4W Interface User Guide
The interface can be approached in three ways:
- Search - involves typing in search terms
- Browse - browsing through predetermined facets
- Map Browse - using a map interface to access data
The navigation menu on the left side of the interface provides links to these
different access options.
Figure 1. The 4W Interface Homepage
Search
the 4W Interface
At the moment, there are two search options available:
Search for any topic
Any combination of search terms can be input in the search box.
Figure 2. The 4W Search Term Recommender
The search words will be sent to a search term recommender that will suggest
further search terms. The default of suggested subject headings is 10, but can
be changed in the box below the search box.
A search term recommender is an intermediary search module, which will suggest
more search terms to the user of an information system based on the original
search phrase that was input and the information system's content. The search
term recommender used in the 4W interface suggests suitable Library of Congress
Subject Headings (LCSH), which are the subject metadata terms of choice for
libary catalogs and other bibliographic databases.
The search term recommender expands the search space for the searcher and provides
an overview of possible search directions. Here is an example: somebody is looking
for information about "Djengis Khan", the Mongolian emperor. The query
"djengis khan" is input to the search term recommender and 10 suggested
subject headings are requested.
Figure 3. Search Term Recommender Result Display
The first item in this list is the original query term and the next 10 items
are suggested subject headings pointing into different search directions for
further exploration.
- Item 2 suggests a different spelling for the same name searched in the
original query.
- Items 5,6, and 8 are potentially related places.
- Items 1,4,7, and 9 are potentially related people.
- Item 10 is a potentially related time period.
The search term recommender might also suggest broader or narrower search terms
(e.g. tree - branch - leaf) as well as functionally related search terms (e.g.
tree - squirrel).
With a list of search terms (including the original query) to choose from,
the user of the interface can now search several different resources (different
in kind and content) with these terms or start over.
Search for more keywords:
The first option is a further expansion of the search term space. The user
can look at:
- the LCSH hiearchy for the term (more keywords by exploring the LCSH hierarchy
for any of the suggested subject headings) or
- related title words (other related search terms that are not subject headings
but might appear in book titles).
Fig. 4 shows an example for the LCSH expanded hierarchy for the subject heading
"mogul empire".
Figure 4. Expansion of the LCSH "mogul empire" and subsequent
search options
As with the originally suggested search terms, several resources can be searched..
Search library catalogs:
Using the original query or suggested Library of Congress Subject Headings
(see Fig. 3), a library catalog search will look for books on the topic represented
in the query. If a Library of Congress subject heading is used for search, a
subject search will retrieve more precise results than a title search.
The following library catalogs can currently be searched from the interface:
- Library of Congress catalog
- University of California Melvyl catalog
- Dominican University Library catalog
From the library catalog search results, more options can be explored. Every
catalog record retrieved will have authors and subject headings linked within
the catalog - allowing for a catalog search from the results. Furthermore, all
subject headings are also linked to a Wikipedia search - allowing for the look-up
of concepts and events in this online encyclopedia. Local holding information
as well as links to online available materials are included.
Figure 5 shows an example catalog results display for the Melvyl catalog.
Figure 5. Melvyl catalog search results display. Authors & subject
headings linked back to catalog searches as well as Wikipedia look-up of subject
headings.
Search web resources:
So far, Google and Wikipedia have been included as web resources from the search
interface. From the browsing interface, more web resources (especially museum
web sites) have been included for further exploration.
Search specialized resources:
A specialized search will search smaller, more edited resources that are targeted
toward delivering specific information. All query terms can be searched in the:
- WikiPeople database (ca. 5,000 biographical entries
extracted from Wikipedia and further accessible by name, birth & death
date, and location)
- Time Period Directory (ca. 2,000 event / period entries
extracted from Library of Congress subject headings and further accessible
by date, location and keywords)
- Locations search (place name search in the Library of Congress catalog,
which will specifically look for books about places)
All specialized resources contain links to further resources within and outside
their own domain with the locations search displaying the same features as a
normal catalog search (linking of authors and subject headings to other catalog
records and Wikipedia). .
The WikiPeople database
The WikiPeople database searches circa 5,000 biographical records that were
extracted from Wikipedia's List
of People and put into a searchable format.
Figure 6 shows a results page from a WikiPeople database search.
Figure 6. WikiPeople database results display
The WikiPeople database is accessible by keywords such as names, birth and
death dates, and locations.
