are now well known, but despite this, very few practical applications have been described or discussed. This paper examines two projects as case studies. These projects both use the unique properties of ZigZag in order to solve real-world problems. One of these case studies is a personal information management system for mobile phones, and the other is a bioinformatics visualization system. Although superficially extremely different, these areas both make use of information that is loosely structured and deeply interconnected.

Documentation

  1. Silva C. (2007)
    From Browsing to ZigZag: a theoretical study of Theodor Nelson's ZigZag. October 4, 2007, University of California, San Diego
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Metabrowser, Ted Nelson, ZigZag
  2. Kaplan J. (2010)
    Ted Nelson and Zigzag. Internet Archive Blogs, December 8, 2010
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Blog, Ted Nelson, ZigZag
  3. Hastrup T. (2000)
    Ted Nelson's ZigZag technology.
    PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Implementations, Ted Nelson, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    On this page, I try to briefly introduce ZigZag the way I see it. The view point is technical, as the first applications of ZigZag are only about to be ready for end-users. I've also tried to include links to all important ZigZag sites on the net, as well as to a few relating matters.

  4. Nelson T. (1999)
    The ZIGZAG and DATABASE and VISUALIZATION SYSTEM.
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Data Structure, Ted Nelson, ZigZag
  5. Lukka T. (2002)
    A Gentle Introduction to Ted Nelson's ZigZag Structure (An incomplete work in progress) . December 19, 2002
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Abstract structure, Gentle introduction, GZigZag, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    This document provides a short introduction to the abstract ZigZag structure and gives some pointers for designing structures for various applitudes. Unlike most of the other documentation related to GZigZag, This document is more about the abstract structure, not this one particular implementation. This introduction, even though it is short, is still rather technical and detailed and therefore the even gentler manuscript "GZigZag: a platform for Cybertext Experiments" is recommended to be read before this document.This is work-in-progress

  6. Anderson I. (2007)
    Multidimensional Visualisation of Archival Finding Aids.
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Archival Finding Aids, Multidimensional visualization, ZigZag , Zzstructures

Formalization

  1. McGuffin M. (2004)
    A Graph-Theoretic Introduction to Ted Nelson's Zzstructures. June, 2004
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Connections, Graph-theoretic introduction, Graphs, ZigZag , Zzstructures
  2. Dattolo A., Luccio F. (2008)
    Formalizing a Model to Represent and Visualize Concept Spaces in E-Learning Environments. Proceedings of International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies - Webist 2008, Volume 1, May 4,7, 2008, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, pp. 339-346, Insticc-INST SYST Technologies Information Control & Communication
    ISBN: 978-989-8111-26-5
    Scopus: 2-s2.0-55349129729, WOS: 000259260900056
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Adaptive educational hypermedia, Concept maps, Concept space, E-learning, Graph theory, Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    Zz-structures offer graph-centric views capable of representing contextual interconnections among different information. In this paper we use these structures in order to represent and visualize concept spaces in e-learning environments, and we present their formal analytic description in terms of graph theory. In particular, we focus our attention on the formal description of two views (H and I views), and we extend these notions to a number n > 2 of dimensions. We also apply both this formal description, and the particular properties of zz-structures, to an example in the Web-based education field.

