User:Buzzo/thesis abstract

The area of research for this thesis is Digital Libraries and online research resources. My goal/focus/aim within this area is to address possible strategies for interfacing with these available materials in a more human and tangible way.

Thus follows my main question How can we make use of surrealist game strategies to re-imagine the ways in which one can approach/interact with digital libraries and online resources to improve overall user engagement and experience for the better.

Broken into sub-questions Can we and should we attempt playful strategies to circumvent the current control systems being utilized within digital libraries. Is it a lack of awareness or lack of interest. Is it because we cannot find interesting and different things outside of our own filter bubble. Can we inspire participation/interaction through using surrealist games to inform our research techniques. Can the initial research stages be described as through the actions of a wandering reader through a metaphorical landscape. How/Can we make room for serendipity within the filter bubble.

Through my knowledge and background as a graphic designer and an avid reader, I am using reading, writing and book making explorations as part of my open(non)-linear methodology/ design practice for working through these issues/questions/explorations?

I have carried out/conducted this work through the use of a number of varying softwares for database explorations, a number of experiments/explorations into the intangibility of the sheer expanse of digital libraries and online resources, interviews and first hand account of experiences with research and online resources, and finally a workshop that incorporates and makes use of base human sorting and curating skills as a key and invaluable component to the research process.

The thesis itself will take the form of a number/series of short essays/chapters/discussions and reports that can be read separately or as a whole, open to free dissemination by the reader.

My approach is heavily informed by surrealist games and literature as a way to circumvent our current uniform and conformative (normative) ways in which we approach research through online spaces. Normative “as we all know” “as we all say” psychologically conforming societal implicit pressure world view.

Chapter #1 Introduction / background Introduction and outlay of digital libraries and resources, recent progress ad initiatives. How did we get here, who, what, when, where and why. What has transitioned from physical to digital, what has been left behind, what has evolved and what has been forged anew. Control systems and normatives within library culture, old vs new. Straight comparison, copyright laws, access, availability and reliability. Chapter #2 Online research methods and the filter bubble. Recommendation systems, how we find things, and thus touching on censorship. Within this system is there an allowance for serendipity in research observed through the metaphor of a wandering reader. Chapter #3 My own work, explorations and interventions in relation to human-centric interaction with digital resources. Chapter #4 Ad-hoc editorial workshop as collaborative effort for research. Report on Surrealist game techniques as research workshops tools.