Web search behavior of Internet experts and newbies (original) (raw)
Related papers
Searching on the Web: Two Types of Expertise
Efforts to improve Web search facilities call for improved understanding o f user characteristics. We investigated the types of knowledge that are relevant for web-based information seeking, along with the knowledge structures and related strategies. In an exploratory field experiment, 12 established Internet experts were first i nterviewed about search strategies and then p erformed a series of realistic search tasks on the WWW. Based on this preliminary study a model of information searching o n the WWW was derived and tested in a second study. In the second experiment t wo classes of potentially relevant t ypes of knowledge were directly compared. Using a series of search tasks in an economics-related domain (introduction of the EURO currency) we investigated the e ffects of Web experience a nd d omain-specific background knowledge on search strategies. We found independent and combined effects of both Web experience a nd d omain kn owledge, hinting at t he importance of consider...
Searching on the Web (poster abstract)
Proceedings of the 22nd annual international ACM SIGIR conference on Research and development in information retrieval - SIGIR '99, 1999
Efforts to improve Web search facilities call for improved understanding of user characteristics. We investigated the types of knowledge that are relevant for web-based information seeking, along with the knowledge structures and related strategies. In an exploratory field experiment, 12 established Internet experts were first interviewed about search strategies and then performed a series of realistic search tasks on the WWW. Based on this preliminary study a model of information searching on the WWW was derived and tested in a second study. In the second experiment two classes of potentially relevant types of knowledge were directly compared. Using a series of search tasks in an economics-related domain (introduction of the EURO currency) we investigated the effects of Web experience and domain-specific background knowledge on search strategies. We found independent and combined effects of both Web experience and domain knowledge, hinting at the importance of considering both types of expertise as cognitive factors in web-based searches.
Differences between novice and experienced users in searching information on the World Wide Web
Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 2000
Web site and to retrieving relevant information from that site. This study examined the effect of a user's WWW experience on both phases of the search process. Twenty-five students from two schools for Dutch preuniversity education were observed while performing three search tasks. The results indicate that subjects with WWW-experience are more proficient in locating Web sites than are novice WWW-users. The observed differences were ascribed to the experts' superior skills in operating Web search engines. However, on tasks that required subjects to locate information on specific Web sites, the performance of experienced and novice users was equivalent-a result that is in line with hypertext research. Based on these findings, implications for training and supporting students in searching for information on the WWW are identified. Finally, the role of the subjects' level of domain expertise is discussed and directions for future research are proposed.
How experts and novices search the Web
Library & Information Science Research, 2005
Searching for information pervades a wide spectrum of human activity, including learning and problem solving. With recent changes in the amount of information available and the variety of means of retrieval, there is even more need to understand why some searchers are more successful than others. This study was undertaken to advance the understanding of expertise in seeking information on the Web by identifying strategies and attributes that will increase the chance of a successful search on the Web. The strategies were as follows: evaluation, navigation, affect, metacognition, cognition, and prior knowledge, and attributes included age, sex, years of experience, computer knowledge, and infoseeking knowledge. Success was defined as finding a target topic within 30 minutes. Participants were from three groups. Novices were 10 undergraduate pre-service teachers, intermediates were 9 finalyear master of library and information studies students, and experts were 10 highly experienced professional librarians working in a variety of settings. Participants' verbal protocols were transcribed verbatim into a text file and coded. These codes, along with Internet temporary files, a background questionnaire, and a post-task interview were the sources of the data. Since the variable of interest was the time to finding the topic, in addition to ANOVA and Pearson correlation, survival analysis was used to explore the data. The most significant differences in patterns of search between novices and experts were found in the cognitive, metacognitive, and prior knowledge strategies. Survival analysis revealed specific actions associated with success in Web searching: (1) using clear criteria to evaluate sites, (2) not excessively navigating, (3) reflecting on strategies and monitoring progress, (4) having
The Reference Librarian, 2016
The relative contributions of expertise in search skills and domain knowledge were examined when using the Internet to find information. Four conditions were compared: expert searchers/high domain knowledge; expert searchers/low domain knowledge; novice searchers/high domain knowledge; and novice searchers/low domain knowledge. Search outcomes and verbal protocols were analyzed. The combination of search expertise and high domain knowledge yielded the most efficient searches. Higher search expertise yielded access to sites rated more accurate and credible. High domain knowledge yielded sites rated more thorough. Verbal protocols depicted searching as a complex decision process. Findings have implications for instructional support.
