Introduction to User Studies P- 11. Library Use and User Studies By :achandel a

इस ब्लॉग्स को सृजन करने में आप सभी से सादर सुझाव आमंत्रित हैं , कृपया अपने सुझाव और प्रविष्टियाँ प्रेषित करे , इसका संपूर्ण कार्य क्षेत्र विश्व ज्ञान समुदाय हैं , जो सभी प्रतियोगियों के कॅरिअर निर्माण महत्त्वपूर्ण योगदान देगा ,आप अपने सुझाव इस मेल पत्ते पर भेज सकते हैं - chandrashekhar.malav@yahoo.com

Introduction to User Studies P- 11. Library Use and User Studies By :achandel a

1.0 Introduction

Libraries are established with the objective of providing services to their users. While planning library services, users have to be always kept in view so that the services being proposed and introduced are valued and used to the maximum extent. Most of the patrons are infrequent users who make a few demands for the service. If the library focuses on the heavy users and their known demands and needs, it can achieve outstanding performance… (Evans, et al.1972). However, the philosophy of librarianship is not only to serve heavy and regular users but is also supposed to look after the interests of casual and infrequent users. Everyone whosoever visits library or ask for information should find his/her information conveniently. Everybody in academics; a student or a teacher comes across some or the other problem in finding and accessing information. You as students   of Library & Information and also as users of library and its services might be fully familiar with such day-to-day common problems faced in finding relevant information. To know as to what problems users face in locating and accessing information, paper on ‘User and User Studies’ has been introduced in the LIS curriculum so that the students of today and information professionals of tomorrow are able to understand and conceptualize users’ problems. Taking a simple example of a shopkeeper, who thinks of his consumers before opening of a shop and goes on adding items which have possibility of their use and salability. We notice shopping mall culture in all big cities, and small shops/stores in small cities and villages with different commodities to sell according to the requirements of the consumers. The same principle holds good in librarianship also with the difference that one earns profit and another provides ­­­services without aiming at any profit. The profit is earned and measured in the form of user satisfaction with the services being provided. The primary concern of the library profession has been to assess the information needs of the users and assist them in finding their information resources to solve their day-today problems relating to information access and use.

Information has been recognized as an important resource and commodity for overall development of individuals as well as nations. Today, the richness of nations is measured in terms of availability and use of information. Information poverty or the illiteracy is considered more dangerous than economic poverty. One of the differences between the developed and developing nations is that former makes good use of information than the latter. If we believe that information and knowledge is a power resource, then its holders obviously become powerful. Therefore, availability and use of information make the difference. The very purpose of information and knowledge generation is its use for overall development of humanity and the society. Right from the inception of libraries, serving the users to their utmost satisfaction has been the one and the only one objective.  

User study investigates the information requirements [of the users] almost entirely with how a user navigates a given system and what he or she could do with the data (rather than information) made available by information systems. ... (Wilson, 2006).  Information science firmly founded upon an understanding of information users in the context of their work or social life is also likely to be of more use to the information practitioners by pointing the way to practical innovations in information services, and to potentially beneficial association with other communication-information-related sub system,” (Wilson, 1981). Hollnagel (1980) also writes that information science is concerned with the use of information by humans ... and it is concerned specifically with the way in which humans search for information, systematically as well as unsystematically. The basis for information science is therefore to be found in our experience of using and searching for information by the users.

The scope of user study is  quite wide  and diverse which includes all the aspects of users as well as non-users  relating to use of information. This has been an intriguing area of research in which behavioural aspects of human beings are  to be studied which is ever changing according to situation and many other factors. Users are the consumers and library professionals are the producers, organizer and communicator of information and information products. Therefore, library has to be constantly in touch with its consumers (users) as their behaviours and needs go on changing from time to time. We can easily identify the difference between the users of 20^th century and the present era. If a library is developed isolating its present and future readership, it is likely to fail in its objectives. Therefore, it is important that library is fully aware and acquainted with the needs and requirements of its community to be served. Taking the analogy of producers and consumer as cited above, it is important for the producers of the products to first make an assessment of the market as to what types and kinds of products are required in the market. Library should provide what its users want. After doing proper survey of the market, products are manufactured based upon consumers’ needs and behavior in order to yield maximum output in the form of use, salability, profit, etc. whatever the case may be. Similarly, library professionals also should adopt the same analogy to know and understand the customers’ (users) need and take necessary steps to meet them.  Library should always aim to identify and develop services to the maximum satisfaction of users. If there is any disconnect between the two, all effects, money, etc, being spent are going to be a big waste. In view of this, user study is the pre-requisite to provide need-based services and develop and modify information systems and services from time to time.

2.0 Scope of User Study

User means information user, patron, clientele of the library who seeks information from various sources available to him to remove his ‘uncertainty’, ‘inquisitiveness’ ‘ambiguities’ to meet out his/her information need and solve various problems at hand. In these studies user and user groups remain in focus to know and ascertain the facts about their information needs, information use and information seeking behaviours, etc. The scope of user study … can be expanded to include parts of computer science, communication studies and other disciplines (Wilson, 2008). Hewins (1990) called for increased interdisciplinary research in this area. She suggested that research in this area should integrate research being conducted in other disciplines (e.g., psychology, cognitive science and computer science). Wersing (1973) divides user studies into four areas: channels of communications, information receivers (users), data sources and information senders. The core of user studies have three main components; information needs, information seeking behavior and information retrieval, all studies revolve around these aspects. Let us broadly understand these two concepts since these are not precisely definable.  We need information when we feel that our existing knowledge is deficient or inadequqte to solve the problem at hand for the purpose of study and research. In such situation, users start searching information from various sources known to them. How users process their information need and retrieve and use information by going through different stages and steps. Krikelas (1983) states that ‘‘information seeking begins when someone perceives that the current state of knowledge is less than the needed one to deal with some issue (or problem).

These concepts would be discussed elsewhere in detail in different modules. Nicholas and Herman (2009) have devoted whole chapter to define these terms. These studies broadly include all interactions between users and their information products (sources of information), information seeking behaviours including searching and retrieval processes, cognitive process, barrier and intervening variables in information accessing and use (Chandel, 2011). Eithel (1981) states that user studies are composed of who reads what; and how these needs can be identified and satisfied. Tenopir (2003) identified the following areas of user studies:

i)        What people do?

ii)       What people prefer?

iii)     What people say they do?

iv)     What people say they prefer?

v)      What they may do or prefer in the future?

