What to do when search fails: finding information by association

ABSTRACT

Sometimes people cannot remember the names or locations of things on their computer, but they can remember what other things are associated with them. We created Feldspar, the first system that fully supports this associative retrieval of personal information on the computer. Feldspar's contributions include (1) an intuitive user interface that allows users to find information by interactively and incrementally specifying multiple levels of associations as retrieval queries, such as: "find the file from the person who I met at an event in May"; and (2) algorithms for collecting the association information and for providing answers to associative queries in real-time. A user study showed that Feldspar is easy to use, and suggested that it might be faster than conventional browsing and searching for these kinds of retrieval tasks. Feldspar could be an important addition to search and browsing tools.

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INDEX TERMS

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

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Interaction styles (e.g., commands, menus, forms, direct manipulation)

  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.3 COMPUTER GRAPHICS
      I.3.6 Methodology and Techniques
          Subjects: Interaction techniques

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation, Human Factors, Performance

Keywords:
associative information retrieval, personal information management, user interfaces