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Strategic help in user interfaces for information retrieval

Strategic help in user interfaces for information retrieval
Strategic help in user interfaces for information retrieval
Although no unified definition of the concept of search strategy in Information Retrieval (IR) exists so far, its importance is manifest: nonexpert users, directly interacting with an IR system, apply a limited portfolio of simple actions; they do not know how to react in critical situations; and they often do not even realize that their difficulties are due to strategic problems. A user interface to an IR system should therefore provide some strategic help, focusing user’s attention on strategic issues and providing tools to generate better strategies. Because neither the user nor the system can autonomously solve the information problem, but they complement each other, we propose a collaborative coaching approach, in which the two partners cooperate: the user retains the control of the session and the system provides suggestions. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated by a conceptual analysis, a prototype knowledge-based system named FIRE, and its evaluation through informal laboratory experiments.
information retrieval, expert systems, user interfaces, collaborative systems
1532-2882
343-358
Brajnik, Giorgio
e97013f0-8e1a-4a7b-90db-6d545ff3b6a5
Mizzaro, Stefano
7be30144-afe5-42bb-a861-59a451decc20
Tasso, Carlo
66d17c28-df67-4b25-9725-a22f84430c1e
Venuti, Fabio
90744681-d4a7-4b0c-9059-59e8f0021c0f
Brajnik, Giorgio
e97013f0-8e1a-4a7b-90db-6d545ff3b6a5
Mizzaro, Stefano
7be30144-afe5-42bb-a861-59a451decc20
Tasso, Carlo
66d17c28-df67-4b25-9725-a22f84430c1e
Venuti, Fabio
90744681-d4a7-4b0c-9059-59e8f0021c0f

Brajnik, Giorgio, Mizzaro, Stefano, Tasso, Carlo and Venuti, Fabio (2002) Strategic help in user interfaces for information retrieval. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53 (5), 343-358.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Although no unified definition of the concept of search strategy in Information Retrieval (IR) exists so far, its importance is manifest: nonexpert users, directly interacting with an IR system, apply a limited portfolio of simple actions; they do not know how to react in critical situations; and they often do not even realize that their difficulties are due to strategic problems. A user interface to an IR system should therefore provide some strategic help, focusing user’s attention on strategic issues and providing tools to generate better strategies. Because neither the user nor the system can autonomously solve the information problem, but they complement each other, we propose a collaborative coaching approach, in which the two partners cooperate: the user retains the control of the session and the system provides suggestions. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated by a conceptual analysis, a prototype knowledge-based system named FIRE, and its evaluation through informal laboratory experiments.

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More information

Published date: February 2002
Keywords: information retrieval, expert systems, user interfaces, collaborative systems

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 42220
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/42220
ISSN: 1532-2882
PURE UUID: 988eccfb-d46e-4085-b3da-70c094264b75

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 23 Nov 2006
Last modified: 08 Jan 2022 01:07

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Contributors

Author: Giorgio Brajnik
Author: Stefano Mizzaro
Author: Carlo Tasso
Author: Fabio Venuti

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