Knowledge-based assistance for accessing large, poorly structured information spaces

Large information spaces present several problems to people searching for interesting information including information overload. This thesis describes a novel approach to handling overload problems in the domain of Usenet News, an open access computer-based bulletin board system that distributes messages and software. A conceptual framework is developed that shows the need for (a) flexible organization of information access interfaces, (b) personalized structure to deal with vocabulary mismatches and individual information needs, and (c) semi-autonomous agents that assist in creating this personalized structure. In addition, an operational system (scINFOSCOPE) instantiate this framework allowing for the exploration and evaluation of the approach in realistic working environments. Using scINFOSCOPE, Usenet readers evolve the predefined system structure to suit their own tasks or semantic interpretations. Agents assist users by suggesting filters based on observed interest patterns. Evaluation of the system indicates that (1) personalized structure is quickly adopted and effectively used; (2) personalized structure reduces information overload caused by uninteresting messages; and (3) scINFOSCOPE agents are an effective aid to the creation of personalized structure in Usenet News. However, user studies have exposed deficiencies in the current implementation that indicate a more sophisticated suite of agents could increase the usefulness of many suggestions. (Also available from the University of Colorado at Boulder Computer Science Department as Technical Report # CU-CS-640-93.)

[1]  Thomas P. Moran,et al.  Getting into a system: External-internal task mapping analysis , 1983, CHI '83.

[2]  S. L. Baker.  The Display Phenomenon: An Exploration into Factors Causing the Increased Circulation of Displayed Books , 1986, The Library Quarterly.

[3]  G. Halasz Frank,et al.  Reflections on NoteCards: seven issues for the next generation of hypermedia systems , 1988 .

[4]  Mary Beth Rosson,et al.  Paradox of the active user , 1987 .

[5]  Michael F. Schwartz.  The Networked Resource Discovery Project , 1989, IFIP Congress.

[6]  Donald A. Norman,et al.  User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction , 1988 .

[7]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  Helgon: extending the retrieval by reformulation paradigm , 1989, CHI '89.

[8]  Herbert A. Simon,et al.  The Sciences of the Artificial , 1970 .

[9]  Prasad Venkateswara Kilari.  The effects of information load on decision-makers and the use of heuristics , 1989 .

[10]  John C. Thomas,et al.  Minimizing ecological gaps in interface design , 1989, IEEE Software.

[11]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  Communication requirements for cooperative problem solving systems , 1990, Inf. Syst..

[12]  Thomas W. Mastaglio,et al.  The role of critiquing in cooperative problem solving , 1991, TOIS.

[13]  Jonathan Grudin,et al.  Why CSCW applications fail: problems in the design and evaluationof organizational interfaces , 1988, CSCW '88.

[14]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  Active Help Systems , 1984, Cognitive Ergonomics.

[15]  R. Guindon.  How to interface to advisory systems? Users request help with a very simple language , 1988, CHI '88.

[16]  A. Tversky,et al.  On the psychology of prediction , 1973 .

[17]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  A Cooperative Problem Solving System for User Interface , 1990 .

[18]  John R. Anderson,et al.  Reflections of the Environment in Memory Form of the Memory Functions , 2022 .

[19]  John R. Anderson.  The Adaptive Character of Thought , 1990 .

[20]  Peter W. Foltz.  Using latent semantic indexing for information filtering , 1990 .

[21]  Daniel G. Bobrow,et al.  A frame driven dialog system , 1980 .

[22]  GrudinJonathan,et al.  Supporting indirect collaborative design with integrated knowledge-based design environments , 1992 .

[23]  T. W. Malone,et al.  The information lens: an intelligent system for information sharing in organizations , 2011, CHI '86.

[24]  P. W. Foltz,et al.  Using latent semantic indexing for information filtering , 1990, COCS '90.

[25]  Wendy E. Mackay,et al.  Patterns of sharing customizable software , 1990, CSCW '90.

[26]  Donald E. Broadbent,et al.  The Allocation of Descriptor Terms by Individuals in a Simulated Retrieval System , 1978 .

