Web-based Support Systems JingTao Yao Department of Computer Science, Department of Computer...

Web-based Support SystemsWeb-based Support Systems

JingTao YaoJingTao Yao Department of Computer Science, Department of Computer Science,

University of University of ReginaReginaCANADA S4S 0A2CANADA S4S 0A2

[email protected]@cs.uregina.cahttp://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~jtyaohttp://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~jtyao

J T Yao: Web-based Support SystemsJ T Yao: Web-based Support Systems 22

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

• 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.


WSS & WIWSS & 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 TechnologyAdvances in Science and Technology

• More data/information

• More tools

• More difficult problems

• More complex tasks

• More demands for quality and productivity

• …….


Advances in Computer and Advances in Computer and Web TechnologyWeb 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?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.


Computerized Support systemsComputerized 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 WebStrengths 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.


Why the Web?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.


Transition to the WebTransition 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.


Two Dimensional View of WSSTwo 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.


Two Dimensional View of WSSTwo Dimensional View of WSSTechnology

Domain Computer Web …

Decision Making DSS WDSS …

Information Retrieval IRSS WIRSS …

Science Research RSS WRSS …

Learning LSS WLSS …

Knowledge management

KMSS WKMSS …

Data mining DMSS WDMSS …

Medical MSS WMSS …

… … … …


Goals of WSS ResearchGoals 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 WorkshopsWSS Workshops• 2003, JingTao Yao and Pawan Lingras co-organized

the 1st 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 2nd International Workshop on Web-based Support System– http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~wss/wss04/

• 2006, JingTao Yao, Kanliang co-organized the 3rd International Workshop on Web-based Support System– http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~wss/wss06/


WSS ProceedingsWSS Proceedings


A General Architecture of WSSA General Architecture of WSS

Larger user base

Standardized UI

Information technology

Domain dependent / independent information

Web technology

Larger user base

Web technology

Information technology

Standardized UI


WSS ResearchWSS 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 DirectionsWSS 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.


Research on WSSResearch on WSS

• Operations & logic– Understand the needs of WSS– Domain specific– Domain independent

• Support facilities– What can CS/IT/Web offer– Domain specific– Domain independent


Basic issues of WSSBasic issues of WSS

• Supporting domain independent activities– Reading – Writing– Presentation– Communication– ……

• Support domain dependent activities– Decision analysis– Strategic decision making– Risk analysis– ……


Need Intelligent Support:Need Intelligent Support:A Negative Example 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 Web-based Research Support SystemsResearch 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


Scientific Research in the Web AgeScientific 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 Web-based information resources, such as information overload, misinformation, fees, poorly designed navigation, retrieval, and browsing tools.


Interdisciplinary Nature Interdisciplinary Nature Research Support SystemsResearch 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.


WRSSWRSS

• 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, Scopus


A Model of the Research ProcessA 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


Role of WRSSRole of WRSS

• Active role of WRSS: scientists play an active role in using a passive system vs. WRSS also plays a active role to assist scientists.– Search results alert– MS Word auto-correction feature

• Rationality and feasibility: research process is relatively discipline independent, which makes WRSS feasible.– Separation of general research process and discipline

specific knowledge.


Characteristics of WRSSCharacteristics 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.


Functionalities of WRSSFunctionalities of WRSS

• Profile management: to collect, organize, and store all relevant information of 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.


Specific Supporting FunctionalitiesSpecific Supporting Functionalities

• Exploring support

• Retrieval support

• Reading support

• Analyzing support

• Writing support


Web of ScienceWeb of Science

• Reference Search


Cited Reference Searching - BenefitsCited Reference Searching - BenefitsCited Reference Searching - BenefitsCited 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.


Cited Reference SearchingCited Reference SearchingCited Reference SearchingCited Reference SearchingTraditional search

1982 paper1982

paper 1957 paper1957

paper

1996 paper1996

paper 1982 paper1982

paper

1996 paper1996

paper1957

paper1957

paper

1987 paper1987

paper

2004 paper2004

paper2003

paper2003

paper

1993 paper1993

paper

Cited reference search


Cited Reference SearchCited Reference SearchCited Reference SearchCited Reference Search


Cited Reference Look-up tableCited Reference Look-up tableCited Reference Look-up tableCited Reference Look-up table

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 are in black text.

