Dealing with Uncertainty in Information Modelling

We present ongoing research concerning a communicationbased approach to information modelling. The general goal of our research is to understand and support (contextualized) modelling dialogues rather than the models that result from these dialogues or the modelling languages in which the models are expressed. We take the point of view that information modelling dialogues are subject to the same kinds of uncertainty that occur in any communication between human agents. This uncertainty is for a large part due to the contextualized nature of information models. By focusing on dialogues and guiding them through strategies for dealing with uncertainty, we hope to achieve better, properly contextualized, information models. We present an analysis of uncertainty in information modelling, and give an example of a viable approach to one particular type of uncertainty reduction in information modelling. We work towards a functional design for an interactive modelling environment for testing our theories. information structures, domain analysis