Measuring the dimensions of serendipity in digital environments

Introduction - Serendipitous information retrieval is the perhaps inevitable consequence of immersion in an information-rich environment. Just how well chance encounters are supported, however, within these environments varies and one of the challenges to the development of tools and systems to facilitate serendipity is measuring how well they achieve this goal. This research developed a scale to measure dimensions of serendipity identified in prior research.

Method - Participants (N=123) browsed an experimental information search system for twenty minutes with no a priori task and responded to a twenty-item survey questionnaire. Items were derived from the serendipity dimensions of a physical library setting devised by Björneborn.

Analysis - Exploratory factor analysis using the Principal Component Analysis as the method of extraction was carried out on the data. The analysis was undertaken using the SPSS statistical package.

Results - Five factors were extracted representing core elements of support for serendipity in a digital environment: enabled connections, introduced the unexpected, presented variety, triggered divergence, and induced curiosity. In addition, four of the original twenty items were eliminated from the survey.

Conclusions - While the physical dimensions of serendipity do map on to the digital dimensions, it is unknown whether there are additional dimensions of serendipity not present in the physical environment.