art_laha@nfosys.com ABSRAC Enhancmnt of tchnology-basd systm support for knowldg workrs s an ssu of grat mportanc. h Knowldg work Support Systm (KwSS) framwork analyzs ths ssu from a holstc prspctv. KwSS proposs a st of dsgn prncpls for buldng a comprhnsv I-basd support systm, whch nhancs th capablty of a human agnt for prformng a st of complx and ntrrlatd knowldg-works rlvant to on or mor targt task-typs wthn a doman of profssonal actvts. In ths papr, w propos a hgh-lvl, softwar-agnt basd archtctur for ralzng a KwSS systm that ncorporats ths dsgn prncpls. Hr w focus on dvlopng a numbr of crucal nablng componnts of th archtctur, ncludng (1) an Actvty hory-basd novl modlng tchnqu for knowldgntnsv actvts; (2) a graph thor tc formalsm for rprsntng ths modls n a knowldg bas n conuncton wth rlvant ntty taxonoms/ontologs; and (3) an algorthm for rasonng, usng th knowldg bas, about varous aspcts of possbl supports for actvts at prformanc-tm. Catgors and Subct Dscrptors H.4 [Informaton Systms Applcatons]: Mscllanous; I.2.4 [Computng Mthodologs]: ARIFICIAL INELLIGENCE Knowldg Rprsntaton Formalsms and Mthods Gnral rms Algorthms, Dsgn, hory. Kywords knowldg-work, assstv systm, actvty modlng, agnt-basd archtctur, actvty thory, knowldg rprsntaton, rasonng 1. INRODUCION Corrct and ffcnt prformanc of a profssonal knowldg work (hncforth rfrrd smply as knowldg-work ) can brng about wd-rangng bnfts across multpl lvls, rangng from ndvdual to soctal. A knowldg-work, also calld a task or proct, s typcally prformd wthn a doman of profssonal actvts,.g., busnss, govrnanc, basc and appld rsarch, halthcar tc., n ordr to solv problms of tactcal and/or stratgc naturs. Laha [9] proposd a framwork for dsgnng Informaton Warhous (IW) as a spcalzd Prmsson to mak dgtal or hard cops of all or part of ths work for prsonal or classroom us s grantd wthout f provdd that cops ar not mad or dstrbutd for proft or commrcal advantag and that cops bar ths notc and th full ctaton on th frst pag. o copy othrws, or rpublsh, to post on srvrs or to rdstrbut to lsts, rqurs pror spcfc prmsson and/or a f. Confrnc 10, Month 1 2, 2010, Cty, Stat, Country. Copyrght 2010 ACM 1-58113-000-0/00/0010 $10.00. rpostory of granular and rchly contxtualzd nformaton sharabl among a numbr of task-spcfc Knowldg-work Support Systms (KwSS). In ths papr w ar ntrstd n th archtctural aspcts of a sngl KwSS. hus, wthout loss of gnralty, w shall rfr to th ntr framwork as th KwSS framwork, of whch th IW s a componnt that srvs as a ddcatd nformaton rpostory. h mportanc and rlvanc of th problm addrssd by KwSS framwork [9] can b sn from th rcnt spat of works and ntatvs that ar addrssng varous facts of th problm. h ASAP [4] and th Codx [14] attmpt at sgnfcantly mprovng th support lvl for works n domans of gnom rsarch and gography rsarch rspctvly. h US govrnmnt's SHARP [13] proct mandats rsarch nto ssus for buldng comprhnsv support systms for patnt-car tasks. Also, thr ar a fw ongong rsarch procts that attmpt to nhanc th lvl of support for knowldg-works n varous domans. Exampls of such ntatvs nclud NEPOMUK - h Socal Smantc Dsktop (http://npomuk.smantcdsktop.org/), X - Mda (Larg Scal Knowldg Sharng and Rus across Mda - http://www.x-mda-proct.org/), PALEE (Pdago gcally sustand Adaptv Larnng through th Explotaton of act and Explct Knowldg - http://paltt.rcm.org/). Each of th abov s dsgnd for on or mor prdtrmnd tasks n a partcular doman and addrss a lmtd numbr of facts of th problm spac. In contrast, th KwSS framwork s largly doman-agnostc and task-nutral, that can b lvragd to mplmnt a KwSS systm for any chosn task n any chosn doman. Furthr, th framwork s basd on a mor holstc and dpr vw of th problm than any of th abov fforts. In th currnt papr, a gnral systm archtctur to ad/gud mplmntatons of KwSS systms s dvlopd. Hr w us th noton of softwar agnts [15] as componnts of th archtctur bcaus, (1) w nvson a KwSS as an volvng systm; and (2) w want dffrnt consttunt moduls/sub-systms to rspond both on-dmand as wll as proactvly. 2. SYSEM SUPPOR: HE KWSS WAY In th contxt of KwSS, a knowldg-work s prformd by on or mor knowldg-workrs who possss th rqust xprts and xprnc. Durng th prformanc, a workr typcally nds to gathr a sgnfcant body of nformaton from varous sourcs, undrstand and ntrprt th nformaton n th contxt of th currnt problm. hs lads to th workr ganng knowldg about possbl soluton(s). Onc n posssson of th knowldg, th workr artculats t n th form of varous sharabl/communcabl nformatonal artfacts (plan, dsgn, rport, advs, tc.). In all, a knowldg-work s a complx
