Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (Rutgers University, School of Communication, Department of Library and Information Science)

Researchers at the Rutgers University School of Communication, Information, and Library Studies will investigate ways to improve the ability of people to find information they need in digital libraries. By examining the interaction of factors such as the searcher’s location, individual characteristics, the nature of his or her task, and similar data, the team will create a “personalization assistant” that will help searchers use digital libraries more effectively. The open source tool based on this research will reside on the user’s own computer to enhance the user’s interactions with digital libraries while protecting the user’s privacy.