The purpose of this thesis is to improve our understanding of sensemaking process as a basis for building better systems to assist sensemaking. Sensemaking is the task of creating an understanding of a problem or task so that further actions may be taken in an informed manner. Sensemaking is a pre-requisite for many other tasks such as decision…

Describes the design of an expert system developed using VP-Expert for document delivery decision making in a law library. Presents methods used in knowledge acquisition and knowledge representation after a brief review of the literature on expert system use in libraries. An appendix includes the rules of the expert system. (Author/AEF)

Demonstrates that if the similarity function of a retrieval system leads to a (pseudo-) metric, the retrieval, similarity and Everett-Cater metric topology coincide and are different from the discrete topology; this is the case if documents are represented by lists, using the Jaccard similarity measure. The corresponding metric is the…

The objective of this research is to exploit Chinese language processing techniques for temporal information extraction and concept reasoning. Outlines the characteristics of Chinese time system and temporal expressions. Discusses temporal knowledge representations. Presents a general framework for the storage and manipulation of temporal…

Examines the qualities of hypermedia information systems that enable them to facilitate learning and knowledge construction. Discusses the background of current learning theories, and describes a possible hypermedia system based on constructivist learning principles that could be developed through the use of intelligent autonomous agents.…

Focuses on natural language processing (NLP) in information retrieval. Defines the seven levels at which people extract meaning from text/spoken language. Discusses the stages of information processing; how an information retrieval system works; advantages to adding full NLP to information retrieval systems; and common problems with information…

Maccia's epistemology of intelligent natural systems implies that computer systems must develop qualitative intelligence before knowledge representation and natural language understanding can be achieved. Emotion and sensation--capabilities which computers do not currently possess are vital to the growth of the mind (Stanley I. Greenspan).…

This paper describes a system that facilitates and encourages the sharing of knowledge among groups of users within or across organizations. KSE (Knowledge Sharing Environment) is a system of information agents for organizing, summarizing, and sharing knowledge from a number of sources, including the World Wide Web, an organization's internal…

Administrative systems renewal is not something the faculty will ever get excited about, but the authors believe there is much that can be done to render the academic community more receptive and even supportive. In this article, the authors use the implementation of their student information system (SIS) at the University of Saskatchewan (and a…