On the Construction of Efficiently Navigable Tag Clouds Using Knowledge from Structured Web Content

Christoph Trattner (Graz University of Technology, Austria)

Denis Helic (Graz University of Technology, Austria)

Markus Strohmaier (Graz University of Technology, Austria)

Abstract: In this paper we present an approach to improving navigability of a hierarchically structured Web content. The approach is based on an integration of a tagging module and adoption of tag clouds as a navigational aid for such content. The main idea of this approach is to apply tagging for the purpose of a better highlighting of cross-references between information items across the hierarchy. Although in principle tag clouds have the potential to support efficient navigation in tagging systems, recent research identified a number of limitations. In particular, applying tag clouds within pragmatic limits of a typical user interface leads to poor navigational performance as tag clouds are vulnerable to a so-called pagination effect. In this paper, a solution to the pagination problem is discussed, implemented as a part of an Austrian online encyclopedia called Austria-Forum, and analyzed. In addition, a simulation-based evaluation of the new algorithm has been conducted. The first evaluation results are quite promising, as the efficient navigational properties are restored.

Keywords: algorithm, navigability, navigation, online encyclopedia, tag cloud algorithm, tag clouds, tagging, tags

Categories: H.4