Perspectives of information science in the digital age Tefko Saracevic, PhD Rutgers University USA tefko.

Perspectives of Perspectives of information science in the information science in the

digital agedigital age

Tefko Saracevic, PhD

Rutgers University

USAhttp://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~tefko

© Tefko Saracevic, Rutgers University 2

Information science:

“the science dealing with the efficient

collection, storage, and retrieval of

information”

Webster


Organization

1. Big picture – problems, solutions, social place

2. Underlying stuff – theories, phenomena

3. Structure – what is inside stuff

4. Systems stuff – information retrieval, relevance

5. People stuff – users, use, seeking, context

6. Alliances, competition – the OUCH stuff

7. Digital libraries – whose are they anyhow?

8. Conclusions – Will we have a field stuff?


1. The big picture

Problems addressed

Bit of history: Vannevar Bush (1945):Problem: “... the massive task of making more

accessible of a bewildering store of knowledge.”still with us & growing

Basic problem of information science: Information explosion

today: PLUS Communication explosion


… solution

Bush: “Memex ... association of ideas ... duplicate mental processes artificially.”

Technological fix to problem

Still with us: technological determinanttail that wags the dog


Problems & solutions: SOCIAL CONTEXT

Professional practice AND scientific inquiry related to: Effective communication of knowledge records -

‘literature’ - among humans in the context of social, organizational, & individual need for and use of information.

“modeling the world of publications with a practical goal of being able to deliver their content to inquirers [users] on demand.” White & McCain

Taking advantage of modern information technology


Elaboration

Knowledge records = texts, sounds, images, multimedia ... literature in given domains content-bearing structures symbol manipulations are content neutral - infrastructural to

inf. sc.

Communication = human-computer-literature interface study of inf. science is the interface between people &

literatures

Inf. need, seeking, and use = reason d'êtreEffectiveness = relevance, utility


General characteristics - leitmotifs

Intedisciplinarity - relations with a number of fields

Technological imperative - driving force, as in many modern fields

Information society - social context and role in evolution - shared with many fields


2. Underlying stuff What is information?

Intuitively well understood, but formally????Several viewpoints, models

Shannon: source-channel-destinationgrapes into wine

Cognitive: changes in cognitive structureswater into wine

Social: context is the kingwhatever into wine to get drunk


K(S) + I = K(S + S) (Brookes)

Information [structured information] when operating on a knowledge structure produces an effect whereby the knowledge structure is changed

Potential information added (Ingwersen)

Actually, it states the problem – “unoperational” in information systems involves mental events only constructivists rejected it


Information in inf science: Three senses (from narrowest to broadest)

Inf. in terms of decision involving little or no cognitive processing signals, bits, straightforward data - e.g.. inf. theory,

economicsInf. involving cognitive processing & understanding

understanding, matching textsInf. also as related to situation, task, problem-at-

hand : USERS, USE For information science (incl. information retrieval): third, broadest interpretation


The biggest problem

MEASUREMENT


3. Structure

Specialties (White & McCain)

In desc. order of author co-citation; (120 authors, 24 years): experimental retrieval citation analysis practical retrieval bibliometrics library systems, automation user studies and theory scientific communication OPAC’s general - other disciplines indexing theory communication theory


Structure or oeuvres

Two large sub-disciplines: “Domain” cluster: analytical study of literatures, their

structure, communication, social context, uses - Retrieval cluster: human-literature interface: IR systems

(largest); interaction; library systems, OPACs, user studies - within each sub-clusters, eras

e.g.. Salton & post-Salton era

Largely not connected some authors in both, migrating BUT: lacking integrating works, authors, texts - big payout


Paradigm split in retrieval cluster

Split from early 80’s to date System-centered

algorithms, TRECcontinue traditional IR model

Human-(user)-centeredcognitive, situational, user studies interaction models, some started in TREC

Calls for user-centered approaches & evaluationBut: most support for system work in the digital age support is for digital


Human vs. system

Human (user) side: often highly critical, even one-sided mantra of implications for design but does not deliver concretely

System side: mostly ignores user side & studies ‘tell us what to do & we will’

Issue NOT H or S approach even less H vs. S but how can H AND S work together major challenge for the future


4. Systems stuff

Information Retrieval

“ IR: ... intellectual aspects of description of inf., ... search, ... & systems, machines...”

