Web-based visualisation techniques for reporting zoonotic outbreaks
- Authors: Ncube, Sinini Paul
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Zoonoses -- Reporting , Communicable diseases -- Reporting , Communication in medicine , Medical telematics , Internet , Information visualization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4664 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006672 , Zoonoses -- Reporting , Communicable diseases -- Reporting , Communication in medicine , Medical telematics , Internet , Information visualization
- Description: Zoonotic diseases are diseases that are transmitted from animals or vectors to humans and vice versa. The public together with veterinarian authorities should readily access disease information as it is vital in rapidly controlling resultant zoonotic outbreak threats through improved awareness. Currently, the reporting of disease information in South Africa is predominantly limited to traditional methods of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) like faxes, monthly newspaper reports, radios, phones and televisions. Although these are effective ways of communication, their disadvantage is that the information that most of them offer can only be accessed at specific times during a crisis. New technologies like the internet have become the most efficient way of distributing information in near-real-time. Many developed countries have used web-based reporting platforms to deliver timely information through temporal and geographic visualisation techniques. There has been an attempt in the use of web-based reporting in South Africa but most of these sites are characterised by heavy text which makes them time consuming to use or maintain. As a result most sites have not been updated or have ceased to exist because of the work load involved. The success of web reporting mechanisms in developed countries offers evidence that web-based reporting systems when appropriately visualised can improve the easy understanding of information and efficiency in the analysis of that data. In this thesis, a web-based reporting prototype was proposed after gathering information from different sources: literature related to disease reporting and the visualisation of infectious diseases; the exploration of the currently deployed web systems; and the investigation of user requirements from relevant parties. The proposed prototype system was then developed using Adobe Flash tools, Java and MySQL languages. A focus group then reviewed the developed system to ascertain that the relevant requirements had been incorporated and to obtain additional ideas about the system. This led to the proposal of a new prototype system that can be used by the authorities concerned as a plan to develop a fully functional disease reporting system for South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Ncube, Sinini Paul
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Zoonoses -- Reporting , Communicable diseases -- Reporting , Communication in medicine , Medical telematics , Internet , Information visualization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4664 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006672 , Zoonoses -- Reporting , Communicable diseases -- Reporting , Communication in medicine , Medical telematics , Internet , Information visualization
- Description: Zoonotic diseases are diseases that are transmitted from animals or vectors to humans and vice versa. The public together with veterinarian authorities should readily access disease information as it is vital in rapidly controlling resultant zoonotic outbreak threats through improved awareness. Currently, the reporting of disease information in South Africa is predominantly limited to traditional methods of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) like faxes, monthly newspaper reports, radios, phones and televisions. Although these are effective ways of communication, their disadvantage is that the information that most of them offer can only be accessed at specific times during a crisis. New technologies like the internet have become the most efficient way of distributing information in near-real-time. Many developed countries have used web-based reporting platforms to deliver timely information through temporal and geographic visualisation techniques. There has been an attempt in the use of web-based reporting in South Africa but most of these sites are characterised by heavy text which makes them time consuming to use or maintain. As a result most sites have not been updated or have ceased to exist because of the work load involved. The success of web reporting mechanisms in developed countries offers evidence that web-based reporting systems when appropriately visualised can improve the easy understanding of information and efficiency in the analysis of that data. In this thesis, a web-based reporting prototype was proposed after gathering information from different sources: literature related to disease reporting and the visualisation of infectious diseases; the exploration of the currently deployed web systems; and the investigation of user requirements from relevant parties. The proposed prototype system was then developed using Adobe Flash tools, Java and MySQL languages. A focus group then reviewed the developed system to ascertain that the relevant requirements had been incorporated and to obtain additional ideas about the system. This led to the proposal of a new prototype system that can be used by the authorities concerned as a plan to develop a fully functional disease reporting system for South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Using information visualization techniques to support web service discovery
- Authors: Beets, Simone
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Information visualization , Web services , Information visualization -- Computer programs
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10457 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1659 , Information visualization , Web services , Information visualization -- Computer programs
- Description: The increasing number of web services published over the Web highlights the need for an effective method for users to find appropriate web services. Existing web service discovery methods do not effectively aid a user in finding suitable web services. The current methods provide textual lists of web services that the user is required to explore and manually evaluate. Thus, these methods lead to time-consuming and ineffective web service discovery. The aim of this research was to investigate using information visualization (IV) techniques to effectively support web service discovery. The node-and-link network IV technique was selected as the most appropriate IV technique to visualize web service collections. A prototype, called SerViz, was developed as a tool for interactive visualization of web service collections incorporating the node-and-link IV technique and an alphabetical list-based technique. SerViz used the Programmable Web web service collection as the sample web service collection. A usability evaluation was conducted to compare these techniques. Ninety percent of participants preferred the network IV technique for visualizing web service collections. The network IV technique was also faster for browsing. Several usability problems were identified with the network IV technique. This motivated a need for implementing an alternative IV technique in SerViz. The node-and-link tree IV technique was selected as it was more structured than the network IV technique. A usability evaluation was conducted to compare the network and tree IV techniques. Participants slightly preferred the tree IV technique as the technique to visualize web service collections. The tree IV technique was faster for browsing the web service collection while the network IV technique was faster for searching and filtering. This research has determined that IV techniques can be used to effectively support web service discovery. Future work will involve using IV techniques to support collaborative web service discovery. Keywords: Web Service Discovery, Information Visualization, Web Service Collections, Information Visualization Techniques.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Beets, Simone
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Information visualization , Web services , Information visualization -- Computer programs
