Information Visualization and Information Seeking

Exploring human visual intelligence in information seeking...the human computer collaboration. If you've hear of Grokker, AquaBrowser, or content like XRefer, you already have an idea of how the human and computer interact and how the computer can amplify human cognition. Can it help you handle the the overwhelming amount of daily information? Join us at our annual technology meeting, co-sponsored by NORASIST, and learn more!

Information visualization (IV) is about the exploration of human’s visual intelligence for information seeking. Its basic principle is human-computer collaboration -- a principle to have human and the computer collaborate and to let the computer amplifies human cognition. For more than 10 years, information visualization has been a hot topic in information science and its related fields. Researchers are using various IV techniques to visualize search results, discover semantic associations, create information maps, and improve interfaces for human computer interactions. It is believed that the potential of information visualization would be a crucial key to meet the challenge of handling the overwhelming amount of information we are facing today. However, moving the potential to practical applications has met great challenges. In this talk, I will discuss these challenges and provide a perspective on how IV techniques might help in library and enterprise applications. I will first provide an overview of the field of information visualization and introduce several central IV concepts and theories. I will then discuss milestones of IV research and show some successful and not-so-successful IV applications. I will also describe and demonstrate several of my own IV prototypes related to information seeking, including AuthorLink, VisualLink, Visual Concept Explorer, and Visual DialogLink. Finally, I will present my recent research on using IV as a representation technique – one I called “dynamic concept representation.”

Thursday, April 20, 2006
At the stunning new Akron Summit County Public Library 60 High Street Akron, OH 44326

Reservations for dinner are essential, and guarantee your meal. If sending your reservation by mail, also send a quick email so we are sure to reserve your meal!

*THERE IS NO CHARGE TO ATTEND THE PROGRAM ONLY*

Payment (Checks preferred, payable to SLA Cleveland Chapter) mailed to:

Susan Lloyd, FirstEnergy Corp, 76 S, Main St., Akron OH 44308

Dr. Xia Lin is an associate professor at the College of Information Science and Technology, Drexel University. He has worked in the field of information visualization for many years and has published widely in the areas of information visualization, digital libraries, and information retrieval. His visualization prototypes have been presented and demonstrated in many national and international conferences. Currently, he serves in the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Information Visualization.

Dr. Lin has a Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Maryland at College Park and a Master of Librarianship from Emory University. Prior to join Drexel, he was an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky.