IRList Digest           Monday, 29 June 1987      Volume 3 : Issue 17

Today's Topics:
   Query - Conceptual information research
   Discussion - Conceptual information research
   Abstracts - Tech. report on user models and electronic newspapers
   Announcement - Database system for tree structures
   Call for Papers - Workshop on Architectures for Intelligent Interfaces

News addresses are ARPANET: fox@vtopus.cs.vt.edu  BITNET: foxea@vtvax3.bitnet
   CSNET: fox@vt   UUCPNET: seismo!vtisr1!irlistrq

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Date: Mon, 25 May 87 12:51 EDT
From: Walter Bunch <mcvax!ukc!its63b!hwcs!aimmi!walt@seismo.css.gov>
Subject: Conceptual Information Research

[From NL-KR Digest   (5/28/87 17:33:56)     Volume 2 Number 44 - Ed]

I'm interested in researching knowledge representation as part of a PhD
program.

What universities are supporting research in the use and properties of
conceptual information, e.g. in light of Sowa's "Conceptual Structures"
(1984)?

I've read about some work going on at RMIT (Royal Melbourne Inst Tech).
I suppose that anyone grappling with frames/schemas/etc. could say they
are exploring the use of conceptual information, in a broad sense.

My interest is less in the application of schema-like data structures to 
specific problems than in the manipulation of the structures themselves,
e.g. in generic conceptual recognition and generalization.

As an aside: Is there anyone working with conceptual structures on
connectionist machines?

Thanks in advance,
Walt
-- 
Walter Bunch, Scottish HCI Centre, Ben Line Building, Edinburgh, EH1 1TN
UUCP:   walt@uk.ac.hw.aimmi
ARPA:   walt%aimmi.hw.ac.uk@cs.ucl.ac.uk
JANET:  walt@uk.ac.hw.aimmi                         "Is that you, Dave?"

------------------------------
     
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 87 14:00 EDT
From: William J. Rapaport <rapaport@sunybcs.UUCP>
Subject: Re: Conceptual Information Research

[ From NL-KR Digest  (6/16/87 19:14:20)    Volume 2 Number 55 - Ed]

In article <33@aimmi.UUCP> walt@hci.hw.ac.uk (Walter Bunch) writes:
  >
  >I'm interested in researching knowledge representation as part of a PhD
  >program.
  >
  >What universities are supporting research in the use and properties of
  >conceptual information, e.g. in light of Sowa's "Conceptual Structures"
  >(1984)?
  >Walter Bunch, Scottish HCI Centre, Ben Line Building, Edinburgh, EH1 1TN
  >UUCP:   walt@uk.ac.hw.aimmi
  >ARPA:   walt%aimmi.hw.ac.uk@cs.ucl.ac.uk
  >JANET:  walt@uk.ac.hw.aimmi                         "Is that you, Dave?"

There is an active research group looking at knowledge representation
issues in the Dept. of Computer Science at SUNY Buffalo.  The group is
the SNePS Research Group, directed by Stuart C. Shapiro (I'm its associate
director).  You can get more complete information on our graduate
program by writing to:

Mrs. Eloise Benzel
Department of Computer Science
SUNY Buffalo
Buffalo, NY 14260
USA

or contacting me electronically for specific questions:

				William J. Rapaport
				Assistant Professor

Dept. of Computer Science, SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260

(716) 636-3193, 3180

uucp:	..!{allegra,decvax,watmath,rocksanne}!sunybcs!rapaport
csnet:	rapaport@buffalo.csnet
bitnet:	rapaport@sunybcs.bitnet

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Date: Fri, 12 Jun 87 10:27:42 edt
From: "Robert B. Allen" <rba@flash.bellcore.com>
Subject: technical report on electronic newspapers and user models

    Technical report available:

             Selecting Articles from an Electronic Newspaper:
                     Some Limitations of User Models

    Robert B. Allen
    2A-367
    Bell Communications Research
    Morristown, NJ  07960
    rba@bellcore.com

    While the technology of new information services is rapidly
    advancing, it is not entirely clear how this technology can be
    best adapted to people's needs and interests.  One often-mentioned
    proposal is that user models may be developed to select and filter
    information sources.  This paper examines the possibilities and
    implications for automatic filtering of information, and focuses
    on predicting preferences for news articles presented
    electronically.  In the studies reported here, prediction of
    preferences appears straightforward when general categories are
    used; however, it is relatively difficult for specific news
    reports.  Beyond the specific results, fundamental issues about
    user models are raised such as appropriate standards and
    techniques for applying them, what are their essential components,
    and what are the limits of using them to predict user behavior.

