Nicholas J. Belkin
Current rank and appointment date:

Nature of appointment:

Entry rank and appointment date:

Education:

• BA -- University of Washington -- Russian Language & Literature -- 1968
• M.Lib. -- University of Washington -- Librarianship -- 1970
• Ph.D. -- University of London -- Information Studies -- 1977
  • Dissertation Title: A Concept of Information for Information Science.

Areas of special competence in library education:

• Theory of information retrieval
• Cognitive theory in information science
• Research methods in information science
• Linguistics in information science
• Classification for information science
• National and international information systems and policy
• Reference interviewing

Library experience:

• Slavic Exchange Librarian -- University of Washington, Seattle, Washington -- 9/70-7/72
• Deputy Librarian -- The Nature Conservancy, London England -- 1/73/-5/73

Outside experience

• Temporary Lecturer, Linguistics -- Hatfield Polytechnic, Hatfield, England -- 2/75-7/75
• Lecturer in information Science (from 10/81-Senior Lecturer) -- The City University, London England -- 9/75-8/85
• Visiting Associate Professor, Information Science -- University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada -- 9/79-8/80
• Senior Research Fellow, Information Science -- Free University, Berlin, F.R.G. -- 9/82-4/83

Research and non-research publications:

a. Books or Book Chapters:

• BELKIN, N.J., "Ineffable concepts in information retrieval,"in Information Retrieval Experiment, K. Sparck Jones, ed. London, Butterworths, 1981: pp.44-58.
• BELKIN, N.J. and A. VICKERY. Interaction in Information Systems: A Review of Research from Document Retrieval to Knowledge-based systems (LIR Report No 35). London, The British Library, 1985.
• BELKIN, N.J. and W.B. CROFT, "Retrieval Techniques," Annual Review of Information Science and Technology. vol.22, 1987: pp. 109-145.

b. Scholarly Journal Articles:

• BELKIN, N.J., "Anomalous states of knowledge as a basis for information retrieval," Canadian Journal of Information Science, vol. 5, pp. 133-143, 1980.
• BELKIN, N.J., R.N. ODDY, and H.M. BROOKS, "ASK for information retrieval,. Part I: Background and theory; Part II: Results of a design study," Journal of Documentation, vol. 3, no. 2&3, pp. 61-71: 145-164, 1982.
• BELKIN, N.J., T. SEEGER, and G. WERSIG, "Distributed expert problem treatment as a model for information system analysis and design," Journal of Information Science, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 153-167, 1983.
• BELKIN N.J., "Cognitive models and information transfer," Social Science Information Studies, vol. 4, no. 2&3, pp. 111-129, 1984.
• BELKIN, N.J., R.D. HENNINGS, and T. SEEGER, "Simulation of a distributed expert-based information provision mechanism," Information Technology: Research Development Applications, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 122-141, 1984.
• BROOKS, H.M., P.J. DANIELS, and N.J. BELKIN, "Research on information interaction and intelligent information provision mechanisms," Journal of Information Science, vol. 12, no. 1/2, pp. 37-44, 1986.
• BELKIN, N.J., H.M. BROOKS, and P.J. DANIELS, "Knowledge elicitation using discourse analysis," International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, vol. 27, pp. 127-144, 1987.
• BELKIN, N.J., et al. "Distributed expert-based information systems: an interdisciplinary approach." Information Processing and Management, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 395-409, 1987.
• BELKIN, N.J. "Discourse analysis of human information interaction for specification of human-computer information interaction." Canadian Journal of Information Science vol. 12, no 3, pp. 31-42, 1987.
• ANDERSON, J.D., BELKIN, N.J., LEDERMAN, L.C. & SARACEVIC, T. "Information science at Rutgers: establishing new interdisciplinary connections." Journal of the American Society for Information Science vol. 39, no 5, pp. 327-330, 1988.

d. Proceedings:

