Presentation given at JCDL 2018, ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, Fort Worth, USA, June 2018 ABSTRACT: Physical and digital documents do often not exist in isolation but are implicitly or explicitly linked. Previous research in Human-Computer Interaction and Personal Information Management has revealed certain user behaviour in associating information across physical and digital documents. Nevertheless, there is a lack of empirical studies on user needs and behaviour when defining these associations. In this paper, we address this lack of empirical studies and provide insights into strategies that users apply when associating information across physical and digital documents. In addition, our study reveals the limitations of current practices and we suggest improvements for associating information across documents. Last but not least, we identify a set of design implications for the development of future cross-document linking solutions. Paper: https://www.academia.edu/36348960/An_Analysis_of_Cross_Document_Linking_Mechanisms

1. 2 December 2005
An Analysis of Cross-Document
Linking Mechanisms
Ahmed A.O. Tayeh and Beat Signer
Web & Information Systems Engineering Lab
Department of Computer Science
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
WEB & INFORMATION
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

2. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 2June 4, 2018
Documents are not Isolated
 Explicitly or implicitly linked
 links and footnotes
 similarity of content
 Simple link models offered by different document formats
 embedded and unidirectional in most document formats
 external and multidirectional in Xlink standard
 Annotation tools and link services
 Sun’s Link Service
 Microcosm
 Annotea
CISA
Human-Machine &
Human-Information
Interaction
Information
Systems &
Management
Information
Visualisation
& Navigation

3. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 3June 4, 2018
User Behaviour in Associating Information
 General findings from different research domains
 digital documents
- annotations
- digital folders
 physical documents
- annotations
- physical folders
 Lack of empirical studies investigating user behaviour
when linking information within and across documents
 Our Goal: investigate user behaviour in associating
information within and across digital and physical
documents

4. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 4June 4, 2018
Methodology
 Qualitative approach using a multi-case design
 Online survey investigating
 whether users associate information in six different scenarios
 why they associate information
 which mechanisms are used by users to associate information
 users’ appreciation and criticism
 238 participants: 23 Master’s students, 169 PhD students and
46 holding a PhD degree
single
physical
(SP)
multiple physical (MP) single
digital
(SD)
multiple digital same
(MDS)
multiple digital
different (MDD)
digital physical (DP)

5. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 5June 4, 2018
Methodology…
 Interviews
 investigate some answers of the survey’s participants
 get detailed insights about their information association behaviour
 12 participants
 unstructured open questions
 performed either face-to-face or via Skype
single
physical
(SP)
multiple physical (MP) single
digital
(SD)
multiple digital same
(MDS)
multiple digital
different (MDD)
digital physical (DP)

6. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 6June 4, 2018
Results: Users Associating Information

7. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 7June 4, 2018
Results: Frequency of Associations

8. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 8June 4, 2018
Annotation and Highlighting Mechanisms

9. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 9June 4, 2018
Single Physical (SP)

10. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 10June 4, 2018
Multiple Physical (MP)

11. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 11June 4, 2018
Single Digital (SD)

12. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 12June 4, 2018
Multiple Digital Same (MDS)

13. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 13June 4, 2018
Multiple Digital Different (MDD)

14. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 14June 4, 2018
Digital Physical (DP)

15. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 15June 4, 2018
User Satisfaction

16. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 16June 4, 2018
User Satisfaction…
 Complaints
 wasted time in creating & refinding associations
 not easy to track the linked documents
 not efficient & mostly relies on memory
 digital & physical folders are not organised well
 losing the context of association
 …

17. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 17June 4, 2018
The Need for a Linking Tool
 75% indicated the need for a tool to associate information
 Suggestions
 web links
 integration of linking into workflow
 easy to use and learn
 navigation of links
 search and manage hyperlinks
 integrating physical and digital media
 …

18. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 18June 4, 2018
Design Implications
 DI1: Granularity of the associations
 DI2: Bidirectional associations
 DI3: Documents side by side
 DI4: Linking across physical & digital media
 DI5: Management of the associations

19. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 19June 4, 2018
Our Link Service

20. Ahmed A.O. Tayeh - Department of Computer Science - atayeh@vub.be 20June 4, 2018
Conclusions
 Investigated user behaviour in associating information
within and across documents
 Revealed a number of association mechanisms and
some of their characteristics
 General findings about user’s appreciation and criticism
about their used mechanisms
 Design implications for cross-document linking solutions