Web-based Support Systems (WSS) Web-based Support Systems

Web-based Support Systems (WSS) Web-based Support Systems JingTao Yao Department of Computer Science, University of Regina CANADA S4S 0A2 jtyao@cs.uregina.ca http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~jtyao An emerging multidisciplinary research area that studies the support of human activities with the Web as the common platform, medium and interface. One of the goals of building WSS is to extend the human physical limitation of information processing in the information age. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 2 WSS & WI Moving support systems online is an increasing trend in Web Intelligence research. WSS are a multidisciplinary research: the supported field, computer science, information technology, and Web technology. Advances in Science and Technology More data/information More tools More difficult problems More complex tasks More demands for quality and productivity. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 3 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 4

Advances in Computer and Web Technology More opportunities Availability, accessibility, flexibility More challenges Find the right information/tools, Learn/use the existing tools Faster changes Keep up with the pace of the changes. Why WSS? To take the opportunities of the Web. To meet the challenges of the Web. To extend the human physical limitations of information processing. To overcome many limitations that computerized support systems suffered from. To keep up with the advance of technology advances. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 5 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 6 Computerized Support systems It is impossible to develop a fully automated computer system. More practical substitute systems Decision support systems (DSS) Computer aided software engineering (CASE) Computer aided design (CAD) Computer aided education (CAE) Strengths of the Web Distributed infrastructure for information processing and communication. Delivers timely information and tools. Standardized user interface framework (HTML, CSS, XML). No geographical restrictions. Secure transmission of sensitive data. Potential to reach a much larger user base. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 7 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 8

Why the Web? The Web is used as The basic infrastructure The common user interface The universal platform The medium for delivering and providing support of various human activities. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 9 Transition to the Web A represents a particular domain. A + computerized support system A support systems. A = medical domain Medical Support Systems. Web technology + A + computerized support system Web-based A support systems. A = scientific research Web-based Research Support Systems. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 10 Two Dimensional View of WSS Two Dimensional View of WSS WSS may be viewed as extensions of existing studies in two dimensions Application dimension From decision support to other types of support systems (e.g., data mining support, retrieval support, reading support, etc.). Technology dimension From old technology based to new technology based systems. Technology Domain Computer Decision Making DSS Information Retrieval IRSS Science Research RSS Learning LSS Knowledge management KMSS Data mining DMSS Medical MSS Web WDSS WIRSS WRSS WLSS WKMSS WDMSS WMSS J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 11 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 12

Goals of WSS Research Combining the isolated research efforts on various support systems. Integrating the diverse general or specific computerized systems. Extract the commonality to form a new and separate sub-field of study. Applying existing approaches and developing new theories and approaches for WSS. WSS Workshops 2003, JingTao Yao and Pawan Lingras co-organized the 1 st International Workshop on Web-based Support System http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~wss/wss03/ 2004, JingTao Yao, Vijay Raghavan, and Guoyin Wang co-organized the 2 nd International Workshop on Webbased Support System http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~wss/wss04/ 2006, JingTao Yao, Kanliang co-organized the 3 rd International Workshop on Web-based Support System http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~wss/wss06/ J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 13 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 14 WSS Proceedings General Architecture of WSS Larger user base Web technology Standardized UI Information technology Domain dependent / independent information J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 15 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 16

WSS Research Generalize WSS concepts, characteristics of various support system. Study of domain independent theories, models, and techniques of WSS as a separate field on its own. Study of concrete models of WSS specific domains, such as decision support, research support, retrieval support. Design and implementation of variable WSS. WSS Directions Support systems (semi-automatic, interactive) may be more valuable than fully automatic systems, particularly in domains with unstructured problems. Users/experts play an active role in using support systems. Support systems are a new type of tools that help human to perform various task. Support systems will extend the capacity of human, instead of replace them. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 17 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 18 Research on WSS Basic issues of WSS Operations & logic Understand the needs of WSS Domain specific Domain independent Support facilities What can CS/IT/Web offer Domain specific Domain independent J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 19 Supporting domain independent activities Reading Writing Presentation Communication Support domain dependent activities Decision analysis Strategic decision making Risk analysis J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 20

