Interactive clustering for navigating in hypermedia systems

ABSTRACT

This paper talks about clustering related nodes of an overview diagram to reduce its complexity and size. This is because although overview diagrams are useful for helping the user to navigate in a hypermedia system, for any real-world system these become too complicated and large to be really useful. Both structure-based and content-based clustering are used. Since the nodes can be related to each other in different ways, depending on the situation different clustered views will be useful. Hence, it should be possible to interactively specify the clustering conditions and examine the resulting views. We present efficient clustering algorithms which can cluster the information space in real-time. We talk about the Navigational View Builder, a tool that allows the interactive development of overview diagrams. Finally, we propose a 3-dimensional approach for visualizing these abstracted views.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.1 Multimedia Information Systems
          Subjects: Hypertext navigation and maps**

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.3 Information Search and Retrieval
          Subjects: Clustering

General Terms:
Design, Theory

Keywords:
clustering, information visualization, navigation, overview diagrams