Cooperating knowledge-based assistants for the office

An approach to high-level support of office workers by embedding office knowledge in a network of distributed cooperating knowledge-based or expert “assistants” and servers that are capable of supporting concurrent multiple consultations or tasks.

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to high-level support of office workers by embedding office knowledge in a network of distributed cooperating knowledge-based or expert “assistants” and servers. These knowledge-based systems incorporate both factual and procedural knowledge and are capable of making use of existing conventional office technology. They constitute a form of computer-supported cooperative work. We describe a common architecture for our assistants and servers that incorporates several key features. Our systems are capable of supporting concurrent multiple consultations or tasks and have facilities for the interruption and resumption of consultations as appropriate. The various assistants and servers, which may reside on different machines, cooperate in solving problems or completing tasks by passing messages. We propose a taxonomy of the general office knowledge normally used by office workers, together with a frame and rule-based knowledge representation scheme. We also describe an experimental system, written in PROLOG, that incorporates the above design principles.