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Dissertation Acknowledgments

Considering how many people influenced this research or directly contributed to it through creative discussion, commentary, or plain critique, it seems unfair to not have them as co-authors or at least co-inspirators, so to speak. If not for Michael Nelson, my eternally patient advisor, this whole project would never have begun. He and Johan Bollen took the time to convince me that pursuing a PhD was a worthwhile endeavor. More importantly, Michael then followed up by securing funding for this research from both the Andrew Mellon Foundation and the Library of Congress. His guidance was always on target; he knew somehow when to apply pressure and when to step back. I am indebted to him on many levels and for many reasons.

Still, the process is long and courage falters. Stephan Olariu and Hussein Abdel-Wahab provided much-needed encouragement and support at critical points along the way, particularly in overcoming the first hurdle, the Diagnostic (PhD qualifying) Exam. The Candidacy Exam committee members, Kurt Maly, Simeon Warner, Steven Zeil and Mohammed Zubair, provided very helpful feedback and commentary on the initial proposal and I greatly appreciate the time and effort they put into reviewing that as well as this dissertation.

Throughout these years I've also had the good fortune to have Martin Klein and Frank McCown as project partners, research colleagues and office mates. Working with them has been both productive and rewarding. The pseudo-competition to get papers accepted at conferences added a dimension of fun to what was otherwise just plain hard work. In addition, I have benefited from the software development efforts of Terry Harrison and Aravind Elango, who wrote the initial prototype of MODOAI, from which the author's current modular version was derived.

I owe Howard Smith (while at Symantec) and Jim Gray (of Kronos) many thanks for suggesting testing methods and for providing commercial test environments for MODOAI. It isn't often that such an academic endeavor can be tested in a commercial environment. The experience was especially helpful in defining criteria for metadata utility compatibility and in designing off-line tests for the software.

When it comes to software engineering, however, one individual stands above the rest. If I have learned anything at all about the art and practice of software engineering, it is thanks to John Owen. As a professional colleague, business partner, and friend, his depth of knowledge and love of the craft have been an inspiration and a guide. The version of MODOAI developed for this dissertation owes its new architecture and implementation style to the debates and discussions we've had. From moral support to technical opinions his help has been invaluable.

Michael Nelson guided the development of the CRATE concept and its focus on the counting and description problems. The complex object implementation, particularly MPEG-21 DIDL, is based on the work of Herbert Van de Sompel and Jeroen Bekaert. Their research significantly helped clarify the concepts and goals of the CRATE model.

There have, of course, been many others whose professionalism and support have made a difference during my time at Old Dominion University. Janet Brunelle gave me an opportunity to teach the Computer Science capstone course, renewing my interest in teaching while simultaneously reminding me just how much work goes into preparing lectures. The department's administrative staff, particularly Phyillis Woods, kept the paperwork straight and the paychecks coming. Ajay Gupta and his systems staff assisted, supported, and restored as only "Sys Admins" can. Among these system administrators, Chris Robinson, Ian Gullet and Joshua Robertson were especially important to the "Counting Problem" experiments. I appreciate their help with both hardware and software.

Ultimately, of course, it all comes down to family, and here I have been blessed with good fortune beyond the normal measure. My parents and siblings have continually expressed both confidence in my abilities as well as a belief in the value of education for its own sake. Last, but most importantly, I have had the unflagging devotion of a wonderful husband. Howard Smith has been with me through it all, with patience and love. There is no way to express how much this has meant to me every day. This PhD belongs to him.