waashk/acm huggingface dataset:
task scheduling using intertask dependencies in carnot  the carnot project at mcc is addressing the problem of logically unifying physically-distributed, enterprise-wide, heterogeneous information. carnot will provide a user with the means to navigate information efficiently and transparently, to update that information consistently, and to write applications easily for large, heterogeneous, distributed information systems. a prototype has been implemented which provides services for (a) enterprise modeling and model integration to create an enterprise-wide view, (b) semantic expansion of queries on the view to queries on individual resources, and (c) inter-resource consistency management. this paper describes the carnot approach to transaction processing in environments where heterogeneous, distributed, and autonomous systems are required to coordinate the update of the local information under their control. in this approach, subtransactions are represented as a set of tasks and a set of intertask dependencies that capture the semantics of a particular relaxed transaction model. a scheduler has been implemented which schedules the execution of these tasks in the carnot environment so that all intertask dependencies are satisfied.  darrell woelk paul attie phil cannata greg meredith amit sheth munindar singh christine tomlinson
pic matrices: a computationally tractable class of probabilistic query operators  the inference network model of information retrieval allows a probabilistic interpretation of query operators. in particular, boolean query operators are conveniently modeled as link matrices of the bayesian network. prior work has shown, however, that these operators do not perform as well as the pnorm operators used for modeling query operators in the context of the vector space model. this motivates the search for alternative probabilistic formulations for these operators. the design of such alternatives must contend with the issue of computational tractability, since the evaluation of an arbitrary operator requires exponential time. we define a flexible class of link matrices that are natural candidates for the implementation of query operators and an o< ;/italic>(n2) algorithm (n = the number of parent nodes) for the computation of probabilities involving link matrices of this class. we present experimental results indicating that boolean operators implemented in terms of link matrices from this class perform as well as pnorm operators in the context of the inquery inference network.  warren r. greiff w. bruce croft howard turtle
a decision-theoretic approach to database selection in networked ir  in networked ir, a client submits a query to a broker, which is in contact with a large number of databases. in order to yield a maximum number of documents at minimum cost, the broker has to make estimates about the retrieval cost of each database, and then decide for each database whether or not to use it for the current query, and if, how many documents to retrieve from it. for this purpose, we develop a general decision-theoretic model and discuss different cost structures. besides cost for retrieving relevant versus nonrelevant documents, we consider the following parameters for each database: expected retrieval quality, expected number of relevant documents in the database and cost factors for query processing and document delivery. for computing the overall optimum, a divide-and-conquer algorithm is given. if there are several brokers knowing different databases, a preselection of brokers can only be performed heuristically, but the computation of the optimum can be done similarily to the single-broker case. in addition, we derive a formula which estimates the number of relevant documents in a database based on dictionary information.  norbert fuhr
using thumbnails to search the web  we introduce a technique for creating novel, textually-enhanced thumbnails of web pages. these thumbnails combine the advantages of image thumbnails and text summaries to provide consistent performance on a variety of tasks. we conducted a study in which participants used three different types of summaries (enhanced thumbnails, plain thumbnails, and text summaries) to search web pages to find several different types of information. participants took an average of 67, 86, and 95 seconds to find the answer with enhanced thumbnails, plain thumbnails, and text summaries, respectively. we found a strong effect of question category. for some questions, text outperformed plain thumbnails, while for other questions, plain thumbnails outperformed text. enhanced thumbnails (which combine the features of text summaries and plain thumbnails) were more consistent than either text summaries or plain thumbnails, having for all categories the best performance or performance that was statistically indistinguishable from the best.  allison woodruff andrew faulring ruth rosenholtz julie morrsion peter pirolli
operations on sets in an oodb  in this article, we express some ideas on how to select an arbitrary set of objects, or to combine objects and information in the objects, in an arbitrary way. in the following will an object-oriented database be thought of as a collection of sets. the sets are collections of objects which all share a common message protocol. operations originating from relational algebra are defined on these sets. to make the retrieval of objects efficient, a storage strategy for objects is developed. combination of objects and changes in the objects' message protocol as a result of retrieval request, are solved by a filtering mechanism.  jorn andersen trygve reenskaug
