The Aslib Journal of Information Management recently published a paper researched and written by Dr. Souvich Ghosh, assistant professor at the San José State University School of Information, in collaboration with Julie Gogoi and Kristen Chua, both graduate students at the school.

Their paper, “Exploring the economics of conversational search sessions,” explores the research topic of conversational search, which is the primary area of Ghosh’s research. His research interests also include machine learning, natural language processing, deep neural networks, and human-computer interaction.

Gogoi is currently enrolled in the Master of Library and Information Science degree program, while Chua is working on her Master of Science in Informatics degree. Both students were able to contribute to the research of the paper as graduate student assistants working in the Intelligent Conversational Agents and Neural Network (ICANN) Lab.

Chua got involved in the ICANN Lab after attending one of the ICANN Lab meetings. “During one of those meetings, one research team mentioned they needed help with programming, statistical modeling, and data visualization skills and so I volunteered to help them and shared my knowledge with them,” Chua states.

“All projects in my lab are designed with the intention of publishing the findings,” Ghosh states. The analysis of the paper began spring 2021, with a first draft created in the fall of 2021. Chua’s contributions to the paper were to “develop the economic model through literature reviews, qualitative coding, mathematical modeling, and data visualization.” After some feedback, the team “submitted it to AJIM – Aslib Journal of Information Management.” The paper was accepted following two rounds of revisions. On publication, Gogoi says, “Seeing our work resonate with a broader audience and getting published gave me a great sense of accomplishment, and I felt grateful for the team who supported and helped me achieve this milestone.”

Chua recommends those interested in working with a professor to “have courage and have faith in your ability to learn on-the-go.” Chua mentioned that at first, she felt imposter syndrome when starting out at the lab. “However, as I continued reading about topics in the information science field and exploring datasets, I developed knowledge and picked up new skills along the way,” she states. Gogoi also has advice for students interested in working with a professor, recommending that they “seek out professors whose work aligns with their passions.”

The ICANN Lab is directed by Ghosh and is dedicated to studying “areas of information and data sciences from a socio-technical viewpoint.” There are several projects currently ongoing at the ICANN Lab, and students are encouraged to get involved by contacting Ghosh.

The Aslib Journal of Information Management is an international journal in library and information science featuring peer-reviewed original research in information and data management. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited, the journal ”provides key insights into cutting-edge developments in research, practice and associated techniques at the creation, storage, usage, share, archival and destruction of information and data.”