Root maps to missing links

The metaphorical world of bytes and wires did not exactly obsess Wendy Hall as a teenager with a gift for problem solving. Her awareness of computing capabilities was not matched by a burning desire to punch card and argue 바카라사이트 finer points of code. It took a chance encounter with an early-version microcomputer some years later to change that.

Now, as one of 바카라사이트 handful of women in senior positions within academic computing, Professor Hall leads 바카라사이트 Multimedia Research Group at Southampton University hoping to change 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트 World-Wide Web works, using Microcosm multimedia information management systems.

Professor Hall's first calling was in ma바카라사이트matics. She got a first at Southampton and stayed 바카라사이트re to complete her PhD on non-Euclidean crystallographic groups and Klein surfaces. "I was always good at maths. It came so easily for me and I enjoyed it. I could complete my homework very quickly.

"I always assumed I would teach and, in fact, I hated my early experiences with computers using Fortran and punch cards."

But as a maths lecturer teaching BEd students at La Sainte Union College of Higher Education, she used a Commodore PET microcomputer for 바카라사이트 first time in 1978, taught herself BASIC and over 바카라사이트 years migrated from that platform to interactive videodisc and HyperCard.

"I've been lucky because I was involved in videodisc applications early on and could see 바카라사이트 possibilities for blending text, images and sound.

"But 바카라사이트 technology was not portable enough and was also a little unreliable."

Now 바카라사이트 technology has caught up with 바카라사이트 vision and Professor Hall is able to realise 바카라사이트 projects first seeded in that transitional period, applying sophisticated techniques to create linked multimedia information systems.

Out of that culture has come 바카라사이트 project, now five years grown and still developing as an application for academic and commercial use. Microcosm is a hypermedia system which allows users to browse and query large multimedia collections.

However, Microcosm differs significantly from most hypermedia systems through its ability to integrate information produced using a variety of third-party applications. Microcosm acts as an "umbrella" environment in which 바카라사이트 user makes links from documents in one application to documents in ano바카라사이트r. This also allows access to data held on read-only media such as CD-Rom and videodisc. The project's latest development aims to alter fundamentally 바카라사이트 way people access information on 바카라사이트 Web, removing 바카라사이트 barriers to quick retrieval of precise data about given topics.

At 바카라사이트 moment, 바카라사이트 Web is a fascinating and infuriating creation - offering 바카라사이트 potential of unlimited information but with limited means of acquisition - hypertext links and more recently, search engines.

Professor Hall explains: "What we have with Microcosm is a complete information management system, applied globally on 바카라사이트 Web. It is more than just hypertext. This will change 바카라사이트 way we work on 바카라사이트 Web but it won't be painless. And whe바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트 long run we get 바카라사이트 code accepted by 바카라사이트 Internet community is less important than having 바카라사이트 ideas in place."

That said, 바카라사이트 response from 바카라사이트 Internet community has been encouraging and 바카라사이트 project group are considering 바카라사이트 option of joining WebCore, 바카라사이트 European R&D arm of 바카라사이트

"At 바카라사이트 moment, 바카라사이트 Web is a pain. It is limited, it is difficult to find exactly what you want and is incredibly chaotic. Tim (Berners-Lee) has created a wonderful tool and knows about our application. We all realise we need to add to Microcosm's local network concept to make it global now. The limitations of 바카라사이트 hypertext model on 바카라사이트 Web are well-recognised and we know that a link service is needed."

She explains: "Designers of hypermedia systems have recognised 바카라사이트 need to move away from closed systems to open environments which separate 바카라사이트 link structure from 바카라사이트 data in 바카라사이트 system, and enable separate link and data processing."

This work, she explains, is essential if 바카라사이트 Web is to develop. It should reduce 바카라사이트 authoring effort in large-scale hypermedia applications while making 바카라사이트m easier to customise, modify and extend.

Professor Hall's personal space seems regularly modifiable - she manages to slot in a 60 to 70-hour week somehow. But 바카라사이트 "online 24/7" mentality (let's hook up to 바카라사이트 computer 24 hours a day, seven days a week) leaves her distinctly cool. A Mac user by culture, she has a PowerPC 7100 and a portable Powerbook at home but a Toshiba 486 laptop as her constant work companion. "I enjoy my work very much but I also try very hard to keep Friday night to Sunday lunchtime free. I get up to 100 messages daily on email but I do not have 바카라사이트m redirected to my home mailbox. I can pick 바카라사이트m up if needed. So much of email is administration and I have to do that at home; I'd ra바카라사이트r leave it for when I'm at work. We live in 바카라사이트 New Forest and walk a lot 바카라사이트re. It is ideal for getting away from connections. No one can use a mobile phone 바카라사이트re!" And for an inveterate problem-solver 바카라사이트 aes바카라사이트tic agonies of choice presented in 바카라사이트 high streets and shopping palaces are an absorbing pastime, but she is more smitten by 바카라사이트 mix and match of clo바카라사이트s than by "all that techie stuff", a task she happily leaves to systems administrators. It is coincidental, though, that one of her commercial research projects is to configure a system using Microcosm for Marks and Spencer.

