jodischneider.com/blog

I sent off my revised abstract to ECA Lisbon 2015, the European Conference on Argumentation. Evidence informatics, in 75 words:

Reasoning and decision-making are common throughout human activity. Increasingly, human reasoning is mediated by information technology, either to support collective action at a distance, or to support individual decision-making and sense-making.

We will describe the nascent field of “evidence informatics”, which considers how to structure reasoning and evidence. Comparing and contrasting evidence support tools in different disciplines will help determine reusable underlying principles, shared between fields such as legal informatics, evidence-based policy, and cognitive ergonomics.

A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members of which share some set of communicative purposes. These purposes are recognized by the expert members of the parent discourse community and thereby constitute the rationale for the genre. This rationale shapes the schematic structure of the discourse and influences and constrains choice of content and style. Communicative purpose is both a privileged criterion and one that operates to keep the scope of a genre as here conceived narrowly focused on comparable rhetorical action. In addition to purpose, exemplars of a genre exhibit various patterns of similarity in terms of structure, style, content and intended audience. If all high probability expectations are realized, the exemplar will be viewed as prototypical by the parent discourse community. The genre names inherited and produced by discourse communities and imported by others constitute valuable ethnographic communication, but typically need further validation. ((Genre defined, from John M. Swales, page 58, Chapter 3 “The concept of genre” in Genre Analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press 1990. Reprinted with other selections in
The Discourse Studies Reader: Main currents in theory and analysis (see pages 305-316).))

Today I’m presenting a talk in the ISWC 2014 Workshop on Linked Science 2014—Making Sense Out of Data (LISC2014). The LISC2014 paper is joint work with Paolo Ciccarese, Tim Clark and Richard D. Boyce. Our goal is to make the evidence in a scientific knowledge base easier to access and audit — to make the knowledge base easier to maintain as scientific knowledge and drug safety regulations change. We are modeling evidence (data, methods, materials) from biomedical communications in the medication safety domain (drug-drug interactions).

The new architecture for the drug-drug interaction knowledge base is based on:

• the new, best-in-class argumentation ontology for scientific publishing, the Micropublication Ontology,described in Tim, Paolo, and Carole Goble‘s Journal of Biomedical Semantics article in July 2014 (doi:10.1186/2041-1480-5-28); or see the ontology itself)
• the Open Annotation Data Model for linking quotes (in our case to link claims, data, methods, and materials in Micropublications directly to the source text in biomedical papers and drug labels)
• the Drug Interaction Knowledge Base (DIKB) an existing, hand-constructed knowledge base of evidence about drug-drug interactions, including its evidence taxonomy

This is part of a 4-year National Library of Medicine project, “Addressing gaps in clinically useful evidence on drug-drug interactions” (1R01LM011838-01)

Abstract of our paper, “Using the Micropublications ontology and the Open Annotation Data Model to represent evidence within a drug-drug interaction knowledge base.”:

Semantic web technologies can support the rapid and transparent validation of scientific claims by interconnecting the assumptions and evidence used to support or challenge assertions. One important application domain is medication safety, where more efficient acquisition, representation, and synthesis of evidence about potential drug-drug interactions is needed. Exposure to potential drug-drug interactions (PDDIs), defined as two or more drugs for which an interaction is known to be possible, is a significant source of preventable drug-related harm. The combination of poor quality evidence on PDDIs, and a general lack of PDDI knowledge by prescribers, results in many thousands of preventable medication errors each year. While many sources of PDDI evidence exist to help improve prescriber knowledge, they are not concordant in their coverage, accuracy, and agreement. The goal of this project is to research and develop core components of a new model that supports more efficient acquisition, representation, and synthesis of evidence about potential drug-drug interactions. Two Semantic Web models—the Micropublications Ontology and the Open Annotation Data Model—have great potential to provide linkages from PDDI assertions to their supporting evidence: statements in source documents that mention data, materials, and methods. In this paper, we describe the context and goals of our work, propose competency questions for a dynamic PDDI evidence base, outline our new knowledge representation model for PDDIs, and discuss the challenges and potential of our approach.

