Chienting Lin

A parallel computing approach to creating engineering concept spaces for semantic retrieval: the Illinois Digital Library Initiative project

This research presents preliminary results generated from the semantic retrieval research component of the Illinois Digital Library Initiative (DLI) project. Using a variation of the automatic thesaurus generation techniques, to which we refer to as the concept space approach, we aimed to create graphs of domain-specific concepts (terms) and their weighted co-occurrence relationships for all major engineering domains. Merging these concept spaces and providing traversal paths across different concept spaces could potentially help alleviate the vocabulary (difference) problem evident in large-scale information retrieval. In order to address the scalability issue related to large-scale information retrieval and analysis for the current Illinois DLI project, we conducted experiments using the concept space approach on parallel supercomputers. Our test collection included computer science and electrical engineering abstracts extracted from the INSPEC database. The concept space approach called for extensive textual and statistical analysis (a form of knowledge discovery) based on automatic indexing and co-occurrence analysis algorithms, both previously tested in the biology domain. Initial testing results using a 512-node CM-5 and a 16-processor SGI Power Challenge were promising.

Tools for distributed facilitation

We have extensive experience with distributed facilitation of synchronous virtual meetings since 1992. More recently, we have gained experience in asynchronous virtual meetings and have learned lessons from which best practices have been distilled. Best practices for synchronous and asynchronous distributed facilitation give insight into requirements for toolsets. Our experience with toolsets, including (1) widely available unstructured toolsets, (2) virtual reality offices, and (3) persistent visualization, provide direction for further tool development.

Mapping Medical Informatics Research

The ability to create a big picture of a knowledge domain is valuable to both experts and newcomers, who can use such a picture to orient themselves in the field’s intellectual space, track the dynamics of the field, or discover potential new areas of research. In this chapter we present an overview of medical informatics research by applying domain visualization techniques to literature and author citation data from the years 1994–2003. The data was gathered from NLM’s MEDLINE database and the ISI Science Citation Index, then analyzed using selected techniques including self-organizing maps and citation networks. The results of our survey reveal the emergence of dominant subtopics, prominent researchers, and the relationships among these researchers and subtopics over the ten-year period.

Internet browsing and searching (poster): user evaluations of category map and concept space techniques

pages indicated that there was limited overlap between The Internet provides an exceptional testbed for develthe homepages retrieved by the subject-suggested and oping algorithms that can improve browsing and searchthesaurus-suggested terms. Since the retrieved homeing large information spaces. Browsing and searching pages for the most part were different, this suggests that tasks are susceptible to problems of information overa user can enhance a keyword-based search by using load and vocabulary differences. Much of the current an automatically generated concept space. Subjects esresearch is aimed at the development and refinement of pecially liked the level of control that they could exert algorithms to improve browsing and searching by adover the search, and the fact that the terms suggested dressing these problems. Our research was focused on by the thesaurus were ‘‘real’’ ( i.e., originating in the discovering whether two of the algorithms our research homepages) and therefore guaranteed to have retrieval group has developed, a Kohonen algorithm category success. map for browsing, and an automatically generated concept space algorithm for searching, can help improve browsing and/or searching the Internet. Our results indicate that a Kohonen self-organizing map (SOM)-based

COPLINK agent: an architecture for information monitoring and sharing in law enforcement

In this paper, we report our work on developing and evaluating a prototype system aimed at addressing the information monitoring and sharing challenges in the law enforcement domain. Our system, called COPLINK Agent, is designed to provide automatic information filtering and monitoring functionalities. This system also supports knowledge sharing by proactively identifying officers who are working on the same or similar cases on a real-time basis. To accommodate the mobile needs of law enforcement officers who are constantly in the field, COPLINK Agent can deliver messages through a variety of communications channels including e-mail, pager, and mobile phones. In order to assess the effectiveness of COPLINK Agent, we conducted a pilot user study at the Tucson Police Department. Overall, COPLINK Agent was shown to be an effective tool for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of criminal investigations in crimes such as gang, theft, and fraud.