Which Tags Do We Remember in Personal Information Management?

ABSTRACT

In recent years, as the amount of data grows, personal information management has become essential as well as challenging for everyday lives. Tagging, an alternative or complement to classifying into tree-structured directories, allows users to classify a single information item in multiple categories. Due to its flexibility, tagging system has become popular and a number of studies have been conducted. Most of the previous research investigated the quality of tags with various tools such as questionnaires. However, the actual usage behavior of tag-based browsing and retrieval of stored information has rarely been studied. In this study, we examined the effects of tag attributes on the user behavior in browsing self-tagged documents under personal information management settings.

Three attributes, tag commonness, tag frequency and tag position, were identified. A controlled experiment with tasks of tagging and retrieval to trace users’ behavior revealed that the tags with higher tag commonness, higher tag frequency, and lower tag position were more likely to be used. The tags with lower tag commonness and lower tag frequency helped users recognize a desired document among a list of candidates. Among the three attributes, tag position was found the most influential. The findings of this study are expected to enhance the understanding of the quality tags and help information designers in building an effective tagging environment.

Notes

¹ https://delicious.com/

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the IT R&D program of MOTIE/KEIT [10040020, “Development of learner-participational collaborative learning technology based on 3D learning knowledge contents platform”] and Industrial Strategic Technology Development Program of the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MI, Korea) [10052955, “Experiential Knowledge Platform Development Research for the Acquisition and Utilization of Field Expert Knowledge”].

Notes on contributors

Hyungil Suh

Hyungil Suh is a researcher on the Knowledge E-learning Team at Electronics Telecommunications Research Institute in Korea. He obtained his bachelor’s degree from Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea in 2010 and received his master’s degree in Knowledge Service Engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea in 2013. His research area includes human behavior and interaction in information management systems, the user interfaces in interactive book devices, and interaction design.

Jeungmin Oh

Jeungmin Oh received his BS degree in Media Communication Engineering from Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea in 2012. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea. His research interests include interaction design, activity recognition, and exergame.

Wan Chul Yoon

Wan Chul Yoon received his MS degree in industrial engineering from KAIST and his PhD in industrial and systems engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1987. He joined the faculty of the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at KAIST in 1988, where he is working as a full professor in Department of Knowledge Service Engineering. His main research areas include cognitive engineering, human–computer interaction, user experience, system safety, applied intelligence, and knowledge processing.