The role of context for information mediation in digital libraries

Mediating between available information objects and individual information needs is a central issue within the functionality of a digital library. In the simplest case this is an information request answered by a search engine based on an analysis of information objects within the digital library's information collection. However, neither the information access activity nor the information objects within the collection are isolated entities. They are both equipped with a multifaceted context. The invited talk, which is summarized by this paper, analyzes this context and discusses complementing approaches to make such context explicit and to use it for refining the mediation process within digital libraries.