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IRList Digest Volume 3 Number 38
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
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Date: Mon, 19 Oct 87 10:21:08 EDT
From: "Susanne M. HUMPHREY" <humphrey@MCS.NLM.NIH.GOV>
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.
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END OF IRList Digest
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