The end-user: An assessment and review of the literature

Abstract It is argued that end-users are an ever-increasing and potentially enormous market for online information systems. Yet it is not clear how widespread end-user searching is already; what makes some people do their own searching, but not others; what problems they encounter when conducting online searches; and whether technical developments in the pipeline are likely to make the intermediary redundant. A review of the literature is undertaken to discover whether researchers are providing us with answers to these and related questions. Their findings—contradictory in places—indicate that: end-user searching flourishes most in fields where users were active searchers of manual/hardcopy services; the prospect of total and unimpeded access to information is not as potent alure as many have thought; and that end-user searching poses little immediate threat to the intermediary.

[1]  K. R. Walton,et al.  Experiences at Exxon in training end-users to search technical databases online , 1983 .

[2]  Charles T. Meadow Online Searching and Computer Programming: Some Behavioral Similarities (Or...Why End Users Will Eventually Take Over the Terminal). , 1979 .

[3]  Angela R. Haygarth Jackson Online information handling — the user perspective , 1983 .

[4]  Elaine Trzebiatowski,et al.  End User Study on BRS/After Dark. , 1984 .

[5]  Bruce D. Bonta Online Searching in the Reference Room , 1983 .

[6]  J. K. Pemberton,et al.  DIALOG in 1984: an interview with Roger K. Summit , 1984 .

[7]  Richard V. Janke Online after six: end user searching comes of age , 1984 .

[8]  A. Robert Menanteaux A USER'S COMPARISON OF WESTLAW AND LEXIS , 1982 .

[9]  M C. Maguire An analysis of ISLA and DEVIL—two experimental public information systems , 1984 .

[10]  Judith S. Haines,et al.  Experiences in Training End-User Searchers. , 1982 .

[11]  Elaine Caruso,et al.  TRAINER © – a computer tutorial for end-users of database services: context, content, and results of use* , 1983 .

[12]  John Carey,et al.  Computerizing Information: Consumer Reactions to Teletext , 1983 .

[13]  Pat Ensor,et al.  Search Helper: Low-Cost Online Searching in an Academic Library. , 1984 .

[14]  Sylvia Faibisoff,et al.  Is There a Future for the End User in Online Bibliographic Searching , 1981 .

[15]  John Rothman Telereference Services: Another Viewpoint. , 1984 .

[16]  Nancy Fjällbrant,et al.  End-User Training in the Use of a Small Swedish Database (Research Note) , 1983 .

[17]  Igor I. Kavass,et al.  Computerized Legal Databases: An International Survey , 1983, International Journal of Legal Information.

[18]  Carol Tenopir,et al.  DIALOG’s Knowledge Index and BRS/After Dark: Database Searching on Personal Computers , 1983 .

[19]  Kevin P. Jones The effects of Expert and Allied Systems on information handling: some scenarios , 1984 .

[20]  Nancy Fjallbrant End-User Training in the Use of a Small Swedish Database. , 1983 .

[21]  Ted Bolton Perceptual Factors That Influence the Adoption of Videotex Technology: Results of the Channel 2000 Field Test. , 1983 .