Abstract Limited research has investigated the role of multitasking, cognitive coordination, and cognitive shifts during web search. Understanding these three behaviors is crucial to web search model development. This study aims to explore characteristics of multitasking behavior, types of cognitive shifts, and levels of cognitive coordination as well as the relationship between them during web search. Data collection included pre‐ and postquestionnaires, think‐aloud protocols, web search logs, observations, and interviews with 42 graduate students who conducted 315 web search sessions with 221 information problems. Results show that web search is a dynamic interaction including the ordering of multiple information problems and the generation of evolving information problems, including task switching, multitasking, explicit task and implicit mental coordination, and cognitive shifting. Findings show that explicit task‐level coordination is closely linked to multitasking, and implicit cognitive‐level coordination is related to the task‐coordination process; including information problem development and task switching. Coordination mechanisms directly result in cognitive state shifts including strategy, evaluation, and view states that affect users' holistic shifts in information problem understanding and knowledge contribution. A web search model integrating multitasking, cognitive coordination, and cognitive shifts (MCC model) is presented. Implications and further research also are discussed.

Abstract Query reformulation is a key user behavior during Web search. Our research goal is to develop predictive models of query reformulation during Web searching. This article reports results from a study in which we automatically classified the query‐reformulation patterns for 964,780 Web searching sessions, composed of 1,523,072 queries, to predict the next query reformulation. We employed an n‐gram modeling approach to describe the probability of users transitioning from one query‐reformulation state to another to predict their next state. We developed first‐, second‐, third‐, and fourth‐order models and evaluated each model for accuracy of prediction, coverage of the dataset, and complexity of the possible pattern set. The results show that Reformulation and Assistance account for approximately 45% of all query reformulations; furthermore, the results demonstrate that the first‐ and second‐order models provide the best predictability, between 28 and 40% overall and higher than 70% for some patterns. Implications are that the n‐gram approach can be used for improving searching systems and searching assistance.

Abstract Searching for multimedia is an important activity for users of Web search engines. Studying user's interactions with Web search engine multimedia buttons, including image, audio, and video, is important for the development of multimedia Web search systems. This article provides results from a Weblog analysis study of multimedia Web searching by Dogpile users in 2006. The study analyzes the (a) duration, size, and structure of Web search queries and sessions; (b) user demographics; (c) most popular multimedia Web searching terms; and (d) use of advanced Web search techniques including Boolean and natural language. The current study findings are compared with results from previous multimedia Web searching studies. The key findings are: (a) Since 1997, image search consistently is the dominant media type searched followed by audio and video; (b) multimedia search duration is still short (>50% of searching episodes are <1 min), using few search terms; (c) many multimedia searches are for information about people, especially in audio search; and (d) multimedia search has begun to shift from entertainment to other categories such as medical, sports, and technology (based on the most repeated terms). Implications for design of Web multimedia search engines are discussed.

Abstract In this research, we aim to identify factors that significantly affect the clickthrough of Web searchers. Our underlying goal is determine more efficient methods to optimize the clickthrough rate. We devise a clickthrough metric for measuring customer satisfaction of search engine results using the number of links visited, number of queries a user submits, and rank of clicked links. We use a neural network to detect the significant influence of searching characteristics on future user clickthrough. Our results show that high occurrences of query reformulation, lengthy searching duration, longer query length, and the higher ranking of prior clicked links correlate positively with future clickthrough. We provide recommendations for leveraging these findings for improving the performance of search engine retrieval and result ranking, along with implications for search engine marketing.

Determining the user intent of Web searches is a difficult problem due to the sparse data available concerning the searcher. In this paper, we examine a method to determine the user intent underlying Web search engine queries. We qualitatively analyze samples of queries from seven transaction logs from three different Web search engines containing more than five million queries. From this analysis, we identified characteristics of user queries based on three broad classifications of user intent. The classifications of informational, navigational, and transactional represent the type of content destination the searcher desired as expressed by their query. We implemented our classification algorithm and automatically classified a separate Web search engine transaction log of over a million queries submitted by several hundred thousand users. Our findings show that more than 80% of Web queries are informational in nature, with about 10% each being navigational and transactional. In order to validate the accuracy of our algorithm, we manually coded 400 queries and compared the classification to the results from our algorithm. This comparison showed that our automatic classification has an accuracy of 74%. Of the remaining 25% of the queries, the user intent is generally vague or multi-faceted, pointing to the need to for probabilistic classification. We illustrate how knowledge of searcher intent might be used to enhance future Web search engines.

