Evaluating personal information management behaviour using Markov models

Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) and Personal Information Management (PIM) are two related research problems currently being examined by different, although potentially overlapping communities of researchers. We believe that the crossfertilisation of ideas between these communities could lead to progress in both fields. With this aim in mind, in this position statement we outline our research project, which will use mathematical modelling techniques to help understand and evaluate Personal Information Management behaviour. Evaluation is a major challenge in PIM research and the methods currently available to researchers each have associated problems. In this work, we will discuss the feasibility of using Markov Models to overcome some of these difficulties. Here, we outline some of the challenges involved in PIM evaluation, describe the theory behind the approach and explain how to validate the approach through experimentation in a practical setting.