My research focus is on collaborative systems that support human
interaction through computer systems. My career goal is to
understand how to develop and apply computer technology to
the problems of human organizations.
One of the biggest such problems is getting the right
information to the right people. The Internet has
democratized the publishing process. Now, anyone who
wants can publish anything they want, just by creating a
Web site. We humans are hopelessly overmatched by the
increasing volumes of information that are published.
Collaborative filtering is a technology that enables us
to all work together to sift through the millions of
documents on any topic to find those that are most
appropriate for each of us. Collaborative filtering
works by learning which kinds of documents each of us
likes, and finding other people who share out interests.
Across our entire research program, our goal is to understand how
computers can be used to help people process information
more efficiently, and work together better.
I am currently involved in several
research projects to explore
these topics.
