PaperScope is a tool for graphically exploring
the Astrophysics Data System (ADS) which is a database of
published astrophysics papers (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/).
PaperScope is extremely useful for
identifying the citation/reference relationships between papers,
and enables the user to visualize these relationships to make
locating papers of interest easier. Use it for
constructing reference or citation chains, as well as
identifying common references/citations between several key
papers. It is a tool designed
to simplify the process of searching for relevant papers to an astrophysics researcher whether they be a
professor, post doc, or student.
PaperScope also aims to
bridge the gap between the world of published papers and the
Virtual Observatory. Work is in progress on tools that
will enable a user to go from looking at a paper on PaperScope
to actually loading and finding any published data or tools
associated with that paper on the VO. The first tools that
will make this possible are expected to be ready by October
2007, and will be added into PaperScope with any bug fixes or
other improvements soon after.
PaperScope provides tools that enable the user
to search the ADS for a paper and then map that paper into a 2D
graph of nodes and edges where each node represents a paper, and
each edge represents a relationship between two papers.
The initial graph contains a node for the paper selected as well
as nodes for all of the papers that it references and papers
that cite it (referred to as "citations" or "citation papers" in
this documentation). From here the user is able to expand the
graph by selecting a paper and expanding its
citations/references, which are then compared to the papers
already on the graph. Any new papers are added as nodes,
and any papers in common between the two selected papers are
given a new edge to show the relationship. By expanding
the graph the user can quickly identify papers that share common
references or citations, and thereby identify key papers in a
particular field. Tools are provided for searching the
graph and highlighting/hiding nodes based on keywords, title,
authors, publication date, journal, and citation count.
The nodes of the graph can be moved around to improve the look
and feel of the graph, and this layout can then be saved.
There is also a tool for adding comments about a
paper to the nodes on the graph. This way the user can
make notes about a paper for their own use, or for use by
others. Once the user had built a graph they can save it
to a file which can be shared with others and used in the
future. A tool is also provided for updating the graph by
querying the ADS to see if any new citations have been added to
the "focus" papers on the graph.
PaperScope makes the task of
creating reference or citation chains extremely easy. It
also provides an intuitive and simple visual approach to
searching for papers on the ADS.
This manual provides details on how to use
PaperScope and the tools it provides for graphing and navigating
through papers listed in the ADS. Use the links below or
the buttons on the left to choose a topic you wish to explore.
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Installation - Instructions on how to
install and run PaperScope
-
Getting Started - An introduction in how to
use PaperScope
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Using the Graph - A description of how the
graph displays papers, and how to use
the different tools for navigating and exploring the graph
of papers
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Saving/Opening Graphs - A description of how
to save and open graphs, as well as how the graph will
display after being saved
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Troubleshooting - General tips on how to
solve problems you may encounter when using PaperScope
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Software Design - A description of the
software, and the libraries and tools it uses