Abstract Detecting query reformulations within a session by a Web searcher is an important area of research for designing more helpful searching systems and targeting content to particular users. Methods explored by other researchers include both qualitative (i.e., the use of human judges to manually analyze query patterns on usually small samples) and nondeterministic algorithms, typically using large amounts of training data to predict query modification during sessions. In this article, we explore three alternative methods for detection of session boundaries. All three methods are computationally straightforward and therefore easily implemented for detection of session changes. We examine 2,465,145 interactions from 534,507 users of Dogpile.com on May 6, 2005. We compare session analysis using (a) Internet Protocol address and cookie; (b) Internet Protocol address, cookie, and a temporal limit on intrasession interactions; and (c) Internet Protocol address, cookie, and query reformulation patterns. Overall, our analysis shows that defining sessions by query reformulation along with Internet Protocol address and cookie provides the best measure, resulting in an 82% increase in the count of sessions. Regardless of the method used, the mean session length was fewer than three queries, and the mean session duration was less than 30 min. Searchers most often modified their query by changing query terms (nearly 23% of all query modifications) rather than adding or deleting terms. Implications are that for measuring searching traffic, unique sessions may be a better indicator than the common metric of unique visitors. This research also sheds light on the more complex aspects of Web searching involving query modifications and may lead to advances in searching tools.

Abstract Metasearch engines are an intuitive method for improving the performance of Web search by increasing coverage, returning large numbers of results with a focus on relevance, and presenting alternative views of information needs. However, the use of metasearch engines in an operational environment is not well understood. In this study, we investigate the usage of Dogpile.com, a major Web metasearch engine, with the aim of discovering how Web searchers interact with metasearch engines. We report results examining 2,465,145 interactions from 534,507 users of Dogpile.com on May 6, 2005 and compare these results with findings from other Web searching studies. We collect data on geographical location of searchers, use of system feedback, content selection, sessions, queries, and term usage. Findings show that Dogpile.com searchers are mainly from the USA (84% of searchers), use about 3 terms per query (mean 5 2.85), implement system feedback moderately (8.4% of users), and generally (56% of users) spend less than one minute interacting with the Web search engine. Overall, metasearchers seem to have higher degrees of interaction than searchers on non‐metasearch engines, but their sessions are for a shorter period of time. These aspects of metasearching may be what define the differences from other forms of Web searching. We discuss the implications of our findings in relation to metasearch for Web searchers, search engines, and content providers.

Abstract The application of clustering to Web search engine technology is a novel approach that offers structure to the information deluge often faced by Web searchers. Clustering methods have been well studied in research labs; however, real user searching with clustering systems in operational Web environments is not well understood. This article reports on results from a transaction log analysis of Vivisimo.com, which is a Web meta‐search engine that dynamically clusters users' search results. A transaction log analysis was conducted on 2‐week's worth of data collected from March 28 to April 4 and April 25 to May 2, 2004, representing 100% of site traffic during these periods and 2,029,734 queries overall. The results show that the highest percentage of queries contained two terms. The highest percentage of search sessions contained one query and was less than 1 minute in duration. Almost half of user interactions with clusters consisted of displaying a cluster's result set, and a small percentage of interactions showed cluster tree expansion. Findings show that 11.1% of search sessions were multitasking searches, and there are a broad variety of search topics in multitasking search sessions. Other searching interactions and statistics on repeat users of the search engine are reported. These results provide insights into search characteristics with a cluster‐based Web search engine and extend research into Web searching trends.

Abstract For millennia humans have sought, organized, and used information as they learned and evolved patterns of human information behaviors to resolve their human problems and survive. However, despite the current focus on living in an “information age,” we have a limited evolutionary understanding of human information behavior. In this article the authors examine the current three interdisciplinary approaches to conceptualizing how humans have sought information including (a) the everyday life information seeking–sense‐making approach, (b) the information foraging approach, and (c) the problem–solution perspective on information seeking approach. In addition, due to the lack of clarity regarding the role of information use in information behavior, a fourth information approach is provided based on a theory of information use. The use theory proposed starts from an evolutionary psychology notion that humans are able to adapt to their environment and survive because of our modular cognitive architecture. Finally, the authors begin the process of conceptualizing these diverse approaches, and the various aspects or elements of these approaches, within an integrated model with consideration of information use. An initial integrated model of these different approaches with information use is proposed.

