Sole Pera | Information Retrieval technologies that are tailored to children
8 JUNE 2023
Information retrieval (IR) tools such as web search engines and recommender systems have become integral to our daily lives, playing a vital role in facilitating access to information. Research outcomes in this area, however, have predominantly favored mainstream audiences. In this talk, I shed light on the unique challenges children face in online information discovery and present technologies that provide scaffolding to empower children to effectively engage with IR tools. Moreover, I identify promising open research directions and illustrate how insights gained from studying children IR can drive advancements benefiting other underserved user groups. Ultimately, my goal is to convey my interest in this topic, inspire further research collaborations, and foster the development of inclusive IR systems that leverage new technologies to break down barriers that cater to the diverse information needs of all users.
Sole Pera is an Associate Professor at the Web Information Systems group of EEMCS/EWI at Delft University of Technology She specializes in Information Retrieval and is particularly interested in its application to user groups that are typically underserved. Her current research work focuses on understanding the limitations of search and recommender systems and designing algorithmic support so they can more effectively serve children in different contexts. Before joining TU Delft, Sole completed a PhD in Computer Science at Brigham Young University in 2014 and subsequently joined the Computer Science Department at Boise State University. During her time there, she co-directed the People and Information Research Team (Piret) and served as coPI in the ongoing NSF-funded project CAST (Child Adaptive Search Tool) Sole is the Program Chair of the upcoming ACM User Modeling and Personalization Conference, and will serve as General Co-chair for ACM Interaction Design and Children conference, which will take place in Delft in 2024.