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Knowledge acquisition
566
Book Reviews
Information Access: Capabilities and Limitations of Printed and Computerized Sources. R.J. HYMAN. American Library Association, Chicago, IL (1989). 191 pp., ISBN O-8389-0512-9. The author states in his introduction that his original intention with this book “was to prepare a searcher’s guide for the end user.” He found that the changes in both descriptive cataloging and subject analysis made searching too complex for end users to handle, requiring the aid of a professional librarian in the process. He therefore concentrates instead on describing the changes that have occurred in bibliographic records and the impact of these changes on access to such records, directing his book at practitioners, library school students, and interested lay persons. A theme that recurs throughout the book is the need for the aid of professional librarians in searching. While “information” appears in the title, the work is actually limited to surrogates for information, primarily bibliographic records. Following a brief discussion of the organization of information through the end of the nineteenth century, four chapters form the meat of the work, covering printed descriptive cataloging and subject access, and automated catalog and analytical access. The book closes with a summary and statement of needs for further development. The chapter on descriptive cataloging concentrates on author-title access (primarily the former), emphasizing the various versions of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules and their predecessors, and the variations in the National Union Catalog and related bibliographic resources. It is dense with detail on the history of entry and cross reference practices. If this material were organized in a manner that facilitated reference, it could provide significant aid to those concerned with mastering the intricacies of searching these resources. Unfortunately, the work is narrative in style, and does not provide a record of the changes in practice for a given tool in an easy-to-locate fashion. While the chapter on printed subject access emphasizes Library of Congress subject headings and various classifications, it also covers journal indexes and some of the book industry publications. While brief, this chapter does bring together a variety of subject tools for consideration, though not for comparison. The role of the Science Citation Index is erroneously stated to be to provide access to cited works, rather than to citing works. The chapter on automated catalog access discusses MARC, ISBD, the major bibliographic utilities, and online public access catalogs in libraries (OPACs). The level of detail obviously cannot be great in such a short compass, but some handy background information is provided. In particular, there is just enough discussion of OPACs to be tantalizing, but not enough to be satisfying. The chapter on automated analytical access discusses the primary database vendors, and gives a little attention to full text databases. Unfortunately, it is impossible in 21 pages to give even an introduction to this area. Practitioners certainly require greater depth, and are readily able to get it, while students deserve a better understanding of what awaits them in the field. The closing chapter summarizes what has gone before, and briefly discusses CD/ROMs, hypertext, and expert systems. The strongest part of this work is its detailed analysis of the changes in entry practice in the Nutional Union Catalog and related products, but the information is not organized in such a way as to be readily accessible. If the remainder of the work had been written at this level of detail, it would have been several times as large. The two chapters on descriptive and catalog access have some value, but the book as a whole cannot be recommended very highly.
The JELEM Company Brookfield, CT
Knowledge Acquisition. J.F. BRUL~, A. BLUNT. McGraw-Hill xxvii + 253 pp., $29.95, ISBN 0-07-008600-l.
JESSICA L. M~LSTEAD
Publishing
Co., New York (1989).
Expert systems are being investigated, studied, and taught in many schools of library and information science. Central to a successful implementation is the knowledge of the expert that must be acquired, coded, and stored. The acquisition of this knowledge is a difficult and time consuming task. This text is designed to help accomplish this task by providing a theoretical basis and some practical tips on how to proceed. The book is divided into four parts. Part I: Background consists of one chapter that reviews the purposes, goals, and structure of an expert system. Part ZZ: The Knowledge Elicitation Relationship, four chapters, is the core of the book. These chapters explore the application of cybernetics to human and machine systems, learning, and knowl-
Book Reviews
567
edge representation. The choice of a cybernetic framework for addressing the ways in which a knowledge engineer can elicit and represent the knowledge of the expert is both innovative and appropriate, because cybernetics is the study of communication and control in both the humans and machines. Also described in this section are a structure for organizing the knowledge acquisition sessions and the use of cognitive and clinical psychology techniques, together with metaphor and imagery, in eliciting the expert’s reasoning process, which may be intuitive and inaccessible to conscious description. Part ZZZ:Building a Knowledge Model, three chapters, offers a basic conception of the knowledge representation tasks, together with a number of practical aids for accomplishing them. Included in this section are brief explanations of the use of frames, rules, templates, and systems analysis techniques to impose structure on the rather hazy knowledge representation domain. However, it does not, nor is it the intention of this section, to present methods for implementing these procedures. Part IV: The Larger Context of Knowledge Modeling, three chapters and a case study, describe ways in which the knowledge acquisition process can contribute toward maximizing chances of successful expert system implementation, with special emphasis on the composition and functions of the knowledge acquisition team. The final chapter is devoted to a case study consisting of partial transcripts of knowledge acquisition team meetings during the early stages of developing a large military system. The first set of transcripts record, in a much condensed form, the beginning moments of the first session, which seeks to clarify the project scope and establish a common language among the team members. Another portion of the transcript deals with the first planning session and the team’s efforts to make the knowledge acquisition process as efficient as possible. The transcripts record the interactions among the team members, and they are interesting to read, but they do not provide closure nor do they add to one’s understanding of the knowledge acquisition process. The design and development of expert systems, especially knowledge acquisition, are complex tasks that cannot be modeled on a cook book or an algorithm leading to a certain solution. The authors recognize that all they can offer are guidelines and tools which, if used with care, will help one gather expert knowledge and avoid pitfalls. This is a refreshing approach, both humble and truthful. The guidelines provided are sensible and reasonable, and so the book serves a useful purpose. Graduate School of Library and Information University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
