IRList Digest Monday, 2 November 1987 Volume 3 : Issue 38 Today's Topics: Announcement - Dissertation abstracts relating to inf. retrieval News addresses are Internet or CSNET: fox@vtcs1.cs.vt.edu BITNET: fox@vtcs1.bitnet ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Oct 87 10:21:08 EDT From: "Susanne M. HUMPHREY" Subject: Re: new edition of abstracts for IRList and SIGIR Forum . . . Selected IR-Related Dissertation Abstracts Compiled by: Susanne M. Humphrey, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20894 The following are citations selected by title and abstract as being related to Information Retrieval (IR), resulting from a computer search, using the BRS Information Technologies retrieval service, of the Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) database produced by University Microfilms International. Included are the UM order number and year-month of entry into the database; author; university, degree, and, if available, number of pages; title; DAI subject category chosen by the author of the dissertation; and abstract. References are sorted first by DAI subject category and second by author. Citations denoted by an MAI reference do not yet have abstracts in the database and refer to abstracts in the published Masters Abstracts International. Unless otherwise specified, paper or microform copies of dissertations may be ordered from University Microfilms International, Dissertation Copies, Post Office Box 1764, Ann Arbor, MI 48106; telephone for U.S. (except Michigan, Hawaii, Alaska): 1-800-521-3042, for Canada: 1-800-268-6090. Price lists and other ordering and shipping information are in the introduction to the published DAI. An alternate source for copies is sometimes provided at the end of the abstract. The dissertation titles and abstracts contained here are published with permission of University Microfilms International, publishers of Dissertation Abstracts International (copyright by University Microfilms International), and may not be reproduced without their prior permission. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-13877. AU ACKLEY, DAVID HOWARD. IN Carnegie-Mellon University Ph.D. 1987, 238 pages. TI Stochastic iterated genetic hillclimbing. DE Computer Science. AB In the "black box function optimization" problem, a search strategy is required to find an extremal point of a function without knowing the structure of the function or the range of possible function values. Solving such problems efficiently requires two abilities. On the one hand, a strategy must be capable of learning while searching: It must gather global information about the space and concentrate the search in the most promising regions. On the other hand, a strategy must be capable of sustained exploration: If a search of the most promising region does not uncover a satisfactory point, the strategy must redirect its efforts into other regions of the space. This dissertation describes a connectionist learning machine that produces a search strategy called stochastic iterated genetic hillclimbing (SIGH). Viewed over a short period of time, SIGH displays a coarse-to-fine searching strategy, like simulated annealing and genetic algorithms. However, in SIGH the convergence process is reversible. The connectionist implementation makes it possible to diverge the search after it has converged, and to recover coarse-grained information about the space that was suppressed during convergence. The successful optimization of a complex function by SIGH usually involves a series of such converge/diverge cycles. SIGH can be viewed as a generalization of a genetic algorithm and a stochastic hillclimbing algorithm, in which genetic search discovers starting points for subsequent hillclimbing, and hillclimbing biases the population for subsequent genetic search. Several search stratgies--including SIGH, hillclimbers, genetic algorithms, and simulated annealing--are tested on a set of illustrative functions and on a series of graph partitioning problems. SIGH is competitive with genetic algorithms and simulated annealing in most cases, and markedly superior in a function where the uphill directions usually lead away from the global maximum. In that case, SIGH's ability to pass information from one coarse-to-fine search to the next is crucial. Combinations of genetic and hillclimbing techniques can offer dramatic performance improvements over either technique alone. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-16349. AU CHANG, HSI ALEX. IN The University of Arizona Ph.D. 1987, 407 pages. TI An architecture for electronic messaging in organizations: a distributed problem-solving perspective. DE Information Science. AB This dissertation provides a foundation for electronic information management in organizations. It focuses on the relationships among communication, control, and information flows of the organization. The main thesis addresses the question of how electronic mail messages may be managed according to their contents, ensuring at the same time, the preservation of organizational and social relationships. A taxonomy for the management of unstructured electronic information relevance based on the treatment of information is derived from current research. Among the three paradigms, the information processing, the information distribution, and the information sharing paradigms, the inadequacy of the first two is recognized, and the treatment of information in its active mode is proposed. This taxonomy can be used to quickly differentiate one research from another and evaluate its adequacy. Three concepts, four cornerstones, and an architecture constitute our framework of information relevance management. The cornerstones are knowledge of the organization, knowledge of the individual, information construction, and information interpretation. Through knowledge of the organization and the individual, the machine production systems are able to distribute and manage information according to the logic of human production systems. The other two cornerstones together improve the unity of interpretation among the organizational members. The physical architecture can adapt a number of applications, each of which, may not only have different knowledge presentations and inference mothods, but also may co-exist in the system simultaneously. An integrated knowledge-based electronic messaging system, the AI-MAIL system, is built, tested, and evaluated through a case study to demonstrate the feasibility of the architecture and its applicability to the real-world environment. The three operating levels, interorganizational, intraorganizational, and individual, are illustrated through a study of the U.S. Army. From three large scale field studies, the existing AUTODIN I system, a backbone of the Army's communications, is analyzed and evaluated to illustrate the applicability and benefits of the three operating levels. This dissertation contributes to the field of Management Information Systems by offering a methodology, a taxonomy, a new paradigm, a framework, and a system for information management and a method of adaptive organizational design. In addition, it points toward future research directions. Among them are research to deal with ethical issues, organizational research, knowledge engineering, multi-processor configuration, and internal protocols for applications. