Digging for unspecified information requirements: a case study of Digital Library of Arne Novák users

Abstract

Surveying the information needs of users is already a key issue in the preparatory phase of the research infrastructures. In this phase the integration of research platforms is being prepared. A research of information requirements of digital scholars is not limited only by the difficulty of reaching users, but also because of the lack of transparent platform architecture, log data cannot be used effectively. Users of platforms are often happy to get access to data and resources relevant to their research. They consider most of their work to be abstract, intellectual, or simply of such nature that computer and information technology cannot help them. Thus, many needs are not transformed into requirements, nor are they perceived as needs. In order to identify the unconscious demands of users and to find the potential for improving the research platform, we decided to make a sense-making analysis of five researchers who use the Digital library of Arne Novák in their research. Digital library of Arne Novák is a research platform providing access to the work of a prominent figure in Czech literary science, that we want to make available to the DARIAH-CZ  research infrastructure. A micro time-line interview was conducted with all researchers to understand how researchers use research platform, how they interact and practice research with digital data and how we can shape a vision of augmentation of human intellectual possibilities when working with this platform. The research verified that in this way we can identify unnamed and unspecified information requirements of research data users.