Need Intelligent Support: A Negative Example James Kim s Tragedy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/james_kim) San Francisco Chronicle: MAPS: Internet travel directions need to be checked carefully (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/07/maps.tmp) The Age, Australia: Faulty online mapping linked to wrong turn disaster (http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/12/08/1165081119464.html) How reliable are these FREE online maps? Google Maps, Google Maps Yahoo Maps, Yahoo Maps MapQuest, MapQuest Web-based Research Support Systems A specific type of WSS The general ideas of WSS apply to WRSS It is an example to demonstrate the usefulness of the study of WSS. Three Types of WRSS Support individual researchers Support research management Support research collaborations J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 21 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 22 Scientific Research in the Web Age As new technologies evolve and existing technologies expand, a scientist needs to adjust accordingly and make full use of them when carrying out research. Scientists face many challenges in using Webbased information resources, such as information overload, misinformation, fees, poorly designed navigation, retrieval, and browsing tools. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 23 Interdisciplinary Nature Research Support Systems Research methodologies: Purpose of research (science), research methods, research activities, etc. Computer science Computer systems that support various research activities. Web As an infrastructure and a medium of support delivery, as an common user interface. WRSS integrates and extends existing computer technologies and systems to serve scientists. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 24

WRSS How to support scientists to meet such challenges is an important issue. Many computer systems have been implemented to support various research activities. Meta search engines MS Word (spelling, grammar checking) Citation indexes: Web of Science, Google Scholar, DBLP, CiteSeer A Model of the Research Process Idea-generating phase. Problem-definition phase. Procedure-design/planning phase. Observation/experimentation phase. Data-analysis phase. Results-interpretation/explanation phase. Communication phase J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 25 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 26 Role of WRSS Active role of WRSS: scientists play an active role in using a passive system vs. WRSS play a more active role to assist scientists. Rationality and feasibility: research process is relatively discipline independent, which makes WRSS feasible. Separation of general research process and discipline specific knowledge. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 27 Characteristics of WRSS Conceptual organization of WRSS: Sequentially according to the sequence of research phases, hierarchically based on the complexity of research activities. Personalized support. Adaptation over time. Web platform. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 28

Functionalities of WRSS Profile management: to collect, organize, and store all relevant information the scientists. Resource management: Many types of resources exist for supporting research, such as human resources, tool resources, and information/knowledge resources. The objective is to identify the suitable resource to support scientists' research needs. Data/knowledge management: to record, store and retrieve the useful data, information and knowledge during the entire research process. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 29 Specific Supporting Functionalities Exploring support Retrieval support Reading support Analyzing support Writing support J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 30 Reference Search Web of Science J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 31 Cited Reference Searching - Benefits Allows you to move forward and backward in time, discovering relationships between published works as determined by the articles authors - Find new, unknown information based on older, known information - Track use of your research or a competitor s research - Backward through Cited References Uses cited references as subject terms Explore hidden connections between research papers. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 32

Cited Reference Searching Traditional search 2004 paper Cited reference search 2003 paper Cited Reference Search 1987 paper 1993 paper 1982 paper 1957 paper 1996 1996 paper 1982 paper paper 1957 paper J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 33 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 34 Cited Reference Look-up table Times Cited Cited references that are in BLUE are links to source records. Citations to items not indexed in Web of Science (Books, Art, etc) and Cited Reference Variants J T Yao: Web-based are in black Support text. Systems 35 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 36

Cited Reference Search / Results Web of Science Citation Analysis As these records cite Anand s work, they are closely related to the original subject, even though they may not use the same terminology. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 37 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 38 About Citation Reports Use to quickly see citations over a period of time to a set of publications Provide aggregate citation statistics for a set of search results Graphs that show publication activity and citation activity by year Average citations per item and average times cited per year H-index Remove self-citations J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 39 Citation Reports Create reports for sets of 10,000 or fewer Available for: Quick Search General Search Search within a Set Author Finder Refine/Analyze Not available for: Cited Reference Search Citing Articles Summary Related Records Search Results J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 40

Author search Author search results J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 41 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 42 Citation Report H-index J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 43 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 44

