A LIBRARYSYSTEM FOR INFORMATIONANALYSIS AND SUPPORTEDRETRIEVAL
BASED ON A COGNITIVEBY AN ICON-BASEDINTERFACETASK

Annelise Mark Pejtersen
FCI Informatics ResearchCenter
2860 Seborg, Denmark

Introduction

In the following, such a system - the BOOK HOUSE forfinding fiction - which is equally amenable to searches by
novice users and librarians will be described. The underlying cognitive formulation of the retrieval task was
based on actual user-librarian negotiations while the resulting interface employs graphical communication andencourages “direct manipulation” by the user via a mousebased access to a spatial metaphor built around a “librarywhich houses fiction”.

The advent of modem information technology is significantly affecting many aspects of the system design process
as well as the resulting user products. One tendency seems
to be in the direction of integrated work stations which aim
at supporting the broad diversification of tasks which
professional users have to cope with. Therefore earlier efforts originating within the fields of “ergonomics” and“human factors” are undergoing a radical development in the
direction of a serious concern with understanding anddealing with the basic interactions between people and theiractual work situation. Major areas include user modelling,task performance, decision making and user-systemcommunications. This concern has spawned an activity
called cognitive engineering having the overall goal ofproviding good human-work interfaces and incorporating asa principle ingredient a cognitive task analysis (Pejtersen
and Rasmussen 1986).

BOOKHOUSE

design - the cognitivebasis

On of the major components of a cognitive task analysis
involves the identification of the problem or work space
which structures and identifies the information describing
the particular “world” under consideration, i.e.fiction retrieval in public library. An example is shown in Fig. 1.

Document Content

Given this dynamic world of modem information technology and systems, a second key issue forming the context of
this paper is the support of information retrieval. The
information retrieval task is an important element in practically all domains of professional and indeed leisure activity. It is more and more common - e.g. within the
integrated work station environment - for users to need tohave accessto a large number of different databasesand tocombine, process and integrate information from these as animportant ingredient of their work. Each databaseis createdby a group of experts in the field covered by the particular
database. However one cannot assume automatically that
this expertise extends to a knowledge of the expected end
users’ particular needs, background, way of formulating
queries, etc. What is needed is an appropriate frame ofreference for indexing and searching based on a cognitive
analysis of the users’ task. This can lead to a systemsolution which lets the user choose search attributes whichadequately cover the specific domain and, at the same time,
gives the user the opportunity to solve his/her problem in anatural way.

User Needs

Author Intention;
Information; Education;
Enjoyable Experience.

Reader’s Ultimate Goal

Literary or Professional
Quality; Paradigm;
Style or School.

Value Criteria Related toReading Process
andor
Product

General Frame of Content;
Cultural Environment,
Historical Period,
Professional Context.

General Topical Interestof Historical or Social
Setting.

Specific, Factual Content.
Episodic Course of Events;
Factual Descriptions.

Topical Interest in

Physical Characteristics
of Document; Form, Size,
Color, Typography, Source,Year of Print.

Reading Ability

Specific Content

Figure1

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On the left are listed various levels of description whichcharacterize a book collection. These levels can be said toconstitute a means-ends structure. On the right, a corre-40

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Vol. 51 No. 2, July 2017search. In this way, the databaseand accessingrequirements
begin to resemble those of non-fictional retrieval systems.

sponding listing of user needs/capabilities is given. The
retrieval process then involves a mapping between these
two multi-level descriptions - i.e. between collection characteristics and user needs, values, abilities. In traditionalsettings, the librarian acts as mediator and transforms what
users say about their needs to one or more book titles. In
systems like the BOOK HOUSE, the mediation is carriedon directly via the interface.

A second important ingredient of a cognitive work analysis
is the identification of the strategies which are employed byusers in navigating through the work space to support theirdecision making. Pejtersen identified several different
strategies which were employed during the user-librarian
negotiations for the identification of books to match users
needs. Of these, three are most relevant in the current
context:

Pejtersen (Pejtersen 1988, 1984, 1980, 1979) conducted
field studies in the 1970’s involving a series of user-librarian conversations. Among other things, these studies uncovered a multi-facetted or multi-dimensional classification
scheme reflecting user reading needs-which led to the work
space illustrated in the lefthand column of Fig. 1. The main
facets of her classification can be summarized as follows:
1. Author’s

1. Analytical search - a rational problem-solving
approach where the intermediary is in control. The dimensions of the user’s needs are explored systematically; need
aspects are compared with document aspects; titles aresuggested.

Intention

2. Search by analogy - the intermediary is in control
and explores user needs by asking for examples of earlier“good” books in order to find “something similar”. Prototypes thus identified can also be analyzed to identify new
searchterms for a subsequentanalytical search.

* Emotional experience* Information* Education* Promotion/stimulation of ideas- e.g. social criticism
philosophical attitudes,..

