Memory Extension System for Context-Based Associative Information Retrieval

This effort will apply an innovative context-sensitive spreading-activation measure to compute relevance measures to rank information objects. It will also use psychometrically measured preference functions to update both query characterizations and information object characterizations. Phase I will demonstrate the ability of spreading-activation to rank objects available for retrieval and reflect psychometrically measured preference functions of the query submitted on a UNIX workstation. Phase II will extend them to wide-area information server (WAIS) architectures using the ANSI Z-39.50 protocol and to multimedia objects including audio, video, photographs or any other data relevant to a stated request. The resulting information retrieval system will be capable of extending mental models NASA scientists and engineers have of their information needs to distributed heterogeneous data in WAIS databases and other data sources, such as those associated with the CERN World Wide Web project. This will include usage-based dynamic updating of the weighted association network used to find and rank information available for retrieval.