Marcia J. Bates

Information Search Tactics.

As part of the study of human information search strategy, the concept of the search tactic, or move made to further a search, is introduced. Twenty-nine tactics are named, defined, and discussed in four categories: monitoring, file structure, search formulation, and term. Implications of the search tactics for research in search strategy are considered. The search tactics are intended to be practically useful in information searching. This approach to searching is designed to be general, yet nontrivial; it is applicable to both bibliographic and reference searches and in both manual and on-line systems.

Where should the person stop and the information search interface start

Abstract Many users of online and other automated information systems want to take advantage of the speed and power of automated retrieval, while still controlling and directing the steps of the search themselves. They do not want the system to take over and carry out the search entirely for them. Yet the objective of much of current theory and experimentation in information retrieval systems and interfaces is to design systems in which the user has either no or only reactive involvement with the search process. It is argued here that the advanced information retrieval research community is missing an opportunity to design systems that are in better harmony with the actual preferences of many users—sophisticated systems that provide an optimal combination of searcher control and system retrieval power. The user may be provided effective means of directing the search if capabilities specific to the information retrieval process, that is, strategic behaviors normally associated with information searching, are incorporated into the interface. There are many questions concerning (1) the degree of user vs. system involvement in the search, and (2) the size, or chunking, of activities; that is, how much and what type of activity the user should be able to direct the system to do at once. These two dimensions are analyzed and a number of configurations of system capability that combine user and system control are presented and discussed. In the process, the concept of the information search stratagem is introduced, and particular attention is paid to the provision of strategic, as opposed to purely procedural capabilities for the searcher. Finally, certain types of user-system relationship are selected as deserving particular attention in future information retrieval system design, and arguments are made to support the recommendations.

Subject access in online catalogs: A design model

A model based on strikingly different philosophical as. sumptions from those currently popular is proposed for the design of online subject catalog access. Three design principles are presented and discussed: uncertainty (subject indexing is indeterminate and probabilistic beyond a certain point), variety (by Ashby’s law of requisite variety, variety of searcher query must equal variety of document indexing), and complexity (the search process, particularly during the entry and orientation phases, is subtler and more complex, on several grounds, than current models assume). Design features presented are an access phase, including entry and orientation, a hunting phase, and a selection phase. An end-user thesaurus and a front-end system mind are presented as examples of online catalog system components to improve searcher success during entry and orientation. The proposed model is “wrapped around” existing Library of Congress subject-heading indexing in such a way as to enhance access greatly without requiring reindexing. It is argued that both for cost reasons and in principle this is a superior approach to other design philosophies.

The invisible substrate of information science

The explicit, above-the-water-line paradigm of information science is well known and widely discussed. Every disciplinary paradigm, however, contains elements that are less conscious and explicit in the thinking of its practitioners. The purpose of this article is to elucidate key elements of the below-the-water-line portion of the information science paradigm. Particular emphasis is given to information science’s role as a meta-science—conducting research and developing theory around the documentary products of other disciplines and activities. The mental activities of the professional practice of the field are seen to center around representation and organization of information rather than knowing information. It is argued that such representation engages fundamentally different talents and skills from those required in other professions and intellectual disciplines. Methodological approaches and values of information science are also considered.

Indexing and access for digital libraries and the Internet: human, database, and domain factors

Discussion in the research community and among the general public regarding content indexing (especially subject indexing) and access to digital resources, especially on the Internet, has underutilized research on a variety of factors that are important in the design of such access mechanisms. Some of these factors and issues are reviewed and implications drawn for information system design in the era of electronic access. Specifically the following are discussed: Human factors: Subject searching vs. indexing, multiple terms of access, folk classification, basic-level terms, and folk access; Database factors: Bradfords Law, vocabulary scalability, the Resnikoff-Dolby 30:1 Rule; Domain factors: Role of domain in indexing.

