Extending an interactive thesaurus by dragging

ABSTRACT

Some of the research activities of the University of Illinois Digital Library Initiative focus on ways to improve subject access through the use of interactive thesaurus displays. Although a number of thesauri, such as the NASA Thesaurus, have appeared on-line, and eliminate the page-flipping necessary with printed thesauri, they basically just reproduce the printed form in that they do not graphically represent the relationships between thesaurus terms. We have developed a prototype interface, implemented in Microsoft Visual Basic, which visually displays both the hierarchical and related-term structures in a thesaurus. Compare Figures 1 and 2.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.1 Content Analysis and Indexing
          Subjects: Thesauruses

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: Software libraries

  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.1 Multimedia Information Systems
          Subjects: Hypertext navigation and maps**
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors, Performance