Citation: Schneider, Jodi, Paolo Ciccarese, Tim Clark, and Richard D. Boyce. “Using the Micropublications ontology and the Open Annotation Data Model to represent evidence within a drug-drug interaction knowledge base.” Linked Science 2014 at ISWC 2014.

Publishers from HighWire Press are experimenting with a plugin called SocialCite. This is intended to rate the evidence, citation by citation. Like this:

SocialCite at PNAS, HighWire Press from http://www.pnas.org/content/108/14/5488.full#ref-list-1:

So far a few publishers (including PNAS) have implemented it as a pilot. Apparently the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery is apparently leading this effort, I’d be really interested in speaking with them further:

Find out more about SocialCite from their website or the slidedeck from their debut at the HighwirePress meeting.

I’m *very* curious to hear what peopel think of this — it really surprised me.

Linked Data is big at the 2014 American Library Association meeting! All day Friday & Saturday, plus Sunday morning, you can get your recommended dose of Library Linked Data. See you in Las Vegas?

Friday June 27
I’ll be speaking and moderating a question session in this full-day preconference.
Practical Linked Data with Open Source (separate ticket needed)
Friday, June 27, 2014 – 8:30am to 4:00pm
N258, Las Vegas Convention Center
This pre-conference combines theory and practice by giving participants a working knowledge of the creation and use of linked data and linked data applications. This session will ground participants in linked data models and patterns through hands-on exercises. Participants will go home with a working knowledge of the state of the art of linked data in open source library systems and the use of linked data to solve metadata problems across libraries, archives, and museums

Saturday June 28
I will be speaking about international developments in LLD in Part I:
International Developments in Library Linked Data: Think Globally, Act Globally (Part One)
Saturday, June 28, 2014 – 8:30am to 10:00am
N264, Las Vegas Convention Center

International Developments in Library Linked Data: Think Globally, Act Globally – Part Two
Saturday, June 28, 2014 – 10:30am to 11:30am
S230, Las Vegas Convention Center
Libraries have the potential to make major contributions to the Semantic Web, but are still emerging as global participants. RDA implementation and the BibFrame initiative have drawn fresh attention to the promise and potential of linked data. What are the international developments in linked data, emerging from libraries and other memory institutions? Come hear our speakers address current projects, opportunities and challenges.

Taking action: Linked data for digital collection managers
Saturday, June 28, 2014 – 1:00pm to 2:30pm
S222, Las Vegas Convention Center

The linked data movement has gained momentum. But how does paradigm shift affect digital collection workflows? This workshop will provide key theoretical concepts of linked data and engaging hands-on activities demonstrating how CONTENTdm metadata can be transformed into linked data. The workshop will also provide a forum to discuss how linked data might alter our current practices and workflows. This workshop is geared toward beginners and is designed for curious exploration and active learning.

OCLC The Power of Shared Data: What’s New and What’s Next?
Saturday, June 28, 2014 – 3:00pm to 4:00pm
N116, Las Vegas Convention Center
Join OCLC’s Ted Fons and Richard Wallis to understand how OCLC is leveraging your WorldCat holdings to give your institution broader visibility on the Web. In this session, we will detail current features, planned enhancements and new developments related to linked data.

Sunday June 29
Linked Library Data Interest Group
Sunday, June 29, 2014 – 8:30am to 10:00am
N237, Las Vegas Convention Center
Talk by Jon Phipps & discussion to follow. (Sunday, sadly, I’m on a plane to another meeting.)

Jon Phipps, of Metadata Management, will present a talk on:

RDA and LOD — FTW or WTF? : A Fair and Balanced Point of View.

