Toms, E.G.; Campbell, D.G.; Blades, R.: Does genre define the shape of information? : the role of form and function in user interaction with digital documents (1999)
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- Abstract
- Documents belonging to a genre have a definite structure which has evolved within specific discourse communities to the point where its use is fixed and standardized. We speculate that such a structure exhibits a strong visual cue, facilitating document recognition and defining a shape of information. To test the concept of shape, 72 participants from two groups (half currently working in an academic setting and half from the general public) examined 24 documents typically used in the academic environment. The documents were in three versions: one based on form, in which the text was masked, leaving only the layout, a second based on content, in which the document was reduced to its semantic information only, and the full version, the original unaltered document. On examining each of the 24 documents (e.g., journal article, call for papers, annotated bibliography) in one of the three versions, participants identified: the type of document and, its recognizable and/or unfamiliar features. In addition, they assessed 8 print versions of the form document for suggestive features of shape. Two variables were tested: the genre element (form or content) and the participant's membership in the academic community. Not unexpectedly, participants identified more documents in the Full and Content versions than the Form versions. But Form versions were recognized twice as quickly as the other two versions. Thus when document shape was evident, the document was immediately discernible to participants; when participants were required to read the semantic content for a gist of the document and an extrapolation of its contents, it took more time. Surprisingly, discourse community had no effect
- Imprint
- Medford, NJ : Information Today
- Series
- Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science; vol.36
- Source
- Knowledge: creation, organization and use. Proceedings of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science, 31.10.-4.11.1999. Ed.: L. Woods
