The Bohemian Bookshelf: supporting serendipitous book discoveries through information visualization

Alice Thudt; Uta Hinrichs; Sheelagh Carpendale

doi:10.1145/2207676.2208607

The Bohemian Bookshelf: supporting serendipitous book discoveries through information visualization

Alice Thudt, Uta Hinrichs, Sheelagh Carpendale

School of Computer Science

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

Serendipity, a trigger of exciting yet unexpected discoveries, is an important but comparatively neglected factor in information seeking, research, and ideation. We suggest that serendipity can be facilitated through visualization. To explore this, we introduce the Bohemian Bookshelf, which aims to support serendipitous discoveries in the context of digital book collections. The Bohemian Bookshelf consists of five interlinked visualizations each offering a unique overview of the collection. It aims at encouraging serendipity by (1) offering multiple visual access points to the collection, (2) highlighting adjacencies between books, (3) providing flexible visual pathways for exploring the collection, (4) enticing curiosity through abstract, metaphorical, and visually distinct representations of books, and (5) enabling a playful approach to information exploration. A deployment at a library revealed that visitors embraced this approach of utilizing visualization to support open-ended explorations and serendipitous discoveries. This encourages future explorations into promoting serendipity through information visualization.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI '12 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Place of Publication	New York, NY
Publisher	ACM
Pages	1461-1470
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Print)	978-1-4503-1015-4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/2207676.2208607
Publication status	Published - 5 May 2012
Event	CHI 2012 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Austin Convention Center, Austin, Texas, United States Duration: 5 May 2012 → 10 May 2012 http://chi2012.acm.org/index.shtml

Conference

Conference	CHI 2012 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Country/Territory	United States
City	Austin, Texas
Period	5/05/12 → 10/05/12
Internet address	http://chi2012.acm.org/index.shtml

Keywords

Information visualization
Serendipity
Library interfaces

Access to Document

10.1145/2207676.2208607

ThudtCHI2012
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Accepted author manuscript, 5.68 MB

Cite this

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title = "The Bohemian Bookshelf: supporting serendipitous book discoveries through information visualization",

abstract = "Serendipity, a trigger of exciting yet unexpected discoveries, is an important but comparatively neglected factor in information seeking, research, and ideation. We suggest that serendipity can be facilitated through visualization. To explore this, we introduce the Bohemian Bookshelf, which aims to support serendipitous discoveries in the context of digital book collections. The Bohemian Bookshelf consists of five interlinked visualizations each offering a unique overview of the collection. It aims at encouraging serendipity by (1) offering multiple visual access points to the collection, (2) highlighting adjacencies between books, (3) providing flexible visual pathways for exploring the collection, (4) enticing curiosity through abstract, metaphorical, and visually distinct representations of books, and (5) enabling a playful approach to information exploration. A deployment at a library revealed that visitors embraced this approach of utilizing visualization to support open-ended explorations and serendipitous discoveries. This encourages future explorations into promoting serendipity through information visualization.",

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author = "Alice Thudt and Uta Hinrichs and Sheelagh Carpendale",

year = "2012",

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pages = "1461--1470",

booktitle = "CHI '12 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

publisher = "ACM",

address = "United States",

note = "CHI 2012 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems ; Conference date: 05-05-2012 Through 10-05-2012",

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Thudt, A, Hinrichs, U & Carpendale, S 2012, The Bohemian Bookshelf: supporting serendipitous book discoveries through information visualization. in CHI '12 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, New York, NY, pp. 1461-1470, CHI 2012 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Austin, Texas, United States, 5/05/12. https://doi.org/10.1145/2207676.2208607

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AU - Hinrichs, Uta

AU - Carpendale, Sheelagh

PY - 2012/5/5

Y1 - 2012/5/5

N2 - Serendipity, a trigger of exciting yet unexpected discoveries, is an important but comparatively neglected factor in information seeking, research, and ideation. We suggest that serendipity can be facilitated through visualization. To explore this, we introduce the Bohemian Bookshelf, which aims to support serendipitous discoveries in the context of digital book collections. The Bohemian Bookshelf consists of five interlinked visualizations each offering a unique overview of the collection. It aims at encouraging serendipity by (1) offering multiple visual access points to the collection, (2) highlighting adjacencies between books, (3) providing flexible visual pathways for exploring the collection, (4) enticing curiosity through abstract, metaphorical, and visually distinct representations of books, and (5) enabling a playful approach to information exploration. A deployment at a library revealed that visitors embraced this approach of utilizing visualization to support open-ended explorations and serendipitous discoveries. This encourages future explorations into promoting serendipity through information visualization.

AB - Serendipity, a trigger of exciting yet unexpected discoveries, is an important but comparatively neglected factor in information seeking, research, and ideation. We suggest that serendipity can be facilitated through visualization. To explore this, we introduce the Bohemian Bookshelf, which aims to support serendipitous discoveries in the context of digital book collections. The Bohemian Bookshelf consists of five interlinked visualizations each offering a unique overview of the collection. It aims at encouraging serendipity by (1) offering multiple visual access points to the collection, (2) highlighting adjacencies between books, (3) providing flexible visual pathways for exploring the collection, (4) enticing curiosity through abstract, metaphorical, and visually distinct representations of books, and (5) enabling a playful approach to information exploration. A deployment at a library revealed that visitors embraced this approach of utilizing visualization to support open-ended explorations and serendipitous discoveries. This encourages future explorations into promoting serendipity through information visualization.

KW - Information visualization

KW - Serendipity

KW - Library interfaces

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ER -

The Bohemian Bookshelf: supporting serendipitous book discoveries through information visualization

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