| TEXTNET: A Network-Based Approach to Text Handling | | BIBAK | 1-23 | |
| Randall H. Trigg; Mark Weiser | |||
| Textnet is a new system for structuring text. The Textnet approach uses one
uniform data structure to capture graphlike pools of text, as well as embedded
hierarchical structures. By using a semantic network formalism of nodes
connected by typed links, the relationship between neighboring pieces of text
are made explicit. Also described is our partial implementation of the Textnet
approach, which makes use of an object-oriented window/menu-driven user
interface. Users peruse the network by moving among object menus or by reading
text along a path through the network. In addition, critiquing, reader
linking, searching, and jumping are easily accessible operations. Finally, the
results of a short trial with users are presented. Keywords: Models and principles, User/machine systems, Information storage and
retrieval, Content analysis and indexing, Information storage and retrieval,
Information search and retrieval, Information storage and retrieval, Systems
and software, Information storage and retrieval, Online information services,
Information systems applications, Office automation, Text processing, Document
preparation, Experimentation, Human factors, Languages, Management, Hypertext
systems, Semantic networks | |||
| Whiteboards: A Graphical Database Tool | | BIBAK | 24-41 | |
| James Donahue; Jennifer Widom | |||
| The "Whiteboards" system is intended to be an electronic equivalent of the
whiteboards and corkboards that we have in our offices. A Whiteboard database
has similar qualities of storing disparate collections of data and saving their
spatial location in a window to help with organization. A Whiteboard database
can contain references to arbitrary entities: text files, note, programs,
tools, pictures, etc. Whiteboards runs as an application in the Cedar
programming environment developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. Keywords: Database management, Office automation, Design, Management, Databases,
Programming environments | |||
| The Spatial Metaphor for User Interfaces: Experimental Tests of Reference by Location versus Name | | BIBAK | 42-63 | |
| William P. Jones; Susan T. Dumais | |||
| The enduring dichotomy between spatial and symbolic modes of representation
and retrieval acquires an added pragmatic dimension through recent developments
in computer-based information retrieval. The standard name-based approach to
object reference is now supplemented on some systems by a spatial
alternative-often driven by an office or desktop metaphor. Little rigorous
evidence is available, however, to support the supposition that spatial memory
in itself is more effective than symbolic memory.
The accuracy of spatial versus symbolic reference was assessed in three experiments. In Experiment 1 accuracy of location reference in a location-only filing condition was initially comparable to that in a name-only condition, but deteriorated much more rapidly with increases in the number of objects filled. In Experiment 2 subjects placed objects in a two-dimensional space containing landmarks (drawings of a desk, table, filing cabinets, etc.) designed to evoke an office metaphor, and in Experiment 3 subjects placed objects in an actual, three-dimensional mock office. Neither of these enhancements served to improve significantly the accuracy of location reference, and performance remained below that of a name-only condition in Experiment 1. The results raise questions about the utility of spatial metaphor over symbolic filing and highlight the need for continuing research in which considerations of technological and economic feasibility are balanced by considerations of psychological utility. Keywords: Models and principles, User/machine systems, Human factors, Human
information processing, Information storage and retrieval, Information storage,
File organization, Information systems applications, Office automation,
Experimentation, Human factors, Management, Performance, Computer-human
interaction, Personal filing systems, Spatial representation, User interface | |||
| Complete Logical Routings in Computer Mail Systems | | BIBAK | 64-80 | |
| P. Martin; D. Tsichritzis | |||
| The logical routing of a message in a computer mail system involves the
identification and location of the set of intended recipients for that message.
