We will be scheduling a CITI training for CBs and CBOs in Brooklyn this spring. The date is dependent upon the number of participants. Training will include basic GIS principles, GIS desktop software and tips for making your own maps. Contact us at citi@mas.org if you would like to participiate.
Additional information about the CITI Youth program and how to find rezoning areas can be found in the March issue of the CITI Newsletter at http://www.myciti.org/newsletters/2005-03.html.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
GoogleMaps
Discussion of GoogleMaps has been lively on my User Interface design lists. Overall ratings for Google Maps are good, but I have problems with the way they locate places based on search.
GoogleMaps
http://maps.google.com/
Posters say they like that you can drag the map and that the directions appear to be more accurate than MapQuest or Yahoo! Maps. To find places on the map, you can use their search boxes on the right or enter a search in the bar above. It wasn't apparent at first exactly how to find groups of things like hotels or grocery stores, which is organized as a layer on Yahoo (click a box marked restaurants). I had to take the Tour to figure that the search bar is the way to do this. Using the search bar you can plot places like restaurants, hotels, etc. based on info on web pages they have stored, which is sort of wild but not always accurate or complete. I prefer Yahoo!'s ability to plot items that are categorized as what they are vs having the word in its name, e.g., if you search for "Farm" you get a lot of State Farm agents.
But one thing Google does well is to tie a particular location to its "more like this" search function. If you click a search result, it will point you to the website of the entity in question or a list of websites of nearby related entities. This is less seeing it on a map than finding what may be nearby. Unfortunately, if you try to use the back button to return to the map search results, you get the default GoogleMaps view.
As for the interface, I had a tendency to reset the map back to the entire US view by accident, while using the zoom function. The Zoom and Reset buttons are a bit close and not otherwise labeled. Reset button looks a lot like "Recenter" to me. Also, if you pan off of the US and try to zoom in, you get a lot of blank images with red Xs. And don't try to find South America, Europe or Russia. The oceans go on forever....
Here are a some similar maps in other parts of the world:
Search.ch Map (Switzerland)
http://map.search.ch/
A blogger recently suggested that Google copied the interface from this site. It uses an aerial photo layer that is fun to zoom into, but probably not entirely necessary for the purpose of the site.
Map My India
http://mapmyindia.com/
from a post on sigia-l:
GoogleMaps
http://maps.google.com/
Posters say they like that you can drag the map and that the directions appear to be more accurate than MapQuest or Yahoo! Maps. To find places on the map, you can use their search boxes on the right or enter a search in the bar above. It wasn't apparent at first exactly how to find groups of things like hotels or grocery stores, which is organized as a layer on Yahoo (click a box marked restaurants). I had to take the Tour to figure that the search bar is the way to do this. Using the search bar you can plot places like restaurants, hotels, etc. based on info on web pages they have stored, which is sort of wild but not always accurate or complete. I prefer Yahoo!'s ability to plot items that are categorized as what they are vs having the word in its name, e.g., if you search for "Farm" you get a lot of State Farm agents.
But one thing Google does well is to tie a particular location to its "more like this" search function. If you click a search result, it will point you to the website of the entity in question or a list of websites of nearby related entities. This is less seeing it on a map than finding what may be nearby. Unfortunately, if you try to use the back button to return to the map search results, you get the default GoogleMaps view.
As for the interface, I had a tendency to reset the map back to the entire US view by accident, while using the zoom function. The Zoom and Reset buttons are a bit close and not otherwise labeled. Reset button looks a lot like "Recenter" to me. Also, if you pan off of the US and try to zoom in, you get a lot of blank images with red Xs. And don't try to find South America, Europe or Russia. The oceans go on forever....
Here are a some similar maps in other parts of the world:
Search.ch Map (Switzerland)
http://map.search.ch/
A blogger recently suggested that Google copied the interface from this site. It uses an aerial photo layer that is fun to zoom into, but probably not entirely necessary for the purpose of the site.
Map My India
http://mapmyindia.com/
from a post on sigia-l:
Although the quality, accuracy and detail [of mapmyindia] isn't comparable but at least in some respects such as download speed and ease of marking major landmarks, it's actually better than Google Maps and Mapquest.
To see how it works, search for Juhu, Mumbai, Maharashtra. You can plot hotels, banks, ATMs etc on the map using the menu on right. One cannot however, link to a particular location without subscription.
The design of the site is led by a 19 years old Stanford sophomore,
Rohan Verma. http://nripulse.com/Archives/Profile_Rohan.htm
To see how it works, search for Juhu, Mumbai, Maharashtra. You can plot hotels, banks, ATMs etc on the map using the menu on right. One cannot however, link to a particular location without subscription.
The design of the site is led by a 19 years old Stanford sophomore,
Rohan Verma. http://nripulse.com/Archives/Profile_Rohan.htm
Maps Aid Community Decision-Making
February 9, 2005, Municipal Art Society
CITI map technicians Earl Dunn and Marcus Sheftall from Bushwick’s Academy of Urban Planning are becoming celebrities at their local community board meetings. At each meeting of Community Board 4 and its land use committee, the10th graders project large maps on a screen by accessing www.myciti.org with a wireless laptop.
