Beyond entities: promoting explorative search with bundles

Search engines are increasingly going beyond the pure relevance of search results to entertain users with information items that are interesting and even surprising, albeit sometimes not fully related to their search intent. In this paper, we study this serendipitous search space in the context of entity search, which has recently emerged as a powerful paradigm for building semantically rich answers. Specifically, our work proposes to enhance an explorative search system that represents a large sample of Yahoo Answers as an entity network, with a result structuring that goes beyond ranked lists, using composite entity retrieval, which requires a bundling of the results. We propose and compare six bundling methods, which exploit topical categories, entity specializations, and sentiment, and go beyond simple entity clustering. Two large-scale crowd-sourced studies show that users find a bundled organization—especially based on the topical categories of the query entity—to be better at revealing the most useful results, as well as at organizing the results, helping to discover novel and interesting information, and promoting exploration. Finally, a third study of 30 simulated search tasks reveals the bundled search experience to be less frustrating and more rewarding, with more users willing to recommend it to others.     

Development of the Test of Adolescent Sexual Knowledge Based on the National Sexuality Education Standards and Results of Pilot Testing

To describe development and pilot testing of the Test of Adolescent Sexual Knowledge (TASK) developed by the researcher using content recommendations of the National Sexuality Education Standards. TASK development was guided by a systematic process described by Kirby and Mathtec. Pilot testing involved the use of talk-aloud interviews with 10 youth. After revisions the TASK was converted to an electronic version and retested in 132 participants across the United States. Cognitive interview findings supported preliminary evidence of validity and guided reduction of items. Administration of the revised task to 132 youth ages 12–18 found that the standardized Cronbach’s was .93 for the entire test and took an average of 40?min to complete. Highest levels of knowledge were in the domains of Healthy Relationships and Personal Safety. Lowest levels of knowledge were found in the areas of Puberty and Adolescence and STIs and HIV. The TASK has been reduced to 69 total items. Future research will seek to psychometrically evaluate the reduced-item TASK in larger and diverse populations.     

A Comparison of Literature Citations in Faculty Publications and Student Theses as Indicators of Collection Use and a Background for Collection Management at a University Library

The study describes the methodology of a comparative citation analysis, discusses the results of its application to the analysis of published works and student theses at a single research university and evaluates the findings as a background for the management of a university library collection.     

Globalizing Librarianship: A Study-Abroad Class in Russia

This article reports on a study-abroad class to St. Petersburg, Russia, for students in library and information sciences, which took place in May–June 2012. The development of this class has led to other partnership opportunities between the University of Maryland Libraries and libraries and institutions in St. Petersburg.     

Transforming a Library: Strategies for Implementing a Liaison Program

Column Editor's Notes

This column examines advances in public services internal and external to libraries. The focus is on how public services, such as instruction and education, programming, research consulting, and circulation evolve and impact users. The strength of the column is its broad, international focus and contributors are encouraged to explore issues and recent advances in public services relevant to their geographical region, as well as the larger, global audience. Interested authors are invited to submit proposals and articles to the column editor at andrea.falcone@ucdenver.edu     

Library Page Services: An Overview

This article examines the role of library pages as opposed to library shelvers. The piece draws on the author’s personal experience as a Page II at the Bertram-Woods Branch Library, part of the Shaker Heights, Ohio, Public Library System, where paging was broadened to include library functions not previously covered by the work of shelvers. This shift is a manifestation of library changes that involve new work roles for pages.