AN EXPERT SYSTEM FOR REFERENCE SERVICES Ekachai Naowanich

AN EXPERT SYSTEM FOR REFERENCE SERVICES Ekachai Naowanich, Pradit, Songsangyos , Suwut, Tumthong Rajamangala University of Technology

Personal Data Mr. Pradit Songsangyos Education MBA. (General Management), Maejo University M. Eng. (Information Management), Asian Institute of Technology Qualification and experiences Full-time lecturer, Rajamangala University of Technology Suvarnabhumi Part-time lecturer, Rajamangala University of

Introduction Ø the information contained in library collections is increasing Ø the reference librarian be unable to answer the enquirer’s question Ø users have had difficulty explaining their real needs

Objectives Ø to study the use of expert system for reference services Ø to study how to provide Thailand information sources through an expert system

Scope and limitation Ø reference sources of information about Thailand Ø information sources that are available in some institutes in Bangkok Metropolitan Ø recent sources on Thailand would be used to form the select list

Benefits Ø automated reference service by use of expert system Ø reference service can be made available at anytime

System design. 1 Problem identification and knowledge acquisition. 2 Knowledge representation. 3 Human-Computer interaction design. 4 Prototype design

Model of system prototype

Functional description of the system

System instructions screen

Main menu

Subjects list under Government area

System Help

Output screen

Print out TITLE : Public Administration: Collection of Thai Scholars' Works. AUTHOR : Bidhya Bowornwathana. IMPRINT : Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press, 1983 DESCRIPT : 513 p. SUBJECT : Public Administration LOCATION : Thailand Information Centre, CU. CALL # : 36248 NOTE : ***********

Recommendations Ø It would be better if user can mark the selected record(s) s/he would like to save on a disk or print out Ø If the system could display the subject hierarchy used frequently then user can use short cut to searching Ø the reference sources. advantages if the The users can take more For example: user entering 4, 5, 2 system provides broader domains. for “Public Administration”.

Recommendations Ø If the system provides narrower domains, user can take advantages from more specific area Ø Voice recognition might be more easy to the user Ø The system should be on-line so the users can access to the system at anyplace, anytime

REFERENCES Aluri, R. and Riggs, D. E. , 1990. Expert system in library. Ablex publishing corporation, New Jersey. Awad, E. M. , 1996. Building expert systems: principles, procedures, and applications. West publishing company. Butkovich, N. J. and Browning, M. M. and Taylor, K. L. , 1991. “The reference expert: a computerized database utilizing INMAGIC and a worm drive”. Database, December. Devadason, F. J. , 1997. “A methodology for the identification of information needs of users”. IFLA journal, Vol. 23, No. 1. Harley, B. L. and Knobloch, P. J. , 1991. “Government documents reference aid: An expert system development project”. Government publication review, Vol. 18. Katz, W. A. , 1992. Introduction to reference work volume I, 6 th edition. Mc. Graw. Hill, Inc. Myers, J. E. , 1997. “Reference Expert: developing a computer expert system for library reference service”, University of Houston, May. Richardson, Jr. J. V. , 1989. “Toward an expert system for reference service: a

Q&A

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