22,153 research outputs found

    Understanding and Supporting Cross-modal Collaborative Information Seeking

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    Most previous studies of users with visual impairments (VI) access to the web have focused solely on single user human-web interaction. This thesis explores the under investigated area of cross-modal collaborative information seeking (CCIS), that is the challenges and opportunities that exist in supporting visually impaired users to take an effective part in collaborative web search tasks with sighted peers. The thesis examines the overall question of what happens currently when people perform CCIS, and how might the CCIS process be improved? To motivate the work, we conducted a survey, the results of which showed that a significant amount of CCIS activity goes on. An exploratory study was conducted to investigate the challenges faced and behaviour patterns that occur when people perform CCIS. We observed 14 pairs of VI and sighted users in both co-located and distributed settings. In this study participants used their tools of choice, that is the web browser, note taker and preferred communications system. The study examines how concepts from the “mainstream” collaborative Information Seeking (CIS) literature, play out in the context of cross-modality. Based on the findings of this study, we produced design recommendations for features that can better support cross-modal collaborative search. Following this, we surveyed mainstream CIS systems and selected the most accessible software package that satisfied the design recommendations from the initial study. Due to the fact that the software was not built with accessibility in mind, we developed JAWS scripts and employed other JAWS features to improve its accessibility and VI user experience. We then performed a second study, using the same participants undertaking search tasks of a similar complexity as before, but this time using the CIS system. The aim of this study was to explore the impact on the CCIS process when introducing a mainstream CIS system, enhanced for accessibility. In this study we looked into CCIS from two perspectives: the collaboration and the individual interaction with the interface. The findings from this study provide an understanding of the process of CCIS when using a system that supports it. These findings assisted us in formulating a set of guidelines toward supporting collaborative search in a cross-modal context

    Reflections on the Research Methods Used in an Investigation of Cross-modal Collaborative Information Seeking

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    EXPLORING THE STAGES OF INFORMATION SEEKING IN A CROSS-MODAL CONTEXT

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    Previous studies of users with visual impairments access to the web have focused on human-web interaction. This study explores the under investigated area of cross-modal collaborative information seeking (CCIS), that is, the challenges and opportunities that exist in supporting visually impaired (VI) users to take an effective part in collaborative web search tasks with sighted peers. We conducted an observational study to investigate the process with fourteen pairs of VI and sighted users in co-located and distributed settings. The study examined the effects of cross-modal collaborative interaction on the stages of the individual Information Seeking (IS) process. The findings showed that the different stages of the process were performed individually most of the time; however it was observed that some collaboration took place in the results exploration and management stages. The accessibility challenges faced by VI users affected their individual and collaborative interaction and also enforced certain points of collaboration. The paper concludes with some recommendations towards improving the accessibility of cross-modal collaborative search.Peer Reviewe

    Evaluating an Interface for Cross-Modal Collaborative Information Seeking

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    Co-ordinating distributed knowledge: An investigation into the use of an organisational memory

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    This paper presents an ethnographically informed investigation into the use of an organisational memory, focusing in particular on how information was used in the performance of work. We argue that understanding how people make use of distributed knowledge is crucial to the design of an organisational memory. However, we take the perspective that an ‘organisational memory’ is not technology dependant, but is an emergent property of group interaction. In this sense, the technology does not form the organisational memory, but provides a novel means of augmenting the co-ordination of collaborative action. The study examines the generation, development and maintenance of knowledge repositories and archives. The knowledge and information captured in the organisational memory enabled the team members to establish a common understanding of the design and to gain an appreciation of the issues and concerns of the other disciplines. The study demonstrates why technology should not be thought of in isolation from its contexts of use, but also how designers can make use of the creative flexibility that people employ in their everyday activities. The findings of the study are therefore of direct relevance to both the design of knowledge archives and to the management of this information within organisations

    Personalisation and recommender systems in digital libraries

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    Widespread use of the Internet has resulted in digital libraries that are increasingly used by diverse communities of users for diverse purposes and in which sharing and collaboration have become important social elements. As such libraries become commonplace, as their contents and services become more varied, and as their patrons become more experienced with computer technology, users will expect more sophisticated services from these libraries. A simple search function, normally an integral part of any digital library, increasingly leads to user frustration as user needs become more complex and as the volume of managed information increases. Proactive digital libraries, where the library evolves from being passive and untailored, are seen as offering great potential for addressing and overcoming these issues and include techniques such as personalisation and recommender systems. In this paper, following on from the DELOS/NSF Working Group on Personalisation and Recommender Systems for Digital Libraries, which met and reported during 2003, we present some background material on the scope of personalisation and recommender systems in digital libraries. We then outline the working group’s vision for the evolution of digital libraries and the role that personalisation and recommender systems will play, and we present a series of research challenges and specific recommendations and research priorities for the field

    Composing Possibilities: Open Educational Resources and K-12 Music Education

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    Music open educational resources (OER) have the potential to fill gaps in access to instructional materials for K-12 music teachers and learners, and to support teachers and learners as content creators and collaborators in meeting educational goals. This study explores the current state of music OER, the audiences that these resources serve to benefit, and the opportunities and challenges involved in adopting an open approach to the development of music education resources
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