Research Article
Enhancing Human-Computer Interaction in Digital
Repositories through a MCDA-Based Recommender System
Christos Troussas , Akrivi Krouska , and Cleo Sgouropoulou
University of West Attica, Egaleo, Greece
CorrespondenceshouldbeaddressedtoChristosTroussas;ctrouss@uniwa.gr
Received 29 April 2021; Revised 6 September 2021; Accepted 6 October 2021; Published 19 October 2021
AcademicEditor:MarcoPorta
Copyright©2021ChristosTroussasetal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Digitalrepositoriescontainalargeamountofcontent,whichisavailabletoheterogeneousgroupsofpeople.Assuch,inmany
casespeopleencounterdifficultiesinfindingspecificcontentwhichisrelatedtotheirpreferences.Inviewofthiscompellingneed
and towards advancing human-computer interaction, this paper presents a recommender system which is incorporated in a
digitalrepository.erecommendersystemisdesignedusingmultiple-criteriadecisionanalysis(MCDA)andmorespecifically
theweightedsummodel(WSM)inordertorefinethedeliveredcontenttotheusers.Italsoconsidersseveralusers’characteristics
(theirpreferencesasdepictedbythecontenttheyvisitedorsearchedandbythefrequencyofsearches/visits)andfeaturesofthe
content (content types and traffic). e recommender system outputs the suggestions of content to users based on their
preferencesandinterests.epresentedrecommendersystemwasevaluatedbyrealusers,andtheresultsshowahighdegreeof
accuracy in the recommended content and satisfaction by users.
1. Introduction
Human-computerinteraction(HCI)exploresthedesignand
use of computer technologies, targeting the interfaces be-
tweencomputersandtheirusers(people).Researchersinthe
fieldofHCIstudythemeansthroughwhichpeopleinteract
with computers and develop technologies that, in essence,
help humans interact with them in an effective way [1, 2].
As a research topic, HCI is a confluence of computer
science and several other fields of study, such as design,
media studies, behavioral sciences, and so on. e term
involves multiple applications for a computer, and this
happens as an open-ended conversation between the user
and the computer. e definition of this interconnection
contrasts human-computer interaction with human-to-
human interaction, a comparison that is significant for the
field’s theoretical considerations.
Inviewoftheabove,HCIisasignificantfieldofresearch
that should be respected in the design and development of
several systems and applications [3], such as digital repos-
itories. A digital repository is a digital information man-
agement and storage mechanism [4]. Repositories may, in
their emphasis, be subject or institutional. Putting material
into an institutional repository allows it to be handled and
maintained by organizations and employees and hence to
gainfullbenefitfromit.Study,learning,andadministrative
processes may be assisted by a repository. Repositories use
open practices to make sure that it is easy to access the
content they contain in order to trace and recover it for
further use. By using these internationally accepted prin-
ciples,frameworkswhichimport,export,classify,store,and
retrieve digital content within the repository can be
developed.
For a variety of purposes and users, digital repositories
may contain a wide volume of content. Currently, what is
included in a repository is less of a technical or software
capacityproblemandmoreofapolicyoptiontakenbyeach
organization or administrator. Study outputs, such as
journalarticlesorresearchdata,e-theses,e-learningobjects,
and instructional materials, and administrative data may
actuallycontaincontent.Somerepositoriestakeonlycertain
objects (such as theses or journal papers), whereas others
aim to compile all credible research work created by the
institution, constrained only by the retained rights of
Hindawi
Advances in Human-Computer Interaction
Volume 2021, Article ID 7213246, 7 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/7213246