INLS 180 Day 6 Notes

February 13, 2003

Project commitments

Midterm project reviews

1. One minute papers

Main Points

User needs should drive system decisions

The internet both empowers and constrains people

We create our own info overload by thinking we are too busy (and running parallel systems instead of adopting new ones) [my calendar example]

User/content struggle also involves politics/context

Power and our responsibilities as designers/librarians

Internet ‘rate of change’ is not new (Victorian internet)

Survey info providers rather than end users is a strategy (but how ‘biased?)

Helping users means getting off your high horse! Info elitism

Questions

Where did I do the LC & BLS studies?

Are info specialists/systems hesitant to give more control to users/patrons?

How much control can a system give users (e.g., government) before organizational breakdown (anarchy)

Why so much polarization? [to sharpen debate]

Please confirm our discussions of readings hit the main points!

How to ask questions/design systems without leading users too much?

How do you update a site (bls) with 35000 pages?

What can we learn from what we don’t know?

2. The information seeking process (PP slides) [from last week]

3. Demos of interfaces based on needs assessments

1. LC many diverse collections, get an overview, distinguish collections http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/ndl/ndl_secure/draft11/home9.html
2. BLS: user type/task matrix; partition the types of resources http://ils.unc.edu/~march/blsreport98/final_report.html (prototypes in appendices)
3. FedStats alternative site map http://squash.ils.unc.edu/bls4/bls.html

4. Readings discussions

Discuss readings:

Harter: Julie Kimbrough & Megan Lafferty

Schambler et al: Li Wen & Mary White

Amento et al: Marlan Brinkley

5. Relevance and value.

Can relevance be measured?

If so, recall and precision metrics used for assessing retrieval results

What are the relationships between relevance and quality?

If context is crucial, how can we evaluate?

6. Read for next meeting:

Reeves, B. & Nass, C. (1996). The media equation: How people treat computers, television, and the new media like real people and places. NY: Cambridge University Press. (Preface ix-xiii, Chapter 1 p 3-15, and Chapter 23 p251-256.)

McInerney, C. (2002). Knowledge management and the dynamic nature of knowledge. JASIST. 53(12), 1009-1018.

Optional: Barreau (LISR)

7. One-minute paper

What was the big point you learned in class today?

What is the main, unanswered question you leave class with today?