Harry Bruce

• University of Washington

EDITOR'S SUMMARYAs Association president, Harry Bruce has had numerous conversations on the international and interdisciplinary nature of the information field. The absence of clear intellectual boundaries is a cause for celebration, stimulating collaborations with those in allied fields in pursuit of deeper understanding of shared problems. Collab...

Introduction. This paper reports on the observation of twenty participants engaged on personal projects. The goal was to understand how people organize and structure a personal information collection. Method. Selected participants were asked to choose a relatively new project that they would likely be working on and completing in six to eight weeks...

People can organize information items by placing them into folders or by tagging them with labels. Over the years there has been considerable discussion on the relative merits of folders vs. labels. But there is relatively little empirical data directly comparing people's experiences with each model of organization on comparable sets of information...

In this paper, we present initial findings from a six-month study involving qualitative interviews on the topic of project-related personal information management. Specifically, we report on the emergent theme of information management strategy abandonment - that is, what factors in particular might cause people to give up on their systems for mana...

No Abstract. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57317/1/14504301131_ftp.pdf

In a given week, an active person may be working on, or at least thinking about, several different projects. Some are work-related (“prepare annual report”);others are not (“plan family ski vacation”). Projects have duration (several days to several months) and a structure that includes basic tasks (“book plane tickets”) and subprojects (“decide on...

In an ideal of personal information management or PIM, people always have just the right information, in the right form and at the right place, to meet their current information needs. Panelists all participated in a special workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation to consider the challenges of PIM that must be met in order to make sig...

The Universal Labeler (UL) supports a single, unified scheme of "labeling" which can be used to organize various kinds of information including electronic documents, email messages and web references. The UL takes a project-centered approach to personal information management (PIM): 1. People often keep information to get things done - to complete...

The Personal Project Planner prototype works as an extension to the file manager to provide people with rich-text overlays to their information (folders, files and also email, web pages, notes). Rich-text, document-like project plans can be created which then provide a context in which to create or reference the email messages, electronic documents...

This observational study investigates the methods people use in their workplace to organize web information for re-use. In addition to the bookmarking and history list tools provided by web browsers, people observed in our study used a variety of other methods and associated tools. For example, several participants emailed web addresses (URLs) alon...

This study (Keeping Found Things Found -KFTF) investigated the methods that people use in their workplace to re-access web information. People were observed using many different methods to keep web information for later use including the use of Bookmarks (or Favorites), self-addressed email, hand-written notes, and paper print-outs. Each keeping me...

Background. The role of personal information collections is a well known feature of personal information management. The World Wide Web has introduced to such collections ideas such as filing Web pages or noting their existence in 'Bookmarks' and 'Favourites'. Argument. It is suggested that personal information collections are created in anticipati...

A study explores the way people organize information in support of projects ("teach a course", "plan a wedding", etc.). The folder structures to organize project information - especially electronic documents and other files - frequently resembled a "divide and conquer" problem decomposition with subfolders corresponding to major components (subproj...

While most research in the area of human-information behavior has focused on a single dimension— either the psychological or the social—this case study demon- strated the importance of a multidimensional approach. The Cognitive Work Analysis framework guided this field study of one event of collaborative information retrieval (CIR) carried out by d...

This paper reports on a study that the researchers call: 'Keeping found things found on the Web' or 'KFTF'. The research focuses on the classic problem of ensuring that once a useful information source or channel has been located, it can be found again when it is needed. To achieve this goal, individuals engage in information behaviour that the res...

The goal of the collaborative information retrieval (CIR) project is to study situations where members of a work team are seeking, searching and using information collaboratively. A field study of two design teams (one at Microsoft and the other at the Boeing Company), guided by cognitive work analysis, has provided preliminary results. These show...

This paper describes the results of an observational study into the methods people use to manage web information for re-use. People observed in our study used a diversity of methods and associated tools. For example, several participants emailed web addresses (URLs) along with comments to themselves and to others. Other methods observed included pr...

Information retrieval is generally considered an individual activity, and information retrieval research and tools reflect this view. As digitally mediated communication and information sharing increase, collaborative information retrieval merits greater attention and support. We describe field studies of information gathering in two design teams t...

