: The development of knowledge-based systems involves the management of a diversity of knowledge sources, computing resources and system users, often geographically distributed. The knowledge acquisition, modeling and representation communities have developed a wide range of tools relevant to the development and management of large-scale knowledge-based systems, but the majority of these tools run on individual workstations and use specialist data formats making system integration and knowledge interchange very problematic. However, widespread access to the Internet has led to a new era of distributed client-server computing. In particular, the introduction of support for forms on World Wide Web in late 1993 has provided an easily programmable, cross-platform graphic user interface that has become widely used in innovative interactive systems. This article reports on the development of open architecture knowledge management tools operating through the web to support knowledge acquisiti...

: The numerous tasks required by the knowledge engineering process and their inherent complexity combine to make building knowledge-based systems both a time consuming and arduous activity. The key to reducing the complexity of the problem is to provide a methodological framework which can clarify the nature of the intermediate steps required to effectively encode knowledge into a performance system. Such a framework can then be used to drive the design of a comprehensive knowledge engineering toolkit. This is the approach we adopted in the Keats project. In this paper, we provide an overview of the Keats knowledge engineering methodology, which is based on a view of knowledge engineering as iterative refinement of qualitatively and teleologically different models, and we show how these ideas have driven the design of the Keats toolkit. 1. INTRODUCTION The construction of large, knowledge-based applications is a complex task that comprises a number of activities and involves various p...

This paper addresses the problem of specifying, retrieving, filtering and rating Web searches so as to improve the relevance and quality of hits, based on the user’s search intent and preferences. We present a methodology and architecture for an agent-based system, called WebSifter II, that captures the semantics of a user’s decisionoriented search intent, transforms the semantic query into target queries for existing search engines, and then ranks the resulting page hits according to a user-specified weighted-rating scheme. Users create personalized search taxonomies via our Weighted Semantic-Taxonomy Tree. The terms in the tree can be refined by consulting a web taxonomy agent such as Wordnet. The concepts represented in the tree are then transformed into a collection of queries processed by existing search engines. Each returned page is rated according to userspecified preferences such as semantic relevance, syntactic relevance, categorical match, page popularity and authority/hub rating. 1.

In this paper, we employ the fuzzy repertory table technique to acquire the necessary domain knowledge for software a ents to act as sellers and buyers usin a bilateral, multi-al,g ne otiation model that can achieve optimal results in semi-competitive environments.

This paper addresses several problems associated with the specification of Web searches, and the retrieval, filtering, and rating of Web pages in order to improve the relevance, precision and quality of search results. A methodology and architecture for an agent-based system, WebSifter is presented, that captures the semantics of a user’s search intent, transforms the semantic query into target queries for existing search engines, and ranks resulting page hits according to a user-specified, weighted-rating scheme. Users create personalized search taxonomies, in the form of a Weighted Semantic-Taxonomy Tree. Consultation with a Webbased ontology agent refines the terms in the tree with positively- and negatively-related terms. The concepts represented in the tree are then transformed into queries processed by existing search engines. Each returned page is rated according to user-specified preferences such as semantic relevance, syntactic relevance, categorical match, and page popularity. Experimental results indicate that WebSifter improves the precision of web searches, thereby leading to better information. 1

: The strengths and weaknesses of our earlier system, KEATS-1, have led us to embark upon the design and implementation of a new knowledge engineering environment, KEATS-2, which provides a novel, integrated framework for performing both bottom-up and top-down knowledge acquisition. In this paper we discuss the nature of the knowledge acquisition activities and we introduce the support tools embedded in KEATS-2. We characterize knowledge acquisition as the composition of knowledge elicitation, data analysis and domain conceptualization and we emphasize that a knowledge engineering tool has to support these activities as well as bridging the gap between acquiring the data and implementing the final system. Acknowledgement: This research is supported by a grant from British Telecommunications, plc. Steven Rose and Mike Stewart of the Open University's Brain Research Group provided valuable domain expertise. 1. THE PROBLEM OF KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION The most popular principle in knowledge...

Abstract. This paper describes Expedition, an environment designed to facilitate the quick ramp-up of MT systems from practically any alphabetic language (L) into English. The central component of Expedition is a knowledge elicitation system that guides a linguistically naive bilingual speaker through the process of describing L in terms of its ecological, morphological, grammatical, lexical, and transfer information. Expedition also includes a module for converting the elicited information into the format expected by the underlying MT system and an MT engine that relies on both the elicited knowledge and resident knowledge about English. The Expedition environment is integrated using a configuration and control system. Expedition represents an innovative approach to answering the need for rapid-configuration MT by preparing an MT system in which the only missing link is information about L, which is elicited in a structured fashion such that it can be directly exploited by the system. In this paper we report on the current state of Expedition with an emphasis on the knowledge elicitation system. 1.

: Intelligent Tutoring Systems require three different kinds of knowledge: the domain to be taught, techniques of teaching, and characteristics of the student. As such it is worth considering the extent to which knowledge acquisition techniques for conventional expert systems can be applied, and in particular those which aim to semi-automate the process. This paper considers some of the special features of knowledge for ITS that make a direct use of the knowledge acquisition techniques inappropriate. A particular kind of knowledge representation technique, the applicable rule is presented and its implications for knowledge acquisition noted. By considering the results of using a knowledge acquisition interface developed for obtaining information about second language learning and using the concept of applicable rules, the issues that subsequent knowledge acquisition systems for ITS should address are presented. Keywords: Knowledge Acquisition, Knowledge Representation, Student Models, ...

Abstract: The development of knowledge-based systems involves the management of a diversity of knowledge sources, computing resources and system users, often geographically distributed. The knowledge acquisition, modeling and representation communities have developed a wide range of tools relevant to the development and management of large-scale knowledge-based systems, but the majority of these tools run on individual workstations and use specialist data formats making system integration and knowledge interchange very problematic. The World Wide Web is a distributed hypermedia system available internationally through the Internet. It provides general-purpose client-server technology which supports interaction through documents with embedded graphic user interfaces. This paper reports on the development of open architecture knowledge management tools operating through the web to support knowledge acquisition, representation and inference through semantic networks and repertory grids. It illustrates how web technology provides a new knowledge medium in which knowledge-based system methodologies and tools can be integrated with hypermedia technologies to provide a new generation of knowledge management facilities. 1

: The theoretical foundations for individual and collective dynamics are developed in terms of relations between knowledge structures. Neither individuals nor collectives need to be consistent in their knowledge structures to achieve effective performance, and the notion of conflict arises in modeling failures in coordination attributed to such inconsistency. Methodologies for eliciting and modeling knowledge structures from individuals and groups are described, and examples are given of the methodologies applied through computer-based systems to make overt the nature and sources of conflict. INTRODUCTION The focus of the research reported in this paper is the effective channeling of conflict in cooperative groups to achieve group objectives. Our theoretical position is constructivist in viewing conflict, both intra-individual and inter-individuals, as natural and essential to adaptive, anticipatory systems. Social processes enable the human species to form compound entities with a g...