3. Browsing - the user may have a need which is so
ambiguous that no search specification is possible. Instead,the bookshelves or databaseare scanned in order to explore
possible matches between the intuitive current need and theavailable items.

2. Frame/setting* Time and place* Geographical, historical, social, professionalsetting
3. Subject

A third component in the work analysis has to do with thevarious levels of cognitive control which affect performanceand it is at this level that psychological factors begin to
become important. Within the present context, it issufficient to say that, up to this point, the cognitive
analysis has attempted to explain what users can do as exemplified by the alternative strategies and the multi-facettedclassification. In any system implementation, all of theoptions should be available because there are many factors
which determine which of these a particular user will
choose in any given situation.
These include needspecificity, available time, training, repertoire of heuristics
and skills, etc.

matter* Action and course of events (plot)* Psychological development or description* Social relationships
4. Accessability* Physical characteristics of book/document* Readability* Printing characteristics* Book format* Publisher

The BOOKAs stated, two decision makers are typically required in information retrieval - the user as need formulator and theintermediary as need interpreter and retriever. The joint decision task is to analyze/determine the user’s need in terms
compatible with the database structure, select books andcompare their match with the need. If, as in the BOOK
HOUSE, users access the database directly, assistance isnecessary to help them cope with the complexities of thistask and make decisions compatible with their needs. For
example, to support accessto fiction, it should be possible
for the user to identify and select search terms from one ormore of these facets of “need” as the basis for a subsequent

HOUSE

metaphor

A primary postulate behind the BOOK HOUSE project isthat efficient navigation in a data base by a casual user will
be greatly enhanced if the data base structure can beembedded in a context which can be represented directly on
the interface display surface. This will make it possible forthe user to quickly develop efficient skills in communicating through the interface without the need for complex
mental juggling to convert one representation to another.
One way to attempt this is to consistently recode theabstract attributes of the items in the data base to positions
in various spatial arrangements on the display surface. This
will directly reinforce the development of manual skills
involving the mouse to cope with the resulting spatial-

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temporal working space in what one today calls a direct
manipulation mode - i.e. an efficient automated interaction
with the entities on the visible surface.

strategy are made available. Each of the four strategies will
be described briefly below in terms of the metaphor.
Thus Fig.5 is one of four work rooms and is designed tosupport an analytic search. The user enters this room andtakes the place of the figure sitting at the table in the previous picture. On and around the table are icons representing the different dimensions of the classification system.
There are thirteen of them. For example, the world globe
represents the geographical setting of the book, the clock
icon denotes the time dimension and the theatre mask refers
to the emotional experience provided by the books. The
user can select one of these at a time so as to get access toan open book display with the textual listing of theparticular set of search terms which belong to the selecteddimension. The user can also combine search terms fromthe same or different dimensions. The Boolean operators
are automatically inserted - generally with AND between
dimensions and OR and AND within dimensions. This setof selected terms is the user’s current search profile which
he/she can revise by deleting terms, adding terms or make a
NOT operation. Thereafter the user can see descriptions of
the books which the BOOK HOUSE has found. These
appear in an open book format (Fig.6) and are structured
according to the classification system so that the user candirectly see the correspondance between his/her selected
terms and the actual contents of each book.

This approach gives rise to an integrated spatial metaphoric
representation for the BOOK HOUSE which includes (a)data base contents and structure as well as (b) support for
the associated information processing and retrieval. It canbe seen that this indeed is a powerful and potentiallyuniversal metaphor becauseit can accommodatechanging toother databaseshaving a different structure and/or contents
through appropriate alterations in the spatial conversion
while the basic facilities for supporting the search processitself remain essentially the same. This stands in contrast
to the widely used Desk Top Metaphor which is nothing
more than an arrangement on the display screen of a variety
of tools (files, documents, folders, trash baskets,..) mainly
depicted in terms of conventional techology without any
direct support of the work situations the user could be
confronted with.
Of course, in a real-life library - as for most data bases- thenumber of dimensions in the base can be numerous, thenumber of stored items is high and the search attributes are
not always well known to the user. In the BOOK HOUSE
intermediary, an attempt was made to exploit the flexible
display capabilities of computers to relate both informationin and about the data base as well as the various means forcommunicating with the data base to a location in a virtual
space - i.e. by creating a kind of storehouse (or bookhouse). The many dimensions were allocated locations inappropriate rooms or sections of rooms within thestorehouse. This type of metaphor was felt to be easily
understood and remembered - by both children and adults.
This is exemplified by the poster introducing the BOOK
HOUSE (Fig.2) which is a house made of books (like apancake restaurant). The book is the reason for, the objectof and the target for the acts of users during a search. The
house is the symbol of the database system in which theuser has to navigate.