Following the meeting’s agenda, students zoom into areas and properties being discussed and answer questions from board members about local zoning, property ownership and other planning related issues.
Map Technicians at Brooklyn CB4 Marcus Sheftall and Earl Dunn compare a rendering of a proposed new firehouse design for their community with its building footprint and surrounding land uses.
Earl and Marcus were chosen after a month-long application process that included applications, map-making, resumes, cover letters, and interviews Nadine Whitted, District Manager at CB4. “Once they told me I got the job I was very excited, being that it’s my first job,” Marcus says. “Then when I found out that a friend of mine Earl Dunn was employed also, it helped because at least I would know someone else there. We went through training for two weeks, which was fun because I learned a lot.”
The training program for the students and their teachers was designed by the Municipal Art Society Planning Center and the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment, lead partner at the Academy of Urban Planning (AUP), a New Visions school.
“The students really look forward to coming to the meetings and see that they are making a valuable contribution to discussions,” says Meredith Phillips, Urban Planning Coordinator at AUP who has integrated the program into the school’s theme-based activities. “They are learning a lot about community participation – and having a great time in the process!”
After the last CB 4 meeting in January, several members of the board came over and marveled as the students created and queried the maps for information. Even NYPD officers asked for maps to use as reference for their work in the area.
How to Get Involved
The CITI Youth program is expanding into new high schools and community boards next fall and has only 4 spots left for new host schools. If you are a community board member or educator that would like to find out more about the CITI Youth program contact citi@mas.org.
Municipal Art Society
Community Information Technology Initiative
http://www.myciti.org
CITI map technicians Earl Dunn and Marcus Sheftall from Bushwick’s Academy of Urban Planning are becoming celebrities at their local community board meetings. At each meeting of Community Board 4 and its land use committee, the10th graders project large maps on a screen by accessing www.myciti.org with a wireless laptop.
Following the meeting’s agenda, students zoom into areas and properties being discussed and answer questions from board members about local zoning, property ownership and other planning related issues.
Map Technicians at Brooklyn CB4 Marcus Sheftall and Earl Dunn compare a rendering of a proposed new firehouse design for their community with its building footprint and surrounding land uses. Earl and Marcus were chosen after a month-long application process that included applications, map-making, resumes, cover letters, and interviews Nadine Whitted, District Manager at CB4. “Once they told me I got the job I was very excited, being that it’s my first job,” Marcus says. “Then when I found out that a friend of mine Earl Dunn was employed also, it helped because at least I would know someone else there. We went through training for two weeks, which was fun because I learned a lot.”
The training program for the students and their teachers was designed by the Municipal Art Society Planning Center and the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment, lead partner at the Academy of Urban Planning (AUP), a New Visions school.
“The students really look forward to coming to the meetings and see that they are making a valuable contribution to discussions,” says Meredith Phillips, Urban Planning Coordinator at AUP who has integrated the program into the school’s theme-based activities. “They are learning a lot about community participation – and having a great time in the process!”
After the last CB 4 meeting in January, several members of the board came over and marveled as the students created and queried the maps for information. Even NYPD officers asked for maps to use as reference for their work in the area.
How to Get Involved
The CITI Youth program is expanding into new high schools and community boards next fall and has only 4 spots left for new host schools. If you are a community board member or educator that would like to find out more about the CITI Youth program contact citi@mas.org.
Municipal Art Society
Community Information Technology Initiative
http://www.myciti.org
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
IA/UX events listings
Mini Conference on Human Factors in Complex Sociotechnical Systems
The South Jersey Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
will be hosting a mini-conference on April 28 & 29, 2005, entitled
"Mini-Conference on Human Factors in Complex Sociotechnical Systems."
This event will be held at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC), located near the Atlantic
City International Airport, New Jersey.
The mini-conference is an opportunity for researchers and
practitioners in human factors, human-computer interaction, and
related fields, who work with complex sociotechnical systems, to share
their research, designs, techniques, and lessons learned with each
other. This is also a good medium for researchers to communicate
their ongoing research as well as students to get a chance to present
at a conference. This will be the first year of the conference and we
hope the quality of the program will make it a regular event.
The mini-conference committee is seeking submissions for presentations
and posters that would be of interest to human factors researchers and
practitioners, as well as others interested in behavioral science,
engineering, and management. Papers should focus on domains that
involve multiple users with different knowledge levels, abilities, and
task needs, who interact with complex tools and with one another. We
are especially interested in papers related to, but not limited to,
domains with substantial safety, security, or economic implications.
Some examples of these domains are Aviation, Air Traffic Control,
Military, Law Enforcement, Homeland Security, Emergency Management,
Medical Process Control, and Finance and Securities Trading. We
encourage submissions discussing works in progress as well as
submissions from students seeking an opportunity to present their work.
The deadline for submitting to the conference is February 14, 2005 and
the committee has already started accepting submissions. Proceedings
for the conference will be published in a CD ROM format and
distributed to the conference attendees.
For more information please visit www.sjhfes.org
For any questions, please contact: miniconference@sjhfes.org
Send submissions to: submissions@sjhfes.org
will be hosting a mini-conference on April 28 & 29, 2005, entitled
"Mini-Conference on Human Factors in Complex Sociotechnical Systems."