agents2go: an infrastructure for location-dependent service discovery in the mobile electronic commerce environment  in recent years, the growth of electronic commerce and mobile computing has created a new concept of mobile electronic commerce. in this paper we describe the agents2go system that attempts to solve problems related to location dependence that arise in a mobile electronic commerce environment. agents2go is a distributed system that provides mobile users with the ability to obtain location dependent services and information. our system also automatically obtains a user's current geographical location in cdpd (cellular digital packet data) based systems without relying on external aids such as gps (global positioning system).  olga ratsimor vladimir korolev anupam joshi timothy finin
a process-oriented scientific database model  a database model is proposed for organizing data that describes natural processes studied experimentally. adapting concepts from object-oriented and temporal databases, this process-oriented scientific database model (posdbm) identifies two data object types (independent and dependent variables) and two types of relationships (becomes-a and affects-a) between data objects. successive versions of dependent variable objects are associated by the becomes-a relationship, while independent and dependent variable objects are associated by the affects-a relationship. thus, a process can be viewed as a sequence of states (versions) of a dependent variable object whose attributes are affected over time by independent variable objects.  j. michael pratt maxine cohen
fractals for secondary key retrieval  in this paper we propose the use of fractals and especially the hilbert curve, in order to design good distance-preserving mappings. such mappings improve the performance of secondary-key- and spatial- access methods, where multi- dimensional points have to be stored on an 1-dimensional medium (e.g., disk). good clustering reduces the number of disk accesses on retrieval, improving the response time. our experiments on range queries and nearest neighbor queries showed that the proposed hilbert curve achieves better clustering than older methods ("bit-shuffling", or peano curve), for every situation we tried.  c. faloutsos s. roseman
webquilt: a proxy-based approach to remote web usability testing webquilt is a web logging and visualization system that helps web design teams run usability tests (both local and remote) and analyze the collected data. logging is done through a proxy, overcoming many of the problems with server-side and client- side logging. captured usage traces can be aggregated and visualized in a zooming interface that shows the web pages people viewed. the visualization also shows the most common paths taken through the web site for a given task, as well as the optimal path for that task, as designated by the designer. this paper discusses the architecture of webquilt and describes how it can be extended for new kinds of analyses and visualizations.
normal forms and conservative properties for query languages over collection types  strong normalization results are obtained for a general language for collection types. an induced normal form for sets and bags is then used to show that the class of functions whose input has height (that is, the maximal depth of nestings of sets/bags/lists in the complex object) at most i and output has height at most o definable in a nested relational query language without powerset operator is independent of the height of intermediate expressions used. our proof holds regardless of whether the language is used for querying sets, bags, or lists, even in the presence of variant types. moreover, the normal forms are useful in a general approach to query optimization. paredaens and van gucht proved a similar result for the special case when i = o = 1. their result is complemented by hull and su who demonstrated the failure of independence when powerset operator is present and i = o = 1\. the theorem of hull and su was generalized to all i and o by grumbach and vianu. our result generalizes paredaens and van gucht's to all i and o, providing a counterpart to the theorem of grumbach and vianu.  limsoon wong
word processing in an m.i.s environment  a funny thing happened on the way to the "office of the future" \- wp type products (the step-children of the technology) have taken the lead in "extending the human resource" by the use of computing machinery for the support of office processes. one might mistake the previous statement for an extravagant claim. however, a quick review of some recent history will sustain my case:  one of the most awesome m.i.s. environments in existence is ibm. for a long time their office products operation was treated with disdain. the group made money - but, the place to be was dp! every cliche applicable to the aloftness and mystery of dp processes was fostered by this group. users, in terms of an organization's dp people, ate it up and enjoyed cloaking themselves in the mystique of dp. then came word processing. and quiet as it was kept - word processing machines were and are computing machines. the software developed for a word processor was and is simply another program - generally better written than most - designed to permit a user to manipulate text. at first, the wp product was very rigid and limited with the idea being "those wp folks can't handle anything else". the side effect in this kiss approach was the production of user - friendly software before it became fashionable.  jean green dorsey
building a user-defined interface  a measurably easy-to-use interface has been built using a novel technique. novices attempted an electronic mail task using a command-line interface containing no help, no menus, no documentation, and no instruction. a hidden operator intercepted commands when necessary, creating the illusion of a true interactive session. the software was repeatedly revised to recognize users' new commands; in essence, the users defined the interface. this procedure was used on 67 subjects. the first version of the software could recognize only 7% of all the subjects' spontaneously generated commands; the final version could recognize 76% of those commands. this experience contradicts the idea that people are not good at designing their own command languages. through careful observation and analysis of user behavior, a mail interface unusable by novices evolved into one that let novices do useful work within minutes.  dennis wixon john whiteside michael good sandra jones
