TY - CONF T1 - Searching for Expertise in Social Networks: A Simulation of Potential Strategies T2 - Proceedings of the 2005 International ACM SIGGROUP Conference on Supporting Group Work (Group'05) Y1 - 2005 A1 - Zhang, Jun A1 - Mark S. Ackerman KW - expertise finding KW - expertise location KW - expertise sharing KW - information seeking KW - organizational simulations KW - social computing KW - social networks AB -

People search for people with suitable expertise all of the time in their social networks - to answer questions or provide help. Recently, efforts have been made to augment this searching. However, relatively little is known about the social characteristics of various algorithms that might be useful. In this paper, we examine three families of searching strategies that we believe may be useful in expertise location. We do so through a simulation, based on the Enron email data set. (We would be unable to suitably experiment in a real organization, thus our need for a simulation.) Our emphasis is not on graph theoretical concerns, but on the social characteristics involved. The goal is to understand the tradeoffs involved in the design of social network based searching engines.
 

JF - Proceedings of the 2005 International ACM SIGGROUP Conference on Supporting Group Work (Group'05) UR - Complete ER - TY - CONF T1 - The Perfect Search Engine is Not Enough: A Study of Orienteering Behavior in Directed Search T2 - Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'04) Y1 - 2004 A1 - Jaime Teevan A1 - Alvarado, Christine A1 - Mark S. Ackerman A1 - David R. Karger KW - context KW - information seeking KW - observational study KW - orienteering KW - search KW - teleporting AB -

This paper presents a modified diary study that investigated how people performed personally motivated searches in their email, in their files, and on the Web. Although earlier studies of directed search focused on keyword search, most of the search behavior we observed did not involve keyword search. Instead of jumping directly to their information target using keywords, our participants navigated to their target with small, local steps using their contextual knowledge as a guide, even when they knew exactly what they were looking for in advance. This stepping behavior was especially common for participants with unstructured information organization. The observed advantages of searching by taking small steps include that it allowed users to specify less of their information need and provided a context in which to understand their results. We discuss the implications of such advantages for the design of personal information management tools.
 

JF - Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'04) UR - Complete ER - TY - CONF T1 - Expertise Recommender: A Flexible Recommendation System and Architecture T2 - Proceedings of the 2000 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'00) Y1 - 2000 A1 - McDonald, David W. A1 - Mark S. Ackerman KW - collaborative filtering KW - expert locators KW - expertise finding KW - expertise location KW - expertise sharing KW - information seeking KW - recommendation systems KW - software architecture AB -

Locating the expertise necessary to solve difficult problems is a nuanced social and collaborative problem. In organizations, some people assist others in locating expertise by making referrals. People who make referrals fill key organizational roles that have been identified by CSCW and affiliated research. Expertise locating systems are not designed to replace people who fill these key organizational roles. Instead, expertise locating systems attempt to decrease workload and support people who have no other options. Recommendation systems are collaborative software that can be applied to expertise locating. This work describes a general recommendation architecture that is grounded in a field study of expertise locating. Our expertise recommendation system details the work necessary to fit expertise recommendation to a work setting. The architecture and implementation begin to tease apart the technical aspects of providing good recommendations from social and collaborative concerns.

JF - Proceedings of the 2000 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'00) UR - Complete ER - TY - CONF T1 - Just Talk to Me: A Field Study of Expertise Location T2 - Proceedings of the 1998 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'98) Y1 - 1998 A1 - McDonald, David W. A1 - Mark S. Ackerman KW - bug reporting KW - CMC KW - computer mediated communications KW - expert locators KW - expertise finding KW - expertise location KW - expertise networks KW - expertise sharing KW - information seeking KW - knowledge networks KW - knowledge sharing AB -

Everyday, people in organizations must solve their problems to get their work accomplished. To do so, they often must find others with knowledge and information. Systems that assist users with finding such expertise are increasingly interesting to organizations and scientific communities. But, as we begin to design and construct such systems, it is important to determine what we are attempting to augment. Accordingly, we conducted a five-month field study of a medium-sized software firm. We found the participants use complex, iterative behaviors to minimize the number of possible expertise sources, while at the same time, provide a high possibility of garnering the necessary expertise. We briefly consider the design implications of the identification, selection, and escalation behaviors found during our field study.

JF - Proceedings of the 1998 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'98) UR - Complete ER -