• BELKIN, N.J., "The problem of matching in information retrieval," in Theory and Application of Information Research, Second International Research Forum in Information Science, Copenhagen, 1977, pp. 187-197, Mansell, London, 1980.
• BELKIN, N.J., D. KUEHNER, and B.G. MICHELL, "Representation of texts for information retrieval," in Proceedings, 18th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics, Philadelphia, 1980, pp. 147-148, ACL, Philadelphia, 1980.
• EAST, H. and N.J. BELKIN, "Advanced technology and the developing countries: the growing gap," in New Trends in Documentation and Information, 39th Congress of the International Federation for Documentation, Edinburgh, 1978, pp. 129-133, Aslib, London, 1980.
• BELKIN, N.J., "Models of dialogue for information retrieval," in IRFIS 4, Fourth international Research Forum in information Science, Boras, Sweden, 1981, pp. 15-36, College of Librarianship, Boras, 1982.
• BELKIN, N.J., "Information systems: concepts and constructs," in Information Science in Action: System Design, NATO ASI Series E: Applied Sciences, No 60, pp. 74-775, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, 1983.
• BELKIN, N.J. and others, "Mass informatics and their implication for everyday life: in IFIP 83, 9th World Computer Conference, Paris, 1983, pp. 583-587, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1983,
• BELKIN, N.J. AND G. WINDEL, "Using MONSTRAT for the analysis of information interaction," in IRFIS 5, Fifth International Research Forum in Information Science, Heidelberg, 1983, pp. 359-382, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1984.
• BROOKS, H.M., P.J. DANIELS, and N.J. BELKIN, "Problem descriptions and user models: developing an intelligent interface for document retrieval systems," in Informatics 8. Advances in Intelligent Retrieval, pp. 191-214, Aslib, London, 1985.
• DANIELS, P.J., H.M. BROOKS, and N.J. BELKIN, "Using problem structures for driving human-computer dialogues," in RIAO 85, Acts of the Conference: Recherche d'Informations Assistee par Ordinateur, Grenoble, 1985, pp. 645-660, I.M.A.G., Grenoble, 1985.
• HAPESHI, K. and N.J. BELKIN, "Developing and evaluating an automatic on-line information retrieval system based on userproblem statements," in RAIO 85, Acts of the Conference: Recherche d'Informations Assistee par Ordinateur, Grenoble, 1985, pp. 681-698, I.M.A.G., Grenoble, 1985.
• BELKIN, N.J., "Designing an intelligent information system interface," in Intelligent Decision Aids in Process Environments, NATO ASI Series, Vol F21, pp. 341-345, Springer, New York and Berlin, 1986.
• BELKIN, N.J. and B.H. KWASNIK, "Using structural representations of anomalous states of knowledge for choosing document retrieval strategies," in 1986 ACM Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, ed. F. Rabitti, pp. 11-22, ACM, Pisa Italy, 1986.
• BELKIN, N.J., "What does it mean for an information system interface to be intelligent?," in Proceedings of the Second Conference on Computer Interfaces and Intermediaries for Information Retrieval, pp. 97-105, Defence Technical Information Center, Alexandria, VA, 1986.
• BELKIN, N.J., "The analysis of human-human information interaction for the specification of human-computer information system interfaces," in Proceedings, Third Symposium on Empirical Foundations of Information and Software Science, Plenum, New York, 1987. In press.
• BELKIN, N.J., "Modelling the user in information interaction," in Proceedings, 12th Annual Conference of the Association of Information Officers in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Torquay, England, 1985, 1987. In press.
• BELKIN, N.J., "User/intermediary interaction analysis: a foundation for designing intelligent information systems," in Information seeking: Basing services on users' behaviors, ed. J. Varlejs, McFarland, North Carolina, 1987. pp. 4-23.
• BELKIN, N.J. "On the nature and function of explanation in intelligent information retrieval," in: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Research and Development on Information Retrieval. Grenoble, Presses Universitaires de Grenoble, 1988: 135-145.
• BELKIN, N.J. and C.J. van Rijsbergen, eds. SIGIR '89. Proceedings of the 12th Annual International ACMSIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval. New York, ACM Press, 1989.

f. Other Forms of Publication:

• BELKIN, N.J., Statistical analysis of the MONSTRAT simulation, Internal report, Projekt INSTRAT, Projekt INSTRAT, Free University Berlin, Berlin, 1983.
• WERSIG, G. and N.J. BELKIN, Observations on information science in the anglo-saxon countries: a study tour through the United Kingdom (G. Wersig) and overview of research development (N.J. Belkin), Internal report, Projekt INSTRAT, Projekt INSTRAT, Free University Berlin, Berlin, 1983.

