tuesday, april 5th, 2005 n. craig, b. j. méndez (segway,uc berkeley) r. j. hanisch, c. a....

Tuesday, April 5th, 2005

N. Craig, B. J. Méndez (SEGway,UC Berkeley)

R. J. Hanisch, C. A. Christian, F. Summers (NVO,StScI)

B. Haisch, J. Lindblom(ManyOne Networks)

National Virtual Observatory Data Access National Virtual Observatory Data Access for the General Publicfor the General Public


Assessing the Outreach Needs for the NVO

We conducted surveys of potential non-traditional audiences of the NVO to assess their interests, how they might like to make use of NVO resources. The surveyed audiences were:

K-12 Educators

Artists( both traditional-media, electronic-media artists and students)

•Science Museum Professionals ( directors, coordinators, exhibit designers, trainees and web development personnel)

•Amateur Astronomers (Romantics, Educators, Serious Visual Observers,

Serious Imagers,Tinkerers )



Our analysis of these surveys suggests that the following are the primary interests of the general public in an EPO portal to the NVO:

•Images (i.e. “pretty pictures”)

•Explanations of the images:• their locations in space (e.g. with sky maps or 3-D

representations)• the science behind what is seen• the imaging techniques and processing that went into

creating the image• any relevant human, cultural, or interdisciplinary aspects of

the images or astronomical objects within them



•Science, FAQs, Q&As with scientists, astronomical tutorials, classroom lesson plans

•Communication between users

•Information customized for the knowledge and skill level of different users

•Interactive, dynamic, user-friendly interfaces presenting data in a creative and exciting way


HST Press Image Collection• HST Press Images

(hubblesite.org)• Create meta-tags

– Follows NASA Space Science Education Resource Directory

– Based on Dublin Core – Schema defined by

Gateway to Education Materials

– Astronomical Schema defined for NASA SSRD

• Compile collection& register in NVO registry

• Demonstrate protocols for other astronomical observatories

• Create a process integrated into the NASA press release production


NVO Registry ConceptImage Collection

Registry: collection description

NVO

Other registries

•Registry:-Type of data-What queries (point sources, all sky, etc.)-Method of retrieval (script, VO tables, separate service)-Protocol: NVO simple access image protocol


Image AccessUser query: coordinates or targets NVO

Registry

Results: all data fitting query

Builds on the extensive development of the NASA Education Resource Directory

and the National Virtual Observatory

Any interface: (Virtual Cosmos, education project, search engine)


• Uses rich media, 3-D navigation to interactively

ManyOne Networks is creating a new web browser and we use it as

a model public portal to the NVO

convey information and education-oriented content

• Usable with dial-up Internet connection

• Open-source based to foster unlimited development.


Browser andaccess to allEducationalmaterial willbe free tothe public

Leadscollaborationbetweenexperts andthe public tocreate thelargest,highestquality, freeonlineencyclopedia

ManyOne Networks


Virtual Cosmos

As users explore the Digital Universe and come upon various astronomical objects and phenomena, they will find encyclopedia-like webpages describing them in simple language. For some of the imagery (e.g. HST or Chandra images) there have already been press release and EPO information written, we will use these pages and integrate them into the larger structure of the Digital Universe Portals.

The information to be included in the Virtual Cosmos Encyclopedia will be:•Fast facts about the astronomical phenomena in the portal including their locations in space, size, age, etc.•Science behind the phenomena•Links to any relevant Web resources including any interdisciplinary information.


Image Collection

Registry: collection description

NVO

Users’ Perspective

Users explore the Digital Universe and request HST imagery. The browser uses the NVO infrastructure to locate all relevant resources.

Digital Universe


• To catalyze a worldwide effort in which stewards (experts, organizations, universities) organize the best information on the Internet into a digital Universe.

• Free to all and will create a public-service oriented, advertising-free subset of the Web (A PBS of the Web)

• Over time will become the Encyclopedia Galactica envisioned by Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov.

ManyOne Networks is creating the Digital Universe Foundation:


• First public release will be an Internet service and browser called eGalactica

• Will be distributed by Cosmos Studios www.carlsagan.com and by the UC Berkeley SETI@home Project.

ManyOne Networks

tuesday, april 5th, 2005 n. craig, b. j. méndez (segway,uc berkeley) r. j. hanisch, c. a....

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