4.2 KO at the search interface
4.2.3 Implications of identified KO complexities
So where does all this leave us? How good are search systems and databases for humanities today? What can we do to improve the situation?
Identifying user needs
We have discussed the key role that quality subject metadata plays in making information resources findable (professional, social, automatic); we have also demonstrated the need for quality search and browse interfaces of information retrieval systems, both equally important for information discovery.
What is also important is to inform the design of both KOS and search interfaces by end-user requirements. The adoption of KOS for improved information discovery cannot be divorced from approaches from related disciplines, such as human-computer interaction or information behaviour, that would allow for a clearer understanding of humanities scholars' information practices in specific contexts and the general public. The users' information needs must be thoroughly and continuously researched to inform the development of KOS, their implementation at the time of indexing and the level of the search interface.
One illustrative example is the ResearchSpace project, which demonstrated that DH research practices and the ways humanities scholars interact with their sources do not match what is conventionally expressed in databases. Simply put, a data-driven organisation may not be suitable for researchers such as historians. The organising unit needs to be more contextualised and resemble a fluid narrative that can be linked together rather than just a single piece of data.
A historian needs a dynamic, narrative-based organisation of information to address their research processes. Screenshot taken from researchspace.org on 17 October 2022.
Understanding humanities researchers is key to understanding what kinds of KOS processes and standards we should create and provide. Future research should focus on understanding the context of information needs, search, interaction and use.
Finally...
On the one hand, the field of knowledge organisation has been finding applications in numerous areas outside its home field of information science to help address the almost universal need for organising information. However, we have also witnessed that, in many domains of human endeavour, information is being organised ad hoc, often resulting in systems that underperform and even effectively prevent access to data, information and knowledge. To help deliver the best solutions for managing information in (digital) humanities, it is essential to bring the two communities of research and practice together and explore their combined potential.
This OER has shown the need for knowledge organisation of cultural heritage to support (digital) humanities research and ensure access to information for the general public in Europe and beyond. At the same time, knowledge organisation often needs to resort to digital tools, showing how, on the one hand, knowledge organisation is essential for Digital Humanities. Still, also digital tools like the NewsEye Platform are helping knowledge organisation. In all, only with open and easy access to information can we move towards future stories of Europe and start fulfilling the vision of a world characterised by equality, peace and sustainable development.
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REFERENCES
- Oldman, Dominic. (2021). Digital research, the legacy of form and structure and the ResearchSpace system. In Information and Knowledge Organisation in Digital Humanities: Global Perspectives / [ed] Koraljka Golub, Ying-Hsang Liu, Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003131816 (free open access)