HIBROWSE for Hotels: Bridging the Gap Between User and System Views of a Database

G P Ellis, J E Finlay, A S Pollitt

Centre for Database Access Research and Human Computer Interaction Research Centre
University of Huddersfield, UK

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Ellis, G. and Finlay, J. and Pollitt, A.S. (1994) HIBROWSE for Hotels: bridging the gap between user and system views of a database. In: IDS'94 Workshop on User Interfaces to Databases.

Abstract

Database theory and technology has traditionally been concerned with issues such as consistency and efficiency rather than usability. This has led to interaction styles which focus on the structure of the database, which is system-based, rather than the user's view of its content Therefore the problem that needs to be addressed is that of bridging the gap between the user's model of the data and that of the system. The system presented here. approaches this problem by presenting the user with a domain oriented view of the database. Access is then achieved by manipulating the contents of the database rather than the structure.

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