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-16352. AU FJELDSTAD, OYSTEIN DEVIK. IN The University of Arizona Ph.D. 1987, 394 pages. TI On the reapportionment of cognitive responsibilities in information systems. DE Information Science. AB As the number of information system users increases, we are witnessing a related increase in the complexity and the diversity of their applications. The increasing functional complexity amplifies the degree of functional and technical understanding required of the user to make productive use of the application tools. Emerging technologies, increased and varied user interests and radical changes in the nature of applications give rise to the opportunity and necessity to re-examine the proper apportionment of cognitive responsibilities in human-system interaction. We present a framework for the examination of the allocation of cognitive responsibilities in information systems. These cognitive tasks involve skills associated with the models and tools that are provided by information systems and the domain knowledge and problem knowledge that are associated with the user. The term cognitor is introduced to refer to a cognitive capacity for assuming such responsibilities. These capacities are resident in the human user and they are now feasible in information system architectures. Illustrations are given of how this framework can be used in understanding and assessing the apportionment of responsibilities. Implications of shifting and redistributing cognitive task from the system-user environment to the system environment are discussed. Metrics are provided to assess the degree of change under alternative architectures. An architecture for the design of alternative responsibility allocations, named Reapportionment of Cognitive Activities, (RCA), is presented. The architecture describes knowledge and responsibilities associated with facilitating dynamic allocation of cognitive responsibilities. Knowledge bases are used to support and describe alternative apportionments. RCA illustrates how knowledge representations, search techniques and dialogue management can be combined to accommodate multiple cooperating cognitors, each assuming unique roles, in an effort to share the responsibilities associated with the use of an information system. A design process for responsibility allocation is outlined. Examples of alternative responsibility allocation feasible within this architecture are provided. Cases implementing the architecture are described. We advocate treating the allocation of cognitive responsibilities as a design variable and illustrate through the architecture and the cases the elements necessary in reapportioning these responsibilities in information systems dialogues. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-13959. AU MASTERS, GARY EVERETT. IN North Texas State University Ph.D. 1987, 175 pages. TI The effects of increased equipment speed on online database searching practices. DE Library Science. AB This study reports changes in online database searching at North Texas State University when equipment speed was increased. Data were from database vendor invoices and price and sale data of online equipment. The hypotheses examined the relationship between the decrease in the cost of online equipment and the change to faster online equipment and the change in the number of databases that changed for online types. The change in equipment was related to changes in the number of offline prints per hour, the average time per search, the average number of descriptors per search, the number of searches per month, and the rank order of database use over the studied period. The increase in the number of databases with billed types was related to the number of online billed types produced. The number of prints was related to the number of billed types. Time spent online was examined for annual seasonal cycles. The major statistical tool was time-series analysis, although other methods were applied. The conclusions were that searching practices at NTSU changed when the equipment changed in 1982. The major effect was the increase in online types and the decrease in offline prints. The number of searches per month, the number of descriptors per search, the rank order of databases searched, and the average time per search did not change. The decrease in cost for online equipment was correlated to an increase in its speed and in the number of databases with online type charges. This increase in type charges was linked to an increase in the number of online billed types and a decrease in prints. Based on the conclusions, the following specific recommendations were made: (1) maintain access to several database vendors, (2) use a modular system for searching, (3) keep complete records of search activities, (4) evaluate online search activities constantly, (5) establish and support user groups, and (6) provide continuing training for searchers. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-15163. AU STANSBERY, MARY KAY MATTHEW. IN Texas Woman's University Ph.D. 1986, 184 pages. TI Attitudes of selected graduate faculty toward the use of library funds to pay for electronic access to scholarly journals. DE Library Science. AB Current and future technology can affect the allocation of resources normally committed to the acquisition of hardcopy scholarly journals. Data from the study of full-time graduate teaching faculty at seven academic institutions in the North Texas area show the effects of three variables upon their attitudes towards reallocation of library resources to spend less money on subscriptions to scholarly journals and to spend more money to pay for online access and searching of bibliographic and full-text databases with online or offline printing capabilities. Of the three variables--seniority and age of faculty (tenured vs. non-tenured), discipline (pure science vs. social science-humanities), and level and intensity of graduate degree granting program (master's vs. doctoral)--the discipline in which the faculty members were based (pure science vs. social science-humanities) proved to be the significant factor in accounting for differing faculty attitudes toward the issue. While the majority of the respondents indicated they would regret not having local ownership of hardcopy scholarly journals in their university library, the majority of them also indicated that they supported the use of library funds to pay for guaranteed access to full-text scholarly journal databases with offline or online printing capabilities rather than to purchase hardcopy journals to be housed in their university library. This suggests the time may be right for academic librarians to take the lead in educating their faculties to today's technological and fiscal realities in the world of information procurement for research. Perhaps the increasing application of and presence of CD-ROM technologies in libraries will serve to bridge the psychological gap between local ownership of hardcopy and the viewing of materials on a cathode ray tube (CRT) or computer generated printouts. ------------------------------ END OF IRList Digest ********************