The working papers can be viewed and printed as pdf-file via the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Adobe also provides a set of free tools that allow blind and visually impaired people to read documents in Adobe pdf format. The Acrobat Reader and the tools are available as freeware.
Some of the papers can also be ordered as brochures from the IZ order service.

Sabine Heinz
Der Produktkatalog als Bestandteil der Informationsarchitektur von Fachportalen - eine vergleichende Evaluation am Beispiel der GESIS-Website
The product catalogue as part of the information architecture of subject portals - a comparative evaluation taking the GESIS website as an example
IZ Working Paper No. 39, August 2007,  46 pages

The development of a consistent information architecture model for the circa 40 integrated subject portals in the science portal vascoda is supposed to form the basis for the structural harmonisation and thus a consistent design in terms of ergonomics and aesthetics. The model separates between website navigation (on the user interface level) and content navigation (on the information architecture level) through the implementation of a so-called product catalogue. A main aspect of this model, the confrontation of a static and a dynamic menu, was prototypically implemented for the GESIS website as an example and comparatively evaluated. The working paper presents the methods and results of the user study.
pdf-file (697 KB)

Jürgen Krause, Philipp Mayr
Allgemeiner Bibliothekszugang und Varianten der Suchtypologie - Konsequenzen für die Modellbildung in vascoda
General library access and search typology variants - consequences for the modelling in vascoda
 IZ Working Paper No. 38, December 2006,  52 pages

The working paper focuses on a possible integration of the Dreiländerkatalog (DLK), which stands prototypically for non-subject-specific library catalogs (here called general library access) into the interdisciplinary science portal vascoda. The report discusses internal design variants of vascoda, which illustrate basic considerations for general library access. Section 2 deals with proposals for an extension of the search typology in vascoda. Neither from the literature review nor from internal discussions regarding the content integration or the introduction of search engine technology could a change of the fundamental concept of vascoda (subject-oriented searching) be derived.
pdf-file (815 KB)

Philipp Mayr
Informationsangebote für das Wissenschaftsportal vascoda - eine Bestandsaufnahme
Collections for the science portal vascoda - a survey
IZ Working Paper No. 37, May 2006,  67 pages

The working paper analyzes various collections offered by German virtual library gateways and database producers which will be integrated into the interdisciplinary science portal vascoda. The descriptions of the heterogeneous collections, mainly indexing & abstracting databases, library catalogues, online contents services, subject gateways, document repositories and digital objects, build a basis for further analysis and modelling approaches in the funded project “Modellbildung und Heterogenitätsbehandlung”. The survey shows a variety of structural and semantic heterogeneity with far-ranging consequences for the methodical and vali-dated integration of the documents in the collections.
pdf-file (414 KB)

Stefan Baerisch
Versionskontrollsysteme in der Softwareentwicklung
Revision Control Systems used in software development
IZ Working Paper No. 36, June 2005,  97 pages

Detecting and providing control over changes is an important prerequisite in the software development process. This aspect is of particular importance when a group of software developers is working on the same project over an extended period of time. Revision Control Systems support the software development process by supporting the management of changes in source code. This Working Paper describes the characteristics and usage of different revision control systems. Of special relevance is the identification of a potential system to replace the revision control system currently in use in the department R&D of the IZ.
pdf-file (790 KB)

Marcus Hegner
Gestaltung barrierefreier Webseiten
Designing of Web Accessibility
IZ Working Paper No. 35, April 2005,  98 pages

Design of accessible web sites means to design web sites which can be read and used by everyone. Basis are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) for the accessibility of web sites for handicapped persons.
This working paper discusses the different guidelines of the WAI. The design of accessible web sites is demonstrated by a various set of examples. Further are described several devices which can be used by handicapped people to search the Internet. Various approaches to evaluate a web site or a prototype are pointed out.
pdf-file (624 KB)

Matthias Stahl, Gisbert Binder, Udo Riege
Befragung des akademischen Mittelbaus im Fach Soziologie
Survey of non-professorial academic teaching staff in the subject of sociology
IZ Working Paper No. 34, March 2005,  79 pages

