bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Conformal mapping using Bergman's method and the MAPLE system
Authors: Jank Gerhard , Tack Lutz H.
Published: January 2007

In this paper we use Bergman's Kernel Method (BKM) for solving conformal mapping problems. In contrast to most conformal mapping techniques, the approximation of the solution is an analytic function. The main drawback of the method, however, is that it involves an orthonormalization process and thus is numerically unstable. This disadvantage can be overcome by using the MAPLE system which makes no use of Gaussian quadrature, so that approximation errors are almost entirely avoided. We tested how some typical domains can be treated.Using theorems of Walsh (1929) and Simonenko (1978) we determine a number
N
such that the error of the
N
-th approximation of the mapping function remains under a desired value.We compare the obtained results to the sharp asymptotic estimates of Gaier (1988) and to numerical results of Levin, Papamichael and Sideridis (1978) and Papamichael and Warby (1986).
Some theoretical problems when solving systems of polynomial equations using Gröbner bases
Authors: Buchanan S. Alasdair
Published: January 2007

The use of Gröbner bases as an initial stage in determining the roots of systems of polynomials is well established as a more robust technique than numerical methods. The technique is described as producing 'the exact solution of systems of algebraic equations...'. However there are some theoretical limitations on the robustness of this method which under certain circumstances leave no confidence in its results. It is not the intention of this paper to provide answers to these problems but rather to consider their nature and the conditions under which they arise.
ASIC design with VHDL
Authors: Alford David B.
Published: January 2007

In the past several years a new hardware description language has emerged as a standard in the electronic computer aided design world. Named the VHSIC Hardware Design Language (the first CAD language to have a recursive acronym), it is quickly being adopted throughout the electronics industry as the design language of choice. Two factors are driving the swift adoption of this language: many CAE vendors are supporting the language for design and simulation purposes, and hardware synthesis using the HDL has become a working reality. ASIC design in the VHSIC Hardware Description Language is proliferating throughout the electronic design world.
A VHDL design environment
Authors: Martello Alan R. , Levitan Steven P.
Published: January 2007

Hardware Description Languages (HDLs) provide a way to textually represent physical electronic systems [1,2]. They are used for description, documentation, and communication of digital electronic designs. More recently, they have been used for design verification, simulation, and synthesis. One language, the V(HSIC) hardware description language (VHDL) is now an IEEE standard [3].
Book Review: Computer and Communication Systems Performance Modelling by Peter J.B. King (Prentice Hall, 1990)
Authors: Epema Dick H.J.
Published: January 2007

This book offers a simple and short introduction to the theory of queueing models of computer and communication systems. It consists of 14 chapters. After the first, which gives the motivation and a feeling for the subject (among other things, by an informal proof and some simple illustrations of Little's theorem), there are two preparatory chapters on probability theory and stochastic processes.
Brief review: Probability, Statistics and Queueing Theory with Computer Science Applications, Second Edition by Arnold O. Allen (Academic Press 1990)
Authors: Finkel David
Published: January 2007

This is a revision of the classic probability and statistics text originally written in 1978. Like the first edition, this book is designed for a upper-level undergraduate course in probability and statistics with computer science applications.
Brief review: Computer Networks & Systems: Queueing Theory and Performance Evaluation by Thomas Robertazzi (Springer-Verlag, 1990)
Authors: Finkel David
Published: January 2007

This book is the proceedings of the Workshop on Parallel Computer Systems: Performance Instrumentation and Visualization held in Santa Fe, New Mexico in May, 1989. Some of the sixteen papers included here discuss research projects designed primarily to collect performance data from distributed and parallel systems. Other papers discuss modern visualization techniques in general, or report on projects to put these powerful techniques to work on parallel computer system performance data, to make this data easier to understand and to use to improve system or program performance.
Brief review: Performance Instrumentation & Visualization by Margaret Simmons and Rebecca Koskela (Addison-Wesley & ACM Press, 1989)
Authors: Finkel David
Published: January 2007

This book presents a thorough discussion of exact algorithms for product-form queueing networks. The authors discuss the well-known Convolution Algorithm, and Mean Value Analysis (MVA), as well as some more recent algorithms: Recursion by Chain (RECAL), Mean Value Analysis by Chain (MVAC), and the Distribution Analysis by Chain (DAC).
Analysis of the paging behavior of UNIX
Authors: Becker Jeffrey C. , Park Arvin
Published: January 2007