The Web has become a worldwide repository of information which individuals, companies, and organizations utilize to solve or address various information problems. Many of these Web users utilize automated agents to gather this information for them. Some assume that this approach represents a more sophisticated method of searching. However, there is little research investigating how Web agents search for online information. In this research, we first provide a classification for information agent using stages of information gathering, gathering approaches, and agent architecture. We then examine an implementation of one of the resulting classifications in detail, investigating how agents search for information on Web search engines, including the session, query, term, duration and frequency of interactions. For this temporal study, we analyzed three data sets of queries and page views from agents interacting with the Excite and AltaVista search engines from 1997 to 2002, examining approximately 900,000 queries submitted by over 3,000 agents. Findings include: (1) agent sessions are extremely interactive, with sometimes hundreds of interactions per second (2) agent queries are comparable to human searchers, with little use of query operators, (3) Web agents are searching for a relatively limited variety of information, wherein only 18% of the terms used are unique, and (4) the duration of agent-Web search engine interaction typically spans several hours. We discuss the implications for Web information agents and search engines.

Abstract Major Web search engines, such as AltaVista, are essential tools in the quest to locate online information. This article reports research that used transaction log analysis to examine the characteristics and changes in AltaVista Web searching that occurred from 1998 to 2002. The research questions we examined are (1) What are the changes in AltaVista Web searching from 1998 to 2002? (2) What are the current characteristics of AltaVista searching, including the duration and frequency of search sessions? (3) What changes in the information needs of AltaVista users occurred between 1998 and 2002? The results of our research show (1) a move toward more interactivity with increases in session and query length, (2) with 70% of session durations at 5 minutes or less, the frequency of interaction is increasing, but it is happening very quickly, and (3) a broadening range of Web searchers' information needs, with the most frequent terms accounting for less than 1% of total term usage. We discuss the implications of these findings for the development of Web search engines.

The Web has become a worldwide repository of information, which individuals, companies, and organizations utilize to solve or address various information problems. Many of these Web users utilize automated agents to gather this information for them. It is assumed that this approach represents a more sophisticated method of searching. However, there is little research investigating how Web agents search for online information. In this research, we examine how agents search for information on Web search engines, including the session, query, term, duration and frequency of interactions. For this study, we analyzed queries that 2,717 agents submitted to the Alta Vista search engine on 8 September 2002. Findings include: (1) agents interacting with Web search engines use queries comparable to human searchers, (2) Web agents are searching for a relatively limited variety of information, with only 18% of the terms used being unique, and (3) agent-Web search engine interaction typically spans several hours with multiple instances of interaction per second.

Abstract This article is the fifth in a series of articles from our study examining information‐seeking behavior in relation to information‐retrieval (IR) interaction. This article focuses on the examination of the interaction variables within Saracevic's ( 1989 ) triadic IR model. The analysis involved an examination of the information‐searching behavior of academic researchers during a mediated interaction with an IR system, particularly concentrating on the interaction between the information seeker, the search intermediary, and the IR system. To explore the variables during mediated search interaction, two small‐scale studies of mediated on‐line searching were conducted at the University of Sheffield. The studies involved mainly qualitative data analysis of interview transcripts and on‐line search results, together with quantitative data analysis of questionnaire results. The studies specifically investigated: (1) aspects of the mediated search process, (2) relevant information sources, and (3) interaction measures derived from search logs and tape transcripts, and related interaction measures. Findings include: (1) a number of different types of interactions were identified, (2) the presearching interactions between information seeker and intermediary aided the information seeker to identify their idea and problem, and (3) most information seekers in this study were at the problem definition stage or problem resolution stage following the search process. From this research, it is clear that the interaction did affect the search process. The intermediary helped the users to identify their search terms more clearly and focus on the references obtained. In most cases, the users and intermediary considered the communication process very effective, and the interactions that took place during the on‐line search were found to affect the users' perceptions of the problem, personal knowledge, and relevance judgments. The interaction process aided the users to obtain very useful results with help from the intermediary. In general, the users gave a positive evaluation of the retrieved answers in terms of focus, completeness, novelty, and degree of nonrelevancy.

