Reading Assignment #6

Title: Visual Elements in Search and Information Retrieval Systems

Author: Mari Carmen Marcos

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing

URL: Marcos, M.C. (2005). "Visual Elements in Search and Information Retrieval Systems".  Hipertext.net, number 3. Retrieved July 17, 2011.

Abstract of the article:

Using a mantra, Ben Shneiderman prophesises in many of his articles and conferences what the next generation of data recovery interfaces will be like : a general vision first , followed by a closer approach and a filter, and finally details about the part of interest . Shneiderman thus synthesises four stages of the process of information search, and to each of these he adds a visual component. The mantra refers to "animated GUIs and visual data mining tools". The area of information visualization attempts to offer visual representations that communicate information in a speedy and effective way. Diverse techniques have been developed to achieve this objective and to make the process of data recovery a more comprehensible job and on occasions, more interactive. Visualization when applied to information helps people form a mental image of the information space. If the visualization takes place in an interface whose objective is information retrieval, the expression used for this type of system is Visual Information Retrieval Interfaces (VIRIs). Some systems of information presentation - mainly projects that have not been commercially implemented served as examples showing these elements of visualization. They have been classified into three groups: overall vision of the collection, visualization of results, and visualization of the attributes of each document. What remains is to tackle the final phase of the process of search and recovery of information, that which links the moment of presentation of results obtained by the system with the query. 

Three things I learned from my Reading Assignment:

• According to  Shneiderman, the following are the four (4) stages of process of information search:
• The user comes to the system and sees the overall information he can find there, what subjects are contained within, and how it works.
• Once viewed in a general way, the user zooms in, that is to say, he centres in on one part that is of major interest.
• In order to refine his search better, he applies a filter, so that the results obtained better match his information needs.
• To end the process, the user asks for more detail from some of the results in order to determine if it will be of interest.
• A great field of research in the application of visualization of information retrieval exists. However, the investigation into information visualization still has a lot to study and evaluate in order for satisfactory results to be obtained and be beneficial to information seekers.
• Visualization tools have emerged in research environments, thus, visual representations are being used in information retrieval to facilitate searching process and help the users in "digging for information".

Application / Implication of the new things I learned to my work / to me as a person:

Librarians exist for the service of its clients/users, and it is our desire to give them the best service as much as possible. The use of visual elements or visualization tools will be a great help for us and the users in our search for information. Therefore, as a librarian, I will read more about it and see how can I apply or use it in our library.