Currently there is no structured data standard for representing elements commonly found in transmedia fictional universes. To address this information gap, we have created an ontological model that will allow researchers, fans, brand managers, and creators to search for and retrieve information contained in these worlds based on their structures. Our process included a domain analysis and user studies based on the contents of four transmedia works in order to build a new model using Ontology Web Language (OWL) and an artificial intelligence reasoning engine. This model can infer connections between the transmedia elements and will facilitate better search and retrieval of the information contained within these vast story universes for all users interested in them. The result of this project is an OWL ontology that is intuitive for users; can be used by AI systems; and has been updated to reflect real user needs based on user research.

Making Connections with Linked Data: Identities and Identifiers at University of Victoria Libraries Robbyn Gordon Lanning (MLIS) Linked data empowers libraries and archives to connect rich stores of local data to global audiences through the use of common identifiers and standards. The University of Victoria (UVic) Libraries possesses over 2.9 million records, each of which uses text strings as resource identifiers. In order to participate in the semantic web, UVic Libraries must prepare its metadata, transitioning its records from textual representations of people, places, and subjects to internationally accessible Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). To assist UVic in meeting this challenge I implemented a study reconciling randomized datasets from each of UVic’s four record repositories to linked data identifiers. This research culminated in a report providing detailed reconciliation results, suggestions to overcome obstacles encountered, and best practice recommendations for future reconciliation work. By assisting UVic Libraries in preparation for transitioning its “strings” to “things”, this project has helped enrich the exposure, interoperability, and accessibility of UVic’s information holdings.

On March 22, 2014, a massive landslide engulfed the Steelhead Haven neighborhood near Oso, Washington. In seconds, Steelhead Haven was gone and State Route 530, the primary road to nearby Darrington, was buried in debris. 43 people died. In the weeks that followed, the Darrington community contributed vital expertise, equipment, and support to search and recovery efforts. Since then, the Darrington Historical Society has launched an ambitious project: development of an archive at UW Digital Collections to document the community’s experiences (http://content.lib.washington.edu/landslidesweb/). We made three significant contributions to the project: First, we created a collection development policy that will guide the archive’s growth. Second, we designed a tracking system to organize and manage the collection. Third, we greatly increased the size of the archive by processing a backlog of photos, documents, and maps. The community’s recovery will be a long one; our work ensures their story won’t be forgotten.

Colegio Anglo Colombiano is an International Baccalaureate school located in Bogota, Colombia. The Anglo did not have a clear scope and sequence or curricular framework for MYP (grades 5-9, 6-10 in USA) research and information literacy skills. This capstone will address that void. Following the development of the scope and sequence, the ultimate goal would be implementation in all MYP classes, not just in the library. I will continue at the school next academic year to ensure this. There is also a PR element of the project, letting teachers know that the document exits and how they can use it even if the librarian is unavailable. Teachers will be highly encouraged to partner with me for at least one project in the year en order to ensure students are coming into the library and being exposed to the program regularly. Student’s information literacy skills will greatly benefit from this program.

In 2010, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) was required to send records from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to the newly formed American Indian Records Repository (AIRR). This event was based on a judiciary order in the 1996 case Cobell v. Norton (now Cobell v. Salazar) which successfully argued that the United States Federal Government was lax in its handling and storage of these records and the issues related therein. Until now, NARA has been unaware as to the extent of AIRR’s holdings and has not had a way to assist information seekers in locating their needed documents. Through data sorting and analysis, I created a finding aid which now makes it possible for NARA to assist those seeking their educational, personal, and financial records.

Books to Prisoners (BTP), a Seattle-based nonprofit organization, provides free books on request to incarcerated individuals throughout the United States in an effort to foster the love of reading, encourage self-improvement, and break the cycle of recidivism. BTP’s largest budgetary expenditure is postage on book shipments. Of these, up to 10% are refused and returned by institutions, at BTP’s expense, because they were found to violate restrictions on inmate access to reading material that can vary by state, county, and institution. Due to limited resources, BTP has been unable to effectively organize these restrictions, resulting in thousands of dollars in wasted postage. Our team analyzed BTP’s existing documentation, established a standardized vocabulary and structure for the information, and designed a comprehensive information system for institutional restrictions. Use of this system is expected to reduce returned shipments and to also furnish data that will assist in securing grant-based funding.

Patents are arguably one of the most important means of rewarding innovation and creativity. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, in 2010, IP-intensive industries accounted for 34.8 percent ($5.06 trillion) of U.S. gross domestic product. Despite this significant contribution, the process of acquiring and maintaining a patent remains fraught with complexities. Through our research project we intend to shed light on some of these complexities and provide data driven insights into this process. By scraping, cleaning, and analyzing 10 years worth of publicly available utility patent data, we have attempted to examine and visualize some interesting and pressing topics like prevalence of any gender bias, trends around industries/organizations that produce patents, and countries that spearhead innovation across the world, among others. We believe the data and insights produced by this project can guide future research and improvement efforts in this field thereby benefiting the patent industry, in a broader sense.

Students are not being exposed to user-centered design and other Informatics topics in high school. We have found that many currently in the field did not discover such topics until their second year in college. With the demand for user focused critical thinking on the rise, Project Spark hopes to bridge the gap by introducing these topics earlier in the education system in order to spark interest. We bring college students to the high school classroom in order to give high school students a taste of what they can do with user-centered design. Our goal is to simply get more students interested in design thinking within the context of technology in the information age.

The OLAC Movie & Video Credit Annotation Experiment seeks to draw connections between names and their associated roles within moving image MARC records using Named Entity Recognition in natural language processing in order to drive more effective discovery interfaces, formulated for sharing as linked data in a manner similar to the Internet Movie Database. This research-based capstone project sought to better understand moving image roles as they relate to relationship designators in the RDA Toolkit, linking them as appropriate, proposing new designators to accommodate the diverse range of roles in the moving image industry, and identifying areas where designator mapping was problematic or not possible. The results found 64 percent of roles could be mapped, 19 percent could be assigned to proposed designators, and 16 percent remained undefined. This research has contributed toward a better understanding of issues related to formulation, inclusion, location, and consistency within moving image MARC records.

During this project I worked with the Ozarks Literacy Council to establish the statistics on their user groups. Due to the OLC being a non-profit, their funding is based on the support of organization such as United Way. However, with a recent change in administration, there is a lack of evidence as to which demographics are utilizing the services offered by the OLC and where gaps lie in services offered. I compiled statistics gathered by the OLC and used Excel to created a spreadsheet utilizing macros that will make keeping stats in the future more user friendly so they are able to maintain this information on their own in the years to come. Additionally, I created an infographic highlighting user satisfaction and accomplishments by the learners that will be used to increase grants and fundraising.