Web search strategies: The influence of Web experience and task type (original) (raw)
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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.
Information seeking behaviours and cognitive strategies in different search tasks on the WWW
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, twelve cognitive search strategies were identified and explained. The differences between researcher-defined and participant-defined tasks and between directed search and general-purpose tasks were examined using correspondence analysis. These search strategies were compared to earlier investigations of search strategies on the WWW.
Web search behavior of Internet experts and newbies
Computer Networks, 2000
Searching for relevant information on the World Wide Web is often a laborious and frustrating task for casual and experienced users. To help improve searching on the Web based on a better understanding of user characteristics, we investigate what types of knowledge are relevant for Webbased information seeking, and which knowledge structures and strategies are involved. Two experimental studies are presented, which address these questions from different angles and with different methodologies. In the first experiment 12 established Internet experts are first interviewed about search strategies and then perform a series of realistic search tasks on the WWW. From this study a model of information seeking on the WWW is derived and then tested in a second study. In the second experiment two types of potentially relevant types of knowledge are compared directly. Effects of Web experience and domain-specific background knowledge are investigated with a series of search tasks in an economics-related domain (introduction of the EURO currency). We find differential and combined effects of both Web experience and domain knowledge: While successful search performance requires the combination of the two types of expertise, specific strategies directly related to Web experience or domain knowledge can be identified.
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.
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.
A field study characterizing Web-based information-seeking tasks
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2007
Previous studies have examined various aspects of user behaviour on the Web, including general information seeking patterns, search engine use, and revisitation habits. Little research has been conducted to study how users navigate and interact with their Web browser across different information seeking tasks. We have conducted a field study of 21 participants in which we logged detailed Web usage and asked participants to provide task categorizations of their Web usage based on the following categories: Fact Finding, Information Gathering, Browsing, and Transactions. We used implicit measures logged during each task session to provide usage measures, such as dwell time, number of pages viewed, and the use of specific browser navigation mechanisms. We also report on differences in how participants interacted with their Web browser across the range of information seeking tasks. Within each type of task we found several distinguishing characteristics. In particular, Information Gathering tasks were the most complex; participants spent more time completing this task, viewed more pages, and used the Web browser functions most heavily during this task. The results of this analysis have been used to provide implications for future support of information seeking on the Web, as well as direction for future research in this area.
Individual differences in internet search outcomes and processes
CHI '06 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2006
A study was conducted, with 180 participants, to evaluate whether individual differences in basic cognitive abilities (i.e., spatial and verbal ability), attitudes towards computers, and prior experience with computers influence peoples' ability to search for and find information on the internet. Spatial and verbal ability, as well as attitudes towards computers, influenced the accuracy and speed of internet search. Current analyses are focusing on whether cognitive abilities and attitudes influence component search processes, as well as overall accuracy and speed.
Interactive Learning Environments, 2019
While the impact of behavioural and cognitive processes on online information searching behaviours have been studied in some depth, little is known about the impact of procedural and metacognitive processes on online information searching behaviours. In addition, although the literature contains studies examining online information searching behaviours based on experience, cognitive styles, and task complexity separately, there is only a limited number of studies that investigate how online information searching behaviours vary depending on individual characteristics by taking task complexity as a basis. The aim of this study is to explore whether university students' information searching behaviours, task completion times, and task completion rates in simple and difficult tasks differ depending on information searching experience and cognitive style. The study was conducted with a sample of 20 university students. The results of this study indicated that in difficult search tasks, online information searching experience is influential on the exhibition of online information searching behaviours associated with the metacognitive domain. In simple and difficult tasks, experience and cognitive styles cause differentiation in online information searching behaviours. When task complexity is taken as a basis, the experience is more influential on task completion time and task completion rate compared to cognitive styles.
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.
Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 2007
Task has been recognized as an influential factor in information seeking behavior. An increasing number of studies are concentrating on the specific characteristics of the task as independent variables to explain associated information‐seeking activities. This paper examines the relationships between operational measures of information search behavior, subjectively perceived post‐task difficulty and objective task complexity in the context of factual information‐seeking tasks on the web. A question‐driven, web‐based information‐finding study was conducted in a controlled experimental setting. The study participants performed nine search tasks of varying complexity. Subjective task difficulty was found to be correlated with many measures that characterize the searcher's activities. Four of those measures, the number of the unique web pages visited, the time spent on each page, the degree of deviation from the optimal path and the degree of the navigation path's linearity, wer...