The role of communication in collaborative information searching

Abstract Information retrieval (IR) tools are engaged to find information in electronic form, in databases, digital libraries, and networks. However, the advent of the web technology has boosted the amount of information available to us way beyond our cognitive capacity. The importance of good IR tools has thus increased and the tools have become natural focal points for organisational information seeking. This situation offers a possibility to exploit the collaborative efforts of the individual users. However, is the opportunity utilised?

Abstract. Knowledge and user generated content is proliferating on the web in scientific publications, information portals and online social media. This knowledge explosion has continued to outpace technological innovation in efficient information access technologies. In this paper, we describe the methods and technologies for 'Conversational Search'as an innovative solution to facilitate easier information access and reduce the information overload for users.

2008

Regarding the change of information seeking to a collaborative activity, DLs as dynamic information systems, have to adopt collaboration searching tools. This study investigates the degree of collaboration in information retrieval and the extent of collaboration tools usage in DLs. The collaborative tools of a prototype digital library are assessed through a qualitative study by the aspects of usefulness, usability and usage. Results show that information search transforms to a collective form, while they prove that usefulness and usability have a significant effect on usage and on user satisfaction. The results also show that collaboration tools evolve into indispensable design parameters for modern digital libraries. 112

Libraries In the Digital Age, 2008

Abstract: Regarding the change of information seeking to a collaborative activity, DLs as dynamic information systems, have to adopt collaboration searching tools. This study investigates the degree of collaboration in information retrieval and the extent of collaboration tools usage in DLs. The collaborative tools of a prototype digital library are assessed through a qualitative study by the aspects of usefulness, usability and usage. Results show that information search transforms to a collective form, while they prove that ...

Information Processing & Management, 2018

Although there has been a great deal of research into Collaborative Information Retrieval (CIR) and Collaborative Information Seeking (CIS), the majority has assumed that team members have the same level of unrestricted access to underlying information. However, observations from different domains (e.g. healthcare, business, etc.) have suggested that collaboration sometimes involves people with differing levels of access to underlying information. This type of scenario has been referred to as Multi-Level Collaborative Information Retrieval (MLCIR). To the best of our knowledge, no studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of awareness, an existing CIR/CIS concept, on MLCIR. To address this gap in current knowledge, we conducted two separate user studies using a total of 5 different collaborative search interfaces and 3 information access scenarios. A number of Information Retrieval (IR), CIS and CIR evaluation metrics, as well as questionnaires were used to compare the interfaces. Design interviews were also conducted after evaluations to obtain qualitative feedback from participants. Results suggested that query properties such as time spent on query, query popularity and query effectiveness could allow users to obtain information about team's search performance and implicitly suggest better queries without disclosing sensitive data. Besides, having access to a history of intersecting viewed, relevant and bookmarked documents could provide similar positive effect as query properties. Also, it was found that being able to easily identify different team members and their actions is important for users in MLCIR. Based on our findings, we provide important design recommendations to help develop new CIR and MLCIR interfaces.

Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Conference Human Information Interaction and Retrieval

A great deal of research into Collaborative Information Retrieval (CIR) has assumed that search team members have the same level of unrestricted access to information. However, case studies and observations from different domains including government, healthcare and legal, have suggested that CIR sometimes involves people with unequal access to information. This type of scenario has been referred to as Multi-Level CIR (MLCIR). In addition to supporting collaboration, MLCIR systems must ensure that there is no unintended disclosure of sensitive information, this is an under investigated area of research. In this paper we present results of an evaluation of an interface we have designed for MLCIR scenarios. Pairs of participants used the interface under 3 different information access scenarios for a variety of search tasks. These scenarios included 1 CIR and 2 MLCIR scenarios, namely: full access (FA), document removal (DR) and term blacklisting (TR). Design interviews were conducted post evaluation to obtain qualitative feedback from participants. Evaluation results showed that our interface performed well for both DR and FA scenarios but for TR, team members with less access had a negative influence on their partner's search performance, demonstrating insights into how different MLCIR scenarios should be supported. Design interview results showed that our interface helped the participants to reformulate their queries, understand their partner's performance, reduce duplicated work and review their team's search history without disclosing sensitive information.