We analyze the paging behavior of several different versions of UNIX by recording traces of paging activity over time and writing programs to analyze the traces. We recorded periodic totals of paging events instead of individual paging events themselves. Our analysis shows that paging activity accounts for between 15% and 21% of all disk block accesses. Average paging system traffic is very low. The paging system is idle most of the time and paging activity occurs in large periodic bursts. Despite the fact that it is often overlooked, swap related paging accounts for a significant portion of all paging activity (between 24% and 71%). Furthermore, the behavior of swap-related paging differs greatly from the well-studied behavior of demand paging. The ratio of pages read to pages written (which varies between 0.85 and 1.9) is lower than typical read to write ratios for file system accesses. Paging activity is loosely correlated with load average or number of users.
Book review: Integration of Visual Modules An Extension of the Marr Paradigm By John (Yiannis) Aloimonos and David Shulman (Academic Press, London, 1990)
Authors: Levkowitz Haim
Published: January 2007

The main goal of the book is to extend Marr's paradigm. In his book, David Marr (Vision, Freeman, 1982) presents the vision problem as a problem of information processing. He presents a general three-level paradigm, in which any machine carrying out an information-processing task must be understood. The three levels are:1. Computational theory: What is the goal of the computation, why is it appropriate, and what is the logic of the strategy by which it can be carried out?
Book review: A Computational Model of Metaphor Interpretation By James M. Martin (Academic Press, London, 1990)
Authors: Sastry Mark N.
Published: January 2007

Over the past two decades, metaphor has grown to occupy a central position in artificial intelligence research [2]. In particular, natural language processing has set practical goals for understanding the ubiquitous metaphorical expressions in our daily language. George Lakoff and Mark Johnson wrote a provocative book [7] in 1980 on conventional metaphor that has further fueled research interest on conventional metaphor in computational linguistics. The present book is an effort in developing and applying a computational model for processing conventional metaphor.
Book review: COMPUTATIONAL VISION By Harry Wechsler (Academic Press London, 1990)
Authors: Moore Sean
Published: January 2007

During my academic lifetime, I have read many textbooks and articles concerned with the various subjects of computer science, and I now expect a familiar format --- equations, cryptic explanations, and a narrow scope --- which can, at times, be rather tedious. In
Computational Vision,
Harry Wechsler has created a reading environment that captures the reader's interest and imagination by describing his insights from philosophy, biology, and the arts, and yet provides the necessary rigor found in the traditional format. He is also quite bold in stating his beliefs about the current state and the future directions of the vision sciences. Because of the complexity and inaccessibility of the biological vision systems that computational vision seeks to emulate, one would surmise that introspection and subjective opinion would be the norm, but this is not the case, Hopefully, readers of Wechsler's book will realize that by adopting this style, the vision community can only benefit from the stimulation of seeking to prove or disprove various hypotheses.
Hypertext and Hyperrnedia by Jakob Nielsen. Academic Press, Inc, San Diego, California, 1990, xii + 263 pp., $29.95, ISBN 0-12-518410-7
Authors: Can Fazli
Published: January 2007

The term hypertext has recently become a known word in computer science. It finally appeared in "Index to the CR Classification System" of
ACM Computing Reviews
[1]. A hypertext document is distinguished by its nonsequential reading environment. This is because information is divided into sections and each section is stored in a node; the nodes are connected by links. Nodes may have more than one incoming and outgoing link. Using links, the readers have the freedom of reading a hypertext in any way that they want to read. By definition, hypertext is a network of nodes and links. In hypermedia, nodes may contain text, images, animation, video, sound, graphics, programs, etc. In general, the term hypertext is used to indicate nonlinear organization of information.
Implementation of extended indexes in POSTGRES
Authors: Aoki Paul M.
Published: January 2007

The vaunted "Spartan simplicity" of the relational model can limit the usefulness of the relational database management system (RDBMS) for non-traditional applications. For example, there is no natural way to model a keyword index for bibliographic informational retrieval (IR), or any other index whose key values are
computed
from column values, in a standard RDBMS. The extended indexing proposed in [LYNC88a] is intended to support applications that require indexes on computed values. This paper reports on an implementation of this type of indexing using the POSTGRES extensible database management system [STON86a], focusing on two issues: general problems, and the features in POSTGRES that proved helpful in the solution of these problems.
Notes and references on early automatic classification work
Authors: Sparck Jones Karen
Published: January 2007

