19 research outputs found
Some Reflections on the Task of Content Determination in the Context of Multi-Document Summarization of Evolving Events
Despite its importance, the task of summarizing evolving events has received
small attention by researchers in the field of multi-document summariztion. In
a previous paper (Afantenos et al. 2007) we have presented a methodology for
the automatic summarization of documents, emitted by multiple sources, which
describe the evolution of an event. At the heart of this methodology lies the
identification of similarities and differences between the various documents,
in two axes: the synchronic and the diachronic. This is achieved by the
introduction of the notion of Synchronic and Diachronic Relations. Those
relations connect the messages that are found in the documents, resulting thus
in a graph which we call grid. Although the creation of the grid completes the
Document Planning phase of a typical NLG architecture, it can be the case that
the number of messages contained in a grid is very large, exceeding thus the
required compression rate. In this paper we provide some initial thoughts on a
probabilistic model which can be applied at the Content Determination stage,
and which tries to alleviate this problem.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
What's in a Message?
In this paper we present the first step in a larger series of experiments for
the induction of predicate/argument structures. The structures that we are
inducing are very similar to the conceptual structures that are used in Frame
Semantics (such as FrameNet). Those structures are called messages and they
were previously used in the context of a multi-document summarization system of
evolving events. The series of experiments that we are proposing are
essentially composed from two stages. In the first stage we are trying to
extract a representative vocabulary of words. This vocabulary is later used in
the second stage, during which we apply to it various clustering approaches in
order to identify the clusters of predicates and arguments--or frames and
semantic roles, to use the jargon of Frame Semantics. This paper presents in
detail and evaluates the first stage
Let's get the student into the driver's seat
Speaking a language and achieving proficiency in another one is a highly
complex process which requires the acquisition of various kinds of knowledge
and skills, like the learning of words, rules and patterns and their connection
to communicative goals (intentions), the usual starting point. To help the
learner to acquire these skills we propose an enhanced, electronic version of
an age old method: pattern drills (henceforth PDs). While being highly regarded
in the fifties, PDs have become unpopular since then, partially because of
their lack of grounding (natural context) and rigidity. Despite these
shortcomings we do believe in the virtues of this approach, at least with
regard to the acquisition of basic linguistic reflexes or skills (automatisms),
necessary to survive in the new language. Of course, the method needs
improvement, and we will show here how this can be achieved. Unlike tapes or
books, computers are open media, allowing for dynamic changes, taking users'
performances and preferences into account. Building an electronic version of
PDs amounts to building an open resource, accomodatable to the users' ever
changing needs.Comment: 6 page
Using Synchronic and Diachronic Relations for Summarizing Multiple Documents Describing Evolving Events
In this paper we present a fresh look at the problem of summarizing evolving
events from multiple sources. After a discussion concerning the nature of
evolving events we introduce a distinction between linearly and non-linearly
evolving events. We present then a general methodology for the automatic
creation of summaries from evolving events. At its heart lie the notions of
Synchronic and Diachronic cross-document Relations (SDRs), whose aim is the
identification of similarities and differences between sources, from a
synchronical and diachronical perspective. SDRs do not connect documents or
textual elements found therein, but structures one might call messages.
Applying this methodology will yield a set of messages and relations, SDRs,
connecting them, that is a graph which we call grid. We will show how such a
grid can be considered as the starting point of a Natural Language Generation
System. The methodology is evaluated in two case-studies, one for linearly
evolving events (descriptions of football matches) and another one for
non-linearly evolving events (terrorist incidents involving hostages). In both
cases we evaluate the results produced by our computational systems.Comment: 45 pages, 6 figures. To appear in the Journal of Intelligent
Information System
Let's get the student into the driver's seat
6 pagesSpeaking a language and achieving proficiency in another one is a highly complex process which requires the acquisition of various kinds of knowledge and skills, like the learning of words, rules and patterns and their connection to communicative goals (intentions), the usual starting point. To help the learner to acquire these skills we propose an enhanced, electronic version of an age old method: pattern drills (henceforth PDs). While being highly regarded in the fifties, PDs have become unpopular since then, partially because of their lack of grounding (natural context) and rigidity. Despite these shortcomings we do believe in the virtues of this approach, at least with regard to the acquisition of basic linguistic reflexes or skills (automatisms), necessary to survive in the new language. Of course, the method needs improvement, and we will show here how this can be achieved. Unlike tapes or books, computers are open media, allowing for dynamic changes, taking users' performances and preferences into account. Building an electronic version of PDs amounts to building an open resource, accomodatable to the users' ever changing needs