Tefko Saracevic1 Mediation and user modeling “Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.” Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( )

Central ideas  But what when we do not know where to find it? And we still seek information? Then we may find somebody who does know – a searcher who knows how to go about finding it – mediated searching or mediation  User information seeking is fundamental to mediation  User modeling – a key process for searchers  To do that: art of interviewing Tefko Saracevic 2

ToC 1.Mediation 2.Information seeking 3.User modeling 4.Art of interviewing Tefko Saracevic 3

1. Mediation User – searcher – information retrieval system Tefko Saracevic 4

Definitions … in an information context Mediation: A process where an intermediary – a searcher – acts on behalf of a user who seeks information Mediator: A person who intervenes in the information search process of another Informal mediators: friends, family … Formal mediators: searchers, teachers … Thesaurus: arbitration, intercession, conciliation, intervention, negotiation Tefko Saracevic 5

Mediation involves  Human – human interaction interaction between user & searcher  Human – computer interaction interaction between a searcher & IR system  Feedback between the two involving the user during the process  Professional mediation involves diagnosing the user’s problem and identifying what interventions would be helpful Tefko Saracevic 6

Role of mediation as an overreaching process  Mediation involves a number of things user modeling  representation of an information need & specification of user characteristics affecting searching searching presentation of results to user  Goal: Meeting user expectations  Mediation is both a communication & a related intervention process Tefko Saracevic 7

In addition – mediation may also involve  Counseling, explaining  among others, helping in evaluating output  Guidance in follow up & finding further information sources  Teaching about searching and sources  Elimination of ambiguity, reducing vagueness  Influencing attitude Tefko Saracevic 8

2. Information seeking User quest for information - fundamental to everything Tefko Saracevic 9

10 Definitions … Information as we consider it includes objects in the world potentially conveying information what is transferred from people or objects to a person’s cognitive system components of internal knowledge in people’s mind To seek information people seek to change their state of their knowledge Information is anything that can change person’s knowledge (Belkin, 1978)

Tefko Saracevic 11 Definitions … Information seeking Process in which humans purposefully engage in order to change their state of knowledge (Marchionini, 1995) A conscious effort to acquire information in response to a need or gap in your knowledge (Case, 2002) The process of construction within information seeking involves fitting information in with what one already knows and extending this knowledge to create new perspectives (Kuhlthau, 2004)

Tefko Saracevic 12 Main direction  In information seeking studies (and there were many): What factors – variables – are involved when people seek information?  Translation: What is really going on when we go about finding information about something?  In everyday life we really do not care – we just go on doing it – but as professionals we have to understand the process in order to deal with it  The question has many sub-questions such as  in relation to what are people seeking information?  how is information seeking (as a broader process) related to information search (as a narrower process)?

Tefko Saracevic 13 In pursuit of main direction  A number of models have been developed enumerating factors & relationships involved  A few theories have been proposed suggesting explanations  Number of studies have connected information seeking to specific aspects of great interest to searching and user modeling: tasks in information seeking information seeking & the search process

Tefko Saracevic 14 Task  Information seeking is not an end in itself  It serves a work task task is a process in relation to which information is needed  Tasks have been categorized from simple to complex (and a number in-between) complex tasks have a number of sub-tasks the more complex a task the complexity of information needed increases  Implication: user modeling & searching should be oriented toward tasks

Tefko Saracevic 15 Information seeking & searching  Several studies connected information seeking with the search process posited information seeking as a broader context (process) for a more specific process of searching  Exemplify factors – variables – involved showing that there is more to searching than we think usually

Tefko Saracevic 16 E.g. Kuhlthau model of the information search process (ISP)  Originally studying pupils & undergraduates but subsequently looking at other user groups as well, Kuhlthau (1991, 2004) formulated a six-stage information search process (ISP), each stage representing differing needs, behaviors, and cognitive and affective states

Tefko Saracevic 17 Kuhlthau six stages 1.Initiation: user “becomes aware of a lack of knowledge or understanding” 2.Selection: user needs to “identify and select the general topic to be investigated” 3.Exploration: user needs to “investigate information on the general topic in order to extend personal understanding” 4.Formulation: user forms “a focus from the information encountered” 5.Collection: user needs “to gather information related to the focused topic” 6.Presentation: user completes the search and presents findings

