Interacting with Information (Synthesis Lectures on Human-Cenered Informatics)

✍ Scribed by Ann Blandford, Simon Attfield, John M. Carroll

• Publisher: Morgan and Claypool Publishers
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 99
• Series: Synthesis Lectures on Human-Cenered Informatics
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

In order to design technologies that better support information work, it is necessary to better understand the details of that work. In this lecture, we review the situations (physical, social and temporal) in which people interact with information. We also discuss how people interact with information in terms of an "information journey," in which people, iteratively, do the following: recognise a need for information, find information, interpret and evaluate that information in the context of their goals, and use the interpretation to support their broader activities. People's information needs may be explicit and clearly articulated but, conversely, may be tacit, exploratory and evolving. Widely used tools supporting information access, such as searching on the Web and in digital libraries, support clearly defined information requirements well, but they provide limited support for other information needs. Most other stages of the information journey are poorly supported at present. Novel design solutions are unlikely to be purely digital, but to exploit the rich variety of information resources, digital, physical and social, that are available. Theories of information interaction and sensemaking can highlight new design possibilities that augment human capabilities. We review relevant theories and findings for understanding information behaviors, and we review methods for evaluating information working tools, to both assess existing tools and identify requirements for the future. Contents: Introduction: Pervasive Information Interactions / Background: Information Interaction at the Crossroads of Research Traditions / The Situations: Physical, Social and Temporal / The Behaviors: Understanding the "Information Journey" / The Technologies: Supporting the Information Journey / Studying User Behaviors and Needs for Information Interaction / Looking to the Future

✦ Table of Contents

Acknowledgments......Page 11
Preface......Page 13
Introduction: Pervasive Information Interactions......Page 15
Information Retrieval......Page 17
Information Seeking......Page 19
Sensemaking......Page 21
A Human--Centred Informatics View......Page 23
Information Work......Page 24
Personal Knowledge Management......Page 25
Situated Information Interaction......Page 26
The Physical and the Digital Library......Page 27
Physical and Digital Information Artefacts......Page 29
Information Intermediaries......Page 31
Communities of Practice......Page 33
Experts and Consumers......Page 34
Temporal Aspects of the Situation......Page 36
Information Interactions Within an Activity......Page 37
Developing Expertise in Information Interaction......Page 39
The Derivation of the Information Journey......Page 43
Example: A Patient's Information Journey......Page 44
Example: A Journalist's Information Journey......Page 46
Making Sense of Information......Page 47
Information Encountering and Serendipity......Page 49
Wheels Within Wheels: The Recursive Nature of Much Information Work......Page 50
Anticipating Future Demands in the Information Journey......Page 51
Summary......Page 52
The Technologies: Supporting the Information Journey......Page 55
Awareness Mechanisms......Page 56
Information Encountering: Summary......Page 57
Visual Analytics......Page 58
Spatial Hypertext......Page 60
Supporting Sensemaking: Summary......Page 61
Re-Finding Information During Writing......Page 62
Summary......Page 63
Studying User Behaviors and Needs for Information Interaction......Page 65
PRET A Rapporter: A Framework for Planning a User Study......Page 66
Resources and Constraints......Page 67
Techniques for Data Capture......Page 69
Reporting Findings......Page 70
Conceptual Structures for Information Interaction (CSII)......Page 71
CSII Focuses on Concepts......Page 72
Gathering User Data......Page 73
Identifying System Concepts for Evaluating an Existing System......Page 74
Identifying Misfits......Page 75
Worked Example: A Digital Library System......Page 76
Summary......Page 81
Looking to the Future......Page 83
Further Reading......Page 85
Bibliography......Page 87
Authors' Biographies......Page 99