Theo J D Bothma
University of Pretoria, Information Science, Faculty Member
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The Afrikaanse idiome-woordeboek is a prototype e-dictionary of Afrikaans fixed expressions developed with the intention to test the functionalities of the e-dictionary. This dictionary is based on the function theory of lexicography. The... more
The Afrikaanse idiome-woordeboek is a prototype e-dictionary of Afrikaans fixed expressions developed with the intention to test the functionalities of the e-dictionary. This dictionary is based on the function theory of lexicography. The e-dictionary makes use of various technologies. When digital tools are developed it is important to consider the usability of the tool. Usability evaluation was done on the Afrikaanse idiome-woordeboek to determine with what success it can be used. Discount usability methods, viz. heuristic evaluation and usability testing were used. This article reports on the findings from the usability tests which are discussed under the categories of content, information architecture, navigation, access (searching and browsing), help, customisation and the use of innovative technologies to manage data in e-dictionaries for search and display. The usability evaluation showed that the users did not always use the e-dictionary as the designers intended. Various re...
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Introduction. With the increase in the availability of digital text collections for humanities researchers, tools to enable enhanced retrieval are required. If words with very specific properties could be retrieved from a text collection... more
Introduction. With the increase in the availability of digital text collections for humanities researchers, tools to enable enhanced retrieval are required. If words with very specific properties could be retrieved from a text collection more accurate linguistic and other analyses can be made. There are a range of properties and metadata that could be specified for retrieval, from morphological data up to bibliographic data. Furthermore, the bibliographic data should not only be on item level but extended to the text-level. For example, in an anthology each section could be encoded with the author of that section. Such extended metadata will enable fine-grained retrieval. Method. In this study, current tools were evaluated to determine to what extent they allow users to retrieve words with specific properties from a text collection. Analysis. The analysis is limited to the following criteria: interface design, metadata, search options, filtering and search results. Results. Currentl...
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Introduction. Digital text collections are increasingly being used. Various tools have been developed to allow researchers to explore such collections. Enhanced retrieval will be possible if texts are encoded with granular metadata.... more
Introduction. Digital text collections are increasingly being used. Various tools have been developed to allow researchers to explore such collections. Enhanced retrieval will be possible if texts are encoded with granular metadata. Method. A selection of tools used to explore digital text collections was evaluated to determine to what extent they allow for the retrieval of words or phrases with specific attributes. Analysis. Tools were evaluated according to the metadata that are available in the data, the search options in the tool, how the results are displayed, and the expertise required to use the tool. Results. Many tools with powerful functions have been developed. However, there are limitations. It is not possible to search according to semantics or in-text bibliographic metadata. Analysis of the tools revealed that there are limited options to combine multiple levels of metadata and typically, without some programming expertise or knowledge of the structure and encoding of ...
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David Cameron’s announcement during the 2011 riots across cities in the United Kingdom to consider shutting down social media shocked the international information community. It raises questions of how far below the surface of the world’s... more
David Cameron’s announcement during the 2011 riots across cities in the United Kingdom to consider shutting down social media shocked the international information community. It raises questions of how far below the surface of the world’s established democracies censorship lies, and how freedom of access to information and freedom of expression (FAIFE) bodies should respond. Social media are used in this article to test how firmly entrenched intellectual freedom is in established democracies through a comparison with countries with an authoritarian track record. The method is to evaluate the use of social media in recent protests in a sample of established democracies and authoritarian regimes, and to compare differences and similarities in government responses. The article concludes with recommendations for IFLA’s FAIFE Committee.
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The study was an assessment of changing needs of information professionals in Zimbabwe. Results from this study were aimed at informing library and information science curricula of professional development initiatives of information... more
The study was an assessment of changing needs of information professionals in Zimbabwe. Results from this study were aimed at informing library and information science curricula of professional development initiatives of information professionals. The data for the study was collected using semi-structured interviews. During data analysis, participants were grouped according to qualifications, as well as experience. This was done to map the influence of work experience and qualifications on the needs of information professionals. Results from the study showed that the needs of information professionals are changing and that the current curricula in Zimbabwe are failing to cope with the changes.
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Computer technology is applied extensively to biblical studies and many programs are available for all different categories of people interested in the Bible. This paper argues that text databases which offer additional features, such as... more
Computer technology is applied extensively to biblical studies and many programs are available for all different categories of people interested in the Bible. This paper argues that text databases which offer additional features, such as links to morphological analyses or lexica, should influence the teaching of biblical languages. However, linguistic information in these databases is at present very limited and should be expanded to include the full spectrum of linguistic knowledge. Linguistic databases, developed specifically for researchers, should be integrated with concordance software, online grammars, etc., as well as cultural-historical material, to create a comprehensive biblical information system. Existing information should be included in such a system, but in converting paper documents to electronic publications, value should be added to the products by means of creating sophisticated methods of access and by integrating the material with other sources. Problems of comp...
