RAISING COMMUNITY AWARENESS ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH DYNAMICALLY GENERATED STORIES
Janet Aisbett, Greg G. Gibbon, Brian G Regan · Cybernetics & Systems · 2004
This paper discusses issues raised in the design of a dynamically generated Web-based natural history encyclopedia for children. The novelty of our proposal is the dynamic creation of encyclopedia entries using domain-specific middleware to access biological and ecological readers (users) with tailored reports summarizing information drawn from distributed datasets. A prerequisite, however, is a domain-dependent standardized data labeling system. Our project will piggyback on the host of projects currently developing metalabeling frameworks to dynamically create stories which are peopled by creatures from biological collections, are set in locations of local or other interest to the site visitor, and use scenarios based on relevant ecosystems. The underlying scientific databases provide a much broader range of subject matter (species and locations) that would not otherwise be feasible and alleviate content maintenance problems that beset community Web sites or professional encyclopedias. To incorporate such information in the sorts of format expected in a children's encyclopedia involves developing sets of “story” templates, rules for selection of a template, and rules for design of the multimedia presentation of the story. It also requires comprehensive labeling systems for data in the scientific databases.