This informal note was prompted by discussions and questions at the 1990 AAAI Spring Symposium on Text-Based Intelligent Systems (cf Jacobs 1990). There is a growing interest in access to, and the use of, large scale full-text databases for a variety of purposes, and in the application of classification methods to organise the mass of data involved (see e.g. Church and Hanks 1990). A good deal of work has been done in this field in the past, but it is little known, and some of the early research literature is not very accessible. Classification is an area in which it is easy to make plausible but mistaken assumptions, and as this certainly holds for classification in retrieval, there is a good deal that can be usefully learnt from past experience, most of which was hard won from careful thought and grinding experiment. This paper is intended as an introduction to this initial work on automatic classification, to help those now becoming interested in classification to avoid unnecessarily repeating heavy effort or, more especially, reinventing square wheels. It should also be noted that automatic classification and related (e.g. seriation) methods have been extensively developed for biological applications in particular, but have been more variously applied, and that much of this work may be relevant in the broad area of machine learning.It must be emphasised that as this paper is focussed on early work on automatic classification, particularly for information retrieval, and is designed primarily to lead into this research and its literature, it does not attempt a critical evaluation of the overall results established by now, or of the current state of the art. However it should be pointed out that in the retrieval context in general, as opposed to the wider one of classification as a whole, there has been comparatively little work since the seventies, largely for the reasons indicated in the paper. More recent work in any case refers heavily to earlier research, so this note can be taken as an entry point to the research of the last decade for which some references are given at the end of the note.
Survey of graduate programs in medical information science in the United States
Authors: Glaser John P. , Weiss Jane , Harersat Charly
Published: January 2007

A survey of graduate programs in Medical Information Science in the United States was conducted in 1989. The survey identified four types of programs which provide opportunities for graduate students to concentrate their education and research in the field. Thirteen programs were identified and described.This paper summarizes the survey results and presents program descriptive information.
Microcomputer spreadsheet software application in body development determination
Authors: Kokol Peter , Bigec Martin , Kancler Kurt
Published: January 2007

The historical analysis of great data collections is a common practice in medical research. Performing such tasks manually is not only time consuming and tedious, but also very sensitive to errors. Computers with theirs ability to store and process information can enormously ease this work. But it is very hard for non-computer specialists like doctors, nurses and other medical staff to learn and use conventional programming tools and techniques. Using spreadsheet software, which is a very user friendly and easy to learn tool, is a possible solution. In this paper we first present a mathematical model based on Rohrer's indexes which we have developed to assist us in common pupil's body-development determination. Then we briefly present the spreadsheet software, and the spreadsheet implementation of the above model.
Report on the ChI'90 workshop on computer-human interaction in aerospace systems
Authors: Irving Sharon , Mitchell Christine M.
Published: January 2007

The purpose of the CHI'90 workshop was to explore issues facing designers and users of decision support systems in real-time, high-risk aerospace systems, such as aviation, satellite control and shuttle support. The workshop focused on the following issues:• how do we
model
the user/operator in complex time-critical environments• how do we
design
the human-computer interaction (displays, controls, and aids to ensure that the user is integrated into the decision process• what comprises an
intelligent
computer interface for a supervisory controller• how do we provide timely context-sensitive information in real time without overloading or distracting the human operator• how do we design operator aids/tutors using knowledge-based technology that enhance the human-computer interaction and overall system effectiveness rather than replacing the human decision maker.
A context for designing adaptations
Authors: Carter James A. , Hancock James P.
Published: January 2007

The Multi-Oriented Structured Task analysis (MOST) methodology attempts to be most things to most of its users most of the time by balancing the needs for completeness and consistency of structured specifications with the needs of both system designers and system users for flexibility and adaptivity. The MOST methodology structures a task analysis and integrates it with other more formal specification methodologies including software engineering methodologies, human-computer interaction methodologies, and explicit user models. MOST stores these specifications in a knowledge base of four major interlinked foci for the information (users, tasks, data, and tools) and an optional foci (constraints) that can be linked to any of the major foci. The linkages in a MOST knowledge base facilitate the flexible structuring and restructuring of records. These linkages can model alternative designs and/or paths by which a system can adapt its interface while maintaining functional consistency. Various design heuristics (both software engineering and human factors) can be applied to an analysis recorded in a MOST knowledge base to assist in its transformation into a suitable design. The MOST methodology is designed to cooperate with and to assist the designer rather than to force the user to serve the methodology.
Cognitive issues in representing design reasoning as hypertext
Authors: Shum Simon
Published: January 2007

Hypertext offers powerful facilities for representing and manipulating structure, but the cognitive task of parsing ideas into discrete chunks can be intrusive. This summary describes ongoing work looking at the use of semi-formal notations for representing design reasoning. One experiment highlighted a number of cognitive overheads in using the notation, but a subsequent study is indicating that with training, the notation can be used unobtrusively by computer scientists to record reasoning during design problem solving.
Helping the user by helping the developer
Authors: Wedlow Maria G. , Haas Christina , Boyarski Dan , Crumley Paul G.
Published: January 2007

Andrew, a computer system designed for use on campuses and in businesses around the country, was developed by the Information Technology Center (a joint endeavor between Carnegie Mellon University and IBM Corporation). The Andrew Toolkit provides tools for building applications within the system using multimedia insets, software packages which have been designed for the display and modification of various types of information. Insets which currently exist in Andrew include text, raster, table, animation, hyperlink, and calendar; other insets employing sound and video are under development.
The use of think-aloud evaluation methods in design
Authors: Wright Peter C. , Monk Andrew F.
Published: January 2007