Research activities

a. Research in Progress:

• Using a model of transparency for human-computer interaction as the basis for explanation in an intelligent computer-based intermediary of information retrieval.
• Specification and construction of a distributed expert-based intermediary for information retrieval.

b. Research Grants:

• Information retrieval interaction: review and recommendations (With A. Vickery, Univ. of London) -- 12/81-6/84, (BLRDD): $9,050.
• Representation and matching of anomalous states of knowledge and document texts -- 4/83-12/85, (BLRDD): $34,000.
• Attend IJCAI '83 -- 8/83, (BLRDD): $650.
• Implementation of a prototype distributed expert based information provision mechanism -- 9/83-8/84, (NATO, BF): $250,000.
• Participate in NATO ASI on Intelligent Decision Aids in Process Environments -- 9/85, (NATO): $650.
• Participate in 9th International Conference on Research & Development in Information Retrieval, Pisa, Italy -- 9/86, (NSF): $950.
• Participate in 11th International Conference on Research & Development in Information Retrieval, Grenoble, France -- 6/88, (NSF): $1,022.
• Design Principles for Third Generation OPACs: Taking Account of Library Users and Library Use (with T. Saracevic) -- 10/88-10/90, (US Office of Education): $106,963.
• Design Principles for Third Generation OPACs: Taking Account of Library Users and Library Use (with T. Saracevic) -- 10/88-9/90, (OCLC): $10,000.

c. Research Reports on Grants (not otherwise published):

• BELKIN, N.J., Human aspects of information science. Final report on IRFIS 3, British Library Research and Development Department Report No 5543, The British Library, London, 1980.
• BELKIN, N.J., Final report on the Eighth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Karlsruhe, 1983, British Library Research and Development Department Report No 5814, The British Library, London, 1984.

d. Invited Formal Lectures:

