15 York Valley Cr., North York, Ont., M2P 1A8Tel.: (416) 410-2202, Fax: 489-4688 Books and Managing Complexity Draft: for review only Rainer von Königslöw Version 0.1: June 14, 1997 Copyright 1997, All rights reserved. Diaspora and convergence: the current state of books Types of books: Books as entities Company books - business plans, accounts & financial reports, "book keepers" electronic books, databases as books lab books - scientific evidence courts: collecting the paperwork civil service - managing policy and complexity with written records advertising, persuasion, hate mongering, misrepresentation Description - record keeping Encyclopedias Reference texts books of accounts, financial statements lab notes of experiment results medical histories court case evidence reports architectural & engineering drawings documentary movies anthropological - ethnological recordings Story telling, reporting, persuading, entertaining novels, romances, legends, children's books religious legends movies Instructions - Constraints Laws - acts, regulations, bylaws, codes religious commandments "how to" books, user guides listings of computer programs Hidden books tables in many databases files in government archives (not accesible by Freedom of Information, or not known to exist) some medical record adoption records Usage scenarios for books Application of book-related skills & technologies accountability, communication, reasoning, public scutiny (sharing) How much of the moment to moment behaviour is captured by written rules: could we capture and automate the process with expert systems or transaction oriented system? Accounting Lists, inventory, order processing, money & balance & value, financial planning & budgets & futures, evaluation of an organization, shares bank account books (still used for saving accounts) Management, administration HR job descriptions management reports memos, judgements, evaluations expressed on paper Science "publish or perish" -- extend duality with new measurement schemes, new theories, new observations, new experiments, etc. public documents allowing incrementality, requirement for novelty, review & judgement of peers - juried justice legislation, court system, rules of evidence, precedence cases very much dominated by the paper trail, linking arguments to legislative code, previous documented interpretations, precedence cases architecture moving into paper mode with models (pictures) of future views, engineering drawings meeting constraints medicine slowly moving into paper mode, but not fully yet history, tests, images, treatment plan & schedule, prescriptions billing for small job components & processes, insurance forms, advising & warning patients (clients) to avoid liability Administration, civil service managing paper trail, data bases, flow of paper information with forms & lists inventories, order processing exception: driving a car managing a car in complex situations: traffic laws mostly constraints, owner manual covers routine, constraints, exception events -- usual combination of looking, steering, braking, accelerating -- not covered by book rule -- cannot be automated easily by expert system exception: politics not yet govered by paper flow? - (Liberal red book) primarily argument ad hominem (and ad valorem?) "vote for me, I am this type of person and have the following general values -- no detailed promises or accountability for past actions Where we get into more accountability we tend to switch parties -- can't properly compare in power vs out of power candidates or parties; can't compare past actions & promises Role of writers, publishers, advertisers, ... Role of schools, other training, ... schooling through highschool How much is learning to deal with symbolically expressed information, paperflow How much is memorizing specific information to actually use later in life exactly as learned - unchanged and unreviewed How much as learning language skills (including math) other skills? How do we use a book. speed: reading, writing, typing, looking up references, finding things reading printed book flexible in where to use easy to read sequentially electronic book requires computer equipment to use not as flexible in where to use not as comfortable to read sequentially The electronic book requires a computer and other peripherals, such as a monitor and a CD-ROM so that usage costs are higher and flexibility of usage is restricted. This is less of a factor if computers are amortized over other usage, and if notebook computers are used for travel access. There is a weight trade-off for large books: 1 million pages = 0.5 million sheets of paper vs. notebook computer plus CD-ROM player plus CD-ROMs. searching for information printed book it is fairly easy to find specific information that is listed in an index or TOC - by looking up pages it is very difficult to find specific information that is not listed in an index or TOC it is fairly difficult to follow a reference to another book electronic book The main advantage of electronic books is that they let users "bounce around" in the book easily. There are three main methods of navigation. First, the table of contents and the index work like menus, so that one can jump directly to the content. Second, one can also jump directly from a references to the text being referred to. Third, all of the content is indexed automatically so that one can search for words or phrases and then step to the places where they occur. it is easy to find specific information that is listed in an index or TOC by following an electronic link it is very easy to find specific information that is not listed in an index or TOC by starting a search, obtaining a list of places where the information is found, and finding the information which has been highlighted. Powerful search capabilities give more flexibility for information retrieval, since the search does not have to be preconceived and structured in with a TOC or index. The search is structured at the time of use and is individualized for the user. reference: it is very easy to follow a reference to another book by following an electronic link The electronic book may allow for personal profiling for faster access to frequently used information. sharing & interacting with other readers printed book it is difficult to share the content with another user simultaneously & interact about the content electronic book it is fairly easy to share the content with another user simultaneously & interact about the content (via modem or on a LAN) responding to & interacting with the author printed book it is very difficult to respond to the author about the content it is nearly impossible to interact with the author electronic book response: it is easy to respond to the author about the content (with E-Mail) interact: it is possible to interact with the author (on a Bulleting Board, or via E-Mail) annotating & editing printed book it is slightly awkward to annotate & edit the content for private use it is difficult to share annotations with others & jointly edit the content for group use (e.g., model agreements) electronic book Users may mark up the text by leaving bookmarks, highlighting the text, or adding annotations. Inserting or extracting text from or to a word processing package such as WordPerfect is straightforward. it is easy to annotate & edit the content - by inserting notes or by attaching files it is easy to share & jointly edit re-using the material in the book printed book re-use: it is awkward and difficult to reuse the content, even if permitted electronic book re-use: it is fairly easy to reuse the content, if permitted, by extracting the text into a file The electronic book provides more support for information re-use, by allowing selective retrieval of information in printed or in file formats. This information may be integrated into other applications that require the information. skill levels required for usage printed book Basic literacy skills of reading in the appropriate language is sufficient for many books Some books may require background information for comprehension Some books, e.g., mathematics, may require literacy in language extensions, e.g., reading equations, maps and schematics, etc. Basic writing skills are required for annotating and editing electronic book The same basic skills are required as for reading the equivalent printed book. Basic computer usage skills are also required. The electronic book requires some training to install the system & use all the facilities. This time may be amortized over several usages. basic entrance costs for usage printed book Access costs for the book, e.g., purchase, rental -- generally very low electronic book Access costs for the electronic book, e.g., purchase, rental -- generally low, but higher than for printed books The electronic book requires a computer and software to access the information. The cost can be amortized over multiple usage (or it may already be available) Extended usage topics Maintenance printed book Books wear out, can get lost, have to be shelved. electronic book Electronic books have to be maintained as files on a computer, adapted to computer upgrades, can be modified and re-released, can be copied. Enhancement printed book Books cannot be modified, except through markings in the margins. It is difficult to share any such markings, except through serial lending. Manuals in 3-ring binders can be updated by replacing pages - which is a laborious effort. electronic book Electronic books can be updated by being edited, with sections being added and other sections being replaced. Depending on the SW support, they can be annotated, and the annotations can be shared. (FOLIO: not with the runtime version, but with the 'personal edition'.) Security printed book Books can be kept under lock & signed out. electronic book Individual access to an electronic book can be traced. Integration with other tasks printed book Books are highly portable and can be used in most environments, with few exceptions, e.g. wet, underwater electronic book Because of the requirements for a computer, it is harder to integrate the use of electronic books into many tasks. The electronic book can be linked with expert systems, form filling packages, etc. to semi-automate a task requiring both information retrieval and information providing. Access to books Electronic books in an electronic library (CSALT '94) There are now a number of electronic books available in CD-ROM or diskette form. Many firms are producing and "publishing" their own electronic books, generally for internal use. Electronic books are files on computers that can be viewed on a monitor with special software. Once one has many electronic books they should be housed in an "electronic library". We shall start off with the questions "what is an electronic library?" and "what functionality should it provide?". The next question is "how can we develop and maintain an electronic library?". The last question is "how can we train users to use an electronic library to best advantage?". What is an electronic library? Just as a traditional library provides and supports shared access to physical books, an electronic library provides and supports electronic access and sharing of electronic books. In practice this means that users can use their local computer to access electronic books stored centrally on a file server or on a CD-ROM reader attached to a central facility. A catalogue is provided in electronic form, and access is managed on a first come first served basis, or with multiple simultaneous shared access. To simplify finding titles, the files for the electronic books can be arranged in standardized directories and with standardized file names which mirror the stacks and call numbers of a traditional library. As new titles are acquired and added to the collection or older ones removed, the catalogue is updated. What functionality should an electronic library provide? In general, an electronic library should provide all the functionality of a traditional library, with additional benefits due to distributed and simultaneous access: Books are rarely inaccessible, do not get lost, and do not need to be reshelved. An electronic library can also include access to remote collections of electronic books through wide area networks or through links to online databases. Additional benefits can be realized by adding functionality to the catalogue, to the electronic books, and re-engineering the work habits of users. We will illustrate below. How can we develop and maintain an electronic library? An electronic library requires hardware, software, and titles (electronic books). The most common hardware configuration is PCs (or Macs) in the user's office, connected with a local area network to a fileserver. Another PC in the librarian's office provides management access. CD-ROM players may be attached to the network to provide access to less used titles. Simple CD players require manual intervention to load the CDs, but "jukeboxes" are available which automatically load the CD. Modems provide dial-out capabilities to databases and to remote electronic libraries. The electronic book software ("viewer") such as Folio Views must be purchased for DOS, Windows or the Mac as required. Communications software may be required to provide access to on-line services or to remote libraries. Electronic book titles can be licensed from commercial publishers such as Carswell, CCH, and Prentice Hall. Single user, multiple user, and unlimited use licenses are available. Electronic book titles may be developed in-house to support