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David Cameron's announcement during the 2011 riots across cities in the United Kingdom to consider shutting down social media shocked the international information community. It raised questions of how firmly entrenched intellectual... more
David Cameron's announcement during the 2011 riots across cities in the United Kingdom to consider shutting down social media shocked the international information community. It raised questions of how firmly entrenched intellectual freedom is in the world's established democracies, and how freedom of access to information and freedom of expression (FAIFE) organizations should respond. The social media test is used in this article to examine the standard civil liberties of 'access' and 'participation in established democracies since 2008. The method is to evaluate the use of social media in recent protests in a sample of established democracies and authoritarian regimes, and to compare differences and similarities in government responses. The article concludes with recommendations to consolidate intellectual freedom in established democracies.
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The search functionalities that a search tool for a digital text collection offer, will determine how a user can interact with and search in such a collection. This poster considers the search functionalities in four tools that are used... more
The search functionalities that a search tool for a digital text collection offer, will determine how a user can interact with and search in such a collection. This poster considers the search functionalities in four tools that are used to search within digital text collections. Search functionalities that are well known in information science, namely basic word searching, phrase searching, wildcards, Boolean operators, proximity searching, field searching, case sensitive searching, filtering, as well as linguistic search functions will be considered. Knowledge about search functionalities can inform and improve the design of tools for digital text collections.
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PurposeThe purpose of this article is to give an overview of the development of a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) conceptual model for the management of research data at a South African university.Design/methodology/approachThe... more
PurposeThe purpose of this article is to give an overview of the development of a Virtual Research Environment (VRE) conceptual model for the management of research data at a South African university.Design/methodology/approachThe research design of this article consists of empirical and non-empirical research. The non-empirical part consists of a critical literature review to synthesise the strengths, weaknesses (limitations) and omissions of identified VRE models as found in literature to develop a conceptual VRE model. As part of the critical literature review concepts were clarified and possible applications of VREs in research lifecycles and research data lifecycles were explored. The empirical part focused on the practical application of this model. This part of the article follows an interpretivist paradigm, and a qualitative research approach, using case studies as inquiry method. Case studies with a positivist perspective were selected through purposive sampling, and infere...
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Purpose The Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria (UP), with funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, has, for the past six years, offered a fully funded specialized two-year coursework degree at... more
Purpose The Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria (UP), with funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, has, for the past six years, offered a fully funded specialized two-year coursework degree at Masters’ level in Information Technology (M.IT degree). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the technological and teaching methodologies as well as the unique advantages and challenges of collaboration between four partner institutions on two continents as well as local industry partners and local and international academic and public libraries, in offering a blended learning program to students from six different countries. Design/methodology/approach The contribution is based on a pragmatic and reflective analysis of the success of the strategic partnerships formed during the M.IT program. The data-gathering instrument used was a questionnaire containing open-ended questions. Findings Analysis of the comments shows that it is evident that faculty st...
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the heuristic evaluations of five e-dictionaries according to the criteria developed by Ball and Bothma (2018). E-dictionaries are increasingly making use of modern information technology to... more
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the heuristic evaluations of five e-dictionaries according to the criteria developed by Ball and Bothma (2018). E-dictionaries are increasingly making use of modern information technology to create advanced information tools. It is necessary to ensure that these new products are still usable. Heuristic evaluation is a usability evaluation method used to evaluate the usability of a product. Design/methodology/approach Five e-dictionaries were evaluated through heuristic evaluation. This method requires an evaluator to evaluate a product by using a set of criteria or guidelines. Findings Various usability issues, as well as good features of e-dictionaries, could be identified through these evaluations, and are discussed under the categories of content, information architecture, navigation, access (searching and browsing), help, customisation and use of other innovative technologies. Originality/value Through the evaluations in this study...
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify criteria according to which e-dictionaries can be evaluated. Information technology can be used to enhance e-dictionaries, but if not done carefully, information tools that completely... more
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify criteria according to which e-dictionaries can be evaluated. Information technology can be used to enhance e-dictionaries, but if not done carefully, information tools that completely overwhelm a user with irrelevant information can be developed. Criteria are necessary according to which e-dictionaries can be developed and evaluated to ensure tools that only provide relevant information on demand. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted to identify trends in lexicography and modern information technology. Previous usability studies were considered to identify key usability issues. The information was synthesised to identify a set of criteria. Findings It was found the e-dictionaries should be evaluated according to their content, information architecture, navigation, access (searching and browsing), help, customisation and use of other innovative technologies. Originality/value A comprehensive set of criteria has...
