Seoul National University Department of Communication BK21 FOUR Free and Responsible AI Media Group and Institute of Communication Research invites renowned international scholars in communication studies.
This lecture will be delivered offline.
We appreciate your participation.
Date: June 7th, (Wed), 12:30~14:00
Venue: Building No.64 (IBK Communication Center) Room No.501
Lecturer: Soo Young Rieh (University of Texas at Austin)
Title: Designing an Idea Generation Tool for Supporting Creativity in Search
Abstract:
Creativity is a vital skill that individuals employ to generate new ideas and solutions in academic, professional, and daily life contexts. Information searching plays a crucial role in fostering creative thinking. In this presentation, I will discuss two empirical studies conducted by my research group that explore the intersection between web searching and creative thinking processes. The first study involved the development of a conceptual framework for information searching with respect to creative tasks based on interviews and search sessions with 31 participants. The exploratory nature of this study unveiled the interconnection between individuals' search strategies and critical thinking processes. Additionally, it shed light on the significance of search activities in facilitating the generation of creative ideas. In the second study, I will introduce SearchIdea, a Web-based online tool, designed to support idea generation during the search process. SearchIdea encompasses three primary features: search results page, SearchMapper, and IdeaMapper. These features enable users to save search results, extract keywords from search results, engage in brainstorming, and organize ideas. As a baseline tool, we also developed IdeaPad, which provides users with a simple interface for writing and editing text. I will present the findings from an evaluation study involving 58 participants, which aimed to compare the extent of creativity support between these tools. The insights gained from our research offer valuable understanding on how idea generation tools contribute to connecting search activities with creative thinking processes, ultimately support the generation of more and better ideas.
Bio:
Soo Young Rieh is Professor and Associate Dean for Education in the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. Her research areas include credibility assessment of online information, search as learning, learning-centric search systems, supporting creativity in search, and exploring the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in library settings. She has contributed as a Co-PI for the IDEA Institute on Artificial Intelligence Project and currently serves as the PI for the Training Future Faculty in Library, AI, and Data Driven Education and Research (LADDER) Project, both of which have received funding from the IMLS. Her research contributions have garnered recognition, earning her over 10 research awards, including the ASIS&T Outstanding Contributions to Information Behavior Research Award (2019), CHIIR Best Paper Award (2023), CHIIR Honorable Mention (2019), Best JASIST Paper Award (2005, 2011), ASIS&T Best Conference Paper Award (2010), and Eugene Garfield-ALISE Doctoral Dissertation Award (2002). Furthermore, she was honored with the ASIS&T Watson Davis Award for Service in 2022. She also served as the co-general conference chair for the 2023 ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval (CHIIR). Before joining the University of Texas at Austin, she was on the faculty of the School of Information at the University of Michigan. Additionally, she worked as a Human Factors Research Engineer at the Excite@Home Search and Directory Group. She received her Ph.D. in Communication, Information, and Library Studies from Rutgers University, USA.