  3. Goulding J., Brailsford T., Ashman H. (2010)
    Hyperorders and Transclusion: Understanding Dimensional Hypertext. Proceedings of the 21st ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia - Hypertext 2010, pp. 201-209, ACM New York
    ISSN: 1931-1745
    Doi: 10.1145/1850770.1836296, Scopus: 2-s2.0-77954941429
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Hypermedia, Hyperorder, Hyperstructure, Set thory, Transclusion, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    ZigZag is a unique hyperstructural paradigm designed by the hypertext pioneer Ted Nelson. It has piqued a lot of interest in the hypertext community in recent years because of its aim of revolutionizing electronic access to information and knowledge bases. In ZigZag information is stored in cells that are arranged into lists organized along unlimited numbers of intersecting sets of associations called dimensions. To this infrastructure a mechanism of transclusion is added, allowing the data stored in cells to span, and hence be utilized, in different contexts. Proponents of ZigZag claim that it is a flexible and universal structure for information representation, and yet the system has not been widely adopted and has been implemented even more rarely. In this paper we address the question of whether there are intrinsic theoretical reasons as to why this is the case. While the basic features and specifications of ZigZag are well known, we delve in to the less understood area of its theoretical underpinnings to tackle this question. By modeling ZigZag within the framework of set theory we reveal a new class of yperstructure that contains no referencable link objects whatsoever, instead grouping non-referencable binary associations into disjunct but parallel sets of common semantics (dimensions). We go on to further specialize these "dimensional models" into sets of finite partial functions, which are closed over a single domain, isolating the new class of hyperstructures we are calling hyperorders. This analysis not only sheds light on the benefits and limitations of the ZigZag hypermedia system, but also provides a framework to describe and understand a wider family of possible hyperstructure models of which it is an early example. Characteristics of Zigzag's transclusion mechanisms are also investigated, highlighting a previously unrecognized distinction, and potential irrevocable conflict, between two distinct uses of content reuse: instance and identity transclusion.

  4. Portier P., Calabretto S. (2011)
    Introduction of a Dynamic Assistance to the Creative Process of Adding Dimensions to Multistructured Documents. Proceedings of the 2011 ACM Symposium on Document Engineering, September 19-21, 2011, Mountain View, California, USA, pp. 167-170, DocEng '11, ACM
    ISBN: 978-1-4503-0863-2
    Doi: 10.1145/2034691.2034728, Scopus: 2-s2.0-80054792228, WOS: 000303789300028
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Dimensions, Hyperstructure, Multistructured documents
    Abstract open

    We consider documents as the results of dynamic processes of documentary fragments’ associations. We have experienced that once a substantial number of associations exist, users need some synoptic views. One possible way of providing such views relies in the organization of associations into relevant subsets that we call “dimensions”. Thus, dimensions offer orders along which a documentary archive can be traversed. Many works have proposed efficient ways of presenting combinations of dimensions through graphical user interfaces. Moreover, there are studies on the structural properties of dimensional hypertexts. However, the problem of the origins and evolution of dimensions has not yet received a similar attention. Thus, we propose a mechanism based on a simple structural constraint for helping users in the construction of dimensions: if a cycle appears within a dimension while a user is creating a new dimension by the aggregation of existing ones, he will be encouraged (and assisted in his task) to restructure the dimensions in order to cut the cycle. This is a first step towards a rational control of the emergence and evolution of dimensions.

  5. Dattolo A., Ferrara F., Tasso C. (2009)
    Supporting Personalized User Concept Spaces and Recommendations for a Publication Sharing System. User Modeling, Adaptation, and Personalization, 17th International Conference, UMAP 2009, formerly U, June 22-26, 2009, Trento, Italy, pp. 325-330, Lecture Notes in Computer Science - LNCS, Houben, Geert-Jan and McCalla, Gord and Pianesi, Fabio and Zancanaro, Massimo, Springer Berlin Heidelberg
    ISSN: 0302-9743
    ISBN: 978-3-642-02246-3
    Doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-02247-0_31, Scopus: 2-s2.0-70349835058, WOS: 000272045900028
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Multi-agent architecture, Personalized User Concept Spaces, Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    Current publication sharing systems weakly support creation and personalization of customized user concept spaces. Focusing the attention on the user, SharingPapers, the adaptive publication sharing system proposed in this paper, allows users to organize documents in flexible and dynamic concept spaces; to merge their concept map with a social network connecting people involved in the domain of interest; to support knowledge expansion generating adaptive recommendations. SharingPapers presents a multi-agent architecture and proposes a new way of representing user profiles, their evolution and views of them.

