Sandra Hirsh

Children's relevance criteria and information seeking on electronic resources

This study explores the relevance criteria and search strategies elementary school children applied when searching for information related to a class assignment in a school library setting. Students were interviewed on two occasions at different stages of the research process; field observations involved students thinking aloud to explain their search processes and shadowing as students moved around the school library. Students performed searches on an on‐line catalog, an electronic encyclopedia, an electronic magazine index, and the World Wide Web. Results are presented for children selecting the topic, conducting the search, examining the results, and extracting relevant results. A total of 254 mentions of relevance criteria were identified, including 197 references to textual relevance criteria that were coded into nine categories and 57 references to graphical relevance criteria that were coded into five categories. Students exhibited little concern for the authority of the textual and graphical information they found, based the majority of their relevance decisions for textual material on topicality, and identified information they found interesting. Students devoted a large portion of their research time to finding pictures. Understanding the ways that children use electronic resources and the relevance criteria they apply has implications for information literacy training and for systems design.

Children's searching behavior on browsing and keyword online catalogs: the Science Library Catalog project

As we seek both to improve public school education in high technology areas and to link libraries and classrooms on the “information superhighway,” we need to understand more about children’s information searching abilities. We present results of four experiments conducted on four versions of the Science Library Catalog (SLC), a Dewey decimal-based hierarchical browsing system implemented in HyperCard without a keyboard. The experiments were conducted over a 3-year period at three sites, with four databases, and with comparisons to two different keyword online catalogs. Subjects were ethnically and culturally diverse children aged 9 through 12; with 32 to 34 children participating in each experiment. Children were provided explicit instruction and reference materials for the keyword systems but not for the SLC. The number of search topics matched was comparable across all systems and all experiments; search times were comparable, though they varied among the four SLC versions and between the two keyword online public access catalogs (OPACs). The SLC overall was robust to differences in age, sex, and computer experience. One of the keyword OPACs was subject to minor effects of age and computer experience; the other was not. We found relationships between search topic and system structure, such that the most difficult topics on the SLC were those hard to locate in the hierarchy, and those most difficult on the keyword OPACs were hard to spell or required children to generate their own search terms. The SLC approach overcomes problems with several searching features that are difficult for children in typical keyword OPAC systems: typing skills, spelling, vocabulary, and Boolean logic. Results have general implications for the design of information retrieval systems for children.

Rethinking online monitoring methods for information retrieval systems: from search product to search process

Searching information retrieval systems is a highly interactive, iterative process that cannot be understood simply by comparing the output of a search session (the “search product”) to a query stated in advance. In this article, we examine evaluation goals and methods for studying information retrieval behavior, drawing examples from our own research and that of others. We limit our review to research that employs online monitoring, also known as transaction log analysis. Online monitoring is one of few methods that can capture detailed data on the search process at a reasonable cost; these data can be used to build quantitative models or to support qualitative interpretations of quantitative results. Monitoring is a data collection technique rather than a research design, and can be employed in experimental or field studies, whether alone or combined with other data collection methods. Based on the research questions of interest, the researcher must determine what variables to collect from each data source, which to treat as independent variables to manipulate, and which to treat as dependent variables to observe effects. Studies of searching behavior often treat search task and searcher characteristics as independent variables and may manipulate other independent variables specific to the research questions addressed. Search outcomes, time, and search paths frequently are treated as dependent variables. We discuss each of these sets of variables, illustrating them with sample results from the literature and from our own research. Our examples are drawn from the Science Library Catalog project, a 7-year study of childrens searching behavior on an experimental retrieval system. We close with a brief discussion of the implications of these results for the design of information retrieval systems.

Wheels around the world: windows live mobile interface design

We present a unique interface design for mobile devices that addresses major user pain points with deep menu systems and page scrolling. Using a series of 1-5 wheels of content, arranged in a combination-lock style on a single mobile screen, this design enables a user to consume a multitude of personalized internet and web content without ever scrolling up/down or selecting from a menu. Additionally, the wheels are easily mapped to a personalized PC experience such as those from My MSN, live.com, and myYahoo!, enabling users to access their PC content from anywhere. Results from iterative testing across US, Japan, and China show the model to be an effective and desirable mode of consuming personal and internet content on the mobile device, despite very different navigation paradigms and cultural expectations in each of the countries.