This paper reports on two studies in which teams of two or three trainee designers evaluated a user interface by observing a user working through some set tasks. These users were instructed to think aloud as they worked. The instruction received by the designers took the form of a brief how-to-do-it manual. Study 1 demonstrates that this method is effective. Study 2 found that more problems were detected by the designers of the system than other groups. Also, designers cannot predict the problems users will experience in advance of user testing.
Specifying metaphors algebraically
Authors: Kuhn Werner , Jackson Jeffrey P. , Frank Andrew U.
Published: January 2007

A sound engineering approach to user interface design requires the formalization of key interaction concepts, one of them being metaphor. Few formal theories of metaphor exist and most of them have been developed in the context of natural language understanding, learning, or reasoning. Work on metaphors in human-computer interaction has been largely non-formal so far.
The impact of organisations on computers
Authors: Jones Matthew R.
Published: January 2007

The traditional way of looking at computers and organisations has been to study the impact of
computer systems on organisations
. This paper, however, describes the impact of
organisations on computers
. It is also argued that the focus of attention in HCI research needs to be changed from its traditional emphasis on usability to consider whether, why and how systems are actually
used
in practice.The influence of four organisational factors (culture, politics, practice and history) on the use of computer systems in organisations is discussed. It is argued that each of these factors can have a substantial effect on systems and therefore need to be considered in interface design and research. Changes to the training of information systems developers are proposed to increase awareness of these issues.
Initiating usability methods with a new engineering design tool
Authors: Salasoo Aita
Published: January 2007

Goals, methods, and results of initial usability work for a new, intelligent software product are described. The approach yielded a number of expected and unforeseen benefits, as well as lessons for
Privacy, anonymity and interpersonal competition issues identified during participatory design of project management groupware!
Authors: Muller Michael J. , Smith John G. , Shoher J. Zachary , Goldberg Harry
Published: January 2007

Project Management Groupware (PMG) presents complex design challenges because the resulting system can act as both (a) a community for interpersonal collaboration and (b) an arena for interpersonal competition. This paper describes an application of the participatory design paradigm to explore these issues, and to track the contingent evolution of computing systems and social systems around the PMG. We describe work in progress on the design of an experimental prototype that appears to have novel attributes in the areas of interpersonal collaboration and competition, information filtration, privacy, and elective anonymity in interpersonal communications.
A new framework for separating user interfaces from application programs
Authors: Nakatsuyama Hisashi , Murata Makoto , Kusumoto Koji
Published: January 2007

We propose an object-oriented user interface framework that allows 1) easy development of user interfaces, 2) separation of user interfaces from application programs, and 3) simultaneous and coordinated usage of several user interfaces of one program. Daemons keep these user interfaces consistent with the status of the program, while hiding the user interfaces from the program. Mapping objects, which are parts of user interfaces, are introduced to map complicated status of application programs to visual presentation. Consistency among subwindows of one window is also kept by daemons of the window. Again, each subwindow is hidden from the other subwindows.
ConMod
Authors: Braudes Robert E. , Sibert John L.
Published: January 2007

The ConMod system is a modelling tool for the construction, verification, and communication of user conceptual models. A basic premise behind the research is that consistency at the syntactic and lexical levels cannot counteract conceptual inconsistencies designed into a system, and a working definition of conceptual consistency is maintained in a user-extensible knowledge base. The system designer has the option to test the model for completeness and conceptual consistency based upon high-level knowledge of the types of objects in the model. ConMod also generates conceptual specifications for discussing the model with end users and prototyping and implementation teams. Finally, ConMod allows the conceptual structure of one model to be reused in a different model.
Designing & Writing Online Documentation: Help Files To Hypertext by William K. Horton (John Wiley & Sons, 1990, 364 pp.)
Authors: Cohen Stessa , Lanza O'Malley Nikki , Langston M. Diane , Hardesty Beth , Roosild Heli L.
Published: January 2007

Anyone who tries to keep up with the diverse literatures that inform the design of computer-human dialogs and other forms of online information will appreciate this accessible, readable synthesis and the advice that it offers. Horton spans a wide range of research, practice, and theory, culling out implications for design and making them accessible to the writer or developer.
An annotated bibliography of computer supported cooperative work
Authors: Greenberg Saul
Published: January 2007

Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) is a new multi-disciplinary field with roots in many disciplines. Due to the area's youth and diversity, few specialized books or journals are available, and articles are scattered amongst diverse journals, proceedings and technical reports. Building a CSCW reference library is particularly demanding, for it is difficult for the new researcher to discover relevant documents. To aid this task, this article compiles, lists and annotates some of the current research in computer supported cooperative work into a bibliography. Over 300 references are included.
A reflexive perspective of CSCW
Authors: Cockburn Andrew J. G. , Thimbleby Harold
Published: January 2007

