Remote Collaborative Help: Using Cases and Concept Maps to Coordinate and Contextualize Knowledge

Following established naval procedure, expert electronics technicians remotely support non-expert sailors via telephone, email, and chat referring to paper-based manuals as a common reference. Initially, experts have little contextual information about the problem and so must construct sufficient understanding through exchanges with the ship before offering help. To streamline and improve this interaction, we are developing a system to coordinate and contextualize knowledge. The system will help bridge the gap between experts and nonexperts by simultaneously using stored cases and concept maps to: 1) Provide the expert with a picture of the user’s task context, and 2) Provide the nonexpert with relevant domain information and contextualized corrective actions. Together, cases and concept maps will support troubleshooting and bridge the gap between experts and nonexperts across the organization.