{"id":{"repo_id":"regina","oai_identifier":"oai:uregina.scholaris.ca:10294/14366"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/regina/oai:uregina.scholaris.ca:10294/14366","repository":{"repo_id":"regina","name":"University of Regina","base_url":"https://uregina.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Klink Search: Enabling Exploratory Browsing Activities in Digital Libraries","abstract":"Complex search tasks within academic digital libraries go beyond simple lookup. They are open-ended, multi-faceted, with ill-defined information needs, requiring cognitive processing of the encountered information and learning. Academic digital library searchers often use exploratory search strategies for complex search tasks. However, the present academic digital library search interfaces provide limited support for exploratory browsing activities, which is a crucial step that supports learning during the exploratory search process. The present research addresses this issue by designing and implementing a novel search interface called KLink Search, to support exploratory browsing activities via two new features: visually linked keywords and interactive workspace. KLink Search leverages information visualization principles to enable interactive information retrieval in academic digital libraries. A controlled laboratory study was conducted with 32 participants to gather evidence for the value of KLink Search compared to a Baseline interface. The data analysis results show that the participants reported higher degrees of perceived ease-of-use, usefulness, satisfaction, and knowledge gain after using KLink Search for complex search tasks. Further, they spend more time searching for information and saving a highly relevant set of documents at the end of the tasks when using KLink Search. These results depict the value of providing lightweight visual additions to the existing academic digital library search interfaces to support exploratory browsing activities effectively.","abstract_html":"Complex search tasks within academic digital libraries go beyond simple lookup. They are open-ended, multi-faceted, with ill-defined information needs, requiring cognitive processing of the encountered information and learning. Academic digital library searchers often use exploratory search strategies for complex search tasks. However, the present academic digital library search interfaces provide limited support for exploratory browsing activities, which is a crucial step that supports learning during the exploratory search process. The present research addresses this issue by designing and implementing a novel search interface called KLink Search, to support exploratory browsing activities via two new features: visually linked keywords and interactive workspace. KLink Search leverages information visualization principles to enable interactive information retrieval in academic digital libraries. A controlled laboratory study was conducted with 32 participants to gather evidence for the value of KLink Search compared to a Baseline interface. The data analysis results show that the participants reported higher degrees of perceived ease-of-use, usefulness, satisfaction, and knowledge gain after using KLink Search for complex search tasks. Further, they spend more time searching for information and saving a highly relevant set of documents at the end of the tasks when using KLink Search. These results depict the value of providing lightweight visual additions to the existing academic digital library search interfaces to support exploratory browsing activities effectively.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Shukla, Soumya Virendra Kumar"],"institution":"Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina","degree_name":"Master of Science (MSc)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"Computer Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Hoeber, Orland"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Fan, Lisa"],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-03","date_published":"2021-03","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:03:29Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.82465/3959"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.82465/3959","href":"https://doi.org/10.82465/3959","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10294/14366","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Hoeber, Orland"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Fan, Lisa"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Shukla, Soumya Virendra Kumar"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2021-09-22T22:36:12Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-09-22T22:36:12Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2021-03"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["master thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MSc)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.82465/3959"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10294/14366"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Computer Science, University of Regina. ix, 134 p."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Complex search tasks within academic digital libraries go beyond simple lookup. They are open-ended, multi-faceted, with ill-defined information needs, requiring cognitive processing of the encountered information and learning. Academic digital library searchers often use exploratory search strategies for complex search tasks. However, the present academic digital library search interfaces provide limited support for exploratory browsing activities, which is a crucial step that supports learning during the exploratory search process. The present research addresses this issue by designing and implementing a novel search interface called KLink Search, to support exploratory browsing activities via two new features: visually linked keywords and interactive workspace. KLink Search leverages information visualization principles to enable interactive information retrieval in academic digital libraries. A controlled laboratory study was conducted with 32 participants to gather evidence for the value of KLink Search compared to a Baseline interface. The data analysis results show that the participants reported higher degrees of perceived ease-of-use, usefulness, satisfaction, and knowledge gain after using KLink Search for complex search tasks. Further, they spend more time searching for information and saving a highly relevant set of documents at the end of the tasks when using KLink Search. These results depict the value of providing lightweight visual additions to the existing academic digital library search interfaces to support exploratory browsing activities effectively."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Klink Search: Enabling Exploratory Browsing Activities in Digital Libraries"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Hoeber, Orland"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Fan, Lisa"],"dc:creator":["Shukla, Soumya Virendra Kumar"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2021-09-22T22:36:12Z"],"dc:date.available":["2021-09-22T22:36:12Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2021-03"],"dc:description":["A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Computer Science, University of Regina. ix, 134 p."],"dc:description.abstract":["Complex search tasks within academic digital libraries go beyond simple lookup. They are open-ended, multi-faceted, with ill-defined information needs, requiring cognitive processing of the encountered information and learning. Academic digital library searchers often use exploratory search strategies for complex search tasks. However, the present academic digital library search interfaces provide limited support for exploratory browsing activities, which is a crucial step that supports learning during the exploratory search process. The present research addresses this issue by designing and implementing a novel search interface called KLink Search, to support exploratory browsing activities via two new features: visually linked keywords and interactive workspace. KLink Search leverages information visualization principles to enable interactive information retrieval in academic digital libraries. A controlled laboratory study was conducted with 32 participants to gather evidence for the value of KLink Search compared to a Baseline interface. The data analysis results show that the participants reported higher degrees of perceived ease-of-use, usefulness, satisfaction, and knowledge gain after using KLink Search for complex search tasks. Further, they spend more time searching for information and saving a highly relevant set of documents at the end of the tasks when using KLink Search. 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