IRLIST Digest ISSN 1064-6965 September 22, 1992 Volume IX, Number 34 Issue 130 ********************************************************** I. NOTICES A. Meeting Announcements/Calls for Papers 1. SIGDOC '92, Ottawa, Canada, October 13-16, 1992 C. Miscellaneous 1. Lectures on Computer Technologies and Networking in Baltic Countries II. QUERIES B. Requests for Information 1. References for information search patterns? 2. NetBook: Comments (ref: Isssue 128, I.B.2.) 3. QUERY: Who knows 'GBIP' CD-ROM? IV. PROJECT WORK C. Abstracts 1. IR-Related Dissertation Abstracts ********************************************************** I. NOTICES I.A.1. Fr: Sigdoc92 (S.) Sigdoc92 Re: SIGDOC'92 Advance Program-- 'Going Online' GOING ONLINE The New World of Multimedia Documentation SIGDOC '92 The 10th Annual International Conference Program and Registration October 13-16, 1992, The Westin Hotel, Ottawa, Canada Sponsored by The Association for Computing Machinery, Special Interest Group on Documentation (SIGDOC) in cooperation with Northern Telecom and Bell-Northern Research. For full information, contact the SIGDOC office at SIGDOC92@BNR.CA. PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS: While words will always be important to technical documentation, increasingly they are recognized as only the beginning. New options, in the form of online and multimedia information, are redefining our craft. Technical documents are no longer just "read". By means of hypertext, animation, links to databases, illustrations, and video sequences, documents are "explored". Their "readers" learn from text, graphics, video images, and sound and are guided by their own interests, expertise, and need for information. Readers of multimedia documents become, in effect, co-authors of personally tailored documents that are experienced differently by every reader. Online capabilities are growing to meet our imaginative drive to develop multimedia documents that make complex systems accessible to users. But we must bring to bear on these new forms our experience--in document management, quality control, and presentation techniques--gained through working with printed documentation. We must build on this knowledge and modify it to successfully create the multimedia documents that challenge not only our notions of information presentation, but also our understanding of document form and use. SIGDOC'92 is a conference examining design, process, quality, tools, applications, and costs and benefits of multimedia documentation. Join us as we venture into the new world through --a keynote address by Theodor Holm Nelson --pre-conference tutorials --presentations by speakers from around the world --demonstrations of multimedia documents and tools --opportunities to share your experience and learn from fellow professionals Read on for more information on conference sessions, events, and attractions! VISUAL LITERACY--A CRASH COURSE: This full-day tutorial is for anyone who must communicate detailed or abstract technical information; for instance, technical writers, engineers, programmers, scientists, editors, illustrators, and graphic designers. Among the topics this tutorial will address are: --visual thinking for verbal people--tapping your creativity --what makes good graphics? --how to represent concepts--the language of graphics --showing relationships in tables, charts, and graphs HUMAN FACTORS IN MULTIMEDIA COMMUNICATION: This half-day tutorial will explore multimedia from an ergonomic perspective. In making the transition from paper to online documentation, authors and readers have had to face many new usability issues prompted by the way people perceive and process online information. Further issues arise when online information goes beyond simple text and static graphics to incorporate multimedia. This is not a how-to session. It will appeal to professional communicators who are interested in the psychological effectiveness of multimedia for different applications. Tutorial topics include: --sensory competition --cueing, timing, and pacing --attention, distraction, and overloading --the motivational and emotional effects of multimedia HYTIME--A STANDARD FOR MULTIMEDIA INFORMATION: This half-day tutorial will present the elements of the HyTime Hypermedia/Time-based Structuring Language (ISO Draft International Standard), which provides the standard technical framework for implementing open integrated hypermedia. This tutorial is intended for anyone interested in using international standards to facilitate interchange of hyperdocuments. An understanding of SGML is beneficial for this tutorial, however, the semantics of HyTime can be understood without understanding SGML. CONFERENCE FEE INFORMATION Conference Fees SIGDOC member $325 CDN Non-SIGDOC member $385 CDN Student* $75 CDN *To qualify for the student fee, your registration form must be accompanied by a letter from your department attesting to your full-time student status. Conference fees cover attendance at all conference sessions and the luncheon on Wednesday, October 14, as well as access to all conference exhibits and demonstrations. Attendance at pre-conference tutorials and the SIGDOC banquet are not included in the conference fees. Cancellations: Requests for refunds must be made in writing and must be received by Monday, September 28, 1992. After that date, no refunds will be made. SIGDOC Membership: If you are not currently a member of SIGDOC, you receive a free one-year membership when you register for SIGDOC'92. SIGDOC membership offers you access to a network of documentation specialists, a subscription to the Journal of Computer Documentation, connection with the research in areas of the computer community through ACM, and discounts on ACM publications and activities. This membership begins immediately following the conference and does not entitle you to the member price for pre-conference tutorials. ********** I.C.1. Fr: Algirdas.Pakstas@idt.unit.no Re: Lectures on Computer Technologies and Networking in Baltic Countries Lectures on Computer Technologies and Networking in Baltic Countries Dear Colleagues, Let us introduce ourselves. We are computer scientists from Vilnius, Lithuania (temporarily staying in Trondheim, Norway). We both are working in the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Main research topics are II.B.3. Fr Michael Schommer [Inf-FSE] Re: QUERY: Who knows 'GBIP' CD-ROM ?? Ladies and gentlemen, I'm looking for some information about the 'GBIP' (a.k.a. 