David D. Sherertz

Collaborative conversational interfaces

This paper proposes a method of designing human-computer speech interfaces based on principles of human conversation. It argues that conversation is the primary mode of language use and that it is fundamentally collaborative. Speech interfaces should therefore be designed to recreate the collaborative nature of natural conversations. The paper presents five strategies for designingcollaborative conversational interfaces, and it describes the principles of human-language use that underly these strategies. The paper also argues that collaborative conversational interfaces have a crucial advantage over other kinds of interfaces in that they are readily adaptive to different levels of experience and styles of use. The paper gives examples of collaborative conversational interfaces that we have developed, and discusses the ways in which these interfaces have been made adaptive.

Knowledge architectures for patient access to breast-cancer information

To provide resourceful information about breast-cancer diagnosis and treatment, the authors worked with frequently-asked question (FAQ) files to create an effective breast-cancer knowledge server. They discuss the challenge of using FAQs to accommodate breast-cancer patients and their diverse information needs.

A balanced view of MUMPS

The MUMPS programming system was designed and developed to facilitate shared conversational access to a hierarchically-organized data base on a small computer. The MUMPS language, which has recently been standardized, contains features for numeric and string operations, along with a built-in file system called globals, embedded in a multiprogrammed execution environment. This paper gives an overview of the MUMPS language and a typical MUMPS system, then evaluates MUMPS in terms of modern notions of programming languages and software development. Despite the many attractive features for the development of interactive programs, MUMPS is seen to have a number of shortcomings when evaluated in this way. Among the problem areas are weakness of control structures, the ability to write self-modifying code, the incomprehensibility of most MUMPS programs, and the lack of support given by the language to notions of abstraction and modularity.

WORD AND OBJECT IN DISEASE DESCRIPTIONS

Experiments were conducted on a book, Current Medical Information and Terminolog~, (AMA, Chicago, 1971, edited by Burgess Gordon, M.D.), which is a compendium of 3262 diseases, each of which is defined by a collection of attributes. The original purpose of the book was to introduce a standard nomenclature of disease names, and the attributes are organized in conventional medical form: a definition consists of a brief description of the relevant symptoms, signs, laboratory findings, and the like. Each disease is, in addition, assigned to one (or at most two) of eleven disease categories which enumerate physiological systems (skin, respiratory, cardiovascular, etc.). While the editorial style of the book is highly telegraphic, with many attributes being expressed as single words, it is nevertheless easily readable (see Figure i).