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 are in black text.


Times CitedTimes Cited


Cited Reference Search / ResultsCited Reference Search / Results

As these records cite Anand’s work, they are closely related to the original subject, even though they may not use the same terminology.

As these records cite Anand’s work, they are closely related to the original subject, even though they may not use the same terminology.


Web of ScienceWeb of Science

• Citation Analysis


About Citation ReportsAbout 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


Citation ReportsCitation 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


Author searchAuthor search


Author search resultsAuthor search results


Citation ReportCitation Report


H-indexH-index


H-indexH-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 CountsCitation Counts


Output Citation Report dataOutput Citation Report data


ISI Web of Knowledge Citation AlertISI Web of Knowledge Citation Alert


Contributing Computer Science FieldsContributing Computer Science Fields

• Database• Information retrieval• Data mining system, statistics software• Visualization• Graphics user interfaces• Text editors and processors• Intelligent agents• Many more ……


Other ExamplesOther 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


Using WeblogUsing 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


Architecture of WLSSArchitecture of WLSS

Teaching Support System

User Knowledge

Base

InternetInternet

Information Retrieval Support System

LearningOrder

IndexingDatabase

Contents Management System

INTERFACE

USER

Conventional Indexing Database

DomainKnowledge

Base

Web-based Learning Game System

Membership Management SystemCourse Knowledge

Base

Academic Dictionary Database


Example: A Treasure MapExample: A Treasure Map

Data Representation

Mountain

Data communications

Unicode

ISO

Numbers

Audio

Video

Components

Protocol Village

Event 1

Start Quiz End

Threat

Help

Fake treasure

Real treasure

Event

Extended

ASCII

Images

Text ASCII


A Partial ArchitectureA Partial Architecture

DBMSKnowledge

ManagementRoughSets

InformationRetrieval

ControlFacilities

Interface/Presentation

Web/Internet Web/Internet

Knowledge Base

Users

PatientDatabase

RiskDatabase

RuleDatabase


Rough Set ComponentRough Set Component

KnowledgeManagement

InformationTables

+11o4

-10o3

-00o2

+01o1

da2a1

Object data Rules

if {a1 = 1} … then {d = ‘+’}

Knowledge Base

if {a1 = 0} … then {d = ‘-’}r3

if {a1 = 1} … then {d = ‘+’}r2

if {a1 = 2} … then {d = ‘+’}r1

Rule

DomainSpecific

Rough SetAnalysis

Data Mining Component

DatabaseManagement


ConclusionConclusion

• 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.


ConclusionConclusion

• 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.


WSS publicationsWSS publications• J. T. Yao, An Introduction to Web-based Support Systems, Journal of Intelligent

Systems, 17(1-3), 267-281, 2007.• 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.


WSS publicationsWSS 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.


WSS publicationsWSS 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.


WSS publicationsWSS 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.

• Y.Y. Yao, 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.

• Y.Y. Yao, Granular computing for the design of information retrieval support systems, Information Retrieval and Clustering, Wu, W., Xiong, H. and Shekhar, S. (Eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003, 299-329.

• D. J Power, S. Kaparthi, Building Web-based decision support systems, Studies in Informatics and Control, 11, 291-302, 2002.

• Y.Y. Yao, 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.

Web-based Support SystemsWeb-based Support Systems

JingTao YaoJingTao Yao Department of Computer Science, Department of Computer Science,

University of ReginaUniversity of ReginaCANADA S4S 0A2CANADA S4S 0A2

[email protected]@cs.uregina.cahttp://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~jtyao http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/~jtyao


Where is Regina?Where is Regina?


MapQuest: Dec 2006


MapQuest: Aug 2007

Web-based Support Systems JingTao Yao Department of Computer Science, Department of Computer...

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