The author prefers the term people rather than user which means, involving whole community to be studied to ascertain the information need of whole population to be served rather than only library users. Needs of users and needs of the people are different. Non-users are to be converted into users or educated to use information. Therefore, identification of information needs of diverse population forming different groups of people in the community is required to be studied to serve them in a better way. Krikelas (1983) in his model identified four steps of information processing and use (1) perceiving a need, (2) the search itself, (3) finding the information, and (4)using the information, which results in either satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

The thrust areas of these studies can be summarized as under:

i) To study the reading interests and the preferences of the various categories and groups of library and  information  users belonging to different disciplines and environments.

ii) To know what are the roles, activities, job profiles, academic background and social life, etc. of the users groups  and how these affect upon their information needs and information seeking behaviours?

iii)   To study the information seeking behavior of different categories of  users, how they search information and what  search strategies, browsing pattern they follow, and what problems and barrier they face in the process of finding  information?

iv)  To know what are the theories and models established  on information seeking behaviours and needs, and how  identification of the behaviours are useful in such studies?

v)      What channels of communication and sources the users quite often consult and use and with what frequency?

vi) To evaluate the services being provided with users perspectives and take their feedback to improve and make  services more effective and meaningful.

vii)   To go beyond what, why, how of usability of resources and find out the measures to educate and direct them to use  right resources which may not be known to them through educating users.

viii)  To study non-users to know as to why information available to them is not being used, and identify those factors  which are responsible for non-use or under-use of resources.

ix) To know the level of user satisfaction from the services being provided and take appropriate measure to improve  them, etc.

Wilson (1994) presented a model of user study covering the following components in his paper published as early as in 1981 which has as much relevance today as during the time of its proposal.

We may agree that most "user studies" have been about how people use systems, rather than about the users themselves and other aspects of their information-seeking behaviour (Wilson, 1994). These studies include:  who library patrons are, how they use libraries, and more recently, what the information needs of people  are and how various sources of information help or do not help them, independently of formal information delivery systems such as libraries  (Julian, 1996). Various literature surveys have also revealed that most of the studies have been conducted on sources of information being referred by the users. Now the question arises as to what follow up actions are required to be taken by the practitioners in the light of such findings. In such situation, when users were found to use e-resources more than printed material, and their preferences were found  more on Internet resources in full text form than  resources in the library in printed format. In view of such findings what measures have to be taken  as a follow up action to improve the existing services by the practitioners need to be ascertained and thoughtfully implemented. The recommendations and findings of most of these studies have not been implemented. The outcome and implementation of user studies remain questionable despite the fact that a lot of literature has been generated on the subject. Nevertheless, the importance of these studies cannot be undermined, provided appropriate research methodology is applied. Both users as well as non-users groups form the population of the such studies to be conducted with holistic approach relating to information communication, access, retrieval, transfer and exchange.

3.0 Brief Historical Account

Libraries were never established isolating their users. They have always been there in the background of establishment of any library. User studies have a long history; as long as the libraries themselves. Users have been always  in focus right from the inception of libraries all over the world. Libraries cannot be thought of without their users. It is a different matter that the formal studies began much later when need for such studies was realized and brought out at verbal plane. Before the initiation of these studies, librarians used to make assessment of users need for books and other material hypothetically based upon their perception, formal or informal interaction with the users and indirectly observing their behaviours while in the libraries and using resources. Users’ statistics might have been another indicator of users approach to library collection usage and users preferences in the beginning. Wilson (2008) traces its history  from  1916 whereas he also quotes the study by McDiarmid (1940)  on library survey  produced in 1940. Siatri (1999) states that the beginning of user study started since 1940’s. Till 1965, there were 676 user studies listed in ‘Bibliography on User Studies’ (David and Bailey, 1969). More studies started coming up after 1948 when Royal Society Scientific Conference was held. The first library surveys were designed to discover what categories of persons used libraries, not what those persons did when they were in a library nor what life or work issues were behind their library use. In earlier studies emphasis was on discovery and description of document usage  (Wilson, 2008).

During 1960’s two important studies were conducted by Menzel (1966) and Line (1971) in the field of science and social science respectively which deserve special mention because of their landmark contributions for further studies. These two studies made the impact and the need to conduct such studies was well realized by the professionals. INFROSS study started during autumn of 1967 with a large sample with multiple questionnaires, which led to the design of information system in social sciences. This was the first study conducted in the field of social sciences whose objectives were achieved by implementing its findings. However, such studies had been attempted earlier in the field of science but not in the field of social science since there was more awareness and consciousness of use of information among scientists as compared to social scientists. Menzel (1966) and Line (1971) made a good beginning of user studies and set directions for further studies. During 1963-1969) the American Psychological Association (APA) conducted a series of studies on users’ behaviours.  During 1970s these studies became quite popular and many research projects were funded by various organizations and association. In India, the feasibility study of establishment of NISSAT (National Information System in Science and Technology was conducted by Peter Lazar in 1970 assessing the information needs of scientific community of India on behalf of UNESCO on the request of Govt. of India. The establishment of Centre for Research on User Studies (CRUS) in 1975 in the Department of Information Studies at University of Sheffield gave more emphasis on conducting user studies (Siatri, 1999). The Department had started user studies in early 1970s as reported by Roberts and Wilson (1988). These studies were   in the form of student dissertations and occasional research projects, but got further promotion under the project  funded by BLRDD (British Library R. & D. Department)  (Wilson, 1995). Earlier studies were limited to library surveys relating to library use, readers preferences and interests. Crawford (1978) estimated that there might have been more than1000 studies up-to 1978. More and more literature started coming up during 1980s and  1990s onwards, with broader scope of these studies. During 1990 there were only 9 papers which had appeared in Web of Science which increased to 200 by 2006 (Wilson, 2008). However, Web of Sciencedoes not cover all the journals of Library & Information Science. Therefore, some studies might have been not been covered in web of science. From 1990-1994, 588 articles were indexed in library literature under the terms ‘use studies’ and ‘information needs’ (Julian. 1998). During 1990s user studies became one of the main areas of research for PhD programmes in many universities in India and abroad. The courses on user studies were also introduced in many schools/Departments of Library & Information Science.

It is now estimated that 200-300 articles are being published every year on the subject (Chang, 2011). Jarvelin and Vakkari (1990) estimated that research on information needs and uses constitutes 8% of total research in Library and Information Science. However, according to Wilson (1981), the progress towards some theoretical understanding of the concept of ‘information need’ has been slow, though literature growth was quite high. He supports his remarks by the statement that subject from Menzel to Paisley through the various authors in ARIST volumes to Ford review of 1977 did not show any significant progress in theoretical understanding mainly due to inadequate methodology and failure do research that is cumulative.  On the other side, he also mentions elsewhere that there is no other area of information science except information retrieval that has occasioned as much research effort and writing as ‘user studies’ (Wilson, 1981).