Tefko Saracevic 18 Kuhlthau model (cont.)  Each stage – task - in the information search process incorporates three realms: 1.Affective (feelings) 2.Cognitive (thoughts) 3.Physical (actions)  Implication: these aspects to be considered in user modeling & searching i.e. there is more to searching than mere searching

Tefko Saracevic 19 The iterative search process – starts & ends with inf. seeking tasks ( copy from Hembrook et al. 2005)

3.User modeling Essential part of mediation Tefko Saracevic 20

Tefko Saracevic 21 Definition User modeling is a process of identifying, understanding, and defining user information needs, context, requirements, and preferences, together with factors or attributes in the profile of the user that affect subsequent search for information

Tefko Saracevic 22 Definition … in addition But user modeling should also deal with identifying user’s conceptions about how the information system or resource works, together with related expectations, with possible explanations on how it really works and what could be really expected

User modeling in searching  User modeling is a qualified dialog & discourse between a searcher & a user seeking information to determine the information needs of a user in order for the searcher to be an effective interface between the user & literature  “literature” = recorded knowledge in many forms Tefko Saracevic 23

Tefko Saracevic 24 in other words  In user modeling you identify not only everything about the information need and question at hand but also a number of other factors inherent with the user that may be a guide or even be decisive in selection of resources, search strategy and tactics, evaluation and provision of results and use the occasion to verify user conceptions and expectations and possibly provide reality explanations – there could be a mismatch

Tefko Saracevic 25 User modeling is user+  Identifying elements about a user that impact interaction, selection of resources searching, types of retrieval …  Three general categories: information requirements (need, context …) user profile: general user characteristics & attributes user mental model of system/resource & expectations

Tefko Saracevic 26 Information requirements – ask!  Informational questions a searcher should ask: what is the problem, task at hand that generated a need for information?  what is the context, environment of that? what information is needed for that problem/task? what is the question? what will the information be used for? what are any requirements, restrictions on the type of information needed? what information resources were already utilized?  any history of previous efforts? results?

Tefko Saracevic 27 Information requirements (cont.)  Cognitive, affective state of user: how much does the user know about the topic of the question at hand? how uncertain is the user? how much wanted, how fast? tolerance for amount, variety of information?

Tefko Saracevic 28 User profile – to establish – affects a lot of selections in searching  Demographic data about the user that may be relevant for search education subject, level  relation to problem/task at hand job, profession, position, if relevant age group, if relevant gender, if relevant language skills, if relevant other factors, as specific to a given information need & question

Tefko Saracevic 29 User stereotypes  Based on relating other users’ behaviors to the current user’s (e.g. Amazon recommendations) exhibiting similar needs & information behavior  At times user stereotypes are applied in user modeling common characteristics of a group of users & their needs  e.g. third graders, PhD dissertation students, patent attorneys a question on black holes by an astronomer requires search of different resources than a black hole question by a twelve grader

Tefko Saracevic 30 stereotypes (cont.)  Study and application of user stereotypes is used in computer science & other fields to design & adapt components of an information system to user requirements e.g. interface design recommender systems apply in machine learning  Looking for characteristics that may be applied in personalization of automated processes p.s. term "stereotype” is a bit loaded, thus other related terms are being used as well e.g. recommender

Tefko Saracevic 31 User mental model of system, resource  Conceptions that user has about the system, resource, mediator … at hand for the submitted need what does the user think the system can accomplish? what are the expectations?  Used to compare, match with reality of system possibilities and expectations may affect user changing other aspects

© Tefko Saracevic 32 On user modeling  Searching is always done in a context of information seeking by a user (or a group of users) – the user certainly treats it that way understanding user’s information seeking is necessary to place the role & define the conduct of a given search – central to user modeling  Information seeking has many dimensions  User modeling is your effort to understand and effectively apply relevant dimensions in a search

Tefko Saracevic 33 these are not graphic models of user modeling, (unless???) but they are fun …

4. Interviewing How to? Categories of questions Tefko Saracevic 34

Related to reference interview  Long standing concern in librarianship  A basic & major professional skill of reference librarians  Literature on the topic quite large but mostly prescriptive, some theories from communication Tefko Saracevic 35