One of the key elements of quality assurance in an organization is knowledge of the structure of its customers/users and their subjective assessment of the supplied products and services with the aim of continuously increasing customer satisfaction. This Working Paper is part of a series of studies of different target groups of the IZ. Whereas the initial focus was on the multiple customers of the IZ (cf. Working Paper No. 13) and sociology professors in German-speaking countries (cf. Working Paper No. 25), this Working Paper concerns members of non-professorial academic teaching staff in the same subject. 642 people took part in the telephone survey, i.e. a utilization quota of 89%.
81% of respondents said that they were aware of the IZ at least by name. Approx. 38% are users. Approx. 43% are aware of the IZ, but have never used its products or services. The majority of users have already worked with the SOLIS and SOFIS databases. The most widely used product is the CD-ROM wiso III, which has now been replaced by the online database wiso-net. On the whole, the Internet is very relevant to the scientific work of members of non-professorial academic teaching staff. 
General customer satisfaction - measured by the TRI:M-Index of NFO-Infratest - is again extraordinarily high with an index value of 80. 
pdf-file (346 KB)

Workshop "The East European Social Sciences: Research Conditions and the Role of Information/Communication"
IZ Working Paper No. 33, March 2004, 58 pages

The GESIS/Social Science Information Centre (IZ), Department Information Transfer Eastern Europe organized the workshop "The East European Social Sciences: Research Conditions and the Role of information/Communication" in November 2003 (14. -15.11.2003). Social scientists from thirteen Central and East European countries discussed problems of the information supply in Eastern Europe and possibilities of the information support by the GESIS Service Agency Eastern Europe. Prior to the workshop the participants were asked to fill in the questionnaire (developed by the IZ) on the state of information supply in terms of both infrastructure and research. These country reports served as a starting point for the workshop discussion. The present working report includes overviews on the country reports prepared and commented by discussants. Additionally, the detailed country contribution from Romania is published for it conveys a comprehensive impression about the difficulties and problems, which the East European social scientists face in their daily work. The participants' statements concerning the organizational conditions of the social science research in Eastern Europe in general and the effects of the EU enlargement on the international cooperation in particular are summed up in the introduction.
pdf-file (395 KB)

Peter Mutschke
Autorennetzwerke: Verfahren der Netzwerkanalyse als Mehrwertdienste für Informationssysteme
Author networks: network analysis models as high-level services in information systems
IZ Working Paper No. 32, April 2004,  49 pages

Standard search engines are usually not able to exhaust the full complexity of information stored in virtual libraries. The working paper informs about developments at the IZ which intend to enhance information retrieval by taking into account knowledge about interaction within scientific communities and the social status of their actors. Basis for this are social networks that are constructed by coauthorships represented in the documents of the database (author networks). Studies of the small-world topology of author networks, described in the report, show that these networks have a substantial potential for information systems. The report discusses scenarios which describe how author networks and in particular the concept of actor centrality can be meaningfully used to improve searching in databases. The key approach of these retrieval models is the search for experts and the ranking of documents by using actor centrality in coauthor networks.
pdf-file (974 KB)

Wolf-Dieter Mell
WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) - Messwerte zu Reichweiten und Dämpfungen, Empfehlungen zur Planung von Konfigurationen
WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) - Measured Values of Ranges and Attenuations, Recommendations Regarding the Planning of Configurations
IZ Working Paper No. 31, February 2004, 34 pages
also IboaT Working Paper No. 1

The study examines and describes a simple method for planning WLAN configurations according to the WiFi Standards 802.11 b/g, including bridging and wireless distribution for illuminating large areas. Based on measurement-series and information from manufacturers, the author calculates, for example, the attenuations of typical obstacles and amplifications of typical directional antennae, and documents the results in  tables. Measured limit values for reliable data transmission are also recommended.
This Work Report is being published jointly by the Social Science Information Centre (Bonn) and the Institute for Boat Tourism (Bonn - Lemmer).
pdf-file (959 KB)

Wolf-Dieter Mell
Jenseits von TCO: TCL-Kennzahlen (Total Cost of Lifecycle) als Planungs- und Argumentationshilfen
Beyond TCO: Total Cost of Lifecycle as planning aids
IZ Working Paper No. 30, July 2003, 79 pages

