Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an Interactive e-thesis communication system.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an interactive, user-friendly, and dynamic web-based visualization of research findings and data dissemination for the researchers, academicians, and students capable of being used as an effective tool to facilitate public understanding of scientific evidence and to promote communication between the public and academia.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Across the globe, people are trying to find out ways to make the findings of research freely available to the public through open access to institutional repositories. As scientific findings of learning and subsequent teaching approaches have been accumulating, public interest has also been growing. However, the researchers are unable to access all the scholarly literature published across the world due to the lack of proper communication technologies.

Thesis and dissertations are some of the most important sources of scholarly communication (Macduff, 2009). The Open Access Movement gained worldwide attention and popularity after the establishment of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) in 2002. The initiative defines Open Access as “free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute and/or print, with the possibility to search or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself.”

Nowadays major higher institutions across the world use repositories to manage their research, education, and academic resources in effective dissemination. These are mainly classified and categorized according to the type of archived contents like e-thesis, e-journals, datasets, patents, books software, multimedia, etc. Mainly these are often recognized as the only source for research work that does not find its way into various publication channels.

Due to the various benefits of Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs), it is gaining importance over their traditional print format. The initial thinking for ETD started in the earlies of 1987 between Text, Soft Quad, Virginia Tech, Arbor, and the University of Michigan. The major benefits of ETDs include the findings of research presented in thesis and dissertations are more accessible to scholars all over the world via the Internet and are a better way to express the message of the theses or dissertation may be conveyed due to the usage of animated diagrams, audios, color images, hyperlinks, videos, and databases. Further, it can save copying and printing costs and is an environment-friendly approach to research documentation because of the use of soft copies.

According to the Online Dictionary for Library & Information Science (ODLIS), Institutional Repository (IR) is "a set of services offered by a university or group of universities to members of its community for the management and dissemination of scholarly materials in a digital format created by the institution and its community members, such as e-prints, technical reports, theses and dissertations, data sets, and teaching materials”. Stewardship of such materials entails their organization in a cumulative, openly accessible database and a commitment to long-term preservation when appropriate. Some IRs are also used as electronic presses to publish e-journals and e-books.

An institutional repository is distinguished from a subject-based repository by its institutionally defined scope. IRs are part of a growing effort to reform scholarly communication and break the monopoly of journal publishers by reasserting institutional control over the results of scholarship. An IR may also serve as an indicator of the scope and extent of the university's research activities" (Jewell et al., 2006; Ololube, 2006; Gulbahar et al., 2008; Perbawaningsih, 2013; Sengupta, 2014; Kramarenko et al., 2020; Batez, 2021). With the incredible growth of institutional repositories which make these easily accessible via the World Wide Web, research has been very easy and less time-consuming to evaluate related processes and outcomes.

At present, there are several e-thesis repositories available in the existing state of art, but said repositories are not interactive. Sometimes the scanned copies of the theses are pooled in a digital archive maybe some other time the pdf of the same is deposited in the digital repositories. The premier Electronic thesis & dissertations are available from Sodhganga, a reservoir of Indian Thesis, Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD), Theses Canada Portal, Sodhgangotri and Dyuthi: Institutional Repository of CUSAT.

Reference is made to Chinese Patent application no. CN-202011120397 titled “A WebGL-based three-dimensional visualization display system and data visualization method” which discloses a WebGL-based three-dimensional visualization display system and a data visualization method. The three-dimensional visualization display system comprises a data processing and tool module, a 3DGIS engine module, and a visualization engine module wherein the 3DGIS engine module is used for acquiring the geographic spatial data and generating a 3DGIS map based on the geographic spatial data, the visualization engine module is used for acquiring the 3DGIS map, the charts and various numerical parameter information after statistical analysis, fusing the charts and various numerical parameter information after statistical analysis by taking the 3DGIS map as a base map, superposing the charts and various numerical parameter information after statistical analysis on the base map, and performing visualization display in a three-dimensional form.

Another reference is made to Chinese Patent application no. CN-202011471979A titled “Visualization method and device for mass remote sensing vector data” discloses a visualization method and a visualization device for remote sensing vector data, aiming at the problem of visualization of geographic data in a complex geographic computing environment, based on a server multi-core technology, map tiles are divided by a client, Nginx + Tomcat performs network server load balancing to distribute drawing tasks to a plurality of cores of a drawing server for drawing, so that one-time efficient drawing acceleration is realized, and server tile cache strategy is adopted so that the tile can be quickly responded when a second tile request is made without redrawing.

