We describe the design, implementation, and pilot study for SenseMaker, an interface for information exploration across heterogeneous sources. We propose supporting the contextdriven evolution of a user's interests via: (1) an approximation of the current information context as the current collection of accumulated information references, and (2) a unified set of user-centered actions for examining the current context and for progressing from one context to the next. SenseMaker users examine their current context by experimenting iteratively with different organizing dimensions and levels of granularity for the current collection's display. They progress from one context to another by building upon, taking away from, or replacing the current collection. They can also return to a previous information context and continue exploring from there. Keywords Information exploration, digital libraries, information seeking, information retrieval INTRODUCTION The design of any interface must ...

Information exploration involves building bridges between document space (the realm of information artifacts, ranging from books to e-mail to bibliographic citations) and concept space (the context and knowledge required to interpret documents). This dissertation proposes an interactive, structure-mediated approach to exploring information in a heteroge- neous, distributed environment---such as a digital library. It presents a conceptual model for information exploration, a system (SenseMaker) that embodies the proposed model, and several evaluative user studies. Two principles form the crux of our structure-mediated conceptual model, which supports users in moving back and forth between document space and concept space: . Users should be able to build document-based structures for document collections by interactively organizing them around contextual dimensions (e.g., author). These higher-level structures reveal key concepts (e.g., specific authors). . Users should be able to cre...