Calvin Mooers, 1951

How to provide users with useful information effectively?

For that objective:1. How to organize information intellectually?2. How to specify the search & interaction

intellectually?3. What techniques & systems to use effectively?


Streams in IR Res. & Dev. 1. Information science:

Services, users, use; Human-computer interaction; Cognitive aspects

2. Computer science: Algorithms, techniques Systems aspects

3. Information industry: Products, services, Web Market aspects

Problems: ...relative isolation...inadequate cooperation, transfer


IR successfully effected:

Emergence & growth of the INFORMATION INDUSTRYEvolution of IS as a PROFESSION & SCIENCEMany APPLICATIONS in many fields including on the Web – search engines

Improvements in HUMAN - COMPUTER INTERACTIONEvolution of INTEDISCIPLINARITY

IR has a long, proud history


Broadening of IROPACs (Online Public Access Catalogs)Natural language processingSummarizationMetadata representationsText “understanding”Hypertext, hypermediaMultimedia - images, sounds ... image IR, music IR

Many human-computer interactionsWeb search engines


5. People stuff

Quite a few areasProfessional services in organization – moving toward knowledge

management, competitive intelligence in industry – vendors, aggregators, Internet,

Research user & use studies interaction studies broadening to information seeking studies, social

context, collaboration relevance studies social informatics


User & use studies

Oldest areacovers many topics, methods, orientationsmany studies related to IR

e.g. searching, multitasking, browsing, navigation

Branching into Web use studiesquantitative & qualitative studiesemergence of webmetrics


Interaction

Traditional IR model concentrates on matching not user side & interactionSeveral interaction models suggested

Ingwersen’s cognitive, Belkin’s episode, Saracevic’s stratified model

hard to get experiments & confirmation

Considered key to providing basis for better design understanding of use of systems

Web interactions a major new area


Relevance

Effectiveness in IR = relevance thus, relevance became a key notion

and a key headache

A number of studies & reviews on:Nature: Framework, base?Manifestations: Contexts? Typologies?Behavior: Variables? Observations?Effects: Use? Evaluation?


Manifestations (types) of relevance

System or algorithmic relevance relation between query & objects (‘texts’) retrieved or failed

to retrieve

Topical or subject relevanceCognitive relevance or pertinenceSituational relevance or utility

relation between the situation, task or problem at hand & texts

Motivational or affective relevance intent, goals, & motivation of user & “texts”

Manifestations interact dynamically


Information seeking

Concentrates on broader context not only IR or interaction, people as they move in life & workNumber of models provided e.g. Kuhlthau’s stages, Vakkari’s problem situation,

task complexity

Includes studies of ‘life in the round,’ making sense, information encountering, work life, information discoveryBased on concept of social construction of information


6. Alliances, competition Relations

With a number of fields...

Strongest:

1. Librarianship

2. Computer science


Librarianship

[Library is]...“contributing to the total communication system in society. Created to maximize the utility of graphic record for the benefits of society... it achieves that goal by working with the individual and through the individual it reaches society.”

J.H.Shera, 1972


Common groundsIS & librarianship share:

Social role in information society

Concern with effective utilization of graphic & other types of records

Research problems related to a number of topics

Transfer to & from information retrieval


DifferencesIS & librarianship differ in:

Selection & definition of many problems addressedTheoretical questions & frameworkNature & degree of experimentation Tools and approaches usedNature & strength of interdisciplinary relations


One field or two?Point of many debatesSuggest: TWO fields in strong interdisciplinary relationsNot a matter of “better” or “worse” - matters little common arguments between many fields

Differences matter in: problem selection & definition agenda, paradigms theory, methodology practical solutions, systems

Best example: IR & library automation


Which?