ntracton btwn human mnd and nvronmnt add by nformaton and tools for manpulatng nformaton. A KwSS s an nformaton procssng systm and maks no clam at bng abl to do th thnkng on bhalf of a knowldgworkr. From functonal vwpont, th KwSS prcvs a knowldg-work as consumpton/absorpton of nformaton and producton/craton of nw nformaton, togthr rfrrd hr as nformaton usag, by human agnts. Essntally, a KwSS ams to crat a support nvronmnt that sgnfcantly nhancs th capablty of a workr to fnd rlvant (.., worth consumng) nformaton as wll as artculat and rcord nw nformaton worth communcatng/sharng. On of th crucal and dffrntatng prmss of th KwSS framwork s that actual procsss of nformaton usag tak plac durng prformanc of varous smallr, cogntvly managabl knowldg-ntnsv actvts, hraftr rfrrd smply as actvts, whch consttut a largr task. Basd on ths facts and thr varous mplcatons [8, 9], th framwork argus that a systm, n ordr to sgnfcantly nhanc support for prformng psods of a knowldg-work, must am supportng granularty lvls of ths cogntvly managabl actvts, whl mantanng th structur of th whol task. o llustrat varous ponts ovr th rst of th papr w shall us as xampls, stuatons from patnt-car as a knowldg-work, whr a physcan and hr collagus trat an alng patnt. W shall assum that a patnt-car KwSS s bng usd for fulfllng rqurmnts of nformaton accss, craton and rcordng. Not that, patnt-car s chosn as an xampl as most radrs ar lkly to b famlar wth t. Both th framwork and archtctur dvlopd latr can b usd for buldng systm to support any knowldg-work. In th followng subscton maor aspcts of nformaton usag consdrd wthn th KwSS framwork ar dscrbd. 2.1 Cognton-rlatd Support Prformanc of a knowldg-work maks grat dmand on th cogntv/ntllctual facults of a knowldg-workr. Unfortunatly, our cogntv ablty to focus our attnton to a task s nnatly lmtd [1]. o ovrcom ths lmtaton, a common practc s to dcompos a larg, complx actvty nto smallr sub-actvts untl, gvn th avalablty of rlvant rsourcs (xprts, nformaton, support systms), ach of th granuls of actvts s cogntvly managabl. For xampl, th task of patnt-car s dvdd nto xamnaton, dagnoss, tratmnt, follow-up and so on. h actvty xamnaton s furthr dcomposd nto rcordng of symptoms (hadach, stffnss of lmbs, tc.), fndng/masurng sgns (body tmpratur, blood prssur lvl, tc.) and collcton of mdcal hstory. h KwSS dsgn framwork rcommnds that th support for a task should b xtndd to th lvl of granularty of actvts, whr thy ar actually prformd,.., nformaton s consumd and nw knowldg gand and artculatd. h granular lvl supports nvsagd n KwSS nclud th aras dscrbd blow. 2.1.1 Mantnanc of Contxt In ordr to prform an actvty, a knowldg-workr nds to construct and actvly mantan a mntal modl of th workcontxt. hs rqurs a hgh dgr of cogntv ffort. A KwSS strvs to provd sgnfcant ad n ths rspct. It attmpts to locat nough contxtual n formaton, prsnt thm to a workr and mantan as wll as transfr t among ntrrlatd actvts so that th a human workr can us th nformaton as cus/hnts to (r)construct and ffctvly mantan hr mntal modl wth sgnfcantly lssr ffort. In othr words, a KwSS nds to mantan an adquat rprsntaton of th contxt of and across th actvts t supports. 2.1.2 Accss to rlvant nformaton Durng th prformanc of a knowldg-work, a workr nds to accss sgnfcant volum of rlvant nformaton. h procsss nvolvd n nformaton skng and rtrval, udgng thr rlvanc and subsqunt ntrnalzaton by th human workr ar hghly complx ons [6]. Nonthlss, ths procsss ar havly nfluncd by th work-contxt. A KwSS attmpts to us avalabl contxtual cus n ordr to support ths procsss at th granular actvty lvl. It attmpts to go byond convntonal documntlvl accss and provd contxt-awar accss to rlvant nformaton granuls at txt passag lvls. Such an approach, along wth provdng mor ffcnt accss to nformaton, also plays an mportant rol n avodng possbl nformaton ovrload. 2.1.3 Granular nformaton artculaton and captur Accssng and undrstandng rlvant nformaton allows a workr gan nw knowldg/nsght wth rspct to th problmat-hand. As mntond arlr, ths actually happns whn th workr s ngagd n a cogntvly managabl granul of actvty. Naturally, ths s th pont of tm whn th knowldg and ts contxt s most vvd n th workr's mnd. Many dtals gt lost wth th passag of tm. A KwSS supports a workr to artculat ths knowldg wthout much dlay,.., as part of prformng th granular actvty, as wll as wthout sgnfcant addtonal ffort. In othr words, t should provd adquat mans to produc, contxtualz and captur th granular nformaton ffcntly. 