This event will be held at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
William J. Hughes Technical Center (WJHTC), located near the Atlantic
City International Airport, New Jersey.
The mini-conference is an opportunity for researchers and
practitioners in human factors, human-computer interaction, and
related fields, who work with complex sociotechnical systems, to share
their research, designs, techniques, and lessons learned with each
other. This is also a good medium for researchers to communicate
their ongoing research as well as students to get a chance to present
at a conference. This will be the first year of the conference and we
hope the quality of the program will make it a regular event.
The mini-conference committee is seeking submissions for presentations
and posters that would be of interest to human factors researchers and
practitioners, as well as others interested in behavioral science,
engineering, and management. Papers should focus on domains that
involve multiple users with different knowledge levels, abilities, and
task needs, who interact with complex tools and with one another. We
are especially interested in papers related to, but not limited to,
domains with substantial safety, security, or economic implications.
Some examples of these domains are Aviation, Air Traffic Control,
Military, Law Enforcement, Homeland Security, Emergency Management,
Medical Process Control, and Finance and Securities Trading. We
encourage submissions discussing works in progress as well as
submissions from students seeking an opportunity to present their work.
The deadline for submitting to the conference is February 14, 2005 and
the committee has already started accepting submissions. Proceedings
for the conference will be published in a CD ROM format and
distributed to the conference attendees.
For more information please visit www.sjhfes.org
For any questions, please contact: miniconference@sjhfes.org
Send submissions to: submissions@sjhfes.org
Friday, October 01, 2004
AIfIA sponsors metadata practices conference
From aifia.org:
AIfIA sponsors conferences and events helping to build the practice of
information architecture. Learn more about AIfIA's sponsorship program
at http://aifia.org/pg/ia_events_sponsorship.php#000247
***********
September 30, 2004 -- AIfIA will sponsor Metadata for Interoperability
in the Global Corporate Environment, a pre-conference for the DC-2004
International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications.
The one-day pre-conference program takes place on October 10, 2004 in
Shanghai, China, and is expected to attract around 100 people. The
pre-conference workshop addresses the metadata lifecycle -- creation,
management, and use -- as it applies to enterprise applications and
activities, with focus on interoperability enabling international
business. Experts will present case studies about interesting
applications of metadata, and then discuss issues related to metadata
creation, management, and use in the enterprise.
"This pre-conference program will help participants learn how to
optimize the early stages of a metadata program for international and
cross-cultural deployments,"said Makx Dekkers, DCMI Managing Director.
"Support from AIfIA underscores the vital role of information
architecture in developing a metadata program."
"We are pleased to support this important initiative," said AIfIA
President Victor Lombardi. "We believe that information architecture
can help inform the process for aligning business goals to a metadata
initiative."
More details about this event are available at the DCMI conference
website at http://dc2004.library.sh.cn/.
AIfIA sponsors conferences and events helping to build the practice of
information architecture. Learn more about AIfIA's sponsorship program
at http://aifia.org/pg/ia_events_sponsorship.php#000247
***********
September 30, 2004 -- AIfIA will sponsor Metadata for Interoperability
in the Global Corporate Environment, a pre-conference for the DC-2004
International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications.
The one-day pre-conference program takes place on October 10, 2004 in
Shanghai, China, and is expected to attract around 100 people. The
pre-conference workshop addresses the metadata lifecycle -- creation,
management, and use -- as it applies to enterprise applications and
activities, with focus on interoperability enabling international
business. Experts will present case studies about interesting
applications of metadata, and then discuss issues related to metadata
creation, management, and use in the enterprise.
"This pre-conference program will help participants learn how to
optimize the early stages of a metadata program for international and
cross-cultural deployments,"said Makx Dekkers, DCMI Managing Director.
"Support from AIfIA underscores the vital role of information
architecture in developing a metadata program."
"We are pleased to support this important initiative," said AIfIA
President Victor Lombardi. "We believe that information architecture
can help inform the process for aligning business goals to a metadata
initiative."
More details about this event are available at the DCMI conference
website at http://dc2004.library.sh.cn/.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Happy Birthday, STOP Sign
I love finding crossroads where my interests in usability and mapping meet. In Happy Birthday Stop Sign, Eric Reiss discusses the birth and standardization of the ubiquitous stop sign.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
IA Deliverables
From time to time, I will post some interesting resources and tools in the information architectecture field. Today, you will find a list of Deliverables related to the IA process that were discussed on the AIfIA listserv.
Victor Lombardi's Blue wireframe (looks like a blueprint)
http://aifia.org/tools/download/LombardiWireframe.pdf
Clifton Evans' all-blue page...
http://www.infostyling.com/examples/Blueprinting_Object1.gif
Austin Govella's recent samples:
1. Very didactic. Client wanted more communication (59k PDF):
http://grafofini.com/stage/sample_deliverables/eto_wireframe_home.pdf
2. Very sparse. Client didn't care why or how. Just wanted progress (67k PDF):
http://grafofini.com/stage/sample_deliverables/ubs_home-wf.pdf
Dan Saffer suggested creating the wireframes on computer and tracing them by hand to look unfinished/changeable.