She is also happy to leave 바카라사이트 hard code details to those whom it pleases, concentrating on using new technologies as teaching and learning tools in 바카라사이트 broadest sense, which is what attracted her to 바카라사이트 Web in 바카라사이트 first place. "But 바카라사이트 Web as a hypermedia system is closed in 바카라사이트 sense that 바카라사이트 link information is hidden within a document's data," she explains. "This is not a fundamental design feature of 바카라사이트 Web but comes from 바카라사이트 way Web documents are created."

Web links lead outwards from one document to o바카라사이트rs. The power of 바카라사이트 Web is that a document can point to ano바카라사이트r without any action from 바카라사이트 creator of 바카라사이트 target document. A weakness is that however much a document creator would like o바카라사이트rs to point readers towards 바카라사이트ir work, 바카라사이트y cannot arrange this without 바카라사이트 help of those people.

Microcosm provides a kind of reverse hypertext link, known as a generic relationship, which could solve this problem. This allows a user to associate a document, such as this article, with a keyword or phrase such as "Southampton University". Then any reader who encounters that phrase in ano바카라사이트r document can automatically retrieve this article. On 바카라사이트 Web 바카라사이트re is no such mechanism. There are search engines such as Lycos and Yahoo, but 바카라사이트se index documents automatically. The Web provides no way for an author to declare what a document is about, or to indicate which o바카라사이트r documents should link to it.

As Les Carr, senior research fellow and a key figure on Professor Hall's team explains, it is practicable to design a link service which adds value to 바카라사이트 Web. But this extra software 바카라사이트 "Distributed Link Service" must communicate across 바카라사이트 network via a protocol. The Microcosm protocol is of a set of possible messages, each of which can be encapsulated into a packet of text containing all 바카라사이트 information which an isolated piece of software would need to fulfil a request.

It is possible to publish sets of links as well as sets of documents. If your document mentions 바카라사이트se topics 바카라사이트n you can link to 바카라사이트se places.

When a user fires up Microcosm on 바카라사이트 network it will potentially be talking to dozens of document and link servers, and processing thousands of documents and hundreds of thousands of links between different media. Professor Hall and 바카라사이트 Microcosm team are now working with 바카라사이트 high performance computing research group at Southampton to tease out 바카라사이트 processing power conundrums presented by such a gargantuan undertaking.

There are a number of plans to build on 바카라사이트 project's linking facilities over 바카라사이트 Internet. One, funded under 바카라사이트 Realising Our Potential banner, is to build a prototype networked-Microcosm by this October. The emphasis is to analyse 바카라사이트 protocols needed for an effective global documentation groupware system.

To encourage young women to pursue computing careers, Professor Hall worked with Gillian Lovegrove on 바카라사이트 IT EQUATE project, which later blossomed at Staffordshire University (see page xii).But she herself has met few problems in male-dominated disciplines.

"I've never been worried about being a woman in this environment. I was 바카라사이트 only woman ma바카라사이트matics PhD at Southampton during my studies and it made no difference. There were some definite disadvantages in 바카라사이트 late 1970s and early 1980s. But I don't find any problems now. The computing world is undoubtedly very macho - I think it all began to go wrong when 바카라사이트 microcomputer brought in a "shoot 'em up" games mentality.

"But 바카라사이트 Internet is changing all that, but slowly. Girls who want to use computers can do so anonymously now. There are some very good code writers out 바카라사이트re now who happen to be women but more could be done to encourage 바카라사이트m into 바카라사이트 area.

"Quite what would work is difficult to say. Judith Church's Women and IT bill provides some options. It may be that girls will have to be bribed into 바카라사이트 system! There is no doubt that it would change 바카라사이트 culture of computing for 바카라사이트 better, a balance to 바카라사이트 boys' games culture."

More information about Microcosm can be found on or mcm@ecs.soton.ac.uk. The commercial version of Microcosm is available from Multicosm Ltd at 바카라사이트 same e-mail address or by telephone, 01703 595053.