waashk/acm huggingface dataset:
computer human factors in computer interface design (panel session)  human factors psychologists contribute in many ways to improving human- computer interaction. one contribution involves evaluating existing or prototype systems, in order to assess usability and identify problems. another involves contributing more directly to the design of systems in the first place: that is, not only evaluating systems but bringing to bear empirical methods and theoretical considerations that help specify what are plausible designs in the first place. the goal of this panel is to discuss four case studies emphasizing this role of cognitive human factors, and identify relevant methods and theoretical considerations.  the panelists will present examples of prototypes or products to whose design they contributed, with the aim of characterizing the problem (or problems) they tried to solve, the approach to identifying a design solution for that problem, and evidence that the approach was useful.  robert mack will discuss an editor prototype designed to get novices started doing meaningful work quickly and helping them to continue acquiring new skills, with virtually no explicit instruction. the prototype is being designed in large part by identifying key novice problems and expectations, and trying to design the interface to better accommodate these expectations. the first goal of getting novices started relatively quickly has been achieved but problems remain as novices try to acquire further text-editing skill. these problems \--- and solutions to them --- are being identified through a process of iterative design and evaluation.  dennis wixon will discuss implications for designing usable interfaces of the user-derived-interface project (good, m., whiteside, j., wixon, d. and jones, s., 1984). the project involved a simulation of a restricted natural language interface for an electronic mail system. the design process was driven by the behavioral goal of getting users started relatively quickly with little or no instruction or interface aids. actual user interaction with the simulation coupled with iterative design and evaluation provided interface specifications. this prototype illustrates a number of techniques for bringing usability into the software engineering process.  these presentations will discuss the role of empirical methods such as verbal protocol techniques for identifying user problems with existing computer systems (e.g., lewis, 1982; mack, lewis & carroll, 1983; douglas & moran, 1983), including variations aimed at identifying user expectations that may be able to guide design (e.g., mack, 1984); interface simulations for studying user interactions again with the aim of letting user behavior guide interface design (e.g., kelley, 1984; good, whiteside, wixon & jones, 1984), and iterative design and evaluation of interfaces, aimed at achieving behavioral goals (e.g., carroll & rosson, 1984; gould & lewis, 1983).  robert mack thomas moran judith reitman olson dennis wixon john whiteside
ajax: an extensible data cleaning tool  @@@@ groups together matching pairs with a high similarity value by applying a given grouping criteria (e.g. by transitive closure). finally, ging collapses each individual cluster into a tuple of the resulting data source. ajax provides @@@@ for specifying data cleaning programs, which consists of sql statements enriched with a set of specific primitives to express these transformations.  ajax also @@@@. it allows the user to interact with an executing data cleaning program to handle exceptional cases and to inspect intermediate results. finally, ajax provides @@@@ @@@@ that permits users to determine the source and processing of data for debugging purposes.  we will present the ajax system applied to two real world problems: the consolidation of a telecommunication database, and the conversion of a dirty database of bibliographic references into a set of clean, normalized, and redundancy free relational tables maintaining the same data.  helena galhardas daniela florescu dennis shasha eric simon
index structures for selective dissemination of information under the boolean model  the number, size, and user population of bibliographic and full-text document databases are rapidly growing. with a high document arrival rate, it becomes essential for users of such databases to have access to the very latest documents; yet the high document arrival rate also makes it difficult for users to keep themselves updated. it is desirable to allow users to submit profiles, i.e., queries that are constantly evaluated, so that they will be automatically informed of new additions that may be of interest. such service is traditionally called selective dissemination of information (sdi).  the high document arrival rate, the huge number of users, and the timeliness requirement of the service pose a challenge in achieving efficient sdl. in this article, we propose several index structures for indexing profiles and algorithms that efficiently match documents against large number of profiles. we also present analysis and simulation results to compare their performance under different scenarios.  tak w. yan hector garcia-molina
automatic information retrieval (tutorial and panel discussion)  information files of all kinds are now in common use---personnel records, parts inventories, customer account information, business correspondence, document holdings in libraries, patient records in hospitals, and so on. information retrieval systems are designed to help analyze and describe the items stored in a file, to organize them and search among them, and finally to retrieve them in response to a user's query.  designing and using a retrieval system involves four major activities: information analysis, information organization and search, query formulation, and information retrieval and dissemination. the tutorial and panel discussion are designed to examine the current developments in the field and to point the way to the future. the emphasis in the discussion will be placed on modern on- line retrieval services, automatic indexing and abstracting and novel text matching systems.  gerard salton