Literature growth in user studies has really been fast since 1990 onwards but regretfully as had been realized by many authors and the practitioners that the implementations of the findings of these studies have not been so significant. Despite the accumulation of vast literature including thousands of PhDs produced, there is hardly any theoretical foundation of these studies with a generalized findings and conclusions, perhaps because of lack of standard methodology and the nature of the subject which involves behavioural pattern of users which are ever changing from one situation to another. Nevertheless, there are some important contributions in the form of various  models of information seeking behavior which will be discussed separately in other modules of this course.

4.0 Why User Studies?

One of the topics discussed during the International Conference of Scientific Information held in 1958 was ‘Literature and reference needs of scientists… .’ This conference provided good platform to deliberate on information needs of scientists. Urquhart (1948) made the following statement during the conference, highlighting the importance of user studies:

“…a knowledge of the requirements of the different users of scientific information and the uses to which they wish to put the information they secure should be the ultimate determining factor in the designing of methods of storage and retrieval of scientific information."

Evans, et al. (1972) stated that determining user requirement is most important as an aid to evaluate, selection and weeding out needs which are not being met. According to Dewe & Deunette (1979) developers of information services should see to it that information from user is more actively involved in designing phase and that the environment within which the services are used in all their sociological and psychological are also taken into account.

Hood and Blackwell (1976) in their United States study identified  that significant meaningful pattern can be established [by conducting  user study], there would be at least a beginning basis for designing and redesigning information products and services in terms of different classes of users. Planning any functional and effective information system requires study of user behavior, which of course is not as easy as it appears to be. John Martyn (1974) while endorsing the opinions of many others, agrees that ultimate value of any information communication system should be thought of in terms of user, that are made of information and subsequent impact of information on users' scientific and technical behavior. Hale (1986) summarized the purpose of  user studies to:

i)        Optimizing the allocation of operating resources by customizing services to selected clientele

ii)       Fine tuning the delivery of information within existing systems.

It is unanimously agreed  that knowing your present and future readership is of paramount importance and  the prerequisite to design and develop any information system to provide need-based information services, failing which there is every possibility of mismatch and disconnect between producers and the consumers. It becomes increasingly important when practitioners think of marketing of information. This pre-supposes surveying the market (community) of users to assess the information needs  of the consumers fully well so that information products and services get their clientele. Belkin (1977) also realized that information users are often in  anomalous state of knowledge (ASK) this anomaly can be resolved by “the effective communication of desired information between human generator and human user.” This state of knowledge caused by ‘uncertainty and ‘inadequacy of knowledge’  prevailing in the minds of the users which needs to be resolved so that they can come out of the prevailing ‘problematic situation’ and find the solution through getting information.   This requires perfect communication between generator of information and the recipients and thorough cognitive analysis of the queries existing in the minds of the users. Most of the users even remain unaware of the some of the useful services being provided by the library and are not likely to make use of such services. This situation arises due to lack of communication between library and its users. The information science mainly deals with collection building, organizing and systematization, retrieval and use of information resources. A useful information output can only be created if the designer understands the product's intended users and their information needs (Landu, 1982). At every stage participation and involvement of users play an important role in introducing, improving and reinventing services.    

 In survey report of DLF, objectives of the user survey have been identified as under:

i)        Patterns, frequency, ease, and success of use

ii)       User needs, expectations, perspectives, priorities, and preferences for library collections, services, and systems

iii)     User satisfaction with vendor products, library collections, services, staff, and Web sites

iv)     Service quality

v)      Shifts in user attitude and opinion

vi)     Relevance of collections or services to the curriculum (Covey, 2002).

5.0. Research Methodology

There is unanimous opinion that studying the library use and the user is one of the important areas of study which has been well realized since 1960s. It is also true that research output has its value provided results are authentic and reliable so that the findings of these studies can yield desired results. Various literature surveys have revealed that there has been large number of studies on the subject. The question arises about the reliability of the data collected and the authenticity of the findings drawn out of these studies. The common methodologies applied in these studies have been: observation keeping ‘… our eye on user’ (Zweizig, 1976), analysis of documentary sources, library­­­­­ usage through library statistics, case study, citation analysis, interview, etc. (Chandel, Saraf, 2002). With the advent of new technology, new research methodologies have been evolved; such as data collection through E-mail, social networking, on-line interviews, virtual ethnography, log analysis, etc.

Application of strong research methodology is necessary for every research topic irrespective of area of research  and discipline. In these studies, it has been mostly a survey method based upon scheduled questionnaire. The authenticity of data collection through survey method has always been doubtful. It is a common observation that questionnaires are rarely filled up seriously and honestly by the respondents. When filled up and responded, there are bias opinions. However, it depends upon the researcher as to how reliable data is to be collected and which methodology is to be applied. Crawford (1978) has rightly made the following observation:

‘Sophisticated social science concepts combine with quantitative techniques produced both case report and field studies…utilizing well designed survey instrument, carefully selected. Stratified random sampling, and appropriate techniques of statistical analysis… slowly, valid and empirical data are being accumulated which in time will contribute to a unifying theory of information needs and uses. This accumulated  findings and data after scientific analysis lead to directly or indirectly to improvement of systems.’

The pertinent question before us is to know as to what these accumulated findings have given to the profession and how far these findings have been responsible to achieve the identified objectives. Most of these studies have been attempted only for sake of research not for implementation and arriving at some theoretical foundations and models.   Only a very few selected studies have made significant contribution to the profession. It is the choice of the right sample and the right methodology which matter significantly in these studies (Chandel and Saraf, 2002). Julien et al.  (2011) while analyzing methods used in studying information behaviour of users conducted during  the period of 1984-1998 reported that 58.1% of the studies were based upon survey method. The declining trend of using survey method from 58.1% to 44.7% was reported in another study conducted for the period 1998-2008 (Julien and Duggan, 2000). Applying content analysis method to analyze literature published on LIS from 1990-1994 found that  56% of research methodologies employed in research studies was based upon survey research the “other” category of research methods included content analysis, unobtrusive observation, and cluster analysis (Julien,1996).  The analysis further revealed that log analysis, ethnography, interview, citation and experiments methods were also used.

Survey method based upon questionnaire has its inherent limitations often criticized but hardly replicable. This means that the methodology must be used thoughtfully and carefully to collect factual data by applying single methodology or in combination with other method(s). Lyons (2011) while pointing out the limitation of research methodologies being applied observed that   “…often they employed deficient research methods or promote unjustifiable interpretations of data they have collected.” Greifender (2011) made an observation that library and information science education does not always offer librarians in-depth methodological education in social science, psychology, ethnography, and mathematics or computer science. But now teaching of research methods is being given due importance in almost all the teaching departments in Indian Universities at Master Degree and PhD levels. Over the years, there has been good progress in the improvement of research methodology and synergies and combination of methodologies are being applied for authenticity and reliability of data. Since user studies mostly deal with behaviour and attitudes of users, so complexity and intricacies in attempting these studies are quite obvious which can be solved by the combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies.   

