An understanding of the concepts and problems currently being addressed by information scientists can only be whole if the foundations of these concepts are known. For my Capstone, I am tracing the path of the concept of “literary warrant” in classification of knowledge from its genesis in 1911 to its resurgence in the 1990s and early 2000s as the basis of a method for domain analysis. In my overview of the literature I find that the concept of literary warrant is periodically dropped and then arrived at independent of its originators and past authors, which signifies gaps in the information science literature that will ultimately do harm to its academic progress. In order to advance evenly and sustainably, a discipline must have a tradition of knowing its past, the lack of which information science has suffered from in this particular case study.

Costco is facing multiple behavioral problems at their IT division including lack of knowledge sharing, motivation to share, lack of transparency in employees skillset and lack of recognition on sharing/improvement efforts by engineers. We are creating BMS, The Badge Management System, to solve these behavioral problems of Costco IT. BMS not only is a software application but it also brings set of business processes in the place. Main purpose of this system is to motivate people to share knowledge among the Costco Family and award recognition on their effort. BMS, with simple concept of awarding badges, will increase knowledge sharing between Costco IT employees drastically, help find right people to ask questions or to consult on their projects, motivate individuals to learn more or learn something new to gain badges to increase their recognition and ultimately their status quo. 

Online streaming services such as Twitch.tv allow anyone with a computer to share their gaming experiences with other people who share their passion for video gaming, while making a profit sharing what they do with others. Inspired by popular streaming platforms like Twitch and StageIt (another streaming service for the performing arts), as well as cooking communities like the Food Network, Crumble plans to develop a unique experience for users with an environment specifically tailored for live streaming cooking shows. As a multi-functional, live streaming platform, streamers will have the ability to broadcast at a low budget with a service that offers tools to schedule broadcasts, discover commercial opportunities, and effectively share information with viewers in a cooking context. Viewers will have easy access to cooking education and real-time interaction with streamers. Crumble revolutionizes how users invite the world into their kitchen.

Our work is part of the Game Metadata Research (GAMER) Group’s project: Constructing a Metadata Schema for Video Games and Interactive Media, which aims to capture the essential information about these materials in a standardized, user-centered way. The deliverables of our project include: (1) an XML schema representation of their metadata scheme; (2) a repository of XML instances containing cataloging records of sample video games; (3) a user-friendly data input form for game catalogers; (4) interfaces enabling users to search and browse game records within the database; (5) documentation for users and future maintenance. This project consolidates and enhances GAMER’s previously disparate and incomplete game data into a single, easily extensible format, and delivers a concrete product to help GAMER evaluate their developing metadata scheme. It provides a basis for advancing the GAMER research, contributing to the goal of improving video game organization and access for gamers, catalogers, and researchers.

Teen pregnancy rates vary widely throughout North Carolina, corresponding with access to effective sex ed training, and spiking in rural southeastern counties. Reaching teens in their mode of information behavior and with content that they can relate to and trust presents a barrier to providing effective sex ed. We did extensive research and made recommendations for MyHealthEd, an organization adapting an existing curriculum to create a comprehensive online sex ed program for North Carolina teenagers, and rural high school populations in general. The adaptations will bridge the gap in content, language, and mode of access. The suggestions for content (gamification, interactive peer-peer scenarios, digital storytelling) offer the potential to transform sex education nation- and worldwide, as well as online learning overall.

Expeditors® is a global logistics company with over 13,000 employees in a worldwide network of over 250 locations across six continents. Much of Expeditors business is based on the usage of event code, which enable Expeditors and customers to track freight/shipments and related documents. Our team worked closely with Expeditors Global Data Strategy team to organize the confusion around event codes and identify opportunities to improve the business. Our capstone team conducted a sequence analysis on different shipment levels. By answering the question ‘Where is my freight,’ we created rules to identify the shipment errors from both business intelligence and logical perspectives. In order to organize the event code metadata, we categorized all the event code by logical grouping and product/service perspectives. Then we delved further into the integrity of the core events, and conducted data quality analysis. The whole analysis process enables Expeditors to make better decisions as a company on how they want to manage their processes and to provide better service to customers.

Today’s Extract, Load and Transform (ETL) tools focus on graphical design and representation of the process, leaving the required mapping and transformation identification to be done manually. This is extremely difficult when faced with multiple, varied data sources. EZ-ETL uses ontology-driven mechanisms to translate data from multiple sources into concepts specific to the customer knowledge domain. OKDoctor uses the EZ-ETL frame work to evaluate medical research in terms of validity and relevance, providing the Validity Potential Rating as a novel way to support practitioners of Evidence Based Medicine. These evaluation techniques are equally applicable to other industry verticals such as finance, national security & intelligence, and legal.

Over the past year the Information School’s Communications Department has experienced an increased ingestion of digital photographic material; these images, which total over 5,000, were being stored on an internal network drive with no standardized naming, organizational schema structure, or embedded metadata information. As these images are imperative in promoting the iSchool’s accomplishments, achievements, advances, and offerings—in a variety of print and digital media sources—the Communications Department sought to create a digital asset management system. By fashioning hierarchal structures, naming and taxonomy standards, and metadata templates, all of which are compatible with Adobe products, I was able to create a digital asset management system and organizational structure that is mindful of its current and future users. Ultimately, this will allow for the photographic content to be more easily accessible all while stimulating workflow and collaboration in promoting the iSchool brand. How are your digital assets working for you?

Seattle based radio station KEXP, a renowned music discovery powerhouse, acts as a launching pad for artists and as a go-to source for music enthusiasts worldwide. This reputation has been achieved despite their library and archives remaining in underdeveloped information silos without a unified approach or management system. To address this problem KEXP is investing in a new media asset management system to act as a central place where all assets can be ingested, processed, stored, indexed, searched and accessed. This project aims to ease access and bring curator and listener discovery to new and previously unimagined levels by developing a metadata schema capable of encompassing the entire collection. With the schema complete, focus can shift to an ingest plan for KEXP’s collections and an automated, human-supervised, metadata cleanup process. These efforts will improve user experiences, yield new insights into the collection and unlock value currently dormant in the library.