Computer-supported resolution of measurement conflicts: a case-study in materials science

Resolving conflicts between different measurements ofa property of a physical system may be a key step in a discovery process. With the emergence of large-scale databases and knowledge bases with property measurements, computer support for the task of conflict resolution has become highly desirable. We will describe a method for model-based conflict resolution and the accompanying computer tool KIMA, which have been applied in a case-study in materials science. In order to be a useful aid to scientists, the tool needs to be integrated with other tools in a computer-supported discovery environment. We will give an outline of such a computer-supported discovery environment and argue that its use might lead to new ways of doing science, so-called computer regimes.