Next Generation Information Appliances
| Project Leader | Project Co-leader |
| Luanne Freund University of British Columbia |
Charles Clarke University of Waterloo |
Information retrieval for different tasks requires different types of tools and novel task-specific information appliances. Search for information has evolved from highly structured but limited access points to full-text search systems over unstructured data. The challenge lies in developing new media applications to support access and use of information for context specific purposes.
Initial prototypes will be in a scholarly national information network for the humanities and social sciences. Later studies will target environmental decision-making to aid government agencies engaged in coastal marine management, design of tools to support health information for chronic care patients, and community-based local information systems.
NGAIA will examine the advantages of a task-based rather than document-based approach to the retrieval of information for workplace decision-making.