Subject: Questionnaire On Expert Syst.

From: I.N.E.A. Ist.Naz.Econ.Agraria <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 07 Feb 95 15:26:05 CET

Dear Colleagues,

We are two researchers from the National Institute of Agricultural
Economics in Rome (Guido Bonati) and the University of Trento, Italy 
(Carl Uhrik). We have been involved in software classification and
in adoption of software by farmers and extension agents (G. Bonati)
and expert system development (Carl Uhrik).

We are interested in investigating the main features of expert systems
development and their adoption (or non-adoption) by farmers and extension
agents. We are sending you therefore, with the following message, a
questionnaire on these topics. We are asking for 10-15 minutes of your
time
to reply to all the questions. Since the questions are numbered, the
quickest
way  to  reply  is  writing an e-mail with question numbers followed by
the an-
swer.

Replies may be sent to Guido Bonati (mc5810-mclink.it).

As an incentive and a reward for your help and cooperation, we shall send
to all respondents a copy of Farmsoft 1994 (2nd edition of the
international
catalogue for agricultural software), prepared by a team of experts from
8 countries (mainly European), containing a description of the best
computer
programs for agriculture.

                                               Sincerely Yours,

                                               Guido Bonati and Carl Uhrik

Guido Bonati
Istituto Nazionale di Economia Agraria
Via Barberini 36
Roma - Italy
Ph.: ++39 6 4870793
Fax: ++39 6 483488
e-mail: [email-masked]

Carl Uhrik
Universita' degli Studi di Trento
Laboratorio di Ingegneria Informatica
Via Fortunato Zeni 8
Rovereto (Trento) - Italy 
Ph.: ++39 464 443140
Fax: ++39 464 443141
e-mail: [email-masked]

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> Questionnaire

1.  Name of the expert system: ______________________________________

2 a. What type of activity is your system intended for?

     1 PRODUCTION

     2 SERVICES

     3 OTHER (please specify) __________________

2 b. What range of activities does the system address?

 If the system is intended for PRODUCTION activities, answer as follows:

     A FARMS

     B PRODUCER COOPERATIVES

     C INPUT INDUSTRIES

     D PROCESSING INDUSTRIES

 If your system is intended for SERVICES activities, answer as follows:

     A ADVISORY SERVICES

     B AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPEMENT ACTIVITIES

     C TECHNICAL AND MANAGEMENT SUPPORT

2 c. What specific sector does your system address?
 
 For FARM PRODUCTION or ADVISORY SERVICES, please answer as follows:
 
 00 in general                           51 plant production in general
                                         52 arable crops
 01 animal production in general         53 vegetable growing
 02 animal production dairy cattle       54 flowers growing
 03 animal production beef cattle        55 arboriculture in general
 04 animal production pigs               56 arboriculture fruit production
 05 animal production sheeps & goats     57 arboriculture viticulture &
olive
 06 animal production buffaloes          58 greenhouses
 07 animal production poultry and rabbit 59 foil cultivation
 08 animal production others             60 timber trees in general
                                         61 forestry
                                         63 plant production others
 
 For INPUT INDUSTRIES, please answer as follows:
 
 00 in general
 01 animal feed sector
 02 nursery sector
 03 contractor and machinery cooperatives
 
 For AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES SERVICES, please answer as
follows:
 
 00 in general
 01 advisory service organization
 02 agricultural research
 03 extension
 04 education and vocation training
 
 For PRODUCER CO-OPERATIVES, PROCESSING INDUSTRIES, TECHNICAL AND
MANAGEMENT
 SUPPORT SERVICES and OTHER,

              please specify sector: _________________

2 d. What general function does the system perform?
 
 A book keeping                               N agrometeorology
 B staff management                           O irrigation
 C machinery management                       P delivery management
 D farm planning                              Q marketing management
 E management of cultures & activities        R project development
 F husbandry management                       S laboratory management
 G livestock feeding                          T law
 H feed preparation & automatic distribution  U farmer union management
 I plant monitoring and automation            V research project
management
 J farm management analysis                   W fiscal drag
 K land use                                   X environmental conservation
 L soil dressing                              y energy analysis
 M plant protection & weed control            Z others

3. Goal of the ES:

4. Description of the agricultural features/problems dealt with by the ES

5. Composition of the ES development team:

                                            How many ? ( 0 if none )

   a) extension agent                        __________ 

   b) knowledge engineer                     __________

   c) software developer                     __________  

   d) agricultural economist                 __________  

   e) researcher                             __________  

   f) university professor                   __________ 

   g) others (specify _____________________) __________

6. Time required for development
                                        Years       Months

   a) identification                  __________   __________

   b) conceptualization               __________   __________

   c) formalization                   __________   __________

   d) implementation                  __________   __________

   e) testing                         __________   __________

7. Hardware platform used for:

   a) development ___________________________________________________

   b) testing     ___________________________________________________

8. Software tools used

  a) shells               _________________________________________

  b) programming language _________________________________________

  c) induction algorithms _________________________________________

  d) databased            _________________________________________

  e) GUI                  _________________________________________

  f)  other tools         _________________________________________

9. Complexity of the system
 
     Source Code (number of lines of procedural code or scripts):

     Knowledge Base (number of rules, decision tree nodes, database
     entries, or otherwise - please specify number and units): 

10. User interface and/or system environment

  a) natural language     _________________________________________

  b) character-based      _________________________________________

  c) menu-driven          _________________________________________

  d) GUI                  _________________________________________

  e) on-line help         _________________________________________
      
      i) Access to summaries of keys, menu-options, commands, etc.? _____

      ii)  Optional explanations regarding the meaning of terminology
used?
                                                                     _____

      iii) HYPERTEXT ? ____________

      iv) Ability to view knowledge base ? _______

      v) Ability to view/explain reasoning chain? ______

      vi) Other (please specify)? ________________________________

11. Intended user:
  
  a) farmer                _______

  b) extension             _______

  c) student               _______

  d) farmers' organization _______

  e) researcher            _______

  f) other (please specify)_______________________________________

12. Acceptance by the user:

   a) low                _______

   b) moderate           _______

   c) high               _______

13. Number of users:

   a) < = 5       _______

   b) 6 - 10      _______

   c) 10 - 50     _______

   d) 50 - 500    _______

   e) > 500       _______

14. Promotional efforts:

   a) meetings;

   b) mailings;

   c) involvement of extension;

   d) articles in technical magazines;

   e) articles in scientific reviews;

   f) involvement of private companies.

15. Cost for distribution:

  a) free

  b) fee for runtime; (specify __________)

  c) fee for the ES  (specify __________)

16. Characterization of the system:

  a) success;

  b) partial success;

  c) failure

  Explain why _________________________________________________

  _____________________________________________________________

  _____________________________________________________________

  _____________________________________________________________

  _____________________________________________________________