Chance Encounters in the Digital Library

While many digital libraries focus on supporting defined tasks that require targeted searching, there is potential for enabling serendipitous discovery that can serve multiple purposes from aiding with the targeted search to suggesting new approaches, methods and ideas. In this research we embedded a tool in a novel interface to suggest other pages to examine in order to assess how that tool might be used while doing focused searching. While only 40% of the participants used the tool, all assessed its usefulness or perceived usefulness. Most participants used it as a source of new terms and concepts to support their current tasks; a few noted the novelty and perceived its potential value in serving as a stimulant.

[1]  Kara A. Latorella,et al.  The Scope and Importance of Human Interruption in Human-Computer Interaction Design , 2002, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[2]  José Campos,et al.  Searching the Unsearchable: Inducing Serendipitous Insights , 2001 .

[3]  Elaine Toms,et al.  Understanding and facilitating the browsing of electronic text , 2000, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[4]  Abigail McBirnie,et al.  Seeking serendipity: the paradox of control , 2008, Aslib Proc..

[5]  Sanda Erdelez,et al.  Investigation of information encountering in the controlled research environment , 2004, Inf. Process. Manag..

[6]  Nicholas J. Belkin,et al.  Innovation and evaluation in information exploration interfaces , 1998, CHI Conference Summary.

[7]  E. Toms,et al.  What motivates the browser , 1999 .

[8]  David M. Nichols,et al.  Writing in the library: Exploring tighter integration of digital library use with the writing process , 2008, Inf. Process. Manag..

[9]  Ann Blandford,et al.  Digital libraries' support for the user's 'information journey' , 2005, Proceedings of the 5th ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL '05).

[10]  Catherine Sheldrick Ross,et al.  Finding without seeking: the information encounter in the context of reading for pleasure , 1999, Inf. Process. Manag..

[11]  Brian C. O'Connor,et al.  Fostering creativity: Enhancing the browsing environment , 1988 .

[12]  S. Erdelez.  Information encountering: a conceptual framework for accidental information discovery , 1997 .

[13]  R. Shaw,et al.  Perceiving, Acting and Knowing : Toward an Ecological Psychology , 1978 .

[14]  Ann Blandford,et al.  From physical to digital: a case study of computer scientists’ behaviour in physical libraries , 2004, International Journal on Digital Libraries.

[15]  K. Williamson.  Discovered by chance: The role of incidental information acquisition in an ecological model of information use , 1998 .

[16]  George Buchanan,et al.  An examination of the physical and the digital qualities of humanities research , 2008, Inf. Process. Manag..

[17]  E. S. Conklin.  Human Motivation , 1932, The Journal of Religion.

[18]  Elaine G. Toms,et al.  Browsing digital information : examining the 'affordances' in the interaction of user and text , 1997 .

[19]  A Latorella Kara,et al.  Investigating Interruptions: Implications for Flightdeck Performance , 1999 .

[20]  Jannica Heinström.  Psychological factors behind incidental information acquisition , 2006 .

[21]  三嶋 博之.  The theory of affordances , 2008 .

[22]  Sandra Erdelez.  Information Encountering: It's More Than Just Bumping into Information , 2005 .