User:Buzzo/thesis outline

Thesis Outline

My thesis will…

• Look to define and question the different methods of research.

• Clarify the differences of search, browse and query.

• Large amounts of data and navigation - quantity issue

• Search - brief history of SEO

• Browse - slow search

• Query - current algorithmic for optimization

Statement / Argument…

• Current query search methods have a time and a place and other options for research should be included within your process.
• Query only works if you know what you’re looking for.
• Browsing is IMO wrongly seen as unproductive and time wasting...
• Browsing methods to be used to find and discover things you didn’t know you were looking for.
• Push the agenda of slow search, slow technology and a reflective research process through serendipitous browsing as means of supporting/generating/revealing more interesting and substantial research.

Conclusion / Wrap up…

• Better search methods bringing in best of worlds

Project Proposal…

Make a book. Full of case studies, reports, explorations and mini projects, all exploring serendipity within searching, both physically and digitally. mini projects and case studies looking at searching and browsing methods. all previous work = playful interventions, provoking thoughtful discussion. Human factor and human intuition within the digital realm.

Sketches

Outline

My thesis will look to define and question the different methods of research, such as search, browse and query. slow search, slow technology and reflective research.

BOLD STATEMENT Current query search methods killed the links that support/generate and reveal more interesting research.

+ Make a book. Full of case studies, reports, explorations and mini projects, all exploring serendipity within searching, both physically and digitally.

+ mini projects and case studies looking at searching and browsing methods.

+ all previous work = playful interventions, provoking thoughtful discussion. Human factor and human intuition within the digital realm.

We are currently existing in a time where search is easier than ever and browsing is, in my opinion often seen as a luxury. Search is quick and direct with huge amounts of funding, time and expertise dedicated to “Search Engine Optimisation” and efficiency. (reference to SEO funding) I would argue that browsing is viewed as a luxury because if the option to search is there, in this case I am referring to the query style of search, and we still choose to browse instead of search, then we are wasting time. Query search is viewed as a back and forth, information in, information out, A-B, the answer is found and the work is continued. Browsing however is viewed as detour or associated with a decline in productivity.

Definition : Search : 1) try to find something by looking or otherwise seeking carefully and thoroughly. 2) an act of searching for someone or something.

Definition : Browse : 1) survey goods for sale in a leisurely and casual way. 2) scan through a text, website, or collection of data to gain an impression of the contents.

Definition : Query : 1) a question, especially one expressing doubt or requesting information. 2) ask a question about something, especially in order to express one's doubts about it or to check its validity or accuracy.

References

What Technology Wants - Kevin Kelly
As a practical matter I’ve learned to seek the minimum amount of technology for myself that will create the maximum amount of choices for myself and others. The cybernetician Heinz von Foerster called this approach the Ethical Imperative, and he put it this way: “Always act to increase the number of choices.” The way we can use technologies to increase choices for others is by encouraging science, innovation, education, literacies, and pluralism. In my own experience this principle has never failed: In any game, increase your options.

Taking our sweet time to search Dörk, Bennett, Davies
Our goal is to invite the searcher into a reflective search activity, by slowing down the search process and thus encouraging them to be mindful of their intentions, present in their interactions, and reflective about what is presented to them.

Data-driven Serendipity Navigation in Urban Places Sus Lundgren
These systems are overwhelmingly focused on optimizing an efficiency objective, such as minimizing the distance covered, maximizing the benefit obtained from the route as captured by a measure of venue quality and so on. It is only in recent years that efforts have been made to consider objectives that go beyond the pure efficiency

On the Philosophy of Slow Technology Lars HALLNÄS
One way to understand the notion of slow technology is that it suggests a turn in the technology perspective. We do not put the main focus on what technology can be used for but on what it means to use it, to master it, how it expresses itself in use. Slow technology focuses on envelopment rather than development...

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I will be looking at a playable interface as a means of navigating digital libraries and archives. I would propose a different interface for exploring these digital libraries, one which can be re-configured and explored through the actions of a wandering reader. I will be looking at the ways our information navigation and reading habits can be shaped by digital libraries. I want to move away from “the query” as the way of discovering or finding information within a selection of content, and instead to focus on the amble / unstructured walk / slow reveal as a means of search and discovery. I want to increase the ways in which one can explore information. Huge amounts of information are stored and yet rarely accessed, through search algorithms that would never make certain connections.

“As a practical matter I’ve learned to seek the minimum amount of technology for myself that will create the maximum amount of choices for myself and others.” Kevin Kelly

Exploring the intuitive human wander/discover/investigate/explore within a digital realm. I want to explore different options for navigating large sources of information in a game-like way. Considering our reading and browsing habits as game-like wandering / exploring. An alternative experimental look at ways of discovering information and resources. I am interested in looking at the notion and idea of serendipity within the search process. Touching on the subject of slow-searching to allow for time and valuable reflection within the search method. The reference of time and digestion and the immediacy offered to us within current digital archives and libraries.

“invite the searcher into a reflective search activity, by slowing down the search process and thus encouraging them to be mindful of their intentions, present in their interactions, and reflective about what is presented to them.” Dörk, Bennett, Davies

Digital libraries and archives are an incredibly valuable resource and I want to explore the navigation styles within these spaces to see if there is room for serendipitous searching. Implementing notions taken from slow technology “Slow technology focuses on envelopment rather than development...” Lars HALLNÄS

Previous work was focussed on the human factor within digital publications, and how this can be introduced to create an ad-hoc social network “on-the-fly”. I looked at the idea of stamping (physical trait taken from traditional libraries) and implemented this to digital documents accumulatively to show a shadow and presence of other “readers” within a space, to create an awareness of people within these archives. Reintroducing the human factor to digital publications. This is the same thing I am hoping to achieve with my interface for libraries and archives, I want to explore the social aspect within these archives and libraries. I want to explore these qualities by using game mechanics that we know to work within online gaming environments and see if we can implement some of the same techniques. The re-introduction of the human into this digital environment through gaming methods.