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Research Fellowship: 0ntology-Based Digital Libraries
Three Years (post no.11483)
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[Please be sure to see below for pointers to: generic
Open University further particulars; how to apply by
normal post and electronically; deadline and interview
dates; contact info; equal opportunity statement]
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Summary
The Open University's Knowledge Media Institute is
recruiting top calibre staff to meet the challenge of
building a next generation internet digital library
service for disseminating, analysing and visualizing
research literatures. We are looking for a Research
Fellow with experience in knowledge representation
(e.g. ontologies, frame-based representations,
description logic, semantic hypertext) and/or another
field of AI, and an interest in the representation and
analysis of scholarly argumentation/discourse. You'll
be joining a friendly and dynamic team at the
forefront of research and development in technologies
for scholarly publishing, semantic web tools, and
knowledge management. We currently have over a dozen
academic (UK and EU) and corporately sponsored
research projects in knowledge technologies and
organizational knowledge management.
The Knowledge Media Institute (KMi) is a highly
successful, rapidly expanding interdisciplinary
laboratory founded at The Open University in 1995, and
located in attractive new offices at The Open
University's main campus in Milton Keynes, UK. KMi
undertakes high-profile advanced research and
development in Knowledge Media: a convergence of
knowledge, communication and computing technologies.
We offer a stimulating and well-endowed research
environment, widely acknowledged to be at the leading
edge of European research and development,
particularly in new technologies for knowledge
modelling and management, open supported learning, and
synchronous and asynchronous group working.
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FURTHER PARTICULARS
Researchers are gaining access to new networks of
digital documents by the day. We are not short of
information. But solving the access problem serves
only to highlight the problem of determining meaning
and significance in an ocean of documents. The
question we have set ourselves is: How do we provide
computational support for interpreting a literature?
As part of its Distributed Information Management
programme, the UK’s Engineering and Physical Science
Research Council (EPSRC) has awarded a three year
project to KMi to develop ScholOnto, a
ontology-based, digital library server which will
assist researchers in an international community to
manage evolving concepts, perspectives and debates.
This is a unique and challenging project which will
break new ground in the use of ontologies to model
scholarly literatures in an internet scale,
community-constructed repository, and provide
knowledge-based services to assist in the tracking and
analysis of concepts, perspectives and debates within
research communities. Depending on your perspective,
this system can be construed as a computer-supported
argumentation system, a semantic e-print server, or a
digital library supporting multiple perspectives.
Background Articles
Further details can be found on the project site:
http://www.kmi.open.ac.uk/projects/scholonto/
This project is just one of many at KMi investigating
the intersection of knowledge modelling,
human-computer interaction and learning
[]. Your work
will also intersect with the work of the prestigious
EPSRC Advanced Knowledge Technologies research
consortium, in which KMi is a partner
[http://kmi.open.ac.uk/projects/akt/].
Job Description
The post concerns the design and implementation of the
ontology-based, services underpinning ScholOnto, and
reflection on the technical and social implications of
the work. (A related post will build Java user
interfaces onto the knowledge base.) The appointment
will be made on the Research staff salary scale,
£16,286 - £24,479 pa, or £22,579 - £30,065, depending
on qualifications and experience.
You should demonstrate your understanding of the
project's potential and key challenges for your post
in your application.
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Person Specification
Essential
* Experience in knowledge representation (e.g.
ontologies, frame-based representations,
description logic, semantic hypertext) and/or
another field of artificial intelligence.
Relevant
* A track record of research in a relevant field
(e.g. knowledge representation/AI; argumentation;
digital libraries; CSCW; computational
linguistics; discourse analysis; knowledge-based
hypertext)
* Knowledge/experience of ontology-based software
agents
* Experience in developing AI systems in general
and especially intelligent systems.
* Programming experience in Common Lisp
* Experience in developing web-based tools.
* Experience in developing tools supporting
collaborative work.
* Information visualization
* Excellent written and verbal communication
skills.
* The ability to work as part of a team.
* The ability to work autonomously and to
deadlines.
* Ability to interact with end users to gather
system requirements and to conduct knowledge
acquisition sessions.
* A keen interest in web technologies and a vision
for the construction of a ‘knowledge web’.
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Working at The UK's Open University
The Open University teaches more than 200,000 people
every year through courses intended mainly for adults
studying part-time in their own homes or places of
work, supported by locally-based tutors and
counsellors. It also maintains a strong and highly
regarded research base at its central headquarters in
Milton Keynes, about 50 miles north of London.
On-line information about the Open University is
available via the OU website [http://www.open.ac.uk/].
The Open University provides excellent working
conditions, including:
* 6 weeks annual leave entitlement in addition to
Christmas+Easter closures
* Non-smoking policy
* Excellent day-care facilities
* A creative and supportive work environment
Generic details concerning formal aspects of working
conditions at the Open University (including selected
extracts of Terms and Conditions of Service) are
available on the OU Further Particulars Web page.
How to apply
* The Job Application Form is linked to the further
particulars and should be emailed to:
Ms. Ortenz Rose [mailto:[email protected]]
* A hard-copy can also be obtained from her, and sent to
Knowledge Media Institute, Open University,
Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK.
Tel. +44 (0)1908 653800, Fax +44 (0)1908 653169
Deadline and interview dates
Closing date for applications: 17 Nov, 2000.
Contact Info
The project leader is Dr Simon Buckingham Shum, to
whom informal enquiries may also be made
[mailto:[email protected]]
Tel. +44 (0)1908 655723]. The project is co-led with
Dr Enrico Motta and Dr John Domingue.
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Disabled applicants whose skills and experience meet
the requirements of the job will be interviewed.
Please let us know if you need your copy of the
further particulars in large print, on computer disk,
or on audio cassette tape. Hearing impaired persons
may make enquiries on Milton Keynes +44 (0) 1908
654901 (Minicom answerphone).
Equal Opportunity is University Policy.
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