Digital Preservation and Web Access to the Konkoly Observatory Schmidt Telescope Plate Archive

ACM Computing Classification System (1998): J.2.

The Wide-Field Plate Database: Development and Access via Internet

ACM Computing Classification System (1998): J.2.

AstroWeb – A Graphical Representation of an Astronomical WFPDB Database Using a Web-Based Open Source Geographical Information System

ACM Computing Classification System (1998): H.5.2, H.2.8, J.2, H.5.3.

webComputing Service Framework

Presented is webComputing – a general framework of mathematically oriented services including remote access to hardware and software resources for mathematical computations, and web interface to dynamic interactive computations and visualization in a diversity of contexts: mathematical research and engineering, computer-aided mathematical/technical education and distance learning. webComputing builds on the innovative webMathematica technology connecting technical computing system Mathematica to a web server and providing tools for building dynamic and interactive web-interface to Mathematica-based functionality. Discussed are the conception and some of the major components of webComputing service: Scientific Visualization, Domain- Specific Computations, Interactive Education, and Authoring of Interactive Pages.

Mobile Access to Cultural and Historical Heritage Web Pages

The main focus of attention in this paper is the access to websites of leading regional, national and world museums. Their accessibility from desktop and mobile devices is hereby evaluated. The paper covers a detailed analysis of the mobile operating systems, their market share in Bulgaria and the opportunities they offer to the users. The need for contemporary cultural and historical heritage websites which maintain lighter but fully-functioning mobile versions, facilitating and making their access from portable devices easier, is also well-grounded here.

Web Interfaces Destined for People with Disabilities

One of the main characteristics of the world that we live in is the access to information and one of the main ways to reach the information is the Internet. Most Internet sites put accessibility problem on a secondary plan. If we try to define this concept (accessibility) we could say that accessibility it’s a way to offer access to information for the people with disabilities. For example blind people can’t navigate on the Internet like usual people. For that reason Internet sites have to put at their disposal ways to make their content known to this people. Accessibility does not refer only at blind people the web accessibility refers to all people who lost their ability to access the Internet sites. The web accessibility includes every disability that stops people with disabilities to access the web sites content like hearing disability, neurological and cognitive. People that have low speed Internet connection or with low performance computers can use the web accessibility.

A Semantic-Oriented Architecture of a Functional Module for Personalized and Adaptive Access to the Knowledge in a Multimedia Digital Library

This article presents the principal results of the doctoral thesis “Semantic-oriented Architecture and Models for Personalized and Adaptive Access to the Knowledge in Multimedia Digital Library” by Desislava Ivanova Paneva-Marinova (Institute of Mathematics and Informatics), successfully defended before the Specialised Academic Council for Informatics and Mathematical Modelling on 27 October, 2008.

INFRAWEBS Semantic Web Service Development on the Base of Knowledge Management Layer

The paper gives an overview about the ongoing FP6-IST INFRAWEBS project and describes the main layers and software components embedded in an application oriented realisation framework. An important part of INFRAWEBS is a Semantic Web Unit (SWU) – a collaboration platform and interoperable middleware for ontology-based handling and maintaining of SWS. The framework provides knowledge about a specific domain and relies on ontologies to structure and exchange this knowledge to semantic service development modules. INFRAWEBS Designer and Composer are sub-modules of SWU responsible for creating Semantic Web Services using Case-Based Reasoning approach. The Service Access Middleware (SAM) is responsible for building up the communication channels between users and various other modules. It serves as a generic middleware for deployment of Semantic Web Services. This software toolset provides a development framework for creating and maintaining the full-life-cycle of Semantic Web Services with specific application support.

Open Access and Institutional Repositories in Bulgaria

The paper presents the current situation regarding open access, institutional repositories (IRs) and journals in Bulgaria. It focuses on e- publications and related research content available in digital format on the web. It includes development of IRs in Bulgaria and discusses their content, software and various access restrictions that apply to content. A survey is used to identify current state of open access for IR and e-journals not just those that are using OAI-PMH.