.A concept is presented for determining accumulated key figures for "Total Costs of Lifecycle" (TCL) of an IT configuration as an aid in the communication of the conditions of consequences of IT services and the dynamics of investments and lifecycle during discussions within the company. 
The basis of the concept is that the IT services are grouped and combined to forms around 20 to 30 "service modules". Using the existing budget data, the following key figures are calculated/estimated for each "service module": One-off and current annual material costs, One-off and current annual personnel costs, Technical utilization period ("lifecycle") and the IT configuration and the IT services are shown in full by the unit numbers for each service module.
A model configuration is calculated by means of an example and important characteristics of TCL data are derived and described, e.g. the "average annual budget" and the procurement and time value of service modules. Reference is also made to rationalization options, the "effectiveness" of the various rationalization fields is estimated and the potential uses of TCL as a planning instrument or for calculating key IT service figures are explained.
pdf-file (395 KB)

Marcus Hegner
Methoden zur Evaluation von Software
Different kinds of usability methods in usability evaluation
IZ Working Paper No. 29, May 2003, 98 pages

This working paper deals with two different kinds of usability methods. Usability inspection and usability testing. Usability inspection are a set of methods, that are all based on having evaluators inspect a user interface. These includes heuristic evaluation, standards inspections, cognitive walkthrough etc. The methods are usually cheaper to perform and less time consuming than usability testing, as they do not have to involve direct user interaction. On the other hand usability testing with real users is the most fundamental usability method which delivers direct information about how people use computers and what their direct problems are with the concrete interface being tested. The purpose of usability testing is to find problems and make recommendations to improve the utility of a product. The paper discussed several usability testing methods and the basic elements conduct a usability test. In addition an exemplified brief theoretical and practical description of one of more specialized statistical test (Analysis of Variance, ANOVA) to analyse competitive products is taken.
pdf-file (579 KB)

Jürgen Krause
Standardisierung von der Heterogenität her denken - Zum Entwicklungsstand bilateraler Transferkomponenten für digitale Fachbibliotheken
Standardization ideas from the viewpoint of heterogeneity - Development state of bilateral transfer components for specialist digital libraries
IZ Working Paper No. 28, July 2003, 32 pages

Solutions to the problems encountered in developing scientific information programs in the Internet go far beyond the hitherto customary ideas of information centres and libraries. The discussed guideline "Standardization ideas from the viewpoint of heterogeneity" is the clearest indication of this change. It is not only technological, but also conceptual in terms of its content., The traditional standardization methods are no longer sufficient to maintain interoperability and data consistency, objectives that are also aspired to within the context of the Internet.
Together with different partners, the Research and Development Department of the Social Science Information Centre (IZ Bonn) has examined the theoretical principles of this view of standardization problems and their practical implementation in various projects in the last few years. The current situation described below reflects the development results from the last six years and summarizes the implemented subcomponents of this model view. The findings now already contain initial approaches which offer at least partial solutions to the conceptual problem of different content developments within the context of modern specialist digital libraries, information net-works and specialist portals.
pdf-file (487 KB)

Wolf-Dieter Mell, Daniel Link
IT-Struktur-Konzept des IZ
IZ's IT structure concept
IZ Working Paper No. 27, October 2002, 108 pages

At the beginning of 2002 in preparation for a planned, routine exchange of our server, alongside a planned changeover of the LAN operating system to the Windows 2000 active directory, the IT structure at IZ underwent an in-house evaluation. This evaluation examined the mid-term range development concept and assessed new and alternative options for determining a migration concept. The consulting firm of BOV, in Essen was engaged for their expertise and personnel to support the task of carrying out the study.
The report is comprised of four parts: 
With respect to the IT and computer department's overall tasks, the first section summarizes IZ's IT structural planning, particularly the extant medium-term fundamentals, which is based on the GESIS IT framework concept. For the most part this encompasses the regulations with regard to uniform equipment at all workstations and servers thereby facilitating management of disruptions and/or changes.
The second section documents the status of the IT structure in Bonn and Berlin as of beginning 2002. In addition to the recent topology and service structure, special structural components are described (including the aDIS procedure and others) as well as concepts for network security, data protection and troubleshooting in addition to access and modification management.
Section three is an examination and assessment of options for further concepts and development in core areas of this structure, the focus being a suitable service structure for the LAN operation system Windows 2000 Active Directory, a comprehensive discussion with options for increased network security (mostly to protect against unauthorized internet access) as well as organizational and technical measures for troubleshooting and repairing disturbances. 
Following this analysis, section four details a table with key features of this future, medium-range IT structure planning as well as the required server and service structure arrived at. The implementation concept follows in the form of a list of planned activities along with a timetable of two years from the third quarter of 2001 through the third quarter 2003.
pdf-file (684 KB)