Personal computing has had a major effect on the way that many people work; whole organisations have been revolutionised by tools such as filing systems and word processors. Whilst personal computing has enhanced the execution of work it has largely failed to support the cooperative environment in which it is done. CSCW (Computer Supported Cooperative Work) aims to remove this artificial division caused by the systemic focus on the single user and to replace it with systems supporting the wider, social, web of cooperation. Unfortunately CSCW in practice has failed in this task. This paper briefly discusses the reasons for this failure, and proposes a "reflexive perspective" of CSCW as an emphasis shift in current CSCW research which, it is argued and demonstrated by example, will result in greater success for future cooperative systems.
Marketing the information systems profession
Authors: Mawhinney Charles H. , Miller Gerald
Published: January 2007

Student interest in computer-related careers has declined dramatically in recent years, resulting in a shortage of entry-level personnel pursuing careers in information management. In an effort to attract students to the profession, the Boston Chapter of the Society for Information Management (Boston-SIM) has developed a prototype videotape targeted at high school students. The tape has been shown at several high schools in the greater Boston area and its effectiveness measured through a questionnaire administered before and after viewing. The tape has been found to be reasonably effective in familiarizing students with the information management profession.
Training, ability, and the acceptance of information technology
Authors: Nelson R. Ryan , Kattan Michael W. , Cheney Paul H.
Published: January 2007

This article validates a conceptual model of the relationship among training, ability, and acceptance of information technology within organizations. Previously developed to explain the relationship for end users, the model is tested for information systems personnel as well. To examine these variables (training, ability, and acceptance) and their interrelationships, an instrument was developed, pretested, and completed by 232 employees at eight different organizations. Based on the results of this study, the model is validated for both IS personnel and end users of information technology, indicating that positive relationships exist between (1) the IT-related training of an individual and his/her ability to use IT, (2) an individual's ability to use IT and his/her use of IT, and (3) an individual's ability to use IT and his/her satisfaction with IT. The implications and possibilities for further research are discussed.
The relationship of application risks to application controls
Authors: Schultheis Robert A. , Summer Mary
Published: January 2007

End-user computing has posed serious concerns to MIS professionals for a number of years. One of the primary concerns harbored by MIS professionals is the quality of the end-user applications that are developed by those whose primary function and training are outside the information systems field. MIS professionals are naturally apprehensive about the applications developed by relatively naive users. These professionals fear that the applications developed will not possess sufficient controls and that these poorly controlled applications will create significant risks to the users and to the organizations for which they work.
ARTIST-DESIGNERS AND INTERACTION DESIGN
Authors: Crampton Smith Gillian
Published: January 2007

The computer is now more than a tool. It is a medium.Until recently visual displays for human-computer interface were limited. Ten years ago, for instance, a PC offered just four variables: normal, inverse and flashing type, and position on the screen---comparable to designing a type-written page.
AN EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE DESIGNS FOR VARIABLE SELECTION LISTS
Authors: Happ Alan J. , Stanners Sharon L.
Published: January 2007

Alternative designs for the selection of items from a list were evaluated using a Thurstone scaling technique. When making choices among alternative designs, the software designer often wants to know the magnitude of the differences among the designs. This poster demonstrated the use of this technique to help software designers make more informed decisions.
DECIDING THROUGH DOING
Authors: Hewson Rachel
Published: January 2007

Current computer-based tools for document creation do not yet support and enhance the full range of traditional skills possessed by professional typographic designers. These tools' strengths lie in the latter stages of the process, that is, in the production aspects, but they provide only limited support for the early, design stages. Traditionally, the early, decision-making part of the design process has been executed through sketching using paper and pencil. Observations of contemporary professional designers indicate that even those who fluently use computer-based systems for implementing designs nevertheless use paper and pencil to sketch their initial exploration of design ideas. That designers choose the traditional medium for sketching strongly suggests that they are engaging in an activity that is necessary but not yet supported by the electronic medium, since they neither abandon sketching, nor harness the electronic tools for this purpose.
TRANSFER OF GENERAL SKILLS ACROSS DOMAINS: COMPUTER PROGRAM DEBUGGING AND TROUBLESHOOTING OF CIRCUITS
Authors: Lee Adrienne Y.
Published: January 2007

