expert systems

[Andrzej Kowalski]

At 05:42 12/15/95 -0800, you wrote:
>> 
>> Hello,
>> 
>> I am looking for URLs and listgroups concerning  the topic of "expert 
>> systems in libraries".
>> I know that expert systems are not a good topic for this listgroup but could 
>> anybody help me?
>> 
>> Thanks very much
>> 
>> Hana Vrbikova
>
>OK.  I've heard this term bandied about for around four years now but I 
>still don't have any clue as to what the heck "expert systems" are.  
>Maybe it was something taught in all the systems courses that I never 
>took when I was a humanities major... :)
>
>Someone wanna fill this know-nuthin' in?
>
>-- jf, senior systems support tech miami university libraries
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>John "Adder" Fink -- jbfink at holychao.cas.muohio.edu
>Graduate of English, administrator of UNIX, unabashed perkygoth, 
>industrial music fan, friend to children everywhere, worker of libraries, 
>and Thorn in the Side of Order.
>WWW!  WWW!  WWW!  -- http://phoenix.aps.muohio.edu/~jbfink
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>"This looks like a dog about to keel over!  Arf arf!" -- on WMSR wall
>
>

This is not really the subject of this list, so I will keep this brief.

An expert system is a computer program that is written to simulate human
decision making processes in the real world i.e. to act like a human expert,
in a given domain.  The domain is usually narrow and deep e.g. taxation law
for estates of non-residents, in order to keep the programs manageable in
terms of size and complexity. 

There are several types of expert systems: forward chaining, bacward
chaining, case-based reasoning etc.  Typically, a user is given the
oppportunity to describe their problem or situation to the system, often by
a series of questions that the system asks the user.  This series of
questions should dynamically adjust to reflect different paths of
induction/deduction, depending on the user's answers. At the end of the
'consultation', the expert system should produce an answer to the user's
problem or advice and be able to substantiate this by showing the
appropriate reasoning or authorities.

Andrzej Kowalski
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