Wolf-Dieter Mell
Methodische Anmerkungen zur Auswertung der WWW-Log-Dateien des Servers www.gesis.org 
Methodological commentary on the analysis of the www log files of the www.gesis.org server
IZ Working Paper No. 26, July 2002, 68 pages

The study aims to evaluate meaningful user code numbers from the www-server log files using the log results of the IIS server www.gesis.org for 2001 and 2002.
A systematic examination was done of the principal features of the log files, such as, for instance, the problem of user identification using the IP address (DHCP, Proxy), dealing with search engines, distinguishing between "hits," "page views" and "visits", identification of dial-up URLs (capitalization), command types, status codes and, based on that, developing recommendations for routine investigation of code numbers. The respective procedures and filter lists are available upon request.
pdf-file (393 KB)

Matthias Stahl, Gisbert Binder, Jutta Marx
Das Informationszentrum Sozialwissenschaften im Urteil von Soziologieprofessorinnen und –professoren aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz
The Social Science Information Centre as judged by sociology professors in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
IZ Working Paper No. 25, June 2002, 80 pages

An important component to ensuring quality in an organization is knowing the client and user and their subjective evaluation of the products and services offered, with the ultimate goal of seeing that customer expectations are consistently met and even exceeded. This report is part of a series of inquiries among various groups targeted by IZ. While initially most of the attention was paid to IZ's regular clients (see Working Paper No. 13), the focus is now on sociology professors in German-speaking countries. 
The most important results: According to the research, IZ is well-known (87% of those surveyed recognize at least the name IZ). Of those using IZ, 97% know of the SOLIS database, three-fourths of these have utilized it at sometime. SOFIS is also well known coming in only 10 percentage points behind SOLIS. Of the individual products and services the printed version of the "sozialwissenschaftlicher Fachinformationsdienst - soFid (Social Science Specialized Information Service)" is the most often used. The SOFIS-survey is far and away the most named connection between IZ and the individual user. The generally measured level of customer satisfaction, an index value of 76 - measured using the TRI:M-Index from NFO-Infratest is exceptionally good and only marginally less than that from regular clients, which was 81.
pdf-file (585 KB)

Gisbert Binder, Jutta Marx, Peter Mutschke, Udo Riege, Robert Strötgen (Social Science Information Centre); Stefan Kokkelink, Judith Plümer (University of Osnabrück)
Heterogenitätsbehandlung bei textueller Information verschiedener Datentypen und Inhaltserschließungsverfahren
Handling heterogeneity of textual information in different types of data and documentation languages
IZ Working Paper No. 24, April 2002, 71 pages

The project CARMEN ("Content Analysis, Retrieval and MetaData: Effective Networking") was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the context of the programme "Global Info". It aimed among other goals at improving the expansion of searches in bibliographic databases into Internet searches. We pursued a set of different approaches to the treatment of semantic heterogeneity (meta-data extraction, query translation using statistic relations and cross concordances) and implemented and evaluated them. The presented paper describes the work and the results of the project partners of this working package (University of Osnabrück, Faculty of Mathematics and the German Social Science Information Centre Bonn).
pdf-file (641 KB)

Heiko Hellweg, Juergen Krause, Thomas Mandl, Jutta Marx, Matthias N.O. Mueller, Peter Mutschke, Robert Stroetgen
Treatment of Semantic Heterogeneity in Information Retrieval
IZ Working Paper No. 23, May 2001, 47 pages (in english) (out-of-print)

Nowadays, users of information services are faced with highly decentralised, heterogeneous document sources with different content analysis. Semantic heterogeneity occurs e.g. when resources using different systems for content description are searched using a single query system. This report describes several approaches of handling semantic heterogeneity used in projects of the German Social Science Information Centre.
pdf-file (608 KB)

