Online Image Searching and Tagging Study

You are being asked to participate in a research study conducted by Dariusz Grabka, an M.Sc. student, and Dr. Michael Wirth, from the Department of Computing and Information Science at the University of Guelph.  The valuable results you are contributing will be included in Master’s thesis research.

If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact Dr. Michael Wirth:  mwirth [at] uoguelph [dot] ca, or 1 (519) 824 4120 extension 53889

PARTICIPANTS

We are seeking participants that are:

• 18 years old or older.
• Users of Flickr.com and the Firefox web browser.
• Willing to communicate with researchers via email.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this experiment is to study an element of how people search for and find images, as well as improving the way people participate in a process called “tagging”: annotating images with keywords.

PROCEDURES

If you volunteer to participate in this study, we would ask you to do the following things:

1. Install two pieces of software for Firefox for the purpose of this study.
2. Visit Flickr.com, an internet-based photo sharing community, and search for images.  Ex. “The CN Tower in the winter” and  “a good background for a financial presentation”
3. Have you tag those images using your search terms.

The whole process is expected to take no more than two (2) hours. It can be done in the comfort of your own home, or wherever you have access to a Firefox browser and an internet connection.

We may wish to contact you for follow-up questioning, so that we may gain better understanding of your experience.

Research findings will be made available to all participants upon the completion of the Master’s research this study supports.  A  final published copy of this thesis in PDF form will be emailed to participants.

POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS

We are expecting that some images that suit the search goal are going to be difficult to find.  Please feel free to omit any searches that you would find objectionable.

There are discomforts associated with any tasks that require extended period of time at a computer, so we’d ask that you perform these tasks at your convenience.  They definitely do not have to be done all at once.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY

We are expecting participants in this study to benefit by gaining a better understanding of the value of tagging images, and the difficulty of searching for suitable images.

This research may be used to guide improvements in user interfaces of media (video, images, music, etc.) sharing websites.

PAYMENT FOR PARTICIPATION

There will be no payment or remuneration for participation in this research.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Every effort will be made to ensure confidentiality of any identifying information that is obtained in connection with this study.

Any information you contribute will be contributed confidentially, but will be identifiable to the researchers in this study.  Your Flickr username will be used to group your resulting data together by the researches. But at no time will identifying features, including your Flickr username, will be published, presented, or shared in any way.

PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL

If you volunteer to be in this study, you may withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind.  You may exercise the option of removing your data from the study.  You may also refuse to answer any questions you don’t want to answer and still remain in the study.  The investigator may withdraw you from this research if circumstances arise that warrant doing so.

RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS

You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without penalty.  You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your participation in this research study.  This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the University of Guelph Research Ethics Board.   If you have questions regarding your rights as a research participant, contact:

Research Ethics Coordinator
University of Guelph
437 University Centre
Guelph, ON   N1G 2W1

E-mail: sauld [at] uoguelph [dot] ca
Telephone: (519) 824-4120, ext. 56606
Fax: (519) 821-5236