Fundamental forms of information

Fundamental forms of information, as well as the term information itself, are defined and developed for the purposes of information science/studies. Concepts of natural and represented information (taking an unconventional sense of representation), encoded and embodied information, as well as experienced, enacted, expressed, embedded, recorded, and trace information are elaborated. The utility of these terms for the discipline is illustrated with examples from the study of information-seeking behavior and of information genres. Distinctions between the information and curatorial sciences with respect to their social (and informational) objects of study are briefly outlined.

A profile of end‐user searching behavior by humanities scholars: The Getty Online Searching Project Report No. 2

The Getty Art History Information Program carried out a two-year project to study how advanced humanities scholars operate as end users of online databases. Visiting Scholars at the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities in Santa Monica, California, were offered the opportunity to do unlimited subsidized searching of DIALOG® databases. The second report from the project analyzes how much searching the scholars did, the kinds of search techniques and DIALOG features they used, and their learning curves. Search features studied included commands, Boolean logic, types of vocabulary, and proximity operators. Error rates were calculated, as well as how often the scholars used elementary search formulations and introduced new search features and capabilities into their searches. The amount of searching done ranged from none at all to dozens of hours. A typical search tended to be simple, using one-word search terms and little or no Boolean logic. Starting with a full day of DIALOG training, the scholars began their search experience at a reasonably high level of competence; in general, they maintained a stable level of competence throughout the early hours of their search experience.

An analysis of search terminology used by humanities scholars: The getty online searching project report number 1

The Getty Art History Information Program carried out a two-year project to study how humanities scholars operate as end users of online databases. Visiting Scholars at the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities in Santa Monica, California, were offered the opportunity to do unlimited subsidized searching of DIALOG® databases. This first report from the project analyzes the vocabulary terms twenty-two scholars used in their natural language descriptions of their information needs and in their online searches. The data were extracted from 165 natural language statements and 1,068 search terms. Vocabulary categories used by humanities scholars were found to differ markedly from those used in the sciences, a fact that imposes distinctive demands on thesaurus development and the design of online information systems. Humanities scholars searched for far more named individuals, geographical terms, chronological terms, and discipline terms than was the case in a comparative science sample. The analysis provides substantial support for the growing perception that information needs of humanities scholars are distinct from those of scholars in other fields, and that the design of information-providing systems for these scholars must take their unique qualities into account.

The cascade of interactions in the digital library interface

Each design element or layer in an information system interacts with every other design layer in a synergistic, neutral, or conflicting manner. This cascade of interactions culminates in the interface, where all the prior interactions have either worked to produce effective information retrieval or to produce a hodgepodge of system elements working at cross-purposes. Very large networked and World-Wide-Web-based online databases and online public access catalogs provide numerous illustrative examples of how the cascade works. Good design requires that these interactions be well understood and properly designed for the purposes of the information system in question. Interactions among metadata and indexing systems, information system front-ends, user search capabilities, and interface design are discussed and used as illustrations for the effective design of digital library access.

Factors affecting subject catalog search success

The study examined the effects of two variables on success in searching an academic library subject catalog that uses Library of Congress subject headings. The vari‐ables were “subject familiarity,” and “catalog familiar‐ity,” representing patron knowledge of a subject field and of the principles of the subject heading system, re‐spectively. Testing was done in a laboratory setting which reproduced a real search situation. The n varied with the particular test, but about 20 university students in each of the following majors participated: psychology, economics, librarianship. Success was measured as degree of match between search term and term used by the library for desired books on the subject. Catalog familiarity was found to have a very signifi‐cant beneficial effect on search matching success, and subject familiarity a slight, but not significant, detri‐mental effect. An interview substudy of subject experts suggested causes for the failure of subject expertise to help in catalog search term formulation. Surprising results were that overall matching success was strikingly low. Since the methodology used enabled a more precise determination of match success than has been typical of catalog use studies, it appears that people may be less successful than we have thought in using subject catalogs.