Science
HAROLD BORKO
The Freedom to Lie: A Debate about Democracy. J. SWAN,N. PEATTIE. McFarland, Jefferson, North
Carolina (1989). xxi + 182 pp., $15.95, ISBN o-89950-409-4. The Freedom to Lie is an uncomfortable and sometimes unpleasant book about the ultimate limit of free expression in a democratic state. It is unpleasant because it treats a subject, racism, which is detestable and offensive to all fully mature human beings; uncomfortable because it pushes civil libertarians and information specialists to the ultimate limit of their toleration and their commitment to intellectual freedom. It is uncomfortable because it brings us out of the hypothetical and into a collision with the real world. It is a description of the classic conflict between two co-equal values in a pluralistic society. The book is an enlargement and extension of the 1988 debate at the American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans between librarians Swan and Peattie representing the ALA’s Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility Round Tables. As its point of departure, it centers on the attempts by David McCalden, a self described racist who denies that the Holocaust occurred, to gain entry to a public library for an exhibit and then to the speaker’s platform at the 1984 Convention of the California Library Association. The work consists of six essays, four by Swan and two by Peattie, followed by an appendix containing brief comments and two bibliographical notes by the authors. An urbane foreword by Robert Franklin introduces the essays and warns the reader that there can be no winner of this debate and that there must be never-ending contention. The essays are well documented pieces fully exploring the intellectual and philosophic underpinnings of free speech and the historical effort to identify whether and where the limit of that right should be established. To dispel the notion that this is an abstract and needless hypothetical exercise, both authors reference a number of recent circumstances in which responsible persons found themselves in contention. They include the acquisition by the Edmonton, Alberta Public Library of an abundant collection of antiholocaust materials cataloged under the same headings and descriptors developed for responsible treatments of this historical period and examples of such groups as the Ku
Book Reviews
Information Access: Capabilities and Limitations of Printed and Computerized Sources. R.J. HYMAN. American Library Association, Chicago, IL (1989). 191 pp., ISBN O-8389-0512-9. The author states in his introduction that his original intention with this book “was to prepare a searcher’s guide for the end user.” He found that the changes in both descriptive cataloging and subject analysis made searching too complex for end users to handle, requiring the aid of a professional librarian in the process. He therefore concentrates instead on describing the changes that have occurred in bibliographic records and the impact of these changes on access to such records, directing his book at practitioners, library school students, and interested lay persons. A theme that recurs throughout the book is the need for the aid of professional librarians in searching. While “information” appears in the title, the work is actually limited to surrogates for information, primarily bibliographic records. Following a brief discussion of the organization of information through the end of the nineteenth century, four chapters form the meat of the work, covering printed descriptive cataloging and subject access, and automated catalog and analytical access. The book closes with a summary and statement of needs for further development. The chapter on descriptive cataloging concentrates on author-title access (primarily the former), emphasizing the various versions of the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules and their predecessors, and the variations in the National Union Catalog and related bibliographic resources. It is dense with detail on the history of entry and cross reference practices. If this material were organized in a manner that facilitated reference, it could provide significant aid to those concerned with mastering the intricacies of searching these resources. Unfortunately, the work is narrative in style, and does not provide a record of the changes in practice for a given tool in an easy-to-locate fashion. While the chapter on printed subject access emphasizes Library of Congress subject headings and various classifications, it also covers journal indexes and some of the book industry publications. While brief, this chapter does bring together a variety of subject tools for consideration, though not for comparison. The role of the Science Citation Index is erroneously stated to be to provide access to cited works, rather than to citing works. The chapter on automated catalog access discusses MARC, ISBD, the major bibliographic utilities, and online public access catalogs in libraries (OPACs). The level of detail obviously cannot be great in such a short compass, but some handy background information is provided. In particular, there is just enough discussion of OPACs to be tantalizing, but not enough to be satisfying. The chapter on automated analytical access discusses the primary database vendors, and gives a little attention to full text databases. Unfortunately, it is impossible in 21 pages to give even an introduction to this area. Practitioners certainly require greater depth, and are readily able to get it, while students deserve a better understanding of what awaits them in the field. The closing chapter summarizes what has gone before, and briefly discusses CD/ROMs, hypertext, and expert systems. The strongest part of this work is its detailed analysis of the changes in entry practice in the Nutional Union Catalog and related products, but the information is not organized in such a way as to be readily accessible. If the remainder of the work had been written at this level of detail, it would have been several times as large. The two chapters on descriptive and catalog access have some value, but the book as a whole cannot be recommended very highly.