'VLB') database on CD-ROM. Thank you for any hints... A friend of mine owns a small bookstore, and the bookstore owns a PC with a CD-ROM, a CD called 'German Books In Print' ('Verzeichnis lieferbarer Buecher'), and a retrieval software 'gbip' (by Online Computer Systems, Inc.). My friend now wants to offer his customers the opportunity to search for books themselves, but they find the 'gbip' software too difficult. Now he asked me to write a retrieval program easy enough for his customers to use. But - This program needs access to the file 'vlb.dat' which contains all information about the books (it's about 300 MB). As I don't know the structure of this file and its contents, I have (and my program has) no access to the information in this database. If anybody knows something about the structure of this database, please send me mail and write something about it (or even send me an explanation of the structure). Thank you in advance, Michael Schommer AM Glockenturm 10 6750 Kaiserslautern schommer@rhrk.uni-kl.de IRCHNICK: Saari Amateur Radio: DC 3 VR Vox: 0631/78514 Btx: 063178455-0001 "Phantasie ist wichtiger als Wissen!" (Albert Einstein) software engineering for distributed computer systems, methods, and tools for development of distributed software configurations, networking, formal methods, and simulation of message passing systems. We are going to visit the USA in September-October, 1992 for a conference. We also are interested in visiting American universities and give some lectures about our research results as well as about Computer Technologies and Networking in Baltic Countries. Please, let us know if your organizations are interested in such subjects and can be partial sponsors for our visit, at least inside the USA (unfortunately, our host institute in Norway can't provide full funding). Our CVs and abstracts of possible lectures are available on request. Please, reply ASAP by e-mail or by FAX. Our address: Dr.Algirdas Pakstas / Sonata Pakstiene Division of Computer Systems and Telematics (IDT) The Norwegian Institute of Technology (NTH) The University of Trondheim (UNIT) N-7034 TRONDHEIM Norway PHONE: +47-7-594460 (secr.) or +47-7-594485 (direct in office); FAX : +47-7-594466; TELEX: 55637 NTHAD.N Email: Algirdas.Pakstas@idt.unit.no Thanks in advance for your cooperation. Sincerely, Algirdas Pakstas, Dr., Senior Scientific Staff Sonata Pakstiene, Junior Scientific Staff ********************************************************** II. QUERIES II.B.1. Fr: Mark C. Langston Re: Ref's for info search patterns? Could someone (anyone) poitn me towards some recent works on search patterns during information retrieval in linear and nonlinear (hyper) texts (expository texts only)? Thanks, Mark C. Langston | "Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny." Psychology Dept. | "Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't Memphis State U. | be done, and why. Then do it." "Pftph!" | -From the notebooks of Lazarus Long ********** II.B.2. Fr: Edward Vielmetti Re: NetBook - a Network-based Information Retrieval System (IR-L Digest, Vol.IX,No.32, Issue 128 I.B.2.) I have ordered and used the NetBook software. It is quite simply a version of the free WAIS software with an OSF/Motif graphical user interface for X rather than the ordinary X interface that comes in the free distribution. If you absolutely have to have Motif then I suppose this is the answer; otherwise, the free WAIS code from think.com:/wais/ is much to be preferred. This is not to say that someone might come out with a commercial product based on the WAIS source base that might have significant improvements worth paying for - compatibility with Z39.50/1992, improved indexing routines, support for field-based and boolean searching, better relevance feedback, or a graphical user interface that made some improvements on the existing interfaces. There's room yet for more work. I was disappointed by NetBook, expecting more from it than it delivered. -- Edward Vielmetti Vice President for Research NSEN Inc. 628 Brooks Ann Arbor, MI 48103 313/998-4562 A distributed system is one in which the failure of a computer you didn't even know existed can render your own computer unusable. (Leslie Lamport) ********************************************************** IV. PROJECT WORK IV.C.1. Fr: Susanne M. Humphrey Re: Selected IR-Related Dissertation Abstracts The following are citations selected by title and abstract as being related to Information Retrieval (IR), resulting from a computer search, using BRS Information Technologies, of the Dissertation Abstracts Online database produced by University Microfilms International (UMI). Included are UMI order number, title, author, degree, year, institution; number of pages, one or more Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) subject descriptors chosen by the author, and abstract. 