Search history support for finding and using information: User interface design recommendations from a user study

Recording search histories, presenting them to the searcher, and building additional interface tools on them offer many opportunities for supporting user tasks in information seeking and use. This study investigated the use of search history information in legal information seeking. Qualitative methods were used to explore how attorneys and law librarians used their memory and external memory aids while searching for information and in transferring to information use. Based on the findings, interface design recommendations were made for information systems.     

Specifics of information retrieval for young users: A survey

In this paper, we present the state of the art in the field of information retrieval that is relevant for understanding how to design information retrieval systems for children. We describe basic theories of human development to explain the specifics of young users, i.e., their cognitive skills, fine motor skills, knowledge, memory and emotional states in so far as they differ from those of adults. We derive the implications these differences have on the design of information retrieval systems for children. Furthermore, we summarize the main findings about children’s search behavior from multiple user studies. These findings are important to understand children’s information needs, their search strategies and usage of information retrieval systems. We also identify several weaknesses of previous user studies about children’s information-seeking behavior. Guided by the findings of these user studies, we describe challenges for the design of information retrieval systems for young users. We give an overview of algorithms and user interface concepts. We also describe existing information retrieval systems for children, in specific web search engines and digital libraries. We conclude with a discussion of open issues and directions for further research. The survey provided in this paper is important both for designers of information retrieval systems for young users as well as for researchers who start working in this field.     

竞争情报人才需求与高校教育状况对照分析——以上海、南京、杭州为例

从企业对竞争情报人才的需求与高校人才培养两个角度出发,以长三角地区上海、南京、杭州作为调查范围,对竞争情报人才的供需状况进行调查,并作对照分析。发现:①企业对竞争情报专业人才能力的要求主要体现在数据的敏感性,情报搜集与分析能力,组织、沟通和协调能力等方面;②提高各岗位人员竞争情报素质已成为企业的一种普遍需求;③高校关于竞争情报专业人才的培养课程设置欠完整,普遍缺乏实践教学,缺乏相关法律教育。最后提出竞争情报教育的普及教育与专业教育同样重要,专业教育重在完善教育体系,普及教育重在加强竞争情报意识与情报收集分析技能。     

An evaluation of adaptive filtering in the context of realistic task-based information exploration

Exploratory search increasingly becomes an important research topic. Our interests focus on task-based information exploration, a specific type of exploratory search performed by a range of professional users, such as intelligence analysts. In this paper, we present an evaluation framework designed specifically for assessing and comparing performance of innovative information access tools created to support the work of intelligence analysts in the context of task-based information exploration. The motivation for the development of this framework came from our needs for testing systems in task-based information exploration, which cannot be satisfied by existing frameworks. The new framework is closely tied with the kind of tasks that intelligence analysts perform: complex, dynamic, and multiple facets and multiple stages. It views the user rather than the information system as the center of the evaluation, and examines how well users are served by the systems in their tasks. The evaluation framework examines the support of the systems at users’ major information access stages, such as information foraging and sense-making. The framework is accompanied by a reference test collection that has 18 tasks scenarios and corresponding passage-level ground truth annotations. To demonstrate the usage of the framework and the reference test collection, we present a specific evaluation study on CAFÉ, an adaptive filtering engine designed for supporting task-based information exploration. This study is a successful use case of the framework, and the study indeed revealed various aspects of the information systems and their roles in supporting task-based information exploration.     

Users can change their web search tactics: Design guidelines for categorized overviews

Categorized overviews of web search results are a promising way to support user exploration, understanding, and discovery. These search interfaces combine a metadata-based overview with the list of search results to enable a rich form of interaction. A study of 24 sophisticated users carrying out complex tasks suggests how searchers may adapt their search tactics when using categorized overviews. This mixed methods study evaluated categorized overviews of web search results organized into thematic, geographic, and government categories. Participants conducted four exploratory searches during a 2-hour session to generate ideas for newspaper articles about specified topics such as “human smuggling.” Results showed that subjects explored deeper while feeling more organized, and that the categorized overview helped subjects better assess their results, although no significant differences were detected in the quality of the article ideas. A qualitative analysis of searcher comments identified seven tactics that participants reported adopting when using categorized overviews. This paper concludes by proposing a set of guidelines for the design of exploratory search interfaces. An understanding of the impact of categorized overviews on search tactics will be useful to web search researchers, search interface designers, information architects and web developers.     

