Thursday 10 February 2005 Lecture

Not being able to tell the difference betweeen things and words is a sign of schizophrenia, according to Freud.

Homework due Thursday 24th

Review of a software tool:
First decide which option
Then, work out what the goals and criteria are
Work independently or in pairs

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Location-based vs. logical search

paradigmatic examples
location-based: browsing subject headings
logical search: text-entry search window

depth vs. breadth

logical search: search branches can be quickly pruned


use both


automatically creating hierarchy may serve as a sort of intermediary: search tool that does both: enhance logical searching and location searching

but, how do we know that generated hierarchy is good? for myself much less multiple people?
how do we know the names are good?


convention
preference
some people prefer visual-associational approaches to finding
some prefer keyword-associational approaches to finding


what if the previous headings were bad?
then the new headings, if based on the behavior of use of the old headings, will share in that badness.

Cyrus: Kolodner - how do we know what happens? what are the scripts?

organization shared between people naturally evolve if they have goal-motivated behaviors that align or compliment...e.g., trade between two groups that don't share a common language...pidgin & creole evolves
but such organizagtion schemes can devolve, break down, or never arise at all


keeping found things found?

Are we trying to find a location or a piece of meaningful info?

parallel structures fall along the wayside
more and more of our materials are mediated
computer data is essentially a means of mediation
mediated and flexibly represented/representable for different purposes