Iris Xie

Interactive Information Retrieval in Digital Environments

The emergence of the Internet allows millions of people to use a variety of electronic information retrieval systems, such as: digital libraries, Web search engines, online databases, and online public access catalogs. Interactive Information Retrieval in Digital Environments provides theoretical framework in understanding the nature of information retrieval, and offers implications for the design and evolution of interactive information retrieval systems. Interactive Information Retrieval in Digital Environments includes the integration of existing frameworks on user-oriented information retrieval systems across multiple disciplines; the comprehensive review of empirical studies of interactive information retrieval systems for different types of users, tasks, and subtasks; and the discussion of how to evaluate interactive information retrieval systems. Researchers, designers, teachers, scholars, and professionals will gain the foundation for new research on this subject matter, and guidance to evaluate new information retrieval systems for the general public as well as for specific user groups.

Social media application in digital libraries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applications of social media in digital libraries and identify related problems. Design/methodology/approach – A total of ten institutions were selected from the following cultural institution types – public libraries, academic libraries, museums, government, and international organisations – to represent a variety of digital libraries developed or sponsored by different types of organisations. The social media applications were examined with regard to the following aspects: types of social media, placement of social media, updating social media, types of interactions, and types of functions. Findings – This study presents the types of social media applications in the selected digital libraries and further characterises their placements, update frequency, types of interactions between digital librarians and users, as well as various types of roles they played. In the process of analysis the authors also identified problems related to lack of standa...

Tales from the Field: Search Strategies Applied in Web Searching

In their web search processes users apply multiple types of search strategies, which consist of different search tactics. This paper identifies eight types of information search strategies with associated cases based on sequences of search tactics during the information search process. Thirty-one participants representing the general public were recruited for this study. Search logs and verbal protocols offered rich data for the identification of different types of search strategies. Based on the findings, the authors further discuss how to enhance web-based information retrieval (IR) systems to support each type of search strategy.

Search result list evaluation versus document evaluation: similarities and differences

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to compare the evaluation of search result lists and documents, in particular evaluation criteria, elements, association between criteria and elements, pre/post and evaluation activities, and the time spent on evaluation.Design/methodology/approach – The study analyzed the data collected from 31 general users through prequestionnaires, think aloud protocols and logs, and post questionnaires. Types of evaluation criteria, elements, associations between criteria and elements, evaluation activities and their associated pre/post activities, and time were analyzed based on open coding.Findings – The study identifies the similarities and differences of list and document evaluation by analyzing 21 evaluation criteria applied, 13 evaluation elements examined, pre/post and evaluation activities performed and time spent. In addition, the authors also explored the time spent in evaluating lists and documents for different types of tasks.Research limitations/implications – This ...

Exploring Search Tactic Patterns in Searching Digital Libraries

This study explored users’ application of search tactics within a single search session while using the U.S. Library of Congress Digital Collections. Thirty-eight sessions of exploratory tasks were analyzed focusing on tactic application patterns. We investigated the amount of time users spent on each type of search tactics and how tactic occurrence probability changed over time during the session. Preliminary results revealed that on average users spent the most time in evaluating individual items or search results. Query creation and exploration tactics were the two main strategies to start a search session, and evaluation tactics showed high occurrence probability throughout the session.

Blind Users Searching Digital Libraries: Types of Help-seeking Situations at the Cognitive Level

Universal access is the objective of digital library development. However, it is a challenge for blind users to search information effectively in digital libraries because of their dynamic design and multimedia collections. Serving as the preliminary study of a large scale project, this study focuses on the identification of types of help-seeking situations unique to blind users at the cognitive level. Based on the analysis of 15 blind users’ pre-questionnaires, pre-interviews, think-aloud protocols, transaction logs and post-interviews, the authors identified blind users’ typical help-seeking situations in relation to cognitive overload, comprehension and reasoning. Implications for how to design better help features for blind users to overcome these situations are also discussed.

Image similarity as assessed by users: A quantitative study

Image retrieval systems are generally based on the notion of image similarity: they compute similarity scores between the images of the database and a query (image or text), and organize the images according to these scores. However, this notion is ill-defined, and the collections used to train and evaluate image retrieval systems are based on similarity judgments that rely on simplistic, non-realistic, assumptions. This paper addresses the issue of the definition of image similarity, and more precisely the two following questions: do humans assess image similarity in the same way? Is it possible to define reference similarity judgments that would correspond to the perception of most users? An experiment is proposed, in which human subjects are assigned two tasks that fall in principle to the system: rating the similarity of images and ranking images according to a reference image. The data provided by the subjects is analyzed quantitatively to the light of the two aforementioned questions. Results show that the subjects do not have collective strategies of similarity assessment, but that a satisfying consensus can be found individually on the data samples used in the experiments. Based on this, methods to define reference similarity scores and rankings are proposed, that can be used on a larger scale to produce realistic ground truths for the evaluation of image retrieval systems. This study is a first step towards a general, realistic, definition of the notion of image similarity in the context of image retrieval.

User involvement and system support in applying search tactics

Both user involvement and system support play important roles in applying search tactics. To apply search tactics in the information retrieval (IR) processes, users make decisions and take actions in the search process, while IR systems assist them by providing different system features. After analyzing 61 participants’ information searching diaries and questionnaires we identified various types of user involvement and system support in applying different types of search tactics. Based on quantitative analysis, search tactics were classified into 3 groups: user‐dominated, system‐dominated, and balanced tactics. We further explored types of user involvement and types of system support in applying search tactics from the 3 groups. The findings show that users and systems play major roles in applying user‐dominated and system‐dominated tactics, respectively. When applying balanced tactics, users and systems must collaborate closely with each other. In this article, we propose a model that illustrates user involvement and system support as they occur in user‐dominated tactics, system‐dominated tactics, and balanced tactics. Most important, IR system design implications are discussed to facilitate effective and efficient applications of the 3 groups of search tactics.

On the consistency and features of image similarity

Image indexing and retrieval systems mostly rely on the computation of similarity measures between images. This notion is ill-defined, generally based on simplistic assumptions that do not fit the actual context of use of image retrieval systems. This paper addresses two fundamental issues related to image similarity: checking whether the degree of similarity between two images is perceived consistently by different users and establishing the elements of the images on which users base their similarity judgment. A study is set up, in which human subjects have been asked to assess the degree of the pairwise similarity of images and describe the features on which they base their judgments. The quantitative analysis of the similarity scores reported by the subjects shows that users reach a certain consensus on similarity assessment. From the qualitative analysis of the transcripts of the records of the experiments, a list of the features used by the subjects to assess image similarity is built. From this, a new model of image description emerges. As compared to existing models, it is more realistic, free of preconceptions and more suited to the task of similarity computation. These results are discussed from the perspectives of psychology and computer science.

Language in the information-seeking context: A study of US scholars using non-English sources

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to specifically investigate information seeking strategies that are used by scholars in the USA conducting research in languages other than English and the types of shifts that scholars make between strategies in planned, disruptive, and problematic situations. Design/methodology/approach – Interviews and research diaries were employed to gather information from 16 subjects using seven different languages across seven disciplines. Grounded theory and the constant comparative method were used to analyze types of strategies and types of shifts between strategies. Findings – This study identified four formal system strategies, seven informal resource strategies, four interactive human strategies, and one hybrid strategy. Subjects in the study selected informal resource and interactive human strategies more often as initial strategies while informal resource strategies are used as final strategies. Moreover, the findings presented a variety of shifts between strategies i...