Matthias Stahl, Gisbert Binder, Jutta Marx
Qualitätsmanagemtsysteme und ihre Anwendung auf Serviceeinrichtungen der WGL
Quality systems and their application to service providers of the WGL
IZ Working Paper No. 22, July 2001, 46 pages

The report offers an overview on often used terms and concepts in the area of quality management systems. In addition to the family norms ISO 9000 - 9004 and Total Quality Management (TQM) both special measures for benchmarking and re-engineering and problems with the application of these systems in research and service institutions are discussed. The report also touches upon the evaluation and the planned measures for insuring quality at the institutes of the Wissenschaftsgemeinschaft Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (WGL) and the specifics of service providers.
pdf-file (494 KB)

Juergen Krause
Integration von Ansätzen neuronaler Netzwerke in die Systemarchitektur von ViBSoz und CARMEN
Integrating approaches of neuronal networks in the system architecture of ViBSoz and CARMEN
IZ Working Paper No. 21, October 2000, 26 pages

Apart from cross-concordances, qualitative-deductive methods and statistical procedures, basic strategies for treating semantic heterogeneity also include the employment of neuronal networks in transfer modules between holdings of documents with different systems for content analysis. So far, research has hardly investigated the question as to which network model is the most promising, nor has it asked whether neuronal networks in the context of integrated specialized information systems could actually be beneficial in practice. This topic has therefore been the subject of further research as part of a doctoral dissertation in a cooperative effort launched between IZ and the University of Hildesheim (see also IZ Working Paper No. 20). Working Paper No. 21 talks about the consequences of these findings for integrated social science information systems and therefore also for the work of the projects CARMEN (Content Analysis, Retrieval and Metadata: Effective Networking, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of GLOBAL-INFO) and ViBSoz (Social Science Virtual Library sponsored by the DFG, see also IZ Working Paper No. 19). 
pdf-file (117 KB)

Thomas Mandl
Einsatz neuronaler Netze als Transferkomponenten beim Retrieval in heterogenen Dokumentbeständen
Employing neuronal networks as transfer components for retrieval in heterogeneous holdings
IZ Working Paper No. 20, November 2000, 116 pages (out-of-print)

Increased worldwide networking and the creation of digital libraries leads to new possibilities for searching in several databases. Since search terms may have different meanings in different contexts, however, semantic heterogeneity has been a major problem. Neuronal networks appear to be best suited to facing this new challenge posed by transfer components required to solve this problem.
pdf-file (1082 KB)

Social Science Information Centre: Michael Kluck, Juergen Krause, Matthias N.O. Mueller in co-operation with the Working Group 'Elfikom' at the Darmstadt University of Technology: Rudi Schmiede, Helmut Wenzel, Stefan Winkler, Wolfgang Meier
Virtuelle Fachbibliothek Sozialwissenschaften: Projektskizze
Social Science Virtual Library: a project outline
IZ Working Paper No. 19, February 2000, 43 pages

The Social Science Virtual Library project aims at presenting an integrated view to distributed, heterogeneous data of social science literature. The main emphasis is on solving problems of access in content to such diverse document sets. The project is a co-operation with the Darmstadt University of Technology.
pdf-file (369 KB)

Gisbert Binder, Matthias Stahl, Lothar Faulborn
Vergleichsuntersuchung MESSENGER-FULCRUM: Projektbericht
Comparative investigation MESSENGER vs. FULCRUM: a project report
IZ Working Paper No. 18, April 2000, 70 pages

The user test compares the performance of FULCRUM, a retrieval instrument based on automatic indexing as opposed to IZ's controlled indexing, which yields relevancy-ranked search results, with MESSENGER's standard free text search. MESSENGER is a retrieval instrument which includes the keywords intellectually assigned by IZ. The results indicate that test persons working with FULCRUM preferred the Boolean exact match retrieval over the vector space model (best match procedure). For the recall the mixed version of intellectual and automatic indexing offered in MESSENGER turned out to be far superior compared to the quantitative-statistical approach.
pdf-file (543 KB)

Juergen Krause, Peter Mutschke
Indexierung und Fulcrum-Evaluierung
Indexing and Fulcrum evaluation
IZ Working Paper No. 17, May 1999, 37 pages

