The problem of entering and integrating new knowledge into a logic-based knowledge base is substantial. Our solution is to provide a natural language interface, which reads simplified English, enabled by a knowledge-based memory-retrieval driven natural language understander. This paper presents a set of tools and interfaces for interacting with such a system, and a discussion of the underlying Reader system, the reading component of the Learning Reader project. The interfaces presented provide direct feedback about what portions of the text are understood, and what interpretations are being produced from it. In addition tools are presented to, among other things, provide example sentences, to facilitate users producing simplified English text suitable for the Reader.

Pinpoint is a promising first step towards using a rich model of task context in proactive and dynamic IR systems. Pinpoint allows a user to navigate decision tree representations of problem spaces, built by domain experts, while dynamically entering annotations specific to their problem. The system then automatically generates queries to information repositories based on both the user's annotations and location in the problem space, producing results that are both task focused and problem specific. Initial feedback from users and domain experts has been positive.

The work presented in this paper takes a novel approach to the task of providing information to viewers of broadcast news. Instead of considering the broadcast news as the end product, this work uses it as a starting point to dynamically build an information space for the user to explore. This information space is designed to satisfy the users information needs, by containing more breadth, depth, and points of view than the original broadcast story. The architecture and current implementation are discussed, and preliminary results from the analysis of some its components are presented

This research discusses a method for delivering just-in-time information to television viewers to provide more depth and more breadth to television broadcasts. A novel aspect of this research is that it uses broadcast news as a starting point for gathering information regarding specific stories, as opposed to considering the broadcast version to be the end of the viewers exploration. This work is implemented in Cronkite, a system that provides viewers with expanded coverage of broadcast news stories.