Dalhousie/Elsevier

Web App Design ChallengeEngaging students, inspiring innovation.

Dalhousie/Elsevier Web App Design Challenge

The Challenge How can we improve the research experience?

With 11 million full-text journal articles and book chapters, 15,000 e-books, over 41 million abstract and citation records, and 376 million web pages available via the SciVerse® platform, it is critical to provide users with intuitive means to search, find, and access the information they need to further their research.

To increase collaboration efforts with these communities, the Developer Network must create new and exciting opportunities that challenge researchers, developers and students to conceptualize new ideas and provide the resources necessary to co-create viable workflow solutions.

The Strategy Engage students, foster collaboration, and give them the tools to succeed.

Students today live in an interactive, online world. From the way they study, to the way they shop, stay up to date with current events, and keep in touch with friends—Apps, social networks and online information are a big part of their everyday lives. Their perspective and collective insights into the potential for apps to improve the information search and discovery experience could break new ground in the development of powerful new workflow solutions that can accelerate science and help them in their research outcomes.

Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd, Professor of Library and Information Science and head of the Social Media Lab at Dalhousie University, learned of the

hackathons held by the Elsevier Developer Network, where teams of student developers are given 24 hours to develop an application. Wanting to create a similar event that could enrich the learning experience for his students with a real-world problem, he engaged the Elsevier Developer Network team to collaborate on a web app challenge. His idea was to bring students together in small teams to work together over a three-month period to develop concepts for research solutions, then build those concepts into applications that would help students and researchers to improve their information discovery process. Different from traditional hackathons, which are often a means to an end, Dr. Gruzd created the Web App Design Challenge, which was a means to new beginnings.

Looking to tap into the minds of brilliant young problem solvers, the Elsevier Developer Network joined Dr. Gruzd in his mission to create a unique competition that would spark creativity and collaboration among the students. In this two-stage event, the Elsevier Developer Network provided access to Elsevier content and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), and encouraged teams to collaborate on how they, as students, would address problems that currently exist within the traditional search model.

In the first stage, teams would work together for one month to develop their concepts, then pitch them to a panel of experts in a poster presentation, detailing the overall design and functionality of the application and its relevance to SciVerse users and the research community at large. Each concept would be judged on its originality, feasibility, usability and suitability. Teams that advanced to the second stage would earn the unique opportunity to develop real applications, based on the concepts they presented.

As the world’s leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information and solutions, Elsevier is continuously seeking new ways to accelerate scientific information search and discovery. Through the efforts of the Elsevier Developer Network, new relationships are being forged to foster collaboration among the scientific and academic communities to develop innovative workflow solutions that enhance researcher productivity and help solve research problems.

Elsevier Developer Network |

The Result Enhancing the search experience —and the learning experience.

What was originally conceived to be a competition between Library and Information Studies students became a campus-wide event that harnessed the collective intellect of the University’s diverse student population. Over 50 participants represented five different schools at Dalhousie ranging from Library and Information Science to Health Informatics and Engineering. Bringing together students from different areas of study yielded 19 unique concepts of varying applicability. Some addressed the relevance of search results, while others focused on query extension and refinement, source material organization, and reference management.

Three apps were selected as winners, each earning prizes and a stipend to be used to further pursue the development of their concepts. To help turn these concepts into reality, technical and product team experts from Elsevier worked hand-in-hand with the student programmers. In total, 11 apps were developed, and the experience culminated with the launch of the apps on the SciVerse platform.

The event was a huge success for everyone involved. Not only has the SciVerse search experience been enhanced by the addition of the new apps, but by connecting students with real-world problems, their learning experience was meaningfully enhanced as well.

“ With the advent of social networking and integrated multimedia, we are perpetually multitasking, we are interacting with the online world in rapidly changing ways. Elsevier knows this, and that’s why they were so keen to work with us on this project.”

Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd, Professor of Library and Information Science, Web App Design Challenge Organizer

“ Apps are the way to go these days. You pick and choose what you want, which ends up with an environment tailored to your specific needs. The best way to come up with these specific apps is to ask your users about it. This is why, I think, solutions resulting from the Web App competition hold a great value … solutions for researchers, by researchers.” Ozge Yeloglu, PhD Candidate,

Web App Design Challenge Winner

For More Information visit developers.elsevier.com or email miji.choi@elsevier.com

Cover photograph by Danny Abriel