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The goal of this study is to obtain a better understanding of social aspects of information retrieval in a variety of workplace settings. Information retrieval has been viewed as an individual activity, and tools to support it can benefit from a more complete understanding of why and how it is carried out. Part of our plan is to develop a conceptual framework to guide research, design, and organizational behavior in the area of Collaborative Information Retrieval (CIR).CIR is defined as any activity that collectively resolves an information problem taken by members of a work-team regardless of the nature of the actual retrieval of information. To accomplish this goal, the study will investigate the manifestations of CIR in work settings when it occurs, and teamwork situations in which CIR does not occur. For this investigation, the researchers will use a work-centered conceptual framework that has been used in similar studies of individual information behavior. In this study, the framework will be extended to include collaborative information behavior. The investigators are from the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Washington, The Boeing Company, Microsoft Research, and the Center for Human-Machine Interaction in Denmark. They bring together expertise in information seeking behavior, computer support for collaborative work, and information retrieval. The study will progress in three distinct steps. In the first step, the researchers will employ a work-centered framework for the evaluation and design of information systems. Researchers will observe and analyze the information seeking and searching behavior of the members of four work-teams as it takes place in natural work settings. This analysis will lead to a model of CIR that describes the behavior of the four teams. The second step will validate and generalize the results of the first step through a survey that may also provide additional insight into CIR. Once validated, the researchers will examine what technological innovations and organizational changes might support and enhance CIR during the third step. While essentially sequential, the study may see some iterations particularly when preliminary results are promising. The results of the study will have both practical and theoretical implications. On the practical side, understanding how information is acquired, shared among team members, and used in work situations will greatly strengthen our ability to (a) address issues that relate to knowledge management in organizations, and (b) develop technologies that support, facilitate, and enhance teamwork. The study will also extend an existing work-centered conceptual framework to include teamwork. This framework will become a new analytical tool that will inform the methods used in other studies about CIR. In addition, this new framework could enrich other conceptual constructs both in information retrieval and in collaborative work. |
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