From: AAAI-80 Proceedings. Copyright © 1980, AAAI (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved.
Reasoning
About
Knowledgeable
Change
Office
in
Systems
compared
with other approaches
managing
change.
to the problem
II. The Knowledgeable
Gerald R. Barber
Room 800b
Massachusem Ittslitute ofTechtlologv
54.5 Techttologv Square
Cambridge, Mass. 02139
We
central
and
aspect of much
dcscrintion
reasoning
activity
in
of our view of office
importance
in the office.
structure
of the office
mechanism
within
the office.
A description
processes
WC present
system
activity
the description
how this mechanism
dynamic
systems and why change
and office
domain
is a
used to describe
is discussed.
the intrinsic
functions
in an office
concerned
system is prcscntcd
such cntitics
for accepting
application
structure
tables.
providing
the
illuslratcd
.is dcscribcd
as a meiins of describing
accommadating
change
charnctcrizcd.
WC contrast
previous
pulling
technologies
information
in
in
change.
knowlcclgc
the
whcrc
bctwccn
which
Previous
technologies
for
languages
are
using
viewpoints
is propagated
by
coopcrating
in a social
participants.
and
repetitive
tasks in a non-interactive
cost of hardware
computers
office
workers
office
system is today
of
of tasks.
seen as both
office
work
to the realisntidn
that
in the office
uses will
impact
demanding
there
within
system.
potential
the way office
new ideas about
computational
work
is done
how to manage
of what off&
which
to
This has led
information
effcctivcly
support
paradigms
OMEGA
present
solving.
[IIcwitt
objcctivcs
OMEGA
their
is to support
Much
reasoning
of
in
Intclligencc,
as opposed
are
problem
about change.
to dcscribc changing
a short description
with
to deal
solving
activities
activity
situations.
of ch,mgc
OMEGA
may
employ
two
to
used
‘I’hc
arc
Office
is
IcalLed
of
with
this
in the
by
people
of this social
system
as the roles of the individual
in an environment
and
and
WC bicw the
to which
from which
it dclivcrs
the
hlndamental
manipulation
the
entities
system
to a forms manipulation
express
relationships
forms,
in particular,
for
system.
bctwcen
Descriptions
than
electronic
the
upon
System is based. ‘I’hc emphasis of our
System.
cmbcdding
Descriptions
objects
are more
electronic
a visual manifestations
solving activity.
about
One
Office
work
is naturally
forms
in
the
fimdamental
arc a way
of
of descriptions.
the
in
in
section we
Following
WC take
until recently
[Wynn
in
79, Suchman
as goal oriented
work from a procedural
WC are developing
the application
of OMEGA
with
system
cnvironrncnts
that
activity.
also provides
the static and dynamic
us to describe
and organizational
bctwccn
relevance
can
are
allows
structures
these structures.
to our discussion
support
weakly
point of view.
problem
structured,
a prccisc Lmgu,igc
within
‘I’hc major
here arc that a
solving
and
and
of office
in
dynamic
knowledge
rich.
which to characterize
aspects of office systems.
this
A central
and the mechanism
approach
workers
WC believe that this is one reason why it has proved
to dcscribc office
computational
OMEGA
office
solving is a pervasive aspect of
a suggested way by which to accomplish
systems as well as the inlcraction
bcncfits
is to support
characteri/.cd
is mcrcly
‘I‘hc formalism
reason about
an office
mechanisms
goal.
to bc difficult
of our
of individuals
within
Problem
office work that has been ncglcctcd
embedding
In the following
of the office.
in the office
change.
kinds
Office
791.
system called
system.
solving
of our model
WC discuss the importance
that
knowlcdgc
WC hnvc dcvclopcd
within
we
descriptions
work in an oflicc
the problem
systems
tasks
used to cmbcd
ilnd office
the
;I
of the
is the social structure
structure
organism
various
Knowledgcablc
their problem
in an office
those of knowledge
We arc dcvcloping
SO] to bc
of the office
an office.
concerns
workers
from Artificial
and problem
structure
office
as
OVCI tly,
of roles, the social norms of the office
is on a description
‘The office proccdurc
computer
as well
781. Our concern
system
One of the goals of our work
ways
capabilities.
developing
the scope of the
domain
arc charncteriir.cd.
structure
‘I’hc
descriptions
viewing descriptions,
is in the presence of
toward
and
of its mechanisms.
a particular
As a step
of
knowledge
ways. These new
in fundamental
work
explains
the
claims
in the use of the
in novel anti as yet unforcscen
and a new conceptualization
powerful
based
a new
as a medium
into a cohcrcnt
resources
approach
the computer
politics,
that make up the organization.
which the Knowlcdgcnblc
to aid
for achieving
As an
structure
reason for the existence
[Katz
ofl?cc
system.
the interaction
OMEGA’s
and
the cvcr-dccrcasing
Indeed,
is enormous
for
structured
used in the future
a motivation
and
new tools and knowledge
computer
With
can bc potentially
in a wider variety
understanding
intcgratc
mode.
cnvironmcnt
to highly
an
system as a functioning
products
limited
insurance
structure
is the primary
of
subsystems
it extracts
I. Int reduction
mainly
system.