  6. McGuffin M., schraefel m. (2004)
    A Comparison of Hyperstructures: Zzstructures, mSpaces, and Polyarchies. Proceedings of the 15th ACM conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia - Hypertext 2004, August 9-13, 2004, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, pp. 153-162, ACM Press
    ISBN: 1-58113-848-2
    Doi: 10.1145/1012807.1012852, Scopus: 2-s2.0-11244258806
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Connective structures, Edge-coloured graphs, mSpace, Multitrees, Polyarchies, ZigZag , Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    Hypermedia applications tend to use simple representations for navigation: most commonly, nodes are organized within an unconstrained graph, and users are presented with embedded links or lists of links. Recently, new data structures have emerged which may serve as alternative models for both the organization, and presentation, of hypertextual nodes and links. In this paper, we consider zzstructures, mSpaces, and polyarchies from the perspective of graph theory, and compare these models formally. The novel aspects of this work include: providing a sound, graph-theoretic analysis of zzstructures; the identification of a new class of polyarchies associated with mSpaces; and the comparison and classi- cation of these and other structures within a taxonomy. The taxonomy that results from our comparison allows us to consider, rst, what the distinct characteristics of each model are at a fundamental level, and second, what model or attributes of a model may be most appropriate for the design goals of a given hypermedia application.

  7. Dattolo A., Luccio F. (2009)
    A formal description of zz-structures. Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on New Forms of Xanalogical Storage and Function, held as part of the ACM Hypertext 2009, (508), June 29, 2009, Turin, Italy, pp. 7-11, CEUR
    ISSN: 16130073
    Scopus: 2-s2.0-84891531311
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Formal description, Innovative structures, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    The focus of this paper is on particular and innovative structures for storing, linking and manipulating information: the zz-structures. In the last years, we worked at the formalization of these structures, retaining that the description of the formal aspects can provide a better understanding of them, and can also stimulate new ideas, projects and research. This work presents our contribution for a deeper discussion on zz-structures.

  8. Dattolo A., Luccio F. (2009)
    A New Concept Map Model for E-learning Environments. Web Information Systems and Technologies: 4th International Conference, Volume 18, Berlin, Heidelberg, pp. 404-417, Lectures Notes in Business Information Processing, Cordeiro, Jos{\'e} and Hammoudi, Slimane and Filipe, Joaquim, Springer Berlin Heidelberg
    ISSN: 1865-1348
    ISBN: 978-3-642-01343-0
    Doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-01344-7_30, Scopus: 2-s2.0-67249161405, WOS: 000267703400030
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Adaptive educational hypermedia, Concept maps, E-learning, Graph theory, Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    Web-based education enables learners and teachers to access a wide quantity of continuously updated educational sources. In order to support the learning process, a system has to provide some fundamental features, such as simple mechanisms for the identification of the collection of "interesting" documents, adequate structures for storing, organizing and visualizing these documents, and appropriate mechanisms for creating personalized adaptive paths and views for learners. Adaptive Educational Hypermedia seek to apply the personalized possibilities of Adaptive Hypermedia to the domain of education, thereby granting learners a lesson individually tailored to them. A fundamental part of these systems are the concept spaces, i.e., simple and clear visual layouts of concepts and relations among them. In this paper we propose a new visual layout model in e-learning environments based on the zz-structures, which are graph-centric views capable of representing contextual interconnections among different information. In order to describe the use of these structures, we present their formal analytic description in terms of graph theory, focussing, in particular, on the formal description of two views (H and I views), and on different extensions of these notions to a number n?>?2 of dimensions. We then apply all these formal descriptions, and some particular properties of zz-structures, to an example in the Web-based education field.

Implementation

  1. Fallenstein B., Lukka T. (2004)
    Hyperstructure: Computers built around things that you care about. June 30, 2004
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Fenfire, Hyperstructure, ZigZag , Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    Computers should help us with organizing our lives, rather than making them more difficult. We conjecture that we need a system structured around items -- things that we care about, such as people, arguments and ideas, and able to express the relationships between them, so that connected to e.g. an idea we see all arguments we have considered for or against it.Based on Nelson's ideas, we describe the design of a computing environment based on a hyperstructure, a user-visible data structure for connecting related items and storing information about them (using typed bi-directional links).We also discuss Fenfire, our implementation-in-progress, and related user interface innovations particularly suited for hyperstructure.