Is RDA just “the rules” or is it a robust bibliographic metadata model designed specifically to support rich, FRBRized, distributed LOD that just happens to come with several thousand “pages” of rules? What’s this “unconstrained” stuff? Why does RDA RDF have URIs I can’t “read” and will never remember (and what are lexical aliases)? Why are there so many definitions for “Work” anyway? How is RDA handling versioning and releases? How is RDA using Git and GitHub? Why does any of this matter to my data and, more importantly, me?

You’ve got questions? Maybe Jon Phipps has some answers (except for that last one). Jon is a partner in Metadata Management Associates, a consultancy specializing in, wait for it … metadata management, and has been collaborating with various groups of well-intentioned folks trying to define RDA as a data model for what seems like centuries, and thinks that quite recently the JSC has pretty much nailed it.

A question and answer period and a lively managed discussion will follow the presentation. More info & speaker biography.

Understanding Schema.org
Sunday, June 29, 2014 – 10:30am to 11:30am
S230, Las Vegas Convention Center
Jason Clark and Dan Scott

Schema.org is an effort among major search engines to promote better linking of Web content through the use of metadata attributes in HTML markup, allowing for improved access to digital objects. The ALCTS/LITA Metadata Standards Committee invites you to hear speakers who are active in schema.org development in libraries, and who will discuss initiatives in this area within the GLAM community which promote a broader understanding of the development of bibliographic information among these communities.

Kudos to the LITA / ALCTS Linked Library Data Interest Group and ALCTS/LITA Metadata Standards Committee for facilitating a great program!

Above information from the American Library Association and its Linked Library Data Interest Group (updated June 17): double-check room numbers at the conference website, and add sessions to your conference scheduler.

Personal computers have evolved in an office environment in which you sit on your butt, moving only your fingers, entering and receiving information censored by your conscious mind. That is not your whole life, and probably not even the best part. We need to think about computers that sense more of your body, serve you in more places, and convey the physical expression in addition to information.

Dan O’Sullivan and Tom Igoe, Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers

via Jon Froehlich at DSST 2013 in his talk about the UMd HCIL hackerspace.

Slides for Jon’s talk, “If You Build It, They Will Come: Reflecting on the Successes (and Failures) of Building a Collaborative Workspace to Support Creativity, Experimentation, and Making”, are available via his talks page, as a huge PPTX here). Highly recommended if you’re interested in makerspaces/hackerspaces in academic institutions.

Here are the slides from the public part of my Ph.D. viva (thesis defense), on “Enabling reuse of arguments and opinions in open collaboration systems”. There is also a downloadable PDF version of the slides. Or see the thesis/dissertation itself and its data (index page) (note added 2016-04-22).

Video to follow: thanks to Hugo Hromic for streaming & recording that!

Title: “Enabling reuse of arguments and opinions in open collaboration systems”

Abstract: The World Wide Web enables large-scale collaboration, even between groups of individuals previously unknown to one another. These collaborations produce tangible outputs, such as encyclopedias (Wikipedia), electronic books (Distributed Proofreaders), maps (OpenStreetMap) and open source software packages (Firefox). In such open collaboration systems, decisions are made through open online discussions in which anyone can participate, and those decisions are based on the written arguments and opinions that individuals contribute, sometimes in large volumes.

Sense-making and coordination is an important component of collaboration, but it is particularly challenging when individuals disagree. When large volumes of opinions and arguments are expressed, popular or emotive choices can be identified through coarse approaches such as sampling, sentiment, or voting. But these do not identify the reasons for disagreement, which may be needed in order to reach decisions. For example, about 500 discussions each week in Wikipedia concern whether a particular topic should be covered in the encyclopedia. Discussions may involve comments from 2-200 people, and some topics are contentious.

This thesis addresses the problem of analyzing, integrating, and reconciling arguments and opinions in goal-oriented online discussions. We emphasize the structure of arguments by providing a new, reconfigurable Web interface. Our interface improves the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and information completeness, thus providing meaningful support for the discussion.

