A Web-based semantic information retrieval system to support decision-making in collaborative design

S. Liu*, C. A. McMahon, R. H. Bracewell

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference Contribution (Conference Proceeding)

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The quality of decision making in collaborative design is highly dependent upon the designer's ability to seek relevant information and interpret the available information within the appropriate domain to understand the design problem. It is unlikely that right decisions will be achieved based on inaccurate and incomplete information. This paper discusses a Web-based semantic information retrieval system to support decision making in collaborative design. The system has three features to facilitate designers to make better decisions: (1) the system can retrieve accurate information in the sense that it returns the right piece of information at fragment level rather than at whole document level; (2) the system returns information not only with the correct content but also an appropriate context, i.e. with rich semantics; (3) the system provides designers with a navigational graphical user interface which incorporates a concept hierarchy representing domain knowledge that allows inexperienced engineers learn from constant search feedback and to edge towards the final results. In this case, the whole information seeking process is always transparent to the users, who avoid going down blind alleys with zero returns. The system is developed using a J2EE architecture and Web services, and therefore can be hosted on any machine on a network and will allow engineers to access and retrieve information using Web browsers. Based on the experimental exploration of the system, it is concluded that the system offers to facilitate design engineers to reach better decisions in the collaborative environment through better information support.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of ICED 2007, the 16th International Conference on Engineering Design
VolumeDS 42
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2007
Event16th International Conference on Engineering Design, ICED 2007 - Paris, France
Duration: 28 Jul 200731 Jul 2007

Conference

Conference16th International Conference on Engineering Design, ICED 2007
Country/TerritoryFrance
CityParis
Period28/07/0731/07/07

Keywords

  • Collaborative design
  • Decision support
  • Semantic information retrieval
  • Web service

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