Jit Paper

Just-In-Time Information Retrieval

by Bradley James Rhodes S.B. Computer Science Massachusettes Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA, 1992 S.M. Media Arts and Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA, 1996

Submitted to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences, School of Architecture and Planning, in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology June, 2000 © Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000 All Rights Reserved

Signature of Author Program in Media Arts and Sciences May, 2000

Certified By Professor. Pattie Maes Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences

Accepted By Stephen A. Benton Chairperson Departmental Committee on Graduate Students Program in Media Arts and Sciences

Just-In-Time Information Retrieval

by Bradley James Rhodes

Submitted to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences, School of Architecture and Planning in May 2000, in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Media Arts and Sciences

Abstract: This thesis defines Just-In-Time Information Retrieval agents (JITIRs): a class of software agents that proactively present potentially valuable information based on a person's local context in an easily accessible yet non-intrusive manner. The research described experimentally demonstrates that such systems encourage the viewing and use of information that would not otherwise be viewed, by reducing the cognitive effort required to find, evaluate and access information. Experiments and analysis of long-term use provide a deeper understanding of the different ways JITIRs can be valuable: by providing useful or supporting information that is relevant to the current task, by contextualizing the current task in a broader framework, by providing information that is not useful in the current task but leads to the discovery of other information that is useful, and by providing information that is not...