Interactive Information Retrieval in Digital Environments
TL;DR: M-Libraries is an excellent starting place for libraries that are considering their own mobile initiatives and the wide variety of projects that are described will allow all types of libraries to benefit from this pioneering work.
Abstract: This book builds on the author's 1999 award-winning ALISE dissertation titled Planned and Situated Aspects in Interactive IR: Patterns of User Interactive Intentions and Information Seeking Strateg...
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TL;DR: The goal in the present article is to structure TBII on the basis of the five generic activities and consider the evaluation of each activity using the program theory framework and combine these activity-based program theories in an overall evaluation framework for TBIi.
Abstract: Evaluation is central in research and development of information retrieval (IR). In addition to designing and implementing new retrieval mechanisms, one must also show through rigorous evaluation that they are effective. A major focus in IR is IR mechanisms’ capability of ranking relevant documents optimally for the users, given a query. Searching for information in practice involves searchers, however, and is highly interactive. When human searchers have been incorporated in evaluation studies, the results have often suggested that better ranking does not necessarily lead to better search task, or work task, performance. Therefore, it is not clear which system or interface features should be developed to improve the effectiveness of human task performance. In the present article, we focus on the evaluation of task-based information interaction (TBII). We give special emphasis to learning tasks to discuss TBII in more concrete terms. Information interaction is here understood as behavioral and cognitive activities related to task planning, searching information items, selecting between them, working with them, and synthesizing and reporting. These five generic activities contribute to task performance and outcome and can be supported by information systems. In an attempt toward task-based evaluation, we introduce program theory as the evaluation framework. Such evaluation can investigate whether a program consisting of TBII activities and tools works and how it works and, further, provides a causal description of program (in)effectiveness. Our goal in the present article is to structure TBII on the basis of the five generic activities and consider the evaluation of each activity using the program theory framework. Finally, we combine these activity-based program theories in an overall evaluation framework for TBII. Such an evaluation is complex due to the large number of factors affecting information interaction. Instead of presenting tested program theories, we illustrate how the evaluation of TBII should be accomplished using the program theory framework in the evaluation of systems and behaviors, and their interactions, comprehensively in context.
50 citations
18 Aug 2010
TL;DR: The present paper reports on the initial study and the preliminary findings of how the concept of simulated work task situation is reported used in the research literature to learn how and for what types of evaluations the concept is applied.
Abstract: The present paper reports on the initial study and the preliminary findings of how the concept of simulated work task situation is reported used in the research literature. The overall objective of the study is in a systematic manner to learn how and for what types of evaluations the concept is applied. In particular we are interested to learn whether the recommendations for how to apply simulated work task situations are followed.The preliminary findings indicate a need for clarifications of the recommendations of how to use simulated work task situations. Particularly with respect to 'realism' of the simulated work task situations, which is emphasised through the need for tailoring of the simulated work task situations towards the group of study participant to ensure the depicted situations are realistic and interesting from the participants' point of view. Likewise it seems that the recommendation to involve the study participants' own information needs (to function as baseline of search interaction) is generally neglected in the reported studies.
45 citations
TL;DR: This study synthesizes research throughout different, yet complementary, areas, each capable of contributing findings and understanding to visual information seeking, according to generalized phases of existing information seeking models, which include the needs, actions, and assessments of users.
Abstract: The present study reports on the information seeking processes in a visual context, referred to throughout as visual information seeking. This study synthesizes research throughout different, yet complementary, areas, each capable of contributing findings and understanding to visual information seeking. Methods previously applied for examining the visual information seeking process are reviewed, including interactive experiments, surveys, and various qualitative approaches. The methods and resulting findings are presented and structured according to generalized phases of existing information seeking models, which include the needs, actions, and assessments of users. A review of visual information needs focuses on need and thus query formulation; user actions, as reviewed, centers on search and browse behaviors and the observed trends, concluded by a survey of users' assessments of visual information as part of the interactive process. This separate examination, specific to a visual context, is significant; visual information can influence outcomes in an interactive process and presents variations in the types of needs, tasks, considerations, and decisions of users, as compared to information seeking in other contexts.
25 citations
Cites background from "Interactive Information Retrieval i..."
..., if they are current or long term), (c) the importance of tasks (Xie, 2008), and (d) other factors surrounding the users’ cognitive state, such as affective influences and/or mental representations (Vakkari, 2001; Wang, Hawk, & Tenopir, 2000)....