6.0. Summary

The history of ‘user studies’ is now more than 70 years old and large numbers of research papers, PhD theses, dissertation, project reports, conference and seminar presentations have been cumulated. During 1970s and 1980s trend was to write on classification indexing and information retrieval. It was also realized that the studies of  users  behavior and identification of their need for information are pre-requisites to plan and develop information systems, improve existing services and evaluate the functioning of the library from users perspectives. In view of this, user studies represented an increasing proportion of information science research (Summers, 1984). Wilson (198l) had made this observation in the beginning of 1980s that "apart from information retrieval there is virtually no other area of information science that has occasioned as much research effort and writing as user studies."This trend continued during 1990s. Even today many studies are being conducted on the subject but with different approach warranted by new environment of digital age. Traditional settings of users have changed in the present environment. Users’ behaviours over the years have been changing, consequently, findings of these studies also lose their relevance with the changing attitudes of users.  Their dependence on libraries has tremendously gone down and they are satisfied whatever, they get on Internet which calls for conversion of print resources into digital which are  easily available and accessible to them. Libraries have to meet such challenges to attract users to use their resources within the library or outside by modifying and reinventing services according to their preferences and choices. Ranganathan (1953) in his  Five Laws of Library Science have focused on uniting the users with their resource with the purpose to maximize the use and serving them to their utmost satisfaction. Menzel (1964) also in his study on ‘Information Needs of Current Scientific Research.’ emphasized the usefulness of these studies by stating that the guiding slogans must be speed, efficiency, and comprehensiveness [in the services being offered]. The overriding aim, in other words, is to bring information to the scientist promptly, to bring him all that is relevant, and to bring it to him with a minimum of waste motion, especially on the scientist's own part. We should not depend upon our experience, judgments and presumptions about users information needs, better ask them what they would like to read and for what purpose? This will enable libraries to serve them better.  

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38. Wilson, T.D. “Information Needs and Uses: Fifty Years of Progress?”http://informationr.net/tdw/publ/papers/1994FiftyYears
39. Wilson, T.D. “The Information User: Past, Present and Future.” Journal of Information Science 34 (2008): 457 (Originally published online 13 June 2008).
40. Wilson, T. D. “On User Studies and Information Needs. Journal of Librarianship 37, no. 1 (1981): 3-15,  in Summers, Edward G, et al. Information Needs and Uses in Education, Canadian Journal of Education 9, no. 2 (1984): 134. http://informationr.net/tdw/publ/papers/1981 infoneeds.html
41. Zweizig, D. L. “Measuring library use.” Drexel Library Quarterly 13 (2001): 3-13.

Did you know?

Description		Image	Source
“…Within information science, the terms "user studies", "information needs" and "information-seeking behaviour" are associated with a diverse range of problem areas, from studies that provide a basis for systems development or improvement, through bibliometrics, user education, readability of texts, studies of reading and readership, to information retrieval design and evaluation.			NFORMATION NEEDS AND USES: FIFTY YEARS OF PROGRESS? http://informationr.net/tdw/publ/papers/1994FiftyYears

Description	Image	Source
"Apart from information retrieval there is virtually no other area of information science that has occasioned as much research effort and writing as user studies."		Wilson, T. D. “On User Studies and Information Needs. Journal of Librarianship37, no. 1 (1981)
BLOOG

Interesting Facts

No.	Interesting Facts
1	Much research in information science entails the study of human perceptions and behaviour. Often, data concerning behaviour are sought using questionnaires in which respondents are asked to report their perceptions, preferences, attitudes or behaviour. Users don’t provide factual data. Users’ behaviour is unpredictable and ever changing. Survey method of data collection is neither reliable nor authentic but not easily replicable with.
2	Most of the information user remain in the state of Anomalous State of Knowledge (ASK) and need staff assistance to process their queries to remove their anomalies and ambiguities encountered during analyzing their information needs.
3	“Research methodology that is ultimately tautological to the extent that, as a perspective, it may constitute a priori assumption that is not tested within the research. That is, it is not explicitly challenged; indeed, it may not be formulated in terms of a challengeable proposition within the research design.”
4	"... a knowledge of the requirements of the different users of scientific information and the uses to which they wish to put the information they secure should be the ultimate determining factor in the designing of methods of storage and retrieval of scientific information."

Points of ponder

No.	Points of ponder
1	‘The concept of information use is too broad, elusive, amorphous  and variant in its nature, 'it is less definable but definitely palpable.'
2	Information seeking behavior can be defined as to how information user,  search and retrieve and use information, systematically as well as unsystematically

Information Searching Strategy and Principles Part 1 P- 11. Library Use and User Studies By :achandel a

इस ब्लॉग्स को सृजन करने में आप सभी से सादर सुझाव आमंत्रित हैं , कृपया अपने सुझाव और प्रविष्टियाँ प्रेषित करे , इसका संपूर्ण कार्य क्षेत्र विश्व ज्ञान समुदाय हैं , जो सभी प्रतियोगियों के कॅरिअर निर्माण महत्त्वपूर्ण योगदान देगा ,आप अपने सुझाव इस मेल पत्ते पर भेज सकते हैं - chandrashekhar.malav@yahoo.com

Information Searching Strategy and Principles Part 1

P- 11. Library Use and User Studies

By :achandel a

1. Introduction

In the present information society, information is available in abundance. But its management for retrieval is a challenging task. In the field of library and information science, topics like ‘information needs’ and ‘information searching and retrieval’ have generated maximum literature. During 1960-1980, information retrieval was a hot topic for research. During this period many indexing techniques were evolved in order to improve the effectiveness of searching. With the advent of information technology, information storage, searching and retrieval took a different dimension and earlier indexing and classification techniques in use lost their importance.

The objective of the library and information services  and systems is to provide access to sources, information and ideas (Kuhlthau, 2008) Author further identifies two types of access; physical and intellectual. Physical access addresses the location of sources and information whereas, intellectual access deals with interpretation of information and ideas within the sources. For intellectual access, one needs searching capabilities so that the desired information is retrieved out of oceans of information sources. The purpose of generation/creation of knowledge and information is use, and use depends on the ability to find information. To make maximum use of information and to avoid disappointments in finding right information, users should have the searching skill with familiarity with search techniques being applied by different search engines and databases. The use of search techniques and strategies helps users to retrieve relevant and quality information.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss information search strategies, techniques and principles which today have increasing importance particularly in the context of e-learning. Online information searching and processing of information is a complex cognitive process involving multifaceted cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Many studies have reported that students often had disorientation problems and were not able to evaluate online information critically. Recent research showed that even graduate students and learners also had troubles with specifying search terms, judging search results, judging source and information as well as regulating the search process. (Meng-Jung Tsai and others, 2012). 