If find a similar book is selected, another room is enteredwhich shows a book containing a title or author index forthe database. This can be opened to help the user identify
his/her reference book. After selection of this reference
book, the system will automatically attempt to find otherbooks in the collection which include as many of the sameindexed attributes of the reference book as possible. The
descriptions of the ten most similar books will be presented
one at a time in an open book format in decreasing order of
relevance. The multifacetted classification scheme is usedas the basis for a weighting of all books in the collection
with respect to the reference book. The algorithm is quite
simple and can be described as follows:If, for a given dimension of the classification system (e.g.
plot or time), c is the number of index terms common to agiven book i and the reference book which itself has a index
terms within this dimension, the given book’s weight inthis dimension isThus when the user has entered the BOOK HOUSE, he/she
first enters a hall connecting to three different rooms having
books on shelves (Fig.3). The left room has books forchildren, the right room has books for adults while thecenter room has books for both. The difference is reinforcedby the size of the people seen entering the three rooms.

wdi = wd x c/a
After the user has chosen a database, a new room will appear showing people (children, adults or both - dependingon the previous choice) buzy searching for books in different ways (Fig.4). The user can thus select one of four
different search strategies based on the results of theempirical studies mentioned previously. The direct manipulation feature allows the user to click directly on the
figure executing the same strategy that he/she is interested
in. A selection here leads the user to a new area where therequired set of “tools” for carrying out the chosen searchwhere wdi is the weight of dimension d for book i and wd isthe collection weight for dimension d. A book’s total
weight is then the sum of its dimension weights. In the
BOOK HOUSE, seven of the thirteen dimensions (plot,
setting, place, time and impression, cognition, genre) were
utilized in this calculation of similarity.
The system calculates collection similarity on-line after
each request for “find similar book”.

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A choice of a browsing strategy indicates that the user
doesn’t know the “specific address” of a good book but
would prefer to “wander around town” until agood/familiar/interesting item is discovered. Thus after“clicking” on this strategy, the system shifts immediately
to an open book representation with a randomly chosenbook description. The user can thereafter continue to step
through other descriptions.
The browsing strategy also includes an iconic version where
the user can browse though small pictures describing bookcontent (Fig.7). This could be appropriate when the user
does not have a well formulated need but would like a quick
bird’s eye view of what the books in the database are allabout. Of course, skimming through several pages of lists
of indexed terms - one for each dimension in theclassification scheme - is feasible but tedious. Therefore,
icons are an economic way of supporting intuitive searches
since a single picture can communicate many different
facets of meaning and thus can include terms from morethan one dimension. In this way, apart from being
effective, a skimming through icons can provide an
unexpected aesthetic and emotional experience and give rise
to potentially new perspectives on a topic.
This emphasis on storehouses and work rooms facilitates
the utilization by the user of the old (Simonides 500 BC)
mnemonic trick of locating items to be remembered ingiven physical locations which one can then retraverse inorder to retrieve a given item and/or freely roam (browse)
through in order to gain an overview. In addition, users canalways keep track of where in the BOOK HOUSE they areso that they can trace their way back if they so desire.
Users are able at any time to change strategy, shift database,choose new search terms, print out book descriptions forlater use, etc. Shift of strategy can be performed at any levelof the search.
Use of icons in the BOOK

HOUSE

The most important issue regarding the use of pictures or
icons is of course their comprehension by the user. This is
not only a function of their content and form but, more
importantly, the context within which they are viewed e.g. where in the retrieval task one is - as well as the experience level of the user. Since the BOOK HOUSE is fornovices from 7 to 70 years of age, this is a critical issue.
In addition, the use of icons does not preclude the use ofother more traditional forms for interface communicationand the BOOK HOUSE includes both icons and text.

in the BOOK HOUSE the various functions/information arelocated. For example, Figs.2-6 contain a set of small icons
along the upper left; these show the rooms which the user
has been in earlier and which he/she can return to.
More specifically, icons are often used as signs to the user
regarding the actions/choices which can be taken during asearch. There are icons available to seek help, seebook descriptions, change search terms, etc. The problem is thatthe user should be able - at least when gaining experience
with the system - to connect icon attributes with theparticular action. This connection can be with an action
state, an object, the act, the agent or even a relation(Pejtersen and Rasmussen 1987). In addition, the pictorial
form can be based on a pictogram (a realistic reproduction),an analogy or an arbitrary representation (Lodding 1983).
The possibilities are enormous and there are no rules or
guidelines for making the best (or avoiding the worst)
selection.
Special mention should be made of the use of content icons
as symbols for representing book contents when users
select the browse through pictures strategy. These pictures
are implemented as six pages of small icons, with eighteen
icons on each page (see Fig.7 for an example). The
approach to constructing these icons was to use the mostfrequently used index terms as the basis for imagining anddrawing an appropriate pictorial representation. It was foundof course that the same icon could serve as the pictorial
counterpart of more than one index term. Thus the 108
icons cover more than 1000 index terms.
In connection with the creation of these content icons, anpilot experiment was conducted in advance of the final implementation of the BOOK HOUSE to determine whether
there was a sufficient consensus between the designers’
conceptions of match between content icons and index
terms and those of different groups of potential users of thesystem. The results indicated a good match.
BOOK

