María-Dolores Olvera-Lobo

Question-answering systems as efficient sources of terminological information: an evaluation.

BACKGROUND Question-answering systems (or QA Systems) stand as a new alternative for Information Retrieval Systems. Most users frequently need to retrieve specific information about a factual question to obtain a whole document. OBJECTIVES The study evaluates the efficiency of QA systems as terminological sources for physicians, specialised translators and users in general. It assesses the performance of one open-domain QA system, START, and one restricted-domain QA system, MedQA. METHOD The study collected two hundred definitional questions (What is…?), either general or specialised, from the health website WebMD. Sources used by the open-domain QA system, START, and the restricted-domain QA system, MedQA, were studied to retrieve answers, and later a range of evaluation measures (precision, Mean Reciprocal Rank, Total Reciprocal Rank, First Hit Success) were applied to mark the quality of answers. RESULTS It was established that both systems are useful in the retrieval of valid definitional healthcare information, with an acceptable degree of coherent and precise responses from both. The answers supplied by MedQA were more reliable that those of START in the sense that they came from specialised clinical or academic sources, most of them showing links to further research articles. CONCLUSIONS Results obtained show the potential of this type of tool in the more general realm of information access, and the retrieval of health information. They may be considered a good, reliable and reasonably precise alternative in alleviating the information overload. Both QA systems can help professionals and users can obtain healthcare information.

Open- vs. Restricted-Domain QA Systems in the Biomedical Field

Question answering systems (QA systems) stand as a new alternative for information retrieval systems. We conducted a study to evaluate the efficiency of QA systems as terminological sources for physicians, specialized translators and users in general. To this end we analysed the performance of two open-domain and two restricted-domain QA systems. The research entailed a collection of 150 definitional questions from WebMed. We studied the sources that QA systems used to retrieve the answers, and later applied a range of evaluation measures to mark the quality of answers. Through analysing the results obtained by asking the 150 questions in the QA systems MedQA, START, QuALiM and HONqa, it was possible to evaluate the systems’ operation through applying specific metrics (MRR, FHS, TRR, Precision, Recall). Despite the limitations demonstrated by these systems, it has been confirmed that these four QA systems are valid and useful for obtaining definitional medical information in that they offer coherent and precise answers.

Multilingual question-answering system in biomedical domain on the web: an evaluation

Question-answering systems (QAS) are presented as an alternative to traditional systems of information retrieval, intended to offer precise responses to factual questions. An analysis has been made of the results offered by the QA multilingual biomedical system HONqa, available on the Web. The study has used a set of 120 biomedical definitional questions (What is...?), taken from the medical website WebMD, which were formulated in English, French, and Italian. The answers have been analysed using a serie of specific measures (MRR, TRR, FHS, precision, MAP). The study confirms that for all the languages analysed the functioning effectiveness needs to be improved, although in the multilingual context analysed the questions in the English language achieve better results for retrieving definitional information than in French and Italian.

Student Satisfaction with a Web-based Collaborative Work Platform1

Abstract The present paper analyses the results of a research study on translation students’ satisfaction and perceived improvement of their computer, tele- and teamworking skills by using Basic Support Cooperative Work (BSCW) software. The data were obtained from questionnaires given before and after taking part in the project. Results have proven the suitability of BSCW for telework training. The students’ opinions about teamwork are now more positive and they feel more confident about their computer and translation skills. Student satisfaction is almost unanimous.

Analyzing Climate Change Communication Through Online Games: Development and Application of Validated Criteria

In search of innovative approaches capable of connecting climate change issues with teenagers, scholars and practitioners have become interested in harnessing the potential of gaming for advancing climate change communication. This article aims to propose a set of criteria, validated by experts through the Delphi method, by which to analyze communicative features of online climate change games. The use of the criteria is illustrated with an evaluation of a sample of Spanish games to which we apply qualitative content analysis, narratology, and ludology techniques. Our findings reveal some positive communicative trends in terms of narratives, contents, and gameplay.

