Improving driver behaviour by design: a cognitive work analysis methodology

Within the European Community both the environmental and safety costs of road transport are unacceptably high. ‘Foot-LITE’ is a UK project which aims to encourage drivers to adopt ‘greener’ and safer driving practices, with real-time and retrospective feedback being given both in-vehicle and off-line. This paper describes the early concept development of Foot-LITE, for which a Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) was conducted. In this paper, we present the results of the first phase of CWA – the Work Domain Analysis, as well as some concept interface designs based on the WDA to illustrate its application. In summary, the CWA establishes a common framework for the project, and will ultimately contribute to the design of the in-vehicle interfac

Staff edutainment on a corporate intranet‐lessons learned

This paper discusses the results from a case study of an intranet‐based staff education programme at the national Swedish telecommunications corporation. The programme attempts to convey the environmental benefits of telecommunication services, aiming at increased staff awareness and new business opportunities. A multidisciplinary production team packaged the factual content in a rich mixture of audio and video clips, text, images, animations, quizzes, games, tests and polls. A standard Web browser with downloadable plug‐ins is used to view the material. The self‐paced studies on the intranet are followed by a seminar, combining the advantages of individual and teacher‐assisted education. The impact of the programme has been studied partly through a questionnaire distributed to a number of users, and partly through interviews. The results show that intranet‐based ‘edutainment’ is a practicable and successful tool for organizational learning. Ease of use, interactivity, ease of distribution and renewal, flexibility in time and space, are just some of the benefits offered. However, a number of pedagogical, organizational and technical requirements must be met in order to succeed Context, pedagogical aims and standards, content, information structure, user characteristics, management commitment, technical platform, media types, the production team, user interface and user tests are just a few of the important factors that must be considered This paper attempts to identify some of the factors essential to successful staff education on the corporate intranet, discussing observations and lessons learned from the case study

Integrative Use of Information Extraction, Semantic Matchmaking and Adaptive Coupling Techniques in Support of Distributed Information Processing and Decision-Making

In order to press maximal cognitive benefit from their social, technological and informational environments, military coalitions need to understand how best to exploit available information assets as well as how best to organize their socially-distributed information processing activities. The International Technology Alliance (ITA) program is beginning to address the challenges associated with enhanced cognition in military coalition environments by integrating a variety of research and development efforts. In particular, research in one component of the ITA ('Project 4: Shared Understanding and Information Exploitation') is seeking to develop capabilities that enable military coalitions to better exploit and distribute networked information assets in the service of collective cognitive outcomes (e.g. improved decision-making). In this paper, we provide an overview of the various research activities in Project 4. We also show how these research activities complement one another in terms of supporting coalition-based collective cognition

Thesauri on the Web: current developments and trends

This article provides an overview of recent developments relating to the application of thesauri in information organisation and retrieval on the World Wide Web. It describes some recent thesaurus projects undertaken to facilitate resource description and discovery and access to wide-ranging information resources on the Internet. Types of thesauri available on the Web, thesauri integrated in databases and information retrieval systems, and multiple-thesaurus systems for cross-database searching are also discussed. Collective efforts and events in addressing the standardisation and novel applications of thesauri are briefly reviewed

Improving driver behaviour by design : a cognitive work analysis methodology

Within the European Community both the environmental and safety costs of road transport are unacceptably high. ‘Foot-LITE’ is a UK project which aims to encourage drivers to adopt ‘greener’ and safer driving practices, with real-time and retrospective feedback being given both in-vehicle and off-line. This paper describes the early concept development of Foot-LITE, for which a Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) was conducted. In this paper, we present the results of the first phase of CWA – the Work Domain Analysis, as well as some concept interface designs based on the WDA to illustrate its application. In summary, the CWA establishes a common framework for the project, and will ultimately contribute to the design of the in-vehicle interface

Simple identification tools in FishBase

Simple identification tools for fish species were included in the FishBase information system from its inception. Early tools made use of the relational model and characters like fin ray meristics. Soon pictures and drawings were added as a further help, similar to a field guide. Later came the computerization of existing dichotomous keys, again in combination with pictures and other information, and the ability to restrict possible species by country, area, or taxonomic group. Today, www.FishBase.org offers four different ways to identify species. This paper describes these tools with their advantages and disadvantages, and suggests various options for further development. It explores the possibility of a holistic and integrated computeraided strategy

ECOSENSUS: developing collaborative learning systems for stakeholding development in environmental planning

ECOSENSUS *(Electronic/Ecological Collaborative Sensemaking Support System) investigates the socio-technological issues around developing collaboration tools for participatory environmental decision making amongst (a) marginalised natural resource users, (b) professional 'experts' from different countries, and (c) key decision makers associated with managing ecosystems. An integral activity is the production of open content learning resources to support stakeholders in facilitating distributed environmental decision making. This involves the integrated use of three open source software tools: Moodle (online course management), Compendium (dialogue mapping) and uDig (user friendly desktop/internet GIS). In the first ECOSENSUS-1 phase, the pilot collaborative effort has been focused on supporting stakeholders in developing adaptive management plans for the Rupununi Wetlands in southern Guyana, a region rich in flora and fauna but also under intense pressure to expand the exploitation of its natural resources, including timber, gold, and commercially viable fish species. Results of the ECOSENSUS-1 are briefly described along with some preliminary notes on the current ECOSENUS-2 phase of associated research in Guyana supported by an additional grant from DEFRA. The paper prompts questions on how ECOSENSUS can feed into wider open source course development using the LabSpace on the OpenLearn project