A review of Web information seeking research: considerations of method and foci of interest

Introduction. This review shows that Web information seeking research suffers from inconsistencies in method and a lack of homogeneity in research foci. Background. Qualitative and quantitative methods are needed to produce a comprehensive view of information seeking. Studies also recommend observation as one of the most fundamental ways of gaining direct knowledge of behaviour. User-centred research emphasises the importance of holistic approaches, which incorporate physical, cognitive, and affective elements. Problems. Comprehensive studies are limited; many approaches are problematic and a consistent methodological framework has not been developed. Research has often failed to ensure appropriate samples that ensure both quantitative validity and qualitative consistency. Typically, observation has been based on simulated rather than real information needs and most studies show little attempt to examine holistically different characteristics of users in the same research schema. Research also deals with various aspects of cognitive style and ability with variant definitions of expertise and different layers of user experience. Finally the effect of social and cultural elements has not been extensively investigated. Conclusion. The existing limitations in method and the plethora of different approaches allow little progress and fewer comparisons across studies. There is urgent need for establishing a theoretical framework on which future studies can be based so that information seeking behaviour can be more holistically understood, and results can be generalised.

[1]  Carol Tenopir,et al.  Users' interaction with World Wide Web resources: an exploratory study using a holistic approach , 2000, Inf. Process. Manag..

[2]  Janette R. Hill.  The World Wide Web as a Tool for Information Retrieval: An Exploratory Study of Users' Strategies in an Open-Ended System. , 1997 .

[3]  Kyung-Sun Kim.  Individual Differences and Information Retrieval: Implications on Web Design , 2000, RIAO.

[4]  H. A. Witkin.  A Manual for the embedded figures tests , 1971 .

[5]  Ethelene Whitmire.  Epistemological beliefs and the information-seeking behavior of undergraduates , 2003 .

[6]  N. Ford,et al.  Gender differences in Internet perceptions and use , 1996 .

[7]  Peter Bruza,et al.  Web searching: A process-oriented experimental study of three interactive search paradigms , 2002, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[8]  Mirja Iivonen,et al.  Questions as a factor in Web search strategy , 2001, Inf. Process. Manag..

[9]  Harry Bruce,et al.  Perceptions of the Internet: what people think when they search the Internet for information , 1999, Internet Res..

[10]  Kyung-Sun Kim,et al.  Cognitive style and on-line database search experience as predictors of Web search performance , 2000, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[11]  Amanda Spink,et al.  Towards a theoretical framework for information retrieval in an information seeking context , 1999 .

[12]  Paul Prekop,et al.  A qualitative study of collaborative information seeking , 2002, J. Documentation.

[13]  David A. Nation.  WebTOC: a tool to visualize and quantify Web sites using a hierarchical table of contents browser , 1998, CHI Conference Summary.

[14]  S. Yang.  Information Seeking as Problem-Solving Using a Qualitative Approach To Uncover the Novice Learners' Information-Seeking Processes in a Perseus Hypertext System. , 1997 .

[15]  Mirja Iivonen,et al.  Factors Influencing Web Search Strategies. , 1999 .

[16]  Gary Marchionini,et al.  Information Seeking in Electronic Environments , 1995 .

[17]  Linda Banwell,et al.  Users and user study methodology: the JUBILEE project , 2003, Inf. Res..

[18]  Christopher Peter Lueg.  Information Seeking as Socially Situated Activity , 2000 .

[19]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Clarifying Search: A User-Interface Framework for Text Searches , 1997, D Lib Mag..

[20]  M. Hannafin,et al.  Cognitive strategies and learning from the world wide web , 1997 .

[21]  Amanda Spink,et al.  Searching the Web: a survey of EXCITE users , 1999, Internet Res..

[22]  Andrei Broder,et al.  A taxonomy of web search , 2002, SIGF.

[23]  David Miller,et al.  The role of individual differences in Internet searching: an empirical study , 2001 .

[24]  Vivian Cothey,et al.  A longitudinal study of World Wide Web users' information-searching behavior , 2002, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[25]  Kate Ehrlich,et al.  Turning Information into Knowledge: Information Finding as a Collaborative Activity , 1994 .

[26]  Andrew Dillon,et al.  User analysis in HCI - the historical lessons from individual differences research , 1996, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[27]  Peiling Wang,et al.  Methodologies and Methods for User Behavioral Research. , 1999 .

