Documents with flexible Notation Contexts as Interfaces to Mathematical Knowledge
Abstract:
In this paper we explore the use of documents as interfaces to mathematical knowledge.
We propose an augmented document model that facilitates the explication of a document’s
notation context, i.e. the selection of appropriate presentations for all symbols in the docu-
ment. By separating the notation context from the structure and content of a document, we
aim at identifying the author’s selection of notation, i.e. his notation practices. This facili-
tates both, the identification of communities of practice (COP) that share specific notation
preferences and, conversely, the adaptation of documents to the notation preferences of iden-
tified COPs, e.g. groups of readers and co-authors. Furthermore, explicating a document’s
notation context allows for referencing and, particularly, reusing contexts, which reduces the
author’s workload during the authoring process.