This chapter is a case study of a multi-use facility—the Wellness Center of the University of Miami. Savings greater than 11% are accomplished by equipping the existing building management system with an Enterprise Energy Management system called IUE (Intelligent Use of Energy). The case study shows how well-known energy management strategies, such as speed-reset or supply-air-temperature-reset can be leveraged by a rule-based expert system to enhance energy savings. It also shows how the automated strategies leverage the forecasting power of neural networks to predict and simulate building behavior as well as to reduce energy usage at the revenue meters. Detailed logs of two event sequences demonstrate how the savings are accomplished, step-by-step, without impacting comfort in the building.

This chapter presents an intelligent energy management system that provides benefits to individual buildings and portfolios of buildings, thus realizing enterprise-wide energy management. The specific system introduced is the IUE (intelligent use of energy) system. A case study is reported that shows how the IUE system responded in 2002 to a 2 MW demand response call in a 10 MW portfolio of 78 buildings. The system responds automatically without human intervention, delivering the required demand reduction at the least possible decrease in comfort. The chapter further shows continuous peak load avoidance and permanent load reduction across the portfolio. The various functional categories of the system are reviewed, as is the applicability to a large number of buildings management systems.

This paper focuses on the set of group endeavors that exists within the structure of an organization. The environment in which organizations exist is becoming increasingly dynamic. Cooperative tasks are increasing and workgroup computing is becoming more pervasive. There are computer-mediated tools and systems to support organizations' coordination of group endeavors. These systems, however, are incomplete and therefore do not adequately give organizations the exibility that a dynamic environment requires. The need for uniied information systems is looming. The solution is to provide consistent and comprehensive, computer-mediated, shared task support for the coordination of group endeavors in all domains, in dynamic, and increasingly complex environments. Workkow and project management are prototypical of that collaborative use. This paper evaluates workkow processes and projects in order to gain an understanding of requirements that will serve as a conceptual foundation for this cooperative systems environment.

The current study examines the development of diagrams by groups of people. Diagrams are graphical representations of a design, concept or object. Entity Relationship diagrams are created during a usability study of CoDiagram, a system supporting multiple people working simultaneously on the diagram. Computer support for diagramming allows groups of people to work on the diagram at the same time, improving productivity. However, multiple users working together can interfere with each other's work. During the usability study, it was confirmed that people work with shapes in the diagram that were created by other people, demonstrating the potential for interference. While it was found that interference is relatively rare, the people rated the impact of the interference as significant. At a minimum, the interference results in lost time as they resolve the conflict. If undetected, the interference can cause inconsistencies or errors that can make the diagram practically worthless. The conclusion from this initial phase of research is that a concurrency control mechanism is needed to maintain integrity for collaborative diagrams. Concurrency control in computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) has been left to social protocols, implemented as single user floor control or developed using database techniques. Since interference was observed when using only social protocols with CoDiagram, it is concluded that social protocols alone are not sufficient. CSCW systems with database style locking have had a problem with long transactions blocking user actions. A new concurrency control method, Concurrency Control for Collaborative Diagramming (CCCD) uses constraints from the diagram domain to identify user transactions. These user transactions are non-traditional transactions that supplement the traditional database transactions that maintain internal data. This improvement in user transaction identification reduces resource blocking by releasing locks without explicit user actions. It was found that CCCD would have prevented a significant amount of the interference that occurred with only social protocols.

Supporting teams, groups, and whole organizations in routine and exceptional tasks has been a long-standing goal of information systems. Currently, workflow systems tackle this problem anew. To put the current efforts into perspective and show how we can benefit from earlier office automation research, a goal-based workflow system is presented. This system, PolyFlow, is the most recent addition to the POLYMER line of task support research. PolyFlow takes advantage of diverse communication technologies, advanced user interfaces, and distributed systems technologies. In the context of PolyFlow, this article traces the theme of goal-based task support, starting with an office information system, Procedure Oriented Interface for Supportive Environments (POISE), which over years of research developed into an intelligent task support system, POLYMER. POLYMER contained extensions for project management, knowledge acquisition, distributed artificial intelligence, and exception handling. In this article, we trace the conceptual evaluation of those systems and their affinity to current problems in group-centered workflow systems.