  2. Lukka T., Kaijanaho A., Kaihlavirta V. (2013)
    Ted Nelson's GZigZag.
    Source reference, BibTeX
    Keywords: GZigZag, Implementation, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    An implementation of Ted Nelson's ZigZag(tm) structure. ZigZag is a new type of programming platform for structured data.

  3. Lukka T., Ervasti K. (2001)
    GZIGZAG. A Platform for Cybertext Experiments. Cybertext Yearbook 2000, Eskelinen, Markku and Koskimaa, Raine
    ISSN: 1457-6899
    ISBN: 951-39-0905-0
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Cybertext experiments, GZigZag, ZigZag , Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    This article describes GZigZag, which is currently the main project of the Hyperstructure Group at the univ. of Jyväskylä. GZigZag is an implemention of ZigZag, a computer paradigm invented by Ted Nelson. The paradigm abandons many currently central concepts, such as folders, files and applications, and instead offers a more flexible way to arrange information. Already at this early stage of development GZigZag has advantages compared with other computer systems.

  4. Carr L. (2001)
    A Partial Implementation of Nelson's Zigzag® ideas for Web Browsers. December 20, 2001
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Implementations, Ted Nelson, Web browser, ZigZag
  5. Kaijanaho A., Fallenstein B. (2001)
    Totally Different Structural Programming Languages in ZigZag. First International ZigZag Conference, part of Proceedings of the 12th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia - Hypertext 2001, August 14, 2001, Århus, Denmark
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Programming languages, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    The ZigZag structure and the ZigZag way of thought provide a medium for writing computer programs that is fairly different from the usual textual approach. It is similar but not identical to visual programming, but instead of using images or text to specify the program, we do it in a pure structure - the ZigZag structure, and thus eliminate a mandatory indirection. This allows the programmer to choose his or her own representation of the structure, whichever suits him or her best. There are several programming languages in ZigZag in the design and prototyping stages, including the zaubertrank, several Greek Clangs and Clasm. These languages, design issues relating to them and future prospects will be discussed.

  6. Lukka T., Fallenstein B., Kaijanaho A. (2001)
    GZigZag spec. October 8, 2001
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: GZigZag, Specifications, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    The purpose of this document is to be a living specification of the features in the GZigZag system. The GZigZag system is an implementation of the ZigZag structure, invented by Ted Nelson. Much of this document is simply a somewhat more verbose version of discussions with him but other places go into more technical detail. Some parts of this specification are not yet correctly implemented by the current version, but in these cases, this document is correct (or it should be 😉 and the implementation wrong. Some parts of this spec are at the moment just general ramblings about a topic - once we have the pole editor, I will definitely rearrange it completely. The idea is to try to make them more and more like a true spec as time goes by. The parts marked with the dreaded triple-X symbol (XXX) are as yet incomplete and should be taken with a not only a grain but a mountain of salt. They mostly contain just a few loose sentences setting the topic.

  7. Andric M., Hall W., Carr L. (2004)
    Assisting Artifact Retrieval in Software Engineering Projects. Proceedings of the 2004 ACM Symposium on Document Engineering, October 28 - 30, 2004, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, pp. 48-50, ACM Press
    ISBN: 1-58113-938-1
    Doi: 10.1145/1030397.1030407, Scopus: 2-s2.0-20344375195
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Links, Metadata, Recommender systems, ZigZag , Zzstructures
    Abstract open

    The research presented in this paper focuses on the issue of how a recommender system can support the task of searching documents and artifacts constructed in a software development project. The "A LA" (Associative Linking of Attributes) system represents a recommender facility built on top of a document management system. The facility provides assistance to finding items by utilising hypertextually connected metadata. In order to determine metadata relationships "A LA" employs techniques of content analysis together with exploiting user-generated metadata and usage logs. An evaluation study that compares querying using a full text search approach with the "A LA" method for finding relevant documents was conducted.