In an insurance company
such aspects of an organization
the various
has been used in the office
office
system stems from the fact that the activity
domain
office
The computer
the
that
has on a subject
to the application
application
involves
slots of data structures.
many years with its application
system
system as an organi/.ation
aspect of an office
with
pushing
with
application
structure
In contrast
arc
embedding
approach
change
viewpoints
‘Ihc
system concerns
the rules and objects
credit ratings and such rules
loans.
is concerned
dominant
loans the application
a model by which those functions
the office
scenario
of an office
with
two
and the organiza~iunal
of a particular
or rejecting
an offrcc
the application
is used to dcscribc and reason about change in the
gcncral
the
of
and
office system.
and we discuss
offke.
A
terms
as loan applications.
as criteria
functionality
A viewpoint
System
It includes
example,
actuarial
a brief
is of central
in
structure
of the office.
compose
includes
about
system
struclure. l’hc application
subject
ABSTRACT
of
an office
Office
in the office, the applicalion s(nlcfure
structures
(617) 253-5857
Managing
view
of accommodating
managing
is
199
change.
problem
This
in an office
system is reasoning
is a rccul rent
thcmc
at several
about and
lcvcls
of
abstractions.
the
Viewing
organization
cnvironmcnt.
laws
or
the organization
must
cvolvc
For example.
an office
organization
output
adapt
to
which
organization
to its environment,
adapt
Ill. Dealing
A key property-of
the
which
it produces
rclativi7cd
anomalous
state of the constrained
hypothesized
results, maintaining
is the underlying
is that information
Consider,
representation
to a kicwpoint
and information
increasing
its specificity.
JIcscriptions
that
attributes,
as information
is added further
make
up
an
system constraints
parts change and analyzing
Should
as the
the implications
the information
following
a description
I’hc
description
is
is added to this description
may contain
in a field
is only added
for example,
of a form.
and the constraints
individuals
arc faced with such tasks as reasoning about processes that
have produced
viewpoints
to them and is never changed.
must adjust
which
With Change
changing
Viewing
the organization
for t.hc product
The
the
technology.
to the organitation
operate.
to
off~cc must adapt to new tax
new
to the demand
it must
to
of some product,
in light of the rcsourccs available
under
in relation
order
an accounting
must
as producer
its production
in
constraints
information
of a form
bctwecn
may be deduced.
be changed
then
the
scenario might occur:
of
1. A
processes.
new
viewpoint
is created
and
dcscribcd
as being
a
successor to the old viewpoint.
has a viewpoint mechanism
OMEGA
‘I’hc viewpoint
and reason about change.
to present time varying
proccsscs historical,
dcpcndcncics
proccsscs to office
provides
Cltanging
aspects of the organization
using the viewpoint
this pnpcr WC dcscribc OMEGA
a means
2. All
workers for analysis, bc these
in progress or postulated.
and changing
in descriptions
that is used to describe
mechanism
mechanism.
that
3. The new information
of
deductions
OMEGA
built.
a structure
‘1%~ system is dcsigncd to bc incremental;
incorporated
into
There
arises.
system is usable.
is added.
paragraphs,
knowlcdgc
inconsistent
with information
systems
is rclntivir.cd
viewpoint.
previously
held
information
from
nccdcd
the
bcforc
the
information
information
viewpoint
for
a notion
structures
in question.
descriptions
deductions
are
merged
with
of
of
updated
global
is mergitzg; new
inference
previous
Any
descriptions.
as a result of the new information
track
the
to
What
gel
the most
all but
the changed
from
actions
the
changed
arc taken
when
via mcta-descriptions.
must
to
bc
771 use triggers
accommodating
updntcs
based on property
update
to
and
read
explicitly
problems.
on data structure
dependencies
database
based on
leading
to
like
slots to propagate
for keeping
‘This makes changes
and why.
data
J.angungcs
here is that thcrc is no support
was deduced
the
lists such as J,lSP
that deductions
handled
and modularity
‘Ilrc disadvantage
of
perform
the disadvantage
complexity
because information
problem
to
operations
‘I’hcsc hate
of what
the
been
System
infonnation
changes.
new
arc carried out during
inherits
is changed is specified
have
pur and
used
information.