Today's commercial text retrieval systems essentially rely on intellectually and/or automatically generated keywords, which can be searched via Boolean operators, including or excluding additional thesaurus relations. On the other hand, there are quantitative-statistical procedures offering relevance ranking of results that in recent years have increasingly caught on in the business world as well. This work report investigates the question of the most adequate concept for text analysis and indexing for an information system. On a broad level, it discusses the pros and cons of intellectual and automatic indexing in conjunction with both Boolean queries and quantitative-statistical search systems and, in addition, presents an evaluation of the information technology fundamentals for a modern information system.
pdf-file (173 KB)

Udo Riege, Siegfried Schomisch, Marcus Schommler
Informationstechnologische Unterstützung von Arbeitsabläufen in einer Bibliothek: Das Projekt SCHILDKRÖTE
Assistance for library work procedures through information technology: The project SCHILDKRÖTE
IZ Working Paper No. 16, May 1999, 51 pages (out-of-print)

The Social Science Information Centre (IZ) processes approximately 350 journals - predominantly for input into the database SOLIS - as well as collections of loose-leaf editions. A large portion of the work capacity at the institute's library is dedicated to the management of these periodicals. Along with the gradual changes in work procedures at IZ, a computer-based solution was developed and brought to market. The work report depicts the development of an application software for the management of periodicals for small and medium-sized libraries. It particularly emphasizes the project conception, the software ergonomic design, and user participation as well as a detailed product description. The software program can be obtained through IZ under the product name SCHILDKRÖTE, available since December 1998.
pdf-file (426 KB)

Wolf-Dieter Mell
Kosten und Nutzen von Informationsdienstleistungen am Beispiel des IZ Sozialwissenschaften. Ansätze zu einer quantitativen Näherung.
Costs and benefits of information services - an example illustrated by the Social Science Information Centre (IZ). Approaches towards a quantitative estimate.
IZ Working Paper No. 15, April 1998, 43 pages

As a contribution to economic efficiency considerations regarding information services, the report presents a quantitative estimation quoting figures with respect to the usage of references produced by IZ versus the costs of their production, and comparing them. The most important outcome is: the benefits of IZ's databases are 30 times higher than the costs.
pdf-file (136 KB)

Udo Riege
Elektronische Version des Thesaurus und der Klassifikation Sozialwissenschaften
Electronic versions of the Thesaurus for the Social Sciences and the social science classification
IZ Working Paper No. 14, April 1998, 23 pages (out-of-print)

The course of production in the construction of the SOLIS and SOFIS databases requires a human, intellectual processing and recording of the documents including the assignment of keywords from the "Thesaurus for the Social Sciences" as well as classification numbers from the list of social science classifications. This relatively labor-consuming procedure is an essential quality trait constituting both databases. The paper describes the development of an application software depicting both thesaurus and classification in their entire structure and offering their export into other software programs. The electronic versions of both thesaurus and classification conveniently support all work procedures that are part of the contents-related data preparation. Due to the export function the software provides, it is a multi-purpose program. The paper's focus lies on questions of software-ergonomic design as well as on user participation that would help with the software development. In addition, results of a user test and a future outlook on possible further developments are presented.
pdf-file (192 KB)

Matthias Stahl, Gisbert Binder, Detlev Cosler
(under consultation with Dr. Joachim Scharioth
TRI:M-Studie zur Kundenzufriedenheit (Mehrfachkunden) 1997
TRI:M-Study on customer satisfaction (regular customers) 1997
IZ Working Paper No. 13, April 1998, 37 pages (Appendix)

The paper presents methods and results of a survey on customer satisfaction among IZ's regular clients. The survey evolved out of a joint project, in which TRI:M, a system to tie customers developed by INFRATEST BURKE in Munich, was employed in IZ for the first time. The study produced a tremendously positive result for IZ: the TRI:M-Index, indicating general customer satisfaction, is with a value of 81 significantly higher than the average value of other TRI:M-studies. Those surveyed ascribe to IZ a high professional competence in terms of the services rendered in social science and information science or technology. Overall, IZ's products and services were rated qualitatively high.
pdf-file (439 KB)

