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This paper presents the OFAHIR methodology that aims at providing the final user an integrated environment for gathering useful information from a collection of managed digital documents. The methodology is a set of coordinated methods for indexing, querying, clustering, and browsing; this set constitutes an integrated associative retrieval system model. This is the model for a system that enables the user to access a collection of information objects by integrating the processes of querying and browsing; the managed objects are linked making use of semantic associations that are built through indexing and clustering mechanisms. The OFAHIR methodology is the first step towards the definition of a general and comprehensive associative retrieval model for information gathering. Together with the methodology also a system tool that implements it is presented in the paper. This system can work in a World Wide Web environment since the components performing the data retrieval have been implemented according to standard protocols. Through any available Web client a user can pose queries to and/or browse the managed document digital collection. Performance and evaluation aspects are also addressed in the paper, together with aspects that are going to be addressed in the future.

ABSTRACT:This paper reports on the effort we made in adapting and opening a specialist tool, focused on illumination and designed purposely for scholars and researchers, in order to be suitable also for the general public. We describe the ongoing process we are conducting: the adaptation and the improvement of the IPSA digital archive using the results we collected after several sessions of user interviews, following suggestions of both scholars and simple users. We discuss user studies dynamics, that we consider as a loopinteraction, and the consequences that they entail upon the system design.

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