The JELEM Company Brookfield, CT
Knowledge Acquisition. J.F. BRUL~, A. BLUNT. McGraw-Hill xxvii + 253 pp., $29.95, ISBN 0-07-008600-l.
JESSICA L. M~LSTEAD
Publishing
Co., New York (1989).
Expert systems are being investigated, studied, and taught in many schools of library and information science. Central to a successful implementation is the knowledge of the expert that must be acquired, coded, and stored. The acquisition of this knowledge is a difficult and time consuming task. This text is designed to help accomplish this task by providing a theoretical basis and some practical tips on how to proceed. The book is divided into four parts. Part I: Background consists of one chapter that reviews the purposes, goals, and structure of an expert system. Part ZZ: The Knowledge Elicitation Relationship, four chapters, is the core of the book. These chapters explore the application of cybernetics to human and machine systems, learning, and knowl-
Book Reviews
567
edge representation. The choice of a cybernetic framework for addressing the ways in which a knowledge engineer can elicit and represent the knowledge of the expert is both innovative and appropriate, because cybernetics is the study of communication and control in both the humans and machines. Also described in this section are a structure for organizing the knowledge acquisition sessions and the use of cognitive and clinical psychology techniques, together with metaphor and imagery, in eliciting the expert’s reasoning process, which may be intuitive and inaccessible to conscious description. Part ZZZ:Building a Knowledge Model, three chapters, offers a basic conception of the knowledge representation tasks, together with a number of practical aids for accomplishing them. Included in this section are brief explanations of the use of frames, rules, templates, and systems analysis techniques to impose structure on the rather hazy knowledge representation domain. However, it does not, nor is it the intention of this section, to present methods for implementing these procedures. Part IV: The Larger Context of Knowledge Modeling, three chapters and a case study, describe ways in which the knowledge acquisition process can contribute toward maximizing chances of successful expert system implementation, with special emphasis on the composition and functions of the knowledge acquisition team. The final chapter is devoted to a case study consisting of partial transcripts of knowledge acquisition team meetings during the early stages of developing a large military system. The first set of transcripts record, in a much condensed form, the beginning moments of the first session, which seeks to clarify the project scope and establish a common language among the team members. Another portion of the transcript deals with the first planning session and the team’s efforts to make the knowledge acquisition process as efficient as possible. The transcripts record the interactions among the team members, and they are interesting to read, but they do not provide closure nor do they add to one’s understanding of the knowledge acquisition process. The design and development of expert systems, especially knowledge acquisition, are complex tasks that cannot be modeled on a cook book or an algorithm leading to a certain solution. The authors recognize that all they can offer are guidelines and tools which, if used with care, will help one gather expert knowledge and avoid pitfalls. This is a refreshing approach, both humble and truthful. The guidelines provided are sensible and reasonable, and so the book serves a useful purpose. Graduate School of Library and Information University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
Science
HAROLD BORKO
The Freedom to Lie: A Debate about Democracy. J. SWAN,N. PEATTIE. McFarland, Jefferson, North
Carolina (1989). xxi + 182 pp., $15.95, ISBN o-89950-409-4. The Freedom to Lie is an uncomfortable and sometimes unpleasant book about the ultimate limit of free expression in a democratic state. It is unpleasant because it treats a subject, racism, which is detestable and offensive to all fully mature human beings; uncomfortable because it pushes civil libertarians and information specialists to the ultimate limit of their toleration and their commitment to intellectual freedom. It is uncomfortable because it brings us out of the hypothetical and into a collision with the real world. It is a description of the classic conflict between two co-equal values in a pluralistic society. The book is an enlargement and extension of the 1988 debate at the American Library Association Annual Conference in New Orleans between librarians Swan and Peattie representing the ALA’s Intellectual Freedom and Social Responsibility Round Tables. As its point of departure, it centers on the attempts by David McCalden, a self described racist who denies that the Holocaust occurred, to gain entry to a public library for an exhibit and then to the speaker’s platform at the 1984 Convention of the California Library Association. The work consists of six essays, four by Swan and two by Peattie, followed by an appendix containing brief comments and two bibliographical notes by the authors. An urbane foreword by Robert Franklin introduces the essays and warns the reader that there can be no winner of this debate and that there must be never-ending contention. The essays are well documented pieces fully exploring the intellectual and philosophic underpinnings of free speech and the historical effort to identify whether and where the limit of that right should be established. To dispel the notion that this is an abstract and needless hypothetical exercise, both authors reference a number of recent circumstances in which responsible persons found themselves in contention. They include the acquisition by the Edmonton, Alberta Public Library of an abundant collection of antiholocaust materials cataloged under the same headings and descriptors developed for responsible treatments of this historical period and examples of such groups as the Ku