Abstract not found

Docnnients are central to the firnctioning of an organization. Amting other roles, they are critically important as a means of communication, as organizational memor?,, and in business processes. In addition, office workers spend as much as 60 percerrt of their time handling documents. For these reasons, many organizations have tried to improve document handlirtg and use through the application of information technology, but progress in this area has been slow. However, recent technological advances, sl4ch as new storage technologies, higher computation speeds, and system integration, are lifting many of the traditional restrictions on the conversion of paper to electronic systems, and on the media richness of these electronic documents. As a result, many of the envisioned benefits of electronic docl4ment management (EDM) are within reach. Sl4ccessfL41 exploitation of these benefits requires managers to address specific issues in system design, system implementation, and organizational support. 1.

Abstract. We are exploring the use of hypermedia to build information systems to support design by providing a structured database of issues and arguments relevant to the task at hand. For even relatively simple domains the issue base is large and strategies are needed to guide the user to the relevant information. A technique known as "virtual structures " allows the hyperdocument to react to the changing design situation, presenting the designers with a view that is tailored to the problem they are trying to solve. 1.

Computers require formally represented information to perform computations that support users; yet users who have needed such support have often proved to be unable or unwilling to formalize it. To address this problem, this paper introduces an approach called incremental formalization, in which, first, users express information informally and then the system aids them in formalizing it. Incremental formalization requires a system architecture that 1) integrates formal and informal representations and 2) supports progressive formalization of information. The system should have both tools to capture naturally available informal information and techniques to suggest possible formalizations of this information. The Hyper-Object Substrate (HOS) was developed to satisfy these requirements. HOS has been applied to a number of problem domains, including network design, archeological site analysis and neuroscience education. Users have been successful in adding informal information and then later formalizing it incrementally with the aid of the system. Our experience with HOS has reaffirmed the need for information spaces to evolve during use and has identified additional considerations in the design and instantiation of systems enabling and supporting incremental formalization.

This paper presents a general information structure model and an interface design that allows users to search and interact with the structure. Both draw power from simplicity. The objective is to develop an intuitive information structure model that is immediately obvious to the user. The unified information structure model integrates information retrieval, hypermedia systems, database systems, and expert systems. The user of such a system accomplishes hypermedia navigation, retrieval, and inference all with the one search syntax that is as simple and natural as it is general and powerful. The paper demonstrates the essential unity of database, expert, information retrieval, and hypermedia systems and discusses the dimensions of a design space in which specific systems can be located. The unified view is developed through a borrow-and-generalize strategy: Find an example from one context, abstract a principle from the example, and apply the principle in another context. Many examples i...

The most important factor determining the usability of electronic documents (e.g. hypertexts) is neither the set of links within the material nor the structure of the database but the availability "hypertools" defined as a vast range of electronic tools to support a diversity of reading activities. To illustrate this point, an analysis is undertaken of reading done for the purpose of using the information within a document to assist in tasks involving planning, decision making, and problem solving. Secondly, many readers start with the goals of finding, comparing, and evaluating information. Tools can help them realize these goals by supporting the activities of searching, collecting, and manipulating information. Other tools help people explore task requirements, enable them to preplan details of their interaction with the text, enhance their use of other tools, and optimize their screen-based working environment. It is argued that the support available for people working with electro...

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Computers require formally represented information to perform computations that support users; yet users who have needed such support have often proved to be unable or unwilling to formalize it. To address this problem, this paper introduces an approach called incremental formalization, in which, first, users express information informally and then the system aids them in formalizing it. Incremental formalization requires a system architecture that 1) integrates formal and informal representations and 2) supports progressive formalization of information. The system should have both tools to capture naturally available informal information and techniques to suggest possible formalizations of this information. The Hyper-Object Substrate (HOS) was developed to satisfy these requirements. HOS has been applied to a number of problem domains, including network design, archeological site analysis and neuroscience education. Users have been successful in adding informal information and then later formalizing it incrementally with the aid of the system. Our experience with HOS has reaffirmed the need for information spaces to evolve during use and has identified additional considerations in the design and instantiation of systems enabling and supporting incremental formalization.