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...…can depend on factors related to (a) the context or situation, (b) goals (i.e., if they are current or long term), (c) the importance of tasks (Xie, 2008), and (d) other factors surrounding the users’ cognitive state, such as affective influences and/or mental representations (Vakkari, 2001;…...
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TL;DR: A sample of relevant literature published primarily since 2000 is reviewed to highlight how each area of study may help to inform and benefit the other.
Abstract: Informetrics and information retrieval (IR) represent fundamental areas of study within information science. Historically, researchers have not fully capitalized on the potential research synergies that exist between these two areas. Data sources used in traditional informetrics studies have their analogues in IR, with similar types of empirical regularities found in IR system content and use. Methods for data collection and analysis used in informetrics can help to inform IR system development and evaluation. Areas of application have included automatic indexing, index term weighting and understanding user query and session patterns through the quantitative analysis of user transaction logs. Similarly, developments in database technology have made the study of informetric phenomena less cumbersome, and recent innovations used in IR research, such as language models and ranking algorithms, provide new tools that may be applied to research problems of interest to informetricians. Building on the author's previous work (Wolfram in Applied informetrics for information retrieval research, Libraries Unlimited, Westport, 2003), this paper reviews a sample of relevant literature published primarily since 2000 to highlight how each area of study may help to inform and benefit the other.
21 citations
Cites methods from "Interactive Information Retrieval i..."
...Various models have been developed to frame the process of user-centered interactive retrieval (Xie 2008)....
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TL;DR: This study is the first attempt to investigate the top three help‐seeking situations as well as associated factors in blind users' DL interactions, and its implications are discussed with the goal of providing system design recommendations for reducingblind users' help‐ seeking situations.
Abstract: A sight†centered digital library (DL) design with complex structures and multimedia formats poses significant challenges for blind users. This study is the first attempt to investigate the top three help†seeking situations as well as associated factors in blind users' DL interactions. A mixed†method approach was adopted for this study. Multiple methods were applied to collect data from 30 blind subjects: questionnaires, presearch interviews, think aloud protocols, transaction logs, and postsearch interviews. The paper identifies the top three help†seeking situations, and associated factors in relation to user, system, task, and interaction. Moreover, different types of main†level factors were tested to investigate if they are correlated to each type of top situation, and qualitative data of sublevel factors offer insight into how these factors are associated with various situations. Without a clear understanding of these situations and factors, the objective of universal access to information in DLs cannot be achieved. DL design implications are further discussed with the goal of providing system design recommendations for reducing blind users' help†seeking situations.
19 citations
Cites background from "Interactive Information Retrieval i..."
...Xie (2008) found that origination, types, and flexibilities of tasks influenced how users applied search strategies....
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...These tasks represent the three types of typical search tasks that users, including blind users, perform: known-item search, specific information search, and exploratory search (Xie, 2008)....
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...…searching mainly consist of different types of user knowledge, specifically, domain knowledge, system knowledge, and retrieval knowledge, which influence users’ information searching and DL help-seeking behavior (Ingwersen & J€arvelin, 2006; Marchionini, 1995; Xie, 2008; Xie & Cool, 2009)....
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...User factors affecting information searching mainly consist of different types of user knowledge, specifically, domain knowledge, system knowledge, and retrieval knowledge, which influence users’ information searching and DL help-seeking behavior (Ingwersen & J€arvelin, 2006; Marchionini, 1995; Xie, 2008; Xie & Cool, 2009)....
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Dissertation•
01 Jan 2014TL;DR: The present thesis investigates the usage of cultural heritage resources on the web using Savolainen’s Everyday Life Information Seeking (ELIS) framework and a conceptual framework developed so the examined aspects could be related to each other more clearly.
Abstract: The present thesis investigates the usage of cultural heritage resources on the web. In recent years cultural heritage objects has been digitalized and made available on the web for the general public to use. The thesis addresses to what extent the digitalized material is used, and how findable it is on the web. On the web resources needs to be findable in order to be visited and used. The study is done at the intersection of several research areas in Library and Information Science; Information Seeking/Human Information Behaviour, Interactive Information Retrieval, and Webometrics.