litigation for a complex case, to provide access to internal research memos, to support re-use of the contents of previous documents in crafting new documents, or to publish material such as internal policies and procedures.. The electronic catalogue ("directory of books") is an electronic book which is developed in-house. It provides automatic access to electronic books in the collection. Table of contents and other catalogue information can generally be extracted automatically from electronic books and online databases to provide the core content of the catalogue. It is hoped that in the future vendors of electronic books and database services will provide catalogue information in electronic form to simplify adding their material to the library. The loading instructions for CDs in "jukeboxes" can be embedded in the catalogue. Table of contents for the databases and remote libraries can be added to the catalogue. References to traditional books and to word processing documents may also be added. Further extensions to the catalogue will be discussed below. How can we train users to use an electronic library to best advantage? In my experience generic training in the technology doesn't work. One has to focus on a specific application, on usage of the technology in context. There are three elements to this question. How can we train users to use the existing applications? How can we develop a more integrated, user-friendly electronic library? How can we re-design and re-engineer some of the work to take best advantage of electronic libraries? How can we train users to use the existing applications? The most common applications are: - support for legal research - support for document drafting - generally based on internal material - litigation support (fast internal publication of transcripts & supporting documents) The major benefits from use of an electronic library are: - the speed of navigating through voluminous material - the ability to find quickly all relevant chunks of information The major disadvantage of current implementations of electronic libraries arises from the lack of integration of existing titles. Generally more than one software package has to be mastered. Even where there is standardization, e.g., using Folio Views for the catalogue as well as for most of the internal and commercial publications, the catalogue does not support rapid navigation. Generally there is a three step approach: look up the book in the catalogue, then look through the TOC or index for a selected book, then look for the information. Using a word or phrase search still involve three steps: select the book from the catalogue, formulate a word or phrase search within the book, then scroll through the "hits" to find relevant chunks of information. Automation with hyperlinks and searches generally is supported only within books but not across books. Going through several books or following indirect references involves repeats of the above scenarios. How can we develop a more integrated, user-friendly electronic library? The goal is to be able to navigate quickly and easily to narrowly defined chunks of information. Narrowly defined chunks means text which is easily visible, i.e., is visible within one window or with little scrolling. A more tightly integrated electronic library would extend the catalogue so that rather than pointing to entire books it could point to smaller meaningful chunks of information. This may involve concatenating call numbers with chapter, section and paragraph numbers that are internal to the material in the book. With hyperlinks one can then jump automatically from the catalogue directly to the paragraph within the book. The same approach can be used for following embedded references from one electronic book to another. (This approach is being beta tested for a "mini-library", a collection of primary and secondary materials dealing with tax.) A second concept involves time stamping individually named chunks of information, as well as the links to the information. This allows keeping time variants of information chunks in the library, such as revisions of sections of legislation. One can then ask the catalogue, say, to reconstruct a statute as it was current on a specific date by reassembling the appropriate chunks according to their time stamps. (This approach has been successfully tested with a pension plan.) The library should also support applying a word or phrase search across multiple electronic books. It would be useful to then have the same search be applied automatically to an online database. The internet as a world-wide library Content of books "Atomic" components, organized by sensory modality sight text letters, katanji (syllables), Chinese, pictogram, runes? numbers, tables, mathematical equations secret codes, encryption Text is associated with language and communication, i.e., transferring information from one person to another. It is not the only form of communication, but it is the most common. It is artificial, i.e., it does not occur in nature without man. It has two main forms, an alphabetic representation and a pictographic representation. It is the written form of language and speech, and it is highly standardized. English, using the roman alphabet, and the Oxford dictionnary, can be seen as one of the standards that it applied to communication. Text, unlike speech, has a life independent of the originator. It is organized into objects that persist over time and can be distributed over space. To show parallels, tape recording and the radio allow sound, including speech to persist over time and be distributed over space. The video recording and TV has done a similar thing for sight as well. Two predominant examples of text objects are books and letters. Other examples are newspapers, magazines, manuals, and documents. Forms and tables are on the boundary between text and data. Comic books are on the boundary between text and pictures. Books and letters are visual objects, in the sense that they depend on sight to be read & deciphered. Books and letters can also include other, non textual visual information in the form of static pictures. We shall focus on books, and discuss variants later. The main form we are familiar with is a printed book. format of text text structures: paragraph, chapter, heading text boxes: page, margin, header, footer, footnote, sidebar anchored & floating frames for graphics, text, images, tables, equations, video, sound hyperlinks drill-through applications, active objects web browser simulation spreadsheet (& simulation) database (& active data IO) lists - enumeration pictures, images colour planes, photos, rasterized images (pixels, palettes, colour planes) line drawings patterns, representations, cartoons, engineering drawings & schemas, calliography?