Online searching: Measures that discriminate among users with different types of experiences

• Published in: Journal of the American Society for Information Science Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 23 - 32
• Main Author: Fenichel, Carol Hansen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, D.C Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.01.1981; American Documentation Institute; Wiley Periodicals Inc
• Subjects: Behavior; Computerised information retrieval; Computerized information storage and retrieval; Drug stores; Information retrieval; Information sources; Information storage; Information storage and retrieval; Information systems; Information work; Libraries; Library and information science; Library associations; Medical libraries; On-line systems; Online information retrieval; Problem solving; Process variables; Recall; Science; Search process; Search strategies; Searching; Strategies; Studies; Subject indexing; Success; Technical services; Palo Alto California; United States > US
• ISSN: 0002-8231; 1097-4571
• DOI: 10.1002/asi.4630320104

The primary goal of this research was to discover those behaviors associated with the process of online bibliographic searching that are correlated with success. In the assumption that more experienced searchers are more successful, the research objectives were to identify (1) the differences among the searches of users of online systems who have different amounts of overall experience and (2) the differences between the searches of persons with and without experience on the database being searched. Five groups of searchers with varied overall and ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) database experience performed preselected searches on the DIALOG system using ONTAP, the 1975 subset of the ERIC database. Analysis of the search transcripts showed that differences among the groups were not large. Compared to the experienced subjects, beginning searchers performed surprisingly well. The group with the greatest overall experience and the greatest ERIC database experience achieved the highest recall and had the highest values of a set of search process variables designated “search effort” variables (e.g., number of commands and descriptors, connect time) suggesting a possible relationship between search effort and recall.