There are some more great samples on the AIfIA Tools page:
http://aifia.org/tools/
And great ideas and pointers on the IA Wiki:
http://www.iawiki.net/DeliverablesAndArtifacts
Process Outline from Thomas Vander Wal:
Initial meetings (discussion):
-gather user types, content types, possible interactive needs (not desires)
-estimate volume of information intially, and volume of information turn-over (how often and how much information is updated and added to).
Deliverable - Project Overview (Word document)
-Results of initial meeting/needs
-Rough persona and/or information use patterns of the user that come to the site (Why do people come to the site? What do they do with the information? Who is the audience? How often do they come to the site?).
-Client signs off once there is agreement
Deliverable FROM client - Content Inventory:
-individual documents they would like included
-current web sites they own, and/or pointer(s) to applications they want incorporated.
Deliverable - Content Inventory (spreadsheet):
This document will be our communication tool to prod the client for content that is missing and to show our work progress.
-category column
-raw content/document delivery column
-document size (words)
-number of images
-number and size of tables
-development status.
Deliverable - Open Card Sort (spreadsheet)
-For larger sub-sites
-client can do it themselves if they want
Deliverable - Content Object Type Inventory (outline format such as Word or PDF of OmniOutliner):
-images
-navigation
-referred links
-data tables
-headers
-sub-headers
-footers
-branding
-cross-branding
-dynamic elements
-rich content elements (where required)
Deliverable - Raw Wireframe:
-HTML with borders turned on and greeking
-one wireframe for each page type
-capture the various content objects and placement with consistency
Deliverable - Semantic Structure
-CSS classes and ids
-naming structure for dynamic and rich elements
Deliverable - Clickable Raw Wireframe
-include names and categories
-start testing it with users (heuristic assessment) and flow (particularly testing when users drop into the middle of a site).
-carved up wireframe into templates for HTML and/or CMS and applications.
Converted Content into the content templates.
Other elements are set as includes or are in the CSS.
Color Palette:
-known items (enterprise branding that is required)
-markup a few pallet options with CSS
-do a few user tests to verify choices/options
-create HTML CSS table listing the CSS attribute, an example, and when it gets used.
Graphic Development and Local Branding
-20 to 50% of the content has been converted
-tweak templates
-test and make adjustments accordingly
Depending on the size of the site, the number of people involved and access to read users, most of the steps in this process are flexible, except the raw HTML wireframe, clickable wireframe, and the content spreadsheets.
Victor Lombardi's Blue wireframe (looks like a blueprint)
http://aifia.org/tools/download/LombardiWireframe.pdf
Clifton Evans' all-blue page...
http://www.infostyling.com/examples/Blueprinting_Object1.gif
Austin Govella's recent samples:
1. Very didactic. Client wanted more communication (59k PDF):
http://grafofini.com/stage/sample_deliverables/eto_wireframe_home.pdf
2. Very sparse. Client didn't care why or how. Just wanted progress (67k PDF):
http://grafofini.com/stage/sample_deliverables/ubs_home-wf.pdf
Dan Saffer suggested creating the wireframes on computer and tracing them by hand to look unfinished/changeable.
There are some more great samples on the AIfIA Tools page:
http://aifia.org/tools/
And great ideas and pointers on the IA Wiki:
http://www.iawiki.net/DeliverablesAndArtifacts
Process Outline from Thomas Vander Wal:
Initial meetings (discussion):
-gather user types, content types, possible interactive needs (not desires)
-estimate volume of information intially, and volume of information turn-over (how often and how much information is updated and added to).
Deliverable - Project Overview (Word document)
-Results of initial meeting/needs
-Rough persona and/or information use patterns of the user that come to the site (Why do people come to the site? What do they do with the information? Who is the audience? How often do they come to the site?).
-Client signs off once there is agreement
Deliverable FROM client - Content Inventory:
-individual documents they would like included
-current web sites they own, and/or pointer(s) to applications they want incorporated.
Deliverable - Content Inventory (spreadsheet):
This document will be our communication tool to prod the client for content that is missing and to show our work progress.
-category column
-raw content/document delivery column
-document size (words)
-number of images
-number and size of tables
-development status.
Deliverable - Open Card Sort (spreadsheet)
-For larger sub-sites
-client can do it themselves if they want
Deliverable - Content Object Type Inventory (outline format such as Word or PDF of OmniOutliner):
-images
-navigation
-referred links
-data tables
-headers
-sub-headers
-footers
-branding
-cross-branding
-dynamic elements
-rich content elements (where required)
Deliverable - Raw Wireframe:
-HTML with borders turned on and greeking
-one wireframe for each page type
-capture the various content objects and placement with consistency
Deliverable - Semantic Structure
-CSS classes and ids
-naming structure for dynamic and rich elements
Deliverable - Clickable Raw Wireframe
-include names and categories
-start testing it with users (heuristic assessment) and flow (particularly testing when users drop into the middle of a site).
-carved up wireframe into templates for HTML and/or CMS and applications.
Converted Content into the content templates.
