Smart Systems for Intelligent Knowledge Use

Inspired by Engelbart's vision of augmenting human intellect, the long-term objective of my lab is to create WWW-based smart systems for intelligent knowledge use that are designed to maximize synthesis and creation of new knowledge and understanding from text, objects, etc. I seek to develop better techniques, tools and interfaces for information workers to use documents, corpora, and data from multiple sources effectively. With a concern for accessibility, my trainees and I harness the WWW's flexibility to make text and non-textual objects more available and adaptable than earlier paper-based technologies. My research lab, HAIKU (Hypertext Augmenting Intelligent Knowledge Use), is rooted in sensemaking: developing computing solutions that optimize tertiary learners’ uptake of knowledge by creating an integrated suite of tools for students to build knowledge to become expert. My research brings tangible application to the WWW, as a prolific tool to make information-text, image, sound, etc.-discoverable, accessible and comprehensible to users. This research ensures that the WWW is a tool of innovation, ingenuity and advancement. Here I concentrate on (a) technology-supported education and (b) curation of digital objects. In the context of technology-supported education, I seek the best aspects of traditional (paper-based) methods with the advantages (not drawbacks) of digital media. My research has both fundamental and applied outputs and has substantially moved forward the field of computer-assisted textual annotation and its uses [4]. In the next 5 years, I plan to build on open electronic resources (OER) to enable users to make more, and more persistent, knowledge, from existing texts. OER will be a testbed for tools that are instrumental for knowledge acquisition: to design and build-as an architect would-textbooks that students will update over the course of their studies. With respect to curation of digital objects, we are working to build a touch archive, a curated collection of non-textual objects. An object is more than the sum of its discrete attributes. To appreciate an object in its full complexity, it must be understood in various contexts-integrating multiple human viewpoints and related resources. The authentic representation of digital and non-textual objects is increasingly an area of concern for galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. From my initial project design with Indigenous history scholars Heidi Bohaker (U of Toronto) and Carla Taunton (NSCAD), the touch archive is evolving as an international partnership (with Canadian, German, and Italian researchers already committed) for the development of a multi-faceted interactive curated collection of tangible and archival resources. This work has important implications for oral-historical reconciliation of various communities, such as the transmission of Indigenous ways of knowing, and the digital preservation of cultural heritage.