ABSTRACT

This chapter introduces a multiple-text summarization method to promote dynamic knowledge interaction. We introduce a multiple-text summariza­ tion method to facilitate the formation of collective knowledge. Collec­ tive knowledge is knowledge that is formed and shared by a community. Multiple-text summarization consists of two parts: topic identification and topic-based summarization. In topic identification, a topic, which indicates the topical sentence of a set of texts, is identified. In topic-based summa­ rization, a coherent summary, which is made up of related sentences, is generated. We developed a prototype system called Topic Showcase that uses both of these methods. The experiments we conducted demonstrate the system’s effectiveness in helping people understand the contents of the texts by providing them with an overview, or summary, of the texts.