Research Agenda of VIRI

--- Visual Information Retrieval Interfaces

(draft for discussions in SIGIR'95 workshop)

1. Objectives

• 1. 1 Advantages of VIRI

• 1.1.1 Advantages of Graphical Displays
• 1.1.2 Advantages of Visualization
• 1.1.3 Information Explosion/Exploration and Graphical Displays/Visualization

• 1. 2 What to display?

• 1.2.1 Text or icons?
• 1.2.2 Words or phrases ?
• 1.2.3 Titles/abstracts or fulltext
• 1.2.4 Statistical/distribution patterns or semantic relationships?
• 1.2.5 For the eyes or for the mind?
• 1.2.6 Two-D. or Three-D.?

• 1. 3 Relationships between VIRI and Retrieval/Browsing

• 1.3.1 VIRI as a front-end of retrieval systems
• 1.3.2 VIRI as an integral part of retrieval systems
• 1.3.3 VIRI as a Client to Network Resources Servers
• 1.3.4 VIRI as a personal information filter

• 1.4 Information Seeking and Graphical Displays/Visualization

• 1.4.1 Human Information Seeking Behaviors
• 1.4.2 Visual Information Seeking
• 1.4.3 Individual Differences

• 1.5 Readings

2. Representations

• 2.1 Representation of Text

• 2.1.1 Vector space models
• 2.1.2 Signature models
• 2.1.3 String representation

• 2.2 Representation of Semantic relationships

• 2.2.1 Hierarchical structures
• 2.2.2 Clustering
• 2.2.3 Networks
• 2.2.3.1 Pathfinder networks
• 2.2.4 Maps
• 2.2.4.1 Kohonen Mapping
• 2.3 Dimensionality of Textual information
• 2.3.1 Dimensional reduction
• 2.3.2 Distance/Similarity
• 2.3.3

3. Displays

• 3.1 Metaphors

• 3.1.1 Window/Desktop metaphors
• 3.1.2 Map metaphors
• 3.1.3 Landscape metaphors
• 3.1.4 Galaxy metaphors

• 3.2 Visual Graphical design

• 3.2.1 FishEye views
• 3.2.2 Local and global displays
• 3.2.3 Maps
• 3.2.4 Simple is the best!

• 3.3 Interface functionality

• 3.3.1 Zooming/panning
• 3.3.2 Scatter/Gather
• 3.3.3 Drag/drop
• 3.3.4 Filters
• 3.3.4.1 Movable filters
• 3.3.4.2 Dynamic query filters

4. User Interactions

• 4.1 User modeling

• 4.1.1 Personal collections as the basics for user modeling
• 4.2 Human-machine cooperation
• 4.3 User Studies

5. Prototypes

• 5.1 Tools

• 5.1.1 Programming languages/frameworks
• 5.1.1.1 tcl/tk
• 5.1.1.2. Pad++
• 5.1.2 Supporting systems
• 5.1.2.1 Microsoft Windows
• 5.1.2.2 X-Windows
• 5.1.2.3 Macintosh
• 5.2 Prototype systems
• A List of Visual Interfaces prototypes

• 5.3 TestBeds

• 5.3.1 TREC test collection
• 5.4 Comparisons and Evaluations

6. Applications

• 6.1 Extendibility
• 6.2 Large-scale applications
• 6.2.1 Network applications
• 6.2.2 Online industry applications
• 6.2.3 Digital Library Applications
• 6.2.3.1 Graphical Table of Contents
• 6.2.3.2 Graphical Abstract