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The Notion of Context in

tefkos@rutgers.edu; http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~tefko/

“Information Interaction in Context”

Tefko Saracevic, PhDRutgers University

Central ideasEverybody knows

what is context.RIGHT!RIGHT? ?? ???

Everybody knows where to look for context.RIGHT!RIGHT? ?? ???

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Problems at hand

A. Theoretical: Finding a conceptual foundation for CONTEXT in the context of human-information interaction

B. Practical: In searching for information using not only CONTENT information from a query (as we do now well), but also CONTEXT information (as we do now badly, or not at all)

Dealing here with A only

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ToC

1. Human-information interaction2. Context3. Five axioms related to context in

information interaction4. Implications

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1. Human-information interaction

User – information – [and what else?]

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Elements, processes to consider

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“Information is anything that can change person’s knowledge.” (Belkin, 1978)

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

What do we mean by it?

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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)

What do we mean by it?

Information seeking concentrations

Purposeful process to: change state of knowledge respond to an information need or gap fit information in with what one already knows

All cognitive:To seek information people seek to change

the state of their knowledgeSome critiques: Broader social, cultural,

environmental … factors not included

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“HCI 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.” (CHI Curriculum, 1996, 2009)

Many fields and areas involvedCHI conferences huge, popular

in these conferences next to nothing on context; but some papers consider social impact

note: is CHI the same as HCI? Tefko Saracevic 10

What do we mean by it?

CHI concentrations

Primary concentration on interfaces – that is where interaction occurs design, effectiveness, innovations, issues … includes both software and hardware

Important part: user satisfaction however, no rigorous definition what it means

often mixed with usability, usefulness

no theoretical base

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“... the interactive communication processes that occur during the retrieval of information by involving all the major participants in IR, i.e. the user, the intermediary, and the IR system.” (Ingwersen, 1992)

Often distinguished as direct (or end user searching) and mediated

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What do we mean by it?

Concentrations

Direct (end user searching) A process where users interact with and search

an IR system by and for themselves prevalent today; everybody is a searcher

Mediation:A process where an intermediary – a searcher –

acts on behalf of a user who seeks information Informal mediators: colleagues, friends, family …Formal mediators: searchers, teachers …

but is disappearing fast in academic & public institutions, not so in commerce & some fields

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What do we mean by it?

"how human beings interact with, relate to, and process information regardless of the medium connecting the two." (Nahum Gershon, 1995, credited with coining the term)

At CHI 2006 a debate: is it a separate field?

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Michigan IS

“Research in this area [i.e. HII] examines the behavior of people in the use of information embedded in systems, services, networks, and devices (information seeking, intermediation, information retrieval, design and evaluation of information systems and services, information visualization, and information use in various environments).”

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and at IS, Washington(Center for Human-information Interaction)

“Cognitive Work Analysis provides a multi-pronged analytical framework for studying various human interactions with information. It helps researchers and other professionals to study the work people do, the tasks they perform, the decisions they make, the way they interact with information channels, systems and products, and the collaborative, organizational and social context in which they perform their work—all for the purpose of designing more effective systems and services.”

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As to: What do we mean by it?

Not quite clear although

intuitively well understood

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2. ContextMilieu for interaction

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“Context - Linguistic context, context of use:Discourse that surrounds a language and

helps to determine its interpretation Context – circumstance, setting:The set of facts or circumstances that

surround a situation or event; “the historic context” “ Wordnet

from Latin: contextus  "a joining together," contexere  "to weave together"

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Context:What do we mean by it?

Concentrations - properties

Language: surrounds a language helps in interpreting, giving meaning

Circumstances: provides a setting surrounds an event, situation

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There is no term more often used, less often defined and, when defined, defined so variously, as context. Context has the potential to be virtually anything that is not defined as the phenomenon of interest. Dervin, 1997

and context

Is there such a thing as context-free information?

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and context

Theoretically, context may be considered as “objectified” (entities – actors, structures,

attributes - which affect the research object) & “interpretive” (constructing meaning from data)

Talja et al 1999

Many information seeking studies involved TASK or SITUATION as context But: there is more to task then task itself

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Task assumptions, properties

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 increasesImplication: user modeling & searching

should be oriented toward tasks

HCI theories & context

Many HCI theories derived from various fields but criticized for not informing design

Theories not strong on context some exceptions: activity theory; & anthropological

argument: human action is constantly constructed and reconstructed from dynamic interactions with the material and social worlds

In design: contextual inquiry & contextual design based on understanding of context of use

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model from: ACM SIGCHI Curricula for Human-Computer Interaction

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and context

“Context is one of the most important concepts in information seeking and retrieval research. However, the challenges of studying context are great; thus, it is more common for researchers to use context as a post hoc explanatory factor, rather than as a concept that drives inquiry.” Kelly (2006)

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Ingwersen model of IR interaction

(earliest IR model with explicit context)

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Information objects

Interface/

intermediary

Individual user’scognitive

space

Social/organizational environment

IR system setting

Query Request

Cognitivetransformations

& influences

Interactivecommunication

of cognitive structures

Saracevic’s stratified model of IR interaction

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Contentinf. objects; representations...