Web search strategies: The influence of Web experience and task type
Information Processing and Management, 2008
Despite a number of studies looking at Web experience and Web searching tactics and behaviours, the specific relationships between experience and cognitive search strategies have not been widely researched. This study investigates how the cognitive search strategies of 80 participants might vary with Web experience as they engaged in two researcher-defined tasks and two participant-defined information seeking tasks. Each of the two researcher-defined tasks and participant-defined tasks included a directed search task and a general-purpose browsing task. While there were almost no significant performance differences between experience levels on any of the four tasks, there were significant differences in the use of cognitive search strategies. Participants with higher levels of Web experience were more likely to use “Parallel player”, “Parallel hub-and-spoke”, “Known address search domain” and “Known address” strategies, whereas participants with lower levels of Web experience were more likely to use “Virtual tourist”, “Link-dependent”, “To-the-point”, “Sequential player”, “Search engine narrowing”, and “Broad first” strategies. The patterns of use and differences between researcher-defined and participant-defined tasks and between directed search tasks and general-purpose browsing tasks are also discussed, although the distribution of search strategies by Web experience were not statistically significant for each individual task.
Information-seeking behaviours and cognitive search strategies in different search tasks on the WWW
International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 2006
This study investigates the cognitive strategies of 80 participants as they engaged in two researcher-defined tasks and two participant-defined information-seeking tasks using the WWW. Each researcher-defined task and participant-defined task was further divided into a directed search task and a general-purpose browsing task. On the basis of retrospective verbal protocols, log-file data and observations, 12 cognitive search strategies were identified and explained. The differences in cognitive search strategy choice between researcher-defined and participant-defined tasks and between directed search and general-purpose tasks were examined using correspondence analysis. These cognitive search strategies were compared to earlier investigations of search strategies on the WWW.Describing information-seeking behaviours and cognitive search strategies in detail provides website developers and search engine developers with valuable insights into how users seek (and find) information of value to them. Using this information, website developers might gain some knowledge as to how to best represent the content and navigational properties of websites. Search engine developers might wish to make the search and collection strategies more transparent to users. There are also design implications for the designers of web browsers.
The effect of individual differences on searching the web
2003
This paper reports results from a project which sought to investigate the influence of two types of expertise-the knowledge of the search domain and the experience of the Web search engineson the use of a Web search engine, called Exalead, by a panel of students. Forty six students (twenty four undergraduated students in psychology and twenty two undergraduates in other disciplines) were asked to give correct answers to eight questions about definitions of psychology concepts, without any time constraint. Results show that participants with good knowledge in the domain on the one hand and participants with high experience of the Web on the other had the best performances. Participants with low experience of the Web showed less effectiveness than the other participants. Future research is proposed to know the best aids to users of information retrieval systems.
Internet Search and Navigation Strategies Used by Experts and Beginners
Interactive Educational …, 2000
This paper presents three pilot studies whose purpose was to analyse the way different users (experts and beginners) go about searching for specific information, both on the Internet in general and in a thematic web site in particular. It discusses the role of prior knowledge in achieving the search objectives, and highlights the differences in task completion due to the use of approaches of varying levels of strategic development.
Characterizing the Influence of Domain Expertise on Web Search Behavior
WSDM 2009, 2009
Domain experts search differently than people with little or no domain knowledge. Previous research suggests that domain experts employ different search strategies and are more successful in finding what they are looking for than non-experts. In this paper we present a large-scale, longitudinal, log-based analysis of the effect of domain expertise on web search behavior in four different domains (medicine, finance, law, and computer science). We characterize the nature of the queries, search sessions, web sites visited, and search success for users identified as experts and non-experts within these domains. Large-scale analysis of real-world interactions allows us to understand how expertise relates to vocabulary, resource use, and search task under more realistic search conditions than has been possible in previous small-scale studies. Building upon our analysis we develop a model to predict expertise based on search behavior, and describe how knowledge about domain expertise can be used to present better results and query suggestions to users and to help non-experts gain expertise.