Welcome to the InfoBase project web site.
InfoBase is an ICT in Education project. From August 2002 until December 2004, it was funded from the ICTO funds of Delft University of Technology. The InfoBase project and its activities are still active, however, as the aim of the project is still as important, relevant and alluring.

The aim of this project is to teach students how to deal with metadata for the exchange of knowledge and information within a professional community or network of students, educators and researchers. Metadata are, simply said, data about data. In practice, metadata consist of a structured collection of descriptive elements that describe an information object.
We distinguish four aspects within this aim:

[research wise] we consider a scientific approach for dealing with information and communication by means of the application of metadata;

[didactically] corresponding to this approach, we develop a method for adding, using and managing metadata and implement this method in a learning path with increasing responsibility for the student;

[technically] we develop a digital environment, named InfoBase, to support this learning path and to support students to store, exchange and manage the information they collect and generate by means of metadata, both individually and in group, and independently;

[strategically] we encourage students through this system to learn from one another and to collaborate as young professionals by offering them the possibility to directly compare their work and designs; at the same time, we introduce the student to the paradox that a database loses information quality when it is cleaned up into a tidy database.

Below, you can use the menu on the left to browse student work that is available in the InfoBase database, and the interface on the right to retrieve InfoBase project documents. The project's final report (in Dutch) as well as all publications can be found here.

The InfoBase project team
Technical Design & Informatics, Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft
S. Sariyildiz, R. Stouffs, B. Tuncer, E. Janssen Groesbeek, E. Damen, J. Poot, N. Addink and H. Kiksen
Library TU Delft
J. Kooistra (Faculty of Social Sciences, U Utrecht) and H. Warmoeskerken (Faculty of Architecture, TU Delft)
WIT-Lab, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, TU Delft
J. Attema and E. Akar
EDUTEC, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, TU Delft
E. Sjoer

Publications
R. Stouffs, J. Kooistra and B. Tunçer, Metadata as a means for correspondence on digital media, Electronic Journal of Information Technology in Construction 9 (special issue: Digital Media Libraries) (2004), 129-142.
R. Stouffs, B. Tunçer, E. Janssen Groesbeek and J. Kooistra, Keyset: The Use of Metadata as a means to improve the quality of design, Third International Workshop on Construction Information Technology in Education (ed. A. Dikbas), pp. 79-94, ITU Press, Istanbul, 2004.
J. Kooistra, R. Stouffs and B. Tunçer, Metadata as means for improving the quality of design, Cybernetics and Systems 2004 (ed. R. Trappl), vol. 1, pp. 108-113, Austrian Society for Cybernetic Studies, Vienna, 2004.
E. Akar, B. Tunçer, J. Attema and R. Stouffs, Design and evaluation of a collaborative virtual space: InfoBase, E-Activities in Design and Design Education (eds. B. Tunçer, S.S. Ozsariyildiz and S. Sariyildiz), pp. 3-12, Europia, Paris, 2003.
J. Kooistra, R. Stouffs and B. Tunçer, Metadata as a means for correspondence in design analysis, E-Activities in Design and Design Education (eds. B. Tunçer, S.S. Ozsariyildiz and S. Sariyildiz), pp. 19-28, Europia, Paris, 2003.
R. Stouffs, B. Tunçer and I.S. Sariyildiz, InfoBase: a multimedia learning environment to support group work and discourse, System-based Vision for Strategic and Creative Design (ed. F. Bontempi), vol. 2, pp. 1751-1756, A.A. Balkema, Lisse, The Netherlands, 2003.
R. Stouffs, B. Tunçer, R.F. Venne, I.S.Sariyildiz, InfoBase: a multimedia learning environment to support group work, Construction Information Technology in Education (ed. D. Rebolj), pp. 75-82, International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2002.
B. Tunçer, R. Stouffs and I.S. Sariyildiz, A toolkit for modelling architectural analyses in a design studio context, Construction Information Technology in Education (ed. D. Rebolj), pp. 59-64, International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2002.