Juergen Krause, Thomas Mandl, Maximilian Stempfhuber
Text-Fakten-Integration in ELVIRA
Text-Facts-Integration in ELVIRA
IZ Working Paper No. 12, December 1997, 27 pages (out-of-print)

The report describes the text-facts-integration in ELVIRA from a user perspective and at the same time analyzes the emerging informational processes. Based on the ELVIRA II data volume and the information retrieval theory, a model is developed including three levels of text-facts-integration. At level 2 one can find the transformations with which for instance the user may obtain additional texts with his search for facts. For ELVIRA II these transformations are especially promising. They are described in detail and illustrated by concrete examples from the practical field.
pdf-file (107 KB)

Juergen Krause, Thomas Mandl, Maximilian Stempfhuber
Das Verbandsinformationssystem ELVIRA II: Projektskizze
The Association Information System ELVIRA II: a project outline
IZ Working Paper No. 11, April 1997, 56 pages (out-of-print)

The goal of project ELVIRA II is the development of an integrated market information system serving as a platform for several industrial associations. The member companies will obtain access to important market information via this platform. With small and medium-sized companies modern information technology for the purpose of getting information hasn't really caught on due to a variety of reasons. The German Machinery and Plant Manufacturers' Association (VDMA), the Association of the German Construction Industry (HVB) as well as the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (ZVEI) are planning to develop a market information system that would provide online access to current data of various kinds and would cover as many of the company needs as possible. The project deals predominantly with the text-facts-integration.
pdf-file (224 KB)

Udo Riege, Siegfried Schomisch, Marcus Schommler
COGET - Computergestützte Erstellung von Themendokumentationen
Computer supported production of documentations on social science topics - COGET
IZ Working Paper No. 9, December 1996, 58 pages (out-of-print)

IZ produces a number of publications in printed form based on the databases SOLIS and SOFIS: among these are documentations on social science topics as well as the series "Sozialwissenschaftlicher Fachinformationsdienst - soFid (Social Science Specialized Information Service)". The production process of these database-based publications from searches of the relevant data collections through delivery to the publisher was, until now, relatively complex and required a costly co-ordination of the participating partners. This high cost led to consideration of means to make the process simpler and to provide greater support. In the working paper, the development of the software COGET is described, which supports the process of content organisation of the searched documents. Emphases here are questions of software ergonomic design as well as the user participation in the development of the software system. Furthermore the results of the user tests are presented. Finally there is a look forward to possible extensions of the work.
pdf-file (337 KB)

Gisbert Binder, Matthias Herfurth, Juergen Krause, Jutta Marx, Matthias Stahl
Nutzerforschung, Gestaltung informationeller Abläufe und Softwareentwicklung am Informationszentrum Sozialwissenschaften
User research, structuring of information events and software development at the Social Science Information Centre
IZ Working Paper No. 8, December 1996, 29 pages (out-of-print)

This working paper outlines the conception of user and client orientation of IZ more concretely. It concerns an iterative process of hypothesis building, whose effectiveness is refined at every development level: the statutes, work programmes and statements of the advisory committees analytically establish a basic consensus on the desirability of certain services. These initial hypotheses are tested through empirical surveys and observations concerning their practicability and they are subsequently refined in detail. The new information technologies and the scientific advances extend them permanently to testing hypotheses. Only when all of these activities work together can an information service develop, which is suited to the requirements of users/clients.
pdf-file (110 KB)

Monika Weingaertner
Computergestützte Gruppenarbeit: State of the Art
Computer Supported Co-operative Work: State of the Art
IZ Working Paper No. 7, September 1996, 131 pages (out-of-print)

The report "Computer Supported Co-operative Work" offers an overview, oriented towards the support functions, of current systems and system developments in the area of Computer Supported Co-operative Work (CSCW). It sets out a central research question and shows perspectives for the use of CSCW systems in IZ and for GESIS.
pdf-file (2300 KB)

Juergen Krause
Informationserschließung und -bereitstellung zwischen Deregulation, Kommerzialisierung und weltweiter Vernetzung ("Schalenmodell")
Information acquisition and processing in the midst of deregulation, commercialisation and world-wide networking ("Layer model")
IZ Working Paper No. 6, September 1996, 24 pages

