Tracking Footprints Through an Information Space: Leveraging the Document Selections of Expert Problem Solvers

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The goal of this project is to help expert problem solvers find needed information in a large, complex information space. The focus is on one example of expert problem solving; the health care field. Sorting through such a heterogeneous collection of electronic and other media materials to find needed information, sometimes under time duress can be formidable. This project proposes to capture the trace of information used by experts - to monitor the paths taken and collection resources used by, in this case physicians, in moving from observation, to information gathering, to solution of a given health care problem. By capturing the artifactual trace information associated with information seeking and selection, it is hypothesized that greater insight can be gained into behaviors of users and patterns of usage. This knowledge can then be fed-back into the design and development of new information environments. The work will be conducted by a cross-disciplinary team comprised of an MD focusing on information seeking behaviors of physicians, and a group of computer scientists focussing on extracting and using regulary structured information. The usefulness of the approaches will be tested in domains other than health care, in particular the aircraft design industry through the active support of the Boeing Corporation.