About the project

Started in the spring of 2005, the QuikScan group has been creating, revising and testing the techinques in various circumstances. Currently, the group has 4 student members. So far, the group has published and presented in conferences and other events.

We are currently carrying out experiments on the utility of QuikScan. QuikScan is being developed according to Open Source principles. You are most welcome to use and adapt QuikScan. We are also interested in organizations that will allow us to conduct field tests of QuikScan.

About the QuikScan techniques

Based on the lessons learned in the literature review, I designed the following QuikScan techniques, in conjunction with David Farkas, my dissertation advisor. Although I expect that QuikScanned documents will generally be printed (without color), these enhancements are equally suited to reading on-screen.

1. Basic highlighting of main ideas. This is a usual way to emphasize important information, typically the main ideas of a passage.
   
   
2. A boxed summary with numbers keyed to corresponding numbers and highlighting in the main body of text (thematic sequencing), as shown below:
   
   
   
   
3. When the document itself employs a preview statement: highlights within the preview statement keyed to corresponding ideas that appear after the preview statement:
   

Uniqueness of QuikScan

• The QuikScan summaries are located directly before the passages of text they pertain to. Very often they appear just after the heading that introduces a section of text. This gives the readers an overview of the content they will read and helps them read selectively and non-linearly. It can be especially helpful for readers who read under time pressure.
  
  
• QuikScan summaries comprise a microcosm of the original document. Readers can skip original content and only read the summaries and obtain the main idea and structure of the document. They can also use summaries as review material at the end, thus helping them understand and remember better. 
  
  
• QuikScan provides excellent access to details that are emphasized or highlighted in a document. This makes it easy for the readers who aim to find specific information. Each within-document summary is an overview of the upcoming section. Neither the TOC nor index provides this kind of information access. We expect that in situations such as business meetings, attendees will perform more productively through strategic use of QuikScan.
  
  
• QuikScan can ease the difficulty blind readers have when they read on-screen even with the help of text-to-speech software. By listening to the summaries, they obtain the main ideas in a much more efficient manner.