因特网上信息索引数据库的利用

网络信息资源搜索引擎的第二功能模块为信息检索与提供。本文讨论了检索模块的工作原理与查询过程。通过HTML浏览程序,在SX+AF+MX索引数据库中检索,快速反馈检索结果。并分组编辑输出命中网点的索引信息,阅读索引后若有进一步的需求．可点击索引记录的URL,链接出网点的原始信息资源,提供用户使用。     

高管团队信息搜寻与组织创新的关系研究

全球化的信息时代,高管团队能否有效的获取信息,做出创新的决策决定了企业能否在激烈的竞争中获得优势。文章探讨的是高管团队信息搜寻行为与组织创新之间的相互关系以及高管团队搜寻整合能力对二者关系的影响。本研究构建了信息搜寻模型,把信息搜寻分为搜寻领域与搜寻过程两个维度,并在此基础上提出若干搜寻特征。通过对高科技企业进行实证研究,文章发现高管团队信息搜寻行为有助于组织创新,但高管团队搜寻整合能力对上述二者关系的影响有限。     

国内在线专利服务系统的功能比较

对国家知识产权局专利检索与服务系统、中国知识产权网专利信息服务平台等9个在线专利服务系统的基本情况、专利检索功能和统计分析功能3个方面进行了具体而详细的比较和评价,为专利使用人员及专业人员选择在线专利服务系统提供指导和帮助。     

利用Google进行专题信息检索

Google是当今一个具有强大功能和独到特点的优秀搜索引擎，本文研究Google基本检索和高级检索语法规则;探讨利用Google的语法规则增强Google的关键词检索功能、提高查准率，正确构建检索式，实施专题信息检索的策略。     

Evaluating collaborative information-seeking interfaces with a search-oriented inspection method and re-framed information seeking theory

Despite the many implicit references to the social contexts of search within information seeking and retrieval research, there has been relatively little work that has specifically investigated the additional requirements for collaborative information-seeking interfaces. Here, we re-assess an existing analytical inspection framework, designed for individual information seeking, and then apply it to evaluate a recent collaborative information-seeking interface: SearchTogether. The framework was built upon two models of solitary information seeking, and so as part of the re-assessment we first re-frame the models for collaborative contexts. We re-frame a model of search tactics, providing revised definitions that consider known collaborators. We then re-frame a model of searcher profiles to analyse support for different group dynamics. After presenting an analysis of SearchTogether, we reflect on its accuracy, showing that the framework identified eight known truths, eight new insights, and no known-to-be-untrue insights into the design. We conclude that the framework: (a) can still be applied to collaborative information-seeking interfaces; (b) can successfully produce additional requirements for collaborative information-seeking interfaces; and (c) can successfully model different dynamics of collaborating searchers.     

A conceptual framework for unlearning in a homecare setting

Many researchers who have investigated healthcare organizations have indicated that healthcare professionals are likely to be burdened with outdated knowledge. Researchers have argued that knowledge underpins the practices and routines that workers engage in. In some cases, this knowledge is explicit but it may also be embedded in the structure of practices, technological systems, and encoded in the habits and beliefs and assumptions of individuals providing healthcare services. In this paper, we focus on the need for creating an organizational context that enables the questioning of established knowledge, habits, beliefs and assumptions as a prerequisite to identifying inappropriate or obsolete knowledge underpinning and/or embedded in existing practices and routines. The framework is customized and consists of three constituent components: (1) a framework characterizing the lens through which individuals view situations; (2) a framework for characterizing how individual habits change, and (3) a framework for characterizing the manner in which emergent understandings are consolidated into existing knowledge and knowledge structures.     

文档聚类在Web搜索结果中的应用研究

随着互联网的迅猛发展，信息爆炸式增长，产生了信息过载，而在相当程度上，搜索是面临信息过载的唯一选择。但是，现在的搜索引擎缺陷也很明显：一是搜索结果数量庞大；二是搜索结果的线性排列。该文提出采用文档聚类的方法组织搜索引擎的结果，从一定程度上解决了上面的问题。     

Financial impact of legal practice on software patent subject matter eligibility: Effectiveness of a workable standard

This article examines the financial impact of software patent subject matter eligibility by analyzing divergent legal practices by courts and administrative bodies. We illustrate these effects by empirical evidence relating to case-law decisions, notably Alice Corp. Pty. v. CLS Bank International (hereafter, Alice v. CLS Bank or Alice). In order to eliminate the ambiguity of legal practice of these two systems in relation to patent law, the patent office has been inspired by and aligned with the work of the judicial system and developed an analytical model concerning the application of the law. The effectiveness of this workable standard is then evaluated on the basis of its influence on firm value. The results suggest that the publication of the workable standard, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Interim Guidance, has had a significant positive impact on companies which have completely modified their patent strategies in line with the new USPTO policy. We conclude that the uniformity of legal approach by the judicial and administrative systems decreases legal uncertainty and contributes to financial performance. Consequently, a workable standard with clear and precise legal approaches enables the patent system to develop efficiently.     

