Provides an example that illustrates the interrelationship of the factors that influence educational software portability. Nielsen's seven-level approach to human-computer interaction is used as the basis for a model for factors that influence portability, and five phases in the life cycle of a software product being adapted are considered. (10…

This paper explores interactivity, and considers what should be done to create a mass market for interactive media. It is suggested that one way to do so is to examine the video game phenomenon, and a model of interactivity is proposed. The model, a "home interactive theater," would involve interaction in the telling of a story, with the…

Designed for student use in solving linear programming problems, the interactive computer program described (EZLP) permits the student to input the linear programming model in exactly the same manner in which it would be written on paper. This report includes a brief review of the development of EZLP; narrative descriptions of program features,…

A recently developed cost-effectiveness model for on-line retrieval systems is discussed through use of an example utilizing performance results collected from several independent sources and cost data derived for a recently completed study for the American Psychological Association. One of the primary attributes of the model rests in its great…

Examines various ways of dividing the labor of an information search between the person and the system. Different configurations of two dimensions--degree of system involvement in searching and types of search activity carried out by the person or system--are discussed. Recommendations for further research and development are offered. (49…

Describes an information system interface that allows specification of uncertain queries and combines evidence about the relevance of documents to produce an overall ranking. Results of an experiment that addressed some of the cognitive aspects of such an interface are also reported. (22 references) (Author/MES)

Describes the Case Hierarchy, a model of the case system of unconstrained natural language, and ways in which the case system is specialized in a restricted domain. Results of a feasibility study which examined the utility of the Case Hierarchy and the Case Hierarchy Tool (an intelligent editor supporting the domain analysis process) are…

Presents a new model of searching in online and other information systems, and reviews the literature of manual information seeking behavior for suggestions of capabilities users might like in online systems. Based on the model--called "berrypicking"--and research, suggestions are made for how new search capabilities could be implemented…

Presents a model for the a priori analysis of natural language queries which uses an algorithm to transform the query into a logical pattern that is used to determine the answerability of the query. The results of testing by a prototype system implemented in PROLOG are discussed. (20 references) (CLB)

Describes a model that displays structures necessary to map between the conceptual and external levels in database management systems, using an algorithm that maps the syntactic representations of tuples onto semantic representations. A technique for translating tuples into natural language sentences is introduced, and a system implemented in…

A computational framework is presented for the generation of elementary speech acts to establish conceptual alignment between a computer system and its user. This article clearly distinguishes between 2 phases of the alignment process: message interpretation and message generation. In the interpretation phase, presuppositions are extracted from…

Introduction: Activity theory, developed in the USSR as a Marxist alternative to Western psychology, has been applied widely in educational studies and increasingly in human-computer interaction research. Argument: The key elements of activity theory, Motivation, Goal, Activity, Tools, Object, Outcome, Rules, Community and Division of labour are…

This report describes implementation and exercising of simulation models for a portion of user behavior in the library setting. The emphasis is on user estimations of timing and convenience factors of service and how these are affected by actual service. The report begins with an oversimplified view of the user and becomes progressively more…

A game that simulates stages in the innovation diffusion process and allows research into the spatial and temporal spread of innovations is reported. The characteristis of player decision-making and factors underlying variation in the spatial patterning of diffusion are also discussed.