Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
cross-language information seeking
language scent
multilingual search
information navigation
language switching
Language Scent: Exploring Cross-Language Information Navigation
🤖 AI Summary
This study addresses the limitations of existing cross-lingual information retrieval systems, which typically isolate information by language and fail to support multilingual users’ flexible language-switching needs. The work extends Information Foraging Theory to multilingual contexts for the first time, introducing the concept of “language cues” and designing an interactive mechanism that integrates contextual prompting, in-situ tools, and reflective support. Building upon this framework, the authors develop Niffler, a multilingual search system. Experimental results demonstrate that Niffler effectively helps users recognize the value of language switching, enabling them to formulate and execute fine-grained cross-lingual exploration strategies, thereby significantly enhancing the diversity of retrieved results.
📝 Abstract
While multilingual users often switch between languages when seeking information, this process remains undersupported by current systems where information is typically siloed by language. Our formative study reveals that users' cross-language transitions are guided by their perceived value of switching to a language, a concept we formalize as language scent. Language scent extends Pirolli and Card's theory of information scent to multilingual scenarios by considering meta-level strategy formation when navigating between different languages. To support language scent, we designed Niffler, a search system that augments language scent and supports cross-language information navigation through contextual cues, in-situ tools, and reflection support. A lab study with 16 multilingual speakers showed that Niffler facilitated the formation and execution of exploratory and granular search strategies and leads to diverse information being gathered. Our findings establish language scent as a valuable lens on cross-language information seeking, highlighting language's role in enabling access to broader information and offering concrete implications for the design of multilingual search systems.
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
language scent
cross-language information seeking
multilingual search
information navigation
Niffler
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