Providing an effective mechanism for personal information retrieval is important for many applications, and requires different techniques than have been developed for general web search. This thesis focuses on developing retrieval models and representations for personal search, and on designing evaluation frameworks that can be used to demonstrate retrieval effectiveness in a personal environment. From the retrieval model perspective, personal information can be viewed as a collection of multiple document types each of which has unique metadata. Based on this perspective, we propose a retrieval model that exploits document metadata and multi-type structure. Proposed retrieval models were found to be effective in other structured document collections, such as movies and job descriptions. Associative browsing is another search method that can complement keyword search. To support this type of search, we propose a method for building an association graph representation by combining multiple similarity measures based on a user's click patterns. We also present a learning techniques for refining the graph structure based on user's clicks. Evaluating these methods is particularly challenging for personal information due to privacy issues. This thesis introduces a set of techniques that enables realistic and repeatable evaluation of techniques for personal information retrieval. In particular, we describe techniques for simulating test collections and show that game-based user studies can collect more realistic usage data with relatively small cost.

Refinding electronic information is a common problem, yet it has received less study than the problem of how to find information for the first time. In this dissertation, I examine how people approach tasks to refind information they have seen on the Web and factors that may affect refinding. I conducted a controlled, laboratory study in which participants participated in two sessions: one to find information for a set of 18 tasks and a second session, about a week later, to attempt a set of counterpart refinding tasks. Results indicate that finding and refinding do have differences, but not for all types of tasks. The use of Web search engines was not observed to change significantly from the first session to the second. However, for tasks that participants were more familiar with, search engines were used less. Tasks that involved refinding a subset of the information that was found in the first session took longer to complete and were perceived as more difficult. Participants often went directly to known resources on the Web to start their searches. These sets of known resources included many on-line counterparts of paper resources such as telephone directories, dictionaries, and newspapers. For many tasks, participants used the same starting strategy to refind the information that they used find it, indicating strong patterns of access. This work contributes to the base of knowledge about how people refind information and the factors that affect refinding. It also contributes to the research field of information refinding and personal information management by identifying dimensions and factors that affect refinding. The results reported have implications for the design of Web sites and information repositories, the design of tools to help users find and refind information, and for the research community studying personal information management. / Ph. D.

Multiple devices such as desktops, laptops, and cell phones are often used to manage users' personal information, such as files, calendars, contacts, emails, and bookmarks. This dissertation presents the results of two studies that examined users' mental workload in this context, especially when transitioning tasks from one device to another. In a survey of 220 knowledge workers, users reported high frustration with current devices' support for task migration, e.g. making files available on multiple machines. To investigate further, I conducted a controlled experiment with 18 participants. While they performed PIM tasks, I measured their mental workload using subjective measures and physiological measures. Some systems provide support for transitioning users' work between devices, or for using multiple devices together; I explored the impact of such support on mental workload and task performance. Participants performed three tasks (Files, Calendar, Contacts) with two treatment conditions each (lower and higher support for migrating tasks between devices.) This dissertation discusses my findings: workload measures obtained using the subjective NASA TLX scale were able to discriminate between tasks, but not between the two conditions in each task. Task-Evoked Pupillary Response, a continuous measure, was sensitive to changes within each task. For the Files task, a significant increase in workload was noted in the steps before and after task migration. Participants entered events faster into paper calendars than into an electronic calendar, though there was no observable difference in workload. For the Contacts task, task performance was equal, but mental workload was higher when no synchronization support was available between their cell phone and their laptop. Little to no correlation was observed between task performance and both workload measures, except in isolated instances. This suggests that neither task performance metrics nor workload assessments alone offer a complete picture of device usability in multi-device personal information ecosystems. Traditional usability metrics that focus on efficiency and effectiveness are necessary, but not sufficient, to evaluate such designs. Given participants' varying subjective perceptions of these systems and differences in task-evoked pupillary response, aspects of hot cognition such as emotion, pleasure, and likability show promise as important parameters in system evaluation. / Ph. D.