Other references

  1. Page K., Cruickshank D., De Roure D. (2001)
    Its About Time: Link Streams as Continuous Metadata. Proceedings of the 12th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia - Hypertext 2001, August 14-18, 2001, Aarhus, Denmark, pp. 93- 102, ACM Press
    Doi: 10.1145/504216.504242, Scopus: 2-s2.0-0035758025
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Metadata, Open hypermedia, Streamed media, Temporal linking
    Abstract open

    As enabling technologies become available there is an increasing use of temporal media streams, such as audio and video, within a hypertext context. In this paper we present the rationale and requirements for delivering continuous metadata alongside the media stream, and focus on linking as our case study. We consider the mechanism for delivery of the metadata across a distributed system, the format and content of the metadata flow itself, and the presentation of the media and augmenting metadata to the user. Two initial proof of concept applications have been developed to demonstrate these concepts, which we describe. Finally we propose a framework for highly distributed delivery and processing of multicast continuous metadata, as a part of the infrastructure necessary to provide a more complete multimedia environment for hypermedia systems.

Secondary reference

  1. Nelson T. (2003)
    Structure, Tradition and Possibility. Keynote in Proceedings of the 14th ACM conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia - Hypertext 2003, August 26-30, 2003, Nottingham, United Kingdom, ACM Press
    ISBN: 1-58113-704-4
    Doi: 10.1145/900051.900053
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Structure, Tradition and Possibility, VLIT
  2. Sitaker K. (2016)
    The memory models that underlie programming languages.
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Memory models, Programming languages, ZigZag
  3. Berghel H. (1999)
    Value-Added Publishing. Communications of the ACM , Volume 42(1), January, 1999, New York, NY, USA, pp. 19-23, ACM
    Doi: 10.1145/291469.291487
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Electronic publishing, Value-added publishing
  4. Nelson T. (2011)
    Curriculum Vitae: Theodor Holm Nelson, PhD. June 15, 2011
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Career summary, Curriculum Vitae, Ted Nelson, Xanadu, ZigZag
  5. Ashman H., Moore A. (2004)
    Future Visions of Common-Use Hypertext. Journal of Digital Information, Volume 5(1)
    ISSN: 1368-7506
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Hypertexts, Vision, ZigZag
  6. Dave P., Karadkar U., Furuta R., Francisco-Revilla L., Shipman F., Dash S., Dalal Z. (2003)
    Browsing Intricately Interconnected Paths. Proceedings of the 14th ACM conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia - Hypertext 2003, August 26–30, 2003, Nottingham, United Kingdom, pp. 95-103, ACM Press
    ISBN: 1-58113-704-4
    Doi: 10.1145/900051.900071, Scopus: 2-s2.0-1142281002
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Directed paths, Navigation metaphors, Path Engine, Path-centric browsing, Walden's Paths
    Abstract open

    Graph-centric and node-centric browsing are the two commonly identified hypertext-browsing paradigms. We believe that path- centric browsing, the browsing behavior exhibited by path interfaces, is an independent browsing paradigm that combines useful aspects of the two commonly supported cases. Paths have long been recognized as an effective medium for aggregating and communicating information and have been included in various hypermedia systems as alternate metaphors or supporting tools. The Walden’s Paths project promotes path-centric traversal as the primary browsing mechanism over Web-based materials. This paper expands the notion of our paths to include more generalized structures and interconnections across paths. We present an architecture for describing complex networks of such paths. Finally, we discuss the design and present a prototype implementation of the Path Engine, a tool that provides a linear interface for browsing intricately interconnected paths.