Processingsoftware; algorithms …

Engineeringhardware; connections...

Surface level

INTERFACE

Querycharacteristics …

Affectiveintent; motivation ...

Cognitiveknowledge; structure...

Context

Situationaltasks; work context...

social, cultural

Context in two modelsIngwersen

Individual user’s cognitive space Work task/interests Current cognitive state Problem/goal Uncertainty Information need Information behavior

Social/org. environment Domains/goals Tasks Preferences

Saracevic strata

Cognitive knowledge; structure …

Affective intent; motivation …

Situational task; work context …

Social, cultural context

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User modeling for searching

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.

Mediation & user modeling

Professional mediation involves diagnosing the user’s problem and identifying what interventions would be helpful professional searchers mediate the interaction

of users with information

In practice user modeling heavily involves context mediators make many search decisions based

on context information

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IR testing and context

Majority of IR tests rest on traditional model all TREC tracks with one exception – interactive track

“At its core, the modern-day test collection is little different from the structures that the pioneering researchers in the 1950s and 1960s conceived of.” (Sanderson, 2010)

Context not presentMany calls to change testing model not headed

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and context

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Where is Taj Mahal?

3.Axioms about contextPrinciples without proof

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Axiom is …(from Latin axiōma a principle, from Greek axioun to consider worthy)

A principle that is accepted as true without proof

A self-evident or universally recognized truth; a maxim

(Mathematics) a generally accepted proposition or principle, sanctioned by experience; maxim

(Philosophy / Logic) a self-evident statement

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Inspired by …

Paul Watzlawick (1921-2007)

Theoretician in communication theory (Austria, Switzerland, California)

Communication axioms In his theory on

communication, defined five basic axioms that are necessary to have a functioning communication between two individuals. If one of these axioms is somehow disturbed, communication might fail.

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Most famous of Watzlawick’s axioms

Axiom 1

One Cannot Not Communicate (Man kann nicht nicht kommunizieren)

I.e. - explanation

“Every behavior is a kind of communication. Because behavior does not have a counterpart (there is no anti-behavior), it is not possible not to communicate.”

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“… lousy grammar, impeccable logic.”

Context: Axiom 1

Statement

One cannot not have a context in information interaction.

Id est – i.e. Every interaction is

conducted within a context.

Because context-less information interaction is impossible, it is not possible not to have a context.

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Axiom 2

Statement

Every interaction has a content and relationship aspect – context is the later and classifies the former.

Id est It means that all

interactions, apart from information derived from meaning of words or terms describing the content, have more information to be derived from context.

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Axiom 3

Statement

The nature of information interaction including context is asymmetric; it involves differing processes and interpretation by parties involved.

Id est Contexts are

asymmetric as well. Medium or systems context is primarily about meanings; user context is primarily about situations.

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Axiom 4

Statement

Context is multilayered. It extends beyond users or systems.

Id est In interactions it is

customary to consider direct context, but context extends indirectly to broader social context also.

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Axiom 5

Statement

Context is not self-revealing, nor is it self-evident.

Id est Context may be

difficult to formulate and synthesize. But plenty can go wrong when not taken into consideration in interactions.

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4. In conclusionTough problems

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People

In information interactions people act & compensate in many ways including errors & failures

Considerable amount of research is devoted to these processes

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Information retrieval

Considerable amount of research is devoted to IR but almost exclusively from system not people orientation

TREC is a great success in that respect

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Interaction & information retrieval

Interaction is central to IR particularly including searching of the Web

Design of interfaces for IR interaction still lacking many users have difficulties so do many professionals

TREC is a colossal failure in that respect

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Symbolic connections between HII research & IR research

Tough problem

Integrating human-information interaction research with IR research

Meaning that HII research must be directed toward results

directly informing IR IR research must be radically redirected

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Tougher problem

Creating a different mindset in allTo see and act on the necessity to view,

research, and implement Human-information interaction in all its facets

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Toughest problem

To integrate context in IR theory and practice

Yet professional searchers do that all the time

They understand context axioms intuitively

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Question

Can HII, IR and HCI truly progress without addressing tough, tougher, and toughest problems??

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Thank youM.C. Escher and the Escher Foundation

Presentation in Wordle

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