The effect of domain knowledge on elementary school children's search behavior on an information retrieval system: the science library catalog

AEISTRACT Few information retrieval systems are designed with children’s special needs and capabilities in mind. We need to learn more about children’s information-seeking behavior in order to provide them with information-based tools which support exploratory learning. This dissertation examines children’s search behavior on a hypertext-based automated library catalog designed for elementary school children. The focus of this research is on the effect of domain knowledge on children’s search performance, search behavior, and learning as they look for science books on this system. Reseaxch has shown that level of domain knowledge in~luences the way people search for information. Data was collected through one-on-one interviews, direct observation, and online monitoring of search sessions. This dissertation will contribute to our understanding of children’s search behavior and the factors which influence their behavior. This research also has implications for information retrieval system evaluation and interface design.

Information seeking at different stages of the R&D research process (poster abstract)

This exploratory study investigated the information needs, information-seeking behaviors, and work group communication patterns of 27 industrial R&D researchers and managers. Participants came from 9 project teams that were at different stages of the R&D research process. Trends in the data suggest differences in information-seeking behavior by research stage. The Investigative Stage of the research process was the most information-intensive research stage, requiring both technical and business information. The Development Stage required patent, technical, and internal information. The Transfer Stage involved internal communication and information sharing with internal technology transfer partners. Understanding the types of information seeking behaviors at each stage enables us to begin modeling information-seeking in the industrial R&D research process, as well as identifying and developing information retrieval tools targeted to their information needs.

The reality of fantasy: uncovering information-seeking behaviors and needs in online fantasy sports

Online fantasy sports are rapidly growing in popularity. Fantasy sports players consume massive amounts of sports and player statistics in order to manage their teams, such as to determine who they want on their fantasy sports team and what changes they want to make during the season. With more people actively engaging in this activity and increasing investment in this industry, this case study performs the first detailed investigation into information-seeking behaviors and information needs of online fantasy sports players. Two online fantasy sports were studied: fantasy football and NASCAR. Common themes from one-on-one interviews with active fantasy sports players are discussed and areas for future research identified. Implications for system design include more targeted data provision throughout the sports seasons, better aggregation of online sports statistics and data, development of mobile applications, and innovation in fantasy sports gaming.

Usability in practice: Avoiding pitfalls and seizing opportunities. Sponsored by SIG USE

This panel brings together experts in usability engineering who draw on their research and experiences to present practical advice about what to avoid when performing usability tests and how to take advantage of opportunities afforded by usability testing.

Impact of a Corporate Merger on the Information Seeking Behaviors of Research Practitioners.

Over the Summer of 2002 groups of researchers from HP Labs and Compaq Labs began the long process of becoming a single research organization. Fundamental to productive research in a corporate setting are the practices and expectations regarding information seeking and collaboration. To this end, a survey research project was conducted that sampled researchers from selected labs of each pre-merger company regarding their usage of information sources and their preferred means of collaboration and information seeking. This paper presents partial findings from this larger study, focusing on information-seeking behaviors of these researchers. Findings suggested that the information seeking behavior of the participants was impacted by the unstable environment resulting from the recently completed merger and the process of integrating two research organizations. Participants relied heavily on the internet and other web-based resources, more so than on their colleagues inside the company. Participants made their selections of which information resources to use based on how little time it took them to track down the information as well as the authoritativeness of the sources.

How international is your LIS/IS program in the global higher education era?: How International Is Your LIS/IS Program in the Global Higher Education Era?

Internationalization is a critical issue in LIS/IS education and the LIS/IS profession. This panel assembles educators from various continents to discover their experiences and to address the following issues: International students should comprise what percentage of a student body in order to adequately represent the spectrum of disciplines that are critical to contemporary LIS/IS schools?