2.2 Support for Bhavoral ssus A KwSS s amd to b usd by a communty of knowldgworkrs, (somtms known as a Communty-of-Practc (CoP) ). In such nvronmnts, svral ntrstng ssus ars whch may mpd usablty and accptanc of such systms. Drawng upon th analyss by Markus t al. [11], th KwSS framwork rcommnds systm supports covrng followng aras. 2.2.1 Gudanc A knowldg-work s prformd by a human actor who posssss adquat xprts and xprnc. Howvr, n ral world not all workrs can b xpctd to possss qual/smlar lvl of xprts. hus, a KwSS ncluds mans to gud a usr through a squnc of actvts that s lkly to rsult n a prformanc of (at last) accptabl qualty. 2.2.2 Larnng Prformanc of a knowldg-work tslf s a maor sourc of larnng, oftn calld th on-th-ob larnng for a knowldg workr. Such larnng allows hr to gan xprnc as wll as to avod profssonal obsolscnc. Satsfyng ths nd rqurs catrng to a vast and vard nformaton rqurmnt, spannng across psods of past prformancs, smantc and typologcal nformaton, lgal and varous polcy/practc-rlatd nformaton, nformaton from rlvant profssonal ltratur and many mor. A KwSS s dsgnd to provd ffcnt accss to sourcs of such nformaton. 2.2.3 Dscrton or Autonomy of a Usr A knowldg-work s usually prformd n ordr to solv a complx and oftn ll-structurd, problm. hr s no prfrrd or bst structur for such an actvty that can guarant hgh
qualty outcoms. Knowldg-workrs vary n xprts lvls as wll as n thr prfrrd styls of rasonng. For xampl, Patl t al. n chaptr 30 of [5] dstngush btwn hypothss-drvn and data-drvn rasonng styls n mdcn. Also, du to changs n nvronmnt, th problm may prsnt novl, unprcdntd faturs. acklng thm rqurs a workr to xrcs hr ngnuty. A KwSS allows practc of ngnuty by allowng ampl scop to ts usrs to xrcs thr dscrton at prformanc-tm. 3. ACIVIY MODELING o fulfll abov support rqurmnts, th systm must b provdd wth nough actonabl nformaton about actvts, nformaton and thr ntrdpndncy formng a bass for rch and fn-grand contxt-awar computng. hs, n turn, rqurs that th systm b quppd wth a formal,.., machndployabl, modl of th supportd actvts that can rprsnt th rqurd nformaton. o th bst of our knowldg, non of th xstng/stablshd modlng tchnqus fts th bll. Our studs rvald that th Workflow-basd tchnqus [16], whl succssful n modlng transactonal and opratonal procsss, cannot accommodat th complxty of knowldg-ntnsv actvts. On th othr hand, many ask-analyss tchnqus [3] can b usd for analyzng complx actvts but ar consdrably dffcult to formalz. hrfor, w dvlop a nw formal actvty modlng approach by co-optng som das from Actvty hory (A) [12]. Bfor w procd furthr, hr w spcfy/rtrat a fw trms and thr smantcs n contxt of th dscussons ahad. A KwSS [9] systm s dsgnd to provd comprhnsv support for prformng psods of a st of ntrrlatd knowldgntnsv actvts or knowldg-works n a doman of profssonal actvts. In a KwSS, prformanc of ach actvty s dntfd wthn th span of prformanc of a largr unt of knowldg-work, calld a task. In othr words, a KwSS s dsgnd to support at last on partcular task-typ, that wll b rfrd as th targt-typ or targt of that partcular KwSS. For xampl, n a patnt-car KwSS th targt task-typ s tratmnt of a patnt,.., brngng an alng prson back to th stat of halth. Each psod/nstanc of th targt, known as a cas n th mdcal doman vocabulary, s prformd wth rspct to th tratmnt of a partcular patnt, spannng from hr admsson to hr dscharg. h cas, n turn, s a complx wb of ntr-dpndnt knowldg-ntnsv actvts,.g., xamnaton, dagnoss, tc., ach of whch, n tslf, s a complx knowldgwork. Fgur 2: Knowldg-work n lght of A 3.1 Modl of Actvty n A h noton of a knowldg-work can b hghly complx. Hr w co-opt th gnral modl of human actvty from Actvty hory (A) [7] as shown n Fgur 1. Accordng to A, an actvty s ssntally an ntracton btwn a subct or human actor and an obct mdatd by a st of tools. h lmnt obct covrs two dffrnt snss, frstly, som ntty (physcal or abstract) that s manpulatd or transformd (ncludng from stat of non-xstnc to xstnc) n th cours of actvty, and scondly, th obctv(s)/motvs of th actvty. ools rfr to concrt (.g., a machn), mntal (.g., xprts, xprnc) and nformatonal artfacts rqurd/avalabl for prformng th actvty. Addtonally, an actvty oftn has socal contxt rprsntd by th lmnt communty. Intractons of th mmbrs of communty wth th subct ar mdatd by a st of ruls govrnng th ngagmnt of th mmbrs of communty. On th othr hand, th communty ntracts wth th obct through thr dvson of labor towards achvng th obct. All th lmnts abov consttut an actvty systm (Fgur 1). h modl dpcts th da that prformanc of an actvty rqurs an adquat actvty systm, whch can nact th transformaton procss that brngs about chang of stat of th obct n ordr to produc th outcom(s). If w try to undrstand a knowldg-work usng ths modl, w can dntfy varous lmnts nvolvd n a knowldg-work wth thos of th modl of actvty. h corrspondnc s shown n Fgur 2. Also, A provds us wth th noton of hrarchcal lvls of actvty