Conceptual organization and retrieval of text by historians: The role of memory and metaphor

Abstract

As electronic text files increase in number and diversity, the problem of devising a more effective information retrieval interface grows more important.Future designs may draw upon cognitive theories of categorization and metaphor to understand how users interact with text-both paper and electronic. Relevant literature in cognitive psychology and information science suggests the importance of the user's physical environment in thinking about abstract entities, such as categories of documents. Empirical studies have established a basis for understanding how we think about, file, remember, and locate text. Results from a study of 20 historians-an exemplary group in terms of their close studies of texts and the broad scope of their inquiriesimply the importance of metaphors for storage and retrieval of documents. The study found that metaphors and subjective categories were frequently applied to documents collected and created by these scholars. Two physical factors-spatial configuration and document form-were often considered before topic in determining document storage locations in the office. Developers of information systems should consider qualitative aspects of cognition in their designs. System developers might also consider segmenting the audience for computer interfaces, as well as designing generic tools that apply to all users.

Towards memory supporting personal information management tools

“…For example, Lansdale [1988] described office organisational problems as problems of psychology; more specifically problems of categorisation, recognition and recollection; Case [1991] proposed that memory and metaphor impact the way historians manage their resources; and Carroll [1982] demonstrated that simple eight character filenames can trigger a detailed recollection of a file's content. Capra and Perez-Quinonez [2005] suggested that the task of re-finding information is different to that of information discovery and involves different cognitive processes: information re-finding involves processes of recollection and memory, while finding new information involves processes of recognition.…”

Metaphor’s Role in the Information Behavior of Humans Interacting with Computers

“…Concerned mostly with transitioning historians from physical to electronic format, Case argued that digital documents and files should more closely resemble physical filesnot necessarily physically but in the manner of retrieval and storage. 40 Espousing a slightly more conservative opinion, Marcus indicated that an "appropriate metaphor balances delicately expectation and surprise on part of the user/viewer." 41 Marcus repeated that the objective of the designer is to design a conceptual model that clearly indicates to users what their expectations of the system should be, the goal being that the conceptual model created by the designers will map as much as possible to an existing mental model that the user can bring to reference.…”

Supporting human memory in personal information management

“…In a similarly motivated study of the organisational techniques employed by twenty historians, Case [1991] identified three main factors by which objects were classified information in offices. The first related to spatial constraints: the storage location of an object accounted for the amount of physical space available and the ease of access e.g.…”

“…The term encompasses the management of both physical information objects, such as books, magazines, journals and paper-based notes [Case, 1991;Cole, 1982;Kwasnik, 1989b;Malone, 1983], as well as digital objects, such as email messages, web pages and computer files [Barreau and Nardi, 1995;Jones et al, 2003;Whittaker and Sidner, 1996].…”

“…Lansdale [1988] described PIM as a set of psychological problems including categorisation, recognition and recollection; Case [1991] proposed that memory and metaphor impact the way people manage their resources; and Carroll [1982] demonstrated that simple eight character filenames can trigger a detailed recollection of a file's content. It has also been observed that memory problems and the limitations of human memory hinder PIM [Czerwinski and Horvitz, 2002;Jones et al, 2005].…”