2.1 The student will learn about

1. The types of information searches

2. The importance of search preparation

3. The formulation of search strategies

4. The types of search techniques

5. The use of search techniques in information retrieval

6. The application of search techniques to various search tools

2.2 Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, students one should be able to:

1. Distinguish between simple, advanced and meta searches

2. Plan for a search session

3. Formulate search strategies

4. Select the appropriate search tool for the required information

5. Identify and use various search techniques

6. Apply search techniques to various search tools.

3. Information Searching Techniques and Principles

Information and knowledge are available from a variety of sources through a variety of means.  A search is the organized pursuit of information. Somewhere in a collection of documents, Web pages, and other sources, there is information that user  wants  to find, but have no idea where it is.  To find information, a search strategy or techniques is the planned and structured by choosing and organising terms used to search in database and any other resources available. The search strategy will also indicate how these terms are combined in order to retrieve optimal results.

One may need to develop a separate search strategy for different sections or aspects of  research. Since, users will be searching several databases which needs familiarity with different techniques of search formulation in different databases

3.1 Concept of Search Strategies

Web information science research mostly concentrates on developing sophisticated search tools and technologies rather than exploring and developing effective human search strategies. Despite the key role of technological innovations to facilitate and simplify the usability of the Internet, it seems crucial to explore the human aspects of information retrieval in chaotic, as well as in structured information domains.

The concept of “search strategy” is contrasted with the concept of “search tactic” or “search heuristic”.  A “search strategy” stands for a comprehensive overall plan for the entire search, while a “search tactic” stands for a move made to further a search. Scholars and practitioners frequently misuse the term “strategy” to describe small operations as single search commands.  Search strategies can be very general in nature, applying to all kinds of searches; or they can be very specific, applying to particular search situations. In any case, general strategies too are implemented and tested in specific search situations, subject to specific constraints.

The Internet has changed our perspectives of information searching, because it has changed the nature of the information domain. It is no longer controlled, well defined, and well known. According to (Chau, 1997), unlike a CD-ROM database, the Internet does not have a controlled searching environment and information can be indexed in many different ways. In fact, the Internet enables the users to access a wide variety of information resources; for example, Web sites, professional databases, library catalogues, discussion groups, as well as real people through e-mail, chats, and phone calls. It has literally changed the way we search for information. Furthermore, searchers cannot limit the search to the Internet information domain. Users  are required to locate and use relevant information resources on the Internet and outside the Internet. Consequently, one cannot apply pre-Internet strategies without re-evaluating them to see whether these are relevant and applicable for searching for information today. Search strategies can be very detailed, consisting of detailed search plans, or very general, consisting of general guiding principles. The concept of a “structured search strategy” stands for a detailed set of guiding principles whereby the searcher follows a pre-planned course of action that he or she can modify according to the search conditions.

Information retrieval is a sequence of interrelated actions aimed at accomplishing the search assignment. It is a situation of problem solving and decision making (Harter, 1986; Marchionini, 1989 and Ammersbach, 1992). Once the search assignment has been defined, the searcher has to make a move. He or she can browse through the information space following a hypertext link, navigate hierarchical classified directories, type a query in a search engine, send e-mail, use the telephone, open a book, or consult his or her next-door neighbour. The variety of optional actions are almost infinite. However, some of the searcher’s actions might be unreasonable and fruitless. Because every decision made by the searcher affects the course of the search, the searcher’s reasoning emerges as the key factor in the searching process. In most cases, rational reasoning apparently shortens this process and significantly improves its results. Consequently, if searchers are able to identify logical reasoning, that makes the searching more efficient. The guidelines for conducting systematic searches can help users to a great extent. 

3.2. Types of Searches

Effective searching requires good planning which should not be accidental and random. But users hardly plan and formulate search strategy. As such desired information is not retrieved. Same information may be available to one, may not be accessible to another depending upon the searching skill of individual.   Good searches need planning. There are different search options depending on the level and amount of information that is of interest to the user.

3.2.1. Simple Search

A simple search is when the user uses some keywords to perform a quick information search from a database or from a search engine. A simple search may retrieve a huge amount of search output that may take time to sieve through for any relevant information items. In simple searches, browsing rather than focused searches is done. In simple searching one or two concepts can also be used. The user may use simple searches when not sure of the type of information required and when the topic is not focused on any area. A topic such as Malaria and Africa can cover any period, can affect adult or children, male or female and can be from English, French or Portuguese speaking Africa. This simple search can also retrieve information on Africa not related to malaria. The search results may be overwhelming and the user would be required to apply search techniques to focus the search for relevancy and precision.

3.2.2 Advanced Search

Advanced searching is the use of techniques that help to define the information that is being searched. In advance searching, some filtering is done to reduce the amount of items retrieved. Filtering refines the search for relevancy. In advanced searching the user is able to apply multiple search fields that can help to broaden or narrow the search depending on the topic and the search strategy. The use of advanced searching helps the user to;

• Apply filtering

• Reduce number of items retrieved

• Apply multiple search fields

Advanced searching tools are available in most search tools such as Medline/PubMed. 

3.2.3 Meta Search

A Meta search is when the user uses a variety of search tools simultaneously. This is done with the use of Meta search engines such as Dogpile, Search.com; Metacrawler and Vivisimo. These Meta search engines searches many search tools such as Google, Yahoo and MSN among others. Searching from a Meta search engine is conducted in the same way as in single search engines. A search can be a simple search or an advanced search. The only difference between Meta search engines and single search engines is that the search results will come from different search engines simultaneously.

3.2.4 Use of Keywords

Keywords are the words and phrases that are used to closely describe the topic or subject by the author or through indexing. Keywords capture the ideas described in a document. In using keywords, it is important to consider related terms such teenager or adolescent, variations in word spelling such as American and English versions such as anemia or andemia, plural or singular versions, synonyms such as infant or newborn, or use of controlled vocabulary that gives alternative terminology to a word; e.g. Cancer is referred to as ‘neoplasm’ in controlled vocabulary terminology. 

3.2.5 Controlled Vocabulary

The use of controlled vocabulary is to give uniformity and consistency to the indexing of the literature. The controlled vocabulary ensures consistency in presentation of information for related topics. It also tries to standardise the language used by authors. The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a distinctive feature of MEDLINE - the foremost biomedical literature database. It is the most used controlled vocabulary or thesaurus for biomedical literature. It is used in the Medline database. MESH is used in the preparation of Medline and a search tool through PubMed.

3.2.6 Case Sensitivity

Electronic information can be presented in upper and lower case. It is advisable to control the use of upper and lower case while searching for information. Some search terms such as names of people and places may require the use of capital letters. However, the use of uppercase will retrieve only those words that are presented in uppercase. Using lowercase at all times helps retrieve information whether the information is presented in capital letters or not. Users should know when to use upper and lowercase letters. The use of lowercase should be preferred to avoid missing out useful information.