Interviewing users  Broader context: Interview and interviewing as treated in a number of fields theories from communication  interpersonal, social interaction theories and practices from sociology - among main methods theories and practices from journalism ethical concerns Tefko Saracevic 36

Characteristic of user interview  Purposive by both participants user has goal, searcher has goal  Restricted to given subject(s)  Relies on questions - answers for diagnosis  Situation bound; social encounter  Possible counseling aspects  Connected to informational outcome level, quantity, type...  User evaluates encounter, outcomes Tefko Saracevic 37

Variables  Same characteristics at hand as in all interviews  A number of variables involved in interviews meaning that there are many elements that are capable of changing & varying and that they affect outcome  These are the elements that the searcher has to consider “worry about” & deal with to positively affect the outcome  Interviews may be subject to communication accidents & failures – watch out! Tefko Saracevic 38

Tefko Saracevic 39 Variables to consider User  Problem, task  Inf. need  Subject knowledge  Intent  Demographics Searcher  Communication skills  Knowledge subject inf. resources  Affective  Intent IR systems; library Inf. resources Situation, access Policies, rules, $$$$ Results – outcomes Effectiveness, validity, reliability

What is user’s information need? - Diagnosis  Taylor’s classification of information needs: Visceral - unexpressed  user has a need but it is vague Conscious - within mind  user has a relatively well formulated need in mind Formalized – statement  user has expressed the need in a statement, question, example Compromised - as presented  user has presented a need to a system – query  Searcher has to analyze them Tefko Saracevic 40

Types of questions asked in an interview: Closed questions  “Do you want articles in English only?”  ‘yes - no’; ‘this-that’ answers Open questions  ‘tell me more about project...”  elicits descriptive answers & encourages user to talk Neutral questions  getting the background situation (how the information need was generated), the gap or missing piece of understanding, and the uses, or how the user plans to use this information Tefko Saracevic 41

Role of questions - answers  Clarify, expand, and perhaps repair the need or question as it is initially presented by the user  Provide basic information for user modeling  Prepare for selection of files or resources  Establish user priorities & evaluation criteria  Prepare for translation of need, question into an appropriate query or queries  Do a good job Tefko Saracevic 42

Art of interviewing – purposive social interaction Situational factors setting, physical environment rules, regulations, ethics appearance, demeanor Communication skills semantics; language expression, delivery nonverbal communication turn taking encouragement; backchannels Social factors establishing confidence rapport Tefko Saracevic 43

Art of interviewing (cont.) Strategies opening moves  setting an agenda, stage progression in stages exploration, guidance maintaining focus. re-focusing feedback, re-iteration closure Content, questions from categories in next slides role of explanation of choices Tefko Saracevic 44

What are they talking about at interview & during/after searching?  Context  Terminology  System explanations  Search tactics Tefko Saracevic 45 User problem, task Request, inf. need Expectations Concepts & terms Boundaries Restrictions How, what, when.. Features, files, resources Selection, variation terms, logic, files Mistake correction

Talking about … (cont.) Tefko Saracevic 46  Review & relevance  Actions  Backchannels  Social/ extraneous Review, evaluation tactics, terms, sources... Relevance judging; feedback Description of activities Explanations Communication prompts, fillers, acknowledging.. Social discourse Formalities

Counseling, enabling  Users often do not have well defined problem well expressed or specific question ideas what inf. or resources exist or may be useful what to do next, as to information or sources  Counseling: help in definition, focusing advice on action  Enabling: instruction on use, technology, structure of resources... Tefko Saracevic 47

Conclusions  Mediation: a complex process  Requires varied knowledge & skills of intermediaries: communication, interviewing diagnosis, counseling information resources, their validity & capabilities systems, networks  Intermediaries – searchers - role changing  But: GREAT FUN & SATISFACTION Tefko Saracevic 48

© Tefko Saracevic 49 thank you M. C. Escher can you figure out people walking up & down the steps?

Tefko Saracevic 50 you can find more on the site of M.C. Escher Foundation & in many lectures on geometry, psychology, illusions. As far as I know, this is the first time they are used in a lecture on user modeling. Why not? Escher Foundation