Yet another reference is made to the United States Patent application no. US-44386707-A titled “Method and system for delivering and interactively displaying three-dimensional graphics” discloses a method wherein a user can view and interact with live, real-time 3D content using just a web browser, requiring no extra downloads or third-party 3D plugins. The invention uses W3C standard bitmap formats, typically JPEG or PNG, as the delivery vehicle for server-side rendered 3D content and provides a 3D rendering application that runs on a web server and responds to commands from the user's web browser to manipulate, re-render and deliver new 3D rendered scenes back to the users’ browser.

In view of above, there arises a need for an Interactive e-thesis communication system that provides web-based visualization of research findings and data dissemination through interactive and informative figures, charts, graphs, tables, and diagram and share the geospatial datasets and spatial information which allows the users with little or no expertise in working with Web-GIS to access the spatial information.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION OVER EXISTING STATE OF ART:
Accordingly, the present invention is not a simple visualization but the conversion of an actual research paper thesis into an interactive one and allows the option for both interactive and non-interactive modes. It allows the user to easily switch from interactive to non-interactive mode and read the thesis conventionally.

The present system utilizes both the vector and raster-based data for visualization, wherein the visualization technique provides a synoptic view of the study area and supports the information like the graphs, charts, tables, diagrams, and maps can download in the form of major image format. The system supports the direct download option for the published journal paper from the corresponding chapters. The data and information used in the present system for the visualization is the research output derived from the research for the specific study area.

The present system is modelled on binary glTF model of aircraft with animated propellers and delivers an aerial view in the open street map, high contrast black and white map, night-time map, and the views of the municipal area in a panoramic visual mode.

The present system is an easy-to-use e-thesis system which features demo videos of developmental testing and has an informative user manual for the easy usage of the system, wherein animated models are used for visualizing the data. The City GML and iTowns are customized through a specific study area and the visualization is supported by 3D models, including key-frame animation, skinning, and individual node picking, using glTF and emerging industry-standard format for 3D models in the present invention.

Furthermore, the present system uses the Cesium JS. The open-source library is used for 3D content view without any plugins with the help of a web server and JavaScript. It also provides the Land surface Temperature (LST), Land Surface Emissivity (LSE), Leaf Area Index (LAI), and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), etc are provided in the study area through tables, maps, and graphs form.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
In order to obviate the drawbacks in the existing state of the art, the main object of the present invention is to provide an Interactive e-thesis communication system.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide easy to use and interactive Web GIS and JavaScript-based visualizations of research findings and data dissemination for the researchers, academicians, and students.

Yet another object of the invention is to interactive e-thesis communication system capable of visualizing spatial and non-spatial data of the study area of the researchers Web GIS-based geographical layers with a GIS server which helps to render the 2D and 3D maps.

Yet another object of the invention is to interactive e-thesis communication system capable of sharing the geospatial datasets and spatial information which permits the users having not much expertise in working with GIS to access the spatial information.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an interactive e-thesis communication system that utilizes both the vector and raster-based data for visualization.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an interactive e-thesis communication system that uses animated models for visualizing the data customized through a specific study area supported by 3D models, including key-frame animation, skinning, and individual node picking, using glTF and emerging industry-standard format for 3D models.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention discloses an easy-to-use e-thesis which provides interactive and informative figures, charts, graphs, tables, and diagram, wherein Web GIS-based geographical layers with GIS server helps to render the 2D and 3D maps and JavaScript-based artificial intelligence library helps in prediction and data modeling through machine learning and deep learning.

The Interactive e-thesis communication system of the present invention is a Web-GIS-3D-based visualization of research findings and data dissemination to facilitate public understanding of scientific evidence by promoting communication between the public and academia.

The Interactive e-thesis communication system comprises of at least two modules, first module is the user admission through a valid login process and second module is the Web and 3d GIS development with the help of different open source tools and standards. The second module comprises the steps of requirement analysis, formulation of digital and geographical information system strategies, web page conceptualization, web development, and evaluation and fine-tuning.
The interactive e-thesis communication system uses animated models for visualizing the data customized through a specific study area supported by 3D models, including key-frame animation, skinning, and individual node picking, using glTF and emerging industry-standard format for 3D models

The system visualizes spatial and non-spatial data of the geographical area or study area of the researchers and shares the geospatial datasets and spatial information which permits the users having not much expertise in working with GIS to access the spatial information for administrative purposes and helps in their decision-making process.