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Date:     Tue, 16 Jun 87 16:20 N
From:     <COR_HVH@HNYKUN52>
Subject:  database for syntax analysis (or other) trees
     
Below you find a copy of an information folder about a database system
for tree structures. The pictures have lost some of their
attractiveness in the translation from graphics to characters, but I
hope they still give a reasonable impression of the system at work.
     
Hans van Halteren (COR_HVH@HNYKUN52.BITNET)
______________________________________________________________________
     
The LDB (Linguistic DataBase) project is concerned with the
construction and maintenance of a computer system for the
exploitation of analyzed corpus material.
     
To make possible a widespread use by linguists, the system is
designed without the need for specialized hardware and without
the need for computer expertise on the part of the user. The
first complete version features a menu system for overall
control, a sub-system for the examination of analysis trees on
standard terminal screens and a query language in which the
linguist can specify database actions in his own terminology.
     
The database has already been in use at 20 universities
throughout the world in its mainframe (VM/CMS) and supermini (VAX
with VMS or UNIX) versions. Now the availability of the database
has been improved even further with the completion of a version
for PC/AT (with the same possibilities and user-interface as the
other versions).
     
Packaged with the database system comes a 130,000 word corpus of
modern English with a full syntactical analysis of each
utterance (the Nijmegen corpus, analyzed in the CCPP project). In
the future more corpora will become available. Furthermore, as
the database system is formalism and language independent, it is
possible to use it for your own analyzed corpus material.
     
For scientific research, the system is available at a nominal fee.
For information about obtaining it, write to:
     TOSCA Work Group
     Dept. of English
     University of Nijmegen
     P.O. Box 9103
     6500 HD Nijmegen
     The Netherlands
or E-mail to COR_HVH @ HNYKUN52.BITNET
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Figure I: The tree map view in the Tree Viewer
______________________________________________________________________
MANY A DOCTOR <# WHO APPEARS HESITANT AND RESERVED IN SOCIETY #> DONS
            .-1- .  .  .  .  .  MANY
            |-2- .  .  .  .  .  A
            |-3- .  .  .  .  .  DOCTOR
      .-1---|     .-1- .  .  . #WHO
      |     |     |-2- .  .  . #APPEARS
      |     '(4)--|     .-1- . #HESITANT
      |           |-3---+-2- . #AND
      |           |     '-3- . #RESERVED
 -*---|           '-4-----1- . #IN
      |                 '-2- . #SOCIETY
      |-2- .  .  .  .  .  .  .  DONS
      |-3-----1- .  .  .  .  .  COMPLETE
      |     '-2- .  .  .  .  .  CONFIDENCE
      |     .-1- .  .  .  .  .  WITH
      '-4---|     .-1- .  .  .  HIS
            '-2---+-2- .  .  .  WHITE
                  |-3- .  .  .  PROFESSIONAL
                  '-4- .  .  .  COAT.
     
POSTMODIFIER:FINITE SENTENCE()
command:
scroll:YUDLR<>() focus:FS1-90PNMJ amb:CA view:V help:? exit:X
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Figure II: A search pattern for sentences with noun phrases showing
           a non-initial determiner and a postmodifying finite
           sentence with subject WHO or THAT and a subject complement
           of more than one word (for an example, see figure I)
______________________________________________________________________
                          .--------------------.
                       1--|FUN = 'DET'         |
                       |  |SNO > 1             |
                       |  |                    |
                       |  `--------------------'
.--------------------. |  .--------------------.
|CAT = 'NP'          |-2--|FUN = 'HD'          |
|                    | |  |                    |
|                    | |  |                    |
`--------------------' |  `--------------------'
                       |  .--------------------.    ######################
                       3--|FUN = 'POM'         |-1--#FUN = 'SU'          #
                          |CAT = 'SF'          | |  #WOR = 'WHO' OR WOR =>
                          |                    | |  #                    #
                          `--------------------' |  ######################
                                                 |  .--------------------.
                                                 2--|FUN = 'CS'          |
                                                    |WCT > 1             |
                                                    |                    |
                                                    `--------------------'
FUN = 'SU' ; WOR = 'WHO' OR WOR = 'THAT'
command:
scroll:YUDLR()<> focus:FS1-90PN edit:IETCOW view:V help:? exit:X
______________________________________________________________________