that ncluds actvty, acton and opraton. hus and actvty s prformd as a chan of actons n ordr to achv som obctv or motv. An acton, n turn, s a conscous, goaldrctd xcuton of a chan of opratons. Opratons ar wlldfnd routns that can b xcutd wthout workr's conscousnss of undrlyng dtals. Idntfcaton of an actvty wth ths lvls s condtonal upon th sophstcaton of th actvty systm. For xampl, consdr th stuaton whn a rsarchr nds to accss a papr. In a typcal I-nabld work nvronmnt, th rsarchr nds to launch a sutabl applcaton, formulat and fr a qury, gts th lnk to th papr and downloads t. W can asly rcognz ths as an actvty at th lvl of acton. Howvr, consdr th nvronmnt whr th papr can b found only n a physcal lbrary at th othr nd of th cty. Gttng th papr thn nvolvs dfntly a sgnfcant actvty. On th othr hand, consdr th othr xtrm, whr th rsarchr uttrs th nam of th papr and th systm locats, rtrvs and opns t on hr computr scrn. Hr th actvty s rducd to an opraton from th workr's prspctv. Fgur 1: Modl of a gnral Human Actvty n A
3.2 Modlng a knowldg-work Basd on th thortcal groundng provdd by A, w formally modl a knowldg-work as a tupl a E P, O,, whr, E s th st of ntts, mor spcfcally nformaton about ntts, thr attrbuts and valus (at prformanc -tm) nvolvd/rqurd n prformanc of th actvty. hs ntts ar dntfd accordng to thr rols wth th lmnts of actvty systm dscrbd abov (Fg 2) as thr functonal catgors. P rprsnts th transformaton procss or smply procss and O rprsnts th outcom(s) of th actvty and natur(s) of th nformatonal artfact for rprsntng thm. o undrstand th abov, lt us consdr th patnt-car actvty of dagnoss. Hr, E s consstd of th physcan as th actor wth attrbuts qualfcaton, xprnc, tc.; rsults of th patnt's xamnaton and tsts as wll as a lst of possbl dsass consttut th tools; and th dsas(s) to b confrmd forms th obct. h nformatonal outcom O of th actvty rprsnt a lst (ntally mpty, to b flld at prformanc -tm) contanng on or mor dsass as th rsult of dagnoss. In ths papr, for th sak of smplcty, w ar not consdrng th communty xplctly. Howvr, vn n ths sngl-actor modl, ngagmnt of th communty (.g., hosptal staff for patnt-car) can b accommodatd through spcal actvts such as dlgaton, assgnmnt, consultaton, collaboraton, tc. Wth rspct to th natur of P, w fac two dffrnt possblts. h frst on s whn a s a cogntvly managabl actvty that wll b calld a smpl actvty. In a smpl actvty, a workr can cogntvly mantan th contxt and asly choos a chan of actons to b prformd n ordr to rach th obctv. For xampl, rcordng of a patnt's symptoms s a smpl actvty. h othr possblty s that a s suffcntly complx so that t nds to b dcomposd nto a numbr of sub-actvts, ach of whch, n turn, may b a complx on or smpl on. W shall rfr to such actvts as compost actvts. h gnral structur of a compost actvty s dpctd n Fgur 3. Fgur 3: Structur of a compost actvty For xampl, to mak a complcatd dagnoss, basd on rsults of xamnaton, th physcan may rqur hypothszng a numbr of possbl dsass, fndng and rcommndng a st of clncal tsts that wll nabl hr to confrm or lmnat th possblts. Onc th tst rsults ar avalabl, sh nds to dntfy, n lght of th tst rsults, most probabl dsas(s) for whch th patnt nds to b tratd. hs complxty maks th actvty of dagnosng as a whol a compost actvty. 3.2.1 Structural proprts of a compost actvty For a compost actvty a, th procss P V P ), E( P ) ( rprsntd by a graph whos nods V P) rprsnt th st of ( ( P sub-actvts of a and dgs E ) rprsnt thr ntrrlatonshps. P has th followng proprts: An actvty a V P ) ) nhrts th tools, of.., ; ( s a, If for an actvty a V P ), O }, whr ( { k a } V ( P ), thn a } s calld th support st { k { k of a and dnotd as SSt a ). h st of dgs } ( ar calld th dpndncy dgs or d-dgs of a { k (Fg. 3). Clarly, prformanc of a cannot b startd tll prformanc of SSt a ) s compltd; ( hr s at last on sub-actvty a V P ) for whch SSt ( a ). Prformanc of a can b ntatd wth prformanc of any such sub-actvty, dnotd as th st Int a ) ; ( hr s on and only on sub-actvty a V P ), calld th fnal (sub -)actvty, for whch O f O and whos complton dnots of th complton of th actvty a. 3.2.2 Modlng a targt task-typ For buldng a KwSS that supports prformanc of psods of a partcular typ of knowldg-ntnsv task, a typologcal or catgorcal modl of th task nds to b bult. hs srvs as th rfrnc or nomnal task-modl for th KwSS. h modlng starts wth consdraton of th whol task as th largst unt of complx actvty, E, P, O, to b supportd. hn, thr basd on a carful analyss or a rcognzd bst practc, th lmnts of E and O as wll as th structur of O s dntfd. hn th lmnts of E and O ar assocatd wth thr rspctv functonal and smantc (may b drawn from a doman ontology, mor on ths latr) typologs. hn P s dcomposd nto ts consttunt sub-actvts. h procss s carrd on rcursvly tll th modl ncluds all cogntvly managabl smpl actvts rqurd to b prformd. h rsultng modl srvs as a standard or rfrnc for all th psods of prformanc of th targt. Not that, th typologs n th rfrnc modl gt bound to spcfc, psodc valus durng th prformanc of a task-psod. o undrstand ths crucal pont, lt us consdr th actvty of dagnosng a patnt. Its typologcal modl carrs th n-formaton that ts (1) tools ar ( f (
