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Introduction and overview
INTRODUCTION
AND OVERVIEb’
Expert systems studies are an outgrowth of artificial intelligence research. Expert systems are intelligent computer applications in which human expertise is incorporated into a knowledge data base and control programs so that the resulting computer-based system can be used to aid or advise other users on how to solve a problem or make a decision. This field of study is still relatively ne\v, but it is growing in importance and in the variety of applications, which now include medicine, engineering, finance, geological explorations, and many other areas in industry and the military. During the past few years, information scientists have been investigating ways in which expert systems could be used to exploit new ways of encoding and retrieving knowledge and improving the design of information systems. In recognition of the potential importance of this new research endeavor and to encourage further development, the Research and Development Department of the British Library sponsored an Expert Systems Day, July 24, 1986, at the Tenth Cranfield Conference. Both the sponsor and the local were particularly appropriate. The Research and Development Department is noted for its long-range planning and sponsorship of innovative projects in library information science (LIS) education and practice. It stimulates and supports the research, development, and experimental operation of new information systems while promoting the application of these research results for the benefit of library and information services everywhere. The Cranfield Conferences on Mechanized Information Transfer began in 1962, when Cyril Cleverdon gave his report on what became known as the Cranfield Project, a comparison of four indexing languages and other performance variables. Two years later, a second Cranfield Conference was held, and the value of these biannual meetings was established, supported by a loyal group of attendees who looked forward to maintaining these new lines of communication and exchanging current information in an informal atmosphere. The session on expert systems was in the best tradition of both the Cranfield Conference and the Research and Development Department sponsorship. This special issue of Information Processing & Management contains the papers that were presented at the 1986 conference. E. Edmonds began by reviewing the basic concepts of an expert system with special consideration on how such systems could be applied to improve document handling procedures. H. Borko reported on work in progress at the University of California, Los Angeles, where the feasibility of using an expert system for modeling the cognitive processes involved in cataloging is being explored. MAPPER is being designed to assist in the cataloging of maps and other cartographic materials according to the AACR2 rules. Borko reported on the initial design choices that had been made, the reasons for the decisions taken, and the problems encountered. R. Davies spoke on what he and he explained how such an expert syscalled “an engineering approach to cataloging,” tem could aid in the description of books and the determination of access points for search and retrieval. He emphasized that while such developments would not make cataloging an automatic process, they would help in understanding the procedures followed and assist in the development of an improved cataloging code. A. Vickery described an expert system working prototype, called PLEXUS, which is a tool to be used in public libraries for assisting the librarian and the end user in a referral situation. The knowledge base of PLEXUS is restricted to gardening, and it embodies some of the expertise of a reference librarian. In use, the system seeks to obtain a description of the user’s problem, the need for information and, if necessary, to supplement the user’s original request either by deriving other concepts or obtaining additional information by requesting answers to questions. The prototype is now operational, and it is being evaluated and extended to a wider subject domain. S. Pollitt’s expert system is called CANSEARCH, and it is designed to enable physicians, who have no special training in the use of online retrieval systems, to formulate
76
Introduction
and overview
requests and retrieve appropriate cancer-related documents from the MEDLINE data base. The system embodies the expert knowledge of a librarian functioning as an intermediary between the physician and the data base. It is a rule-based system, programmed in PROLOG and employing menu selection and a touch terminal. The initial version of CANSEARCH has performed well enough to justify further development and expansion to other subject areas. The final paper, by M. Brittain, considered the implications of expert systems research on library information science (LIS) education. There is an emerging market for information professionals who are knowledgeable in the design, development, and operation of expert systems, and library schools have a responsibility to ensure that their graduates are properly educated in these new technologies. But as Brittain points out, the available resources in these schools may not be adequate to provide the needed instruction. The closing portion of the session consisted of a panel, composed of all the previous speakers and chaired by Professor Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, the chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Research and Development Department of the British Library. This session of questions and answers, by both the panelists and the audience, was ably summarized by J. Martyn and A. Clarke. However, neither the printed papers nor the summary report can adequately capture the ambience of the conference or the give and take of the communication process that followed each presentation. It is the hope of all of the participants of this Expert Systems Day- both the speakers and the audiencethat these published papers will encourage more people to devote more effort and more resources to expert systems research in LIS applications Harold Borko Associate Editor,