A general finding in psychological studies is that little to no transfer occurs across domains. This research proposes four components as critical elements for finding across domain transfer: 1) examining a single level of skill, 2) transfer of domain general knowledge, 3) extensive practice, and 4) specific training on the strategies used. To test these components, the skill of diagnosis will be examined. General diagnostic skill should transfer, but specific knowledge such as computer programming knowledge or electronic component knowledge should not transfer.The experiments focus on the transfer of diagnostic strategies across domains by examining computer progra m debugging and electronic troubleshooting. The first experiment examines spontaneous transfer of skill by asking experts and novices to solve debugging and troubleshooting problems. The results from this experiment will expose strategies that are used spontaneously when experienced programmers encounter the troubleshootin g problems. The second experiment examines subjects who have little to no experience with either computer programming or electronic troubleshooting. The results from this second experiment will test whether or not training can influence transfer of across domains.To summarize, the current research provides a good analysis of the components of skills and a specific definition and measure of transfer. Extensive training in programming should enable transfer of general diagnostic skills to an electronic troubleshooting task. Thus, if extensive training on how to debug computer programs, with specific training on the skill is provided, and students are asked to reflect on how that skill is used, students should be able to use the diagnosis skill on other types o f diagnostic tasks. Therefore, the skill of diagnosis can be transferable to other situations.
CONTROLLING INTERACTION WITH META-ACTS
Authors: Novick David G.
Published: January 2007

User models that are adequate for conversational interaction between human and machine must include meta-knowledge about the state of conversational control. This paper discusses the representation and use of such meta-knowledge, proposes a conversational model based on
meta-locutionary acts
, and presents a conversational simulation based on the model.
WM: AN EXPLORATION IN SCREEN-BASED TELEPHONY
Authors: Fusco Marc , Gattuso Nicholas , Schumacher Robert
Published: January 2007

Communications technology has evolved so rapidly that many features provided to the average user are underutilized. One of our goals for the future is to provide the user with an easy-to-use interface to all network services and capabilities. Screen-based telephony may provide a practical and functional interface by which a user can access and control their voice communication services. VVM is a screen-based interface to a voice processing system currently implemented on a personal computer. Laboratory usability testing has enabled us to refine the present design and impending field trials will provide us with qualitative and quantitative data in order to assess if users utilize more system-provided capabilities for voice processing than is currently used. This endeavor will enable greater understanding of what underlies the success or failure of screen-based telephony and allow us to validate assumptions that screen-based telephony has the potential to improve a wide range of voice services.
Chair's column
Authors: Henderson Austin , Polson Peter
Published: January 2007

This is an exciting time for HCI. It is appearing everywhere. More and more industries are realizing the user interfaces are the key point of product differentiation. Disasters in controlling complex systems indicate that HCI is not an easy matter. The general public is becoming aware of HCI as a serious concern not only in product choice but more seriously in effecting, and indeed defining, the workplace and the home. HCI on the cover and in a lead article of
Business Week
was a subject that everyone is now beginning to understand as important in the everyday world.
Interactive posters
Authors: Malin Jane
Published: January 2007

A multi-year, interdisciplinary effort is currently in progress to assist the design of effective human-computer interaction (HCI) for systems with real-time process monitoring and control capabilities shared between human and computer agents. Based on observations and experiences from this research, a persistent problem in the design of such systems is inadequate consideration of HCI requirements.
CONSISTENCY VERSUS MNEMONICS IN TEXT EDITOR COMMAND SETS
Authors: Lee Adrienne Y. , Foltz Peter W. , Poison Peter G.
Published: January 2007

This experiment studies the acquisition and retention of text editor command sets. Previous research has focused on consistent, mnemonic sets versus inconsistent, non-mnemonic sets (Lee & Polson, 1988; Walker & Olson, 1988). Although results from these studies indicate that consistent, mnemonic sets are better than inconsistent, non-mnemonic sets, it is unclear whether consistency or mnemonics was the basis for better subject performance. This study sought to separate this confound. In order to do this, an condition in addition to those used in the Walker and Olson study was used in which the commands were consistent but non-mnemonic.
EXPLANATIONS OF ARTIFACTS FOR DESIGN
Authors: Bellamy Rachel
Published: January 2007

Designers look at and emulate existing good designs. Psychological theory can therefore best leverage off design by providing analyses of what makes artifacts good (Carroll, CHI 1990). This work proposes that artifacts are good to the extent that they support effective task strategies.
MAKING MARKS SELF-REVEALING
Authors: Kurtenbach Gordon
Published: January 2007