Review of “Search Engines: Information Retrieval in Practice” by Croft,Metzler and Strohman

Despite the common public use of Web search engines, their internal design details mostly remain as a black art. The speculation is that there is a significant knowledge gap between what is published by academia and what is guarded behind the doors of large-scale search companies. “Search Engines: Information Retrieval in Practice” is one of the few books that make an attempt to cover issues involved in search engine design and is probably the most comprehensive book published so far on this topic. Unfortunately, the book fails to be a complete search engine guide as its content is dominated by the topics from information retrieval, text processing, and statistics. More precisely, the focus of the book is biased towards the “search” rather than the “engines” as, in most places, discussions on effectiveness dominate those on efficiency by a great margin. However, the book stands as a very solid IR book.     

专利申请人之信息披露义务的价值、模式与规则重构

专利申请人的信息披露义务,就是要求申请人将其知悉的、对申请的可专利性有重要影响的信息,主动提供给专利行政机关。信息披露义务的科学构建和恰当履行,有助于降低审查信息的搜索成本,有助于提升专利申请和审查的质量,有助于建立诚信的专利运行体系。根据违反义务所需承担法律责任的不同,信息披露义务可以区分为强法律责任、弱法律责任和无法律责任三种立法模式。我国专利法的规定属无法律责任模式,这导致我国专利信息披露义务的虚置化,严重影响了专利制度价值目标的实现。应当从信息披露义务的主体、应为披露的内容、披露的时间和方式等方面重构我国专利信息披露制度,同时为违反信息披露义务的行为规定明确的法律责任。     

An investigation into turn-away among information technology professionals in Brazil

Two important problems have been observed fairly frequently among information technology (IT) professionals, namely turn-over – where the IT professional moves to another company but still remains in the IT sector – and turn-away, in which the IT professional abandons the area in order to occupy a position in a different area, either in the same company or in another, sometimes assuming a managerial function. Few research papers were found with respect to the latter phenomenon. Based on that, the main thrust of this work is to understand how and why IT professionals in Brazil abandon their area, identifying typical characteristics in their career transition. Thus, from a literature review about career development and the analysis of the data collected, eight research hypotheses were developed in order to be analyzed by the researchers. A multiple case study method with several units of analysis was applied in two large companies in Brazil. In-depth interviews were conducted with IT professionals who had migrated to other areas within their organizations, they being considered the unit of analysis. The results accrued from this research reveal that IT professionals in Brazil need to have more growth opportunities than either their companies have been able to offer them or it is possible to offer within the technical arena.     

The effect of user characteristics on search effectiveness in information retrieval

This paper investigates the influence of user characteristics (e.g. search experience and cognitive skills) on user effectiveness. A user study was conducted to investigate this effect, 56 participants completed searches for 56 topics using the TREC test collection. Results indicated that participants with search experience and high cognitive skills were more effective than those with less experience and slower perceptual abilities. However, all users rated themselves with the same level of satisfaction with the search results despite the fact they varied substantially in their effectiveness. Therefore, information retrieval evaluators should take these factors into consideration when investigating the impact of system effectiveness on user effectiveness.     

Amount of invested mental effort (AIME) in online searching

This research investigates how people’s perceptions of information retrieval (IR) systems, their perceptions of search tasks, and their perceptions of self-efficacy influence the amount of invested mental effort (AIME) they put into using two different IR systems: a Web search engine and a library system. It also explores the impact of mental effort on an end user’s search experience. To assess AIME in online searching, two experiments were conducted using these methods: Experiment 1 relied on self-reports and Experiment 2 employed the dual-task technique. In both experiments, data were collected through search transaction logs, a pre-search background questionnaire, a post-search questionnaire and an interview. Important findings are these: (1) subjects invested greater mental effort searching a library system than searching the Web; (2) subjects put little effort into Web searching because of their high sense of self-efficacy in their searching ability and their perception of the easiness of the Web; (3) subjects did not recognize that putting mental effort into searching was something needed to improve the search results; and (4) data collected from multiple sources proved to be effective for assessing mental effort in online searching.     

Internet信息最优查询设计

本文分析了信息查询的方法及主要搜索引擎的特点，设计了信息最优查询的步骤及检索策略。