Cognitive Engineering Issues in the Design of a Knowledge-Based Information Retrieval System *

Abstract

EP-X (Environmental Pollution expert) is a prototype expert system that acts as an expert search intermediary for a bibliographic information retrieval system. It searches for documents in the Chemical Abstracts database in the domain of environmental pollution, providing an intelligent human-computer interface that accommodates a wide variety of user backgrounds and interests. This paper discusses

1) the general problem of bibliographic information retrival,

2) the value of combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human Factors Engineering (HFE) techniques in the design of an intelligent human-computer interface.

3) the general architecture and functioning of EP-X, and

4) examples of specific issues that arise when attempting to apply both AI and HFE techniques to the design of an interactive computer system.

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