[topicmapmail] ANNOUNCE: Evaluation of the Ceryle Writer's Tool

[Murray Altheim]

Hi all,

As some of you know, as part of the Ph.D. program here at KMi
I've spent much of the last few years working on a free Topic
Map-based tool called Ceryle, whose target audience is people
like you: writers, researchers, anyone trying to organize
their notes and research materials. Ceryle is not entirely
finished, but it's at a stage where most of its functionality
is complete and evaluations are beginning. I'd really value
your feedback.

For more information, the Ceryle home page is at:

     http://purl.org/ceryle/

If you're interested in trying Ceryle out and are willing
to participate in the evaluation, it is in three parts:

    1. The first part is a relatively short "Writer's Survey"
       that asks you some questions about your research and
       writing habits. The survey is available from:

          http://purl.org/ceryle/#start

       For those interested in participating, you can download
       a copy of the Writer's Survey in MS Word, Open Office
       Writer, or text format. I can also send it to you as an
       email message so that you can respond within your email
       client.

    2. Following receipt of the survey, I'll provide a copy of
       Ceryle and request that you go through the built-in
       introductory tutorial, which has some simple questions
       (such as "does this makes sense to you?"). In lab sessions
       this tutorial is recorded; remotely the questions are
       supplied as a supplementary document.

After some period of use (several weeks, maybe a month or two
depending on how actively you use it), follows part 3:

    3. A summary interview to see how well things worked out.
       This should take a half hour to an hour. It's in the
       form of a guided, informal quiz that asks you to
       perform some tasks that you would have learned how to
       do while using Ceryle.

Since posting the Ceryle web pages (and even before any public
announcements) I've started to receive a steady stream of emails
from people around the world, some who've already filled out the
survey and are eager to try out Ceryle. It's pretty exciting
finally getting this show on the road!

Thanks very much for your time and interest,

Murray

......................................................................
Murray Altheim                    http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/murray/
Knowledge Media Institute
The Open University, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK7 6AA, UK               .

          Only after the last tree has been cut down,
          only after the last river has been poisoned,
          only after the last fish has been caught,
          only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.
                                      -- Cree prophecy