[27]  Andreas Girgensohn,et al.  End-user modifiability in knowledge-based design environments , 1992 .

[28]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  Catalog Explorer: Exploiting the Synergy of Integrated Design Environments , 1990 .

[29]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  Cognitive tools for locating and comprehending software objects for reuse , 1991, [1991 Proceedings] 13th International Conference on Software Engineering.

[30]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  Information access in complex, poorly structured information spaces , 1991, CHI '91.

[31]  Randall H. Trigg,et al.  Adaptability and Tailorability in NoteCards , 1987 .

[32]  Richard M. Stallman.  EMACS the extensible, customizable self-documenting display editor , 1981 .

[33]  S. Streufert,et al.  Effects of information relevance on decision making in complex environments , 1973, Memory & cognition.

[34]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  Making Design Objects Relevant to the Task at Hand , 1991, AAAI.

[35]  John S. Quarterman,et al.  Notable computer networks , 1986, CACM.

[36]  Vinod Kumar Thukral.  Cognitive strain as a cause of negative bias , 1983 .

[37]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  Knowledge-based help systems , 1985, CHI '85.

[38]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  Volunteering Information—Enhancing the Communication Capabilities of Knowledge-Based Systems , 1987 .

[39]  O. H. Lowry.  Academic press. , 1972, Analytical chemistry.

[40]  Timothy W. Finin,et al.  Modeling the User in Natural Language Systems , 1988, CL.

[41]  Herbert A. Simon,et al.  Computers in Education: Realizing the Potential. , 1983 .

[42]  R. Kass,et al.  Intelligent assistance for the communication of information in large organizations , 1992, Proceedings Eighth Conference on Artificial Intelligence for Applications.

[43]  John M. Carroll,et al.  Interface design issues for advice-giving expert systems , 1987, CACM.

[44]  Bertram G. Murray.  It's History , 1987 .

[45]  Terry Winograd,et al.  Understanding computers and cognition - a new foundation for design , 1987 .

[46]  W. Kintsch,et al.  Strategies of discourse comprehension , 1986 .

[47]  Gerhard Strube,et al.  DATA-BASE ORGANIZATION AND COGNITIVE STRUCTURE: USING INFORMATION SYSTEMS ORGANIZED BY ONESELF AND BY OTHERS , 1987 .

[48]  Louis M. Gomez,et al.  No IFs, ANDs, or ORs: A Study of Database Querying , 1990, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[49]  Keith Duncan,et al.  Cognitive Engineering , 2017, Encyclopedia of GIS.

[50]  Samuel A. Bobrow,et al.  COMPREHENSION AND RECALL OF SENTENCES , 1969 .

[51]  Hans-Peter Frei,et al.  Retrieving highly dynamic widely distributed information , 1989, SIGIR '89.

[52]  P. Rabbit.  Human information processing , 1977, Nature.

[53]  Thomas Walter Mastaglio.  A user modelling approach for computer-based critiquing , 1991 .

[54]  Gerhard Fischer,et al.  End-user modifiability in design environments , 1990, CHI '90.

[55]  Errol R. Iselin.  The impact of information diversity on information overload effects in unstructured managerial decision making , 1989, J. Inf. Sci..

[56]  J. R. Miller,et al.  Justified advice: a semi-naturalistic study of advisory strategies , 1988, CHI '88.

[57]  Gerrit C. van der Veer,et al.  Readings on Cognitive Ergonomics — Mind and Computers , 1984, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[58]  John C. Bergstrom,et al.  An analysis of information overload with implications for survey design research , 1990 .

[59]  Susan T. Dumais,et al.  The vocabulary problem in human-system communication , 1987, CACM.

[60]  Lawrence A. Gordon,et al.  Information overload: A temporal approach☆ , 1990 .

[61]  Mitchell Kapor,et al.  Agenda: a personal information manager , 1990, CACM.

[62]  Wendy E. Mackay,et al.  Users and customizable software : a co-adaptive phenomenon , 1990 .

[63]  Thomas W. Mastaglio,et al.  Critics: An Emerging Approach to Knowledge-Based Human-Computer Interaction , 1991, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..