The framework of the interactive e-thesis communication system is developed with modern day internet technology such as HTML and Java scripting and demonstrates time-series plots, comprising maps, bar and pie charts, heat maps, and motion graphs. The visualization output gives the overall status of the geographical region.

The Interactive e-thesis communication system is capable of contributing to future studies that develop the visualization of research findings in further intuitive designs like artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and data science-based visualizations and predictions. The geographical layers prepared and mapped in the study and database can be used for the customization of any projects to meet the requirements of academic, government, or aligned departments in providing the digital resource database and any other requirements of the municipal or block level, based on their problems/priority/developmental programs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Figure 1 depicts the overall design and scheme of the Interactive e-thesis communication system
Figure 2 depicts a schematic diagram of the e-thesis development
Figure 3 depicts the entity relationship diagram of the system.
Figure 4 depicts the Use Case diagram of the system.
Figure 5 depicts the welcome page of the interactive e-thesis featuring audio and video-enabled content.
Figure 6(a) depicts the Front page of the Interactive e-thesis.
Figure 6(b) depicts the End page of the Interactive e-thesis.
Fig. 7(a) depicts interactive charts showing the findings and statistics derived from the research used in the e-thesis.
Fig.7(b) depicts visualization of the interactive graphs used in the e-thesis.
Fig. 8 depicts a feedback form through which the user can easily express their feelings and suggestions about the Interactive e-thesis

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION ILLUSTRATIONS AND EXAMPLES
While the invention has been disclosed with reference to certain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made, and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt to a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from its scope.

Throughout the specification and claims, the following terms take the meanings explicitly associated herein unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references. Additionally, a reference to the singular includes a reference to the plural unless otherwise stated or inconsistent with the disclosure herein.

Design and Development:
The Interactive e-thesis communication system of the present invention is capable of visualizing spatial and non-spatial data of the geographical area of the research findings and data dissemination to facilitate public understanding of scientific evidence by promoting communication between the public and academia.
The overall development of the Interactive e-thesis communication system of the present invention is divided into two modules.
The first module (M1) is the user admission through a valid login process and the second module (M2) is the web and GIS development with the help of different open source tools and standards.
The present invention implements through various steps including requirement analysis (M2a), and formulation of digital and geographical information system strategies (M2b). Based on the webpage is conceptualized subsequently web pages (M2c), Web GIS, and 3D GIS-based development (M2d) are done. After the system implementation, the evaluation phase (M2e) begins, and based on the continuous evaluations, errors are rectified and fine-tuned the entire interactive e-thesis.
The said sub-modules of the first and second module are herein described below.
First Module (M1):
The premier Google-based product google Sheets is used for the login and user registration process, the Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), and Java scripting language are used for the development of the framework and interfaces and Apache tomcat is used for web hosting.
Java-based scripting is used for the chart and animation requirements. The framework is developed with present internet technology such as HTML and Java scripting used to demonstrate time-series plots, comprising maps, bar and pie charts, heat maps, and motion graphs including animations. For the GIS, a premier GIS server named Geoserver, Open layers, and Open Street Map API are used.
The JavaScript-based scripting and Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML) are used for the conversion of paper thesis into web pages. The Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is used as an interface between the map server and the user. The Common Gateway Interface (CGI) bin or scripts directory of the webserver receives the executable files that receive requests and returns data and images.
The executable rights are not permitted for the Webroot due to security reasons. The web/HTTP server is responsible for serving up HTML pages when click by the user's browser. A premier web server Apache used for web serving. At the same time, the cesium.js library is used for the 3D geospatial visualization for the web. Cesium.JS is an open-source JavaScript library for creating world-class 3D globes and maps with the best possible performance, precision, and visual quality. It also includes additional GPU-accelerated 3D analysis GeoServer is used to serve and render the spatial layers over the internet. The animated charts and graphical visualizations are developed using java libraries. The Open Street Map (OSM) API is used for the visualization of Web GIS. The data models used in this e-thesis are made up of cesium.js and tensorflow.js.
Second Module (M2):

As shown in Figure 2, the present invention utilized a case study design using a five-phase structure within which key aspects of the process are analyzed.