3.2.7. Use of Abbreviations

Some search terms are commonly presented as abbreviations. For example the use of HIV instead of Human Immunodeficiency Virus may affect the end results. The user has to be vigilant on the effect of such abbreviations on the outcome of the search.

. Preparing the Search

In our daily activities whether in learning, working or for personal reasons, information is vital. While looking for information, the starting point will depend on the type of information required.  The user may be looking for scholarly information, practice guidelines, information on a certain disease condition such as diabetes or general information. Depending on the information required, the user may require the services of general search engines and specialized search tools and bibliographic database. 

4.1. Steps in Developing Search Strategy

In search preparation, the search topic is sometimes presented as a question. It is only by coming up with the search topic that the user is able to come up with words that are important in the search. This is because most search tools such as Google use keywords in searching for information. For example a search topic such as “What is the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in teenage girls in Kenya?” would break the topic in keywords such as (prevalence, HIV/AIDS, adolescents/teenage, girls, Kenya). The user may also decide the publication period to be covered by the search, the type of information required whether reviews, journal articles or any other information. The process of preparing for the search and coming up with a search plan is referred to ‘formulating a search strategy.’ The user should also be familiar with certain search tools in the area of subject interest.

4.2. Use of Search Strategies

A search strategy is a plan that guides the user to answer some questions such as:

• What is the purpose of the information?
• Is there a time frame for the required information?
• Is the information required general or specific?
• What sources would best retrieve the required information, general or specific tools?
• Would the information be specific to a certain geographical location?

A search strategy relates to having good guidelines that will lead to a successful search output. Having a search strategy helps the user to:

• Define the topic.
• Break the topic into concepts or keywords such.
• Use search techniques such as Boolean operators to refine the search.
• Try out the search strategy and refine it as necessary for better results.
• Identify the appropriate search tool and search techniques.
• Decide on whether to start with a general search engine such as Google or a specific tool such as Medline/Pubmed.
• Have alternative choices such as starting from print-based information sources such as reports or grey literature.

4.3. Requirements for a successful information retrieval

• Defining the search problem.
• Developing a search strategy.
• Using search techniques.
• Learning how to use a search tools.
• Using correct spelling.
• Considering other forms of information sources such as print and audio-visual.
•  Evaluating the retrieved information.
•  Using the information appropriately 

4.4. Formulating the Search Strategy

Regardless of the search tool being used, the development of an effective search strategy is essential if one wants to obtain satisfactory results. A simplified, generic search strategy may consist of the following steps:

• Formulation of the research question and its scope
• Identification of important concepts within the question
• Identification of search terms to describe those concepts
• Consideration of synonyms and variations of those terms
• Preparation of the search logic.

The strategy should be applied to a search of any electronic information tool, including library catalogues and CD-ROM databases, etc. However, a well-planned search strategy is of especial importance when the database under consideration is one as large and amorphous as the World Wide Web. Along with the characteristics already mentioned above, another factor that underscores the need for effective web search strategy is the fact that most search engines index every word of the text in a document. This method of indexing tends to greatly increase the number of results retrieved, while decreasing the relevance of those results, because of the increased likelihood of words being found in an inappropriate context. When selecting a search engine, one factor to consider is whether it allows the searcher to specify which part(s) of the document to search (e.g., URL, title, first heading) or whether it simply defaults to search the entire document.  The most productive searches are those where the information seeker has spent time working out a search strategy beforegoing online. The strategy is a pre-requisite for anyone attempting exhaustive searching, such as those embarking on a PhD, and recommended practice for any student wishing to conduct an efficient search and avoid disappointments caused by low retrieval.

Working out specific information need and identify the different major concepts and alternatives is the prerequisite for good search. For example, the topic Inorganic fertilizers divides into two main concepts:

• Inorganic fertilizers
• Soil fertilization.

5. Search Techniques

Search techniques are ways of using search terms in finding required information from search tools. Search tools are many; e.g. Online Public Catalogues- OPAC, general search engines, search directories and portals as well as online databases or deep web. To achieve good search results, it is necessary to use search techniques. The following are some of the most common search techniques and principles that are applicable to various searching tools, 

5.1 Boolean Logic

5.2 Parenthesis

5.3 Phrase searching

5.4 Truncation

5.5 Wildcards

5.6 Field searching

5.7 Proximity searching

5.1. Boolean Logic

Boolean logic is a logical relationship of search terms. It is named after the British mathematician George Boole (1815-64). Boolean logic is used to narrow or focus the search or to broaden the search depending on the information that the user wants to retrieve. Boolean logic helps the user to achieve relevancy in the search results and it also assists in quick retrieval of information. The logic uses the following operators AND, OR, NOT. These are the most common operators. XOR is also another operator you find available when using some databases,

• AND – Narrows the search
• OR - Broadens the search

NOT – excludes unwanted words or concepts to focus the search

5.1. 1. AND

AND links terms together in a way that makes your search more narrow. UsingAND tells the computer that you want records that contain all the words you specify. For instance, the following search will find you only records that contain the words "dog" and "cat":
dog and cat

If the record contains only the word "dog", it won't show up. Likewise, if it only contains the word "cat", the search will ignore it. The record has to contain bothterms for the search to return it.

Although you can use AND to link together as many terms as you want, the more times you use AND, the more narrow your search gets, and the fewer records your search will turn up. For instance, a search on dog and cat and snake would turn up less records than one for dog and cat. 

5.1. 2. OR

OR is, in some ways, the exact opposite of AND. Instead of narrowing a search,OR widens it by turning up records that have either term you specify.

For instance, a search on dog or cat will get you all the records that contain the word "dog", as well as all the ones that contain the word "cat". Although at first glance this may not seem very useful, it can come in very handy in certain situations. For instance, a search on "dog" will only get you records that have the word "dog", not "dogs", "canines" or "canis domesticus", all of which are terms used for "dog." So if you wanted all the possible records that might be about dogs, you could try dog or dogs or canines or canis domesticus

5.1. 3. NOT

Finally, NOT is a term that allows you to exclude records with certain words from your search. Specifying dogs not cats would get you all the records that contain the word "dogs" EXCEPT the ones that also contain the word "cats." For instance, if we had a book whose title was "The Complete Book of Dogs and Cats", that record would not show up, even though it had the word "dogs" in it, because it also contains the word "cats."

This can be helpful if you want to exclude certain records from your search. Let's say I was looking for books on the state of Mississippi, and typed in Mississippi as a keyword search. I'd get a lot of books on the Mississippi river, so I type inMississippi not river, which effectively cuts out all the books on the Mississippi River. Be cautious with this term-you can cut out a lot of records you might want. Think carefully when using it

5.1.4. XOR

The last operator we will cover here is the "XOR," or the "exclusive or" operator. XOR is used to locate records matching any of the specified terms but not all of the specified terms. For example, "dogs XOR cats" will find items with the word "dog" or the word "cat" in the record, but will not return items which have both terms in the record. 

