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“What Everyone Calls It”

This study explores the challenges of mapping user's words and terminologies in information systems and proposes ways to improve user strategies and interface design to better support user tasks. It examines the possible mappings between system terms and user terms, and identifies open issues in terminology mapping.

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“What Everyone Calls It”

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  1. “What Everyone Calls It” Mapping Users’ Words and Terminologies Stephanie W. Haas School of Information and Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  2. BLS and FedStats • Hert & Marchionini, 1998 • User information needs & statistical information • Types of users and their tasks • Search strategies and tools • How do skilled intermediaries search? • How do domain experts search? • How do domain novices search? • How can user strategies be improved?

  3. Interface design for website to support user tasks • Knowledge representation, metadata, and terminology • foundation for information sharing, both inside and outside the system • coordinate possibly contradictory concepts, terms, etc.

  4. Searching isn’t easy • Borgman, 1996, “Why Are Online Catalogs Still Hard to Use?” • Query systems generally designed for skilled users • “Query matching is effective only when the search is specific, the searcher knows precisely what he or she wants, and the request can be expressed adequately in the language of the system” (p. 494)

  5. The Mapping Problem Search Data Element(s) Term(s) User’s Term(s) User’s Information Need

  6. Inside the System • Crisp operational definitions • Expert understanding and usage Data Element(s) Term(s)

  7. Outside the System • Choice of terms may depend on: • user’s domain knowledge • user’s search knowledge • user’s notion of what is available • luck? User’s Term(s) User’s Information Need

  8. Miss, Meeting, or Collision? • Not necessarily the same as mapping between terminologies. • What are the possible relationships between system terms and user terms? Term(s) User’s Term(s)

  9. Possible Mappings • Same word(s), same meaning • Same word(s), different meaning • Same word(s), some relationship between meanings (e.g., BT, NT, part-of, domain specific) • Same word(s), some overlap in meaning

  10. Possible Mappings (cont.) • Different word(s), same meaning • Different word(s), different meaning • Different word(s), some relationship between meanings (e.g., BT, NT, part-of, domain specific) • Different word(s), some overlap in meanings

  11. Search Terms from FedStats Web Page • http://www.fedstats.gov/ • Carol Hert & John Fieber • 11/98, 28,248 unique queries • concept of pay • income • compensation • earnings • wage • salary

  12. Users’ Search Terms • “income”; 948 unique queries, 2025 instances • combined with: • statistical concepts, e.g., mean • temporal concepts, e.g., current, 1990 • geographical concepts, e.g., national, Boston

  13. combined with (cont.): • demographic concepts • gender, e.g.,women, male • age, e.g., elderly • race, e.g., race, african american • marital status, e.g., divorced • education, e.g., education level, college graduate • occupation, e.g., occupation, correction officer

  14. BLS/CPS Terms • Total combined income • “includes money from jobs, net income from business, farm or rent, pensions, dividends, interest, social security payments and any other money income received” (CPS) • Compensation • “sometimes used to encompass the entire range of wages and benefits” (BLS Glossary of Compensation Terms)

  15. BLS/CPS Terms (cont.) • Usual weekly earnings • “include any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually received” (CPS concepts) • Hourly earnings • “hourly rate as stated by the employer…does not include tips, commissions, or any other non-hourly wages.” (CPS interviewer manual)

  16. What does this user want?correction officer, income • Money income received - including that unrelated to job • Compensation, including benefits - total job package • Usual weekly earnings - including regular overtime • Hourly earnings - excluding overtime

  17. Open Issues • Can a system recognize the user’s intention and/or information need? • need for user studies • identifying user expertise • user education in terminology, domain, e.g., statistics (Dippo, 1998) • recognizing changes in system and user terms, possible mappings

  18. Open Issues (cont.) • Where does terminology mapping information belong? • concept/terminology representation • special-purpose thesaurus • user interface • query formulation and clarification tools • explanation of provided information

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