Quick Note Regarding Previous Post...

In the last post, "Restarting my pattern mapping project..." I reiterated my focus on further developing the methods and software tools for using patterns in planning and decision-making among community and civil society groups.

I would however, like to add that this method and the corresponding software is not directly dependent upon the use of patterns. In fact, I think it is possible that collaborative conceptualization of a problem space and set of proposed responses as semantically linked concepts could be similarly powerful for supporting deliberation, visualization and adaptive planning.

It would be interesting to see if patterns provide some greater degree of use in cultivating a group's civic intelligence, or if patterns actually hinder the process... Or it may make no difference, and the patterns may simply be a useful way of structuring group knowledge for future reuse, but without supporting the actual collaborative act of planning.

Brainstorming Food-Systems

So as I said in the previous post that there are some basic assumptions regarding agri-food systems. Based on some of these assumptions I have constructed a visual stock and flow diagram of a generic production system. Now, I do not claim that this is correct or that the connections lead to validated behavior among food production systems, but it does help me in thinking about the variables that exist within just one part of the system that includes dimensions of production, processing, distribution and access or consumption.



But this image of the production system is just on part of a larger system. From the highest level view, the overall agri-food system would be generalized by this simple diagram.




The most basic question may be, "why does there appear to be a closed loop between production and consumption?" The reason for this is that in communities where subsistence based food production is central, there is often no distribution and limited processes except in instances where food preservation is central. Yet, this processing is not the same as what one finds in conventional food systems where the emphasis is on processing to create value-added products through raw food materials, i.e. Doritos corn chips processed in Houston, TX from corn grown in Iowa.

Now, consumption feeds back into production because the food people eat is one of the primary means through which they reproduce their productive capacity, which is their labor power. The other primary means would be ingesting water and sex for child bearing (the means of re-producing labor power over a longer time horizon).

Abridged Reading List for "Expressing Knowledge Across Multiple Dimensions"

These are just a few of the resources I have gathered on the topic of knowledge mapping and ontology building. Some of these speak specifically about pattern usability where as others discuss methods for visualizing and constructing knowledge maps.

• Building the knowledge map: an industrial case study


• Mapping Knowledge Nodes, Networks, and Domains


• Visualizing Knowledge Domains (PDF)


• Knowledge Mapping for Complex Social Messes (PDF)


• An Ontology-Based Metamodel for Software Patterns (PDF)


• Ontology Development 101: A Guide to Creating Your First Ontology


• A Pattern Language Approach to Usability Knowledge Management (PDF)


• The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct Them


• A Pattern System For Permaculture Design

Blurb for - Expressing Knowledge across Multiple Dimensions

This is a blurb for an upcoming talk slated for January 25, 2008 at Washington State University.

What is knowledge? How do we reuse it and transfer it? How do we represent this knowledge in ways that are simple to comprehend for the uninitiated? These are all serious and inherently difficult questions that are being asked among people working in nearly every field, whether in business or politics, in education or engineering. These questions also represent topics of this upcoming talk, “Expressing Knowledge Across Multiple Dimensions.”

In A Timeless Way of Building (1979) and A Pattern Language (1977), philosopher and architect Christopher Alexander put forth a theory on architectural practice that emphasized the use of patterns as reusable elements of good design. When configured together these patterns formed a network, a cohesive whole, a Pattern Language.

While Alexander’s work failed to bring about a revolution of modern architecture, the simplicity of his multi-dimensional approach to “Whole-Systems Design” prompted the adoption, and arguably a revolution among a number of fields completely unrelated to architecture. From object-oriented programming and software design, to community information systems, environmental planning and permaculture, patterns have become central principles for working with complex systems.

However, as the number of patterns has grown within each of these fields a concern over complexity and usability has surfaced. In an attempt to address these concerns a number of scholars have begun to focus upon the visual representation and ontological configuration of pattern languages. Yet, despite the strides made with knowledge mapping and information visualization, pattern users have been slow to incorporate these approaches into their knowledge base.

To prompt further thinking on the topic of patterns and pattern language representation, this talk hopes to address possible opportunities for representing patterns that enable users to traverse the multiple dimensions of a pattern language, as well as discuss some of the problems associated with current approaches to the visualization of a complex system of knowledge.

Using SharePoint Web Services

In furthering the conceptualization of this Visual Learning application, I was first struck by the possible approaches to querying the needed data. While I am predominately visual and think in terms of how things might look when complete, I recognize that getting data out of SharePoint might be a bit more difficult task than in some other cases.

However, there is much discussion on the use of SharePoint's web services. Some focus specifically on aggregating content from other places to create mash-ups, while others do note the possible importance of getting data out of SharePoint.

So over the next couple of days I'm going to be looking into the process of accessing the SharePoint web services feature and see how well it works. To do this I think I'm going to attempt a script using the python and ZSI library, or PHP and the nuSOAP model.

Either way, it is my hope that the technology will stand alone, outside of SharePoint and yet still be able to work well with the various MySites WSU has. If it works with the MySites then I don't see why it wouldn't work with plone or drupal. One thing that might be an issue is the need to allow for an XML-RPC approach as both Plone and Drupal utilize rpc.

However, more in connection with patterns is the need of this application to be able query the Liberating Voices! patterns. If I can get the query and parsing bit of the application then Yishay maybe able to extend his Mind mapping application to enable through the web mapping. Both pieces together could prove to be a very cool and very powerful solution for visual knowledge representation.

Creating a Common Language?

When thinking about the notion of patterns and pattern languages I’m struck by the idea of constructing some sort of common language by which various peoples can communicate ideas regarding systems based design and problem solving.

However, I’m not completely convinced that the pattern languages in any of the current instances truly enable a convergence of sorts that would really allow for a common language to emerge.

The reason for this concern derives from my interest in community sustainability and participatory processes of planning, particularly within developing countries. Often these areas are culturally complex, which can translate into differing conceptions of what a pattern, might be, or even how a re-occurring problem might be framed. Along with problems of illiteracy, and just basic linguistic barriers it seems obvious that it would be extremely difficult to operationalize these patterns for use in a global multi-lingual context. However, visual linguistics does present a possible opportunity to address this short-coming

Therefore it seems to me that the visual processes of mapping these patterns to represent their useful relationships to one another in context specific ways is needed before we can begin to make the claims of usability that so many want to make. That is not to say that various patterns and pattern languages are not being used in real life, but it is my feeling that this theory would be much more usable if the information, models and resources were more readily available and conceptually accessible.

Likewise, based upon what I have seen developed by the community, the number of, and usefulness of the tools available are lacking. And like many models, the complexity that emerges from the visual language makes communication across knowledge disciplines and cultures overtly difficult.

However, I would hope that a more effective approach that incorporates a face-to-face as well as technologically mediated process could be developed to address this critical deficiency.