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Date: Fri, 5 Jun 87 12:42 EDT
From: Sherman Tyler <wiley!sherman@lll-lcc.ARPA>
Subject: Conference - Architectures for Intelligent Interfaces

[Excerpted from NL-KR which in turn excerpted from AIList - Ed]

                        Call for Participation

                             Workshop on

              Architectures for Intelligent Interfaces:

                       Elements and Prototypes


            March 29 - April 1, 1988, Monterey, California
                          Sponsored by AAAI


Objective:  The term ``Intelligent Interface'' characterizes  the  set
of   computer-human   interfaces   which  employ  AI  to  enhance  the
transactional nature of the interface.  The goal of the workshop is to
explore  ways  in which AI techniques (e.g., knowledge representation,
inference mechanisms, and heuristic search) can be used to provide the
adaptability   and   reasoning   capabilities   required  for  a  more
intelligent human-machine interaction.

Some possible areas for focused discussions might include:


      *  Models (user, system, task) - adapting the  dialogue  to  the
         current   context   of   the   interaction,  considering  the
         particular user, the target system, and the  high-level  task
         under execution;

      *  Channels of Communication -  allowing  users  to  communicate
         intentions  with  a  minimum  of  learning  and effort, using
         Natural Language, Graphics,  and  the  integration  of  mixed
         modalities of input;

      *  Planning - for  recognizing  user  plans  and  their  implied
         goals, generating plans to meet those goals, and planning how
         to best display the resulting information to communicate  the
         result of the executed action;

      *  Interface-Building  Tools  -  using  artificial  intelligence
         techniques   to   support   developers   in   designing   and
         constructing interfaces.


Attendance:   In  order  to  provide  an  intellectually   stimulating
environment  conducive  to  interaction  and  exchange  of  ideas, the
attendance will be limited  to  approximately  35  participants.   The
ideal   participant  is  an  individual  who  is  actively  addressing
theoretical,  research,  and/or  implementation  issues  relevant   to
Intelligent  Interfaces  (with a bias toward those who have dealt with
implementation issues at some level).   Limited  financial  assistance
will   be   available   for  graduate  students  who  are  invited  to
participate.

Review Process:  The submitted abstracts and autobiographies  will  be
reviewed  by  the  program  committee.   Invitation will be based upon
relevance of the work to the goals of the workshop, and on  the  basis
of significance, originality, and scientific quality.

Workshop Organization:   The  workshop  organizers  are  J.   Sullivan
(Lockheed  AI Center) and S.  Tyler (Lockheed AI Center).  The program
committee consists of J.  Mackinlay (Xerox PARC), R.  Neches
(USC Information Sciences Institute), E. Rissland (University of
Massachusetts), and N. Sondheimer (USC Information Sciences Institute).

Submission:   A  detailed  eight  page  abstract  and   a   one   page
biographical  sketch  (six  copies  of  each)  should  be submitted by
September 1, 1987.  Invitations for participation will be extended  by
October  16,  1987,  with  complete  papers  due by December 18, 1987.
Publication of the proceedings is planned, therefore  the  quality  of
the papers is important.

Submit abstracts to:   Joseph  W.   Sullivan  or  Sherman  W.   Tyler,
O/90-06  B/259, Lockheed AI Center, 2710 Sand Hill Rd., Menlo Park, CA
94025,      (415)      354-5200,       wiley!joe@lll-lcc.arpa       or
wiley!sherman@lll-lcc.arpa

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END OF IRList Digest
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