Other elements are set as includes or are in the CSS.
Color Palette:
-known items (enterprise branding that is required)
-markup a few pallet options with CSS
-do a few user tests to verify choices/options
-create HTML CSS table listing the CSS attribute, an example, and when it gets used.
Graphic Development and Local Branding
-20 to 50% of the content has been converted
-tweak templates
-test and make adjustments accordingly
Depending on the size of the site, the number of people involved and access to read users, most of the steps in this process are flexible, except the raw HTML wireframe, clickable wireframe, and the content spreadsheets.
Thursday, May 20, 2004
GISMO blog
I am working on a new design for the GISMO (NYC area GIS user group) website and am experimenting with adding a blog.
Please take a look:
http://gismonyc.blogspot.com
This blog is hosted on blogspot.com. It is rather featureless at this point, but I think as an example of what a blog would look like for a group like ours, it is a start. I plan to move it to MovableType when I set up a new hosting account. I've decided to drop Brinkster & go to Netfirms. I took a class at eclasses.org in blogging and really love the MovableType interface.
Please take a look:
http://gismonyc.blogspot.com
This blog is hosted on blogspot.com. It is rather featureless at this point, but I think as an example of what a blog would look like for a group like ours, it is a start. I plan to move it to MovableType when I set up a new hosting account. I've decided to drop Brinkster & go to Netfirms. I took a class at eclasses.org in blogging and really love the MovableType interface.
Monday, May 17, 2004
What's up with Brinkster?
My website is down. Brinkster launched a great new site with new pricing structure. Somehow my files got lost in the mix. Not just my little website but a great big one I was working on for AMNH. I had been having trouble with Brinkster for a while - there were ads on my supposedly ad-free site. Now there are no ads, but no files either. It'll be a pain to repost these files, so I'm thinking about dropping the account. I was ready to move it to AMNH anyway & was planning to find a host that supports MovableType. Of course that was until I heard about the new MT pricing structure. Now I'm wondering if Blogger is where I belong.
{interlude}
So, just now I finished up with the support people via LivePerson. Of course they are not aware of why the files are gone. Did I delete them by accident, they wonder? Six hundred files in several different folders? Not likely. They don't appear to have any record of what happened regarding my previous problems with ads on the site or whether the person who fixed that problem had something to do with the missing files. So, I am mad. I have a backup of some of the files, but I probably lost some of the Vietnam expedition pictures that I had cleaned up. I'll have to go to the museum to see if they are there, or perhaps they are still in Outlook. Sigh.
So if you want me today, I'll be hovering over my WS-FTP console.
{interlude}
So, just now I finished up with the support people via LivePerson. Of course they are not aware of why the files are gone. Did I delete them by accident, they wonder? Six hundred files in several different folders? Not likely. They don't appear to have any record of what happened regarding my previous problems with ads on the site or whether the person who fixed that problem had something to do with the missing files. So, I am mad. I have a backup of some of the files, but I probably lost some of the Vietnam expedition pictures that I had cleaned up. I'll have to go to the museum to see if they are there, or perhaps they are still in Outlook. Sigh.
So if you want me today, I'll be hovering over my WS-FTP console.
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Rumsfeld prefers being in Iraq
from today's Top Stories - AP "Rumsfeld Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq "
I wonder if the soldiers think it is more fun in Iraq.
Rumsfeld was accompanied by Myers and several lawyers on a trip designed to reassure U.S. troops that the prisoner abuse scandal has not weakened public support for their mission and to get firsthand reports from the most senior commanders. Neither hid his feelings about the tough questioning he endured from members of Congress over the prison abuses.
"I'm really glad to be here," Myers enthused.
Before taking questions from soldiers, Rumsfeld said, "It's generally a lot more fun here than it is back home."
I wonder if the soldiers think it is more fun in Iraq.
Monday, May 10, 2004
GISMO Meeting Tomorrow
The next GISMO meeting is tomorrow, May 11th from 12:00pm-2:30pm at the Fund for the City of New York, 121 Sixth Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY. Michael Schill of the NYU Furman (Real Estate) Center will discuss the NY Times 2/6 Exposure of New Web site www.nychanis.com. Anyone interested in geographic information systems software is welcome to attend. No need to RSVP. Lunch is provided by the Fund.
The next meeting is Thursday, July 15: Discussion on future of GIS/GISMO/NYC/NYS.
For additional details please see the GISMO website at http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu/gismo.
The next meeting is Thursday, July 15: Discussion on future of GIS/GISMO/NYC/NYS.
For additional details please see the GISMO website at http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu/gismo.
Friday, April 30, 2004
Ontologies
Here's two introductions to ontologies:
Ontologies Come of Age
Smarter Content Publishing: Creating a Semantic Content Management System
(VLombardi)
Ontologies Come of Age
Smarter Content Publishing: Creating a Semantic Content Management System
(VLombardi)
IA Research
PMerholz says: I've found Kevin Crowston's work on genres of web communications to be essential in how I'm thinking about IA:
http://crowston.syr.edu/papers/index.php
http://crowston.syr.edu/papers/index.php
Thursday, April 29, 2004
GIS: upcoming meetings
I just posted a bunch of upcoming meetings to the GISMO website. Additional details are in the GISMO calendar.
