| This thesis presents research using a case based reasoner (CBR) to develop a traditional knowledge base for the Gwich'in of the Northwest Territories. A prototype was developed, on a stand-alone machine and on the Internet, to assist Gwich'in resource managers with decision-making by incorporating the knowledge from interviews with Gwich'in elders into a CBR. Resource managers are able to search the prototype by entering a query, answering a series of interactive questions and receiving an appropriate response through the CBR. On a stand-alone machine, the CBR responses include scripts which launch images created in a geographic information system (GIS). This allows the user access to descriptive data from the interviews, as well as spatial data in the GIS images. Access on a stand-alone machine is limited, but integration of the knowledge base with GIS on the Internet offers potential solutions which should be further explored in the future. |
