COSPEX: A System for Constructing Private Digital Libraries

In this paper we describe a system called COSPEX (COnceptual SPace EXplorer) which aims at assisting users in constructing their own private digital libraries. Information servers on the Internet have their own purposes. Each of the servers is constructed distributedly and managed autonomously, and its semantics is different from each other. On the other hand, users’ information needs are different from each other. Now that almost infinite information resources are accessible through the Internet, a new method for promoting the mediation between the semantics of information servers and users’ information needs is inevitable for users to fully utilize these information resources. COSPEX is a system which can enhance such mediation. When users of COSPEX access a certain information server, its database schema is loaded and visualized on the user interface. Users can interactively construct their own queries by viewing the visualized database schema. COSPEX can also assist users in their information discovery. By visualizing the relations among objects and attributes in a database, it assists users in finding their necessary information effectively. Users of COSPEX can create their own collection from large information resources, that is, a private digital library, which is useful for their intelligent activities.