Workplace Learning: How We Keep Track of Relevant Information

At the workplace, learning is often a by-product of working on complex projects, requiring self-steered, need-driven and goal-oriented retrieval of information just in time from documents or peers. The personal desktop provides one rich source for learning material and for adaptation of learning resources. Data within that personal information space enables learning from previous experience, sharing tacit and explicit knowledge, and allows for establishing context and context-aware delivery of learning material. Results from personal desktop studies and the corresponding technologies have therefore great potential to enhance TEL. Thus, this paper (1) provides a short overview of desktop organization and search studies as well as applications and (2) envisions tighter incorporation of desktop research for innovative TEL infrastructures.