backtracking in a multiple-window hypertext environment  multi-window interfaces allow users to work on logically independent taks simultaneously in different sets of windows and to move among these logical tasks at will (e.g., through selecting a window in a different task). hypertext backtracking should be able to treat each logical task separately. combining all traversals in a single chronological history log would violate the user's mental model and cause disorientation. in this paper we introduce task-based backtracking, a technique for backtracking within the various logical tasks a user may be working on at any given time. we present a preliminary algorithm for its implementation. we also discuss several ramifications of multi-window backtracking including the types of events history logs must record, deleting nodes from history logs that appear in multiple logical tasks, and in general the choices hypermedia designers face in multi-window environments.  michael bieber jiangling wan
explaining collaborative filtering recommendations  automated collaborative filtering (acf) systems predict a person's affinity for items or information by connecting that person's recorded interests with the recorded interests of a community of people and sharing ratings between like-minded persons. however, current recommender systems are black boxes, providing no transparency into the working of the recommendation. explanations provide that transparency, exposing the reasoning and data behind a recommendation. in this paper, we address explanation interfaces for acf systems - how they should be implemented and why they should be implemented. to explore how, we present a model for explanations based on the user's conceptual model of the recommendation process. we then present experimental results demonstrating what components of an explanation are the most compelling. to address why, we present experimental evidence that shows that providing explanations can improve the acceptance of acf systems. we also describe some initial explorations into measuring how explanations can improve the filtering performance of users.  jonathan l. herlocker joseph a. konstan john riedl
database theory - past and future  we briefly sketch the development of the various branches of database theory. one important branch is the theory of relational databases, including such areas as dependency theory, universal- relation theory, and hypergraph theory. a second important branch is the theory of concurrency control and distributed databases. two other branches have not in the past been given the attention they deserve. one of these is "logic and databases," and the second is "object-oriented database systems," which to my thinking includes systems based on the network or hierarchical data models. both these areas are going to be more influential in the future.  j. d. ullman
dblearn: a system prototype for knowledge discovery in relational databases  a prototyped data mining system, dblearn, has been developed, which efficiently and effectively extracts different kinds of knowledge rules from relational databases. it has the following features: high level learning interfaces, tightly integrated with commercial relational database systems, automatic refinement of concept hierarchies, efficient discovery algorithms and good performance. substantial extensions of its knowledge discovery power towards knowledge mining in object-oriented, deductive and spatial databases are under research and development.  jiawei han yongjian fu yue huang yandong cai nick cercone
a response to r. camps' article "domains, relations and religious wars"  since it quotes extensively from writings of my own, i feel obliged to respond to the article "domains, relations and religious wars," by r. camps (sigmod record 25, no. 3, september 1996). in that article, camps is clearly suggesting (among other things) that my definition of the term "domain" has changed over the years. i agree, it has! but camps goes on to say: "… considering that [date's book an introduction to database systems] was the bible [camps' italics] where most university graduates all over the world learnt, i believe that date can be held partly responsible for the lack of implementation of domains [in today's sql dbmss]."  c. j. date
visual information foraging in a focus + context visualization  eye tracking studies of the hyperbolic tree browser [10] suggest that visual search in focus+context displays is highly affected by information scent (i.e., local cues, such as text summaries, used to assess and navigate toward distal information sources). when users detected a strong information scent, they were able to reach their goal faster with the hyperbolic tree browser than with a conventional browser. when users detected a weak scent or no scent, users exhibited less efficient search of areas with a high density of visual items. in order to interpret these results we present an integration of the code theory of visual attention (ctva) with information foraging theory. development of the ctva-foraging theory could lead to deeper analysis of interaction with visual displays of content, such as the world wide web or information visualizations.  peter pirolli stuart k. card mija m. van der wege
facilitating orientation in shared hypermedia workspaces  shared workspaces are an important means for supporting long-term synchronous and asynchronous collaboration. shared workspaces themselves become difficult to manage due to increasing size and constant change. this is especially true for shared hypermedia workspaces. thus means for managing the shared hypermedia workspace in terms of keeping an overview of the group's work and coordinating changes become necessary.  in this paper we propose a shared hypermedia workspace model representing not only shared content but also team and process related information. four complementary tools facilitate orientation and coordination in the shared workspace: a group aware content browser, a group aware overview browser, a shared workspace search tool, and a shared process space browser. together, these tools should enable groups to stay aware of each other's activities and to control the level of awareness according to their needs.  jörg m. haake