5.1.5 Boolean Searching on the Internet

When a user searches the Internet using a search engine, the use of Boolean logic may be presented in the following ways;

• Full Boolean logic with the use of the logical operators
• Implied Boolean logic with keyword searching
• Use of symbols
• Boolean logic using search form terminology

5.1.5.1. Full Boolean Operators

Most search engines use Boolean logic operators, AND, OR, NOT. However, it is important for the user to know how each search engine works so as to have effective retrieval.

5.1.5.2. Implied logic

Most search engines use AND as a default. In PubMed, for example the search term Malaria in Africa will be searched as malaria AND Africa automatically, and there is no need to type the word AND. Other search engines may default to OR. It is therefore, important to know how each search tool presents its information for searching.

5.1.5.3. Use of symbols

Some search engines uses symbols to describe the logical relationship of terms instead of words for example the use of:-+ instead of AND- implying NOT. It is advisable to check “help” pages in each search tool to understand the way information is organised for  searching.

5.1.5.4. Boolean logic using search form terminology

Most search engines have an advanced search mode that helps the user to focus the search. In the advanced search mode a template is presented that guides the user in selecting the relationship of the terms – NOT, OR, AND.

The use of Boolean logic can be used in various search engines. The user should however check with “help” in each search engine to understand how the Boolean operators are presented. They can be presented either in word format or symbol format. It is also important to keep in mind that most Search Engines require that Boolean operators be typed in Capital letters. Search engines such as Google use keywords to query their databases and produce results. Results match the keywords. It can be seen that the use of Boolean logic or any other search technique depends on the type of information the user wants to retrieve

5.2. Parenthesis

The search technique is used to force the order of how information is retrieved. For example the retrieval of information related to diabetes prevention and control can be searched as –

Diabetes AND (Prevention OR control). The keywords in the brackets will be searched first and then matched with the results of the keyword outside the bracket. In the absence of brackets all the keywords will be searched together from left to right. The use of brackets controls how the search is executed. Results returned through the use of parenthesis are more relevant. Parenthesis uses more than one Boolean operator and is used to perform complex searches

5.3. Phrase searching

This technique surrounds the search keywords in quotes “….” It instructs the search engine to search only words that appear side by side inside the quotes. This method narrows search results significantly leading to more relevant results.

5.4. Truncation

Truncation is the process of using an asterisk mark (*) while searching. The purpose of truncation is to broaden the search results. Through the use of truncation at the root of the word, the search tool searches all word variations after the asterisk e.g.; the use of * with Child* will retrieve child, children and childhood. In the example below,

• Child* retrieves 1,694,851records

• Children retrieves 1,649,662 records

• Childhood retrieves 150,545 records

Depending on the root word and the place where the asterisk is placed, use of truncation can sometimes retrieve some irrelevant results. Each search tool treats the use of search techniques differently. The user is advised to check if the search tool in use allows the use of truncation.

5.5. Wildcards- Special Symbols or “Wild Card”

Wildcards are characters that are used to assist in searching for information. Wildcards are used to represent one character or letter in a word. Wildcards are especially useful in situations when the user is not sure of the correct spelling of a word. In medicine, there are variations in the use of American and English word spelling for medical terms. Wildcards can be used when the user is not sure of the exact spelling of a certain word. It is advisable to check the wildcard symbols used by each search tool or search engine. The most commonly used wildcard is “?”. Below is an example

• An?mia will retrieve all records that contain either anaemia or anemia

• Colo?r will retrieve all records that contain colour and color

However most search engines do not currently support the wildcard facility.

5.6. Field Searching

An electronic record is presented as a field. Within a bibliographic database, there are data fields for the title, author, affiliation, journal or book title and language, among others. The user can use any of these fields to retrieve the required information. As an example, a user can search for an article by a certain author on a specific topic such as teenage pregnancy in Africa by David Mukamba. This is a focused search through the author field. The user can also focus a search through the use of the title, subject or publication type such as journal article

5.7. Proximity Search

A proximity search allows you to specify how close two (or more) words must be to each other in order to register a match. There are three types of proximity searches:

• Word proximity
• Sentence proximity
• Paragraph proximity

5.7.1. Word Proximity

A word proximity search specifies a range that all terms in the proximity search must appear in. The terms must be contained in the same document. The first word from the proximity search that is found begins the count for the range.

You can use wildcards in proximity searches.

Word proximity searches can be ordered proximity or unordered proximity. Ordered proximity is more restrictive than the unordered proximity search.

5.7.1.1. Ordered Proximity

The ordered proximity operator is the forward slash /. Terms in an ordered proximity search must be enclosed in quotes. Use ordered proximity to specify the order in which terms must appear within a given range to count as a match.

For example, an ordered proximity search to find dog, cat, and rat within a 10 word range must find dog first. Dog counts as one word in the range. Both cat and rat must be found within the next nine words to register a match. (In an unordered proximity, it would not matter which term was found first; the other two terms must be found within the next nine words.)

Example Query	Explanation
"content collection"/5	Finds documents which contain content collection, in that order, within a five word range.
"creating a content collection"/10	Finds documents which contain creating a content collection (in order) within a 10 word range.

5.7.1.2 Unordered Proximity

The unordered proximity operator is the at symbol @. Terms in an unordered proximity search must be enclosed in quotes. Use unordered proximity to specify a set of terms which must appear within a given range in any order.

Example Query	Explanation
"create content collection"@14	Finds documents which contain all three terms, in any order, within a 14 word range.
"work* process$"@25	Finds documents which contain terms starting with work and synonyms of the term process within 25 words of each other.

5.7.2. Sentence Proximity

A sentence proximity search allows you to search for terms which fall within the same sentence. Unlike word proximity, which requires you to specify a range for the search, Sentence proximity requires that all terms in the search be found in the same sentence.

When doing sentence proximity searches, every document in a content collection is assumed to be a sentence (by default). Individual sentences (meaning text between two periods) are not necessarily used for sentence proximity searches.

Sentences must be defined using special sentence proximity codes when the content collection is created (the creator of the content collection controls where these codes appear). As such, "sentences" for sentence proximity searches can span multiple sentences within a document (as in a list of items).

Like word proximity searches, sentence proximity searches can be ordered or unordered. The ordered proximity operator is /S. The unordered proximity operator is @S.

Example Query	Explanation
"ordered operator"/S	Finds documents which contain both terms, in the order listed, within a single sentence.
"multiple sentence searches"@S	Finds documents which contain all three terms, in any order, within a single sentence.

