Issues in Collaborative Database Browsing

Michael Bernard Twidale

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Library Science and Information Literacy Library Science and Information Information Retrieval and Search Behavior

Abstract

This report examines the possibilities for extending the CSCW approach to searching and browsing in computerised databases. In particular we are concerned with supporting the learning of browsing techniques. In the Higher Education sector the most visible data resource is that of the university library; most of which have computerised their stocks with online public access catalogues (OPACs). This resource is supplemented by the provision of databases on CD-ROM of books and journal articles. Increasingly, both the student and the researcher are including remote libraries and databases amongst their data sources [Sack, 1986]. The relentless growth of the Internet and the success of browsers such as Mosaic only add to the enormous variety and number of resources available. The computerised library (or other similar database) is already an integral part of undergraduate courses and the skills to effectively access and utilise can be expected to become increasingly valued, both in academic and commercial environments [Jackson, 1989]. We can expect that in the near future, the ability to effectively browse databases will be one of the transferable skills expected by employers of all graduates regardless of their course of study. This report takes the OPAC as a context for examining the issues involved in supporting collaborative activities in computerised databases. In addition to conventional searching/browsing behaviour, new types of activity become possible which are not feasible in physical libraries [Rice, 1988]. The report includes a literature review on searching and browsing, an exploratory study of collaborative browsing and a discussion of the mechanisms needed to support collaborative activities in databases. Also discussed are methods to aid the teaching of datab...

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1986The Blind Watchmaker 1990Idea tactics 1986Coping with Information Load: User Strategies and Implications for Librarians 1983Library Use Patterns Among Full- and Part-Time Faculty and Students 1991End-User Searching: Program Review and Future Prospects.1993Collaborative learning and bibliographic instruction 1994Teaching Remote Users How to Use Electronic Information Resources.

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2007Ariadne: An Interface To Support Collaborative Database Browsing

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