From: gayler@muse.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Ross Gayler)
Subject: ACS AISIG (VIC) seminar: Bob Jansen 17/8/92
Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia
Distribution: aus
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 22:52:43 GMT



                        ACS AISIG (VIC)

                 PUBLIC MEETING - ALL WELCOME
 
 
         5:45 pm to 7:30 pm, Monday August 17th
                   Data General Australia
           1st Floor, 100 Dorcas St (Cnr Kingsway)
                       South Melbourne

Title: Research in Knowledge Based Systems at the CSIRO Division of
Information Technology Knowledge Based Systems Laboratory

Speaker  
Dr. Bob Jansen
Program Manager - Knowledge Based Systems
CSIRO Division of Information Technology


Abstract

	Recent work in Knowledge-Based Systems design and maintenance has
indicated that the existing knowledge paradigm is invalid - production
rules are not self documenting, the knowledge is not explicit, and hence
not more easily maintained. Research in the CSIRO Division of Information
Technology Knowledge-Based Systems Laboratory is aimed at providing
methodologies supported by tools to aid in the process of the design and
maintenance of Knowledge-Based Systems. One important aspect to facilitate
successful maintenance of knowledge is the ability to explain current
knowledge and knowledge structures.

	This seminar will present an overview of the work of the Laboratory,
describing the work that has been undertaken. A detailed description of the
current state of the Knowledge Modelling Project will be presented

	This project focuses on providing a Knowledge-Based System with enough
knowledge to be capable of supporting appropriate explanations to an
end-user. Appropriate explanations means explanations about the system's
own design parameters, the system's functionality and structure, and the
knowledge domain itself. Research so far has indicated that Knowledge-Based
Systems to-date do not contain either  enough knowledge, or appropriate
knowledge, to provide these kinds of explanations. 

	The work focuses on what sources of knowledge are available in the 
design of a Knowledge-Based System, what knowledge is available within a
particular source, how to explicitly represent that knowledge, and how to
navigate through the knowledge to arrive at an appropriate chunk of
knowledge. The project is currently investigating the use of research
papers, and other conventional literary sources, for suitability. It is
intended to extend the work to other sources of knowledge (viz. audio,
video, graphics, etc.).

	The basic hypothesis behind the work is that explicit knowledge
representation 'animates' the static representation within the text. The
animated knowledge will react to stimuli from the reader as well as
providing stimuli to the reader. One target market segment that may benefit
from this work is publishing, where knowledge is represented in a static
form. It is hypothesized that providing an animated representation of a
book will facilitate the communication between the author and the reader.

	We will present results of work so far in identifying some of the
knowledge structures found in conventional text, and discuss how these
structures may be represented and used to provide explanations for a
computer system. We will describe some implementations of the tools
developed so far, hyperRemora and the hyperBook. The hyperBook is an
electronic book, implemented as hypertext, with one major enhancement, it
also contains a suite of software to support the animation of the
knowledge. hyperRemora is a tool to aid in the design of knowledge bases
and is one of the tools supported by the hyperBook.

	This research project is collaborating with Professor Henderson-Sellers 
of the School of Earth Sciences at Macquarie University through the auspices
of the Joint CSIRO/Macquarie University Research Centre, and Mr. Paul
Compton of the University of New South Wales Department of Computer
Science.

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As usual we will be inviting the speaker and everyone else to more
leisurely discussions over pasta at the Marconi restaurant.
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                TENTATIVE PROGRAM FOR REMAINDER OF 1992

September 21   Jim Jarvis          VLIMITS - road speed zoning advisor

October 19     {Chris Corbel      }
               {John Baxter       } Recently implemented applications
               {Julie Gledhill    }

November 16    Guest speaker from AI'92 (Hobart)

December 21    To Be Announced     Development standards for knowledge-based
                                   systems

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Contact: Ross Gayler {(03) 521 3100 or ross@psych.psy.uq.oz.au}