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C-Link: a new information search tool. Peter Hartley, Peter Cowling and Stephen Remde p.hartley@bradford.ac.uk. The software. For background and links, go to: http://conceptlinkage.org/ To go straight to the tool, go to: http ://conceptlinkage.org/clink / NB Version 2 about to go online.
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C-Link: a new information search tool Peter Hartley, Peter Cowlingand Stephen Remde p.hartley@bradford.ac.uk
The software • For background and links, go to: http://conceptlinkage.org/ • To go straight to the tool, go to: http://conceptlinkage.org/clink/ NB Version 2 about to go online.
Why bother? • Students are not making the most of their information searching, especially in the early stages of their courses: • Limited range of sources. • Limited search strategies. • Problems of information overload. • Present approaches to searching do not typically cultivate skills of critical analysis or enable dialogue. • NB Need more research in this area!
What can C-Link do? • Builds a map of relationship between 2 concepts (searching an archived edition of Wikipedia). • You can explore the map within C-Link. (move around it/ zoom in and out/ go straight to Wikipedia page) • You can export and save the map into freely available concept mapping software (Cmap) • You can then modify the map and specify links/add resources.
Possible advantages • Discover unknown links and possibilities. • Visual map helps to conceptualise relationships. • Helps to understand the relationships between concepts that we have never seen before and those with which we are familiar. • Can focus search on relevant areas without reading articles on unknown concepts in detail.
A preliminary test • Experimental trial, consisting of 10 tasks, half of which were to be completed using C-‐Link and the other half using the standard built-‐in search in Wikipedia. • For each of the tasks, the participants had five minutes to find five concepts that provided interesting connections between pairs of given concepts. • They were also asked to rate how difficult each task was and how confident they were in their results.
Different ways ofC-Link searching • A against A. • Can use to explore definitions by identifying related concepts. • A against B. • Identify links. • Explore an area • Suggest new avenues.
Demo • For background and links, go to: http://conceptlinkage.org/ • To go straight to the tool, go to: http://conceptlinkage.org/clink/ NB Version 2 about to go online.
Using C-Link search in learning and teaching • Offer the facility to staff and students • Use searches as a basis for discussion • Edit the searches with Cmap as exercise or as basis for class discussion/posting/online dialogue.
Developmentand potential? • Industrial/commercial development ongoing. • Need to build user community for education. • Potential for research? • Need to link to other databases.
And the barrier … • The classic project issue – a very useful and flexible tool but limited funding for further development and community building. • Suggestions most welcome!