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. 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 ADG92-01780. AU WONG, WAI YEE PETER. TI DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF ACCESS METHODS AND HEURISTIC TECHNIQUES FOR IMPLEMENTING DOCUMENT RANKING STRATEGIES. IN THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY (0168) Ph.D. 1991, 135 pages. SO DAI V52(08), SecB, pp4325. DE Computer Science. Information Science. AB The storage and retrieval of text is a very important function in many applications, such as office information systems and library systems. In most text retrieval systems in current use, Boolean search strategies are used to distinguish documents that are to be retrieved from those that should be rejected. However, these strategies have well-known drawbacks. It has been shown that the vector processing system without Boolean operators can be used to overcome the shortcomings of Boolean systems and improve retrieval effectiveness. In this dissertation, we concentrate on the implementation techniques for the tf x idf ranking strategy using vector processing systems. In the inverted file environments, much work has been done to reduce the amount of disk accesses for implementing total document ranking, in which all of the requested number of top documents (e.g., top 20) are guaranteed to be returned. However, none of the proposed algorithms is able to yield significant performance gain. Therefore, one important issue is to pursue techniques for implementing partial document ranking, in which some (not necessarily all) of the requested number of top documents are returned. In this dissertation, two new search algorithms in inverted file environments are proposed and evaluated. Moreover, estimation methods are proposed to approximate the number of top documents obtained by the new algorithms at different retrieval points. The implementation of ranking in the signature file environments is also investigated. One important issue is to incorporate term weights in signatures so that the degree of retrieval effectiveness can be increased. Two methods for organizing and searching signature files are proposed and evaluated. The processing costs and storage overheads between the inverted files and the new signature file methods are compared in details. Since the use of signature files for implementing this ranking strategy is rather primitive, we only concentrate on total document ranking. The contributions of this dissertation are as follows. In the inverted file environments, the new methods are able to obtain a majority of top documents without performing a large amount of I/O operations. In the signature file environments, the new methods allow the implementation of the tf x idf ranking strategy so that retrieval effectiveness can be increased. AN University Microfilms Order Number ADGDX-94384. AU ZHANG, YUGUO. TI ON COUPLING PROLOG TO A DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND AN ASSOCIATED DESIGN METHOD. IN University of York (United Kingdom) Ph.D. 1990, 331 pages. SO DAI V52(09), SecB, pp4845. DE Computer Science. Artificial Intelligence. AB Available from UMI in association with The British Library. Our research work is concerned with coupling C-Prolog, a Prolog interpreter written in C, and Db++, a relational database management system written in C, on VAX machines under the UNIX operating system to develop a tool called CPD for KBSs, in particular LSKBSs development and developing a methodology that links structured systems analysis, formal system specification in Z and system implementation in CPD, to form a logical model of the problem domain under investigation. The problem domain is mainly concerned with computer-based systems which may be: (1) The development of a knowledge-based system (an expert system). (2) The development of an information system for an organization. (3) The representation of decision modeling, especially in regard to managerial activities within an organization. (4) The development of application systems such as CAD/CAM, office automation and military command and control etc. This thesis is mainly concerned with the implementation of the CPD system and the development of an associated methodology which consists of methods of structured systems analysis, formal system specification and logic programming. The linking of data flow diagrams, E-R diagrams, formal specification in Z and system implementation in CPD gives the basis for constructing a logical model of the problem domain. The methodology is introduced through the analysis and design of the library management system (LMS). As an example, Computer Aided Visitor Information And Retrieval system (CAVIAR) has been implemented by using the proposed methodology. The implementations of the LMS and CAVIAR are powerful evidence that the methodology is a flexible and effective tool for designing hybrid computer-based systems, especially, knowledge-based systems. (Abstract shortened by UMI.). ********************************************************** IRLIST Digest is distributed from the University of California, Division of Library Automation, 300 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA. 94612-3550. Send subscription requests to: LISTSERV@UCCVMA.BITNET Send submissions to IRLIST to: IR-L@UCCVMA.BITNET Editorial Staff: Clifford Lynch lynch@uccmvsa.ucop.edu or calur@uccmvsa.bitnet Nancy Gusack ncgur@uccmvsa.bitnet Mary Engle meeur@uccmvsa.bitnet The IRLIST Archives will be set up for anonymous FTP, and the address will be announced in future issues. 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