This function is carried out by the naming and addressing mechanism of the mail
system. An important property of that mechanism is that it should be able to
identify and locate all the intended recipients of a message, so that, once
submitted, a message will not become lost or stuck in the system. We first
discuss message addressing schemes, which are a framework for dealing with the
naming and addressing problem. Message addressing schemes can also serve as a
basis for the analysis of some of the properties of logical message routing
within a system. We examine the conditions necessary for a complete message
addressing scheme, that is, one that guarantees to deliver all possible
messages. Keywords: Computer-communication networks, Distributed systems, Distributed
applications, Information systems applications, Communications applications,
Electronic mail, Design, Electronic mail routing, Message systems | |||
| Communications Design for Co-oP: A Group Decision Support System | | BIBAK | 81-103 | |
| Tung X. Bui; Matthias Jarke | |||
| Decision Support Systems (DSSs), computer-based systems intended to assist
managers in preparing and analyzing decisions, have been single-user systems
for most of the past decade. Only recently has DSS research begun to study the
implications of the fact that most complex managerial decisions involve
multiple decision makers and analysts. A number of tools for facilitating
group decisions have been proposed under the label Group Decision Support
Systems (GDSSs).
One of the most important functions of a GDSS is to provide problem-oriented services for communication among decision makers. On the basis of an analysis of the communication requirements in various group decision settings, this paper presents an architecture for defining and enforcing dynamic application-level protocols that organize decision group interaction. The architecture has been implemented on a network of personal computers in Co-oP, a GDSS for cooperative group decision making based on interactive, multiple-criteria decision methods. Keywords: Computer-communication networks, Network protocols, Computer-communication
networks, Distributed systems, Distributed applications, Operating systems,
Organization and design, Distributed systems, Models and principles,
User/machine systems, Information systems applications, Types of systems,
Decision support, Information systems applications, Communications
applications, Design, Human factors, Management, Cooperative work,
Communication design, Group decision making, Negotiation, Office automation | |||
| A Society Model for Office Information Systems | | BIBAK | 104-131 | |
| Cheng-Seen Ho; Yang-Chang Hong; Te-Son Kuo | |||
| A society model, which characterizes the behavior and procedure of offices,
is proposed. It is our belief that an office system capable of dealing with
all real office problems only through the modeling of the internal behavior of
an office can be developed. In this society model, office entities are viewed
as agents. An agent is modeled as a microsociety of interacting knowledge
sources. Within the microsociety, there exists a microknowledge exchange
system, which provides a set of microknowledge exchange protocols as a
coordination system among those knowledge sources during their cooperative
reasoning process. An office is then modeled as a society of various
interacting agents using their knowledge to complete the office goals
cooperatively. It is this unified view that allows offices to be modeled in a
flexible and general way. Keywords: Computer-communication networks, Network protocols, Protocol architecture,
Computer-communication networks, Distributed systems, Distributed applications,
Models and principles, Miscellaneous, Information systems applications, Office
automation, Artificial intelligence, Applications and expert systems, Office
automation, Design, Human factors, Management, Distributed problem solving,
Knowledge exchange protocols, Knowledge messages, Office modeling, Office
systems | |||
| A Generator of Direct Manipulation Office Systems | | BIBAK | 132-163 | |
| Scott E. Hudson; Roger King | |||
| A system for generating direct manipulation office systems is described. In
these systems, the user directly manipulates graphical representations of
office entities instead of dealing with these entities abstractly through a
command language or menu system. These systems employ a new semantic data
model to describe office entities. New techniques based on attribute grammars
and incremental attribute evaluation are used to implement this data model in
an efficient manner. In addition, the system provides a means of generating
sophisticated graphics-based user interfaces that are integrated with the
underlying semantic model. Finally, the generated systems contain a general
user reversal and recovery (or undo) mechanism that allows them to be much more
tolerant of human errors. Keywords: Database management, Logical design, Data models, Information systems
applications, Office automation, Computer graphics, Methodology and techniques,
Interaction techniques, Design, Human factors, Languages, Management,
Application development tools, Direct manipulation, Graphical user interfaces,
Semantic models | |||
| BAROQUE: A Browser for Relational Databases | | BIBAK | 164-181 | |
| Amihai Motro | |||
| The standard, most efficient method to retrieve information from databases
can be described as systematic retrieval: The needs of the user are described
in a formal query, and the database management system retrieves the data
promptly. There are several situations, however, in which systematic retrieval
is difficult or even impossible. In such situations exploratory search
(browsing) is a helpful alternative. This paper describes a new user
interface, called BAROQUE, that implements exploratory searches in relational
databases. BAROQUE requires few formal skills from its users. It does not
assume knowledge of the principles of the relational data model or familiarity
with the organization of the particular database being accessed. It is
especially helpful when retrieval targets are vague or cannot be specified
satisfactorily. BAROQUE establishes a view of the relational database that
resembles a semantic network, and provides several intuitive functions for
scanning it. The network integrates both schema and data, and supports access
by value. BAROQUE can be implemented on top of any basic relational database
management system but can be modified to take advantage of additional
capabilities and enhancements often present in relational systems. Keywords: Database management, Logical design, Data models, Database management,
Languages, Query languages, Information storage and retrieval, Information
search and retrieval, Retrieval models, Design, Human factors, Languages,
Browsing, Database, Exploratory search, Relational database, User interface | |||
| Special Issue: Selected Papers from the Conference on Office Information Systems | | BIB | 183 | |
| Carl Hewitt; Stanley B. Zdonik | |||
| Supporting Distributed Office Problem Solving in Organizations | | BIBAK | 185-204 | |
| Carson C. Woo; Frederick H. Lochovsky | |||
| To improve the effectiveness of office workers in their decision making,
office systems have been built to support (rather than replace) their judgment.
