TREC interactive with Cheshire II

This paper describes the UC Berkeley's participation in the TREC-6, 7 and 8 interactive track experiments. In these three studies 24 searchers (four in TREC-6, eight in TREC-7, and 12 in TREC-8) conducted a total of 160 searches, half on the Cheshire II system and the other half on the ZPRISE system. In TREC-7 and TREC-8 questionnaires were administered to gather information about basic demographic and searching experience, about each search, about each of the systems, and finally, about the user's perceptions of the systems. In this paper I will briefly describe the systems used in the study and how they differ in design goals and implementation. The results of the interactive track evaluations and the information derived from the questionnaires are then discussed and plans for further research are considered.