scholarly journals Exploring the context of visual information seeking

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahram Sedghi ◽  
Zeinab Shormeij ◽  
Iman Tahamtan
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems

Purpose Information seeking is an interactive behaviour of the end users with information systems, which occurs in a real environment known as context. Context affects information-seeking behaviour in many different ways. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that potentially constitute the context of visual information seeking. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a Straussian version of grounded theory, a qualitative approach, to conduct the study. Using a purposive sampling method, 28 subjects participated in the study. The data were analysed using open, axial and selective coding in MAXQDA software. Findings The contextual factors influencing visual information seeking were classified into seven categories, including: “user characteristics”, “general search features”, “visual search features”, “display of results”, “accessibility of results”, “task type” and “environmental factors”. Practical/implications This study contributes to a better understanding of how people conduct searches in and interact with visual search interfaces. Results have important implications for the designers of information retrieval systems. Originality/value This paper is among the pioneer studies investigating contextual factors influencing information seeking in visual information retrieval systems.

scholarly journals Towards Supporting Community Information Seeking and Use

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nkechi Nnadi ◽  
Michael Gurstein
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems ◽  
Community Information ◽  
Nature Of Information ◽  
Single User ◽  
Collaborative Information Retrieval

In this paper we explore issues surrounding the design of systems that will effectively support community information seeking and use. We discuss the need for information retrieval systems to move away for the single user paradigm to one that recognizes the collaborative nature of information seeking and use. We also examine the collaborative information retrieval literature and derive implications for community informatics. The paper also explores the unique challenges of designing systems to support information seeking and use in a community context, and attempts to provide design guidelines that will enable researchers and practitioners to develop such systems.

Document-based approach to improve the accuracy of pairwise comparison in evaluating information retrieval systems

2015 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 408-421
Author(s):  
Sri Devi Ravana ◽  
MASUMEH SADAT TAHERI ◽  
Prabha Rajagopal
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Pairwise Comparison ◽  
Current Method ◽  
Statistical Testing ◽  
Test Collection ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Difference

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a method to have more accurate results in comparing performance of the paired information retrieval (IR) systems with reference to the current method, which is based on the mean effectiveness scores of the systems across a set of identified topics/queries. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the proposed approach, instead of the classic method of using a set of topic scores, the documents level scores are considered as the evaluation unit. These document scores are the defined document’s weight, which play the role of the mean average precision (MAP) score of the systems as a significance test’s statics. The experiments were conducted using the TREC 9 Web track collection. Findings – The p-values generated through the two types of significance tests, namely the Student’s t-test and Mann-Whitney show that by using the document level scores as an evaluation unit, the difference between IR systems is more significant compared with utilizing topic scores. Originality/value – Utilizing a suitable test collection is a primary prerequisite for IR systems comparative evaluation. However, in addition to reusable test collections, having an accurate statistical testing is a necessity for these evaluations. The findings of this study will assist IR researchers to evaluate their retrieval systems and algorithms more accurately.

Evaluating the effectiveness of Farsi-English query production using ontology: a case of scientometric ontology

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanaz Manouchehri ◽  
Mahdieh Mirzabeigi ◽  
Tahere Jowkar
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
User Satisfaction ◽  
Domain Knowledge ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems ◽  
Google Search

PurposeThis paper aims to discover the effectiveness of Farsi-English query using ontology.Design/methodology/approachThe present study is quasi-experimental. The sample consisted of 60 students and graduate and doctoral staff from Shiraz University and the Regional Center for Science and Technology. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to assess the level of English language proficiency of users, background knowledge and their level of satisfaction with search results before and after using ontology. Each user also evaluated the relevance of the top ten results on the Google search engine results page before and after using ontology.FindingsThe findings showed that the level of complexity of the task, the use of ontology, the interactive effect of the level of complexity of the task with the domain knowledge of the users, and the interactive effect of the level of complexity of the task with ontology, influence the effectiveness of retrieval results from the users' point of view. The results of the present study also showed that the level of complexity of the task, the use of ontology, and the interactive effect of the level of complexity of the task and the use of ontology, affect the level of user satisfaction.Originality/valueThe results of this research are significant in both theoretical and practical aspects. Theoretically, given the lack of research in which the interactive effect of the use of ontology has examined the level of complexity of tasks and domain knowledge of users, the present study can be considered as an attempt to improve information retrieval systems. From a practical point of view, the results of this research will help researchers and designers of information retrieval systems to understand that the use of ontologies can be used to retrieve information and improve the query and assess the needs of users and their satisfaction in this field, and ultimately, making the information retrieval process more effective.

Evaluating the effectiveness of thesauri in digital information retrieval systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjeev K. Sunny ◽  
Mallikarjun Angadi
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Information Systems ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Evaluation Studies ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Evaluation Measures ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems

Purpose The purpose of this study is to carry out a systematic literature review for evidence-based assessment of the effectiveness of thesaurus in digital information retrieval systems. It also aimed to identify the evaluation methods, evaluation measures and data collection tools which may be used in evaluating digital information retrieval systems. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review (SLR) of 344 publications from LISA and 238 from Scopus has been carried out to identify the evaluation studies for analysis, and 15 evaluation studies have been analyzed. Findings This study presents evidences for the effectiveness of thesaurus in digital information retrieval systems. Various methods for evaluating digital information systems have been identified. Also, a wide range of evaluation measures and data collection tools have been identified. Research limitations/implications The study was limited to the literature published in English language and indexed in LISA and Scopus. The evaluation methods, evaluation measures and data collection tools identified in this study may be used to design more cognizant evaluation studies for digital information retrieval systems. Practical implications The findings have significant implications for the administrators of any type of digital information retrieval systems in making more informed decisions toward implementation of thesaurus in resource description and access to digital collections. Originality/value This study extends our knowledge on the potentials of thesauri in digital information retrieval systems. It also provides cues for designing more cognizant evaluation studies for digital information systems.

Interactive Query Expansion with Automatically Generated Category-Specific Thesauri

2011 ◽  
pp. 103-117
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Sebastiani
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Search Engines ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Query Expansion ◽  
Document Collections ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Interactive Query ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Subject Specific ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems

The categorization of documents into subject-specific categories is a useful enhancement for large document collections addressed by information retrieval systems, as a user can first browse a category tree in search of the category that best matches her interests and then issue a query for more specific documents “from within the category.” This approach combines two modalities in information seeking that are most popular in Web-based search engines, i.e., category-based site browsing (as exemplified by, e.g., Yahoo™) and keyword-based document querying (as exemplified by, e.g., AltaVista™). Appropriate query expansion tools need to be provided, though, in order to allow the user to incrementally refine her query through further retrieval passes, thus allowing the system to produce a series of subsequent document rankings that hopefully converge to the user’s expected ranking. In this work we propose that automatically generated, category-specific “associative” thesauri be used for such purpose. We discuss a method for their generation and discuss how the thesaurus specific to a given category may usefully be endowed with “gateways” to the thesauri specific to its parent and children categories.

Domain-specific readability measures to improve information retrieval in the Persian language

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 430-444
Author(s):  
Sholeh Arastoopoor
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Web Search ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Search Results ◽  
Persian Language ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems ◽  
Primary Focus

Purpose The degree to which a text is considered readable depends on the capability of the reader. This assumption puts different information retrieval systems at the risk of retrieving unreadable or hard-to-be-read yet relevant documents for their users. This paper aims to examine the potential use of concept-based readability measures along with classic measures for re-ranking search results in information retrieval systems, specifically in the Persian language. Design/methodology/approach Flesch–Dayani as a classic readability measure along with document scope (DS) and document cohesion (DC) as domain-specific measures have been applied for scoring the retrieved documents from Google (181 documents) and the RICeST database (215 documents) in the field of computer science and information technology (IT). The re-ranked result has been compared with the ranking of potential users regarding their readability. Findings The results show that there is a difference among subcategories of the computer science and IT field according to their readability and understandability. This study also shows that it is possible to develop a hybrid score based on DS and DC measures and, among all four applied scores in re-ranking the documents, the re-ranked list of documents based on the DSDC score shows correlation with re-ranking of the participants in both groups. Practical implications The findings of this study would foster a new option in re-ranking search results based on their difficulty for experts and non-experts in different fields. Originality/value The findings and the two-mode re-ranking model proposed in this paper along with its primary focus on domain-specific readability in the Persian language would help Web search engines and online databases in further refining the search results in pursuit of retrieving useful texts for users with differing expertise.

scholarly journals Brain–computer interface in the context of information retrieval systems in a library

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Wójcik
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Brain Computer Interface ◽  
Computer Interface ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems ◽  
The Subject ◽  
State Of Research

PurposeThe subject of this paper is the idea of Brain–Computer Interface (BCI). The main goal is to assess the potential impact of BCI on the design, use and evaluation of information retrieval systems operating in libraries.Design/methodology/approachThe method of literature review was used to establish the state of research. The search according to accepted queries was carried out in the Scopus database and complementary in Google Scholar. To determine the state of research on BCI on the basis of library and information science, a specialist LISTA abstract database was also searched. The most current papers published in the years 2015–2019 in the English language or having at least an abstract in this language were taken into account.FindingsThe analysis showed that BCI issues are extremely popular in subject literature from various fields, mainly computer science, but practically does not occur in the context of using this technology in information retrieval systems.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the fact that BCI solutions are not yet implemented in libraries and are rarely the subject of scientific considerations in the field of library and information science, this article is mainly based on literature from other disciplines. The goal was to consider how much BCI solutions can affect library information retrieval systems. The considerations presented in this article are theoretical in nature due to the lack of empirical materials on which to base. The author's assumption was to initiate a discussion about BCI on the basis of library and information science, not to propose final solutions.Practical implicationsThe results can be widely used in practice as a framework for the implementation of BCI in libraries.Social implicationsThe article can help to facilitate the debate on the role of implementing new technologies in libraries.Originality/valueThe problem of BCI is very rarely addressed in the subject literature in the field of library and information science.

Evaluating the effectiveness of information retrieval systems using effort-based relevance judgment

2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-17
Author(s):  
Prabha Rajagopal ◽  
Sri Devi Ravana ◽  
Yun Sing Koh ◽  
Vimala Balakrishnan
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Shallow Depth ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relevance Judgment ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Relevance Judgments ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems

Purpose The effort in addition to relevance is a major factor for satisfaction and utility of the document to the actual user. The purpose of this paper is to propose a method in generating relevance judgments that incorporate effort without human judges’ involvement. Then the study determines the variation in system rankings due to low effort relevance judgment in evaluating retrieval systems at different depth of evaluation. Design/methodology/approach Effort-based relevance judgments are generated using a proposed boxplot approach for simple document features, HTML features and readability features. The boxplot approach is a simple yet repeatable approach in classifying documents’ effort while ensuring outlier scores do not skew the grading of the entire set of documents. Findings The retrieval systems evaluation using low effort relevance judgments has a stronger influence on shallow depth of evaluation compared to deeper depth. It is proved that difference in the system rankings is due to low effort documents and not the number of relevant documents. Originality/value Hence, it is crucial to evaluate retrieval systems at shallow depth using low effort relevance judgments.

The role of emotional aspects in the information retrieval from the web

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 520-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marzieh Yari Zanganeh ◽  
Nadjla Hariri
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Emotional Expressions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Retrieval Systems ◽  
Information Retrieval Systems ◽  
Emotional Aspects ◽  
The Web

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the role of emotional aspects in information retrieval of PhD students from the web. Design/methodology/approach From the methodological perspective, the present study is experimental and the type of study is practical. The study population is PhD students of various fields of science. The study sample consists of 50 students as selected by the stratified purposive sampling method. The information aggregation is performed by observing the records of user’s facial expressions, log file by Morae software, as well as pre-search and post-search questionnaire. The data analysis is performed by canonical correlation analysis. Findings The findings showed that there was a significant relationship between emotional expressions and searchers’ individual characteristics. Searchers satisfaction of results, frequency internet search, experience of search, interest in the search task and familiarity with similar searches were correlated with the increased happy emotion. The examination of user’s emotions during searching performance showed that users with happiness emotion dedicated much time in searching and viewing of search solutions. More internet addresses with more queries were used by happy participants; on the other hand, users with anger and disgust emotions had the lowest attempt in search performance to complete search process. Practical implications The results imply that the information retrieval systems in the web should identify emotional expressions in a set of perceiving signs in human interaction with computer, similarity, face emotional states, searching and information retrieval from the web. Originality/value The results explicit in the automatic identification of users’ emotional expressions can enter new dimensions into their moderator and information retrieval systems on the web and can pave the way of design of emotional information retrieval systems for the successful retrieval of users of the network.

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