The two thesis research questions focus on different aspects of the study: (1) findability on the web; and (2) the usage and the users. The usage of the cultural heritage is analysed with Savolainen’s Everyday Life Information Seeking (ELIS) framework. The IS&R framework by Ingwersen and Jarvelin is the main theoretical foundation, and a conceptual framework is developed so the examined aspects could be related to each other more clearly. An important distinction in the framework is between object and resource. An object is a single document, file or html page, whereas a resource is a collection of objects, e.g. a cultural heritage web site. Three webometric levels are used to both combine and distinguish the data types: usage, content, and structure. The interaction between the system and its users’ information search process was divided into query dependent and query independent aspects. The query dependent aspects contain the information need on the user side and the topic of the content on the system side. The query independent aspects are the structural findability on the system side and the users search skills on the user side. The conceptual framework is summarised in the User-Resource Interaction (URI) model.
The research design is a methodological triangulation, in the form of a mixed methods approach in order to obtain measures and indicators of the resources and the usage from different angels. Four methods are used: site structure analysis; log analysis; web survey; and findability analysis. The research design is both sequential and parallel, the site structure analysis preceded the log analysis and the findability analysis, and the web survey was employed independent of the other methods. Three Danish resources are studied: Arkiv for Dansk Litteratur (ADL), a collection of literary texts written by authors; Kunst Index Danmark (KID), an index of the holdings in the Danish art museums; and Guaman Poma Inch Chronicle (Poma), a digitalized manuscript on the UNESCO list of World cultural heritage. The studied log covers all usage during the period October to December 2010.
The site structure is analysed so the resources can be described as different levels, based on function and content. The results from the site structure analysis are used both in the log analysis and the findability analysis, as well as a way to describe the resources. In the log analysis navigation strategies and navigation patterns are studied. Navigation through a web search engine is the most common way to reach the resources, but both direct navigation and link navigation are also used in all three resources. Most users arrive in the middle level in ADL and KID, at information on authors and artists. On average cultural heritage objects are viewed in half of the session. In the analysis of the web survey answers two groups of users’ are distinguished, the professional user in a work context and users in a hobby or leisure context. School or study as a context is prominent in Guaman Poma, the Inca Chronicle. Generally are pages about the cultural heritage more frequently visited than the digitized cultural heritage objects.
In the findability framework six aspects are identified as central for the findability of an object on the web: attributes of the object, accessibility, internal navigation, internal search, reachability and web prestige. The six aspects are evaluated through seven indicators. All studied objects are findable in the analysis using the findability framework. A findability issue in KID is the use of the secure https protocol instead of http, which leads to the objects in KID having no PageRank value in Google and thereby a lower ranking in comparison to similar objects with a PageRank value. The internal findability is reduced for the objects in top of all three resources, e.g. the first page, due to the focus of the internal search engine on the cultural heritage objects. Several possible adjustment or developments of the findability frameworks is discussed, such as changing the weightning between the aspects measured, alternative scores and automated measuring.
In conclusion, the investigation adds to our knowledge about how resources with digitalized cultural heritage are accessed and used, as well as how findable they are. The thesis provides both theoretical and conceptual contributions to research. The IS&R framework has been adapted to the web, the information search process was split into query dependent and query independent aspects, and a whole findability framework has been developed. Both the empirical findings and the theoretical advancements support the development of better access to web resources.
12 citations
TL;DR: The findings of this study support the social model that the sight‐centered design of DLs, rather than blind users' disability, prohibits them from effectively interacting with a DL and reveal the limitation of existing interactive information retrieval models that do not take people with disabilities into consideration.
Abstract: This is the first study that compares types of orientation tactics that blind and sighted users applied in their initial interactions with a digital library (DL) and the associated factors...
11 citations
01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: The objective of this chapter is to provide an insight into the information retrieval definitions, process, models, and the role of external sources like ontologies in information retrieval systems.
Abstract: Information retrieval is currently an active research field with the evolution of World wide web. The objective of this chapter is to provide an insight into the information retrieval definitions, process, models. Further how traditional information retrieval has evolved and adapted for search engines is also discussed. The information retrieval models have not only been used for search purpose it also supports cross lingual translation and retrieval tasks. This chapter also outlines the CLIR process in a brief manner. The tools which are usually used for experimental and research purpose is also discussed. This chapter is organized as Introduction to the concepts of information retrieval. Description of the information retrieval process, the information retrieval models, the role of external sources like ontologies in information retrieval systems. Finally the chapter provides an overview of CLIR and the tools used in developing IR systems is mentioned. Further the latest research directions in IR is explained.
8 citations