Best Available Copy ILOGICAL ASPECTS OF QUESTION-ANSWERING BY COMPUTER

In this paper we will consider the problem of computer-ized question-answering from the point of view of certain technical, although elementary, notions of logic. W4e the work reported herein has general application to the design of information systems, it is specifically motivated by the RAND Relational Data File & a data-retrieval system whose design features were proposed by R. F. Levien and M. E. Maron (1965, 1966; see also Levien, 1966, and Maron, 1966). This system, for which a prototype has been imple-mented (Levien, 1969), deals with the retrieval and proces-sing of information from a large file of reZational sentences. (In the present version there are about 70,C00 sentences.) These file items concern factual information oi research in the field of cybernetics--what Levien and Maron call context data. By that is meant such information as who wrote what paper, with what organization someone is affiliated, what Any views expressed in this paper are those of the author. They should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of The RAND Corporation or the official opinion or policy of any of its governmental or private research sponsors. Papers are reproduced by The RAND Corporation as a courtesy to members of its staff.This paper was prepared for presentation at the Thir