iSchool Faculty Scholarship

The Role of Classification in Knowledge Represantation and Discovery

Barbara H. Kwasnik — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:47 PST

The link between classification and knowledge is explored. Classification schemes have properties that enable the representation of entities and relationships in structures that reflect knowledge of the domain being classified. The strengths and limitations of four classificatory approaches are described in terms of their ability to reflect, discover, and create new knowledge. These approaches are hierarchies, trees, paradigms, and faceted analysis. Examples are provided of the way in which knowledge and the classification process affect each other.

The Importance of Factors that are not Document Attributes in the Organization of Personal Documents.

Barbara H. Kwasnik — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:43 PST

The authors describe the difficulties of translating classifications from a source language and culture to another language and culture. To demonstrate these problems, kinship terms and concepts from native speakers of fourteen languages were collected and analyzed to find differences between their terms and structures and those used in English. Using the representations of kinship terms in the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) and the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) as examples, the authors identified the source of possible lack of mapping between the domain of kinship in the fourteen languages studied and the LCC and DDC. Finally, some preliminary suggestions for how to make translated classifications more linguistically and culturally hospitable are offered.

How a Personal Document's Intended use or Purpose Affects its Classification in an Office.

Barbara H. Kwasnik — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:40 PST

This paper reports on the findings of a larger case study that attempts to describe how people organize documents in their own offices. In that study, several dimensions along which people make classificatory decisions were identified. Of these, the use of to which a document is put emerged as a strong determiner of that document’s classification. The method of analysis is reviewed, and examples of the different kinds of uses are presented, demonstrating that it is possible to describe a wide variety of specific instances using a closed set of descriptors. The suggestion is made that, in designing systems for organizing materials, it might be advantageous to incorporate information about contextual variables, such as use, since these seem to be particularly important in classification decisions made within personal environments.

Commercial Websites and the Use of Classification Schemes: The Case of Amazon.com. In Lopez-Huertas, Maria J. Challenges in Knowledge Represantation an Organization for the 21st Century: Intergration of Knowledge Across Boundaries.

Barbara H. Kwasnik — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:39 PST

The structure and use of the classification for books on the Amazon.com website are described and analyzed. The contents of this large website are changing constantly and the access mechanisms have the main purpose of enabling searchers to find books for purchase. This includes finding books the searcher knows about at the start of the research, as well as those that might present themselves in the course of searching and that are related in some way. Underlying the many access paths to books is a classification scheme comprising a rich network of terms in an enumerative and multihierarchical structure.

An Analysis by Means of Naturalistic Approaches of Two Complex Behaviors. In Gilbert, Nigel (Ed.) Proceedings of the Workshop on Complex Systems, Ethnomethodology and Interaction Analysis.

Barbara H. Kwasnik — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:38 PST

This paper describes two studies I which naturalistic approaches were used to investigate complex human behaviors. The first study is a description of the way in which people organize their documents in their own offices; the second study aims for a functional description of the behavior known as “browsing”. Both studies use thinking-out-loud protocols, observation, and interviews in the setting in which behaviors take place. The rationale for the choice of techniques is presented along with a discussion of advantages and difficulties.

A Descriptive Study of the Functional Components of Browsing.

Barbara H. Kwasnik — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:36 PST

The paper describes a descriptive study of the functional components of browsing, which is viewed as the strategic and adaptive technique that people use to search, scan, navigate through, skim, sample, and explore information systems. Data on browsing is collected from thirty participants -- ten each in three browsing formats: print, command-driven computer version, and hypertext window-environment version. Data collection is by means of several techniques: the collection of thinking-out-loud, task-concurrent protocols; open-question interviews during the task; observation; and video and sound recording. The aim of analysis is to describe functions of browsing such as: orientation, place-marking, transition, comparison, identification, and resolution of anomalies, and the relationships among these functions.

Stretching Conceptual Structures in Classifications Across Languages and Cultures.