Abstract This is the fourth in a series resulting from a joint research project directed by Professor Tom Wilson in the United Kingdom and Dr. Amanda Spink in the United States. The analysis reported here sought to test a number of hypotheses linking global/analytic cognitive styles and aspects of researchers' problem‐solving and related information‐seeking behavior. One hundred and eleven postdoctoral researchers were assessed for Witkin's field dependence/independence using Riding's Cognitive Styles Analysis and for Pask's holist/serialist biases using items from Ford's Study Processes Questionnaire. These measures were correlated with the researchers' perceptions of aspects of their problem‐solving and information‐seeking behavior, and with those of the search intermediary who performed literature searches on their behalf. A number of statistically significant correlations were found. Field‐independent researchers were more analytic and active than their field‐dependent counterparts. Holists engaged more in exploratory and serendipitous behavior, and were more idiosyncratic in their communication than serialists.

Abstract This article reports findings from a study of the geographic distribution of foreign authors in the Journal of American Society for Information Science & Technology (JASIST) and Journal of Documentation (JDoc). Bibliographic data about foreign authors and their geographic locations from a 50‐year publication period (1950–1999) are analyzed per 5‐year period for both JASIST and JDoc. The distribution of foreign authors by geographic locations was analyzed for the overall trends in JASIST and JDoc. UK and Canadian authors are the most frequent foreign authors in JASIST. Authors from the United States and Canada are the most frequent foreign authors in JDoc. The top 10 geographic locations with highest number of foreign authors and the top 10 most productive foreign authors were also identified and compared for their characteristics and trends.

Abstract Recent studies show that humans engage in multitasking behaviors as they seek and search information retrieval (IR) systems for information on more than one topic at the same time. For example, a Web search session by a single user may consist of searching on single topics or multitasking. Findings are presented from four separate studies of the prevalence of multitasking information seeking and searching by Web, IR system, and library users. Incidence of multitasking identified in the four different studies included: (1) users of the Excite Web search engine who completed a survey form, (2) Excite Web search engine users filtered from an Excite transaction log from 20 December 1999, (3) mediated on‐line databases searches, and (4) academic library users. Findings include: (1) multitasking information seeking and searching is a common human behavior, (2) users may conduct information seeking and searching on related or unrelated topics, (3) Web or IR multitasking search sessions are longer than single topic sessions, (4) mean number of topics per Web search ranged of 1 to more than 10 topics with a mean of 2.11 topic changes per search session, and (4) many Web search topic changes were from hobbies to shopping and vice versa. A more complex model of human seeking and searching levels that incorporates multitasking information behaviors is presented, and a theoretical framework for human information coordinating behavior (HICB) is proposed. Multitasking information seeking and searching is developing as major research area that draws together IR and information seeking studies toward a focus on IR within the context of human information behavior. Implications for models of information seeking and searching, IR/Web systems design, and further research are discussed.

Abstract Our project has investigated the processes of mediated information retrieval (IR) searching during human information‐seeking processes to characterize aspects of this process, including information seekers' changing situational contexts; information problems; uncertainty reduction; successive searching, cognitive styles; and cognitive and affective states. The research has involved observational, longitudinal data collection in the United States and United Kingdom. Three questionnaires were used for pre‐ and postsearch interviews: reference interview, information seeker postsearch, and search intermediary postsearch questionnaires. In addition, the Sheffield team employed a fourth set of instruments in a follow‐up interview some 2 months after the search. A total of 198 information seekers participated in a mediated on‐line search with a professional intermediary using the Dialog Information Service. Each mediated search process was audio taped and search transaction log recorded. The findings are presented in four parts. Part I presents the background, theoretical framework, models, and research design used during the research. Part II is devoted to exploring changes in information seekers' uncertainty during the mediated process. Part III provides results related to successive searching. Part IV reports findings related to cognitive styles, individual differences, age and gender. Additional articles that discuss further findings from this complex research project, including: (1) an integrated model of information seeking and searching, (2) assessment of mediated searching, and (3) intermediary‐information seeker communication, are in preparation and will be published separately.

