The Trials and Tribulations of Working with Structured Data: -a Study on Information Seeking Behaviour

Structured data such as databases, spreadsheets and web tables is becoming critical in every domain and professional role. Yet we still do not know much about how people interact with it. Our research focuses on the information seeking behaviour of people looking for new sources of structured data online, including the task context in which the data will be used, data search, and the identification of relevant datasets from a set of possible candidates. We present a mixed-methods study covering in-depth interviews with 20 participants with various professional backgrounds, supported by the analysis of search logs of a large data portal. Based on this study, we propose a framework for human structured-data interaction and discuss challenges people encounter when trying to find and assess data that helps their daily work. We provide design recommendations for data publishers and developers of online data platforms such as data catalogs and marketplaces. These recommendations highlight important questions for HCI research to improve how people engage and make use of this incredibly useful online resource.

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