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Online searching: Measures that discriminate among users with different types of experiences

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  • Carol Hansen Fenichel

Abstract

The primary goal of this research was to discover those behaviors associated with the process of online bibliographic searching that are correlated with success. In the assumption that more experienced searchers are more successful, the research objectives were to identify (1) the differences among the searches of users of online systems who have different amounts of overall experience and (2) the differences between the searches of persons with and without experience on the database being searched. Five groups of searchers with varied overall and ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) database experience performed preselected searches on the DIALOG system using ONTAP, the 1975 subset of the ERIC database. Analysis of the search transcripts showed that differences among the groups were not large. Compared to the experienced subjects, beginning searchers performed surprisingly well. The group with the greatest overall experience and the greatest ERIC database experience achieved the highest recall and had the highest values of a set of search process variables designated “search effort” variables (e.g., number of commands and descriptors, connect time) suggesting a possible relationship between search effort and recall.

Suggested Citation

  • Carol Hansen Fenichel, 1981. "Online searching: Measures that discriminate among users with different types of experiences," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 32(1), pages 23-32, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jamest:v:32:y:1981:i:1:p:23-32
    DOI: 10.1002/asi.4630320104
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