Abstract Our project has investigated the processes of mediated information retrieval (IR) searching during human information‐seeking processes to characterize aspects of this process, including information seekers' changing situational contexts; information problems; uncertainty reduction; successive searching, cognitive styles; and cognitive and affective states. The research has involved observational, longitudinal data collection in the United States and the United Kingdom. Three questionnaires were used for pre‐ and postsearch interviews: reference interview, information‐seeker postsearch, and search intermediary postsearch questionnaires. In addition, the Sheffield team employed a fourth set of instruments in a follow‐up interview some 2 months after the search. A total of 198 information seekers participated in a mediated on‐line search with a professional intermediary using the Dialog Information Service. Each mediated search process was audiotaped and search transaction logs recorded. The findings are presented in four parts. Part I presents the background, theoretical framework, models, and research design used during the research. Part II is devoted to exploring changes in information seekers' uncertainty during the mediated process. Part III provides results related to successive searching. Part IV reports findings related to cognitive styles, individual differences, age and gender. Additional articles that discuss further findings from this complex research project, including: (1) an integrated model of information seeking and searching, (2) assessment of mediated searching, and (3) intermediary information‐seeker communication, are in preparation and will be published separately.

Abstract This article explores the relationship between the concept of uncertainty in information seeking, within a model of the problem‐solving process proposed by Wilson (1999a) and variables derived from other models and from the work of Ellis and Kuhlthau. The research has involved longitudinal data collection in the United States and United Kingdom employing three interview schedules (incorporating self‐completed questionnaires) used for pre‐ and postsearch interviews: and postsearch interviews with the information seeker and the search intermediary. In addition, the Sheffield team employed a fourth set of instruments in a follow‐up interview some 2 months after the search. Related search episodes, with a professional search intermediary using the Dialog Information Service and other sources were audiotaped, and search transaction logs were recorded. The mediated search clients were faculty and research students engaged in either personal or externally supported research projects. The article concludes that the problem solving model is recognized by such researchers as describing their activities and that the uncertainty concept, operationalized as here, serves as a useful variable in understanding information‐seeking behavior. It also concludes that Ellis's concept of “search characteristics” and Kuhlthau's information‐seeking stages are independent of the problem stage, and that a set of affective variables, based on those of Kuhlthau, appear to signify a generalized positive or negative affective orientation towards the course of the information problem solution.

The dichotomous bipolar approach to relevance has produced an abundance of information retrieval (IR) research. However, relevance studies that include consideration of users' partial relevance judgments are moving to a greater relevance clarity and congruity to impact the design of more effective IR systems. The study reported in this paper investigates the various regions of across a distribution of users' relevance judgments, including how these regions may be categorized, measured, and evaluated. An instrument was designed using four scales for collecting, measuring, and describing end-user relevance judgments. The instrument was administered to 21 end-users who conducted searches on their own information problems and made relevance judgments on a total of 1059 retrieved items. Findings include: (1) overlapping regions of relevance were found to impact the usefulness of precision ratios as a measure of IR system effectiveness, (2) both positive and negative levels of relevance are important to users as they make relevance judgments, (3) topicality was used more to reject rather than accept items as highly relevant, (4) utility was more used to judge items highly relevant, and (5) the nature of relevance judgment distribution suggested a new IR evaluation measure—median effect. Findings suggest that the middle region of a distribution of relevance judgments, also called “partial relevance,” represents a key avenue for ongoing study. The findings provide implications for relevance theory, and the evaluation of IR systems.

this paper we compare and contrast results from our two previous studies of Excite queries data sets, each containing over 1 million queries submitted by over 200,000 Excite users collected in September 1997 and December 1999. We examine how public Web searching changing during that two-year time period

This study develops a theoretical framework for expressing the nature of feedback as a critical process in interactive information retrieval (IR). Feedback concepts from cybernetics and social sciences perspectives are used to develop a concept of informational feedback applicable to IR. Models from human-computer interaction and interactive IR are then adapted as a framework for studying the manifestations of feedback in IR. An informational feedback loop is defined as a unit of measure for IR feedback. Results are then presented from an empirical study of real-life interactions between users, professional mediators (information specialists) and an IR system 'computer'. Data are presented involving 885 feedback loops classified in five categories. In conclusion we present a connection between the theoretical framework and empirical observations and provide a number of pragmatic and research suggestions.