Information
Processing & Management
AND OVERVIEb’
Expert systems studies are an outgrowth of artificial intelligence research. Expert systems are intelligent computer applications in which human expertise is incorporated into a knowledge data base and control programs so that the resulting computer-based system can be used to aid or advise other users on how to solve a problem or make a decision. This field of study is still relatively ne\v, but it is growing in importance and in the variety of applications, which now include medicine, engineering, finance, geological explorations, and many other areas in industry and the military. During the past few years, information scientists have been investigating ways in which expert systems could be used to exploit new ways of encoding and retrieving knowledge and improving the design of information systems. In recognition of the potential importance of this new research endeavor and to encourage further development, the Research and Development Department of the British Library sponsored an Expert Systems Day, July 24, 1986, at the Tenth Cranfield Conference. Both the sponsor and the local were particularly appropriate. The Research and Development Department is noted for its long-range planning and sponsorship of innovative projects in library information science (LIS) education and practice. It stimulates and supports the research, development, and experimental operation of new information systems while promoting the application of these research results for the benefit of library and information services everywhere. The Cranfield Conferences on Mechanized Information Transfer began in 1962, when Cyril Cleverdon gave his report on what became known as the Cranfield Project, a comparison of four indexing languages and other performance variables. Two years later, a second Cranfield Conference was held, and the value of these biannual meetings was established, supported by a loyal group of attendees who looked forward to maintaining these new lines of communication and exchanging current information in an informal atmosphere. The session on expert systems was in the best tradition of both the Cranfield Conference and the Research and Development Department sponsorship. This special issue of Information Processing & Management contains the papers that were presented at the 1986 conference. E. Edmonds began by reviewing the basic concepts of an expert system with special consideration on how such systems could be applied to improve document handling procedures. H. Borko reported on work in progress at the University of California, Los Angeles, where the feasibility of using an expert system for modeling the cognitive processes involved in cataloging is being explored. MAPPER is being designed to assist in the cataloging of maps and other cartographic materials according to the AACR2 rules. Borko reported on the initial design choices that had been made, the reasons for the decisions taken, and the problems encountered. R. Davies spoke on what he and he explained how such an expert syscalled “an engineering approach to cataloging,” tem could aid in the description of books and the determination of access points for search and retrieval. He emphasized that while such developments would not make cataloging an automatic process, they would help in understanding the procedures followed and assist in the development of an improved cataloging code. A. Vickery described an expert system working prototype, called PLEXUS, which is a tool to be used in public libraries for assisting the librarian and the end user in a referral situation. The knowledge base of PLEXUS is restricted to gardening, and it embodies some of the expertise of a reference librarian. In use, the system seeks to obtain a description of the user’s problem, the need for information and, if necessary, to supplement the user’s original request either by deriving other concepts or obtaining additional information by requesting answers to questions. The prototype is now operational, and it is being evaluated and extended to a wider subject domain. S. Pollitt’s expert system is called CANSEARCH, and it is designed to enable physicians, who have no special training in the use of online retrieval systems, to formulate
76
Introduction
and overview
requests and retrieve appropriate cancer-related documents from the MEDLINE data base. The system embodies the expert knowledge of a librarian functioning as an intermediary between the physician and the data base. It is a rule-based system, programmed in PROLOG and employing menu selection and a touch terminal. The initial version of CANSEARCH has performed well enough to justify further development and expansion to other subject areas. The final paper, by M. Brittain, considered the implications of expert systems research on library information science (LIS) education. There is an emerging market for information professionals who are knowledgeable in the design, development, and operation of expert systems, and library schools have a responsibility to ensure that their graduates are properly educated in these new technologies. But as Brittain points out, the available resources in these schools may not be adequate to provide the needed instruction. The closing portion of the session consisted of a panel, composed of all the previous speakers and chaired by Professor Sir Peter Swinnerton-Dyer, the chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Research and Development Department of the British Library. This session of questions and answers, by both the panelists and the audience, was ably summarized by J. Martyn and A. Clarke. However, neither the printed papers nor the summary report can adequately capture the ambience of the conference or the give and take of the communication process that followed each presentation. It is the hope of all of the participants of this Expert Systems Day- both the speakers and the audiencethat these published papers will encourage more people to devote more effort and more resources to expert systems research in LIS applications Harold Borko Associate Editor,
Information
Processing & Management