“Back to the Differences: Rethinking information search (and recommendation) on the web”   By Professor Sean Siqueira, Department of Applied Informatics, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), Brazil

Abstract

In this talk, I bring some thoughts on our responsibility as researchers of web technologies, from the perspective of dealing with web information, on building a better society. The concept of information is going to be revisited from the perspective of systems thinkers. The focus on the right piece of information for delivering to the users is going to be questioned. Looking for similarity patterns, the traditional information retrieval and recommendation algorithms are leading to distortions, such as echo chambers and filter bubbles. Our research on searching as a learning process allowed me to have a glimpse of possible new directions. Then, I will summarize our journey on the relationships between information retrieval, information behavior and human learning. Finally, I will share my vision of how we could deal with web information, suggesting a research agenda.

Short Bio

Sean Wolfgand Matsui Siqueira is a Full Professor at the Department of Applied Informatics, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), Brazil. He holds a M.Sc. (1999) and a Ph.D. (2005) in Computer Science, both from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil. He has experience in the Computer Science area, with a focus on Web Science, Information Systems and Technology Enhanced Learning. His current research interest is on Searching as a Learning Process; Information, Disinformation, and Misinformation on the Web; and Computer Science Ethics. He has participated in some international research projects and has written more than 130 papers for conferences, journals, and book chapters. He was the coordinator of the Graduate Program in Information Systems at UNIRIO from July 2012 to September 2014, the coordinator of the Program Committees of the Brazilian Symposium on Information Systems (SBSI 2015 and SBSI 2021), the Brazilian Symposium on Computers and Education (SBIE 2012 and SBIE 2014), member of the steering committee of the Brazilian Congress of Computers and Education (CBIE 2015), co-editor-in-chief of the iSYS: Brazilian Journal of Information Systems (2012-2016) as well as the Brazilian Journal on Computers in Education (2016-2018), and member of the special committee on Computers in Education (CEIE) (2014-2018, 2021) and of the special committee on Information Systems (CESI) (2015-2022), both from the Brazilian Computer Society.