Abstract Metadata for Multidimensional Categorization and Navigation Support on Multimedia Documents

An increasing technological effort is spent on integrated representations of document collections and metadata. For instance the emerging XML standard offers opportunities to represent metadata in for, e.g., improving query and navigation support within web-based document collections. Despite this development, most applications of catalogue metaphors on the web ranging from small web site catalogues to complex search and browsing engines have not yet significantly changed their underlying data model. In information systems applications, the "catalogue" concept is mostly used as a connotation for information systems that categorize content by means of document annotation hierarchies. Within user interfaces, catalogue metaphors are in wide spread use. To take advantage of more flexible and efficient catalogue representations based on multidimensional data models a project about an integrated Information Catalogue Environment (ICE) is currently performed at GMD-IPSI. The goal of the ICE project is to provide efficient and flexible catalogue oriented categorization and representation mechanisms for multimedia document types and structures. This goal is achieved by modeling categorization metadata of a multidimensional nature to support data exploration by means of multidimensional catalogue navigation.