A dynamic RSS information push service mechanism based on ontology of user information needs

Date10 April 2009
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/02640470910947575
Pages222-236
Published date10 April 2009
AuthorChuanfu Chen,Zhiqiang Wu,Congjing Ran,Qiong Tang,Song Chen,Xiaojuan Zhang
Subject MatterInformation & knowledge management,Library & information science
A dynamic RSS information push
service mechanism based on
ontology of user information
needs
Chuanfu Chen, Zhiqiang Wu, Congjing Ran, Qiong Tang,
Song Chen and Xiaojuan Zhang
School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s
Republic of China
Abstract
Purpose – This aim of this article is to propose a technical solution for digital libraries to establish
the information needs ontology based on a comprehensive understanding of personalized user
information needs and offer an information push service by really simple syndication (RSS) in a
ubiquitous computing environment.
Design/methodology/approach – First, the authors formalize an ontology model applicable to the
ubiquitous computing environment to describe user information needs comprehensively. The
information needs related to the user’s research activities are regarded as the ontology, which is
described with web ontology language (OWL), and thus an ontology knowledgebase is established.
Second, in light of the user’s explicit information needs, the digital library finds the hidden information
needs from the ontology knowledgebase, and also extracts the information resources required by the
user from the corresponding database and then pushes them to the user by means of RSS. Finally,
users can browse through a man-machine interface to access the information.
Findings – After these steps, an RSS information push service architecture is established based on
the user information needs ontology, providing the users with dynamic, personalized and proactive
information services.
Originality/value – The innovation of this research lies in the fact that the architecture that is put
forward is helpful to improve the accuracy and integrity of information push service of digital library,
and is also beneficial for the research on u-library.
Keywords Digital libraries,Information services, Customer satisfaction,User interfaces, China
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
An information push service is one of the most important functions for a digital library
and the application of really simple syndication (RSS) (Reusch et al., 2005) creates a
new approach to such a service (Weingroff and Bhushan, 2005). According to
Wikipedia, RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated
works – such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video – in a standardized
format. An RSS document includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
This article is sponsored by “Research on digital library theory and technology in ubiquitous
computing environment”, the project of Youth Studies, School of Information Science, Wuhan
University.
EL
27,2
222
Received 1 October 2008
Revised 21 November 2008
Accepted 4 December 2008
The Electronic Library
Vol. 27 No. 2, 2009
pp. 222-236
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/02640470910947575

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