comprsd of (nformatonal) ntts such as xamnaton rsults (symptoms, sgns, and mdcal hstory), possblts consdrd, tsts rcommndd and thr rsults for a patnt; (2) actor s a physcan; and (3) obct s a st of dsas ntts. Howvr, th valus to b bound wth th ntts,.g., dntty of th patnt and th physcan tratng hr, rsults of xamnaton conductd on hr, tc., ar avalabl only durng th partcular psod of tratng th patnt. h actvty dagnoss s prformd by th physcan n ordr to fnd th valus of th ntts dsass for th patnt-undr-tratmnt. 4. AN ARCHIECURE FOR KWSS In ths papr, w propos a softwar-agnt basd archtctur of a KwSS as dpctd n Fgur 4. In th followng w dscrb ts componnts. Howvr, contnts of ts actvty lmnts ar th valus of th ntts as thy ar dtrmnd/valuatd or artculatd by th knowldg-workr wthn th scop of th partcular psod. Also, th dpndncy structur of th actvts and nformaton rflcts th actual prformanc of th task psod. Furthr, th psod nformaton s taggd wth th functonal catgors and smantc catgors drawn from th task-modl and ntty taxonoms n KwKB (xcpt som cass of xrcs of dscrton by th knowldg-workr, whn th actvty and ntty typologs may b unavalabl n KwKB). Fnally, at th lvl of smpl actvty, th psod s capturd n trms of a chan of actons, whr, ach acton rfrs to craton, valuaton, modfcaton and varous typs of valu-addtons (.g., addng rfrnc/support) of rlvant ntts. Formally, th chan of acton, ladng to th producton of th outcom ntty of -th psod of a smpl actvty, a, th O s rprsntd n KwEB as dpctd n Fgur 5. Ovrall, th KwEB s dsgnd to support ffcntly varous typs of computatons,.g., rtrval and navgaton of rlvant granular nformaton from past psods, to accss nformaton contnts basd on not only kywords, but also thr contxt (ncludng argumntatv structur, provnanc and lnag) and smantcs. Fgur 4: Agnt-basd archtctur of KwSS 4.1 h Knowldg-work Knowldg Bas h Knowldg-work Knowldg Bas or KwKB shown n Fgur 4, s common sharabl nformaton rpostory for a KwSS. h doman actvts componnt contans th rfrnc task modl dscrbd abov for th targt whl th doman ntts modul contans on or mor formal taxonomy/ontology of th trms and concpts rlvant for th actvts. Exampls of such taxonoms nclud gnral ons such as Wordnt, Cyc tc. as wll as doman-spcfc ons such as GALEN, UMLS, SNOMED-C, tc., n bomdcal doman [2]. Elmnts of a taskmodl ar assocatd wth rlvant lmnts of ths taxonoms n ordr to provd smantcs to th actvts and ts consttunt lmnts. hs arrangmnt allows componnts of th KwSS systm to carry out varous typs of smantcally augmntd computatons about actvts, nformaton and thr contxts. A KwKB may also nclud on or mor ancllary rpostors of dscrptv/xplanatory nformaton about doman actvts and ntts. h contnts of ths rpostors, assocatd/ndxd wth th lmnts of th actvty modls and ntts, can b a vry usful rsourc for on-th-ob larnng by th knowldg-workrs. 4.2 h Knowldg-work Epsod Bas h othr common and shard nformaton rpostory n a KwSS s th Knowldg-work Epsod Bas or KwEB (Fgur 4). h KwEB contans nformaton about th nstancs or psods of th targt task-typ prformd by knowldg-workrs usng th KwSS. h logcal organzaton of an psod-nformaton adhrs to th actvty modlng formalsm dscrbd arlr. Fgur 5: A chan of actons rprsntng a smpl actvty 4.3 Workspac h workspac shown n Fgur 4 s th ntrfac of a KwSS that a knowldg-workr ntracts wth (drctly or ndrctly) n cours of prformng an psod a of an actvty at a tm. If th actvty s compost on,.., t s consttutd of smallr subactvts, th workspac prsnts hr wth th rfrnc structur of actvty and sh chooss on of th prmssbl sub-actvts. Hr th trm prmssbl rfrs to all sub-actvts whos rqust ntal ntty st E (0) s alrady valu-bound. h chosn actvty can b on rcommndd by th rfrnc modl or a nw dscrtonary actvty ntroducd by th workr, for whch no or partal typology s avalabl n KwKB. (Hr w wll not go nto th dtals of handlng dscrtonary chocs.) h procss may b rpatd tll th knowldg-workr rachs a cogntvly managabl granular actvty,.., smpl actvty. Onc a smpl actvty to b prformd s slctd, sh xrcss hr cogntv facults n conuncton wth avalabl systm support for prformng th smpl actvty a n ordr to achv a st of obctv(s) or goal(s). h natur of support provdd by th workspac s dscrbd blow.
