A paper-based technology for personal knowledge management

Abstract

In this paper we extend the Semantic Desktop with a novel input modality: handwriting on paper. This extension allows for annotating printed documents with handwritten notes, which are then recognized, interpreted and integrated into the personal knowledge space. Thus it supports personal knowledge work on paper. In particular, the user can mark any text segment and annotate it with his or her own comments. The semantic of these comments and marks are then interpreted and, finally, the result is included in the user's Semantic Desktop. The methodology for finding the intended meaning of the annotation in context of the marked text is presented in this paper. To demonstrate the applicability of our approach, we have implemented a prototype for the NEPOMUK Semantic Desktop.