Requirements analysis (M2a):
The first step adopted for this is to analyze the requirements. This includes who will be visiting the e-thesis, what will be the purpose of their visit, what is the primary goal of the e-thesis, how can the proposed framework best services their needs, etc. Many such questions are analyzed for the need analysis stage based on the questionnaire survey among students, academicians, and researchers.
As per the conventional methods, most of the research thesis and dissertation are available in a paper format. But now these days some academic and research institutes provide their theses in some electronic format. But it is just only scanning electronically the theses and pooling them in a digital archive.
A growing number of research theses and dissertations are becoming easily accessible through university institutional repositories on the web. Based on the questionnaire survey among the various researchers in the universities and research institutes concluded that nowadays, electronic theses, and dissertations are accessed much more frequently than their traditional hard-bound counterparts in libraries. Very few authors have recognized the potential of these developments for research scholarships.
The present system requires the content on every page to be fully dynamic more than that of a static paper page. This ensures that the presentation and visualization of these contents are more attractive, understandable and beyond that shared across the globe. This framework also ensures to sustain any upcoming future needs. A very few researchers are already known about this topic.

Formulate a digital strategy (M2b):
Based on the need analysis, scrutinize the factors that will best serve the e-theses and look at the trends in the real world to ensure that it has the latest technology, components, and elements. Based on the various digital approaches searching finally realized that web and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is most suitable for disseminating the e-thesis with dynamic visualization.

Web-page conceptualization (M2c):
This stage is the most complex in every web-based project. These developments assured that every single aspect of the design ensures that each element is serving a specific need and the website is truly designed to attract, retain and enhance the end-user experience. Through this phase, the design of the tables, figures, dynamic maps, and animated charts and graphs are finalized.
Web Development (M2d):
This stage consists of HTML development and the CMS configuration phase. The HTML is prepared under the W3C standards. Java scripting is used for the development of graphs, diagrams, maps, and illustrations. After the completion proceeds with the test phase. In this phase features of the system, especially the content management system is tested rigorously. At the same time, multi-browser testing is done.

Evaluation and fine-tuning (M2e):
This stage consists of the evaluation process after the system implementation. After the test run checked all the modules are working fine and ensured the data dissemination is as per the design. If any correction persists it is corrected through the fine-tuning process.

Structural Design of the Database:
The Entity-Relationship Diagram (ER-diagram) (Figure 3) explains the structural illustration of the database design. The database of the present system consists of two entities namely login and registration which is having attributes of username, password, name, organization name, and email.

As shown in Figure 3, all the attributes in the present system use varchar datatype. The basic geographical layers used in the system are in the form of vector and raster data formats. The Keyhole Markup Language (KML), extended markup language (XML) is also used for the system implementation and configuration.

The use cases help to determine the functionality and features of the software from the user’s perspective. A use case describes how a user interacts with the system by defining the steps required to accomplish a specific goal. Variations in the sequence of steps describe various scenarios. In the use-case diagram (fig.4), the use cases are displayed as ovals. The actors are connected by lines to the use cases that they carry out. The use cases are placed in a rectangle but the actors are not. This rectangle is a visual reminder of the system boundaries and that the actors are outside the system.

A use case diagram (Fig. 4) shows the interaction between the system and entities external to the system. These external entities are referred to as actors. Actors represent roles that may include human users, external hardware, or other systems.

The inventive step of the present system lies in the series of steps which includes System Setup, Login Module (Handle the registered users), Visualization Module (Manage Web GIS / 3D layer rendering), Views Module (Perform Switching of different views), Functional Module (Perform pan, zoom rotate and night modes). The present system has no privilege on system setup for the users (Fig. 4).

Results:
The Interactive e-thesis communication system of the present invention is user-friendly and dynamic. The major functionalities include figures, charts, graphs, tables, and diagrams that are interactive and informative. The Web GIS-based geographical layers with a GIS server help to render the 2D and 3D maps. The present Interactive e-thesis communication system is capable of sharing the geospatial datasets and spatial information which permits the users having not much expertise in working with GIS to access the spatial information for administrative purposes and helps in their decision-making process.