Public engagement in science via Web 2.0 technologies. Evaluation criteria validated using the Delphi Method

The characteristics of interaction and dialogue implicit in the Web 2.0 have given rise to a new scenario in the relationship between science and society. The aim of this paper is the development of an evaluation tool scientifically validated by the Delphi method that permits the study of Internet usage and its effectiveness for encouraging public engagement in the scientific process. Thirty four indicators have been identified, structured into 6 interrelated criteria conceived for compiling data that help to explain the role of the Internet in favouring public engagement in science. Abstract

Mexican World Heritage information on the web: Institutional presence and visibility

This paper was supported by the RD & I Project, HAR2012-38562 (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness).This study offers a global overview of the presence and visibility of web information on UNESCO World Heritage located in Mexico, via the analysis of official websites and Web 2.0 information. Cultural heritage is a determining factor in linking people to their history, and contributes to increasing cultural tourism and economic development. The study starts from the hypothesis that the design of these websites has an influence on the dissemination and popularity of the aforementioned heritage. The relationships between the administrative organization of the country and Internet protocols are compared. A webometric study of the official Mexican websites was carried out. An evaluation sheet was designed to allow the assessment of aspects relating to identification, presence, accessibility and content. The multilingual nature of this information and its presence on social networks and Wikipedia was analysed. The analysis of URLs confirms that the domain .mx is used in 84% of cases. The results indicate a noticeable use of Web 2.0 dissemination of the heritage assets on YouTube (51%) and Facebook (40%), followed by 23% on Twitter. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines are not yet frequently applied. Finally, the results obtained make it possible to identify variables that can contribute to improvements in the visibility and dissemination of official web information.

Web localization: The Spanish SMEs as case of study

Constant changes in the economic environment, where globalization and the development of the knowledge economy act as drivers, are systematically pushing companies towards the challenge of accessing external markets. Web localization constitutes a new field of study and professional intervention. From the translation perspective, localization equates to the website being adjusted to the typological, discursive and genre conventions of the target culture, adapting that website to a different language and culture. This entails much more than simply translating the content of the pages. The content of a webpage is made up of text, images and other multimedia elements, all of which have to be translated and subjected to cultural adaptation. A case study has been carried out to analyze the current presence of localization within Spanish SMEs from the chemical sector. Two types of indicator have been established for evaluating the sample: indicators for evaluating company websites (with a Likert scale from 0–4) and indicators for evaluating web localization (0–2 scale). The results show overall website quality is acceptable (2.5 points out of 4). The higher rating has been obtained by the system quality (with 2.9), followed by information quality (2.7 points) and, lastly, service quality (1.9 points). In the web localization evaluation, the contact information aspects obtain 1.4 points, the visual aspect 1.04, and the navigation aspect was the worse considered (0.37). These types of analysis facilitate the establishment of practical recommendations aimed at SMEs in order to increase their international presence through the localization of their websites.

Wikipedia as a source of monolingual and multilingual information about the Spanish heritage

The aim of the study was to analyze the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia as a tool for the dissemination of monolingual and multilingual information about the Spanish heritage. The sample consists of catalogued buildings and sites of cultural interest in a Spanish region. For that purpose, we examined to what extent articles about the buildings and sites are represented in Wikipedia that is, what kind of information is dedicated to each of them. Three different types of search in the encyclopaedia (browsing, lists and internal search engine) were performed for several months. In addition, we established to what extent Wikipedia includes multilingual information regarding the sample, that is, the number of languages in which the information is expressed, as well as articles translated into languages other than Spanish. The results show that only 21.73% of the buildings and sites that constitute the final sample have a separate article in Wikipedia, of which only 20.85% are in several languages, and 50.00% are properly described as translations. This leads us to conclude that, given the collaborative nature of this tool and in view of the cultural and economic importance of historical and cultural heritage, institutions should be responsible for promoting the multilingual dissemination of this type of information.

Public communication of science in Spain: a history yet to be written

The history of public communication of science in Spain is yet to be written. Few academic studies exist that have tackled this subject. The political and economic history of the country have marked out the evolution of this discipline, which burst into the country at the end of the 20th century with the proliferation of initiatives such as the creation of science museums, the building of the Spanish Science Foundation and the development of a public Scientific Information service. Despite these efforts, the level of scientific culture for Spanish people is one of the lowest in Europe [OECD, 2016]. Abstract