Re: [xml-dev] Should Subject Matter Experts Determine XML Data Implement

[Robert Koberg <rob@koberg.com>]

All SMEs are smes, but some SMEs are more sme than others.


On Oct 3, 2008, at 7:17 PM, Jeff Greif wrote:

> Roger,
>
> It might be worth investigating the subject of "Knowledge Engineering"
> from the heyday of artificial intelligence and expert systems.
> There's large body of research literature, including various books.
>
> An anecdote:
>
> When working on an expert system that was to determine the optimum
> process and cost for making an automobile part from a set of
> manufacturing processes, some description of the part, and economic
> constraints such as how many pieces per year would be produced, and
> the cost of electricity and labor in various factories around the
> world, the technical group encountered a machining expert who said,
> "Of course, you can calculate how fast you can machine the part on
> each kind of lathe, taking into account the multiple tools cutting and
> multiple machining stations simultaneously working, but I can do just
> as well by playing a movie in my head of the part being produced, and
> counting seconds."  Needless to say, we could not do a direct
> translation of this methodology in the expert system, and had to get
> some instruction on how to do the calculations instead.  The expert
> system, built for a very large European company in the early 1990's,
> was successful.
>
> Jeff
>
> On Fri, Oct 3, 2008 at 3:57 PM, Costello, Roger L.  
> <costello@mitre.org> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> Let me divide the world into two camps:
>>
>> 1. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs): these are people that are experts  
>> in
>> a subject (domain), but are not necessarily expert at the  
>> technologies
>> employed to implement the subject/domain.
>>
>> 2. Technology Experts: these are people that are experts at the
>> technologies, but are not necessarily expert in the subject matter.
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------
>> Consider the following process to developing an XML data
>> implementation:
>>
>> Step 1: SMEs are interviewed about the domain's data and its
>> hierarchical relationships. A "Data Specification" is created which
>> captures the domain's data and relationships.
>>
>> Step 2: Technology experts are then handed the Data Specification to
>> implement. They create an XML Schema implementation.
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------
>> Questions about the development of the XML implementation of the Data
>> Specification:
>>
>> 1. Should the technology experts be constrained to doing a 1:1  
>> mapping
>> of the Data Specification to the XML Schema?
>>
>> 2. Or, should the technology experts be at liberty to make  
>> alterations
>> where they see fit? Alterations include using different names,
>> generalizing, and reorganizing.
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------
>> Example: an expert on Books (a Book SME) is interviewed. From the
>> interview, a "Book Data Specification" is generated. It's a detailed,
>> complete document, containing such things as prose about what a  
>> Book is
>> and the data that characterizes a Book and the relationships among  
>> the
>> data. Here's a table which succinctly summarizes the Book domain's  
>> data
>> and hierarchy:
>>
>> Book
>>   Author ..... String
>>   Title ...... String
>>   Date ....... Year
>>   ISBN ....... Sequence of digit, dashes, and 'x'
>>   Publisher .. String
>>
>> The Book Data Specification is then handed off to a technology expert
>> for him to create an XML data implementation; namely, an XML Schema.
>>
>> In a 1:1 implementation, the schema declares a <Book> element that is
>> comprised of <Author>, <Date>, <ISBN>, and <Publisher> elements.
>>
>> - Effectively, the SMEs are defining the XML data implementation.
>>
>> In a non-1:1 implementation, the schema diverges from the Book Data
>> Specification. For example, suppose the technology expert makes these
>> changes:
>>
>> - Instead of using the term "Publisher" he uses the term Pub, and
>> thus declares a <Pub> element
>>
>> - Instead of single term "Author", he declares multiple terms:
>>
>>      <Person>
>>          <GivenName>...</GivenName>
>>          <Surname>...</Surname>
>>      </Person>
>>
>>  - Instead of the term "ISBN" he uses the term GUID (Globally Unique
>> Identifier)
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------
>> Should an XML data implementation of a Data Specification be 1:1 with
>> the Data Specification? In other words, should SMEs effectively  
>> define
>> XML data implementations?
>>
>> Or, should technology experts be at liberty to diverge from a Data
>> Specification and thus change things specified by SMEs?
>>
>> /Roger
>>
>> _______________________________________________________________________
>>
>> XML-DEV is a publicly archived, unmoderated list hosted by OASIS
>> to support XML implementation and development. To minimize
>> spam in the archives, you must subscribe before posting.
>>
>> [Un]Subscribe/change address: http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage/
>> Or unsubscribe: xml-dev-unsubscribe@lists.xml.org
>> subscribe: xml-dev-subscribe@lists.xml.org
>> List archive: http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/
>> List Guidelines: http://www.oasis-open.org/maillists/guidelines.php
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
>
> XML-DEV is a publicly archived, unmoderated list hosted by OASIS
> to support XML implementation and development. To minimize
> spam in the archives, you must subscribe before posting.
>
> [Un]Subscribe/change address: http://www.oasis-open.org/mlmanage/
> Or unsubscribe: xml-dev-unsubscribe@lists.xml.org
> subscribe: xml-dev-subscribe@lists.xml.org
> List archive: http://lists.xml.org/archives/xml-dev/
> List Guidelines: http://www.oasis-open.org/maillists/guidelines.php
>