Barbara H. Kwasnik et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:34 PST

"Classification Structures in the Changing Environment of Active Commercial Websites: the Case of eBay.com". In Beeghtol, Clare, Howarth Lynne C., and Williamson, Nancy J. (eds.) Dynamism and Stability in Knowledge Organization.

Barbara H. Kwasnik et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:29 PST

This paper reports on a portion of a larger ongoing project. We address the issues of information organization and retrieval in large, active commercial websites. More specifically, we address the use of classification for providing access to the contents of such sites. We approach this analysis by describing the functionality and structure of the classification scheme of one such representative, large, active, commercial websites: eBay.com, a web-based auction site for millions of users and items. We compare eBay’s classification scheme with the Art & Architecture thesaurus, which is a tool for describing and providing access to material culture.

Extraction of Knowledge about the Cognitive Process of Browsing from Discourse and Thinking-aloud Protocols. Also Published as Part of: Kwasnik, B. et al Automatic Extraction from Dictionary Text: Project Development.

Barbara H. Kwasnik et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:25 PST

The Exploration by Means of Repertory Grids of Semantic Differences Among Names for Office Documents.

Barbara H. Kwasnik et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:23 PST

We used repertory grids to investigate the differences in names assigned to a selected list of 11 frequently mentioned office documents. The assumption is that naming reflects a classificatory decision and is based on a complex set of perceived aspects (which we call constructs) of the documents being named. We describe repertory grids as used in this application and summarize the resulting analysis.

Using Structural Represantation of Anomalous States of Knowledge for Choosing Document Retrieval Strartegies.

Barbara H. Kwasnik et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:22 PST

Genres of Digital Documents: Introduction to the Special Issue.

Barbara H. Kwasnik et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:21 PST

Purpose – To introduce the special issue on “Genres of digital documents.” While there are many definitions of genre, most include consideration of the intended communicative purpose, form and sometimes expected content of a document. Most also include the notion of social acceptance, that a document is of a particular genre to the extent that it is recognized as such within a given discourse community. Design/methodology/approach – The article reviews the notion of document genre and its applicability to studies of digital documents and introduces the four articles in the special issue. Findings – Genre can be studied based on intrinsic genre attributes or on the extrinsic function that genre fulfills in human activities. Studies on intrinsic attributes include classifications of genres as clusters of attributes, though these classifications can be problematic because documents can be used in flexible ways. Also, new information technologies have enabled the appearance of novel genres. Studies on extrinsic function include ways to use genre for education or information accesses, as well as the use of genre as a lens for understanding communications in organizations. The four articles in the special issue illustrate these approaches. Originality/value – The paper provides a framework that organizes the range of research about genres of digital documents that should be helpful to those reading this research or planning their own studies. Keywords- Digital libraries, Research, Digital storage, Classification Paper type- General review

Can Document-Genre Metadata Improve Information Access to Large Digital Collections.

Kevin Crowston et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:18 PST

A Framework for Creating a Facetted Classification for Genres: Addressing Issues of Multidimensionality.

Barbara H. Kwasnik et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:16 PST

People recognize and use document genres as a way of identifying useful information and of participating in mutually understood communicative acts. Crowston and Kwasnik [1] discuss the possibility of improving information access in large digital collections through the identification and use of document genre metadata. They draw on the definition of genre proposed by Orlikowski and Yates [3], who describe genre as “a distinctive type of communicative action, characterized by a socially recognized communicative purpose and common aspects of form” (p. 543). Scholars in fields such as rhetoric and library science have attempted to describe and systematize the notion of genre, and have offered many different definitions of genre. We like Orlikowski and Yates’s definition because it takes into account all three aspects of genre that we recognize as fundamental: content, form, and purpose. A document’s genre is a subtle and complex concept in which the content and form of a document are fused with its purpose or function. As such, a document’s genre cannot be separated from the context in which it is used; the same document may be construed as being of a different genre depending on how it is invoked in a given situation. Starting from the document, a letter may be a personal communication, or a piece of evidence in a court of law, or an agreement, or even a work of art. Starting from the situation, we note that differences in an information situation are often reflected in the kind of document that is considered helpful (e.g., a problem set vs. a lesson plan vs. a tutorial about mathematics, for instance). Thus, we see genre as a multidimensional phenomenon, which takes into account not only the attributes of the document itself, but also of its role in human endeavor. In this paper, we discuss some considerations in developing a facetted classification for genres to address the problem of multi-dimensionality.

