Connecting interface metaphors to support creation of path-based collections

Abstract

Walden's Paths is a suite of tools that supports the creation and presentation of linear hypermedia paths - targeted collections that enable authors to reorganize and contextualize Web-based information for presentation to an audience. Its current tools focus primarily on authoring and presenting paths, but not on the discovery and vetting of the materials that are included in the path. CollageMachine, on the other hand, focuses strongly on the exploration of Web spaces at the granularity of their media elements through presentation as a streaming collage, modified temporally through learning from user behavior. In this paper we present an initial investigation of the differences in expectations, assumptions, and work practices caused by the differing metaphors of browser based and CollageMachine Web search result representations, and how they affect the process of creating paths. © Springer-Verlag 2003.