2008

It is natural for humans to collaborate while dealing with complex problems. In this article I consider this process of collaboration in the context of information seeking. The study and discussion presented here are driven by two dissatisfactions: (1) the majority of IR systems today do not facilitate collaboration directly, and (2) the concept of collaboration itself is not well-understood. I begin by probing the notion of collaboration and propose a model that helps us understand the requirements for a successful collaboration. A model of a Collaborative Information Seeking (CIS) environment is then rendered based on an extended model of information seeking.

Computer, 2000

Despite the many implicit references to the social contexts of search within Information Seeking and Retrieval research, there has been relatively little work that has specifically investigated the additional requirements for collaborative information seeking interfaces. Here, we re-assess a recent analytical inspection framework, designed for individual information seeking, and then apply it to evaluate a recent collaborative information seeking interface: SearchTogether. The framework was built upon two models of solitary information seeking, and so as part of the re-assessment we first re-frame the models for collaborative contexts. We re-frame a model of search tactics, providing revised definitions that consider known collaborators. We then re-frame a model of user profiles to analyse support for different group dynamics. After presenting an analysis of SearchTogether, we reflect on its accuracy, showing that the framework identified 8 known truths, 8 new insights, and no known-to-be-untrue insights into the design. We conclude that the framework a) can still be applied to collaborative information seeking interfaces; b) can successfully produce additional requirements for collaborative information seeking interfaces; and c) can successfully model different dynamics of collaborating searchers.

2008

Knowledge sharing has become a household name in many organizations and communities. Our concern is on how to facilitate knowledge sharing in Collaborative Information Retrieval (CIR). In CIR, there exist various types of knowledge that can be shared among users. In this paper we highlighted these knowledge and the CIR activities in which they can be shared. To facilitate the sharing, we propose two approaches: formative and interactive approaches to knowledge sharing and we developed a communication model for knowledge exchange in CIR

Information Retrieval Journal, 2019

While today's web search engines are designed for single-user search, over the years research efforts have shown that complex information needswhich are explorative, open-ended and multi-faceted-can be answered more efficiently and effectively when searching in collaboration. Collaborative search (and sensemaking) research has investigated techniques, algorithms and interface affordances to gain insights and improve the collaborative search process. It is not hard to imagine that the size of the group collaborating on a search task significantly influences the group's behaviour and search effectiveness. However, a common denominator across almost all existing studies is a fixed group size-usually either pairs, triads or in a few cases four users collaborating. Investigations into larger group sizes and the impact of group size dynamics on users' behaviour and search metrics have so far rarely been considered-and when, then only in a simulation setup. In this work, we investigate in a large-scale user experiment to what extent those simulation results carry over to the real world. To this end, we extended our collaborative search framework SearchX with algorithmic mediation features and ran a large-scale experiment with more than 300 crowd-workers. We consider the collaboration group size as a dependent variable, and investigate collaborations between groups of up to six people. We find that most prior simulation-based results on the impact of collaboration group size on behaviour and search effectiveness cannot be reproduced in our user experiment. Collaborative search and more generally online collaborative information seeking have been shown to be effective tools to tackle complex information needs,

The first international …, 1995

We consider the role of collaborative learning during information searching. We report on observations of situated collaboration in a physical library, which informed the development of our system, Ariadne. This was intended both to investigate and support the learning of search skills. An iterative development and testing methodology was applied. The system has a mechanism for recording an interaction history of the search process. A visualisation of this process makes it easier for users to reflect, share and comment upon their understanding with others.

Information Processing & Management, 2009

Computing Research Repository, 2009

Traditional Information Retrieval (IR) research has focussed on a single user interaction modality, where a user searches to satisfy an information need. Recent advances in web technologies and computer hardware have enabled multiple users to collaborate on many computer-supported tasks, therefore there is an increasing opportunity to support two or more users searching together at the same time in order to satisfy a shared information need, which we refer to as Synchronous Collaborative Information Retrieval (SCIR). SCIR systems represent a significant paradigmatic shift from traditional IR systems. In order to support effective SCIR, new techniques are required to coordinate users' activities. In addition, the novel domain of SCIR presents challenges for effective evaluations of these systems. In this paper we will propose an effective and re-usable evaluation methodology based on simulating users searching together. We will outline how we have used this evaluation in empirical studies of the effects of different division of labour and sharing of knowledge techniques for SCIR.