Librarianship. Information science

Library and information science

Libraryandinformationscience

Information science

Information sciences

Information like in the “Information School”


Computer science

“systematic study of algorithmic processes that describe and transfer information... . The fundamental question in computing is: ‘What can be (efficiently) automated’ .”

Denning et al., 1989


IS & computer science

CS primarily about algorithmsIS primarily about information and its users and useNot in competition, but complementaryGrowing number of computer scientists active in IS – particularly in IR and digital librariesConcentrating on advanced IR algorithms & techniques digital library infrastructure & various domains human computer interaction


Human-computer interaction (HCI)

“ Human computer interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them.”

ACM SIGCHI, 1993

Another interdisciplinary area computers sc., cognitive sc., ergonomics, ...


Interaction and ISTwo streams: computer-human interaction human-computer interaction

Modern IR is interactive BUT: difference between retrieval engine & retrieval

interface

Many studies on: machine aspects of interaction human variables in interaction

Problem: little feedback betweenInteraction very hard to evaluate - few methods yet


7. Digital libraries LARGE & growing area

“Hot” area in R&Da number of large grants & projects in the

US, European Union, & other countriesbut “DIGITAL” big & “libraries“ small

“Hot” area in practicebuilding digital collections, hybrid libraries,many projects throughout the world


Technical problemsSubstantial - larger & more complex than anticipated: representing, storing & retrieving of library objects

particularly if originally designed to be printed & then digitized

operationally managing large collections - issues of scale

dealing with diverse & distributed collections interoperability

assuring preservation & persistence incorporating rights management


Digital Library Initiatives in the US (DLI)

Research consortia under National Science Foundation DLI 1: 1994-98, 3 agencies, $24M, six large projects DLI 2: 1999-2006, 8 agencies, $60+M, 77 large &

small projects in various categories

‘digital library’ not defined to cover many topics & stretch ideas not constrained by practice


European Union

DELOS Network of Excelence on Digital Librariesmany projects throughout European Union

heavily technologicalmany meetings, workshops resembles DLIs in the USwell funded, long range


Research issues

understanding objects in DL representing in many formats non-textual materials

metadata, cataloging, indexing conversion, digitization organizing large collections managing collections, scaling preservation, archiving interoperability, standardization accessing, using,


DL projects in practice

Heavily oriented toward institutionsAssoc of Res Libraries (ARL) database:427 DL projects in 13 countries374 in the US

51% in universities; 24% fed govmt; 9% hist societies; 6% regional …

84% are explicitly retrospective; 16% technological

1 listed from DLI (Illinois)no connection with DLI projects


Agendas

Most DL research agenda is set from top down from funding agencies to projects imprint of the computer science community's interest &

vision

Most DL practice agendas are set from bottom up from institutions, incl. many libraries imprint of institutional missions, interests & vision

providing access to specialized materials and collections from an institution (s) that are otherwise not accessible

covering in an integral way a domain with a range of sources


Connection?

DL research & DL practice presently are conducted mostly independent of each other, minimally informing each other,& having slight, or no connection

Parallel universes with little connections & interaction


8. Conclusions

IS contributions

IS effected handling of inf. in society

Developed an organized body of knowledge & professional competencies

Applied interdisciplinarity

IR reached a mature stage

IR penetrated many fields & human activities

Stressed HUMAN in human-computer interaction


Challenges

Adjust to the growing & changing social & organizational role of inf. & related inf. infrastructurePlay a positive role in globalization of informationRespond to technological imperative in human termsRespond to changes from inf. to communication explosion - bringing own experiences to resolutions, particularly to the INTERNETJoin competition with qualityJoin DIGITAL with LIBRARIES


Juncture

IS is at a critical juncture in its evolutionMany fields, groups ... moving into information big competition entrance of powerful players fight for stakes

To be a major player IS needs to progress in its: research & development professional competencies educational efforts interdisciplinary relations

Reexamination necessary



Perspectives of information science in the digital age Tefko Saracevic, PhD Rutgers University USA tefko.

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