The thesis addresses the following three research questions:
– What are the opportunities and requirements for providing argumentation support?
– Which arguments are used in open collaboration systems?
– How can we structure and display opinions and arguments to support their use and reuse?

Happy to say that I successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis today.

Successfully defended: Twitter messages from my institute

As for that “at @insight_centre @deri @nuigalway” bit? Our Galway-based research institute is in the course of changing names. DERI, the Digital Enterprise Research Institute, remains a part of the National University of Ireland, and under a new Irish national funding scheme, becomes INSIGHT Centre – Galway.

My Ph.D. defense (viva voce) will start with a short public talk. You’re invited!

We’ll be streaming from Galway on our research institute channel:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/insight-galway-live
on Tuesday October 1st, 9:30 AM Irish time (UTC/GMT +1 hour, same as British Summer Time) (show in other timezones). ((Thanks Hugo Hromic for taking care of this, and Deirdre Lee for asking about streaming!))

For more details, here’s a brief announcement from our institute mailing list:

Jodi Schneider will give a talk on her PhD work as part of her viva.
9.30 AM, Tuesday October 1st in the conference room.

Professor Simon Buckingham Shum (KMi, Open University) will be in attendance.
===============================================

TITLE “Enabling reuse of arguments and opinions in open collaboration systems”

ABSTRACT
The World Wide Web enables large-scale collaboration, even between groups of individuals previously unknown to one another. These collaborations produce tangible outputs, such as encyclopedias (Wikipedia), electronic books (Distributed Proofreaders), maps (OpenStreetMap) and open source software packages (Firefox). In such open collaboration systems, decisions are made through open online discussions in which anyone can participate, and those decisions are based on the written arguments and opinions that individuals contribute, sometimes in large volumes.

Sense-making and coordination is an important component of collaboration, but it is particularly challenging when individuals disagree. When large volumes of opinions and arguments are expressed, popular or emotive choices can be identified through coarse approaches such as sampling, sentiment, or voting. But these do not identify the reasons for disagreement, which may be needed in order to reach decisions. For example, about 500 discussions each week in Wikipedia concern whether a particular topic should be covered in the encyclopedia. Discussions may involve comments from 2-200 people, and some topics are contentious.

This thesis addresses the problem of analyzing, integrating, and reconciling arguments and opinions in goal-oriented online discussions. We emphasize the structure of arguments by providing a new, reconfigurable Web interface. Our interface improves the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and information completeness, thus providing meaningful support for the discussion.

The thesis addresses the following three research questions:
– What are the opportunities and requirements for providing argumentation support?
– Which arguments are used in open collaboration systems?
– How can we structure and display opinions and arguments to support their use and reuse?

“Discourse community” seems to be a good summary for a concept that I need. But I’m not happy with how to define it. One summary for my purposes might be: “a group with shared goals, a mechanism for communication, certain patterns of discussion, and enough members who have relevant expertise in the topic and how to argue about it”. That loses some of the richness but also manages the complexity of the full definition.

According to Swales, ((Swales, John. Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press, 1990.))
a discourse community:

• has a broadly agreed set of common public goals.
• has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members.
• uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback.
• utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims.
• in addition to owning genres, it has acquired some specific lexis.
• has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise

For a more recent summary, read Borg ((Borg, Erik. “Discourse community.” ELT journal 57.4 (2003): 398-400.)) (who however seems to advocate the term “Community of Practice”, which seems to me far less well-defined, perhaps since I’ve not gone looking for a definition).

Swales presents a really interesting case study of a discourse community in his book: a stamp collection society–and explains rhetorical (genre-fit) mistakes he made in his first forays into the community.

I’d expect this definition to be more famous than it is. For common use, it has some flaws: technical terms such as ‘genres’ and ‘lexis’ should be described, as should ‘discoursal expertise’ and perhaps ‘participatory mechanisms’.