Personal Information Management (PIM) studies the practice of storing, organizing, and retrieving information by an individual in support of their roles and tasks (Bergman, et al., 2004). One important problem in PIM is information fragmentation (IF) — the condition of having data in different formats, distributed across multiple locations, manipulated by different applications, and residing in a generally disconnected manner (Tungare, 2007). IF can conflict with the PIM ideal that users should have access to the right information at the right time, in the right place, in the right form, and of sufficient completeness and quality to perform the task at hand (Bergman, et al., 2004). It is typically assumed that IF is unintentional, and occurs as a result of the many applications and devices we use to do our daily work. It is further assumed that IF is "bad" or has negative consequences. In this thesis, I study when IF occurs intentionally. Intentional IF (IIF) refers to the fragmentation in PIM that occurs when a person fragments his or her own personal data purposefully. Although research into the problem of IF has been growing quickly in the past decade, IIF has not been investigated in the literature. Prior studies have portrayed IF as a problematic type of information management. Email is a common context in which IF is found. While IF in email may be unintentional, such as when required by an employer, it is also likely to be intentional, as is the case when users use separate email accounts for different purposes. To further the research in this field, this project investigated the phenomenon of IIF in email by conducting and analyzing data from an online survey. In addition to finding the extent of IIF in email, the survey addressed what motivates the participant to purposely fragment their email as well as the advantages and disadvantages in doing so. My study is the first that has explored intentional fragmentation of information. The findings of this study show that IIF exists in email usage, revealing that IIF occurs across a user's devices and also across a user's multiple email accounts. The two most common motivations for IIF are to keep information separated by the user's social roles (work, school, personal communications, etc.), and to filter out extraneous information in order to simplify their information management. These results show that in addition to the negative consequences of IF there also exists positive uses of IF, that is helpful for some users. / Master of Science

Email has become deeply embedded in many users' daily lives. To investigate how email features in users lives, particularly how users attend to email and get lost within it, I ran five studies that probed how users determined relevancy of messages, logged interactions with email, gathered diary entries related to individual sessions, and investigated the gratifications sought from email use. For the first study, I performed an exploratory experiment in the laboratory to determine how participants assessed the importance of individual emails (N=10). The next investigation I undertook involved three different studies, which I detail individually: a survey on email usage (N=54); a two-week study of email usage (N=20); and finally, the application of Attentional Network Test (N=9). My final study was to validate my findings around the reasons for attending to email, this was done through deploying a survey that followed the Uses and Gratification Theory tradition (N=52) In my studies I found that the majority of attentional effort is around reading email and participating in conversations, as opposed to email management. I also found that participants attended to email primarily based on notifications, instead of the number of unread messages in their inbox. I present my results through answering several research questions, and leverage Conversation Analysis (CA), particularly conversation openings, to explicate several problematic aspects around email use. My findings point to inefficiencies in email as a communication medium, mainly, around how summons are (or are not) issued. This results in an increased burden on email users to maintain engagement and determine (or construct) the appropriate moment for interruption. My findings have several implications: email triage does not seem to be problematic for the participants in my studies, somewhat in contrast to previous research; much of the problem around email, particularly emph{getting lost in email} is in managing the tension between promptly responding to messages while limiting engagement with email; due to the social nature of the problems with email, modifications to the email client are limited in their potential effectiveness to prevent getting lost and reduce email related anxiety. / Ph. D.

This diploma thesis deals with the Product Information Management (PIM) and compares PIM software tools. Its goal is to introduce the area of the PIM systems in Czech language. Next subgoal is to define system of criteria. It is also necessary to achieve the last goal -- to analyze and compare PIM software. The method I used is the exploration of information sources; obtaining information through email communication and use of empirical knowledge to define system of criteria. The contribution of this work is the same as its goals. The work is divided into two parts. The first theoretical part deals with PIM definitions, context, functionality, architectures and PIM market developing. The second practical part involves selecting of particular PIM software tools, defining system of criteria and comparison of PIM software tools.

No description available.

After the break-up of the former Soviet Union in 1991, several states declared independence, including the Republic of Kazakhstan. Under the centralised soviet system Kazakhstan provided mainly raw materials to the USSR, and agriculture operated under a Moscow-based command and control model. Kazakhstan possesses vast wealth of mineral and energy resources and its agricultural land is well able to ensure national food security. However, after independence the rapid and frequently unplanned state actions such as land reform, taken to move from socialism to a market economy, were not always successful and the state of agriculture was initially one of chaos. A major exodus from the land to the cities ensued. Gradually Kazakhstani agriculture recovered some of its productivity but still lags well behind developed nations in the use of ICT supported agricultural information management (AIM). This research contributes to new knowledge in the area of ICT-based AIM by supplementing the limited statistical and scientific analyses of Kazakh agriculture by seeking to discover, through semi-structured interviews, the views and perceptions of agrarians who are both the customers and end users of ICT-based AIM in a post-soviet state. The researcher established that agrarian stakeholders were aware of the need for a centralised AIM system, but felt that to implement it, more assistance was required from the state. Kazakhstan can learn from the experiences of both developed and developing countries in furthering ICT-based AIM, and although its situation is unique, understanding of the perceptions of end users, who have had to make a series of flawed initiatives work, will arguably be relevant to policy makers in other post-soviet states.