At th bgnnng of prformanc of a, th workspac nomnally prsnts to th usr nformaton about th st of rlvant ntts E (0) along wth thr psod-spcfc valus as wll as a st of yt unvalud,.., typologcal or catgorcal ntts consttutng th obctv or goal ntts. h prformanc of a s prformanc of a chan of actons that conclud succssfully whn th workr s abl to assgn rlvant psodc valus to th catgorcal goal ntts. Formally, th t-th acton by th workr nvolvs slctng a st of ntts { } E ( t 1) and apply an opraton on thm for computng a nw ntty (or th valu/nstanc of an xstng catgorcal ntty) * to th workspac so that th ntty st s transformd nto * E ( t) E ( t 1), as dpctd n Fgur 5. Clarly, thr could b a larg varty of ntts and possbl opratons on thm whch may nd to b accommodatd n th workspac. In th followng w dvd thm nto two groups. Group 1 h opratons nvolv ntts thr alrady avalabl wthn th workspac,.., E ( t 1), or rtrvabl from ntrnal rpostors, th KwSS knowldg-bas (KwKB) and psod - bas (KwEB): assgnng valus to yt unvalud ntts; O arthmtc and logcal opratons on th ntts wth quanttatv valus; complaton of lst of ntts; craton of txtual nformaton ntts (artculaton) such as annotaton, ntrprtaton, summarzaton, analyss, concluson, tc.; craton of rfrntal lnks among ntts n th workspac; rtrvng granular nformaton from past task-psods; skng dtals, ncludng that of rlatonshp nformaton about an ntty from KwKB, ncludng ts ancllary porton as w as psodc contxtual nformaton from KwEB; and smantc comparsons of ntts comparson of valus (ncludng txtual) of smantcally commnsurat faturs of th ntts,.g., comparng symptoms and sgns of a patnt wth thos for a possbl dsas; Group 2 h class of opratons dsgnd for sndng out and brngng n nformaton to/from th xtrnal nvronmnt to th workspac: craton of contxtualzd qury packag from ( t 1), xportng thm to xtrnal IR or othr E systms/ srvcs and mportng thr rsults to workspac; and Craton of contxtualzd nformaton packag from ( t 1), xportng thm to othr actors by varous E mans of communcaton for collaboratv work and mportng thr rsults to workspac; 4.4 h Contxtualzng Agnt (CA) h Contxtualzng Agnt or CA s at th hart of a KwSS. Wth th hlp of knowldg about th actvts and ntts drawn from th Knowldg-work Knowldg Bas (KwKB), t tracks/montors th progrss of a knowldg-workr's prformanc n workspac. Contnuous snsng of th workcontxt allows th CA (1) to gud th knowldg-workr through th maz of actvts; (2) to locat and mak avalabl rlvant rsourcs (nformaton about ntts, popl tc.), tools (ncludng xtrnal ons) and othr artfacts (.g., com putatonal protocols/tmplats)) n th workspac; (3) to nsur ntgrty n cas of xrcs of dscrton by th workr; and (4) to captur, organz and archv nw nformaton cratd n th workspac nto th psod bas for futur rus. h functonalts of CA dscrbd abov can b furthr nhancd and/or xpandd n scops though us of approprat srvcs provdd by on or mor spcalst agnts (SA) from th agnt pool shown n Fgur 4. W shall dscuss thm n scton 4.5. 4.4.1 Rasonng wth actvts Durng th prformanc of an psod of an actvty, th contxtualzng agnt or CA nds to dcd on th natur (.g., gudanc, acton-lvl supports) and contnt (.g., nformaton, computaton tmplat) of th support t provds at a pont of tm. h problm nds th CA to rason about an actvty and ts stat of progrss. h rasonng procss ncompasss th typologcal modls avalabl n th knowldg bas and th currnt stats and nformatonal contnts of th psodc prformanc of th currnt actvty and othr actvts rlatd to t. Fgur 6 dpcts an algorthmc dscrpton of th cor rasonng procss followd by th workspac. As ndcatd n algorthm 1, at any gvn tm durng an psod, th CA mantans thr dsont sts of actvts, (1) th ActvSt comprsd of all actvts currntly bng prformd; (2) th RadySt contanng all actvts whos prformanc can b startd; and (3) CompltSt consstng of all compltd actvts. At a gvn momnt, thr can b a numbr of actvts n th actvty modl outsd ths sts. Howvr, as th prformanc progrsss, ach actvty movs through ths sts so that at th nd of prformanc ActvSt and RadySt ar mpty and CompltSt contans all th actvts. 