  7. Miles-Board T., Deveril D., Lansdale J., Carr L., Hall W. (2003)
    Decentering the Dancing Text: From Dance Intertext to Hypertext. Proceedings of the 14th ACM conference on Hypertext and Hyperme- dia - Hypertext 2003, August 26–30, 2003, Nottingham, United Kingdom, pp. 108-119, ACM Press
    ISBN: 1-58113-704-4
    Doi: 10.1145/900051.900075, Scopus: 2-s2.0-1142268827
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Dance analysis, Hypertextuality, Intertextuality
    Abstract open

    This paper explains and draws together two projects from different disciplines: dance studies and hypertext writing. Each project sets out to examine the processes and practices of hypertextuality, and to develop new ways of writing using electronic technology and the Internet. The dance studies project seeks to link the critical theory of intertextuality (as a means of dance interpretation) with the theoretical and practical concerns of hypertextuality. It hopes to show a convergence of the two into a working system for analysing dance in a network of people, institutions and information, The Associative Writing Framework (AWF) project seeks to explore how writers could best be supported in representing and exploring hypertextuality in a Web environment, and in producing new hypertexts which integrate or "glue together" existing Web resources (ideas, concepts, data, descriptions, experiences, claims, theories, suggestions, reports, etc.). Following the combining of the two projects we report on some initial evaluation of the AWF system by dance experts, and discuss where the relationship might lead and potential future outcomes of the collaboration.

State of art

  1. Dattolo A., Luccio F. (2009)
    A State of Art Survey on zz-structures. Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on New Forms of Xanalogical Storage and Function, held as part of the ACM Hypertext 2009, Volume 508, June 29, 2009, Turin, Italy, pp. 1-6, CEUR
    ISSN: 1613-0073
    Scopus: 2-s2.0-84891551906
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Innovative structures, State of Art, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    Zz-structures are particular data structures capable of representing both hypertextual information and contextual interconnections among different information. The focus of this paper is to stimulate new research on this topic, by providing, in a state of the art survey, a short description and comparison of all the material that, to the best of our knowledge, is related to zz-structures: informal and formal descriptions, implementations, languages, demonstrations, projects and applitudes of zz-structures; in fact, despite their large use in different fields, the literature lacks of an exhaustive and up-to-date description of them.

Vision

  1. Dechov D., Struppa D. (2015)
    Intertwingled The Work and Influence of Ted Nelson. D. R. Dechow, D. C. Struppa, Springer -Verlag
    ISBN: 978-3-319-16925-5
    Doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-16925-5
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Bibliography, Hypertext, Intertwingled , Ted Nelson, Transclusion, Vision, Xanadu, ZigZag , Zzstructures
  2. Nelson T. (1999)
    Xanalogical Structure, Needed Now More than Ever: Parallel Documents, Deep Links to Content, Deep Versioning, and Deep Re-Use. ACM Computing Surveys, Volume 31(4es), December, 1999, pp. 1-32, ACM
    ISSN: 0360-0300
    Doi: 10.1145/345966.346033
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Xanadu, Xanalogical structures, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    Project Xanadu, the original hypertext project, is often misunderstood as an attempt to create the World Wide Web. It has always been much more ambitious, proposing an entire form of literature where links do not break as versions change; where documents may be closely compared side by side and closely annotated; where it is possible to see the origins of every quotation; and in which there is a valid copyright system - a literary, legal and business arrangement - for frictionless, non-negotiated quotation at any time and in any amount. The Web trivialized this original Xanadu model, vastly but incorrectly simplifying these problems to a world of fragile ever breaking one-way links, with no recognition of change or copyright, and no support for multiple versions or principled re-use. Fonts and glitz, rather than content connective structure, prevail. Serious electronic literature (for scholarship, detailed controversy and detailed collaboration) must support bidirectional and profuse links, which cannot be embedded; and must offer facilities for easily tracking re-use on a principled basis among versions and quotations. Xanalogical literary structure is a unique symmetrical connective system for text (and other separable media elements), with two complementary forms of connection that achieve these functions - survivable deep linkage (content links) and recognizable, visible re- use (transclusion). Both of these are easily implemented by a document model using content lists which reference stabilized media. This system of literary structure offers uniquely integrated methods for version management, side-by-side comparison and visualizable re- use, which lead to a radically beneficial and principled copyright system (endorsed in principle by the ACM). Though dauntingly far from the standards which have presently caught on, this design is still valid and may yet find a place in the evolving Internet universe.