incremental database systems: databases from the ground up  this paper discusses a new approach to database management systems that is better suited to a wide class of new applications such as scientific, hypermedia, and financial applications. these applications are characterized by their need to store large amounts of raw, unstructured data. our premise is that, in these situations, database systems need a way to store data without imposing a schema, and a way to provide a schema incrementally as we process the data. this requires that the raw data be mapped in complex ways to an evolving schema.  stanley b. zdonik
adaptive information filtering: detecting changes in text streams  the task of information filtering is to classify documents from a stream as either relevant or non-relevant according to a particular user interest with the objective to reduce information load. when using an information filter in an environment that is changing with time, methods for adapting the filter should be considered in order to retain classification accuracy. we favor a methodology that attempts to detect changes and adapts the information filter only if inevitable in order to minimize the amount of user feedback for providing new training data. yet, detecting changes may require costly user feedback as well. this paper describes two methods for detecting changes without user feedback. the first method is based on evaluating an expected error rate, while the second one observes the fraction of classification decisions made with a confidence below a given threshold. further, a heuristics for automatically determining this threshold is suggested and the performance of this approach is experimentally explored as a function of the threshold parameter. some empirical results show that both methods work well in a simulated change scenario with real world data.  carsten lanquillon ingrid renz
human factors in information filing and retrieval  session overview: the development of, and increased reliance on, advanced workstations by a variety of users is creating the need for more user oriented filing and retrieving systems. with manuscripts, reports, personal mail, and data being stored in computers, the need for simplifying the storage and access of this information is increasing in importance. part of this simplifying process has to address the problem of remembering file structure and file names, keywords, passwords, and other retrieval cues all of which can be very taxing to the user.  the purpose of this session is to focus on those cognitive issues which affect user performance and satisfaction in the filing and retrieving of information from computer systems.  raoul n. smith
improving collaborative filtering with multimedia indexing techniques to create user-adapting web sites  the internet is evolving from a static collection of hypertext, to a rich assortment of dynamic services and products targeted at millions of internet users. for most sites it is a crucial matter to keep a close tie between the users and the site.  more and more web sites build close relationships with their users by adapting to their needs and therefore providing a personal experience. one aspect of personalization is the recommendation and presentation of information and products so that users can access the site more efficiently. however, powerful filtering technology is required in order to identify relevant items for each user.  in this paper we describe how collaborative filtering and content-based filtering can be combined to provide better performance for filtering information. filtering techniques of various nature are integrated in a weighed mix to achieve more robust results and to profit from automatic multimedia indexing technologies. the combined approach is evaluated in a prototype user-adapting web site, the active webmuseum.  arnd kohrs bernard merialdo
extending the spreadsheet interface to handle approximate quantities and relationships  conventional spreadsheet programs offer a very convenient user interface for many quantitative tasks, but they are restricted to handling precisely- specified quantities and calculations. asp is a generalized spreadsheet that extends the basic spreadsheet paradigm to encompass quantities which are not known exactly, and functions which are not known well enough to permit calculation. asp works by propagating assertions about quantities and functions through the network of relationships that the spreadsheet defines.  clayton lewis
situating conversations within the language/action perspective: the milan conversation model  the debate on the language/action perspective has been receiving attention in the cscw field for almost ten years. in this paper, we recall the most relevant issues raised during this debate, and propose a new exploitation of the language/action perspective by considering it from the viewpoint of understanding the complexity of communication within work processes and the situatedness of work practices. on this basis, we have defined a new conversation model, the milan conversation model, and we are designing a new conversation handler to implement it.  giorgio de michelis m. antonietta grasso