5.7.3. Paragraph Proximity

A paragraph proximity search allows you to search for terms which fall within the same paragraph. Unlike word proximity, which requires that you specify a range for the search, paragraph proximity requires that all terms in the search be found in the same paragraph.

When doing paragraph proximity searches, every document in a content collection is assumed to be a paragraph (by default). Individual paragraphs (meaning text between two paragraph breaks) are not necessarily used for paragraph proximity searches. Paragraphs must be defined using special paragraph proximity codes when the content collection is created (the creator of the content collection controls where these codes appear). As such, "paragraphs" for paragraph proximity searches may span multiple paragraphs within a document (as in a list of items).

Like word proximity searches, paragraph proximity searches can be ordered or unordered. The ordered proximity operator is /P. The unordered proximity operator is @P.

Example Query	Explanation
"special proximity codes"/P	Finds documents which contain all three terms, in the order listed, within a single paragraph.
"paragraph searches"@P	Finds documents which contain both terms, in any order, within a single paragraph.

6. Steps for Searching Strategy

The following list provides a guideline to follow in formulating search requests, viewing search results, and modifying search results. These procedures can be followed for virtually any search request, from the simplest to the most complicated. For some search requests, one  may not want or need to go through a formal search strategy. If you want to save time in the long run, however, it's a good idea to follow a strategy, especially when someone is  new to a particular search engine. A basic search strategy can help the searcher to  get used to each search engine's features and how they are expressed in the search query. Following the steps may be helpful to retrieve relevant results if  search is multifaceted and complex.

The steps are as follows:

6.1 Identify the important concepts of your search

6.2 Choose the keywords that describe these concepts

6.3 Determine whether there are synonyms, related terms, or other variations of the

6.4 Keywords that should be included

6.5 Determine which search features may apply, including truncation, proximity operators

6.6 Boolean operators

6.7 Choose a search engine

6.8 Read the search instructions on the search engine's home page. Look for sections entitled   "Help," "Advanced Search," "Frequently Asked Questions," and so forth.

Create a search expression, using syntax, which is appropriate for the search engine. Evaluate the results. How many hits were returned? Were the results relevant to your query?

6.9 Modify your search if needed. Go back to steps 2-4 and revise your query accordingly

6.10 Try the same search in a different search engine, following steps 5-9 above.

7. Search Tools

There are different kinds of search tools such as;

7.1 Subject directory

"offers a collection of links to Internet resources submitted by site creators or evaluators and organized into subject categories." Subject directories are useful when you are conducting general research or want to find resources recommended by experts and evaluators.

Examples include:

• Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com)
• Open Directory Project (http://www.dmoz.org/)
• About.com (http://www.about.com/)

7.2. Search engine

 is "a searchable database of Internet files collected by a computer program." Use a search engine when you are looking for a particular web site, have a specific research question, or are looking for the most current information (see Searching the Internet).

Examples include:

• Google (http://www.google.com)
• Northern Light (http://www.northernlight.com)
• Lycos (http://www.lycos.com)
• Microsoft Networks (http://www.msn.com/)
• Altavista (http://www.altavista.com/)

7.3 Meta-search engines

send searches to several search engines at once, then build the results into a coherent results pages.

Examples include:

• Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com/index.gsp)
• Metacrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com/index.html)

7.4 Natural Language Engines

allow you to ask questions in ordinary language: "What is a screech owl?" or "When did Hank Williams die?"

• Ask Jeeves (http://www.askjeeves.com)

7.5 Specialized search engines

enable you to narrow your search to a particular discipline and profile web sites of particular interest. See an extensive listing of specialized search engines, seeSearch Engine Colossus  (http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/).and

• FindLaw focuses upon legal information (http://findlaw.com/).
• ERIC (Educational Resources Center) is a useful resource for anyone researching education (http://www.accesseric.org/).

Summary

The ability to effectively search and locate information in the present electronic age is important and essential for every one of us  in our  everyday life, irrespective of nature of job we are engaged in. Information available and accessible online is massive, but searching and retrieval of relevant information is complex and difficult. Availability of information is of no value if not used. Users always strive to get relevant information which they may often fail to retrieve due to lack of searching skill. They hardly go for developing this skill, thinking that they know everything which is required. Thus, they satisfy themselves whatever, they are able to find.

Use of search techniques and strategies will definitely helps users to retrieve relevant and quality information. The results from a single search command produces an overwhelming amount of information which needs to be filtered for relevancy and precision. Without learning the new literacy skills, it may not be possible to search information what is needed. Every search engines and databases have their own features for locating information, therefore getting familiar with them is important. Formulating a systematic search strategy may prove useful. One should understand that information needs and searching both are  cognitive process which needs to be analysed for effective results.

References

1. Ammersbach, K.  Decision Support for Retrieval from Fact Databases. in  Analysing and modelling  data and knowledge, edited by M. Schader. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1992,     p.153–158.
2. Chau, M.Y.  “Finding Order in a Chaotic World: A Model for Organized Research Using  the World Wide Web.” Internet Reference Services Quarterly  2, no.2/3 (1997): 37–53.
3. Harter, S.P. Online Information Retrieval: Concepts, Principles, and Techniques. Orlando, FL: Academic Press, 1986.
4. Henry, L. A.    "Information Search Strategies on the Internet: A Critical Component of New Literacies.”   Webology  2, no.1 (2005). Article 9.

            http://www.webology.org/2005/v2n1/a9.html

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     6.  Hsieh-Yee, I. “Search Tactics of Web Users in Searching  for Texts, Graphics, Known Items and Subjects: A Search Simulation Study.” The    Reference Librarian, 60 (1998): 61–83.

     7.   Kafai, Y.  and Bates, M.J. “Internet Web Searching in the Elementary Classroom: Building a Foundation for Information Literacy.” School Library    Media Quarterly  25. no. (1997):103–111.

     8.   Kuhlthau’s Model of Information Process in Theories of Information Behavior, edited by Karen F. Fisher, Sanda Erdelez, and Lynne (E.F.)    Mckechine. New Delhi:ESS, p.230.

     9.   Marchionini, G.  “Information-Seeking Strategies  of Novices Using a Full-Text Electronic Encyclopaedia.” Journal of The American Society for      Information Science 40 no.1 (1989): 54–66

    10.  Meng-Jung Tsai, et al. “Tsai  University Students’ Online Information Searching Strategies in Different Search Contexts.”   Australian Journal of     Educational Technology 28, no.5 (2012): 881-895.Http://Dx.Doi.Org/10.1016/J.Ipm.2007.09.004.

    11.  Thatcher, A.  Web Search Strategies: The Influence of Web Experience and Task Type. Information Processing & Management 44 no.3 (2008):     1308-1329.

    12.  What  is search Strategy?https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/183/medicine/94/developing_your_search_strategy/1