The current situation for information service centres is characterised by a fundamental change in the information technology. The centralised structures of the last 20 years in traditional information and documentation development have led to growing difficulty in data acquisition, in the co-ordination of co-operating partners, and for users. Considerations involved in the stages of conversion, which will lead to the layer model, must take not only the information technological but also the economic and social conditions into account. They build on the changes caused by deregulation. In the layer model, the task of the information service centre shifts from that of supplier of a single database to that of the co-ordinator of different, non-hierarchically bound groups, who co-ordinate and support by means of information technology.
pdf-file (137 KB)

Peter Mutschke
Relationale Datenbanksysteme im Vergleich: Eine Zwischenbilanz
Relational databases in comparison: an interim report
IZ Working Paper No. 5, December 1995, 67 pages (out-of-print)

The choice of a particular database software is a decision of basic strategic importance. As well as the computer itself, the development tool which will form the technological base for the creation of an integrated total concept for the association of all relevant management data must also be carefully chosen. Against this background, in this study the most common current relational database systems for larger UNIX platforms are investigated and evaluated in relation to the information technology requirements of the Social Science Information Centre (IZ).
pdf-file (272 KB)

Juergen Krause, Thomas Mandl und Max Stempfhuber
Design des ersten Prototypen des ZVEI-Verbandsinformationssystems ELVIRA
Design of a first prototype of the ZVEI Association Information System ELVIRA
IZ-Working Paper No. 4, April 1996, 31 pages

The paper represents the development of a design for ELVIRA, based on the requirements profile for an information system for the ZVEI (German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association) and on the WOB Model, a software ergonomic model for information systems (see IZ Working Paper No. 1). The user domains and their requirements are presented in summary form.

The paper is out-of-print, however, its essential contents are now part of a newer publication entitled "Market Analysis and Market Prognosis. The ZVEI Association Information System ELVIRA" (Volume 2 of the series "Research Reports").

Juergen Krause
Visualisierung und graphische Benutzungsoberflächen
Visualisation and graphical user interfaces
IZ Working Paper No. 3, May 1996, 40 pages

This working paper contains a stocktaking of the creative methods behind a graphical user interface, starting with the simple elements such as keypads and scroll bars through to the mixing of modalities through animation or the spoken word. At the centre lies the discussion of competing approaches of "metaphor creation" vs. "visual formalisms". The author argues against a straightforward either/or solution and makes a plea for a combination of both concepts, if this is at all possible.
In the final section of the working paper, the visualisation possibilities employed in the WOB Model (see IZ Working Paper No. 1) are presented.
pdf-file (386 KB)

Jutta Marx, Peter Mutschke, Marcus Schommler
Möglichkeiten der intelligenten Integration heterogener Datenbestände: das Projekt GESINE
Possibilities for intelligent integration of heterogeneous datasets: the GESINE project
IZ Working Paper No. 2, December 1995, 44 pages

Also in the social sciences, there is an increasing demand for the provision of complex and high-quality information referring to social science queries and knowledge processes. With conventional database searches, only a small part of the "enlarged" social science information requirement can be met. The aim of the GESINE project, whose conception is the subject of this working paper, is therefore the development of an inter-institutional object-oriented desktop environment in which the information holdings of all the institutes who are members of GESIS (Gesellschaft Sozialwissenschaftlicher Infrastruktureinrichtungen / German Social Science Infrastructure Services) can be made available to all staff members and users as corporate knowledge in a homogeneous and integrated form using a graphical user interface.
pdf-file (180 KB)

Juergen Krause
Das WOB-Modell / The WOB Model
IZ Working Paper No. 1, December 1995, 77 pages

The WOB-Model (auf der Werkzeugmetapher basierende strikt objektorientierte graphisch-direktmanipulative Benutzungsoberfläche) is a common software ergonomic basis for the development of graphical user interfaces, which tries, using a set of co-ordinated ergonomic techniques, to resolve the inherent contradictions in the creation process - like that between flexible dialog control and conversational prompting. The model was developed as part of a sponsored project at the University of Regensburg, evaluated empirically in an application using an "information system for engineering materials" and has already served many times as the basis for different commercial products; it is, however, applicable to many other domains, such as bibliographic databases.
pdf-file (441 KB)