Drag-and-drop multimedia: ¶an interface framework for digital libraries

Abstract

In this paper, we describe a new interface for querying multimedia digital libraries and an interface building framework.

The interface employs a drag-and-drop style of interaction and combines a structured natural-language style query specification with reusable multimedia objects. We call this interface DanDMM, short for “drag-and-drop multimedia”. DanDMM interfaces capture the syntax of the underlying query language, and dynamically reconfigure to reflect the contents of the data repository.

A distinguishing feature of DanDMM is its ability to synthesize integrated interfaces that incorporate both example-based specification using multimedia objects, and traditional techniques including keyword, attribute, and free text-based search.

We describe the DanDMM-builder, a framework for synthesizing DanDMM interfaces, and give several examples of interfaces that have been constructed using DanDMM-builder, including a remote-sensing library application and a video digital library.