Searching for software learning resources using application context

Abstract

Users of complex software applications frequently need to consult documentation, tutorials, and support resources to learn how to use the software and further their understanding of its capabilities. Existing online help systems provide limited context awareness through "what's this?" and similar techniques. We examine the possibility of making more use of the user's current context in a particular application to provide useful help resources. We provide an analysis and taxonomy of various aspects of application context and how they may be used in retrieving software help artifacts with web browsers, present the design of a context-aware augmented web search system, and describe a prototype implementation and initial user study of this system. We conclude with a discussion of open issues and an agenda for further research. © 2011 ACM.