Summer 2006
This eight-week term gave the team the opportunity to implement the fundamental
functionality of the CoBib system, as well as solidify the underlying structure
and our objectives regarding the user experience. We endured various tribulations,
including days trying to "fix" the zebra server and disagreements regarding the
future direction of CoBib. Nevertheless, working full-time during the summer
allowed us to experience research in a concentrated manner.
Flow Charts
One of our goals for the summer was to iron out the details concerning
the interaction between the databases and the user, as well as how particular
sequences of events will take place along a timeline. These charts are a
summary thus far of how we anticipate our server to act.
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Description |
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Uploading a Citation
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Shows the various sources from which bibliographic data can
originate and the process towards creating new citation records.
This includes citation matching and adding entries to both
databases if necessary.
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Uploading a Paper
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Similar to above, except with the addition of the data extraction
step. This process will be the origination of the bibliographic data.
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Searching for Citations
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Searching for a citation using bibliographic search terms
interacts directly with the zebra server while, showing listings
of citations from a tag or recommendation query deals with
the MySQL server. After displaying a citation or tag, it's a cyclical
process to find more stemming from that.
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Annotating a Citation
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Demonstrates which database is used to allow the user to write
both long annotations and word/phrase tags. Here, interaction
with the zebra server is not necessary.
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MySQL Tables
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How the individual tables in the MySQL database will relate to each
other. Graphically displaying these connections will aid in our
understanding of how to use the data to best accomplish both
simple and complex tasks, especially those involving joins.
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Functionality
Most of the basic functionality was implemented. In particular, the
following features:
- upload citation(s)
- upload paper
- tag citation
- annotate citation
- modify citation
- search using bibliographic fields
- edit user profile
Citation Matching
An integral aspect of removing database redundancies is developing an algorithm to
determine whether a newly submitted citation refers to the same paper as a citation
already in the database. We have done research into the field of string-matching,
and implemented several tests using edit-distance, token-based, and hybrid algorithms.
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