Annotating the Web: An Exploratory Study of Web Users' Needs for Personal Annotation Tools
(2005) Annotating the Web: An Exploratory Study of Web Users' Needs for Personal Annotation Tools. In Grove, Andrew, Eds. Proceedings 68th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) 42, Charlotte (US).
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Abstract
This exploratory study investigates the needs Web users have to make annotations for their personal use when they
view Web pages. Three forms of annotations observed on printed documents - text selection and emphasis,
association building, and document re-segmentation - are examined in the Web environment. The study shows that text selection and association building through notes or symbols remain the dominant forms of annotation on the Web,
while structural annotation (re-segmentation) and layout annotation (change of font, color, etc.) are also prevalent. The study also investigates users' preferences for the tools designed to facilitate Web annotation practices. Findings
suggest that usability is of utmost importance when developing Web annotation tools, and that under the current
technical conditions, users welcome lightweight annotation functions, which are built into standard Web browsers.
| Keywords: | information behavior ; workplace ; search strategies ; search characteristics |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | B. Information use and sociology of information. > BI. User interfaces, usability. |
| ID Code: | 5095 |
| Deposited By: | Medeiros, Norm |
| Deposited On: | 09 March 2006 |
| All fields: | Show all fields |
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