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IRList Digest Volume 3 Number 15
IRList Digest Wednesday, 24 June 1987 Volume 3 : Issue 15
Today's Topics:
Abstracts - IR-Related Dissertation Abstracts (part 2 of 2)
News addresses are ARPANET: fox@vtopus.cs.vt.edu BITNET: foxea@vtvax3.bitnet
CSNET: fox@vt UUCPNET: seismo!vtisr1!irlistrq
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Date: Sat, 20 Jun 87 19:11:08 EDT
From: Susanne Humphrey <humphrey@mcs.nlm.nih.gov>
Subject: dissertation abstracts for SIGIR Forum
[Note: This is rest of msg, first part of which was in Issue 14 - Ed]
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG86-25849.
AU SCHWARTZ, CAROLYN SUSAN (CANDY).
SO DAI v47(08), SecA, pp2778.
IN Syracuse University Ph.D. 1986, 144 pages.
TI A study of the application of post-retrieval clustering in
bibliographic databases.
DE Information Science.
AB The items retrieved as the result of a search in a large
bibliographic database are not typically organized such that
relevant references are presented before non-relevant references.
In this study, post-retrieval clustering is proposed as an effective
method of presenting retrieved results. A clustering algorithm was
applied to 48 retrieved sets in two different databases, INSPEC and
PSYCINFO. Coefficients of ranking effectiveness (CRE's) were
calculated for results presented in reverse accession number order
(the default mode in commercially available search systems) and in
an order derived from the clustering. A two-alternative t-test was
used to evaluate whether the difference between mean CRE's was
significant. In all cases, the difference was found to be
statistically significant. The conclusion is made that
post-retrieval clustering offers an improved method of presentation
of retrieved results. Other advantages of clustered results are
also discussed.
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG86-19997.
AU SODERSTON, CANDACE.
SO DAI v47(06), SecA, pp1912.
IN Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Ph.D. 1986, 285 pages.
TI A study of spatial models and human navigation within complex
computer interfaces.
DE Information Science. Education, Technology.
AB This study examines the process of building a conceptual model
of the layout of information within a computer system. The
contentions are that this draws primarily upon spatial skills, that
some underlying structural patterns are easier to perceive, and that
some methods of introduction lead to more rapid learning.
An experiment was performed in which eighty people (with five
different types of background) had to search for sixteen pieces of
information within each of two computer interfaces. Four interface
designs were tested, varying on underlying structure and access
method. Each contained the same content and covered two different
knowledge domains. Two of the designs linked information together
in a hierarchical structure, which users could browse by making
branching choices at each display screen. The other two designs
linked the same information together in a linear chain, which users
could browse by simply scrolling forward or backward. Furthermore,
one of the hierarchical and one of the linear structures provided
subjects with survey access to the structure of the interface. That
is, users began each session task at an on-line table of contents,
depicting the entire spectrum of available choices. The other
hierarchical and linear structure provided only route access
(traversing the "maze").
Exploration, retrieval, and error recovery tasks were examined
and data were collected on subjects' performance, preference, and
cognitive model. In brief, hierarchical structures were identified
correctly by all subjects and were performed by route subjects.
Subjects were not able to identify the linear structures correctly
and were not able to build accurate cognitive maps of the location
of parts within the whole. Survey subjects preferred the second
system they used, regardless of its underlying structure. They were
also faster at the tasks, but route subjects built more accurate
cognitive maps of the structural layout.
It is concluded that systems should provide survey access to all
function, however, learning aids should include an emphasis upon
building up route knowledge of the system. Furthermore, on-line
information should be structured hierarchically.
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG86-27852.
AU VIDAL-ARBONA, CARLOS.
SO DAI v47(08), SecA, pp2778.
IN Case Western Reserve University Ph.D. 1986, 167 pages.
TI Comparing the retrieval effectiveness of free-text and citation
search strategies in the subject of technology planning.
DE Information Science.
AB This comparative study addresses the retrieval effectiveness of
two methods of online searching: subject term and citation searching.
Both methods were used to search the subject of Technology Planning
in a collection of articles published by 223 journals.
The objective of the experiment was to determine: (1) how much
overlap existed between the articles retrieved by each of the
methods; (2) under what circumstances each method yielded more
relevant articles; (3) if a method which consistently retrieves a
high percentage of relevant articles can be developed.
Searches were conducted for eight questions on the Dialog
Information Service against two data bases: (1) ABI/INFORM--a
management literature file containing bibliographic citations and
article summaries; (2) Social SciSEARCH--a citation index to the
literature of the Social Sciences.
Each of the questions was searched twice: one via subject terms
on ABI/INFORM, and the second time via citations on Social Scisearch.
Practitioners in Technology Planning evaluated the search results
for relevance. Effectiveness scores were calculated based on
relevance judgements performed by experts on how similar the
retrieved results were to two known relevant "seed" articles they
submitted for the experiment.
The study results demonstrated that subject term searches
satisfied the information requirement of higher recall with
reasonable precision preferred by the experts who participated in
the investigation. Citation was found to be an effective method
when "seed" documents cited significant prior work. Additionally,
it was shown that the number of common documents retrieved by both
methods is very small. And that both methods are complementary.