A good interface is easy to use for both a novice and an expert user. For example, menu-driven interfaces are best for novices because they make explicit which commands are available. However expert users know the command set and thus prefer to have "short cuts" for invoking commands. Accelerator keys on keyboards are one example of giving experts short cuts. In pen-driven systems, markings can be used instead of accelerator keys.Usually there is a dramatic difference between novice and expert behavior at the level of physical action. For example, a novice may use a mouse to select from a men u whereas an expert may press an accelerator key. My goal is to reduce the discrepancy between actions without compromising efficiency for the expert and ease of learning for the novice. When the basic action of the novice and expert are the same, novice performance develops the skills necessary for expert performance, smoothing the transition from novice to expert.With this goal in mind, I have designed and implemented an interaction technique in which pie menus provide away of showing users the association between markings and commands they can invoke in pen-based interfaces. By adding a virtual ink trail to the path of the cursor, markings become the natural by-products of the strokes necessary to select a sector from a subdivided circular menu (or "pie").Figure 1 illustrates this technique in the context of creating three simple objects. An expert uses simple shorthand marks to create and place circles, square, or triangles. Object creation and placement is thus fast and efficient. Figure 2 shows how a novice, unsure of what marks to use, can pop-up a pie menu of these objects by keeping the pen pressed. The desired object can then be selected. It is critical to note that selection from the menu constitutes the same physical action as making the corresponding mark for that object. The novice is thus rehearsing the physical action used by an expert.An experiment to evaluate this technique revealed that markings could be used for selecting up to 5 items quickly and accurately. Adding more items is possible whe n metaphors are used to help the user remember mark/menu-item associations For example, the clock-face metaphor was found to be particularly useful. Finally it was found that with very little practice users' performance becam e substantially faster and less error-prone.
WHAT DO PROGRAMMERS REALLY LOOK AT IN A PROGRAM
Authors: Scholtz Jean , Csoppenszky Julie
Published: January 2007

Program comprehension requires the programmers to discern program functionality from program code and comments. Different models of program comprehension have appeared in the literature. Regardless of which methodology is used, information must be extracted from the code.
CHANGES IN USER TASK STRATEGY DUE TO SYSTEM RESPONSE DELAY
Authors: Teal Steven L. , Rudnicky Alexander I.
Published: January 2007

Despite recent advances in computer technologies, system response time remains an important factor in determining system usability, especially for newer and yet unperfected technologies such as speech recognition. Previous investigations of response delay have produced contradictory results. This study attempts to systematically investigate the relationship between response delay and a user's choice of task strategy. We address two questions. First, does response delay have a significant effect on user performance? Second, if response delay does affect user performance, can we define a model that describes the relationship?
TASK PROTOCOL SPECIFICATION
Authors: Mullins Paul M. , Treu Siegfried
Published: January 2007

Methods of specification for human-computer interfaces (HCI) are diverse. Commonly used methods include (augmented) transition networks, BNF grammars, event-based descriptions, and the command language grammar [Moran81]. The latter is especially useful for its task-based description of the conceptual model as well as the dialogue. The Command Language Grammar (CLG) begins with a task analysis, and proceeds to model the HCI structurally through a process of step-wise refinement. The result is a detailed specification or representation of the system.
DESIGNING GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES USING TAE PLUS
Authors: Szczur Martha R.
Published: January 2007

The Transportable Applications Environment (TAE) Plus is a general purpose user interface development and management system. TAE Plus was designed for user interface (UI) designers who are not programmers and it provides an intuitive development environment for (1) interactively constructing the visual layout of an application screen, (2) rehearsing the UI, (3) generating the application source code to manage the UI, and (4) providing run-time services to manage the UI during application execution. Refer to Figure 1.
COMPUTERIZED TASK ANALYSIS
Authors: Cohen Maxine S. , Payne David G. , Pastore Richard E.
Published: January 2007

We developed an integrated computer-based procedure for conducting task analyses of the human-machine interface. The data base established with this task analysis methodology can be used by various system designers to answer questions at different levels (e.g., assessing individual keystrokes vs. overall mental workload levels) and as the system moves through the design stage. Our methodology is based upon the use of conventional task analysis procedures for data collection purposes but employs computer spreadsheet capabilities for analyzing and presenting these data.
USER INTERFACE DESIGN EXPERTISE AND LEARNING IN THE SOFTWARE INDUSTRY
Authors: Marchak Lori , Forster Teresa , Braudes Robert
Published: January 2007

The reality in the software industry today is that software engineers with little or no formal training in human factors frequently have primary responsibility for the user interface design of industry products. The purpose of this study is to assess the degree of user-interface design expertise among these professionals. Both character-based and graphical user interface expertise are assessed. This study assesses overall design expertise as function of years experience, and asks whether serious problems have a greater probability of identification than non-serious problems, and whether lexical or surface-level problems are more apparent to software engineers than syntactic problems.
ELECTRONIC MAIL STANDARDS
Authors: Bevan Nigel
Published: January 2007

Over the past 20 years electronic mail services have evolved from pioneering in-house facilities to extensively-used national and international networks. Electronic mail is now widely provided by individual companies, commercial mail box services, and internet and associated international research networks. Unfortunately there are currently very limited interconnections between internet and company and commercial services. One of the major objectives of the X.400 international standard is to facilitate such interconnections, and to provide a universal naming scheme. We can look forward to a time when all those failed attempts to send internet mail will be forgotten. With one unique address for each mail user valid worldwide, just type it in and you will be sure your mail will reach its destination. Or will you?
MENIX: A UNIX USER ADAPTABLE INTERFACE
Authors: Chauvin Yves
Published: January 2007

