Improving the Collaborative Use of Information Spaces by Enhancing Group Awareness

A digital library can be regarded as a virtual space in which scholars conduct research, collaborate and publish their work. In general, available digital library resources include not only information, but also access to a wide range of services and a very diverse community. More often than not, a digital library will pose what can be called the resource overload and resource distribution problems (generalizations of the well-known problems of information overload and information distribution). Resource overload may occur if users are unable to cope with the complexity of (1) a large, dynamic information network, (2) a wide range of services including visualization tools, natural language interfaces, virtual environments and personal and group agents, and (3) communication with users with different backgrounds, levels of expertise, languages and cultures. Resource distribution will be a problem, on the other hand, if some of those available resources are not really accessible to users who could rely on them to satisfy their research needs. These problems can be addressed by providing users with personalized interfaces designed with the community in mind. Communities of users such as those frequenting a digital library represent an enormous potential to assist both experienced and novice users in coping with the resource overload and distribution problems.