VP-Cross
Scholarly Communication - Enhanced publications
Status: Completed
Purpose
The purpose of the “EP-Cross” project is to enhance a publication so that the enhancements can be displayed within the publication itself. It also allows the enhanced publication (EP) to be displayed effectively on various devices (PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, etc.) with interactivity being preserved.
Results
XPOS’RE, a kit of generic tools, enables authors to record the entire content, structure, and functionality of the various components of a publication themselves in an XML format (RIP-XML, an Internet standard for storing and exchanging data), combined with Flash (a program with which to create animations, web videos, and web applications).
We are used to viewing publications and research data on a PC or laptop, but they cannot automatically be displayed effectively on mobile devices. The XPOS’RE toolkit makes it possible, with some technical knowledge, to display information effectively on modern mobile devices. XPOS’RE therefore allows EPs to be presented on various different platforms (HTML, Flash) and types of device (“write once, read everywhere”).
The EP on various mobile devices: iPad, IPhone, and e-reader.
The enhancements have been integrated into the publication so that the user doesn’t need to switch between the various screens. The system presents the information as a whole, meaning that the user doesn’t need to know about the linked systems behind it.
The following specific components have been produced:
- Interactive map/illustration: Clicking on a hotspot on the map makes information visible relating to that location. The component is generic; the map and response information can be freely specified.
- Layered illustration: Components of the same illustration can be displayed or hidden at will. The separate layers can be in GIF, JPG, or PNG format.
- Image gallery: All the images in rows, with explanatory text/texts.
- Slideshow: One image at a time; manual navigation and loading with a timer.
- Embedded video: Because Flash and HTML5 utilise different video formats and browser support for video formats is not yet uniform, it was decided that a Flash video player should also be used in the HTML version.
An intermediate XML format, RIP-XML, was therefore designed in which the structure, content, layout and enhancements can be specified independently of the authoring tool with which it has been produced and of the environment in which it was created. Flash was chosen as the primary platform because this manner of publication is robust and provides high graphical quality, while the content itself is recorded outside the Flash components in XML and in standard image formats.
For the present, the toolkit is available via the Utrecht University website http://xposre.nl/. The software is still at the alpha testing stage and a login is therefore required (for now) to download it. The whole package will be available free of charge under a Creative Commons Licence (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0).
Demo
An example of an enhanced publication has been created using XPOS’RE: Gallows in Late Medieval Frisia by J. A. Mol. The way gallows were distributed over place and time is an indicator of the political power structure in Frisia in the late Middle Ages.
The enhanced publication – or “Rich Internet Publication”, as it is termed in the context of XPOS’RE – demonstrates how the research results were acquired with the aid of geo-tools and data, and encourages the user to get to work himself with the material and tools that were used.
Geo-tools have been integrated into the enhanced publication
Future plans
Using XPOS’RE tools requires a knowledge of HTML, XML, and Flash. If you need help, ask someone with the necessary expertise in ICT.
The project was carried out as part of the construction of Alfalab, a project of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) intended as a digital laboratory and portal for humanities researchers and a digital infrastructure for the humanities. Alfalab will deal with research and development for XPOS’RE and the creation of enhanced publications.
The initial response of researchers has been positive. The XPOS’RE toolkit is already being used to create a dictionary of the Berber language (a NIAS project that also involves DANS). Collaboration has also started via Alfalab in a new EP for the Huygens Institute. The library at VU University Amsterdam also intends starting a pilot project to enhance publications with the aid of XPOS’RE.
Enhanced Publication of the Month
Gallows in Late Medieval Frisia by J. A. Mol was the Enhanced Publication of the month for July 2011.