Menix is an adaptive user interface that presents to a user a limited set of Unix commands as a function of a predefined level of information. The commands presented in an adaptable menu are functions of the user and of his/her past interaction with Unix. Menix infers the level of information of a command from information theoretic principles. Commands/units are also connected by adaptable weights. A level of activation is computed for each command and commands with high levels of activation (high information content) are then presented to the user. For each command typed by the user, Menix learns by adjusting the weights between commands. At first, each user is considered as an "average" user. Following a number of sessions, the system adapts and attempts to infer current knowledge and goals of each user. The theoretical principles can be adapted to other systems of complexity comparable to Unix.
CLEARFACE: TRANSLUCENT MULTIUSER INTERFACE FOR TEAM WORKSTATION
Authors: Ishii Hiroshi , Arita Kazuho
Published: January 2007

In order to provide distributed users with a "seamless" shared workspace, we designed "TeamWorkStation (TWS)" [Ishii90]. The shared screen supports a shared drawing window and face windows (Fig. 1). Through the experimental use of TWS, we found the most serious problem is the smallness of the shared screen space. Because of the limitation of screen size, it is very hard to place all face windows of the group members on one screen together with a shared drawing window large enough for effective use.
USABILITY PROBLEMS OF RESIDENTIAL MULTIFUNCTION TERMINALS
Authors: Nael Michel
Published: January 2007

New electronic products touch many aspects of everyday life. With new features, new usability problems also come along. This can be observed in many cases and particularly so in recent equipments in the audiovisual and telecommunication fields. Two examples of this have been analysed through several sets of studies.
UNDERUTILIZATION OF ARCHIVAL FACILITIES IN A UNIX ENVIRONMENT
Authors: Familant M. Elliott
Published: January 2007

Ideally, information should be distributed among storage devices according to how frequently it is accessed. Rarely accessed information should be stored on the cheapest (and slowest) devices, frequently accessed data should be store on the fastest (and more expensive) devices.
AN OBJECT USER INTERFACE FOR AN ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
Authors: Yap Ken
Published: January 2007

The OUI is a graphical user interface developed for our Environmental Decision Support System project. The EDSS is a sophisticated browser and editor for environmental databases. Data held includes geographic data, text documents and pictures.
AN EMPIRICALLY DEVELOPED SYSTEM FOR THE SELECTION OF COMPUTER INPUT DEVICES FORUSERS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES
Authors: Perdue Casali Sherry
Published: January 2007

Three experiments compared the speed and accuracy of item selection from two types of hierarchical pop-up menus (click-open & walking). These menus are perceptually equivalent, but require very different action sequences to make selections from them. Two ways in which the action sequences differ involve (1) the amount of spatial constraint in the movement path, and (2) the position of the mouse button during the movement. The present results show that selection from click-open menus is faster and less error-prone than selection from walking menus. This disagrees with the Keystroke-Level Model of Card, Moran, and Newell (1983).
AURALIZATION OF PARALLEL PROGRAMS
Authors: Albright Larry , Jackson Jay Alan , Francioni Joan
Published: January 2007

Auralization is the sonic equivalent of visualization. It is the attempt to convey the essence of massive amounts of scientific data in a manner that can be easily interpreted by humans. Visualization appeals to human sight, auralization appeals to human hearing.
THE MUTUAL ADAPTATION OF TECHNOLOGY AND ORGANIZATION DURING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN AUTOMATED LIBRARY SYSTEM
Authors: Lopata Cynthia
Published: January 2007

The project investigates the factors that influence the exploratory interactions of users with new information domains. In this situation, one of the crucial factors driving the user's behaviour is
interest
. We view interest as the process of responding to the significance of information. As a process it has triggering conditions, it has a duration, and there are conditions which ensure its continuation. In general, we regard a user's path through an information space as being determined by the following principle:
Principle of maximal interestingness
- In situations in which a user explores an information space, her route through the space is along the path of maximal interestingness.
International perspectives
Authors: Henderson Austin
Published: January 2007

Two years ago, ACM adopted a five point development plan to guide its efforts to meet the needs of computer professions. One of these five points was to become a truly international organization.
Standards factor
Authors: Billingsley Pat
Published: January 2007

The second annual SIG session on user interface standards was held at CHI'91 on Tuesday morning, April 30th. Approximately 200 people managed to find seats in the meeting room, and many additional people sat or stood in the doorways and adjoining areas. (Considering the continuing high level of interest in this topic, we anticipate being assigned a larger meeting room for CHI'92.)