mind your vocabulary: query mapping across heterogeneous information sources  in this paper we present a mechanism for translating constraint queries, i.e., boolean expressions of constraints, across heterogeneous information sources. integrating such systems is difficult in part because they use a wide range of constraints as the vocabulary for formulating queries. we describe algorithms that apply user-provided mapping rules to translate query constraints into ones that are understood and supported in another context, e.g., that use the proper operators and value formats. we show that the translated queries minimally subsume the original ones. furthermore, the translated queries are also the most compact possible. unlike other query mapping work, we effectively consider inter-dependencies among constraints, i.e., we handle constraints that cannot be translated independently. furthermore, when constraints are not fully supported, our framework explores relaxations (semantic rewritings) into the closest supported version. our most sophisticated algorithm (algorithm tdqm) does not blindly convert queries to dnf (which would be easier to translate, but expensive); instead it performs a top-down mapping of a query tree, and does local query structure conversion only when necessary.  chen-chuan k. chang hector garcia-molina
information technology and transaction processing jobs: a cognitive approach  this project investigates the job of a particular group of computer users, here termed "transaction processors", using a cognitive psychological perspective.  the project involves a blend of two approaches. one approach to analyzing computer use is represented in the human-computer interaction research literature, well exemplified by the acm sigchi bulletin. typically, this research is driven by a specific phenomenon (e.g. the choice of command names, screen layout, menu structures) and investigates this aspect of an interface, often in a laboratory setting, using quantitative measures of user performance and drawing on the techniques of cognitive (information processing) psychology. a second approach involves the analysis of characteristics of computer-mediated jobs and the development of profiles of different user groups (e.g. [1,2]). this research implicitly discusses some cognitive features (e.g. the repetitiveness of information processing required of the user), but in a qualitative way. the present project attempts to combine these approaches by examining explicitly the cognitive factors involved in the jobs of a particular class of computer users.  the project examines an increasingly important class of computer users who perform transactions using the system as a tool, and actively input instructions and retrieve information to achieve the desired result. obvious examples include bank tellers, travel agents, money markets and users of various computer-based ordering systems.  these users have been chosen for two reasons. firstly, more and more jobs involving transactions are being computerized, and it is therefore likely that there will be increasing pressure to design efficient and effective systems for transaction processors. secondly, the tools provided by cognitive psychology seem particularly applicable here. these users' jobs are relatively tangible and have moderate structure, compared with the less structured jobs of managers. at the same time, they are less stereotyped than jobs of other groups (notably, data entry clerks).  the research will initially focus on two examples of transaction processors: bank tellers and travel agents. it will attempt to identify any common cognitive factors involved in these jobs. for example, are these processing rate limitations such that users become less able to cope if they attempt to work too fast? if so, can such limitations be overcome using other design features? are there typical cognitive strategies or "shortcuts" developed by users to navigate through their system?  answers to such questions will be very important in attempting to build a comprehensive research framework encompassing the user's job as a whole, in addition to the detailed moment-to-moment user-computer interaction, usually emphasized in the human-computer interaction literature.  a. bodi c. lees
on saying "enough already!" in sql  in this paper, we study a simple sql extension that enables query writers to explicitly limit the cardinality of a query result. we examine its impact on the query optimization and run-time execution components of a relational dbms, presenting two approaches---a conservative approach and an aggressive approach \---to exploiting cardinality limits in relational query plans. results obtained from an empirical study conducted using db2 demonstrate the benefits of the sql extension and illustrate the tradeoffs between our two approaches to implementing it.  michael j. carey donald kossmann
spatio-temporal representation and retrieval using moving object's trajectories  in this paper, we propose a new spatio-temporal representation scheme using moving objects' trajectories in video data. in order to support content-based retrieval on video data very well, our representation scheme considers the moving distance of an object during a given time interval as well as its temporal and spatial relations. based on our representation scheme, we present a new similarity measure algorithms for the trajectory of moving objects, which provides ranking for the retrieved video results. finally, we show from our experiment that our representation scheme achieves about 20% higher precision while holding about the same recall, compared with li's and shan's schemes.  choon-bo shim jae-woo chang
providing database-like access to the web using queries based on textual similarity  most databases contain "name constants" like course numbers, personal names, and place names that correspond to entities in the real world. previous work in integration of heterogeneous databases has assumed that local name constants can be mapped into an appropriate global domain by normalization. here we assume instead that the names are given in natural language text. we then propose a logic for database integration called whirl which reasons explicitly about the similarity of local names, as measured using the vector- space model commonly adopted in statistical information retrieval. an implemented data integration system based on whirl has been used to successfully integrate information from several dozen web sites in two domains.  william w. cohen