quasi-dynamic two-phase locking  among the plethora of concurrency control algorithms that have been proposed and analyzed, two-phase locking (2pl) has been adapted as the industry de facto standard concurrency control. in accord, current research in concurrency control is focusing on enhancing the scalability of 2pl performance in highly concurrent and contentious environments. this is especially needed in future on-line transaction processing systems, where thousand transaction per second performance will be required.  static locking (sl) and dynamic locking (dl) are two famous adaptations of 2pl that are used under different degrees of data contention. in this paper, we offer our observation that 2pl is indeed a family of methods, of which sl and dl are extreme case members. further, we argue for and verify the existence of other 2pl member methods that, under variable conditions, outperform sl and dl. we propose two novel schemes which we categorize as quasi-dynamic two- phase locking on account of their behavior in comparison with dynamic/static two-phase locking. we present a simulation study of the performance of the proposed schemes and their comparison to dynamic and static locking methods.  abdelsalam helal tung-hui ku jud fortner
method for distributed transaction commit and recovery using byzantine agreement within clusters of processors  this paper describes an application of byzantine agreement [dost82a, dost82c, lyff82] to distributed transaction commit. we replace the second phase of one of the commit algorithms of [moli83] with byzantine agreement, providing certain trade-offs and advantages at the time of commit and providing speed advantages at the time of recovery from failure. the present work differs from that presented in [dost82b] by increasing the scope (handling a general tree of processes, and multi-cluster transactions) and by providing an explicit set of recovery algorithms. we also provide a model for classifying failures that allows comparisons to be made among various proposed distributed commit algorithms. the context for our work is the highly available systems project at the ibm san jose research laboratory [aafkm83].  c. mohan r. strong s. finkelstein
warming up to computers: a study of cognitive and affective interaction over time  this experiment studies how people learn to use computers. four computer-naive persons performed six computer tasks at each of 20 task sessions over a one month period. participants were allowed to choose a menu- driven or command- driven dialogue at any point during the study. cognitive, affective, and performance variables were closely monitored. results generally support the appropriateness of a menu-driven dialogue for novice users and the transition to a command-driven dialogue after approximately 16 - 20 hours of task experience. with experience, users were shown to a) choose b) perform better, and c) be more satisfied with a command driven dialogue. results are explained within the context of a "cognitive schema" theory.  david m. gilfoil
an introduction to distributed cognition (tutorial session)(abstract only): analyzing the organizational, the social and the cognitive for designing and implementing cscw applications  goals and content: this tutorial will give a detailed overview of the theoretical and methodoligical framework of distributed cognition. detailed case studies will be presented to demonstrate how it can be applied to the design and implementation of cscw systems. participants will then put into practice the theory and methodology through hands-on group exercises using video material of actual and hypothetical work settings.  christine halverson yvonne rogers
interspace project - cybercampus (video program) (abstract only)  interspace is a revolutionary communication environment that allows users the flexibility of multi-modal interaction. people in interspace communicate using audio as well as video interaction in a three dimensional world. remote terimals are connected to a central server via networks. facial image, audio, and proximity, are processed and sent out to the remote terminals to enable multi-modal communication in a virtual world. interspace technology comes a step closer to bridging the gap between virtual reality and world experiences. we conducted a trial service, cybercampus, based on the interspace platform. individual actions can now be shared with other users as you explore, talk, shop, learn, and experience the many facets of cybercampus. environments related to entertainment, distance learning, on-line shopping, and advertisement are currently being explored in cybercampus with unlimited expansion capabilities.  cybercampus debuted in september 1995 and has been hosted by several universities and businesses in the san francisco area. preliminary usage suggests that multi-user, multi-modal interaction has a prominent role in the future of telecommunications.  shohei sugawara norihiko matsuura yoichi kato keiichi sasaki michita imai takashi yamana yasuyuki kiyosue kazunori shimamura tamoaki tanaka takashi nishimura carol leick tim takeuchi gen suzuki