4.4.2 Acton-lvl supports h rasonng ladng to acton-lvl support corrsponds to th block 4b of algorthm 1. Howvr, no dtals ar provdd rgardng thr possbl ralzatons. h frst typ of support s rlatd to locatng nformaton rsourcs from th ntrnal sourcs, namly, th knowldg bas and th cas bas. hs s formulatd as a problm of Cas-Basd Rasonng (CBR) [10]. o provd ths support as th opraton nvolvd n t-th acton, th CA constructs a prob/qury vctor drawng typologs and valus of ntts n currnt ntty st E ( t 1). h slcton and rtrval of nformaton s prformd basd on th smlarty of th prob vctor (1) wth th contxt of thr producton as rcordd n th cas bas; and (2) wth th typologcal contxts of th lmnts of knowldg bas. h support typ dscrbd n tm 2 of block 4b dpnds on th avalablty of sutabl ntrfacs and/or communcaton channls to xtrnal rsourcs. h CA routs sutably contxtualzd (by usr and/or CA tslf) nformaton and/or qury packags to xtrnal rsourcs avalabl to KwSS and channls thr rspons to th workspac. h nxt support typ n block 4b nvolvs th
CA antcpatng usr's nformaton nds and sutably orchstratng srvcs avalabl from th spcalzd agnts (SA) to mt thm. W wll dscuss about th SA n th nxt scton. A usr s dscrton (tm 4 n block 4b) s ssntally rsults n a usr-ntroducd dvaton from th nomnal actvty structur ndcatd by th typologcal modl. Such dvatons nclud skppng/dltng an actvty, ntroducng nw actvty and substtuton of a smpl actvty wth a compost actvty and vc vrsa. h CA allows thm at th psod lvl and nsurs that th ntgrty (.g., th support st of anothr actvty should not bcom mpty du to dlton of an actvty) of th actvty structur (scton 3.2. 1) s mantand. If such dvatons nclud ntroducton of novl actvty, t may not b possbl for th CA to catgorz ts lmnts n psod bas wth typologs from KwKB. In such a cas, th CA mght b confgurd to ncourag th workr to provd rlvant typologcal nformaton. In an actvty psod, f th workr s unabl to fnd prtnnt valus of th goal ntts, th prformanc s prcvd as a falur (ln 4d). h caus of th falur may b rootd n th nadquat prformanc of an arlr actvty. For xampl, whl dagnosng a physcan may fal to rach a frm dagnoss bcaus durng th xamnaton som sgns or symptoms wr ovrlookd. o rmdy th falur th workr nds to r-prform a numbr of actvts, typcally startng from th caus actvty up to th fald actvty. Howvr, durng th r-prformanc, th nformaton producd arlr through thos actvts ar also avalabl to th workr. hrough falur managmnt th CA facltats th abov n a mannr consstnt wth th structural proprts of th affctd actvts. Fgur 6: Algorthm (s) for actvty rasonng 4.5 h Pool of Spcalst Agnts h CA n a KwSS s dsgnd to provd a st of ssntal/nomnal supports. It s asy to nvsag a wd rang of nhancmnts as wll as xtnsons of scops of ths nomnal capablts wth th ad of varous cuttng-dg computatonal tchnqus. hs tchnqus ar mrgng n varous aras of rsarch such as txt analyss, smantc catgorzaton and rasonng, nformaton rtrval tc. Currntly thy ar n a stat of rapd and contnuous voluton. Naturally, thr ffctvnss n a KwSS wll also volv as t accommodats th gradual progrss mad n ths flds. Howvr, such accommodatons and thr managmnt pos dffcult dsgn challngs. If thy ar not carfully nsulatd from th cor of th systm, thy can asly dstablz t, vn at th lvl of ts nomnal functonalts. In vw of th abov concrns, n proposd agnt-basd archtctur of a KwSS, ths nhancmnts ar mplmntd as srvcs from a pool of spcalst agnts (SA). h pool s an cosystm of collaboratv agnts wth varyng dgrs of autonomy. As dpctd n Fgur 4, thy fall nto two catgors, th ntrfac agnts (IA) and th producr ag nts (PA). An IA provds a hghr lvl srvc, such as contxt-awar nformaton rtrval, rcommndaton (about rlvant nformaton, computaton protocol/tmplat, xtrnal tools), rsourc (popl/xprts, artfacts) locaton tc. h CA, and n turn, th usr n workspac ar awar of ths srvcs. h CA can nvok ths srvcs on-dmand from th workr. Also ths agnts can b slctvly confgurd to provd thr srvcs pro-actvly n rspons to th work-contxt as mantand by th CA.