The paper describes a visual language for organizing educational materials to be published on the World Wide Web using the Collaborative Multimedia Instructional Toolkit (CoMMIT). The developer uses the visual language to create a precedence graph that defines the organizational structure of the materials. This graph specifies materials that must be viewed as prerequisites for viewing other materials. This provides significantly more flexibility than existing path based educational authoring systems or hypertext link based HTML editors. Additional icons representing questions and advice supplement the precedence graph to provide educational support.

The purpose of the panel discussion is to share and discuss findings of the panellist’s’ research into knowledge management and their understanding of the cultural and human factors that support effective implementation of technology. The panel will comprise presentations and discussion on the cultural imperatives and implications of knowledge management, including: preparing the cultural context, designing and implementing supporting tools and making interventions and changes after implementation.

This paper describes a suite of flexible software tools (CoMMIT - Collaborative Multi-Media Instructional Toolkit) that provides computer support for a variety of educational models including cooperative, distance, and problem-based learning. Students using CoMMIT have worked both synchronously and asynchronously in a variety of domains. The CoMMIT system provides a comprehensive, collaborative learning environment that includes integrated modules for authoring, student learning, and student evaluation. This paper briefly introduces each of the three CoMMIT modules and focuses on the WWW-based student module using a problem-based learning (PBL) case to illustrate its functionality. The CoMMIT student module was recently used and evaluated against a paper-based PBL case that required students to collaborate on the design of an information system. An evaluation of the results is given.

Article Free Access Share on Toward knowledge management systems in the legal domain Authors: Deborah L. Edwards TechWrite, Inc., 4315 Campbells Run Road, Pittsburgh, PA TechWrite, Inc., 4315 Campbells Run Road, Pittsburgh, PAView Profile , Dirk E. Mahling Department of Information Science, 749 School of Information Sciences, U. of Pgh., Pittsburgh, PA Department of Information Science, 749 School of Information Sciences, U. of Pgh., Pittsburgh, PAView Profile Authors Info & Claims GROUP '97: Proceedings of the 1997 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group WorkNovember 1997 Pages 158–166https://doi.org/10.1145/266838.266892Published:16 November 1997Publication History 18citation1,310DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations18Total Downloads1,310Last 12 Months142Last 6 weeks8 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteeReaderPDF

This paper presents interface guidelines from research at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) School of Information Sciences in developing a collaborative, problem-based learning environment for the World Wide Web. The lessons learned are based on student use and evaluation of three interface prototypes over the course of 3 years and spanning several domains: (1) CALE I, an X-Windows application that includes functionality to support synchronous as well as asynchronous collaborative problem-based learning; (2) CALE II, a Web-based version of CALE I; and (3) CoMMIT, a frames-based Web application. Insights into appropriate windowing strategies, choice of menu structure and presentation, menus as a group coordination mechanism, and group annotation mechanisms are discussed. Extensions to the interface based on these findings are discussed, and directions for future research are given. Three figures illustrate the CALE I, CALE II, and CoMMIT interfaces. Contains 15 references. (AEF) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * ******************************************************************************** Interface Design Issues for Web-based Collaborative Learning Systems U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) O This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. o Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Glenn E. Lautenbacher Dirk E. Mahling Department of Information Science and Telecommunications University of Pittsburgh PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY H . TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Abstract: This paper presents interface guidelines from our research in developing a collaborative, problem-based learning environment for the WWW. The lessons learned are based on student use and evaluation of three interface prototypes over the course of three years spanning several domains. Insight into appropriate windowing strategies, choice of menu structure and presentation, menus as a group coordination mechanism, and group annotation mechanisms are discussed. Extensions to our interface based on these findings are discussed and directions for future research are given. This paper presents interface guidelines from our research in developing a collaborative, problem-based learning environment for the WWW. The lessons learned are based on student use and evaluation of three interface prototypes over the course of three years spanning several domains. Insight into appropriate windowing strategies, choice of menu structure and presentation, menus as a group coordination mechanism, and group annotation mechanisms are discussed. Extensions to our interface based on these findings are discussed and directions for future research are given.

