Web search behavior of Internet experts and newbies

Abstract Searching for relevant information on the World Wide Web is often a laborious and frustrating task for casual and experienced users. To help improve searching on the Web based on a better understanding of user characteristics, we investigate what types of knowledge are relevant for Web-based information seeking, and which knowledge structures and strategies are involved. Two experimental studies are presented, which address these questions from different angles and with different methodologies. In the first experiment, 12 established Internet experts are first interviewed about search strategies and then perform a series of realistic search tasks on the World Wide Web. From this study a model of information seeking on the World Wide Web is derived and then tested in a second study. In the second experiment two types of potentially relevant types of knowledge are compared directly. Effects of Web experience and domain-specific background knowledge are investigated with a series of search tasks in an economics-related domain (introduction of the Euro currency). We find differential and combined effects of both Web experience and domain knowledge: while successful search performance requires the combination of the two types of expertise, specific strategies directly related to Web experience or domain knowledge can be identified.