Events through May:
Thursday, April 29, 5:00pm: GGSA Spring Lecture Series
Hunter College, North Building in room 1022, New York, NY
"Lost Geographies and Failed Globalization: From Versailles to Iraq"
Neil Smith, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center
Wed, May 5, 5:00pm: GGSA Spring Lecture Series
Hunter College, North Building in room 1022, New York, NY
"Tips and Tools for Color Symbolization for Mapping and Visualization"
Cynthia Brewer, Associate Professor of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University
Tuesday, May 6 at 9:00am: LIGIS: Long Island GIS Spring Meeting
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Brookhaven, NY
See www.ligis.org for details.
Tuesday, May 11 at 12:00pm: GISMO General Meeting
Fund for the City of New York
Michael Schill, NYU Furman (Real Estate) Center will discuss the NY Times 2/6 Exposure of New Web site www.nychanis.com
Friday, May 21, 2004 at 3:30 PM: Landmarks Preservation Commission
Public Hearing Room, Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street (at the corner of Centre Street and Chambers Street), 9th Floor, New York, NY.
The Archaeology Department will be hosting a guest lecture titled, "Recreating the Historical Topography of Manhattan Island." Use the north entrance. Please bring photo ID for entrance to the Municipal Building.
Events through May:
Thursday, April 29, 5:00pm: GGSA Spring Lecture Series
Hunter College, North Building in room 1022, New York, NY
"Lost Geographies and Failed Globalization: From Versailles to Iraq"
Neil Smith, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center
Wed, May 5, 5:00pm: GGSA Spring Lecture Series
Hunter College, North Building in room 1022, New York, NY
"Tips and Tools for Color Symbolization for Mapping and Visualization"
Cynthia Brewer, Associate Professor of Geography, The Pennsylvania State University
Tuesday, May 6 at 9:00am: LIGIS: Long Island GIS Spring Meeting
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Brookhaven, NY
See www.ligis.org for details.
Tuesday, May 11 at 12:00pm: GISMO General Meeting
Fund for the City of New York
Michael Schill, NYU Furman (Real Estate) Center will discuss the NY Times 2/6 Exposure of New Web site www.nychanis.com
Friday, May 21, 2004 at 3:30 PM: Landmarks Preservation Commission
Public Hearing Room, Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street (at the corner of Centre Street and Chambers Street), 9th Floor, New York, NY.
The Archaeology Department will be hosting a guest lecture titled, "Recreating the Historical Topography of Manhattan Island." Use the north entrance. Please bring photo ID for entrance to the Municipal Building.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
More CMS Tutorials
The new CMS Wiki has a definition of a Content Management System.
http://www.cmswiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=ContentManagementSystem.
It also has a discussion of the confusing term portal.
http://www.cmswiki.com/tiki-editpage.php?page=Portal
And something on Workflow.
http://www.cmswiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=WorkFlow
CMS Review has references to all the great books on Content Managemant.
http://www.cmsreview.com/Resources/Books.html.
http://www.cmswiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=ContentManagementSystem.
It also has a discussion of the confusing term portal.
http://www.cmswiki.com/tiki-editpage.php?page=Portal
And something on Workflow.
http://www.cmswiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=WorkFlow
CMS Review has references to all the great books on Content Managemant.
http://www.cmsreview.com/Resources/Books.html.
Monday, April 26, 2004
City Council Hearing on 311 and Community Boards
Today, I went to a NYC City Council Public Hearing of the Committee on Technology in Government, on the role of the City's 59 Community Boards in the 311 system. 311 is the new number that New Yorkers dial to ask questions about New York City services, make complaints and to get information, such as library hours, bus and trash pickup schedules, etc. Community boards act as local advocates to their district constituents, recording complaints, alerting service organizations to district needs, issuing liquor licenses and making recommendations to the city planning agencies.
I arrived late and did not hear the testimony Dept of Information Technology & Telecommunications, who oversees the 311 system. A representative of the city of Hampton, VA was also present to give testimony on the sucess of their 311 system, which was implemented in 1999. I did hear the testimony of 6 Community Boards, representing three boroughs. I gathered from their testimony that DoITT was not providing the level of access to the system that the CBs require to do their jobs.
A handout of the DoITT testimony, which I read later on the train home, confirmed that they did not address the more specific information needs that the CBs require to effectively act as an advocate for their constituents. DoITT said that they offer aggregate data to CBs, in order to protect the privacy of citizens making the calls. CBs countered that they need specific incident data in order to respond to constituents on the status of complaints. Additionally, while CBs have received the computers, software, internet hookup, training and technical support visits from DoITT staff, many indicated that they do not have access to the data at all. (One CB District Manager joked that the computer support technicians had visited their office several times, but only to upgrade security on the system).