Identifying Document Genre to Improve Web Search Effectiveness. The Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology

Barbara H. Kwasnik et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:14 PST

Translation of Classifications: Issues and Solutions as Exemplifies in the Korean Decimal Classification.

Barbara H. Kwasnik et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:13 PST

The aim of this study was to describe how the Korean Decimal Classification (KDC), which is based on the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), accommodated translation and adaptation issues in making the scheme culturally hospitable. We made a concept-by-concept comparison of terms in selected sections of the KDC with the analogous terms or sections in the DDC, noting the differences and similarities of terms and structure. Our analysis suggests that, overall, the KDC succeeded in this endeavor, and that the process of adaptation made good use of several adaptive strategies identified in previous work: adjustments to term specificity and term location in the classificatory structure, as well as the addition of the uniquely Korean terms.

Genre-Based Navigation on the Web

Barbara H. Kwasnik et al. — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 08:31:12 PST

We report on our ongoing study of using the genre of Web pages to facilitate information exploration. By genre, we mean socially recognized regularities of form and purpose in documents (e.g., a letter, a memo, a research paper). Our study had three phases. First, through a user study, we identified genres which most/least frequently meet searchers' information needs. We found that certain genres are better suited for certain types of needs. We identified five (5) major groups of document genres that might be used in an interactive search tool that would allow genrebased navigation. We tried to balance the following dual objectives: 1) each group should be recognizable by a computer algorithm as easily as possible 2) each group has a better chance of satisfying particular types of information needs. Finally, we developed a novel user interface for a web searching that allows genre-based navigation through three major functionalities: 1) limiting search to specified genres 2) visualizing the hierarchy of genres discovered in the search results and 3) accepting user feedback on the relevancy of the specified genres.

Effective Work Practices for FLOSS Development: A Model and Propositions

Kevin Crowston et al. — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:21:41 PST

We review the literature on Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development and on software development, distributed work and teams more generally to develop a theoretical model to explain the performance of FLOSS teams. The proposed model is based on Hackman’s [1] model of effectiveness of work teams, with coordination theory [2] and collective mind [3] to extend Hackman’s model by elaborating team practices relevant to effectiveness in software development. We propose a set of propositions to guide further research.

Coordination of Free/Libre Open Source Software Development

Kevin Crowston et al. — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:21:39 PST

The apparent success of free/libre open source software (FLOSS) development projects such as Linux, Apache, and many others has raised the question, what lessons from FLOSS development can be transferred to mainstream software development? In this paper, we use coordination theory to analyze coordination mechanisms in FLOSS development and compare our analysis with existing literature on coordination in proprietary software development. We examined developer interaction data from three active and successful FLOSS projects and used content analysis to identify the coordination mechanisms used by the participants. We found that there were similarities between the FLOSS groups and the reported practices of the proprietary project in the coordination mechanisms used to manage task-task dependencies. However, we found clear differences in the coordination mechanisms used to manage task-actor dependencies. While published descriptions of proprietary software development involved an elaborate system to locate the developer who owned the relevant piece of code, we found that “self-assignment ” was the most common mechanism across three FLOSS projects. This coordination mechanism is consistent with expectations for distributed and largely volunteer teams. We conclude by discussing whether these emergent practices can be usefully transferred to mainstream practice and indicating directions for future research.

Effective Work Practices for Software Engineering: Free/Libre Open Source Software Development

Kevin Crowston et al. — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:21:35 PST

We review the literature on Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development and on software development, distributed work and teams more generally to develop a theoretical model to explain the performance of FLOSS teams. The proposed model is based on Hackman's [34] model of effectiveness of work teams, with coordination theory [52] and collective mind [79] to extend Hackman's model by elaborating team practices relevant to effectiveness in software development. We propose a set of propositions to guide further research.