However, these systems model office work in a centralized environment, and/or
they can only support a single office worker. Office work that is divided into
specialized domains handled by different office workers (where cooperation is
needed in order to accomplish the work) is not supported. In this paper, we
will present a model that supports office problem solving in a logically
distributed environment. (In some systems, information is geographically
distributed for performance purpose rather than for conceptual need. The term,
logically, is therefore used to indicate the logical need of organizing
information without having to worry about the physical location of the
information.) In particular, cooperative tools that can be used to support
office workers during the process of their problem solving is discussed. Keywords: Computer-communication networks, Distributed systems, Distributed
applications, Information systems applications, Office automation, Information
systems applications, Types of systems, Decision support, Information systems
applications, Communications applications, Electronic mail, Artificial
intelligence, Applications and expert systems, Office automation,
Administrative data processing, Business, Design, Management, Cooperative
tools, Managerial office work, Object-oriented environment, Office
communication | |||
| The Integration of Computing and Routine Work | | BIBAK | 205-225 | |
| Les Gasser | |||
| Most computing serves as a resource or tool to support other work:
performing complex analyses for engineering projects, preparing documents, or
sending electronic mail using office automation equipment, etc. To improve the
character, quality, and ease of computing work, we must understand how
automated systems actually are integrated into the work they support. How do
people actually adapt to computing as a resource? How do they deal with the
unreliability in hardware, software, or operations; data inaccuracy; system
changes; poor documentation; inappropriate designs; etc; which are present in
almost every computing milieu, even where computing is widely used and
considered highly successful? This paper presents some results of a detailed
empirical study of routine computer use in several organizations. We present a
theoretical account of computing work and use it to explain a number of
observed phenomena, such as:
- How people knowningly use "false" data to obtain desired analytical results
by tricking their systems. - How organizations come to rely upon complex, critical computer system despite significant, recurrent, known errors and inaccurate data. - How people work around inadequate computing systems by using manual or duplicate systems, rather than changing their systems via maintenance or enhancement. In addition, the framework for analyzing computing and routine work presented here proves useful for representing and reasoning about activity in multiactor systems in general, and in understanding how better to integrate organizations of people and computers in which work is coordinated. Keywords: Software engineering, Distribution and maintenance, Software engineering,
Management, Models and principles, User/machine systems, Artificial
intelligence, Knowledge representation formalisms and methods, Artificial
intelligence, Problem solving, Control methods and search, Administrative data
processing, Manufacturing, Management of computing and information systems,
Human factors, Management, Articulation work, Computing and work, Computing in
organizations, Integration of computing, Multiagent systems, Social analysis of
computing, Workarounds | |||
| A Visual Interface for a Database with Version Management | | BIBAK | 226-256 | |
| Jay W. Davison; Stanley B. Zdonik | |||
| This paper describes a graphical interface to an experimental database
system which incorporates a built-in version control mechanism that maintains a
history of the database development and changes. The system is an extension of
ISIS (6), Interface for a Semantic Information System, a workstation-based,
graphical database programming tool developed at Brown University. ISIS
supports a graphical interface to a modified subset of the Semantic Data Model
(SDM) (7). The ISIS extension introduces a transaction mechanism that
interacts with the versions control facilities.
