Browsing by Author "Fissaha, Sisay (PhD)"

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    An Assessment of the Existing Information Retrieval Practices and Facilities in the Institute Of Ethiopian Studies Library With A View To Developing Mechanisms and Tools for Improvement
    (Addis Ababa University, 1998-05) Kekeba, Kula; Tadesse, Takkele (PhD); Fissaha, Sisay (PhD)
    The Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) library is one of the major information center on Ethiopian Studies. This thesis is mainly concerned with an assessment of the existing TR practices and facilities in the IES library with the intention of identifying limitations and exploring alternative tools and mechanisms for improvement. To this end, a survey of the library users and staff members was made and the current performance of the library IR too ls and facilities are assessed and discussed in detail.After identification of various limitations of the current library IR practices and facilities , a prototype computer-assisted thesaurus database was proposed and demonstrated as one of IR tools and mechanisms that can be employed for improvement. Moreover, based on the findings of the study, conclusions and recommendations are given for further investigation and improvement of the library IR services.
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    Ethiopian Forestry Information System: A User Study
    (Addis Ababa University, 1999-05) Belachew, Tefera; Fissaha, Sisay (PhD)
    The Ethiopian forestry information system can not help the forestry problem of the country, and develop the economy unless users and needs are identified. The user must be the focal point of the forestry information system .. The Ethiopian forestry information need originates out of permanent engagement in forestry research and development activities aimed at solving the existing forestry problems. The majority of forestry organizations and scientists that generate forestry information have lack of self-contentment. There is a demand for forestry information. The needs disclose the knowledge gaps. Since a single method brings a problem triangulation technique is used to enrich measurement. Questionnaire, interview, document analysis and observations were used to collect data. Purposive sample is used due to difficulties to treat the whole group. The survey has examined users as input output processors, the current forestry information status, the generators, users needs, information resource, source, services, facilities and final practical solutions are recommended
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    Exploring the Possibilities of Using Expert Interfaces to Hypertext Databases for Business Information Storage and Retrieval: A Case Study of the Addis Ababa Business Community
    (Addis Ababa University, 1997-05) Admassie, Tesfaye; Chowdhury, G.G. (PhD); Fissaha, Sisay (PhD)
    Information Technology (IT) has brought significant changes in the business world. The business community in Addis Ababa can get significant benefit from the appropriate use of IT. Integration of hypertext and expert systems technology has brought a new dimension to modern information retrieval, because it can help expert users in browsing and navigating while non-expert users can get an expert guidance to retrieve relevant information. Definition, components, historical developments of hypertext and its differences with conventional information retrieval systems have been discussed followed by a discussion on the expert systems technology. The benefits of integration of these two technologies have been discussed along with brief description of some software tools with particular reference to Knowledge Pro Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce (AACC) provides trade information to its members. However, almost all the respondents in a survey underlined that their information requirements are not met by the existing facilities. This result is found to be statistically significant at any acceptable significance level (;(2,,)=878370, p=O.O). Information requirements of various business sectors have been identified. More than seventy percent of the business houses surveyed possess IT equipment ranging from fax, computers and communication facilities though computer usage is mostly related to word processing applications. Most respondents of the survey indicated their willingness to expand the IT facilities and were willing to pay for their required business information Design considerations of an integrated expert and hypertext business information system have been discussed and a quick prototyping approach has been used to develop a prototype business information system. Hardware and software requirements and the implementation issues have been discussed. The prototype system consisting of a hypertext database coupled with an expert user interface would improve the business information facilities in AACC
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    Optical Character Recognition of Typewritten Amharic Text
    (Addis Ababa University, 1999-05) Teferi, Dereje; Fissaha, Sisay (PhD); Alemu, Worku (PhD)
    Optical Character Recognition is an area of research where a system is made to accept a document image and convert it into ASCII code so that it will be easy for storage, retrieval, and filterer processing. OCR helps to convert a bulk of information available on paper to electronically processable format without human intervention -- saving time, money, and labor Recently Optical Character Recognition for the Amharic Script has become an area of research interest. Some developments have been made in recognizing characters with specific type style, font, and font size. All the trials in this regard are on very high quality laser printouts on white papers. In reality, however, most Amharic typewritten documents that need to be converted into machine-readable format are typewritten and on non-white paper III this study an attempt is made to explore the possibilities of developing an OCR system for typewritten Amharic text. To this end, features of the typewritten Amharic characters are thoroughly studied. Some algorithms for noise removal and segmentation are reviewed. These algorithms are implemented to see their performance on typewritten Amharic text. Previous algorithm implemented for recognition of Amharic characters is modified to incorporate the specific features of typewritten Amharic characters. The segmentation and the noise removal algorithms are integrated with this algorithm. The result is tested on typewritten Amharic documents, and test results are presented. Recommendations are also drawn to point out issues to be investigated filterer for the development of typewritten Amharic OCR system with better performance.
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    Retrospective Conversion of Card Catalogues to Online Catalogue By Using OCR Technology: A Case of AAAU Libraries
    (Addis Ababa University, 1997-06) Hundie, Kebede; Chowdhury, G.G. (PhD); Fissaha, Sisay (PhD)
    Conversion of card catalogues to a computerized catalogue, called retrospective conversion or RECON, is the primary hurdle of effective library automation. There are several options for RECON, but recent advances in OCR technology make it a prominent alternative. This thesis has mainly examined technical feasibility of the OCR technology for RECON with particular reference to Addis Ababa University libraries' union catalogue The thesis reviews the various options for RECON in the context of Addis Ababa University Library System. It also reviews technological advancements of optical scanning and OCR technology stressing on document scanning and OCR with particular reference to their application in libraries, particularly RECON. An introduction to the Addis Ababa University Library System gives an overview of the library system with particular reference to its cataloguing department and cataloguing practices followed therein, and automation plan of the library system.Two sets of catalogue cards, each consisting 115 added up to 230, were chosen from the union catalogue for this study. The sets of cards consisted of main entries made under name of personal author (40 each), under title (40 each), and corporate body (35 each). A prototype program, called P AEBE, was written in C++ using the first set of cards. The various steps include: scanning and conversion of the cards to ASCII text files, analyzing of the files, manual editing of the files, called reprocessing, if necessary, writing and running the program creating output records consisting of each bibliographic item preceded by an appropriate field identifier. It was noted that the success of the prototype depends much on the accuracy of OCR software, consistency of information on card catalogues, and quality of card catalogues. The prototype was tested with the second set of catalogue cards; and the results are discussed. It was found out that the performance of the prototype program is encouraging. The thesis also highlights implementation strategy for the RECON using OCR technology. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations for further studies are forwarded.