Semantic domain and grammatical class effects in the picture-word interference paradigm

The role of grammatical class in lexical access and representation is still not well understood. Grammatical effects obtained in picture-word interference experiments have been argued to show the operation of grammatical constraints during lexicalization when syntactic integration is required by the task. Alternative views hold that the ostensibly grammatical effects actually derive from the coincidence of semantic and grammatical differences between lexical candidates. We present three picture-word interference experiments conducted in Spanish. In the first two, the semantic relatedness (related or unrelated) and the grammatical class (nouns or verbs) of the target and the distracter were manipulated in an infinitive form action naming task in order to disentangle their contributions to verb lexical access. In the third experiment, a possible confound between grammatical class and semantic domain (objects or actions) was eliminated by using action-nouns as distracters. A condition in which participants were asked to name the action pictures using an inflected form of the verb was also included to explore whether the need of syntactic integration modulated the appearance of grammatical effects. Whereas action-words (nouns or verbs), but not object-nouns, produced longer reaction times irrespective of their grammatical class in the infinitive condition, only verbs slowed latencies in the inflected form condition. Our results suggest that speech production relies on the exclusion of candidate responses that do not fulfil task-pertinent criteria like membership in the appropriate semantic domain or grammatical class. Taken together, these findings are explained by a response-exclusion account of speech output. This and alternative hypotheses are discussed.

Towards automated specifications of scenarios in enhanced learning technology

Recent standardization efforts in e-learning technology have resulted in a number of specifications, however, the automation process that is considered essential in a learning management system (LMS) is a lessexplored one. As learning technology becomes more widespread and more heterogeneous, there is a growing need to specify processes that cross the boundaries of a single LMS or learning resource repository. This article proposes to obtain a specification orientated to automation that takes on board the heterogeneity of systems and formats and provides a language for specifying complex and generic interactions. Having this goal in mind, a technique based on three steps is suggested. The semantic conformance profiles, the business process management (BPM) diagram, and its translation into the business process execution language (BPEL) seem to be suitable for achieving it.

Building an open social learning community around a Dspace repository on Statistics

LORs, addressing content management and preservation, have the positive collaterals of institutional positioning and dissemination, but their main benefit is the empowerment of interest-centred learning communities, as we recognise that learning is much more than content, which becomes infrastructure: the LOR provides the learner interaction with the LOs, but also with other learners and teachers.

Data Consistency by a Metadata Management Solution

This thesis consists of three main theoretical themes: quality of data, success of information systems, and metadata in data warehousing. Loosely defined, metadata is descriptive data about data, and, in this thesis, master data means reference data about customers, products etc. The objective of the thesis is to contribute to an implementation of a metadata management solution for an industrial enterprise. The metadata system incorporates a repository, integration, delivery and access tools, as well as semantic rules and procedures for master data maintenance. It targets to improve maintenance processes and quality of hierarchical master data in the case company’s informational systems. That should bring benefits to whole organization in improved information quality, especially in cross-system data consistency, and in more efficient and effective data management processes. As the result of this thesis, the requirements for the metadata management solution in case were compiled, and the success of the new information system and the implementation project was evaluated.

Of pearls and pigs : a conceptual-semantic Tiernet approach to formal representation of structure and variation of phraseological units

"Helmiä sioille", pärlor för svin, säger man på finska om någonting bra och fint som tas emot av en mottagare som inte vill eller har ingen förmåga att förstå, uppskatta eller utnyttja hela den potential som finns hos det mottagna föremålet, är ointresserad av den eller gillar den inte. För sådana relativt stabila flerordiga uttryck, som är lagrade i språkbrukarnas minnen och som demonstrerar olika slags oregelbundna drag i sin struktur använder man inom lingvistiken bl.a. termerna "idiom" eller "fraseologiska enheter". Som en oregelbundenhet kan man t.ex. beskriva det faktum att betydelsen hos uttrycket inte är densamma som man skulle komma till ifall man betraktade det som en vanlig regelbunden fras. En annan oregelbundenhet, som idiomforskare har observerat, ligger i den begränsade förmågan att varieras i form och betydelse, som många idiom har jämfört med regelbundna fraser. Därför talas det ofta om "grundform" och "grundbetydelse" hos idiom och variationen avses som avvikelse från dessa. Men när man tittar på ett stort antal förekomstexempel av idiom i språkbruk, märker man att många av dem tillåter variation, t.o.m. i sådan utsträckning att gränserna mellan en variant och en "grundform" suddas ut, och istället för ett idiom råkar vi plötsligt på en "familj" av flera besläktade uttryck. Allt detta väcker frågan om hur dessa uttryck egentligen ska vara representerade i språket. I avhandlingen utförs en kritisk granskning av olika tidigare tillvägagångssätt att beskriva fraseologiska enheter i syfte att klargöra vilka svårigheter deras struktur och variation erbjuder för den lingvistiska teorin. Samtidigt presenteras ett alternativt sätt att beskriva dessa uttryck. En systematisk och formell modell som utvecklas i denna avhandling integrerar en beskrivning av idiom på många olika språkliga nivåer och skildrar deras variation i form av ett nätverk och som ett resultat av samspel mellan idiomets struktur och kontexter där det förekommer, samt av interaktion med andra fasta uttryck. Modellen bygger på en fördjupande, språkbrukbaserad analys av det finska idiomet "X HEITTÄÄ HELMIÄ SIOILLE" (X kastar pärlor för svin).

Shared and not shared : Providing repository services on a national level

Presentation at the Open Repositories 2012 conference

One process to rule them all? The role of a repository platform in the management of digitized cultural heritage at the National Library of Finland

Presentation at Open Repositories 2013, DSpace User Group, on 12.7.2013 in Charlottetown, PEI, Canada

Building Next Generation Consortium Services – part 3: The National Metadata Repository, Discovery Service Finna, and the New Library System

Kristiina Hormia-Poutasen esitys CBUC-konferenssissa Barcelonassa 12.4.2013.

Making the impact on research and society: a case study - open repository and crowdsourcing solutions developed for the Finno-Ugric Digitization Pilot Project at the National Library of Finland

Jussi-Pekka Hakkaraisen esitys 24. Kansainvälisessä tieteen-, teknologian ja lääketieteen historian kongressissa (24th International Congress of History of Science, Technology and Medicine) Manchesterissa 26.7.2013

Repository Junction Broker

Poster at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Institutional Repository ecosystem in Japan, IRDB and JAIRO Cloud

Poster at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

Supporting Repository Interoperability through Guidelines

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

BORIS – It’s never too late to start a repository

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014