H-index Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual's scientific research output. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(46), 16569-16572. Meaningful when compared to others within the same discipline area. Researchers in one field may have very different h-indices than researchers in another (e.g. Life Sciences vs Physics). Citation Counts J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 45 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 46 Output Citation Report data ISI Web of Knowledge Citation Alert J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 47 J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 48

Contributing Computer Science Fields Database Information retrieval Data mining system, statistics software Visualization Graphics user interfaces Text editors and processors Intelligent agents Many more J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 49 Other Examples More practical projects Three undergoing projects Web-based learning support: treasure hunting games Web-based research support: Weblog Web-based medical support: using decision theoretical rough set model for risk analysis J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 50 Using Weblog Research journal, diary, forum Keep track idea evolution Keep track contribution Easier information retrieval, hyperlinks System management Sort/store by idea, time, author Access level: user, group, others. Citation management Search J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 51 Learning Order Indexing Database Architecture of WLSS Contents Management System Domain Knowledge Base Conventional Indexing Database Internet Internet USER I Information Retrieval Support System N T Teaching Support System E R Web-based Learning Game System F A C E Course Academic User Membership Management System Knowledge Dictionary Knowledge Base Database J T Yao: Web-based Base Support Systems 52

Example: A Treasure Map Start Quiz End A Partial Architecture Users Event 1 Images Data Representation Mountain Data communications Components Protocol Village Audio ISO Extended Video ASCII Unicode Numbers Text Event ASCII Fake treasure Real treasure Threat Help J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 53 DBMS Patient Database Knowledge Management Web/Internet Web/Internet Interface/Presentation Rough Sets Information Retrieval Knowledge Base Control Facilities Rule Risk Database Database J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 54 Object data a 1 a 2 d o 1 1 0 + o 2 0 0 - o 3 0 1 - o 4 1 1 + Database Management Information Tables Rough Set Component Data Mining Component Rough Set Analysis Domain Specific Rules if {a 1 = 1} then {d = + } Knowledge Management Knowledge Base Rule r 1 if {a1 = 2} then {d = + } r 2 if {a1 = 1} then {d = + } r 3 if {a1 = 0} then {d = - } J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 55 Conclusion Support systems will play more and more important roles in the near future. They provide a potential solution for information/tool overload and the complexity of modern problems. It is necessary and beneficial to study Web-based support systems as a separate sub-field of research. The successful story of decision support systems can be repeated in other domains. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 56