[28]  Marcia J. Bates,et al.  Toward an integrated model of information seeking and searching , 2002 .

[29]  H. Albrechtsen,et al.  Toward a New Horizon in Information Science: Domain-Analysis , 1995, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[30]  Craig Silverstein,et al.  Analysis of a Very Large Altavista Query Log" SRC Technical note #1998-14 , 1998 .

[31]  Cecelia M. Brown.  Information Seeking Behavior of Scientists in the Electronic Information Age: Astronomers, Chemists, Mathematicians, and Physicists , 1999, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[32]  Andrew Large,et al.  Users' perceptions of the Web as revealed by transaction log analysis , 2001, Online Inf. Rev..

[33]  S. L. Star,et al.  Social informatics of digital library use and infrastructure , 1996 .

[34]  Murat Karamuftuoglu.  Collaborative Information Retrieval: Toward a Social Informatics View of IR Interaction , 1998, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[35]  Raya Fidel,et al.  A Visit to the Information Mall: Web Searching Behavior of High School Students , 1999, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[36]  Thomas L. Jacobson,et al.  Computer, system, and subject knowledge in novice searching of a full-text, multifile database , 1992 .

[37]  Donald A. Norman,et al.  Explorations in Learning & Instruction: The Theory Into Practice Database , 2003 .

[38]  Kate Ehrlich,et al.  Information retrieval using a hypertext-based help system , 1989, TOIS.

[39]  K. Bailey.  Methods of Social Research , 1978 .

[40]  Ingrid Hsieh-Yee,et al.  Search Tactics of Web Users in Searching for Texts, Graphics, Known Items and Subjects , 1998 .

[41]  Louise T. Su.  Value of Search Results as a Whole as the Best Single Measure of Information Retrieval Performance , 1998, Inf. Process. Manag..

[42]  Christoph Hölscher,et al.  Web search behavior of Internet experts and newbies , 2000, Comput. Networks.

[43]  Justine Roberts.  Naturalistic Inquiry for Library Science: Methods and Applications for Research, Evaluation, and Teaching. , 1991 .

[44]  Sanna Talja,et al.  Information sharing in academic communities: Types and levels of collaboration in information seeking and use. , 2002 .

[45]  Eszter Hargittai,et al.  Beyond logs and surveys: In-depth measures of people's web use skills , 2002, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[46]  Diane H. Sonnenwald,et al.  Information behavior in dynamic group work contexts: interwoven situational awareness, dense social networks and contested collaboration in command and control , 2000, Inf. Process. Manag..

[47]  Iwan G. J. H. Wopereis,et al.  Differences between novice and experienced users in searching information on the World Wide Web , 2000, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[48]  Michael J. Radzicki,et al.  Using Cognitive Styles Typology to Explain Individual Differences in Dynamic Decision Making: Much Ado about Nothing , 1998 .

[49]  B. Wildemuth.  Post-Positivist Research: Two Examples of Methodological Pluralism , 1993, The Library Quarterly.

[50]  Christine Marton,et al.  Information seeking on the Web by women in IT professions , 2003, Internet Res..

[51]  Susan Dunman,et al.  Seeking meaning: A process approach to library and information services , 1996 .

[52]  David E. Losada,et al.  Rating the impact of logical representations on retrieval performance , 2001, 12th International Workshop on Database and Expert Systems Applications.

[53]  Jenny K. Holder,et al.  A visit to the information mall: Web searching behavior of high school students , 1999 .

[54]  M. Patton,et al.  Qualitative evaluation and research methods , 1992 .

[55]  Peter Brophy,et al.  Student searching behaviour in the JISC Information Environment , 2002 .

[56]  Susan Wiedenbeck,et al.  PATTERNS OF INFORMATION SEEKING ON THE WEB: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF DOMAIN EXPERTISE AND WEB EXPERTISE , 2003 .

[57]  Gavriel Salvendy,et al.  Keyword comparison: a user-centered feature for improving web search tools , 2000, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[58]  Debra J. Slone.  The influence of mental models and goals on search patterns during Web interaction , 2002, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[59]  Diane Nahl,et al.  Learning the Internet and the Structure of Information Behavior , 1998, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[60]  G. Newby,et al.  Cognitive Space , 2022 .

[61]  Amanda Spink,et al.  Selected results from a large study of Web searching: the Excite study , 2000, Inf. Res..