The objective of this thesis has been to develop a framework to support the evaluation of information strategies of UK higher education institutions (REIs). For this study the theoretical and empirical literature was extensively reviewed and four substantial pieces of empirical research were conducted. These included action research CAR), two pieces of ethnographic research, and a case study. The AR analysed problems encountered with a Student Records System at a UK university and identified both immediate and deeper causes for these problems. Ethnography I involved the researcher's participation in the information strategy development process at the same university: This included consideration of the development processes adopted and also the way that decisions were taken. Ethnography II consisted of participant observation at a range of workshops and conferences organised by the Joint Information Systems Committee on information strategy development at UK REIs. These provided a broad picture of information strategy development procedures being adopted across these HEls. The case study investigated in detail the implementation of an information strategy at a university different from that examined in AR and Ethnography I. These empirical investigations all included in-depth interviews. In total 117 people of various levels and backgrounds involved in information strategies and associated information systems within UK HEIs were interviewed. Key findings from the empirical research were: Many HEIs in the process of developing an information strategy, or about to do so, were not fully sure how this should be achieved nor the extent of the likely benefits. Most HEIs implementing information strategies were using top-down directed system approaches, leaving little room for more inclusive bottom-up emergent planning. Information strategies need to be developed and evaluated using strongly human-centred methods, primarily because it became apparent that the successful functioning of such a strategy is dependent on the motivation and competencies of the people who create and use the information. Investigations into aspects of information strategy development and implementation need to focus on people's perceptions of the situation rather than seeking an objective truth independent of the participants. This reflects a Kantian perspective of knowledge. Overall, the empirical findings supported the use of a Critical Systems Thinking approach in the evaluation of information strategies at higher education institutions. The development of the evaluative framework, the main objective of the thesis, took place in two phases: developing the framework based on the literature review and revising the framework from the empirical research investigations involving a process of critical iteration. The first phase identified a range of elements associated with an HErs information strategy, and for each element highlighted the relevant theoretical andlor empirical literature that bears on the issues being addressed. In particular, the framework is strongly influenced by insights drawn from the work of three key social theorists: Kant, Habermas and Foucault. In addition, the framework includes 'guidelines for evaluation', where these are more practical questions to ask and areas to investigate when evaluating a given element ofthe strategy. The second phase took the framework through a series of reflections and revisions based on the findings from the empirical investigations. In each case, insights were gained that related to the use or applicability ofthe framework. By combining the findings from the theoretical and empirical literature with those from the empirical research, the final framework, which is believed to have filled a gap in the theoretical literature, aims to encompass the complexity of information strategy development and implementation within HEIs. The framework reflects a human-centred and Critical Systems Thinking approach, and is designed to allow potential evaluators to identify underlying causes for the success or failure of an information strategy that is implemented at an HEI.

With the advent of digital imagery and its wide spread application in all vistas of life, it has become an important component in the world of communication. Video content ranging from broadcast news, sports, personal videos, surveillance, movies and entertainment and similar domains is increasing exponentially in quantity and it is becoming a challenge to retrieve content of interest from the corpora. This has led to an increased interest amongst the researchers to investigate concepts of video structure analysis, feature extraction, content annotation, tagging, video indexing, querying and retrieval to fulfil the requirements. However, most of the previous work is confined within specific domain and constrained by the quality, processing and storage capabilities. This thesis presents a novel framework agglomerating the established approaches from feature extraction to browsing in one system of content based video retrieval. The proposed framework significantly fills the gap identified while satisfying the imposed constraints of processing, storage, quality and retrieval times. The output entails a framework, methodology and prototype application to allow the user to efficiently and effectively retrieved content of interest such as age, gender and activity by specifying the relevant query. Experiments have shown plausible results with an average precision and recall of 0.91 and 0.92 respectively for face detection using Haar wavelets based approach. Precision of age ranges from 0.82 to 0.91 and recall from 0.78 to 0.84. The recognition of gender gives better precision with males (0.89) compared to females while recall gives a higher value with females (0.92). Activity of the subject has been detected using Hough transform and classified using Hiddell Markov Model. A comprehensive dataset to support similar studies has also been developed as part of the research process. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) providing a friendly and intuitive interface has been integrated into the developed system to facilitate the retrieval process. The comparison results of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) shows that the performance of the system closely resembles with that of the human annotator. The performance has been optimised for time and error rate.