J:RJ* [Goldstein
rule
rcprcscnt
deduced
viewpoint.
approaches
information
unacccptablc
fundamental
the old
changing
have
consistency.
OMEGA’s
viewpoint
information
in a viewpoint
invalidate
may
the
Previous
that is
can be placed in
information
need
arc made.
is
in the following
aspects of non-monotonic
new
beliefs--without
or as the need for it
in the sense that nothing
in a particular
in the new viewpoint
In this case the new
and
to viewpoints,
79]--where
is
information
As is cxplaincd
‘This ac&nmodntcs
[McDermott
of descriptions
can be
of information
The system is monotonic
lost when new information
a different
amount
from this information
recent contents of the form.
new knowlcdgc
the system as it is discovered
is no minimal
the changed
mechanism.
Mechanism
is a system with which
from
is added in the new viewpoint,
resulting
4. ‘J’hc description
IV. The Viewpoint
was not derived
is copied to the new viewpoint.
cnvironmcntal
can be captured
In the remainder
and its viewpoint
information
information
difficult
arc not recorded.
merging operation.
‘lhc
OMEGA
descriptions.
the
is
is used to build, maintain
Descriptions
‘I’he
relation.
indicates
relation
relation
is rclativized
under which
represents
holds.
are related via an inhcritancc
is
the conditions
a viewpoint
and reason over a lattice of
the is
the conditions
In this rcspcct it is rcminisccnt
calculus [McCarthy
691 and the contexts
rcl,ltion
ulider
relation
called
to a viewpoint
holds.
which
ODYSSlXY
Intuitively
of McCarthy’s
situational
very careful
A major differcncc
that
viewpoints
descriptive
power
arc
expressing
viewpoints
to one
capabilities
transitivity
these approaches
and
complex
another.
such
for relations
Other
as the
thus
Viewpoints
of OMEGA.
structures
order
between
descriptions
inheritance
and viewpoints
are subject
may
full
be cmbcddcd
in
relationships
to
describe
the order
anamolous
OMEGA
separates
viewpoints.
Information
‘l’hc propagation
higher
mcta-description.
properties
[Fikes
a
X0].
In this system pushers
as a result of updates and
mechanism
is used
In this cast it is necessary to be
dcpcndcncics.
to prcvcnt
relating
include
in the system and meta-description
ilbout
implement
in which
triggers
fire for as updates
arc
in the database making
it
results due to inconsistencies.
is
the
aspects of OMEGA
ability
to
to
OlIYSSJ<Y
of trips.
deductions
made there is both new and old information
difficult
used
called
on reads. A simple dependency
to record information
721.
been
assistant
aids a user in the planning
to mnkc deductions
inheritance
has
K RI,
personal
and pullers arc used to propagate
that
the
of QA4 [Rulifson
language
knowledge-based
like
new and
consistency
of information
bctwccn
An advantage
that the system has a historical
capabilities
toward
to talk about the parts of descriptions.
our
dynamic
goal of aiding
proccsscs.
processes, as an aid in tracking
dctcrminc
200
the implications
information
into
within
viewpoints
of the approach
character.
office
Viewpoints
old
is maintained
workers
This
is controlled
ongoing
is an important
in problem
proccsscs
actions.
via
using viewpoints
can bc used as historical
of postulated
diffcrcnt
viewpoints.
solving
is
step
about
records of past
and as an aid to
[McCarthy
VI. Conclusion
691
McCarthy,
We
have
descriptions
describe
a changing
form
has proved
vary with
the
system OMEGA
mechanism
about
presented
viewpoint
along with
presented
in describing
description
here is related
some examples
in an accounting
useful
time as well as a means with
the system’s
mechanism
office.
statements
mechanism
to that in IYHER
[Kornfcld
layers of the PIE system [Goldstein
801.
aspects of McCarthy’s
mechanism
tags [McCarthy
691 and the contexts
as a replacement
different
operations
to yul
differences
carry
etc.]
merging of
and
lists [IPL,
Lisp,
get attributions
over to more
in
substantially
etc.] which
data
with
attached
or ger (rettcl) operation
SIMUI,A,
Artificial
[Suchman
lntclligcncc
1979.
J. and Waldinger,
R.
Center Technical
November,
Note 73, Stanford
1972.
791
Suchman,
L.
Office Procedures as Praclical .4ction: A Case Sludy.
that
Technical
is performed.
[Wynn
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721
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of inference.
[McDermott
arc a powerful
of QA4 [Rulifson
is monolottic using
rule
systems based on property
KRL,
Viewpoints
for update and pusher-puller
Omega
fundamental
which combine
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