All testifiers from CBs said they strongly support the 311 system as a way to aggregate data and ease the volume of non-critical calls received on a daily basis, but required more involvement, i.e., access to data, in order to record and act on specific complaints in their community and handle more complex problems involving more than a single agency (which 311 is not currently equipped to do effectively - when the call is recorded and forwarded to an agency to handle, the incident is closed. If the wrong agency gets the call, or if another agency is required to handle a portion of the call, there is no process for feedback to the original complainer, or to 311 for that matter, that further action is required). Aggregate data, in the case of pothole complaints, for example, does not show where potholes occur, nor could it show that 20% of potholes in a given district are on a single street, which would indicate an infrastructure problem that the CB would want to address in its planning recommendations.
The CB representatives agreed that detailed incident data and geolocation information could be made accessible from the system, while still protecting the privacy of individual complainants. Still, some CBs suggested that it could be useful in identifying frequent complainers (CBs already know who they are in their districts) and that certain CB staff people who have been calling in complaints from district offices should be identified as such in incident logs rather than treated as citizen complainers.
311 is a great tool for gathering and handling complaints efficiently in a city as large as New York City. It would be a shame if citizens' primary local advocate were left out of the process. I am heartened that the City Council is taking the issue seriously.
I arrived late and did not hear the testimony Dept of Information Technology & Telecommunications, who oversees the 311 system. A representative of the city of Hampton, VA was also present to give testimony on the sucess of their 311 system, which was implemented in 1999. I did hear the testimony of 6 Community Boards, representing three boroughs. I gathered from their testimony that DoITT was not providing the level of access to the system that the CBs require to do their jobs.
A handout of the DoITT testimony, which I read later on the train home, confirmed that they did not address the more specific information needs that the CBs require to effectively act as an advocate for their constituents. DoITT said that they offer aggregate data to CBs, in order to protect the privacy of citizens making the calls. CBs countered that they need specific incident data in order to respond to constituents on the status of complaints. Additionally, while CBs have received the computers, software, internet hookup, training and technical support visits from DoITT staff, many indicated that they do not have access to the data at all. (One CB District Manager joked that the computer support technicians had visited their office several times, but only to upgrade security on the system).
All testifiers from CBs said they strongly support the 311 system as a way to aggregate data and ease the volume of non-critical calls received on a daily basis, but required more involvement, i.e., access to data, in order to record and act on specific complaints in their community and handle more complex problems involving more than a single agency (which 311 is not currently equipped to do effectively - when the call is recorded and forwarded to an agency to handle, the incident is closed. If the wrong agency gets the call, or if another agency is required to handle a portion of the call, there is no process for feedback to the original complainer, or to 311 for that matter, that further action is required). Aggregate data, in the case of pothole complaints, for example, does not show where potholes occur, nor could it show that 20% of potholes in a given district are on a single street, which would indicate an infrastructure problem that the CB would want to address in its planning recommendations.
The CB representatives agreed that detailed incident data and geolocation information could be made accessible from the system, while still protecting the privacy of individual complainants. Still, some CBs suggested that it could be useful in identifying frequent complainers (CBs already know who they are in their districts) and that certain CB staff people who have been calling in complaints from district offices should be identified as such in incident logs rather than treated as citizen complainers.
311 is a great tool for gathering and handling complaints efficiently in a city as large as New York City. It would be a shame if citizens' primary local advocate were left out of the process. I am heartened that the City Council is taking the issue seriously.
Friday, April 23, 2004
Visio stencils
Visio stencils
- Henrik Olsen's web prototyping stencils and templateuses: prototyping, wireframes
http://www.guuui.com/issues/02_03_02.php
- Michael Angeles's wireframe stencils
uses: prototyping, wireframes
http://studioid.com/pg/visio_wireframe_stencil.php
- Jesse James Garrett's stencils
uses: flow
http://www.jjg.net/ia/visvocab/
- Peter Van Dijk's stencils (four of them here)
uses: sitemaps, isometric sitemaps, prototyping, wireframes, flow
http://iabook.com/template.htm
- Peter Van Dijck's older stencils
uses: prototyping, wireframes
http://poorbuthappy.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$51
Monday, April 19, 2004
Personas and Roles
Personas and Roles
Some Persona URLS:http://www.cooper.com/content/insights/newsletters_personas.asp
http://iawiki.net/PersonaDesign
http://foruse.com/newsletter/foruse15.htm#3
Sometimes Personas is the right sentiment but not the right approach,
because they assume you have quite distinguishably different user
archetypes. In this case it may be better to adopt a role-based approach, whereby you define
different 'hats' or roles that a user may take in order to fulfil a kind of
task or set of tasks.