The present invention promotes the use of ICT in theses making among researchers and academicians and is capable of contributing to future studies that develop the visualization of research findings in further intuitive designs like artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, and data science-based visualizations and predictions.
, Claims:1. An Interactive e-thesis communication system to provide an easy-to-use Web-GIS-3D-based visualization of research findings and data dissemination comprising of at least two modules wherein
- first module (M1) is the user admission through a valid login process; and
- second module (M2) is the Web and 3d GIS development with the help of different open source tools and standards,

characterized in that,
said second module (M2) comprises the steps of:
- performing requirement analysis (M2a),
- formulating of digital and geographical information system strategies (M2b)
- conceptualizing web page (M2c) on the basis of requirement analysis (M2a) and formulation of digital and geographical information system strategies (M2b)
- developing web pages (M2d), and
- performing evaluation and fine-tuning of the system (M2e)
said modules being deployed in a manner such that
- said system uses animated models for visualizing the data customized through a specific study area supported by 3D models, including key-frame animation, skinning, and individual node picking, using glTF and emerging industry-standard format for 3D models
- said system being capable of visualizing spatial and non-spatial data of the study area of the researchers Web GIS-based geographical layers with a GIS server which helps to render the 2D and 3D maps facilitating public understanding of scientific evidence by promoting communication between the public and academia.

2. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first module comprises of
- an open source software for the login and user registration process;
- a Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) and Java-based scripting language for the development of the framework and interfaces; and
- a web/HTTP server for web hosting
characterized in that
- said JavaScript-based scripting and Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML) is used for the conversion of paper thesis into web pages
- said Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is used as an interface between the map server and the user, and
- said web/HTTP server is responsible for serving said HTML pages when clicked by user’s browser.

3. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said GIS uses an open source server, open-source JavaScript library), and mapping API,
characterized in that
- said server is used to serve and render the spatial layers over the internet.
- said mapping API is used for the visualization of Web GIS.

4. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said framework demonstrates time-series plots, comprising maps, bar and pie charts, heat maps, and motion graphs including animations.

5. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said Requirements analysis (M2a) phase comprises the steps of

- identifying a visitor of an e-thesis,
- identifying purpose of said visitor,
- identifying primary goal of said e-thesis, and
- providing best services as per the requirement of said visitor
characterized in that,
said analysis is based on a questionnaire survey among students, academicians, and researchers.
6. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said Formulation of digital strategy (M2b) phase comprises the steps of
- scrutinizing the factors that will best serve the e-theses; and
- analyzing the trends in the real world to ensure the use of the latest technology, components, and elements.

7. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said Web-page conceptualization (M2c) phase provides a design to ensures that each element is serving a specific requirement including a website to attract, retain and enhance an end-user experience and finalizes design of tables, figures, dynamic maps, animated charts and graphs.

8. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein Web Development (M2d) phase comprises the steps of
- HTML development phase; and
- content management system (CMS) configuration phase
characterized in that,
- said HTML is prepared under the W3C standards and Java scripting is used for development of graphs, diagrams, maps, and illustrations
- said content management system (CMS) is tested rigorously along with multi-browser testing.

9. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said evaluation and fine tuning (M2e) phase begins after system implementation wherein, errors are rectified and fine-tuned on the basis of continuous evaluations.

10. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein database of said system comprises of two entities
- login, and
- registration
said entities having attributes of username, password, name, organization name, and email,

characterized in that
said database is capable of being used for customization of projects to meet the requirements of academic, government, or aligned departments in providing the digital resource database or any other requirements.

11. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 10 wherein in said attributes of the present system use varchar datatype.

12. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said system utilizes both the vector and raster-based data for visualization.

13. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said visualization provides a synoptic view of the study area and supports the information like the graphs, charts, tables, diagrams, and maps can download in the form of major image format.

14. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said system being capable of conversion of an actual research paper thesis into an interactive e-thesis and allows a user to easily switch from interactive to non-interactive mode and read a thesis conventionally.

15. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said system supports direct download option for the published journal paper from the corresponding chapters.

16. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said system is modelled on binary glTF model of aircraft with animated propellers and delivers an aerial view in the open street map, high contrast black and white map, night-time map, and views of a municipal area in a panoramic visual mode.

17. The Interactive e-thesis communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein an open-source library is being used for 3D content view without any plugins with the help of a web server and JavaScript providing Land surface Temperature (LST), Land Surface Emissivity (LSE), Leaf Area Index (LAI), and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) in the study area through tables, maps, and graphs form.