  3. Pourabdollah A. (2009)
    Theory and Practice of the Ternary Relations Model of Information Management. February, 2009
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Hypertext Model, Information Management, Information Model, Schema-less Database, Ternary Relations Model, TRM, Workflow Model
    Abstract open

    This thesis proposes a new, highly generalised and fundamental, information-modelling framework called the TRM (Ternary Relations Model). The TRM was designed to be a model for converging a number of differing paradigms of information management, some of which are quite isolated. These include areas such as: hypertext navigation; relational databases; semi-structured databases; the Semantic Web; ZigZag and workflow modelling.While many related works model linking by the connection of two ends, the TRM adds a third element to this, thereby enriching the links with associative meanings. The TRM is a formal description of a technique that establishes bi-directional and dynamic node-link structures in which each link is an ordered triple of three other nodes. The key features that makes the TRM distinct from other triple-based models (such as RDF) is the integration of bi-directionality, functional links and simplicity in the definition and elements hierarchy. There are two useful applications of the TRM. Firstly it may be used as a tool for the analysis of information models, to elucidate connections and parallels. Secondly, it may be used as a “construction kit” to build new paradigms and/or applications in information management. The TRM may be used to provide a substrate for building diverse systems, such as adaptive hypertext, schemaless database, query languages, hyperlink models and workflow management systems. It is, however, highly generalised and is by no means limited to these purposes.

  4. Pourabdollah A., Ashman H., Brailsford T. (2008)
    Are We Talking About the Same Structure? A Unified Approach to Hypertext Links, XML, RDF and Zigzag. Proceedings of the Nineteenth ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia - Hypertext 2008, June 19 - 21, 2008, Pittsburgh, PA, USA, pp. 241-242 , ACM Press
    ISBN: 978-1-59593-985-2
    Doi: 10.1145/1379092.1379145, Scopus: 2-s2.0-57349177542
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Hypertext links, RDF, XML, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    There are many different hypertext systems and paradigms, each with their apparent advantages. However the distinctions are perhaps not as significant as they seem. If we can reduce the core linking functionality to some common structure, which allows us to consider hypertext systems within a common model, we could identify what, if anything, distinguishes hypertext systems from each other. This paper offers such a common structure, showing the conceptual similarities between each of these systems and paradigms.

  5. Nelson T. (2001)
    ZigZag (Tech briefing). Proceedings of the 12th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia - Hypertext 2001, August 14 - 18, 2001, Århus, Denmark, pp. 261-262 , ACM Press
    ISBN: 1-58113-420-7
    Doi: 10.1145/504216.504281
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Deeper cosmology, Hierarchy, Tech briefing, ZigZag , Zzstructures
  6. Nelson T. (1998)
    What's On My Mind (invited talk). May 12-13, 1998, Fairfax VA
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Connections, Multidimensional space, ZigZag , Zzstructures
  7. Nelson T. (2004)
    A Cosmology for a Different Computer Universe: Data Model, Mechanisms, Virtual Machine and Visualizaton Infrastructure. Journal of Digital Information, Volume 5(1), July , 2004, Digital Information Research Foundation
    ISSN: 1368-7506
    Source reference, PDF, BibTeX
    Keywords: Cosmology, Hierarchy, Mechanism, ZigZag
    Abstract open

    The computing world is based on one principal system of conventions -- the simulation of hierarchy and the simulation of paper. The article introduces an entirely different system of conventions for data and computing. zzstructure is a generalized representation for all data and a new set of mechanisms for all computing. The article provides a reference description of zzstructure and what we hope to build on it. From orthogonally connected data items (zzcells) and untyped connections (zzlinks), we build a cross-connected fabric of data (zzstructure) that is visualizable, interactive, and programmable. zzstructure does not have a canonical string representation, as is usual. It is essentially spatial. It is based on criss-crossed lists of cells which are assigned to dimensions. Along these dimensions the cells are viewable, traversible, and subject to operations. This leads to programming mechanisms built on this fabric; a virtual interactivemachine (zzvim) built on these mechanisms; new visualization techniques built on the data fabric and mechanisms; and proposed new formats for the general representation of documents and arbitrary structure -- perhaps less biased than XML.