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abstract
The Visual Browsing Tool (VBT) for Astrophysical Data Management is a software tool that allows interaction and visual exploration of astrophysical science mission databases and archives containing heterogenous data items. Data items used in astrophysical research are characterized by heterogenous attributes, e.g. text, tables, images, spectra. Visual browsing through a scientific database must allow graphical/textual representations of data items in their most natural appearance. Such data items carry spatial, spectral and temporal relations, useful and important for the scientists to collect and compare information for their reseach. The objective of the VBT is to strengthen the value of scientific work by visual exploration of and direct interaction with the content of astrophysical databases.
The VBT is being developed as an Astrophysics Data System (ADS) add-on service using X11/Motif in a Unix based environment. The development process has incorporated extensive participatory design principles with a group of scientists at the University of Colorado. The VBT is funded by a grant from the NASA Astrophysics Data Program.
