Learning about Potential Users of Collaborative Information Retrieval Systems

TL;DR

This paper explores user needs and behaviors in collaborative information retrieval systems through fieldwork in various organizational settings, aiming to inform system design.

Contribution

It provides a conceptual understanding of collaborative information behavior and gathers user requirements across different organizational contexts.

Findings

Identified key user needs in collaborative retrieval

Developed a methodology for studying collaborative information behavior

Gained insights into potential user requirements for system design

Abstract

One of the key components of designing usable and useful collaborative information retrieval systems is to understand the needs of the users of these systems. Our research team has been exploring collaborative information behavior in a variety of organizational settings. Our research goals have been two-fold: First, to develop a conceptual understanding of collaborative information behavior and second, gather requirements for the design of collaborative information retrieval systems. In this paper, we present a brief overview of our fieldwork in a three different organizational settings, discuss our methodology for collecting data on collaborative information behavior, and highlight some lessons that we are learning about potential users of collaborative information retrieval systems in these domains.