An IA ssntally provds ts srvc as on or mor (altrnatv) compostons of th srvcs of a st of agnts that can nclud rlvant producr agnts and othr ntrfac agnts. A producr agnt or PA has a spcfc, narrowly dfnd capablty and wlldfnd srvc protocol to nvok th capablty. h srvc of a PA can b usd by mor than on IA as part of thr rspctv composton. For xampl, consdr a PA whos srvc s to dtct ky ntts and thr rlatonshps from a passag of natural languag txt. hs s a vtal srvc for an IA that trs to dntfy, basd on th work-contxt, rlvant txt passags from a larg documnt. h srvc of th sam PA may b utlzd by an IA for contxt-awar IR, for analyzng a natural languag qury. hs archtctural approach allows us to contnuously nhanc th capablts of a KwSS by mprovng qualty of srvcs of on or mor spcalst agnts, at a tm, wthout dsruptng othr srvcs or functonalts of CA. Such mprovmnts can b brought about by modfyng th tchnqus/algorthms thy mploy, sutabl rnforcmnts of thr spcalzd KB tc. In our works wth KwSS, w ar workng on dsgn and dvlopmnt of a numbr of spcalst agnts. Most xctng among thm s what w call th gnratv rsourc modlng agnt. It dntfs varous rsourcs (nformaton, computatonal protocols) and profls thr scop(s) of utlty through nductv and/or abductv analyss of psod bas. It can nabl a KwSS to adaptvly chunk and opratonalz som parts of chans-of-actons basd on volvng pattrns among th hstorcal work-contxts. 5. CONCLUSION Buldng a KwSS, as proposd n [9] for provdng comprhnsv task-spcfc support to knowldg-workrs, rqurs mult-factd ffort n computng rsarch and ngnrng. In dntfyng and solvng rlvant problms w may nd to co-opt das and concpts from a varous flds outsd computng/i rsarch and practcs. In ths papr w hav attmptd to dvlop som mportant buldng blocks, namly, a softwar-agnt basd archtctur for knowldgbasd computng, an actvty modlng tchnqu, a formal rprsntaton of actvty modls n a knowldg-bas and an approach for rasonng wth ths modls. W blv that ths wll contrbut sgnfcantly n buldng KwSS as wll othr KwSS-lk systms. Othr mportant facts of th problm nclud dsgn of sutabl usr ntrfacs n workspac that can allow ffcnt and ntutv prsntaton of larg volum of nformaton, collaboratv connctvty across multpl platforms lk mobl dvcs, ntgraton wth productvty/offc applcatons, tc. On th mthodologcal sd, thr s a nd for dvlopng sutabl mthodologs to collct and analyz nformaton on targt task(s) that can b translatd nto robust actvty modls. In our lab w hav mplmntd an arly vrson of a wb-basd patnt-car KwSS. W ar currntly nvstgatng som of ths ssus for nhancng th prototyp. 6. REFERENCES [1] A. Baddly. Workng mmory: lookng back and lookng forward. Natur Rvw: Nuroscnc, 4:829-839, 2003. [2] O. Bodnrdr and A. Burgun. Mdcal nformatcs: Advancs n knowldg managmnt and data mnng n bomdcn, chaptr Bomdcal Ontologs, pags 211 235. Sprngr-Vrlag, 2010. [3] D. Dapr and N. Stanton. h Handbook of ask Analyss for Human-Computr Intracton. Lawrnc Erlbaum Assocats, Mahwah, NJ, 2004. [4] J. Glasnr, M. Rusch, P. Lss, G. P. III, E. L. Cabot, A. Darlng, B. D. Andrson, P. Infld-Harm, M. Glson, and N.. Prna. Asap: a rsourc for annotatng, curatng, comparng, and dssmnatng gnomc data. Nuclc Acds Rsarch, 34(Databas ssu):d41 D45, 2006. [5] K. J. Holyoak and R. G. Morrson, dtors. Cambrdg Handbook of hnkng and Rasonng. Cambrdg Unvrsty Prss, Camb rd g, UK, 2005. [6] P. Ingwrsn and K. Jarvln. h turn: Intgraton of nformaton skng and rtrval n contxt. Sprngr, Dordrcht, 2005. [7] V. Kaptlnn and B. A. Nard. Actng wth chnology. MI Prss, Cambrdg, Mass., 2006. [8] A. Laha. In 1st IIMA Intrnatonal Confrnc on Advancd Data Analyss, Busnss Analytcs and Intllgnc (ICADABAI 2009), Ahmdabad, Inda, 6-7 Jun 2009. Indan Insttut of Managmnt (IIM). [9] A. Laha. On th ssus of buldng n fo r ma t o n warhouss. In ACM C o m p u t 2010, January 22-23, Bangalor, Inda, Bangalor, Inda, 2010. [10] R. Lopz D Mantaras, D. McShrry, D. Brdg, D. Lak, B. Smyth, S. Craw, B. Faltngs, M. L. Mahr, M.. Cox, K. Forbus, M. Kan, A. Aamodt, and I. Watson. Rtrval, rus, rvson and rtnton n casbasd rasonng.. Knowl. Eng. Rv., 20(3):215 240, 2005. [11] M. L. Markus, A. Machrzak, and L. Gassr. A dsgn thory for systms t h a t support mrgnt knowldg procsss. MIS Quartrly, 26(3):179 212, S p tmb r 2002. [12] B. Nard, dtor. Contxt and Conscousnss: Actvty hory and Human C o m p u t r Intracton. MI Prss, 1996. [13] ONC-HHS. Stratgc halth t advancd rsarch procts (SHARP), SHARP FOA 12172009 FINAL.doc avalabl at [URL: http://haltht.hhs.gov/portal/srvr.pt] (rtrvd on 21 Dc. 2009), Dc 2009. [14] W. Pk and M. Gahgan. Byond ontologs: oward stuatd rprsntatons of scntfc knowldg. Intrnatonal Journal o f Human-Computr Studs, 65(7):674 688, July 2007. [15] S. J. Russll and P. Norvg. Artfcal Intllgnc: A Modrn Approach. Prntc Hall, Englwood Clffs, NJ, 3 dton, 2010. [16] W. vandraalst and K. vanh. Workflow Managmnt: Modls, Mthods, and Systms. MI Prss, Camb rd g, MA, US, 2004.