• Anomalous state of knowledge based information retrieval. Syracuse University, School of Information Studies, February 1980.
• Representation of anomalous states of knowledge as a basis for information retrieval. University of Michigan, University Colloquium, March 1980.
• Text analysis for information retrieval. University of Linkjoping, Library Seminar, September 1981.
• Models of dialogue for information retrieval. Aslib Informatics Group, London, November 1981.
• Application of the distributed expert model to information provision mechanism analysis and design. University of Konstanz, Department of Administrative Studies, Information Science Colloquium, February 1983.
• The significance of interaction in information processes: a research agenda. British Library Research & Development Department Seminar on Basic Information Research, Cranfield, 1983. (With A. Vickery)
• Cognitive models and information transfer. Seminar on Psychological Aspects of Information Searching, Copenhagen, 1983.
• Discourse analysis for information retrieval. KVAL Seminar on Linking in Text, Osterbybruk, Sweden, 1984.
• The future of information studies in the context of the information revolution. Rutgers University, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, September 1984.
• The future of information studies in the context of the information revolution. Rutgers University, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, September 1984.
• Research in the development of an intelligent information system interface. The City University, London, Cognitive Studies Seminar, December 1985.
• Using problem structures for driving human-computer dialogues. University of Linkjoping, LIBLAB Seminar, March 1985.
• Research in the development of intelligent information system interfaces. Swedish Special Library Association, Lund, Sweden, March 1985.
• Developing an expert information system interface. Royal Danish School of Librarianship, Copenhagen, March 1985.
• Modelling the user in information interaction. 12th Annual Conference of the Association of Information Officers in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Torquay, England, June 1985.
• Research in the development of an intelligent information system interface. The City University, London, Cognitive Studies Seminar, December 1985.
• Using problem structures to guide human-computer dialogues. University of Western Ontario, School of Library and Information Science, February 1986.
• Designing intelligent information provision mechanisms. University of Toronto, Faculty of Library and Information Science, February 1986.
• User/intermediary interaction analysis: a foundation for designing intelligent information systems. Rutgers University, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, 24th Annual Alumni-Faculty Symposium, April 1986.
• Artificial intelligence and science: whose knowledge? whose expertise? whose decisions? Annual Meeting of the AAAS, Symposium on "The Impact of Advances in Information Technologies on Science: Policy Issues". Philadelphia, May 1986.
• What is intelligence in an information system interface? and, how should we go about constructing one? 49th Annual Conference of the American Society for Information Science. Chicago, October, 1986.
• Transparency in intelligent systems. Danish Artificial Intelligence Society Seminary on 'Al System Architecture, Complexity, and Transparency.' Koge, Denmark, October 1986.
• Designing an intelligent information system interface. AT&T Bell Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ, January 1987.
• Investigating user modelling in information interaction by discourse analysis. Cognitive Colloquium, Psychology Department, Rutgers University, March 1987.
• A model of transparency as a basis for explanation in an expert intermediary for information retrieval. Computer-Human Interaction Seminar, Bell Communications Research, Morristown, NJ, May 1987.
• Uses of complex multimedia objects and information retrieval techniques. International Workshop on Multimedia Complex Objects, Taormina, Italy, June 1987.
• Explanation in intelligent retrieval. Computer Science Seminar, Rutgers University, October 1987.
• What constitutes intelligence in an information system? Artificial intelligence Group Seminar, General Electric Research & Development Center, Schenectady, NY, November 1987.
• Implications of 'Intelligent Information System' Research for Online Catalogs. Invited Lecture Series, Italian Library Association and others, Rome, Venice, Florence, Italy, January 1988.
• What constitutes intelligence in an information system? Department of Electronics and Computer Science Seminar, University of Padova, Italy, January 1988.
• User modelling in intelligent information systems. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Seminar, University of Udine, Italy, January 1988.
• On the nature and function of explanation in intelligent information retrieval. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Seminar, University of Udine, Italy, January 1988.
• Architectures for intelligent information retrieval systems. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Seminar, University of Udine, Italy, January 1988.
• The nature of explanation in intelligent information retrieval. OCLC Distinguished Seminar Series, OCLC, Dublin, OH, February 1988.
• The nature and function of explanation in the intelligent information retrieval system. Invited lecture, Potomac Valley Chapter of the American Society for Information Science, Washington, DC, February 1988.
• Panelist: Al, Expert Systems, Hypertext and Alternative Technologies for Online Database Retrieval. National Online Meeting. New York, May 1988.
• Panelist: Retrieval systems for the information seeker: can the role of the intermediary be automated/ ACM/sigchi 1988 Conference, Washington, DC, May 1988.
• Discourse analysis of human-human information interaction for specification of human-computer information interaction. Toronto Conference on Database Users, Toronto, June 1988.
• Explanation in intelligent information retrieval. School of Library and Information Science, University of Western Ontario, July 1988.
• An Overview of Intelligent Information Retrieval. Infofair '89: Intelligent Access to Information, University of Utah. March 1989.
• Intelligent Information Retrieval. Medical Informatics Seminar, Columbia University Medical School. May 1989.
• Panelist; Using protocol analysis to study the user interface. ASIS Mid-Year Meeting: The User Interface. San Diego, CA. May 1989.
• The Nature of Information. Keynote Address; 7th Nordic Conference on Information and Documentation: "Information and Innovation." Aarhus, Denmark. August 1989.

e. Significant Professional Consulting:

• Participant and co-coordinator, Workshop on information systems as collectives of cooperating experts. For Project INSTRAT, Berlin, November-December 1981.
• Participate in BLRDD Advisory Seminary on Basic Information Research, Cranfield, 1983.
• Participant, Anglo-French Seminar on Automatic Indexing. For the BNIST and the BLRDD. Paris, December 1983.
• Participant in BLRDD Advisory Seminar on Basic Information Research, Cranfield, 1986.
• Consultant in Database Systems for Bell Communication Research, October 1986-date.
• Co-organizer and lecturer, Summer School in Information Retrieval, Padova, Italy, July 10-13, 1989. Organized by the Italian Computer Society and the University of Padova.
• Consultant to the Central Institute for the Union Catalog for Italian Libraries, Rome, on: Online Public Access Catalogs, 1989.
• Consultant to the European Space Agency Information Retrieval Service, Frascati, Italy, on: Interfaces for Bibliographic Retrieval Systems, 7/89-12/89.