A series of version control support tools have been added to ISIS to provide a notion of history to user-created databases. The user can form new versions of three types of ISIS objects: a class definition object (a type), the set of instances of a class (the content), and an entity. A version-viewing mechanism is provided to allow for the comparison of various object versions. Database operations are grouped together in atomic units to form transactions, which are stored as entities in the database. A sample session demonstrates the capabilities of version and transaction control during the creation and manipulation of database objects. Keywords: Models and principles, User/machine systems, Human factors, Database
management, Logical design, Data models, Information systems applications,
Office automation, Design, Human factors, Languages, Historical database,
Semantic data model, Transaction processing, Version control, Visual interfaces | |||
| Analyzing Due Process in the Workplace | | BIBAK | 257-270 | |
| Elihu M. Gerson; Susan Leigh Star | |||
| Every office is an open system, and the products of office work are the
result of decentralized negotiations. Changing patterns of task organization
and alliance inevitably give rise to inconsistent knowledge bases and
procedures. This implies that there are no globally correct answers to
problems addressed by OISs. Rather, systems must deal with multiple competing,
possibly irreconcilable, solutions. Articulating alternative solutions is the
problem of due process. This problem and its consequences are illustrated by a
case study of a rate-setting group in a large health insurance firm.
There is no formal solution to the problem of due process. But it must be solved in practice if distributed intelligent OISs are to be developed. We propose an alternative approach based on the work of social scientists concerned with analyzing analogous problems in human organization. Solution of the due process problem hinges on developing local closures to the problem faced by an organization. This means analyzing (a) local, tacit knowledge and its transfer ability; (b) articulation work, that is, reconciling incommensurate assumptions and procedures. Keywords: Models and principles, Systems and information theory, Artificial
intelligence, General, Artificial intelligence, Knowledge representation
formalisms and methods, Management of computing and information systems,
Project and people management, Systems analysis and design, Systems
development, Management of computing and information systems, System
management, Centralization/decentralization, Design, Human factors | |||
| Offices Are Open Systems | | BIBAK | 271-287 | |
| Carl Hewitt | |||
| This paper is intended as a contribution to analysis of the implications of
viewing offices as open systems. It takes a prescriptive stance on how to
establish the information-processing foundations for taking action and making
decisions in office work from an open systems perspective. We propose due
process as a central activity in organizational information processing.
Computer systems are beginning to play important roles in mediating the ongoing
activities of organizations. We expect that these roles will gradually
increase in importance as computer systems take on more of the authority and
responsibility for ongoing activities. At the same time we expect computer
systems to acquire more of the characteristics and structure of human
organizations. Keywords: Programming techniques, Concurrent programming, Programming languages,
Language classifications, Very high-level languages, Operating systems,
Reliability, Artificial intelligence, Knowledge representation formalisms and
methods, Artificial intelligence, Problem solving, Control methods and search,
Plan execution, Formation, Generation, Management, Debate, Decision making, Due
process, Logic, Microtheories, Negotiation, Offices, Open systems | |||
| A Model for Naming, Addressing, and Routing | | BIBAK | 293-311 | |
| Bernard M. Hauzeur | |||
| Naming and addressing are areas in which there is still a need for
clarification. Many definitions for names, addresses, and routes have been
proposed, but the exact relations among these concepts are obscure. A taxonomy
of names, addresses, and routes is presented. First, we identify names and
routes as the essential concepts of communication. Then, addresses are
introduced as an intermediate form that eases the process of mapping between
names and routes; an original definition of an address is thus proposed.
