Structuring Personal Information Collections

这个研究项目的目标是更好地理解人们如何管理越来越大的个人信息集合，人们在这样做时遇到的问题，以及人们需要什么支持才能更好地“管理”——不仅是信息，还有需要信息的各种活动。本文主要研究结构在个人信息收集管理中的作用。构建信息的努力可以在各种外部表示（er）中找到表达，例如文件夹层次结构、数字项目的物理堆和类似分组、用户分配的属性/值组合、注释、文件和文件夹名称等。但是，人们对急诊室随着时间的推移而发展的方式以及它们在个人信息管理（PIM）中扮演的角色知之甚少。这项研究包括一系列的纵向研究，涉及不同的人处理不同的信息收集。在某些情况下，人们可以使用原型工具。原型研究了更好地支持ER的创建（或获取）、维护和使用的可能性，这种可能性还可以在个人信息中产生重要的集成。该研究与支持信息素养和个人信息管理作为核心能力的教育举措有关。结果将通过一个已建立的网站（http://kftf.ischool.washington.edu/publications.asp）和各种文章广泛传播。研究将促进对PIM理解的基本进展，从而不仅提高个人生产力，而且提高整体生活质量。

The goal of this research project is to understand better how people manage ever-larger collections of their personal information, the problems people encounter as they do so, and the support people need in order to "manage" better - not only the information but also the various activities for which the information is needed. The research is focused on the role that structure plays in the management of personal information collections. Efforts to structure information find expression in various external representations (ERs) such as folder hierarchies, physical piles and analogous groupings of digital items, user-assigned property/value combinations, annotations, file and folder names, etc. But the ways in which ERs develop over time and the roles they play in personal information management (PIM) are poorly understood. The research includes a series of longitudinal studies involving a diversity of people working with various information collections. People in some conditions have access to prototype tools. Prototyping explores the possibility that better support for the creation (or acquisition), maintenance and use of an ER can also produce important integrations in personal information. The research is linked to educational initiatives to support information literacy and the management of personal information as a core competency. Results will be widely disseminated through an established Web site (http://kftf.ischool.washington.edu/publications.asp) and through various articles. Research will promote basic advances in the understanding of PIM leading to improvements, not only in personal productivity, but also in overall quality of life.