Abstract: Information seeking is situated in real-world work tasks. Often these tasks are complex and may involve learning, decision-making, and sometimes creativity. Over the past few years, the Interactive Information Systems Lab at the UNC School of Information and Library Science has been conducting research to better understand dimensions of these task contexts and how information systems can better support users with different types of tasks. In this talk, I will discuss task complexity, the integration of searching within task activities, and tools to support different types of search tasks (e.g., learning, creative, procedural knowledge).
Bio: Dr. Robert Capra is a Professor in the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His interests include human-computer interaction, interactive information retrieval, and personal information management. In his research, he focuses on how people search for information in different contexts and on developing tools to support users’ search needs. Dr. Capra is a recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER grant and he publishes regularly in top computer and information science conferences and journals. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Virginia Tech and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in computer science from Washington University in St. Louis. At Virginia Tech, he was part of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction where he investigated multi-platform interfaces, information re-finding, and interfaces for digital libraries.