Roles URLs:
http://edp5285-01.sp01.fsu.edu/Guide4.html
Constantine and Lockwood's 'Software For Use'
http://foruse.com/questions/index.htm#5
Thursday, April 15, 2004
More on Site Maps & Indices
All of the following resources came from a discussion list (not my compilation). Apologies to whomever compiled this listing - I've forgotten so I can't give credit.... :(
Site Index examples:
Good:
http://www.peoplesoft.com/corp/en/indices/site_index.jsp
http://www.w3.org/Help/siteindex
http://www.montaguelab.com/Public/indexes.htm
http://www.census.gov/main/www/subjects.html
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv2.jsp?CONTENT<>cnt_id=3171&FOLDER
<>folder_id=3167
http://www.writersblock.ca/common/index.htm
Not so good:
http://www.asindexing.org/site/backndx.htm
Different style / purpose:
http://unixhelp.ed.ac.uk/index/index.html
Product Index examples:
Good:
http://www.ibm.com/products/az/
http://www.peoplesoft.com/corp/en/indices/prod_index.jsp
Not so good:
http://www.3m.com/product/index.jhtml
Sitemap examples:
Good:
http://www.apple.com/find/sitemap.html
http://www.google.com/sitemap.html
http://pages.ebay.com/sitemap.html?ssPageName=h:h:smap:US
http://www.multimap.com/static/sitemap.htm
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/sitemap/
Not so good:
http://www.novuspetroleum.com/cmsaxs/site/1/5.asp?secID=18
http://www.miami.muohio.edu/sitemap/
Bad:
http://www.chaminade.edu/sitemap/content/sitemap.html (bad visual
representation)
http://www.chaminade.edu/sitemap/index.php (not much better - text w/
visuals once you click on a high-level section)
http://www.tamu.edu/00/sitemap.html?mode=d (too detailed, bad layout, no
logical order) http://www.raffed75.isgreat.tv/Sitemap.htm (yuck!)
The IBM Site Map Gallery:
Fascinating study of a big company dealing with lack of standards...map, map, who's got THE site map?
http://www-1.ibm.com/businesscenter/us/sitemap/ (simple)
http://www.ibm.com/investor/tools/iritsm.phtml (good use of bullets &
indention)
http://www-5.ibm.com/de/mittelstand/sitemap/ (interesting layout)
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/sitemap.html (jump nav at top good,
indention and level of detail bad) http://www.ibm.com/ar/sitemap/ (bad
windows explorer style layout) http://www.almaden.ibm.com/st/sitemap.shtml
(what's a link?)
http://www-306.ibm.com/e-business/doc/content/sitemap/sitemap.html (too
detailed)
Related Articles & Info:
http://taxonomist.tripod.com/indexing/design_checklist.html
http://www.asindexing.org/site/checklist.shtml
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/sitemaps_and_site_indexes_what_they_a
re_and_why_you_should_have_them.php
http://davidcrow.ca/2003/01/20/trends_in_sitemap_design.html
http://www.iaslash.org/node.php?id=2535#comment
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20020106.html
http://www.evolt.org/article/evolt/4090/710/
Tools:
http://www.brown-inc.com/indexer/FAQ.htm
Site Index examples:
Good:
http://www.peoplesoft.com/corp/en/indices/site_index.jsp
http://www.w3.org/Help/siteindex
http://www.montaguelab.com/Public/indexes.htm
http://www.census.gov/main/www/subjects.html
http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv2.jsp?CONTENT<>cnt_id=3171&FOLDER
<>folder_id=3167
http://www.writersblock.ca/common/index.htm
Not so good:
http://www.asindexing.org/site/backndx.htm
Different style / purpose:
http://unixhelp.ed.ac.uk/index/index.html
Product Index examples:
Good:
http://www.ibm.com/products/az/
http://www.peoplesoft.com/corp/en/indices/prod_index.jsp
Not so good:
http://www.3m.com/product/index.jhtml
Sitemap examples:
Good:
http://www.apple.com/find/sitemap.html
http://www.google.com/sitemap.html
http://pages.ebay.com/sitemap.html?ssPageName=h:h:smap:US
http://www.multimap.com/static/sitemap.htm
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/sitemap/
Not so good:
http://www.novuspetroleum.com/cmsaxs/site/1/5.asp?secID=18
http://www.miami.muohio.edu/sitemap/
Bad:
http://www.chaminade.edu/sitemap/content/sitemap.html (bad visual
representation)
http://www.chaminade.edu/sitemap/index.php (not much better - text w/
visuals once you click on a high-level section)
http://www.tamu.edu/00/sitemap.html?mode=d (too detailed, bad layout, no
logical order) http://www.raffed75.isgreat.tv/Sitemap.htm (yuck!)
The IBM Site Map Gallery:
Fascinating study of a big company dealing with lack of standards...map, map, who's got THE site map?
http://www-1.ibm.com/businesscenter/us/sitemap/ (simple)
http://www.ibm.com/investor/tools/iritsm.phtml (good use of bullets &
indention)
http://www-5.ibm.com/de/mittelstand/sitemap/ (interesting layout)
http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/sitemap.html (jump nav at top good,
indention and level of detail bad) http://www.ibm.com/ar/sitemap/ (bad
windows explorer style layout) http://www.almaden.ibm.com/st/sitemap.shtml
(what's a link?)
http://www-306.ibm.com/e-business/doc/content/sitemap/sitemap.html (too
detailed)
Related Articles & Info:
http://taxonomist.tripod.com/indexing/design_checklist.html
http://www.asindexing.org/site/checklist.shtml
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/sitemaps_and_site_indexes_what_they_a
re_and_why_you_should_have_them.php
http://davidcrow.ca/2003/01/20/trends_in_sitemap_design.html
http://www.iaslash.org/node.php?id=2535#comment
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20020106.html
http://www.evolt.org/article/evolt/4090/710/
Tools:
http://www.brown-inc.com/indexer/FAQ.htm
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