Information retrieval is generally considered an individual activity, and information retrieval research and tools reflect this view. As digitally mediated communication and information sharing increase, collaborative information retrieval merits greater attention and support. We describe field studies of information gathering in two design teams t...

In one study, people are observed to keep web information for later use through many different methods including the use of Bookmarks (or Favorites), self-addressed email, hand-written notes, and paper print-outs. Each keeping method realizes its own constellation of important features or functions. No observed method provides all desired functions...

Despite some progress over the past decade, library and information professionals still report that universal information literacy is a distant, if not a receding, goal. A study by the Information School of the University of Washington, in cooperation with the Washington State Library, surveyed through mail, email, telephone, and focus groups a maj...

The Statewide Database Licensing (SDL) Project brought ProQuest, full-text periodicals and newspapers databases from Bell & Howell, to nearly every library in Washington State. The research presented here investigates the impact of statewide database licensing on the users of public, school and community college libraries. The study was conducted i...

Reports on the first-ever nationwide quantitative survey of academic staff use of the Internet. After briefly noting reasons for adopting a mailed-out survey, the article discusses some of the results obtained. These include daily use of e-mail, access to the Internet via remote dial-in services and technical support provided to academics. More tha...

Most information retrieval and management tools have been developed for use by individuals. For example, Web search interfaces, and online catalogs support individual searchers working on their own. In workplace and library settings, however, teamwork is becoming more and more prevalent. We use the term Collaborative Information Retrieval (CIR) to...

This article has no abstract

The study described in this article aimed to gather insights into what people think when they search the Internet for information. The premise is that people relate to information services and systems metaphorically. In other words, they identify the system or service as analogous to something perhaps more mundane or commonplace. These are known as...

The academic librarian is a key stakeholder in the development of Internet technologies. The profession is well positioned to promote and exploit the benefits of information networks. In recent years, this has generally meant that academic librarians have assumed the role of campus Internet trainer or instructor. The logic behind this is compelling...

The research described in this article focused on how satisfied Australian academics are when they use the Internet to search for information. The significant methodological outcome of the research was its validation of magnitude estimates of user satisfaction with information seeking on the Internet. Testing the validity and reliability of magnitu...

The Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet) was formally introduced into service in June, 1990. It has since been suggested that AARNet will transform the way academic work is conducted in Australia by facilitating the processes of collaborative effort, the dissemination of ideas, information access and information flow. These assumptions...

This article describes qualitative research that was aimed at examining the way academics in Australian universities use the Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet) to support their professional roles. The research is the preliminary stage of a larger project entitled ‘AARNet and Academic Work’ which aims to test the assumptions that unde...

In 1986 Dervin and Nilan reviewed the literature base on information needs and uses. They concluded that a paradigm shift was occurring in the discipline—a shift away from the traditional or system orientation towards an alternative or user orientation. The research reported in this article endeavours to determine whether professional practice has...

Research aimed at observing the interaction between users and information systems has traditionally been diminished by the difficulties associated with controlling the situational dynamism of user-centered relevance estimation. This article identifies a methodology for operationalizing this concept from a cognitive view. It proposes a framework whi...

Research aimed at observing the interaction between users and information systems has traditionally been diminished by the difficulties associated with controlling the situational dynamism of user‐centered relevance estimation. This article identifies a methodology for operationalizing this concept from a cognitive view. It proposes a framework whi...

Describes a pilot study examining how Australian academics are using the Australian Academic and Research Network. Ten tables provide details on network services used in relation to academic role, importance of services used and relationship to academic work, and specific applications for e-mail, remote login, news groups and FTP (file transfer pro...

How do people go about planning and completing personal projects? What can be done to help? These questions are important in their own right. Also, in a digital age of information, managing a project often means managing many forms of information over extended periods of time including paper documents, electronic documents, email messages, and seve...

This article describes research that looks at how structure is now used and might be better used in support of personal information management (PIM). Efforts to structure personal information find expression in various external representations (ERs) such as folder hierarchies, physical piles and analogous groupings of items on a computer desktop, u...

As the closing speaker for the ALSR 2010 conference, I will draw upon the themes of the conference and extract from the papers presented a collection of insights into the future of academic libraries and librarianship. I will focus particularly upon the future of academic librarianship in terms of impact and leadership. As we move into the second d...