From any result set, further searches can be done:
- within the database :
- clicking on any date link will search for people living in the same
period
- clicking on any country link will search for other people who lived
and worked in this country; and
- outside the database:
- personal name search in Wikipedia and the Library of Congress
- country information look-up in the 4W Location browse facet
The Time Period Directory
A Time Period Directory
lists events in their relations to dates and places. It is therefore analog
to a gazetteer, which lists locations in relation to longitude/latitude coordinates
and times.
The Time Period Directory that is searched in the 4W search interface contains
circa 2,000 events that were extracted from the chronological subdivisions of
Library of Congress subject headings. The Time Period Directory is accessible
by keywords, dates, and location. Figure 7 shows a results page for a Time Period
Directory search.
Figure 7. Time Period Directory results display
From any Time Period Directory result set, further searches can be done:
- within the Time Period Directory:
- clicking on a date will search for events also occurring during that
period
- clicking on a location will search for other events occurring at that
location
- outside the Time Period Directory:
- a Wikipedia or Library of Congress catalog search for the event
- a location search in the Alexandria Digital Library Gazetteer or the
Getty Thesaurus for Geographic Names
- country information look-up in the 4W browse facet
Search for people
The search interface for WikiPeople is a more advanced version than the topical
search interface (even though the topical interface also allows a biographical
search). It is targeted for the WikiPeople database and allows searching in
all available fields. Figure 8 shows the interface.
Figure 8. WikiPeople search interface
The keyword search searches for any phrase or date in the database. More specific
options are to search for:
- name (will be right-truncated)
- birth date
- death date
- country
The search results from the WikiPeople search will be displayed in the WikiPeople
results format and will have the same within/outside links.
Browse
the 4W interface by facet
For an overview, browsing the 4W interface is a good way of finding information
about specific periods or locations or both.
Several facets are available for browsing:
World region browse
World region browse allows the user to specify regions like the Middle East
or the Caribbean in their information search. In principle, this is a fuzzy
location search spanning more than one country.
Figure 9. World region browse
Selection a region will launch a search that will retrieve and present information
and links to other resources. Figure 10 gives an example for the South Asian
region.
Figure 10. World region browse: South Asia
From any facet, the following specific information resources
can be explored:
The resource symbol key on the left side of the screen provides an explanation
of the resources that can be explored.
Location browse
Location browse allows the user to specify a specific country, US state or
major world city for exploration.
Figure 11. Location browse
As for the world region facet, events,
people, art historic objects and cutlural atlases can be explored.
Time browse
Time browse allows the user to specify a particular time period for exploration
of events, people, cultural atlases and art historic objects.
Figure 12. Time browse
Country information
Aside from events, people, cultural atlases and art historic objects that can
be explored for every world region, country and period, more resources are available
for country-specific information look-up. Figure 13 provides an overview of
the different resources availabe for each country using India as an example..
Figure 13. Country information look-up
The following resources can be searched to look up information about a country:
- Wikipedia entry on country
- CIA Factbook entry on country
- BBC Country profile
- Ethnologue record on languages spoken in the country
- The Berkeley Natural History Museums for specimens found in the country
ECAI Cultural Atlases
ECAI Cultural Atlases are projects presenting
history in its geographical and chronological contexts. This involves the use
of dynamic maps, texts, photos and videos to represent a historic concept, area
or period in an interactive manner that allows self-exploration.
The ECAI featured projects
website lists the following examples:
People browse
The people browse option allows for browsing in the WikiPeople database. The
primary access point is the last name. Figure 14 shows an example for people,
whose last name starts with the letter P.
Figure 14. WikiPeople browse
A second option is to sort the results list by country as figure 15 shows.
Figure 15. WikiPeople browse organized by country
By clicking on the "More this country" link, the country-specific
page is retrieved, which shows more information, events and people about this
country.
Browse
the 4W interface by map
The 4W resources can also be explored by using a map. At the moment, two choices
are available.
Figure 16. Browsing by map
Global map browse
The global map browse opens up a dynamic map of the world (powered by TimeMap)
allowing the user to zoom in to specific countries or restrict the time period
of interest. Figure 17 is an example where the time period was restricted to
the dates between 1000 and 1750 and India was the country of choice.
After selecting and restricting a country of choice and a time period, a query
is sent to the 4W resources finding information about this country during this
time period. As with the other facets, people, events, cultural
atlases and art historic objects can be explored.
Figure 17. Global map browse: zooming in to India
California map browse
The following resources can be explored for California cities and counties:
- a University of California Melvyl catalog search for books about a California
city
- American Factfinder information about a California city
- Counting California information about a California county
- Counting California farm land percentages for California counties
Figure 18. Map browse California
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CIA factbook
Met Museum 
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