This finding is consistent with prior research and implies that
subject bibliographies assembled by employing one method alone miss
a large proportion of relevant articles.
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-02068.
AU HERRON, NANCY LEE.
SO DAI v47(10), SecA, pp3599.
IN University of Pittsburgh Ph.D. 1986, 172 pages.
TI Information-seeking behavior and the perceptions of information
channels by journalists of two daily metropolitan newspapers.
DE Library Science.
AB In the last decade the large metropolitan newspaper has
undergone an extensive transformation from a largely manual
operation to a fully automated system where display terminals link
departments and personnel. Although most publishing processes have
been transformed via computer applications, often the newspaper
library has been the last department to experience change. In order
to develop in-house information systems to be used by newspaper
journalists for information retrieval in the course of their
day-to-day work, planners require data about the information-seeking
behavior of different types of journalists and how they search for,
use, and verify information available to them from inside and
outside the newspaper organization.
This study was undertaken to provide descriptive data about how
newspaper journalists perceive information channels and the source
types within them in the course of producing copy for the daily
newspaper.
Data was collected from the staffs of the two daily metropolitan
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, newspapers by survey questionnaire, and
data analysis centered around four major variables. Frequency of
use, the pivotal variable established information use patterns for
the six area of journalistic specialty, and the three source
performance variables, (a) ease of use, (b) degree of reliability,
and (c) degree of accessibility were examined from the perspective
of channel use and use of the source types within formal and
informal information channels.
The findings revealed that the newspaper journalists surveyed
preferred informal channel use over formal channel use two to one,
and that personal communication especially with colleagues was the
most important factor across all six areas of journalistic specialty.
While journalists were relatively consistent in their use of the
various source types, there was diversity in the way different types
of journalists look for and use information sources.
Although reliability of channel and source types use was
perceived to be important to journalists, ease of use and
accessibility tend most to affect frequency of use.
Future developments involving the library as intermediary
between electronic networks and the newspaper organization offer
promise for in-house system designers as a solution to problems of
accessiblity and ease of use.
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG86-16899.
AU PAULK, BETTY DOUGLAS.
SO DAI v47(05), SecA, pp1520.
IN The Florida State University Ph.D. 1986, 282 pages.
TI The facilitation of direct searching of online services by the end
user in academic libraries.
DE Library Science.
AB Four hundred eighty-seven online search librarians in
comprehensive and doctoral institution libraries in the United
States were surveyed about end user online searching. Of the 431
respondents (89 percent), only 10.4 percent or forty-five of the
responding libraries allow end users direct access to conduct their
own online searches. The majority of librarians indicated that they
are offering instructional programs in online searching. Upon
closer examination of the purpose of this instruction, it was
determined that only a small percentage of the instructional
programs are actually teaching the user to conduct their own
searches.
While the majority of the online search librarians believed that
end user searching was inevitable, there was a feeling of ambiguity
concerning this development. The majority of the librarians
believed that online search librarians would assume a more
challenging role as a result of end user searching. And yet, the
librarians did question whether or not end users were going to want
to conduct their own searches and the role the librarian should
assume in encouraging end users to conduct their own searches and in
training end users to perform these online searches.
AN University Microfilms Order Number ADG87-02911.
AU SULLIVAN, PATRICIA ANN.
SO DAI v47(10), SecA, pp3601.
IN Carnegie-Mellon University Ph.D. 1986, 276 pages.
TI Rhetoric and the search for externally stored knowledge: toward a
computer age art of research.
DE Library Science. Education, Technology.
AB The search for external sources of argument has traditionally
been placed outside the "art" of rhetoric. But college composition
classes teach library research through the research paper. Because
the advent of the Electronic Library makes traditional library
research training obsolete, consideration of building a computer-age
art of research is appropriate. This exploratory study examines one
facet of the artfulness of searching by studying how expert (6) and
novice (6) searchers plan to search LS/2000 (OCLC's online public
access catalog) general references.
The study finds that experts outperform the novices: experts'
plans would find a significantly higher proportion of the relevant
sources and are more complex, but experts do not achieve success
through economy or more plans. The study also proposes a model of
search planning that shows distinctions between expert and novice
planning: experts evidence more detail in how they understand the
searching task (focusing on searchable terms, setting subgoals, and
transforming the question where appropriate), how they simulate the
searches they plan (offering more alternative routes, giving
specific alternatives), and how they evaluate the plans' success
(offering substantive evaluations and planning for failure). The
novices do not show an ability to plan without feedback from the
system.
Patterns, moves, and representational explanations for expert
decision-making are examined, with the representational being
preferred. Experts represent searching problems and then use
strategies (like subgoals and decision rules) to help them build
flexible plans that represent their views. The study concludes that
the experts in this study can plan LS/2000 searches while the
novices cannot. The novices' apparent need for system feedback in
order to plan and the experts' systematic approach to searching for
questions of general interest suggest that an "art" of online
searching may be both needed and possible.
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END OF IRList Digest
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