Search results

The use of an information retrieval (IR) system would be easier if natural language processing were applied. There are essentially two different ways to use NLP techniques: as a user interface coupled with a factual database, or as an integrated part of a system which deals with a textual database. In this paper, two approaches are presented, that of MGS, a commercialized system in use in France Télécom, and that of Telmi, a France Télécom research system. Telmi is an information retrieval system designed for use with medium sized databases of short text. The characteristics of the system include fine‐grained NLP, an open domain and large scale knowledge base, automated indexing based on conceptual representation of texts, and reusability of the NLP tools. The knowledge base is (semi) automatically extracted from a monolingual machine‐readable dictionary (MRD). Telmi is integrated into a production‐scale prototype which implements a Minitel Information Service (IS) for the use of the general public. France Télécom Minitel(i) and its problems are described, along with the solutions Telmi offers. The paper then goes on to describe how France Télécom intends to reuse, in a continuation of the present project, the Telmi tools in a multilingual system, particularly in (semi)automatic data acquisition from multilingual MRDs.

In‐home computerised banking is at the early stage of market development in a number of countries. Despite similarities of in‐home services offered by the banks, market penetration of home banking technology varies by country of adoption. The diffusion of innovation theory is used to help explain the variance in home banking penetration levels in France, the UK and the US.

There is a huge amount of information and data stored in publicly available online databases that consist of large text files accessed by Boolean search techniques. It is widely held that less use is made of these databases than could or should be the case, and that one reason for this is that potential users find it difficult to identify which databases to search, to use the various command languages of the hosts and to construct the Boolean search statements required. This reasoning has stimulated a considerable amount of exploration and development work on the construction of search interfaces, to aid the inexperienced user to gain effective access to these databases. The aim of our paper is to review aspects of the design of such interfaces: to indicate the requirements that must be met if maximum aid is to be offered to the inexperienced searcher; to spell out the knowledge that must be incorporated in an interface if such aid is to be given; to describe some of the solutions that have been implemented in experimental and operational interfaces; and to discuss some of the problems encountered. The paper closes with an extensive bibliography of references relevant to online search aids, going well beyond the items explicitly mentioned in the text. An index to software appears after the bibliography at the end of the paper.

This article provides an in‐depth chronology of the development of in‐home electronics shopping, beginning with optimistic predictions of revolutionary growth and possible displacement of traditional retailers, through the acknowledged marketplace failures of two U.S. pioneers of videotex. Included are findings of various research studies and controlled market test results that highlight practical problems associated with this technological innovation in consumer marketing. In addressing the reasons contributing to its disappointing past, the article focuses on the impact of system, organization, product, and demand variables on in‐home electronic shopping. Prestel, the British videotex system, and Minitel, the French videotex system, are described and compared with the commercial efforts of major U.S. corporations. In addition, the article high‐lights the advantages and disadvantages of two leading technologies (television shopping shows and laser videodisc retailing) that currently compete with in‐home electronic shopping for the nonstore retailing market. The article concludes with some cautionary comments and pragmatic suggestions for increasing the probability of commercial success of in‐home electronic shopping.

A group of internationally respected publishers has produced thirteen dictionaries (English, German, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, Japanese and Chinese languages) on compact disc.

The new South Africa needs information and the CSIR has enabled end‐users to search international and local databases using an intelligent gateway to provide easy, affordable access to all the well‐known hosts. All terminals, Minitels and PCs are catered for on all host protocols. The resulting gateway is operated on a sound business footing for the benefit of end‐users and expert searchers in Southern Africa. The development of the system and the business are described in the paper.

Over the last decade there has been continual speculation about the development and use of Electronic Home Shopping in the United Kingdom. This development is reviewed using data from Keyline Shopping Limited and it is demonstrated that there is a large section of the population waiting for its emergence.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the level and forms of advertising in the French telecommunications sector between 1952 and 2002 in order to understand the transformation of the leading organization in the sector and its succesful adoption of increasingly sophisticated practices. The context of increased market orientation is examined to investigate how such practices emerge.

Extensive historical study of primary source material and secondary sources was conducted to develop acomparison of three eras. For each era, major changes in relation to advertising and promotional practices are identified along with key contextual elements to understand the relative importance of internal or external influences on the adoption of market-oriented practices.

Initially, advertising and promotional practices studied were introduced gradually within the state-run organization (1952–1973). They subsequently became increasingly important and systematic (1974–1985) before finally becoming those of a modern organization (1986–2002) in the competitive sphere. In addition to single institutional messages aimed at either consumer or business markets, more abstract forms of communication were used over time and publicity was increasingly targeted at different segments.The French telecommunications sector was aware of the necessity to engage in advertising and promotional activities prior to the existence of competition in its main consumer market. Adoption of such customer-oriented practices was more pronounced initially in the business segment. Advertising and promotional activities to consumers became increasingly significant as the administration modernized and developed innovative services. This growth in promotion and in its sophistication accelerated within the new competitive environment following deregulation and, in particular, with the growth of the mobile sector. Both the external environment and internal organizational transformations thus need to be taken into account when analyzing growing adoption of advertising and promotion.

This systematic study of the introduction of advertising and promotional practices in the French telecommunications sector highlights how public organizations can introduce practices linked to market orientation. In the organization studied, the fact that increased advertising and promotional activity was driven by organizational transformation in the second of the three eras studied indicates the importance of investigating internal influences and external factors such as competition.

INSEAD, the European Institute for Business Administration, at Fontainebleau, near Paris, offers advanced management education for over 400 students a year, mainly through the MBA course. The Library first set up online access in 1984, and now has extensive online training facilities for students, as well as services for professors, researchers and administrative staff. As demand for online training from students has increased, some professors have encouraged Library online specialists to give brief presentations at the start of courses, helping students to aim their information searching directly towards project needs. In 1987, with pressure on the present three online specialists, we started to explore ways of increasing the participation of staff and student end users in their own searching. More attention was given to existing online menu‐driven systems like Textline, while the growth of professional datafiles on France's Minitel videotex system made it worthwhile to explore their potential as subsidiary search options. In 1988, to develop direct end user searching further, two CD‐ROM workstations were installed, which now offer six disc databases on free access. There has also been an exploration of the role of databases issued on floppy disk as offline alternatives. To help campus users understand the range of database options available, a booklet listing by subject major databases accessible on campus, on both online and offline media, was recently issued. Currently, a prototype simple expert system is being developed from this to help users to move between offline and online searching more easily. The present efforts are aimed at a more user‐oriented information access as the Library prepares to transfer next year to a new building.

In bringing this session into the Online Conference we are approaching a new era perhaps for some of us who are professional online database users. Some of the people on the platform have very clear ideas what they want to do with online technology and may have even relatively little experience of the things that you and I have modestly been doing for a number of years. The idea is to see where the subject matter, the content and the delivery mechanisms are converging, and I hope that by the end of the session you will have a clear idea of what these new consumer services are likely to offer to the wider public, and whether they have an application for us professional online information users. The best way to get started is to have a series of presentations by the panel members in as much detail as they think necessary to describe their products. Not exactly product reviews — I hope that they will share with us some of their fears as well as some of their boasts of what their services can do, what their technical problems have been, and what advantages they see in moving into this market. The first speaker that I have to introduce is Pascal Cusset, who joined Apple Computer France in 1987 and Apple Computer Europe in 1992. In his current position he is managing and developing eWorld in Europe. Before coming to Apple France he worked with Oric International in Paris as a product manager for a line of workstations aimed at creating and running videotex services, using the famous French service based on the Minitel.