Getting started in library expert systems research

摘要

In the 1960s, information science researchers pioneered in the design of computer-based document storage and retrieval systems. These efforts were crowned with success, and online systems are now in common use as reference tools. Today the new information science frontier is to design, develop, and test expert systems for use in libraries and other information centers. At UCLA we are exploring the applicability of artificial intelligence and expert systems for modeling the cognitive processes involved in cataloging. Specifically, Zorana Ercegovac, a doctoral student, is designing a prototype expert system in the limited domain of map cataloging that will seek to employ the reasoning used by expert catalogers in applying AACR2 rules. It is anticipated that the research results will shed some light on the way catalogers reason and conceptualize the structure of a catalog entry. The project is still in its initial stages, and in this presentation one can only indicate the design choices that need to be made, the reasons for the decisions made, and the problems encountered.