Incorporating Metadata into Search User Interfaces

Incorporating Metadata into Search User Interfaces Marti Hearst UC Berkeley UCB Digital Libraries Seminar Oct 10, 2000

Web Search is Working! Survey finds high user satisfaction Study by npd group From http://searchenginewatch.internet.com/reports/npd.html

Web Search is Working! Survey finds high user satisfaction (a recent upswing – the decline was caused by an increase in # of pages indexed) From http://searchenginewatch.internet.com/reports/npd.html

Web Search is Working! Why? Queries are still short! Average query length currently ~2.4 words (Doug Cook, Inktomi) From http://searchenginewatch.internet.com/reports/npd.html

My guess: Web Search is Successful at Finding Good Starting Points (home pages)

Evidence • Web search engines are heavily using • Link analysis • Page popularity • Interwoven categories • These all find dominant home pages

Consequences • Web search engines are providing source selection! • A side note: A digital library issue as well. DL’s make people do this step explicitly. People don’t generally like this! • What happens at the site? • Follow hyperlinks or use site search

Following Hyperlinks • Works great when it is clear where to go next • Frustrating when the desired directions are undiscernable or unavailable

Site Search • This is not getting good reviews • Large, disorganized results sets

text search An Analogy hypertext

Analogy • Hypertext: • A fixed number of choices of where to go next; • A glance at the map tells you where you are; • But may not go where you want to go. • To get from Topeka to Santa Fe, may have to go through Frostbite Falls • Site Search: • Can go anywhere; • But may get stuck, disoriented, in a crevass!

Goal: An All-Tertrain Vehicle • The best of both techniques • A vehicle that magically lays down track to suggest choices of where you want to go next based on what you’ve done so far and what you are trying to do • The tracks follow the lay of the land and go everywhere, but cross over the crevasses • The tracks allow you to back up easily

How to make an all-tertrain vehicle? Two ideas: Focus on the task. Use metadata explicitly.

The Importance of the Task Results from HCI suggest the importance of taking the task into account. • Searching patent databases vs. Proving non-infringement • Browsing newsgroups vs. Finding the denial-of-service hacker • Getting all satellite news vs. Anticipating the competition

The Importance of the Task: Indirect Evidence • How does Web page download time effect usability? • In one study, Spool found: (56kbit modem) • Amazon: 36 sec/page (avg) • About.com: 8 sec/page (avg) • Users rated the sites: • Fastest: Amazon • Slowest: About.com • Why?

The Importance of the Task • Perceived speed • Strong correlation between perceived speed and whether the users felt they completedtheir task • Strong correlation between perceived speed and whether the users felt they always knew what to do next (scent).

Metadata

GeoRegion + Time/Date + Topic + Role Metadata types

Content-based Metadata • Medical text • Anatomy, Disease, Chemicals, Procedures… • Architectural images • Location, Style, Materials, Period … • Recipes! • Cuisine, Ingredients, Season, Calories … • Example: • SOAR vs. epicurious

soar.berkeley.edu/recipes

www.epicurious.com

Epicurious Metadata Usage • Advantages • Creates combinations of metadata on the fly • Different metadata choices show the same information in different ways • Previews show how many recipes will result • Easy to back up • Supports several task types • ``Help me find a summer pasta,'' (ingredient type with event type), • ``How can I use an avocado in a salad?'' (ingredient type with dish type), • ``How can I bake sea-bass'' (preparation type and ingredient type)

Epicurious Metadata Usage Problem: lacks integration with search

What about Yahoo? • Routes through the metadata are • Predefined • Unstable (due to symbolic links) • Long (due to bad mixing of metadata) • Example: Where is Berkeley? • College and University > Colleges and Universities >United States > U > University of California > Campuses > Berkeley • U.S. States > California > Cities >Berkeley > Education > College and University > Public > UC Berkeley

Yahoo using metadata well Yahoo restaurant guide combines: • Region • Topic (restaurants) • Related Information • Other attributes (cuisines) • Other topics related in place and time (movies)

Yellow: geographic region Green:restaurants&attributes Red: related in place & time

Region State City A & E Film Theatre Music Restaurants California Eclectic Indian French Combining Information Types Assumed task: looking for evening entertainment

Other Possible Combinations • Region + A&E • City + Restaurant + Movies • City + Weather • City + Education: Schools • Restaurants + Schools • …

Bookstore preview combinations • topic + related topics • topic + publications by same author • topic + books of same type but related topic

Problems with Metadata Usage • Standard approaches • Paths are hand-edited, predefined • Not well-integrated with search • Not tailored to task as it develops • Not personalized • Not dynamic

A new project: FLAMENCO FLexible Access using MEtadata in Novel COmbinations • Main ideas: • Make metadata an explicit part of the interface, but in a highly-usable manner • Preview and postview choices • Determine views dynamically and (semi) automatically, using a task-based model

Flamenco: Dynamic Previews • Medical example • Allow user to select metadata in any order • At each step, show different types of relevant metadata, • based on prior steps and personal history, • include # of documents • Previews restricted to only those metadata types that might be helpful

Asthma > Steroids • A steroid-induced acute psychosis in a child with athsma. • Management of steroid-dependent asthma with methotrexate. • Steroids • Pregnanes • Pregnadienes (5) • Prednisone (5) • Pregnenes • Budesonide (4) • Corticosterone (3) • Other Views • Admin & Dosage (50) • Drug Effects (20 • Therapeutic Use (25) • Risk Factors (4) • More … • User Preferred • Musculoskeletal (4) • Drug Resistance (6) • All Categories (99) 99 Documents: [Sort by author] [Sort by popularity] [Sort by Steroids] [Cluster] 1. Effect of short-course budesonide on the bone turnover of asthmatic children. 2. Effect of prednisone on response to influenza virus vaccine in asthmatic children. …

Asthma > Steroids > Admin & Dosage • Dosage levels for asthmatic steroids: A survey. • Related Categories • Inhalators (40) • Emotional Effects (25) • Preferred Suppliers (30) • User Preferred • Musculoskeletal (0) • Drug Resistance (2) • All Categories (50) • Steroids • Pregnanes • Pregnadienes (3) • Prednisone (5) 50 Documents: [Sort by author] [Sort by popularity] [Sort by Dosage] [Cluster] 1. Optimal dosage levels for prednisone in the treatment of childhood asthma. 2. …

Asthma > Steroids Asthma > Steroids > Budesonide Asthma > Steroids > Budesonide > Huang Asthma > Huang > Budesonide Other paths: back up and go forward

Dynamic Metadata Previews • How different from Yahoo & Amazon? • Dynamically determine what to show next • Yahoo’s combos are predefined • Amazon’s are also predefined, and limited to taste and general topic only • A way to seamlessly integrate • Related topics • User preferences (personalization) • Context-sensitivity

Evaluation Methodology • Regression Test • Select a set of tasks • Use these throughout the evaluation • Start with a baseline system • Evaluate using the test tasks • Add a feature • Evaluation again • Compare to baseline • Only retain those changes that improve results

Image Search • Content analysis is making strides • Rich hand-assigned metadata is available • But most search based on • Keyword matching (alltheweb/lycos multimedia) • Image-component based querying (QBIC) • Overall similarity to sample image (Blobworld) • Combo of keyword and image component

Image Search: What is the task? • Illustrate my slides? • “Find a crevasse” • Keyword match works pretty well • Find inspiration for an architectural design? • General similarity: maybe • But more control might be better

Incorporating Metadata into Search User Interfaces