From the reviews: "This book deals with a new approach to collaborative problem solving. ... The necessary steps to a practical application of this approach are elaborated in a very impressive way. ... One special property of this book and this project is the continuous and consistent use of one example, the scheduling of medical appointments. ... A comprehensive list of references and the usual high quality of the series make, together with the contents, this book a must for all AI researchers in this area." (Christian Posthoff, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1025, 2003)

• 1.Overview.- 2. Basics of Collaborative Problem Solving.- Theoretical Foundations.- 3. Distributed Constraint Problems — A Model for Collaborative Problem Solving.- 4. Autonomous Dynamic Reconfiguration — Improving Collaborative Problem Solving.- Practical Concepts.- 5. Multi-agent System Infrastructure.- 6. External Constraint Problem Solving.- 7. Composable BDI Agents.- 8. Internal Constraint Problem Solving.- 9. Controlling Agent Melting and Agent Splitting.- Assessment.- 10. Evaluation.- 11. Conclusion and Future Work.- A. Symbols and Abbreviations.- B. An XML-Encoded Request Message.- C. SICStus Prolog Code for Internal Constraint Problem Solving.- D. Initialization of the Hospital Scenario Generator.

From the reviews: "This book deals with a new approach to collaborative problem solving. ... The necessary steps to a practical application of this approach are elaborated in a very impressive way. ... One special property of this book and this project is the continuous and consistent use of one example, the scheduling of medical appointments. ... A comprehensive list of references and the usual high quality of the series make, together with the contents, this book a must for all AI researchers in this area." (Christian Posthoff, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1025, 2003)

• 1.Overview.- 2. Basics of Collaborative Problem Solving.- Theoretical Foundations.- 3. Distributed Constraint Problems — A Model for Collaborative Problem Solving.- 4. Autonomous Dynamic Reconfiguration — Improving Collaborative Problem Solving.- Practical Concepts.- 5. Multi-agent System Infrastructure.- 6. External Constraint Problem Solving.- 7. Composable BDI Agents.- 8. Internal Constraint Problem Solving.- 9. Controlling Agent Melting and Agent Splitting.- Assessment.- 10. Evaluation.- 11. Conclusion and Future Work.- A. Symbols and Abbreviations.- B. An XML-Encoded Request Message.- C. SICStus Prolog Code for Internal Constraint Problem Solving.- D. Initialization of the Hospital Scenario Generator.