Onion Patch(sm): Concept Mapped OPACs and Electronic Indexes

[Gerry McKiernan]

                     The Onion Patch(sm):
          Concept Mapped OPACs and Electronic Indexes

   For a planned review and clearinghouse, I am interested in
projects, research, products and services that have applied Concept
Maps as an alternative to conventional OPAC displays or index databases
interfaces. Concept Maps are visual display of resource sets that
share features, content, or other attributes. For more details about
Concept Maps users may wish to review the descriptions at my LayerCake(sm)
project at URL

       http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/LayerCake.htm

   It has occurred to me that while there have been an increasing
enhancement with the interface to OPACs and other index databases,
the approach remains very much linear in access, presentation and
display. Even within a GUI interface, the OPAC still remains quite
'text'ual.

   By the adaption of the Concept Maps as implemented by Chen and
colleagues in their prototype for the University of Illinois Digital
Library Initiative, I believe that the interfaces of OPACs and as well
as those for commercial or add-on Index databases can be significantly
improved.

   I can envision an OPAC that would display the results of a
Subject search as a cluster map, indicating the relative number of
entries for subject subdivisions by the relative size of the associated.
The same could apply to a search of an CD-ROM database or an Index
database collection that has been integrated within a OPAC (e.g.
MDAS in NOTIS, I mean AmeriTech).

   With a frames implementation, I can envision a profile of any
given cluster displayed as a series of layers of relative height
or an indicative color representing the relative number of entries
for a selected heading and its associated heading.

   I could envision for a key word search in which the results
would be displayed in clusters by a shared class number and/or
year of publication.

   Within the Concept Mapped OPAC, users would be presented
with complete results of a given search. They would have the option of
select an segment/section of the Concept Map that would display
a subset of the higher group, or entries for retrieved resources.
Such secondary and tertiary display could be linear as they are now,
or entries could be displayed within a Concept  Map environment as
well.

   I would appreciate any and all reactions to these musings
as well as the URL, e-mail or citations to relevant projects or
investigations.

   Regards,

Gerry McKiernan
Curator, CyberStacks(sm)
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011

                         "Envison"
P.S.
   I can also envision the use of a browser such as Netscape as
an interface to CD-ROM databases with similar functionality, but that's
another posting!