Searching for Software Learning Resources using Application Context

(2011)

Abstract

Users of complex software applications frequently need to consult documentation, tutorials, and support resources to learn how to use the software and further their understanding of its capabilities. We examine the role of the user’s current context in a particular application in searching for help resources.

Our contributions include 1) an analysis of the various aspects of application context and how they may be used in retrieving software help artifacts with web browsers; 2) exploring ways to represent interactional context in a manner suitable for submitting queries to a web search engine; 3) a prototype implementation; 4) user study of a context-aware web search system; concluding with 5) an agenda for further research.