HOUSE Evaluation

The BOOK HOUSE (and its text-only predecessor, the
BOOK AUTOMAT) were evaluated at a public library inthe town of Hjortespring over a six month period during
1988. The experimental subjects were the normal everyday
users of the library and consisted of both children from 7 to
16 years and adults from 17 to over 50. The evaluation
program was carefully planned and consisted of both ananalytical and an empirical phase. The analytical portion
concentrated on the functionality of the system and could
build on the earlier studies of user-librarian negotiations
which uncovered the search strategies employed andconsequently the information required to support thesestrategies. This work had given the basis for making decisions about the contents of the computerized displays which
thus could be verified analytically. The empirical validation
was then necessary e.g., to see how/whether users would

The BOOK HOUSE uses icons for several purposes. The
design has been aimed particularly at the novice user where,
when appropriate, the displayed icons preferably should be
multi-purpose and permit a direct mapping onto effective
cues/signs for action at the manipulative level and onto thesemantic organization/content of the database for use inplanning and decision making. In addition, as mentioned
earlier, they are used to support the user’s memory of where43

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accept the form of the displayed information as supportiveof their efforts to retrieve relevant fiction.

search for fiction. The BOOK HOUSE is built as anapplication of the GEM (Graphics Environment Manager)system in a DOS environment - however with much original C code for functions not covered by GEM. A laptop
PC with an external color display is normally used todemonstrate the system.

Thus the evaluation cycle for the system consisted of athorough verification of functionality, a set of queries tousers and librarians before the system was installed, systeminstallation and training, detailed queries and logging
during/just after system use and, finally, later feedback onuser satisfaction with the retrieved books. A short list of
the items for evaluation includes the degree to which
A:Subjectindexing corresponded to users‘ needs(Dimensionsof classification
scheme, specificity/exhaustivityof indexing, representation of bookcontent. B: The user intetiace was understandable (Choiceof strategies, Icons for search manipulation, Icons forbrowsing book content)
In general terms, it can be said that the BOOK HOUSE received an overwhelmingly positive response with regard toboth indexing and the user interface. A few selected results
can be seen in Table 1 and 2.

Acknowledgement
This project was supported by the Danish Council ofTechnology, Public Library Research Council, Project
partners were Jutland Telephone, RC Computer A/S, The
Royal Art Academy, The Royal School of Librarianshipand the Department of Information Technology at the Ris$
National Laboratory.
References
Lodding,K.N. (1983) Iconic Interfacing, IEEE Computer
Graphics and Applications, vol.3 pp.1 l-20.
Pejtersen,A.M. (1988) Search Strategies and Database Design, in L.P.Goodstein, H.B.Andersen and S.E.Olsen (eds)
Tasks, Errors and Models, Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Table 1
Choice of Search Strategy
Classification Search

31%

Browse Pictures27%

Search by Analogy

23%

Browse Books

20%

Pejtersen,A.M. (1984) Design of Computer-Aided UserSystem Dialogue Based on an Analysis of User’ Search
Strategies, Social Science Information Studies, Vol.4.
pp.167-183.
Pejtersen,A.M. (1980) Design of a Classification System
for Fiction Based on an Analysis of Actual User-LibrarianCommunications; and Use of the Scheme for Control of
Librarians’ Search Strategies, in O.Harboe and L.Kajberg(eds) Theory and Application of Information Research,
London, Mansell, pp.146-159.

Based on 6000 searches
Table 2
Satisfaction

with

Pejtersen,A.M. (1979) Investigation of Search Strategies
Based on an Analysis of 134 User-Librarian Conversations,in T.Henriksen (ed), Third International Research Forum inInformation Research, Oslo.

the Bookhouse

Satisfaction with the interface

95%

Satisfaction with search results 84%

Pejtersen,A.M. and Rasmussen,R. (1986) : Design and
Evaluation of User-System Interfaces or of User -Task Interaction: A Discussion of Interface Design Approach in
Different Domains for Application of Modem Information
Technology. In: Zunde and Agrawal (eds.): EmpiricalFoundations of Information and Software Science 4.
Plenum Press, New York, 1987.

Match book description/content 85%
Based on 120 interviews/questionaires
The detailed results will be included in the final report on
the project which will be published during 1989. This will
also include the results of an attempt to generalize the results of the project in the form of guidelines for the designof iconic interfaces.
Conclusion
This has been a short account of the BOOK HOUSE - anon-line system for casual users and librarians who wish to44

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