Abstract

Abstract
Managing research data often requires the creation or reuse of specialised metadata schemas to satisfy the metadata requirements of each research group. Ontologies present several advantages over metadata schemas. In particular, they can be shared and improved upon more easily, providing the flexibility required to establish relationships between datasets and concepts from distinct domains. In this paper, we present a preliminary experiment on the use of ontologies for the description of biodiversity datasets. With a strong focus on the dynamics of individual species, species diversity, biological communities and ecosystems, the Predictive Ecology research group of CIBIO has adopted the INSPIRE European recommendation as the primary tool for metadata compliance across its research data description. We build upon this experience to model the BIOME ontology for the biodiversity domain. The ontology combines concepts from INSPIRE, matching them against the ones defined in the Dublin Core, FOAF and CERIF ontologies. Dendro, a prototype for collaborative data description, uses the ontology to provide an environment where biodiversity metadata records are available as Linked Open Data.

Abstract
Metadata production for research datasets is not a trivial problem. Standardized descriptors are convenient for interoperability, but each area requires specific descriptors in order to guarantee metadata comprehensiveness and accuracy. In this paper, we report on an ongoing research data management experience at the University of Porto (U. Porto), which led to the proposal of a domain-specific application profile. We presented two curation tools to a group of researchers from mechanical engineering, to help them manage and describe their datasets. After monitoring their interactions with the solutions and analyzing the needs of the group, we were able to select a subset of qualified Dublin Core (DC), as well as a set of complementary descriptors, to capture the main aspects of their experiments. The resulting application profile combines generic, standardized DC descriptors with descriptors from a different experimental standard, and introduces extra domain-specific ones. The profile has been validated by the researchers and is now being used in the description of their datasets. © DCMI 2013.

Abstract
The Software-Independent Archival of Relational Databases (SIARD) project developed a tool known as the "SIARD Suite" for preserving relational databases. The tool converts a relational database to a XML format. This paper presents the components of the SIARD Archive Browser which is a simple to use and platform-independent tool for browsing a SIARD Archive. This may be helpful for users interested in using the software. Moreover, it may be useful for people who want to re-use the code and develop software for browsing a SIARD archive with more functionality. © Springer International Publishing 2013.

Abstract
Dublin Core schemas are the core metadata models of most repositories, and this includes recent repositories dedicated to datasets. DC descriptors are generic and are being adapted to the needs of different communities with the so-called Dublin Core Application Profiles. DCAPs rely on the agreement within user communities, in a process mainly driven by their evolving needs. In this paper, we propose a complementary automated process, designed to help curators and users discover the descriptors that better suit the needs of a specific research group. We target the description of datasets, and test our approach using Dendro, a prototype research data management platform, where an experimental method is used to rank and present DC Terms descriptors to the users based on their usage patterns. In a controlled experiment, we gathered the interactions of two groups as they used Dendro to describe datasets from selected sources. One of the groups had descriptor ranking on, while the other had the same list of descriptors throughout the whole experiment. Preliminary results show that 1. some DC Terms are filled in more often than others, with different distribution in the two groups, 2. selected descriptors were increasingly accepted by users in detriment of manual selection and 3. users were satisfied with the performance of the platform, as demonstrated by a post-study survey.

Abstract
The paper analises the use of recommender systems in academic libraries, examining the use of the " Related books in Aleph OPAC" recommendation system for academic libraries' online catalogues. A quantitative approach and descriptive methodology is used to collect, process and analyse the data from a usage log provided by the University of Dundee. The analysis of 13,654 posts and 6,347 sessions provided the following observations: the recommendation was used in 11% of the sessions, and 43.9% of the recorded document views on those sessions where generated by recommendation. 9.6% of the records of document views, were derived from recommendation. Sessions using recommendations were on average 1 minute 18 seconds shorter than the sessions without recommendations. In sessions with recommendation 4.30 records were viewed on average while in sessions without recommendation the average is 1.88. Using more than one type of recommendation is not common, as 82% of the sessions with recommendation have recorded the use of only one kind of recommendation. The analysis of recommendations by kind provided two results: "Related works include" appears in more sessions (348), while " People who borrowed this work also borrowed" has the highest number of posts (584).