This paper focuses on the set of group endeavors that exists within the structure of an organization. The environment in which organizations exist is becoming increasingly dynamic. Cooperative tasks are increasing and workgroup computing is becoming more pervasive. There are computer-mediated tools and systems to support organizations' coordination of group endeavors. These systems, however, are incomplete and therefore do not adequately give organizations the flexibility that a dynamic environment requires. The need for unified information systems is looming. The solution is to provide consistent and comprehensive, computer-mediated, shared task support for the coordination of group endeavors in all domains, in dynamic, and increasingly complex environments. Workflow and project management are prototypical of that collaborative use. This paper evaluates workflow processes and projects in order to gain an understanding of requirements that will serve as a conceptual foundation for this cooperative systems environment.

The idea for this workshop was born during the 1993 Conference on Organizational Computing Systems (COOCS). Researchers and developers from academia and industry who attended the conference were sharing their observations and concerns on the absence of a connection between earlier work presented at COOCS and the current presentations of workflow systems. Historically, COOCS has focused on office automation and office information systems (OIS). During the 1980s numerous OIS were presented at COOCS (e.g., [4, 6, 7, 19]). These systems acknowledge over time that the office is a distributed place composed of autonomous units and that activities, tasks, or procedures must be supported in conjunction with the accompanying office objects, such as documents in paper or electronic format. Workflow systems started appearing in the 1990s. These systems were commercially introduced as a new product category. Commercial workflow systems take advantage of the growing base of installed personal computers or workstations, Local Area Networks, and appealing graphical user interfaces. Many participants at COOCS'93 had a sense that workflow and OIS were dealing with similar issues using different labels. Both types of systems were concerned with the support of dynamic aspects of knowledge work in organizations. Both types of systems have to address issues such as • the representation of activities • the definition of roles • the capture of time and deadlines • the integration of single user tools • the coordination of work results • the structure of the organization This list is probably not complete. Yet the shared issues between workflow systems and office information systems are significant. To better understand the similarities and differences between workflow and OIS, to share results and experiences in developing these systems, and to foster potential collaboration between the two communities, Carson Woo and Dirk Mahling proposed this workshop at the 1994 Computer Supported Cooperative Work conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Researchers and developers were invited to submit position papers concerning their view of the relation between workflow and OIS. More than twenty statements were selected. The workshop was conducted on October 22nd, 1994. The workshop consisted of a few presentations followed by breakout discussions. The presentations were targeted to bring out important issues related to the workshop, and to facilitate the focus of discussions during the breakout. The workshop begins by looking into the current organizational needs and their implication to automation (Section 2). This is to remind ourselves on why we are developing workflow and OIS systems. The problems with existing workflow systems (Section 3) and how OIS influences the development of workflow systems (Section 4) were then discussed. Next, some enabling technologies for workflow and OIS were explored (Section 5). Participants were then broken up into four groups to discuss various issues including: • A metrics to evaluate workflow technology (Section 6.1). • Differences between workflow and OIS (Section 6.2). • Issues related to the deployment of workflow in organizations (Section 6.3). • Should workflow be considered part of CSCW (Section 6.4). This report summarizes the above presentations and discussions.

The paper traces the development of a family of task support systems. Starting with the Poise system in the early 1980s, we visited issues such as office automation and the paperless office. We showed that office information systems such as Poise suffered from procedural rigidity, resulting in limited applicability. Knowledge-based techniques then emerged to meet these limitations. The successor to Poise was Polymer, a task support system built upon a plan-based expert system. D-Polymer, the distributed version, followed, expanding the scope of Polymer to multiple users (workgroups). D-Polymer used techniques from distributed artificial intelligence for multiagent coordination. A parallel trend in workgroup support in the late 1980s and early 1990s was the tool perspective that heavily influenced CSCW systems. The tool perspective viewed systems such as D-Polymer as overly complex, favoring highly user-centered tools. Acknowledging the contributions of the tool perspective, we developed D-Polymer to address workflow issues. The most recent member in the Poise/Polymer line of research is Polyflow. This workflow system uses the power of goal-based knowledge representation to assist in planning, monitoring, and repairing workflows with emphasis on the users and their workgroups.< >

