Harry Bruce

A multidimensional approach to the study of human-information interaction: a case study of collaborative information retrieval

While most research in the area of human-information behavior has focused on a single dimension--either the psychological or the social--this case study demonstrated the importance of a multidimensional approach. The Cognitive Work Analysis framework guided this field study of one event of collaborative information retrieval (CIR) carried out by design engineers at Microsoft, including observations and interviews. Various dimensions explained the motives for this CIR event and the challenges the participants encountered: the cognitive dimension, the specific task and decision, the organization of the teamwork, and the organizational culture. Even though it is difficult at times to separate one dimension from another, and all are interdependent, the analysis uncovered several reasons for design engineers to engage in CIR, such as when they are new to the organization or the team, when the information lends itself to various interpretations, or when most of the needed information is not documented. Similar multidimensional studies will enhance our understanding of human-information behavior.

Once Found, What Then? A Study of "Keeping" Behaviors in the Personal Use of Web Information.

This observational study investigates the methods people use in their workplace to organize web information for re-use. In addition to the bookmarking and history list tools provided by web browsers, people observed in our study used a variety of other methods and associated tools. For example, several participants emailed web addresses (URLs) along with comments to themselves and to others. Other methods observed included printing out web pages, saving web pages to the hard drive, pasting the address for a web page into a document and pasting the address into a personal web site. Differences emerged between people according to their workplace role and their relationship to the information they were gathering. Managers, for example, depended heavily on email to gather and disseminate information and did relatively little direct exploration of the Web. A functional analysis helps to explain differences in “keeping” behavior between people and to explain the overall diversity of methods observed. People differ in the functions they require according to their workplace role and the tasks they must perform; methods vary widely in the functions they provide. The functional analysis can also help to assess the likely success of various tools, current and proposed.

Information seeking and sharing in design teams

Information retrieval is generally considered an individual activity, and information retrieval research and tools reflect this view. As digitally mediated communication and information sharing increase, collaborative information retrieval merits greater attention and support. We describe field studies of information gathering in two design teams that had very different products, disciplinary backgrounds, and tools. We found striking similarities in the kinds of information they sought and the methods used to get it. For example, each team sought information about design constraints from external sources. A common strategy was to propose ideas and request feedback, rather than to ask directly for recommendations. Some differences in information seeking and sharing reflected differences in work contexts. Our findings suggest some ways that existing team collaboration tools could support collaborative information retrieval more effectively.

Keeping and re‐finding information on the web: What do people do and what do they need?

This study (Keeping Found Things Found -KFTF) investigated the methods that people use in their workplace to re-access web information. People were observed using many different methods to keep web information for later use including the use of Bookmarks (or Favorites), self-addressed email, hand-written notes, and paper print-outs. Each keeping method provided a range of functions but none of the observed methods allowed for all desired functions. Participants in the KFTF study were also tested for their ability to return to a web site and several re-finding methods were observed and identified. When prompted with web site descriptions they had generated three to six months earlier, participants had a 95% or better success rate in returning to the cued-for web sites. Moreover, two thirds of these re-finding methods required no explicit keeping behavior. Common re-finding methods included the use of: 1.) A search service. 2.) Partial completion of a sites web address and acceptance of a suggested completion to this address (the auto-complete function). 3.) Hyperlinks from another web site. Results underline the importance of a reminding function. This paper also reports the data collected from a web survey conducted after the keeping and re-finding observations. 214 participants completed the survey. The data from the survey validated and elaborated the various methods that people use to keep web information for later re-use that were identified in earlier observational studies.

A cognitive view of the situational dynamism of user-centered relevance estimation

Research aimed at observing the interaction between users and information systems has traditionally been diminished by the difficulties associated with controlling the situational dynamism of user‐centered relevance estimation. This article identifies a methodology for operationalizing this concept from a cognitive view. It proposes a framework which allows the user to articulate the cognitive schema that is used for estimating relevance and a methodology for recording the changes to this schema that occur during the information‐retrieval interaction.

User satisfaction with information seeking on the Internet

The research described in this article focused on how satisfied Australian academics are when they use the Internet to search for information. The significant methodological outcome of the research was its validation of magnitude estimates of user satisfaction with information seeking on the Internet. Testing the validity and reliability of magnitude estimation as a technique for gathering and analyzing interval data on satisfaction with information seeking was key to the investigation. Data for user satisfaction were then associated with end-user characteristics like training, frequency of use, and expectation of success. The study found that Australian academics generally have a high expectation of success when they engage in information seeking on the Internet, and are satisfied with the process regardless of how frequently they use the network or whether or not they have received formal training.

A comparison of the collaborative information retrieval behaviour of two design teams

The goal of the collaborative information retrieval (CIR) project is to study situations where members of a work team are seeking, searching and using information collaboratively. A field study of two design teams (one at Microsoft and the other at the Boeing Company), guided by cognitive work analysis, has provided preliminary results. These show that: (a) the concept of CIR is elusive and does not easily lend itself to an operational definition; (b) work context has a strong effect on CIR behaviour; and (c) not all activities relating to CIR are carried out collaboratively.

Perceptions of the Internet: what people think when they search the Internet for information

The study described in this article aimed to gather insights into what people think when they search the Internet for information. The premise is that people relate to information services and systems metaphorically. In other words, they identify the system or service as analogous to something perhaps more mundane or commonplace. These are known as wild metaphors. They help to explain the unknown or unfamiliar and help us to learn new things. They arise from our individual beliefs and backgrounds but they are also inevitably influenced by our collective experience of contemporary media characterisations of the Internet. This study relates the analogies that academics in Australia report for the Internet with the satisfaction that they derive from information seeking on the network. It provides some insight into how academics in Australia perceive the Internet when they use it to search for information.

Australian academic use of the Internet: implications for university administrators

Reports on the first‐ever nationwide quantitative survey of academic staff use of the Internet. After briefly noting reasons for adopting a mailed‐out survey, the article discusses some of the results obtained. These include daily use of e‐mail, access to the Internet via remote dial‐in services and technical support provided to academics. More than one‐third of respondents seem in need of more training in Net use and time limitations and lack of training are typical barriers to effective use. The study concludes with opportunities for further research at both national and international levels and discusses possible implications for university administrators. The full report of the study is published as Academics Online (Auslib Press, Adelaide, 1998). The research team also included Edna Sharpe of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service.

I give up! Five factors that contribute to the abandonment of information management strategies†

In this paper, we present initial findings from a six-month study involving qualitative interviews on the topic of project-related personal information management. Specifically, we report on the emergent theme of information management strategy abandonment - that is, what factors in particular might cause people to give up on their systems for managing documents, calendars, email, and other sorts of project information. In exploring the recurrence of this theme throughout the interview data, five factors emerged as particularly compelling and frequently-cited reasons for system abandonment: (1) visibility, (2) integration, (3) co-adoption, (4) scalability, and (5) return on investment. We describe each of these factors in turn, using examples from the interviews for illustration. These findings, though preliminary in nature, provide a starting point for understanding why systems fail and how future systems might be designed to improve their success rate.