Studies examining the use of printed materials by scholars are necessary precursors to the development of scholarly electronic journals and the development of the field of electronic publishing. Electronic publishing of journals is important in scholarship, where the timeliness and relevance of publications are crucial to the advancement of knowledge. Although considerable space is devoted to book reviews in scholarly journals, few previous studies have examined or provided detailed data on the utility or importance of book reviews to scholars. In addition, book reviews have generally not been included in models of scholarly communication. This article results from a survey of science and technology faculty, and the humanities and social science faculty at the University of North Texas. The survey sought to determine: (1) Whether faculty read book reviews in scholarly journals; (2) the sources, importance, and utility of book reviews for faculty research and teaching; and (3) faculty criteria for useful book reviews. Findings show that most faculty read book reviews, however, a dichotomy exists as to the usefulness of book reviews for faculty research and teaching. Different book review formats were also preferred by humanities and social sciences faculty, and science and technology faculty. Based on these findings, an extension of Garvey and Griffith's (1971) scholarly communication model is proposed that includes book reviews and various feedback loops as part of the scholarly communication process. Findings from this study hold implications for the content and access to electronically published book reviews, and further research. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Feedback is a fundamental concept within the physical and the social sciences with its modern origins drawn from cybernetics. Information science is exploring feedback as a key component in the interactive model of information retrieval (IR). This article reports results from a study exploring the information retrieval and types of interactive feedback during mediated IR. Five different types of interactive feedback were identified, extending the interactive IR model to include relevance, magnitude, and strategy interactive feedback. Implications for further research investigating the nature and models of interactive feedback in information retrieval are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Feedback has been a fundamental element in many cybernetic and social models. Information science is also exploring feedback as a key concept within information seeking and retrieving models. This article first presents an overview of the feedback concepts within the frameworks and models of cybernetics and the social sciences. The article then proposes that an enhanced feedback concept is developing within the framework and models of information seeking and retrieving, and the development of a cognitive viewpoint of information, illuminating the information seeking and retrieving context. The three feedback frameworks and concepts (cybernetic, social, and interaction) are then compared based on their conceptualization of the feedback loop and notion of information. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

We investigated the sources and effectiveness of search terms used during mediated on-line searching under real-life (as opposed to laboratory) circumstances. A stratified model of information retrieval (IR) interaction served as a framework for the analysis. For the analysis, we used the on-line transaction logs, videotapes, and transcribed dialogue of the presearch and on-line interaction between 40 users and 4 professional intermediaries. Each user provided one question and interacted with one of the four intermediaries. Searching was done using DIALOG. Five sources of search terms were identified: (1) the users' written question statements, (2) terms derived from users' domain knowledge during the interaction, (3) terms extracted from retrieved items as relevance feedback, (4) database thesaurus, and (5) terms derived by intermediaries during the interaction. Distribution, retrieval effectiveness, transition sequences, and correlation of search terms from different sources were investigated. Search terms from users' written question statements and term relevance feedback were the most productive sources of terms contributing to the retrieval of items judged relevant by users. Implications of the findings are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Article Elicitations during information retrieval: implications for IR system design Share on Authors: Amanda Spink School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TXView Profile , Abby Goodrum School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TXView Profile , David Robins School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX School of Library and Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TXView Profile , Mei Mei Wu Associate Professor, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, 106 Associate Professor, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, 106View Profile Authors Info & Claims SIGIR '96: Proceedings of the 19th annual international ACM SIGIR conference on Research and development in information retrievalAugust 1996 Pages 120–127https://doi.org/10.1145/243199.243239Online:18 August 1996Publication History 8citation498DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations8Total Downloads498Last 12 Months4Last 6 weeks1 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteGet Access

This article discusses a multiple search session model of end-users' interaction with information retrieval systems based on results from an exploratory study investigating end-users' search sessions over time with online public access catalogs (OPAC) or CD-ROM databases at different stages of their information seeking related to a current research project. Interviews were conducted with 200 academic end-users to investigate the occurrence of multiple search sessions. Results show that at the time of the interview, 57% of end-users had conducted multiple search sessions during their research project and 86% of end-users conducted their first search session at the beginning stage of their information-seeking process. Forty-nine percent of end-users had conducted between 1 and 6 search sessions and 8% more than 6 search sessions. Seventy percent of multiple search session end-users' had modified their search terms since their first search session. The implications of the findings for end-user training, information retrieval systems design, and further research are discussed. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.