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In this paper, it is shown how knowledge theories and knowledge acquisition techniques are integrated by contextualisation to lead to the drawing of concept maps that can be used in civil engineering design, and to analyse and record... more
In this paper, it is shown how knowledge theories and knowledge acquisition techniques are integrated by contextualisation to lead to the drawing of concept maps that can be used in civil engineering design, and to analyse and record specific experience. The concept maps form part of concept-based ontologies that are analysed to identify problems and constraints. Solutions to these problems and constraints create new knowledge and can be reported and linked to the world-wide-web. This linkage is made possible by utilising the Top-Level-Ontologies or Upper-Level-Ontologies to link to existing or new ontologies on the world-wide-web. The logic base acts as a procedure to lead and integrate all the above-mentioned aspects into three modules. These modules of the logic base are described and simple examples are given of how the logic base functions. The logic base is a technique to bring knowledge closer to the practising engineer, and facilitates thinking processes that will greatly as...
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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated list of heuristics and an information architecture (IA) framework for the heuristic evaluation of the IA of academic library websites as well as an evaluation framework with... more
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an integrated list of heuristics and an information architecture (IA) framework for the heuristic evaluation of the IA of academic library websites as well as an evaluation framework with practical steps on how to conduct the evaluation.Design/methodology/approachA set of 14 heuristics resulted from an integration of existing usability principles from authorities in the field of usability. A review of IA literature resulted in a framework for dividing academic library websites into six dialogue elements. The resulting heuristics were made applicable to academic library websites through the addition of recommendations based on a review of 20 related studies.FindingsThis study provides heuristics, a framework and workflow guidelines that can be used by the various evaluators of academic library websites, i.e. library staff, web developers and usability experts, to provide recommendations for improving its usability.Research limitations/im...
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The interconnectedness of the constructs ‘whole brain® thinking’ and ‘multiple intelligence’ forms the epicentre of this article. We depart from the premise that when whole brain® thinking is activated multiple intelligence can be... more
The interconnectedness of the constructs ‘whole brain® thinking’ and ‘multiple intelligence’ forms the epicentre of this article. We depart from the premise that when whole brain® thinking is activated multiple intelligence can be nourished. When this becomes evident in a higher education practice it can be claimed that such a practice is innovative. Whole brain® thinking that informs intelligence and vice versa is inevitable when it comes to facilitating learning with a view to promoting quality learning in the context of higher education. If higher education is concerned about the expectations of industry and the world of work there is no other option as to prepare students in such a way that they develo as holistic – whole brained and intelligent – employers, employees and entrepreneurs who take responsibility for maximising their full potential. Becoming a self-regulated professional and being reflexive are some of the attributes of the 21st century which should be cultivated in...
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Online Journal Abstract Information - Sabinet Online.
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This article presents part of the findings of the Research Marketing and Technology Commercialization Survey conducted in South Africa during 2005 and 2006. Part IV (Q4) of this survey was designed to examine nine drivers of knowledge... more
This article presents part of the findings of the Research Marketing and Technology Commercialization Survey conducted in South Africa during 2005 and 2006. Part IV (Q4) of this survey was designed to examine nine drivers of knowledge transfer between South African universities in their research and development (R&D) collaborations with industry firms. Respondents from a judgemental sample ranked the knowledge transfer for R&D collaboration between university departments and industry as: (a) the need to extract appropriate knowledge at the right time to make critical decisions; (b) the perception that knowledge is a valuable resource; (c) the emphasis on getting a return on investment in research; (d) the need to protect knowledge for competitive advantage; (e) the need to close the knowledge gap; (f) international trade; (g) the need to protect intellectual property such as patents and trademarks; (h) geographic proximity between the knowledge source and recipient; and (i) war, ter...
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This paper deals briefly with the necessity for the development of syntactic data bases in the Semitic languages. At the hand of three examples, taken from Hebrew, Arabic and Ugaritic, it is shown that the Semitic linguist has no reliable... more
This paper deals briefly with the necessity for the development of syntactic data bases in the Semitic languages. At the hand of three examples, taken from Hebrew, Arabic and Ugaritic, it is shown that the Semitic linguist has no reliable source for syntactic research other than the text itself, but, due to its size, relevant data is not readily obtainable. Computerised syntactic data bases are proposed as a solution. The data structure of such a data base is discussed, as well as certain aspects of the analysis and retrieval programmes. The use of such data bases as research instruments and in an information system is also briefly discussed.
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Virtual reality has the potential to enhance a variety of real-world training and entertainment applications by creating the illusion that a user of virtual reality is physically present inside the digitally created environment. However,... more
Virtual reality has the potential to enhance a variety of real-world training and entertainment applications by creating the illusion that a user of virtual reality is physically present inside the digitally created environment. However, the use of tactile feedback to convey information about this environment is often lacking in VR applications. New methods for inducing a degree of tactile feedback in users are described, which induced the illusion of a tactile experience, referred to as pseudo-tactile feedback. These methods utilised shared properties between audio and tactile feedback that can be crossmodally mapped between the two modalities in the design of a virtual reality prototype for a qualitative usability study in order to test the effectiveness and underlying causes of such feedback in the total absence of any real-world tactile feedback. Results show that participants required believable audio stimuli that they could conceive as real-world textures as well a sense of ha...