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:10457 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1659 , Information visualization , Web services , Information visualization -- Computer programs
- Description: The increasing number of web services published over the Web highlights the need for an effective method for users to find appropriate web services. Existing web service discovery methods do not effectively aid a user in finding suitable web services. The current methods provide textual lists of web services that the user is required to explore and manually evaluate. Thus, these methods lead to time-consuming and ineffective web service discovery. The aim of this research was to investigate using information visualization (IV) techniques to effectively support web service discovery. The node-and-link network IV technique was selected as the most appropriate IV technique to visualize web service collections. A prototype, called SerViz, was developed as a tool for interactive visualization of web service collections incorporating the node-and-link IV technique and an alphabetical list-based technique. SerViz used the Programmable Web web service collection as the sample web service collection. A usability evaluation was conducted to compare these techniques. Ninety percent of participants preferred the network IV technique for visualizing web service collections. The network IV technique was also faster for browsing. Several usability problems were identified with the network IV technique. This motivated a need for implementing an alternative IV technique in SerViz. The node-and-link tree IV technique was selected as it was more structured than the network IV technique. A usability evaluation was conducted to compare the network and tree IV techniques. Participants slightly preferred the tree IV technique as the technique to visualize web service collections. The tree IV technique was faster for browsing the web service collection while the network IV technique was faster for searching and filtering. This research has determined that IV techniques can be used to effectively support web service discovery. Future work will involve using IV techniques to support collaborative web service discovery. Keywords: Web Service Discovery, Information Visualization, Web Service Collections, Information Visualization Techniques.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Web usage mining of organisational web sites
- Authors: Oosthuizen, Craig Peter
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Web usage mining -- South Africa , Internet users -- South Africa , Information visualization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:9595 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/399 , Web usage mining -- South Africa , Internet users -- South Africa , Information visualization
- Description: Web Usage Mining (WUM) can be used to determine whether the information architecture of a web site is structured correctly. Existing WUM tools however, do not indicate which web usage mining algorithms are used or provide effective graphical visualisations of the results obtained. WUM techniques can be used to determine typical navigation patterns of the users of organisational web sites. An organisational web site can be described as a site which has a high level of content. The Computer Science & Information Systems (CS&IS) web site at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) is an example of such a web site. The process of combining WUM and information visualisation techniques in order to discover useful information about web usage patterns is called visual web mining. The goal of this research is to discuss the development of a WUM model and a prototype, called WebPatterns, which allows the user to effectively visualise web usage patterns of an organisational web site. This will facilitate determining whether the information architecture of the CS&IS web site is structured correctly. The WUM algorithms used in WebPatterns are association rule mining and sequence analysis. The purpose of association rule mining is to discover relationships between different web pages within a web site. Sequence analysis is used to determine the longest time ordered paths that satisfy a user specified minimum frequency. A radial tree layout is used in WebPatterns to visualise the static structure of the organisational web site. The structure of the web site is laid out radially, with the home page in the middle and other pages positioned in circles at various levels around it. Colour and other visual cues are used to show the results of the WUM algorithms. User testing was used to determine the effectiveness and usefulness of WebPatterns for visualising web usage patterns. The results of the user testing clearly show that the participants were highly satisfied with the visual design and information provided by WebPatterns. All the participants also indicated that they would like to use WebPatterns in the future. Analysis of the web usage patterns presented by WebPatterns was used to determine that the information architecture of the CS&IS web site can be restructured to better facilitate information retrieval. Changes to the CS&IS web site web were suggested, included placing embedded hyperlinks on the home page to the frequently accessed sections of the web site.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Oosthuizen, Craig Peter
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Web usage mining -- South Africa , Internet users -- South Africa , Information visualization
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:9595 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/399 , Web usage mining -- South Africa , Internet users -- South Africa , Information visualization
- Description: Web Usage Mining (WUM) can be used to determine whether the information architecture of a web site is structured correctly. Existing WUM tools however, do not indicate which web usage mining algorithms are used or provide effective graphical visualisations of the results obtained. WUM techniques can be used to determine typical navigation patterns of the users of organisational web sites. An organisational web site can be described as a site which has a high level of content. The Computer Science & Information Systems (CS&IS) web site at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) is an example of such a web site. The process of combining WUM and information visualisation techniques in order to discover useful information about web usage patterns is called visual web mining. The goal of this research is to discuss the development of a WUM model and a prototype, called WebPatterns, which allows the user to effectively visualise web usage patterns of an organisational web site. This will facilitate determining whether the information architecture of the CS&IS web site is structured correctly. The WUM algorithms used in WebPatterns are association rule mining and sequence analysis. The purpose of association rule mining is to discover relationships between different web pages within a web site. Sequence analysis is used to determine the longest time ordered paths that satisfy a user specified minimum frequency. A radial tree layout is used in WebPatterns to visualise the static structure of the organisational web site. The structure of the web site is laid out radially, with the home page in the middle and other pages positioned in circles at various levels around it. Colour and other visual cues are used to show the results of the WUM algorithms. User testing was used to determine the effectiveness and usefulness of WebPatterns for visualising web usage patterns. The results of the user testing clearly show that the participants were highly satisfied with the visual design and information provided by WebPatterns. All the participants also indicated that they would like to use WebPatterns in the future. Analysis of the web usage patterns presented by WebPatterns was used to determine that the information architecture of the CS&IS web site can be restructured to better facilitate information retrieval. Changes to the CS&IS web site web were suggested, included placing embedded hyperlinks on the home page to the frequently accessed sections of the web site.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
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