Affiliations: Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo,
Japan | Dept. of Knowledge Engineering and Computer Science,
Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
Note: [] Corresponding author: Kuniaki Tabata, Central Research
Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd., 1-280 Higashi-koigakubo, Kokubunji, Tokyo 185-8601,
Japan, Tel.: +81 42 323 1111; Fax: +81 42 327 7687; E-mail:
[email protected]
Abstract: An email-based information-sharing system, which supports
information gathering from outside a corporate organization, is
proposed. The objective of this system is to encourage creative PLAN
activities by enabling specialists in different communities to contact each
other. First, the differences between information, data, and
knowledge are described, and information sharing is defined as opposed to data
sharing and knowledge sharing. Then, an information base containing
primary information and secondary information is described. Information bases
are distributed to each of the participants instead of being physically
shared. This is done for security reasons peculiar to information
sharing where the occurrence, logic, or the retriever's interpretations of
information-base retrievals must be hidden from other
participants. Thus, logical sharing and physical sharing are
separated, whereas in conventional data-sharing systems, or knowledge-sharing
systems, they are not. A new method for information-base retrieval,
which is characterized by flow-retrieval functionality, is also introduced to
enable tracing of interactive processes of email-based discussions.
Keywords: information sharing, information base, virtual community, email