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The Building Strong Library and Information Science Education (BSLISE) Working Group (lisedu.wordpress.edu) of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), is an initiative of the IFLA Sections on... more
The Building Strong Library and Information Science Education (BSLISE) Working Group (lisedu.wordpress.edu) of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), is an initiative of the IFLA Sections on Education and Training, and Library Theory and Research, and the LIS Education in Developing Countries Special Interest Group. The BSLISE Working Group is pursuing the development of an international quality assurance framework that will guide and promote international educational standards in LIS. Its work considers the sociopolitical and technological developments that are inclusive of local and regional contexts. In its first phase of research, the group conducted an international survey to understand the qualification requirements for library and information “professional” practice around the world, inclusive of regional and national contexts. This White Paper is informed by the findings from this international survey.
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Purpose Teaching students/library patrons twenty-first century literacies (such as information and library literacies) is important within a library setting. As such, finding an appropriate manner to teach these skills in a practical... more
Purpose Teaching students/library patrons twenty-first century literacies (such as information and library literacies) is important within a library setting. As such, finding an appropriate manner to teach these skills in a practical manner at tertiary level is important. As vehicles for constructivist learning, games provide a unique opportunity to teach these twenty-first century literacies in an engaging, practical, format. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implementation of an alternate reality game (ARG) to teach these literacies through gameplay. Design/methodology/approach An ARG was designed and developed where the core gameplay tasks taught and exercised twenty-first century literacies. The game, once completed, was then analysed as a case study to determine the effectiveness of the game-based approach to literacy learning. Findings Throughout the play of the game, players spent increasingly more time in the library, often using it as a common meeting point during...
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ABSTRACT South Africa is a multicultural nation-it possesses eleven official languages, nine of which are African. This implies that a large percentage of what is termed" indigenous knowledge" may not be available to large... more
ABSTRACT South Africa is a multicultural nation-it possesses eleven official languages, nine of which are African. This implies that a large percentage of what is termed" indigenous knowledge" may not be available to large percentage of the population, due to the fact that ...
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The article focuses on the conversion of linguistic data between an XML data cube and a three-dimensional array structure in Visual Basic 6 in order to eventually facilitate data access and manipulation. After a short consideration of the... more
The article focuses on the conversion of linguistic data between an XML data cube and a three-dimensional array structure in Visual Basic 6 in order to eventually facilitate data access and manipulation. After a short consideration of the structures of the VB6 and XML databanks, conversion between the two is discussed (“round-tripping”), as well as essential database functions (create, read, update and delete) that may be performed on the linguistic data cube. The suggested software tool, therefore, acts as a “code shuttle” (a programme that moves data to and from two different storage structures) with added elementary database functionalities. Linguistic data from the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:1-2:3 is used to demonstrate the data operations.
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The objective of this paper is to discuss the implications of the model of e-learning for university libraries in terms of information organization and dissemination. The following will be discussed: • The role of the university library... more
The objective of this paper is to discuss the implications of the model of e-learning for university libraries in terms of information organization and dissemination. The following will be discussed: • The role of the university library regarding the aggregation of content and resources, customization of information portals and value adding, and the changes in educational models. • E-learning at the University of Pretoria: Case studies and the role of the library in supporting these programmes. • Challenges for university libraries when e-learning comes of age, e.g. electronic packaging of information in direct support of teaching and learning processes, customization and personalization of information on behalf of clients, electronic publishing, education in info literacy skills and personal information management. Perhaps a decade from now we will enjoy reflecting back on the progress we have made in transforming libraries in electronic communication centres: if only we could get ...
Bothma, TJD (2017) Lexicography and Information Science. Chapter 13 in P.A. Fuertes-Olivera (Ed.) Routledge Handbook of Lexicography.
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Gamification in education has become an effective tool in engaging and motivating students. Developing courses with games in mind results in a game-like experience that effectively addresses the challenges in education, such as... more
Gamification in education has become an effective tool in engaging and motivating students. Developing courses with games in mind results in a game-like experience that effectively addresses the challenges in education, such as collaboration, engagement, and student motivation. Designing a gameful course is a challenge that requires understanding in both the education and game design theory disciplines. What game elements to borrow and how to integrate these elements into the course are questions that need to be answered. The paper proposes using alternate reality games to further enhance student engagement and motivation by integrating the course design into a narrative using game actions to facilitate and inspire collaboration and community formation. The potential for borrowing from ARGs, based on literature and previous work, is discussed and an approach is proposed to highlight this potential.