Integrating Information Resources:
A Case Study of Engineering Design Support*

David B. Leake,1 Larry Birnbaum,2 Kristian Hammond,2 Cameron Marlow,3
and Hao Yang4

1 Computer Science Department, Lindley Hall, Indiana University,
150 S. Woodlawn Aye, Bloomington, IN 47405, U.S.A., leake@cs.indiana.edu
2 Intelligent Information Laboratory, Computer Science Department,
Northwestern University, 1890 Maple Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201, U.S.A.,
{birnbaum,hammond}@ils.nwu.edu
3 Computer Science Department, The University of Chicago,
1100 East 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, U.S.A., cameron@ils.nwu.edu
4 PDC, MD 270, GB-D68, Vehicle Operations, Ford Motor Company, 21500
Oakwood Blvd., Dearborn, MI 48124, U.S.A., hyangl@ford.com



Abstract. The development of successful case-based design aids depends 
both on the CBR processes themselves and on crucial questions of
integrating the CBR system into the larger task context: how to make the
CBR component provide information at the right time and in the right
form, how to access relevant information from additional information
sources to supplement the case library, how to capture information for
use downstream and how to unobtrusively acquire new cases. This paper
presents a set of design principles and techniques that integrate methods 
from CBR and information retrieval to address these questions. The
paper illustrates their application through a case study of the Stamping
Advisor, a tool to support feasibility analysis for stamped metal automotive parts.
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