How Controlled English can Improve Semantic Wikis

The motivation of semantic wikis is to make acquisition, maintenance, and mining of formal knowledge simpler, faster, and more flexible. However, most existing semantic wikis have a very technical interface and are restricted to a relatively low level of expressivity. In this paper, we explain how AceWiki uses controlled English - concretely Attempto Controlled English (ACE) - to provide a natural and intuitive interface while supporting a high degree of expressivity. We introduce recent improvements of the AceWiki system and user studies that indicate that AceWiki is usable and useful

AceWiki: A Natural and Expressive Semantic Wiki

We present AceWiki, a prototype of a new kind of semantic wiki using the controlled natural language Attempto Controlled English (ACE) for representing its content. ACE is a subset of English with a restricted grammar and a formal semantics. The use of ACE has two important advantages over existing semantic wikis. First, we can improve the usability and achieve a shallow learning curve. Second, ACE is more expressive than the formal languages of existing semantic wikis. Our evaluation shows that people who are not familiar with the formal foundations of the Semantic Web are able to deal with AceWiki after a very short learning phase and without the help of an expert.Comment: To be published as: Proceedings of Semantic Web User Interaction at CHI 2008: Exploring HCI Challenges, CEUR Workshop Proceeding

Codeco: A Grammar Notation for Controlled Natural Language in Predictive Editors

Existing grammar frameworks do not work out particularly well for controlled natural languages (CNL), especially if they are to be used in predictive editors. I introduce in this paper a new grammar notation, called Codeco, which is designed specifically for CNLs and predictive editors. Two different parsers have been implemented and a large subset of Attempto Controlled English (ACE) has been represented in Codeco. The results show that Codeco is practical, adequate and efficient

Distributed Wikis: A Survey

International audienceSUMMARY "Distributed Wiki" is a generic term covering various systems, including "peer-to-peer wiki," "mobile wiki," "offline wiki," "federated wiki" and others. Distributed wikis distribute their pages among the sites of autonomous participants to address various motivations, including high availability of data, new collaboration models and different viewpoint of subjects. Although existing systems share some common basic concepts, it is often difficult to understand the specificity of each one, the underlying complexities or the best context in which to use it. In this paper, we define, classify and characterize distributed wikis. We identify three classes of distributed wiki systems, each using a different collaboration model and distribution scheme for its pages: highly available wikis, decentralized social wikis and federated wikis. We classify existing distributed wikis according to these classes. We detail their underlying complexities and social and technical motivations. We also highlight some directions for research and opportunities for new systems with original social and technical motivations

An infrastructure for planning, monitoring and reusing capstone projects with the help of semantic wikis

International audienceThe capstone project provides students, working in groups, with a significant project experience. Students should deliver one or several iterations of a software system, along with all artifacts appropriate to the process model they are using. A system based on reference and organizational models and powered by three semantic wikis (using SMW) is used to help the drive of capstone projects. This paper describes aspects raised by challenges of capstone projects management and presents the infrastructure of the solution we built

Highly focused document retrieval in aerospace engineering : user interaction design and evaluation

Purpose – This paper seeks to describe the preliminary studies (on both users and data), the design and evaluation of the K-Search system for searching legacy documents in aerospace engineering. Real-world reports of jet engine maintenance challenge the current indexing practice, while real users’ tasks require retrieving the information in the proper context. K-Search is currently in use in Rolls-Royce plc and has evolved to include other tools for knowledge capture and management. Design/methodology/approach – Semantic Web techniques have been used to automatically extract information from the reports while maintaining the original context, allowing a more focused retrieval than with more traditional techniques. The paper combines semantic search with classical information retrieval to increase search effectiveness. An innovative user interface has been designed to take advantage of this hybrid search technique. The interface is designed to allow a flexible and personal approach to searching legacy data. Findings – The user evaluation showed that the system is effective and well received by users. It also shows that different people look at the same data in different ways and make different use of the same system depending on their individual needs, influenced by their job profile and personal attitude. Research limitations/implications – This study focuses on a specific case of an enterprise working in aerospace engineering. Although the findings are likely to be shared with other engineering domains (e.g. mechanical, electronic), the study does not expand the evaluation to different settings. Originality/value – The study shows how real context of use can provide new and unexpected challenges to researchers and how effective solutions can then be adopted and used in organizations.</p