Conclusion WSS is a newly identified research area The research on WSS is a natural evolution of the existing research. DSS => WDSS => WSS DSS => Computerized SS => WSS We identify domain, scope, research of WSS WRSS is a concrete example of WSS. Expect that WSS will attract more research. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 57 WSS publications H.K. Bhargava, D.J. Power, D. Sun, Progress in Web-based decision support technologies, Decision Support Systems, 43(4), 1083-1095, 2007. M. Chen, Y. Liou, C. W. Wang, Y. W. Fan, Y.-P. J. Chie, TeamSpirit: Design, implementation, and evaluation of a Web-based group decision support system, Decision Support Systems, 43(4), 1186-1202, 2007. J.T. Yao, J.P. Herbert, Web-based Support Systems based on Rough Set Analysis, Proceedings of International Conference on Rough Sets and Emerging Intelligent System Paradigms (RSEISP'07), June 28-30, 2007, Warsaw, Poland, LNAI 4585, pp 360-370. J. T. Yao, D. W. Kim, J. P. Herbert, Supporting Online Learning with Games, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 6570, Data Mining, Intrusion Detection, Information Assurance, and Data Networks Security 2007, April 9-13, 2006, Orlando, Florida, USA, edited by Belur V. Dasarathy, (SPIE, Bellingham, WA, 2007), 65700G-(1-11). J.T. Yao, Supporting Research with Weblogs: A Study on Web-Based Research Support Systems, The 3rd International Workshop on Web-Based Support Systems, Dec 18, 2006, Hong Kong, WI-IAT 2006 Work shops Proceedings, pp161-164. J. T. Yao, W. N. Liu, L. Fan, Y. Y. Yao and X. D. Yang, Supporting Sustainable Communities with Web-based Information Systems, Journal of Environmental Informatics, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2006, pp84-94. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 58 WSS publications J. T. Yao, W.N. Liu, Web-based Dynamic Delphi: a New Survey Instrument, Proceedings of SPIE No 6241, Data Mining, Intrusion Detection, Information Assur ance, And Data Networks Security 2006, April 17-18, 2006, Orlando, Florida, USA, edited by Belur V. Dasarathy, (SPIE, Bellingham, WA, 2006), pp.169-179. J.T. Yao, On Web-based Support Systems, Proceedings of the 2nd Indian International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Pune, India, December 20-22, 2005, pp2589-2600. J.T. Yao, Design of Web-based Support Systems, 8th International Conference on Computer Science and Informatics (CSI), Salt Lake City, USA July 21-26, 2005, pp349-352. Y.Y. Yao, J.T. Yao, C.J. Butz, P. Lingras and D. Jutla, Web-based Support Systems: a Report of the WIC Canada Research Centre, Proceedings of the IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence, Beijing, China, Sept 20-24, 2004, pp787-788. J. T. Yao, V.V. Raghavan, G.Y. Wang, Proceedings of the Second Workshop Web-based Support Systems (WSS'04), Beijing, China, Sept 20, 2004. W.N. Liu, J.T. Yao, L. Fan, Y.Y. Yao, X.D. Yang, Web-based Support Systems for Sustainable Communities, Proceedings of the Second Workshop Web-based Support Systems (WSS'04), Beijing, China, Sept 20, 2004, pp102-110. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 59 WSS publications Z. Tang, B.A. Engel, J. Choi, K. Sullivan, M. Sharif, K.J. Lim, A Web-based DSS for erosion control structure planning, Applied Engineering In Agriculture, 20 (5), 707-714, 2004. P. Bharatia, A. Chaudhury, An empirical investigation of decision-making satisfaction in web-based decision support systems, Decision Support Systems, 37(2), 187-197, 2004. Y.L. Zhao, J.T. Yao, Y.Y. Yao, Data Mining Support Systems, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. #5433, Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery: Theory, Tools, and Technology VI, 12-13 April 2004, Orlando, USA, edited by Belur V. Dasarathy, (SPIE, Bellingham, WA, 2004), pp218-227. J. T. Yao, Y.Y. Yao, Web-based Information Retrieval Support Systems: building research tools for scientists in the new information age, Proceedings of the IEEE/WIC International Conference on Web Intelligence (WI'03), Halifax, Canada, Oct 13-17, 2003, pp570-573. H. Tang, Y. Wu, J.T. Yao, G.Y. Wang, Y. Y. Yao, CUPTRSS: A Web-based Research Support System, Proceedings of the Workshop on Applications, Products and Services of Web-based Support Systems (WSS03), Halifax, Canada, Oct 13, 2003, pp21-28. J. T. Yao, Y.Y. Yao, Web-based Support Systems, Proceedings of the Workshop on Applications, Products and Services of Web-based Support Systems (WSS'03), Halifax, Canada, Oct 13, 2003, pp1-5. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 60

WSS publications J. T. Yao, P. Lingras, Proceedings of the Workshop on Applications, Products and Services of Web-based Support Systems (WSS'03), Halifax, Canada, Oct 13, 2003. Yao, Y.Y., A Framework for Web-based Research Support Systems, Proceedings of the 27th Annual International Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC 2003), Dallas, USA, November 3-6, 2003, IEEE Computer Society Press, 601-606. Yao, Y.Y., Granular computing for the design of information retrieval support systems, to appear in: Information Retrieval and Clustering, Wu, W., Xiong, H. and Shekhar, S. (Eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003, 299-329. Power, D.J. and Kaparthi, S. Building Web-based decision support systems, Studies in Informatics and Control, 11, 291-302, 2002. Yao, Y.Y., Information retrieval support systems, FUZZ-IEEE'02 in The 2002 IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, May 12-17, 2002, pp. 773-778. K.R. Molenaar, A.D. Songer, Web-Based Decision Support Systems: Case Study in Project Delivery, Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 15(4), 259-267, 2001. J T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 61 Web-based Support Systems JingTao Yao Department of Computer Science, University or Regina CANADA S4S 0A2 jtyao@cs.uregina.ca http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~jtyao