[62]  Christine L. Borgman,et al.  Rethinking online monitoring methods for information retrieval systems: from search product to search process , 1996 .

[63]  Susan T. Dumais,et al.  A comparison of the collaborative information retrieval behaviour of two design teams , 2003 .

[64]  Diane Nahl.  Learning the Internet and the Structure of Information Behavior , 1998, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[65]  Amanda Spink,et al.  U.S. versus European web searching trends , 2002, SIGF.

[66]  Brian Detlor,et al.  Information Seeking on the Web: An Integrated Model of Browsing and Searching , 2000, First Monday.

[67]  Dania Bilal.  Children's use of the Yahooligans! Web search engine: I. Cognitive, physical, and affective behaviors on fact‐based search tasks , 2000 .

[68]  Bryce Allen,et al.  Cognitive and task influences on Web searching behavior , 2002, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[69]  Dania Bilal,et al.  Children's use of the Yahooligans! Web search engine. III. Cognitive and physical behaviors on fully self-generated search tasks , 2002, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[70]  Priscilla Teitelbaum-Kronish.  Relationship of selected cognitive aptitudes and personality characteristics of the online searcher to the quality of performance in online bibliographic retrieval , 1984 .

[71]  Catherine C. Marshall,et al.  Going digital: a look at assumptions underlying digital libraries , 1995, CACM.

[72]  Christine L. Borgman,et al.  Rethinking Online Monitoring Methods for Information Retrieval Systems: From Search Product to Search Process , 1996, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[73]  Nigel Ford,et al.  Cognitive styles and virtual environments , 2000, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[74]  Amanda Spink,et al.  Characteristics of question format web queries: an exploratory study , 2002, Inf. Process. Manag..

[75]  B. Berg.  Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences , 1989 .

[76]  Ruth A. Palmquist.  Cognitive style and users’ metaphors for the web: an exploratory study , 2001 .

[77]  T. Wilson,et al.  Exploring the contexts of information behaviour , 1999 .

[78]  Jamshid Beheshti,et al.  Information Seeking on the Web: Navigational Skills of Grade-Six Primary School Students. , 1999 .

[79]  Bradley P. Tolppanen.  A survey of World Wide Web use by freshman English students: results and implications for bibliographic instruction , 1999 .

[80]  A. S. Goker,et al.  Web user search pattern analysis for modelling query topic changes , 2001 .

[81]  Soo Young Rieh.  Investigating Web searching behavior in home environments , 2003, ASIST.

[82]  T. D. Wilson,et al.  On user studies and information needs , 2006, J. Documentation.

[83]  Brenda Dervin,et al.  From the mind’s eye of the user: The sense-making qualitative-quantitative methodology. , 1992 .

[84]  Yvonne Rogers,et al.  Cognitive strategies in web searching. , 1999 .

[85]  Linda Banwell,et al.  JUBILEE: monitoring user information behaviour in the electronic age , 2000, OCLC Syst. Serv..

[86]  Chun Wei Choo,et al.  A behavioral model of information seeking on the web: preliminary results of a study of how managers and IT specialists use the web , 1998 .

[87]  L. Ross,et al.  The Person and the Situation: Perspectives of Social Psychology , 1991 .

[88]  M. Bates.  The invisible substrate of information science , 1999 .

[89]  Timothy J. Sewall.  The Measurement of Learning Style: A Critique of Four Assessment Tools. , 1986 .

[90]  David Miller,et al.  The role of individual differences in Internet searching: An empirical study , 2001, J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol..

[91]  Kristina Höök,et al.  Social Navigation of Information Space , 1999, Computer Supported Cooperative Work.

[92]  Peiling Wang,et al.  Users' Interaction with the World Wide Web: Problems & Problem-Solving. , 1999 .

[93]  Gregory K. W. K. Chung,et al.  Children's Internet Searching on Complex Problems: Performance and Process Analyses , 1998, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[94]  Jason Vaughan.  Considerations in the choice of an Internet search tool , 1999 .

[95]  Kazuhisa Miwa,et al.  A cognitive study of information seeking processes in the WWW: the effects of searcher's knowledge and experience , 2001, Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Web Information Systems Engineering.

[96]  Xia Lin,et al.  Map Displays for Information Retrieval , 1997, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[97]  Birger Hjørland,et al.  Information seeking behaviour: what should a general theory look like? , 2000 .