Relations among names, addresses, and routes are explained with the concept of
mapping. On this basis, a general model relating names, addresses, and routes
is built and then applied recursively throughout a layered architecture,
leading to a layered naming and addressing model which may play the same role
for naming and addressing features that the OSI reference model plays for the
definition of services and protocols. Finally, the model is particularized to
a typical network architecture. The model may also be applied to non-OIS
layered systems; naming, addressing, and routing issues in any network
architecture could be a particular instance of this layered model. Keywords: Computer-communication networks, General, Computer-communication networks,
Network architecture and design, Design, Standardization, Theory, Addresses,
Layered architecture, Mapping names, OSI model, Routes | |||
| SEAVE: A Mechanism for Verifying User Presuppositions in Query Systems | | BIBAK | 312-330 | |
| Amihai Motro | |||
| Every information system incorporates a database component, and a frequent
activity of users of information systems is to present it with queries. These
queries reflect the presuppositions of their authors about the system and the
information it contains. With most query processors, queries that are based on
erroneous presuppositions often result in null answers. These fake nulls are
misleading, since they do not point out the user's erroneous presuppositions
(and can even be interpreted as their affirmation). This article describes the
SEAVE mechanism for extracting presuppositions from queries and verifying their
correctness. The verification is done against three repositories of
information: the actual data, their integrity constraints, and their
completeness assertions. Consequently, queries that reflect erroneous
presuppositions are answered with informative messages instead of null answers,
and user-system communication is thus improved (an aspect that is particularly
important in systems that often are accessed by naive users). First, the
principles of SEAVE are described abstractly. Then, specific algorithms for
implementing it with relational databases are presented, including a new method
for storing knowledge and an efficient algorithm for processing queries against
the knowledge. Keywords: Database management, Systems, Query processing, Information storage and
retrieval, Information search and retrieval, Retrieval models, Design, Human
factors, Languages, Cooperative user interface, Database, Database
completeness, Database integrity, Erroneous presupposition, Query failure,
Query generalization, Relational database | |||
| Understanding the Office: A Social-Analytic Perspective | | BIBAK | 331-344 | |
| R. A. Hirschheim | |||
| In order to apply office automation in a meaningful fashion, it is apparent
that some understanding of the office is necessary. Most descriptive studies
of the office have placed great emphasis on manifest office actions, suggesting
that offices are the embodiment of these actions. The meanings of these
actions or tasks, however, have been given scant attention. There exist a
number of office activity or task taxonomies, but they do little more than
provide a simple and limited structure through which to conceive of an office.
From a social-analytic perspective this appears to be overly simplistic and
misses the richness of social action in an office. Focusing on the overt and
manifest aspects of the office may very well lead to its misrepresentation.
This paper takes a critical look at the way offices are conceived in the office
automation literature and suggests alternatives that may provide a better
understanding of the real functions of an office. Keywords: Models and principles, User/machine systems, Information systems
applications, Office automation, Computers and society, Public policy issues,
Computers and society, Social issues, Computers and society, Organizational
impacts, Human factors, Theory, Office automation, Office automation systems
development, Office perspectives, Office views | |||
| Multimedia Document Presentation, Information Extraction, and Document Formation in MINOS: A Model and a System | | BIBAK | 345-383 | |
| S. Christodoulakis; M. Theodoridou; F. Ho; M. Papa; A. Pathria | |||
| MINOS is an object-oriented multimedia information system that provides
integrated facilities for creating and managing complex multimedia objects. In
this paper the model for multimedia documents supported by MINOS and its
implementation is described. Described in particular are functions provided in
MINOS that exploit the capabilities of a modern workstation equipped with image
and voice input-output devices to accomplish an active multimedia document
presentation and browsing within documents. These functions are powerful
enough to support a variety of office applications. Also described are
functions provided for the extraction of information from multimedia documents
that exist in a large repository of information (multimedia document archiver)
and functions that select and transform this information. Facilities for
information sharing among objects of the archiver are described; an interactive
multimedia editor that is used for the extraction and interactive creation of
new information is outlined; finally, a multimedia document formatter that is
used to synthesize a new multimedia document from extracted and interactively
generated information is presented.
This prototype system runs on a SUN-3 workstation running UNIX. An Instavox, directly addressable, analog device is used to store voice segments. Keywords: Information storage and retrieval, Systems and software, Design, Human
factors, Management, Images, Information browsing, Object-oriented systems,
Office databases, Optical disks, Text access methods, Viewing, Voice | |||