a 3d audio only interactive web browser: using spatialization to convey hypermedia document structure  interactive audio browsers provide both sighted and visually impaired users with access to the www. in addition to the desktop pc, audio browsing technology can be deployed that enable users to browse the www using a telephone or while driving a car. this paper describes a new conceptual model of the html document structure and its mapping to a 3d audio space. novel features are discussed that provide information such as: an audio structural survey of the html document; accurate positional audio feedback of the source and destination anchors when traversing both inter-and intra-document links; a linguistic progress indicator; the announcement of destination document meta- information as new links are encountered. these new features can improve both the user's comprehension of the html document structure and their orientation within it. these factors, in turn, can improve the effectiveness of the browsing experience.  stuart goose carsten möller
devise: integrated querying and visual exploration of large datasets  devise is a data exploration system that allows users to easily develop, browse, and share visual presentation of large tabular datasets (possibly containing or referencing multimedia objects) from several sources. the devise framework is being implemented in a tool that has been already successfully applied to a variety of real applications by a number of user groups.  our emphasis is on developing an intuitive yet powerful set of querying and visualization primitives that can be easily combined to develop a rich set of visual presentations that integrate data from a wide range of application domains. while devise is a powerful visualization tool, its greatest strengths are the ability to interactively explore a visual presentation of the data at any level of detail (including retrieving individual data records), and the ability to seamlessly query and combine data from a variety of local and remote sources. in this paper, we present the devise framework, describe the current tool, and report on our experience in applying it to several real applications.  m. livny r. ramakrishnan k. beyer g. chen d. donjerkovic s. lawande j. myllymaki k. wenger
the trigs active object-oriented database system - an overview  the active object-oriented database system trigs has been developed as part of a larger ec esprit project aiming at the development of next-generation production scheduling and control systems [huem93]. the goal of this paper is to summarize the work on trigs which comprises both aspects concerning the development of the active system itself, and guidelines concerning the design of active databases.  g. kappel w. retschitzegger
improving electronic guidebook interfaces using a task-oriented design approach  item selection is a key problem in electronic guidebook design. many systems do not apply so-called context-awareness technologies to infer user interest, placing the entire burden of selection on the user. conversely, to make selection easier, many systems automatically eliminate information that they infer is not of interest to the user. however, such systems often eliminate too much information, preventing the user from finding what they want.  to realize the full potential of electronic guidebooks, designers must strike the right balance between automatic context- based inference and manual selection. in this paper, we introduce a task- oriented model of item selection for electronic guidebooks to help designers explore this continuum. we argue that item selection contains three sub-tasks and that these sub-tasks should be considered explicitly in system design. we apply our model to existing systems, demonstrating pitfalls of combining sub- tasks, and discuss how our model has improved the design of our own guidebook prototype.  paul m. aoki allison woodruff
sort sets in the relational model  the notion of sort set is introduced here to formalize the fact that certain database relations can be sorted so that two or more columns are simultaneously listed in order. this notion is shown to be applicable in several ways to enhance the efficiency of an implemented database. a characterization of when order dependency implies the existence of sort sets in a database is presented, along with several corollaries concerning complexity, armstrong relations, and cliques of certain graphs. sort-set dependencies are then introduced. a (finite) sound and complete set of inference rules for sort-set dependencies is presented, as well as a proof that there is no such set for functional and sort-set dependencies taken together. deciding logical implication for sort-set dependencies is proved to be polynomial, but if functional dependencies are included the problem is co- np-complete. each set of sort-set and functional dependencies is shown to have an armstrong relation. a natural generalization of armstrong relation, here called separator, is given and then used to study the relationship between order and sort-set dependencies.  seymour ginsburg richard hull
high speed on-line backup when using logical log operations  media recovery protects a database from failures of the stable medium by maintaining an extra copy of the database, called the backup, and a media recovery log. when a failure occurs, the database is "restored" from the backup, and the media recovery log is used to roll forward the database to the desired time, usually the current time. backup must be both fast and "on- line", i.e. concurrent with on-going update activity. conventional online backup sequentially copies from the stable database, almost independent of the database cache manager, but requires page-oriented log operations. but results of logical operations must be flushed to a stable database (a backup is a stable database) in a constrained order to guarantee recovery. this order is not naturally achieved for the backup by a cache manager concerned only with crash recovery. we describe a "full speed" backup, only loosely coupled to the cache manager, and hence similar to current online backups, but effective for general logical log operations. this requires additional logging of cached objects to guarantee media recoverability. we then show how logging can be greatly reduced when log operations have a constrained form which nonetheless provides very useful additional logging efficiency for database systems.  david b. lomet