howard besser ucla school of education & information newliteracies.gseis.ucla

Besser--AAM Repurposing 5/14/02 1

Adaptive System Design:Repurposing Museum Content

for different User GroupsUCLA/Pacific Bell Initiative for 21st Century Literacies

Howard BesserUCLA School of Education & Informationhttp://www.newliteracies.gseis.ucla.edu/

http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~howard/



for different User Groups-

_ History, underlying problem/issue_ MOAC_ UCLA/CDL Approach using Adaptive

Systems_ Repurposing Other Content


History, underlying problem/issue

_ Different ways in which we treat info for internal management vs. visitor access-


Besser, Howard (1997). The Transformation of the Museum and the way it’s Perceived, in Katherine Jones-Garmil (ed.), The Wired Museum, Washington: American Association of

Museums, pages 153-169

Interactive MultimediaExhibition Packages

Collection ManagementSystems

Designed for explanationand access

Designed for inventorycontrol, record-keeping

Good user interface Poor user interfaceNarrative-basedOffer coherent view of somedomain

Object-basedNo overall view of domain

Records are limited andcarefully selected

Unlimited records; all areavailable

Frequently no database Usually a powerful databaseLimited user navigation Unlimited user navigationAlways single-user Single-user or multi-userClosed-box system Open or interoperable

systemsStatic Dynamic


Museum Online Archive of California (MOAC)

_ Difficulty of “merging” records from very different museums

_ Leverage external standards and software/processing development

_ Adoption of EAD and Finding Aid approach

_ Examples & Limitations from MOAC sites-


Examples & Limitationsfrom MOAC sites-


“John Sutter” (no results); “Sutter” (ambiguous results)


UCLA/Pacbell Approach: Adaptive Systems

_ Profiles for particular user groups (4th grade students, 12th graders, teachers, historians)

_ Different user interface, navigation, and vocabulary for each user group

_ Only some groups will see the full Finding Aid structure, but all will see brief context


UCLA/Pacific Bell Initiative for 21st Century Literacies

_ The User_ Summit_ Policy_ Design Issues & Adaptive Systems_ The Problem and Issues-


21st Century Literacies

_ Information Literacy_ Visual Literacy_ Media Literacy_ Cultural Literacy_ ...


The Problem and Issues_ If we solve Access Problem (technology, bandwidth,

training), other impediments to an informed citizenry still remain

_ Need critical evaluation of resources (reliability, authoritativeness, thoroughness, recency)

_ Need skills to pare down from information overload_ Need critical thinking skills_ Need to deal with different users having different

backgrounds and capabilities


Design Issues_ Examine factors that inhibit efficient and effective use of

an information system_ Examine how best to design systems to match the literacy

levels, technological capabilities, and other characteristics of the user

_ Principles, Practices, and Guidelines for Good Design for Facilitating Access (screen design, searching & navigation, metadata & description, info structures & organization, usability testing, …)

_ Build Adaptive Systems


Possible Good Design Principles

_ Don’t disenfranchise users who have slow processors, older browsers, low bandwidth, visual impairment, etc.

_ Clearly note the recency of any information resource

_ Make sure that a user can easily determine what organization/agency created or contributed to an information resource


Our Resources related toGood Design Principles

_ Screen Design - The visual design of the screen can impact usability. Color, font, the use of images, and layout of screen elements are essential design components.

_ Searching and Navigation - Ease of navigation and search/browsing options are critical components of usability.

_ Metadata and Description - Good metadata and site description will help users find the appropriate website.

_ Information Structures and Organization - How information is organized and categorized shapes access. For systems with an underlying searchable database, the structure of the database itself will determine the outcome of searches.

_ Usability Testing - Includes resources on how to evaluate sites and on testing

for usability.


Build Adaptive Systems_ Build Systems that adapt the same back-end information

to different user profiles (different knowledge bases, different technical capabilities, different cognitive structures)

_ User profiles may include advanced researcher in a particular subject area, general undergraduate student, high school student, …

_ Different profiles will need different user interfaces, navigation, searching vocabulary, file formats and sizes, ...


User ProfilesCombination of dimensions and purpose

PurposeCasual userK12 student, lifelong learnerInformation/hobbyScholar/preservationBusiness(Colorado Dig Proj)

Cultural touristCasual userScholar

(CIMI)

Design•User InterfaceNavigationBrowseSearchEfficient bandwidth use

Content•Mark-upVarious metadataProtection features

Design functional examples

•Differing screen arrangementsDiffering functional optionsVocabulary mappingDiminishing image size


Adaptive Systemswhat they’ll do

_ Can serve different audiences (general public, purposeful inquirer [cultural tourist], domain specialist)

_ Each profile audience will– see a level of discourse addressed to them– experience a user interface appropriate to their profile– use vocabulary they are familiar with

_ Yet all will be using the same back-end set of information


Adaptive Systemshow they’ll work

_ Passing search terms through a thesaurus to map specialist vocabulary to/from vernacular

_ Adapting vocabulary from curatorial language into common discourse; development of markup extensions to EAD/CIMI/CIDOC to allow description for different audiences

_ In general, specialized users will experience more text-based interfaces, while general users will experience more graphic/visual interfaces


Adaptive Systemsdevelopment plan

_ Research and experimentation_ Profile several different user communities_ Create an additional information delivery

system and compare user utility between it and prior system

_ Demonstrate the utility of this approach (proof of concept) for further research and design


Joint CDL/UCLA project

_ Use OAC/MOAC and/or JARDA (concentrating on images and Finding Aids that include images)

_ Profile and construct a series of different front-ends for different audiences– Front-ends-– Target Audiences-

_ Evaluate


Profile and construct a series of different front-ends for different audiences:

Front-ends to include_ Screen design for searching and for display_ Browsing, probably with some high-level

categorization/grouping_ Searching_ Possibly vocabulary mapped through

thesauri


Profile and construct a series of different front-ends for different audiences

Target audiences might include

_ 4th grade students_ 12th grade students_ 4th grade teachers_ 12th grade teachers_ University faculty_ Some people outside the history/social

studies sector


Adaptive Systems Tentative Timeline

_ Winter 2002– Explore literature on interface and searching issues (CO data, CIMI, kids)– Begin working with 12th and 4th grade teachers– Begin discussions with CDL programmers

_ Spring 2002– Pre-test various groups with conventional EAD interface– Mock up and begin testing interface screens and searching strategies

_ Summer 2002– Preliminary implementation and pre-test

_ Fall 2002– Further implementation, full testing, and evaluation


What does this all mean forMuseum Professionals?

_ Feasibility of Adaptive Systems that deliver the same back-end info tailored to different sets of user needs


Repurposing Other Content_ Content from Howard’s classes--_ http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~howard/repurposing.html



for different User GroupsUCLA/Pacific Bell Initiative for 21st Century Literacies

Howard BesserUCLA School of Education & Information

http://www.newliteracies.gseis.ucla.edu/http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/~howard/repurposing.html

Besser, Howard (1997). The Transformation of the Museum and the way it’s Perceived, in Katherine Jones-Garmil (ed.), The Wired Museum, Washington: American Association of

Museums, pages 153-169


Our Resources Website

howard besser ucla school of education & information newliteracies.gseis.ucla

Documents