Short Courses and Seminars:

• Classification and indexing for fact databases -- 5/82, Norwegian School of Oslo Librarianship
• Psychological aspects of information searching -- 11/83, Royal School of Librarianship, Copenhagen
• Artificial Intelligence and Information Retrieval -- 1/89, 2nd International Workshop on AI in Economics and Management, National Univ. of Singapore

f. Other Creative Research Production (not otherwise published or mentioned):

• BELKIN, N.J. Distributed expert problem solving as a model for information retrieval analysis. British Computer Society Information Retrieval Specialist Group Seminar on Research in Information Retrieval, Sheffield, 1982.
• BELKIN, N.J., BROOKS, H.M. & DANIELS, P.J. Knowledge elicitation using discourse analysis. Workshop on Knowledge Acquisition for Knowledge-Based Systems, Sponsored by the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. Banff, Canada, November 1986.

Honors:

• 1984 ISI Award for Best Paper in the Journal of Information Science (with T. Seeger and G. Wersig).
• Honorable mention, 1985 ASIS Information Science Book of the Year Award (with A. Vickery).
• OCLC Distinguished Seminar Speaker, February 1988.

Membership of Societies:

• Member, American Association for Artificial Intelligence
• American Society for Information Science;
  • 1987-88 Chair-elect, Special Interest Group on User-Online Interaction
  • 1988-89 Chair, Special Interest Group on Human-Computer Interaction
  • 1988-89 Chair, Special Interest Group on User-Online Interaction
  • Member, Committee on Inter-Society Cooperation
  • Leader, ASIS 2000 Think Group on Information Retrieval
• Member, Association for Computational Linguistics
• Association for Computing Machinery:
  • 1987-90 Secretary, SIGIR (Special Interest Group on Information Retrieval)
• Member, Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behavior

Organization of Meetings:

• Honorary Secretary, Organizing Committee, First International Research Forum in Information Science, London, 1975.
• Interdisciplinary Cognitive Science Seminar, University of Western Ontario, 1979.sp Program Committee, Fifth International Research Forum in Information Science, Heidelberg, F.R.G., 1983.
• Program Committee and Organizing Committee, Sixth International Research Forum in Information Science, Frascati, Italy, 1985.
• Program Committee, Third Symposium on Empirical Foundations of Information and Software Science, Riso, Denmark, 1985.
• Chair, Organizing and Program Committee, Workshop on Distributed Expert-Based Information Systems, Rutgers University, March, 1987.
• Honorary Secretary, Standing Committee for the International Research Forum in Information science.
• Chair, Program Committee, 1989 International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval.
• Chair, Special Interest Group on User Online Interaction Program, Annual Conference of the American Society for Information Science, Atlanta, October 1988.
• Program Chair, 12th International ACMSIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, Cambridge, MA. June 1989.
• Member, Program Committee, 13th international Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, Brussels, 1990.
• Organizing Chair, International Conference on Multi-Media information Systems, Singapore. January 1991.

Other Activities:

• Editorial Board, Linguistic Calculation, 1/83-date
• Editorial Board, Information Processing and Management, 1/85-date
• Editorial Board, Ablex Communication and Information Science Series, 9/86-date
• Editorial Board, Journal of Information Science, 1/87-date
• UK Representative, FID Linguistics in Documentation Committee, 1/82-9/85
• Aslib Representative, British Standards Institute Documentation Terminology Committee, 1/83-9/85
• Fakultesopponent (external examiner), University of Lund, 3/85
• External Ph.D. examiner, University of Massachusetts, 7/88
• External Ph.D. examiner, University of Western Ontario, 7/88

Local institutional activities:

• Chair, MLS Search Committee, 12/85-3/86
• Ad hoc Ph.D. Program Committee, 9/85-date
• Undergraduate Information Studies Program Committee, 10/85-date
• Ph.D. Admissions Committee, 10/85-9/86
• SCILS Appointments & Promotions Committee, 10/85-date
• Ph.D. Search Committee, 11/85-3/87
• MLS Information Science Curriculum Committee, 10/85-2/86
• Ph.D. Executive Committee, 9/86-date
• University Grievance Committee, 11/86-9/87
• Ph.D. Admissions Committee, 9/87-date
• Coordinator, Ph.D. Information Structures & Systems Area, 3/87-date
• University Senator, 5/88-6/90
• Graduate School Executive Council, 9/88-6/89
• Executive Committee, University Governance Committee, 9/88-4/89
• Chair, SCILS Research Development Committee, 9/88-date
• Chair, LIS Research Committee