1 Digital Library Interfaces for Cognitive Diversity A Position Statement for PersDL 2007 Workshop Jacek Gwizdka Department of Library and Information Science Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA persDL07@gwizdka.com ABSTRACT Prior research in human computer interaction (HCI) has identified a number of cognitive abilities and styles as factors that influence user interaction with computing devices. In this paper, we describe our on-going effort that investigates digital library (DL) interfaces in relation to cognitive characteristics of users. The current project aims to build user models and to create cognitive user profiles based on observed user interaction with the system. Two possibilities for creation of implicit user profiles are being considered, first is based on recognition of behavior patterns on “standard” DL interaction tasks, second is based on analysis of behavior on specially designed “probing tasks”. The project is at an early stage of investigation. The data is currently being collected in a user study. The behavioral data will be used to create predictive models of selected cognitive factors. The long-term goal of this research is to accommodate a broad diversity of DL users by personalizing interfaces to match human cognitive abilities. Keywords individual differences, cognitive abilities, cognitive styles, personalization, implicit user profiling, user modeling. INTRODUCTION Digital library interfaces matter. There is no doubt about it (Dillon, 1999). Accordingly, the digital library (DL) community has long recognized importance of usability as a development and evaluation method for DLs (Blandford and Buchanan, 2004). Numerous studies have been reported (e.g., Van House and Butler, et al., 1996; Kengeri, Seals, et al., 1999; Dillon, 1999; Blandford, Keith, et al., 2004, Hartson, Priya, et al., 2004; Bolstad, 2006). However, in a typical usability approach an interface is designed to fit all users. In the face of increasing diversity of DL users and uses, such approach is limited. It may generate interfaces that are not efficient nor satisfactory for all groups of users, and some people may even not be able to use these interfaces at all. One source of diversity among people that has been shown to affect interaction with digital environments are the natural, age related, or trauma induced differences in people’s cognitive abilities and styles. The cognitive differences include ability differences (e.g., short-term memory, visuo-spatial memory, processing speed) and style differences (e.g., verbal-visual, field independence-dependence). Personalization of interfaces is a promising approach that can address such differences among DL users. Before attempting to personalize DL, however, the relationships between DL interface elements, interactive behavior and human cognitive characteristics need to be well established. One of the aims of the research program proposed here is to determine such relationships in a systematic manner. BACKGROUND This section presents a brief introduction to cognitive abilities and styles. The focus then turns to research findings in the area of effects of cognitive differences on interaction with computers, and on interaction with digital libraries in particular. Cognitive Abilities and Styles The notion of cognitive abilities comes from the tradition of psychometric intelligence testing in psychology (Kline, 2000). Cognitive ability refers to human ability to perform cognitive tasks that is tasks “in which correct and or appropriate processing of mental information is critical to successful performance” (Carroll 1993, p. 10). The psychometric approach views the structure of human intelligence as a multi-dimensional construct that can be discovered by analyzing the relationship of scores on cognitive ability tests. The underlying dimensions are the elementary cognitive abilities. One of the best known is Carroll’s (1993) three-stratum theory of cognitive abilities. In recent years, heritability, neurocognitive, and developmental studies provided additional evidence that validated the factor-analytically derived cognitive abilities. For example, the following cognitive abilities are of interest in the context of interaction with digital libraries: • Working Memory (Mw, part of Gy): ability to temporarily store and perform a set of cognitive operations on information that requires divided attention and the management of the limited capacity resources of short-term memory. • Visual Memory (MV, part of Gy): ability to form and store a mental representation or image of a visual shape or configuration, over at least a few seconds, and then recognize or recall it later. Gwizdka, J. (2007). Digital Library Interfaces for Cognitive Diversity. Position Paper for 10th DELOS Thematic Workshop on "Personalized Access, Profile Management, and Context Awareness in Digital Libraries" PersDL'2007, June 28-29, 2007, Corfu, Greece