Article Free Access Share on A collaborative environment for semi-structured medical problem based learning Authors: Dirk E. Mahling View Profile , Bryan B. Sorrows View Profile , Ingjerd Skogseid View Profile Authors Info & Claims CSCL '95: The first international conference on Computer support for collaborative learningOctober 1995Pages 218–225https://doi.org/10.3115/222020.222182Published:01 October 1995Publication History 1citation54DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations1Total Downloads54Last 12 Months1Last 6 weeks0 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteeReaderPDF

"Which workflow system do you ACM folk s sell?" This was one of the questions people asked me, when I represented ACM/SIGOIS at th e "Workflow '94" conference. Most of the attendee s though knew ACM and were happy to learn tha t SIGOIS is offering a professional home and a forum to exchange ideas and stay informed for people in industry, academia, and government interested in workflow and groupware. To all of yo u who joined SIGOIS : Welcome aboard ! What is "Workflow '94" and what happene d there? Let me put the conference into context an d then give you my impression of the conference. Computer Supported Cooperative Work ha s been identified as a cluster of research and development activities in its own right since the early eighties. Sessions at CHI conferences, fou r CSCW conferences, two conferences on organizational information systems (COOCS), which ar e sponsored by SIGOIS and held in alternatin g years, and other international conferences, workshops , and meetings prove the rapid developmen t of the field. Dedicated journals, e .g ., Journal o f Organizational Computing, International Journal o f CSCW, and newsletters started servicing the research community. Commercial CSCW-products, often referred to as "groupware", surfaced in the late eighties. Trade shows and user conferences started early thi s decade. One of the largest commercial conference s dedicated to CSCW is "Groupware". Starting wit h "Groupware '92", "Groupware 93" turned into a worldwide event, being held on the East Coast, th e West Coast and in Europe. "Groupware '94" followed the same pattern. Because of immense interest in workflow and business process reengineer-ing at "Groupware '93", "Workflow '94" was tagged on to "Groupware '94" as a companio n conference. ' "Workflow '94" took place in Boston, Marc h 3-4, 1994. It was clearly targeted at IT profes-sionals—mainly CIOs or MIS managers of larger An interesting aside : Tom White, chairman of th e workflow system company "Action Technologies", a majo r player in the market, is also chairman of "Future Strategie s Inc .", organizer of "Workflow '94". corporations and IT consultants. The themes of th e conference focused on Business Process Reengi-neering/Organizational Change, workflow system selection (product evaluation), deployment strategies , and case studies. Eight vendors of workflow systems displayed their systems in separate lab s continuously throughout the conference. Durin g the reception further table top displays wer e …

Preface. General Aspects. Visual Explanations. User Interface Specification, Visual Interaction Language. Programming. Data Bases.

Article Enactment theory as a paradigm for enabling flexible workflows Share on Author: Dirk E. Mahling Collaborative Systems Laboratory, Department of Information Science, 749 SLIS, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA Collaborative Systems Laboratory, Department of Information Science, 749 SLIS, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PAView Profile Authors Info & Claims COCS '93: Proceedings of the conference on Organizational computing systemsDecember 1993 Pages 202–209https://doi.org/10.1145/168555.168578Online:01 December 1993Publication History 1citation483DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations1Total Downloads483Last 12 Months16Last 6 weeks2 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteGet Access

To make plan-based expert systems more accessible to end users and to support user tasks effectively, we present a system that makes the functionality of AI-planning techniques seem natural and immediately understandable. In particular, we present a task support system with a graphical interaction language for the acquisition and display of plan knowledge, where the intended users are domain experts and novices and where previous computer literacy is not required. Based on existing theories in cognitive science and on our own experimental research, we propose a cognitive model of the users' view of tasks. The model postulates the domain experts' ability to recall relevant parts of self-performed tasks in the application domain. The validity of the model is demonstrated in a paper-and-pencil experiment.