How a personal document's intended use or purpose affects its classification in an office

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on one of 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 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 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.

REFERENCES

• 1: D O Case, Collection and organization of written information by social scientists and humanists: a review and exploratory study, Journal of Information Science, v.12 n.3, p.97-104, March 1986 [doi>10.1177/016555158601200302]
• 2: DER IN, B. Information as a user construct: the relevance of perceived information needs to synthesis and interpretation. In: Ward, S.A. & Reed, L.J. (Eds.). Knowledge Structure and Use: Perspectives on Synthesis and Interpretation. Philadelphia, Pa.: Temple University Press, 1983: 153-83.
• 3: ERICSSON, K.A. & SIMON, H.A. Verbal reports as data. Psychological Review. 87(3) (May, 1980):215-251.
• 4: FRAKE, C.O. The ethnographic study of cognitive systems. In: Tyler, S. A. (Ed.). Cognitive Anthropology. New York, N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969.
• 5: KWASNIK, B.H. The influence of context on classificatory beha#,ior. Ph.D. Dissertation, Rutgers University, 1989.
• 6: Thomas W. Malone, How do people organize their desks?: Implications for the design of office information systems, ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS), v.1 n.1, p.99-112, Jan. 1983 [doi>10.1145/357423.357430]
• 7: MISCHLER, E.G. Meaning in context: is there any other kind7 Harvard Educational Review 49(1) (Feb., 1979):1-19.
• 8: ROSCH, E. Cognitive reference points. Cognitive Psychology 7(4) (1975):532-47.
• 9: SPRADLEY, LP. The Ethnographic Interview. New York, N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979.
• 10: TYLER, S.A. (ED.) Introduction. In: Cognitive Anthropology. New York, N.Y.: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1969.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.3 Information Search and Retrieval
          Subjects: Retrieval models

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems
          Subjects: Human factors
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
      H.3.2 Information Storage
          Subjects: File organization

General Terms:
Design, Documentation, Human Factors