User Profiling for Search Engines’ Help Systems

The Help Systems information provided by search engines can facilitate or hinder its user’s information seeking process. This paper reports a study in how users would like to see search engines’ Help Systems to be organized and presented. Six aspects of Help Systems, including navigation, design elements, technical help, conceptual help, terminological, and strategic aspects, were used as the framework to develop questionnaire for further study in stereotyping search engine users. Overall users do not expect animations, videos and speech as part of a search engine’s Help System, technical help is desirable, and the navigation to find Help page and relevant content is important

LES INTERACTIONS ENTRE USAGERS ET MOTEURS DE RECHERCHE SUR LE WEB PEUVENT-ELLES ETRE SOURCES D'APPRENTISSAGE CONCERNANT LE FONCTIONNEMENT INTERNE DE CES MOTEURS ? LE CAS DES OPTIONS LINGUISTIQUES.

International audienceUn usage régulier n'est pas synonyme d'efficacité dans le domaine des TIC en général mais peut-il l'être dans le domaine de la recherche d'information sur le web ? Nous menons une étude exploratoire où les utilisateurs sont placés en situation de s'interroger sur les différentes options linguistiques offertes par les moteurs de recherche. Les premiers résultats nous permettent de conclure que ni l'expérimentation avec les moteurs ni les documentations en ligne n'amènent à statuer avec fiabilité sur les fonctionnalités des moteurs concernant les critères étudiés. Cette étude s'inscrit dans le questionnement d'une didactique de l'informatique qui distingue deux types d'apprentissage, celui de la manipulation de surface et celui d'une compréhension profonde du système, et de son extension aux outils de communication et d'accès aux documents et aux savoirs

Didactique de l'informatique et recherche d'information sur le web : quelle (s) perspective (s) ?

Le champ de la réflexion de la didactique informatique peut s'étendre aux outils de recherche d'information sur le Web. Il semble pourtant que la recherche en didactique de l'informatique n'ait que peu progressé dans ce sens. Notre communication interroge la nature des liens entre informatique et culture informationnelle dans un premier temps, puis nous présenterons les résultats d'une expérimentation auprès d'étudiants de licence information-communication sur leur compréhension du fonctionnement d'un moteur de recherche. Nous avons sollicité le cadre théorique de Norman pour tester dans quelle mesure l'image du moteur de recherche permet ou non à ces utilisateurs d'avoir un modèle mental correct de son fonctionnement. Il s'avère que tant l'interface que l'aide en ligne ne suffisent pas aux utilisateurs pour déterminer les traitements opérés par celui- ci sur leurs requêtes

Understanding Novice Users\u27 Help-seeking Behavior in Getting Started with Digital Libraries: Influence of Learning Styles

Users\u27 information needs have to be fulfilled by providing a well-designed system. However, end users usually encounter various problems when interacting with information retrieval (IR) systems and it is even more so for novice users. The most common problem reported from previous research is that novice users do not know how to get started even though most IR systems contain help mechanisms. There is a deep gap between the system\u27s help function and the user\u27s need. In order to fill the gap and provide a better interacting environment, it is necessary to have a clearer picture of the problem and understand what the novice users\u27 behaviors are in using IR systems. The purpose of this study is to identify novice users\u27 help-seeking behaviors while they get started with digital libraries and how their learning styles lead to these behaviors. While a novice user is engaged in the process of interacting with an IR system, he/she may easily encounter problematic situations and require some kind of help in the search process. Novice users need to learn how to use a new IR environment by interacting with help features to fulfill their searching needs. However, many research studies have demonstrated that the existing help systems in IR systems cannot fully satisfy users\u27 needs. In addition to the system side problems, users\u27 characteristics, such as preference in using help, also play major roles in the decision of using system help. When viewing help-seeking as a learning activity, learning style is an influential factor that would lead to different help-seeking behaviors. Learning style deeply influences how students process information in learning activities, including learning performance, learning strategy, and learning preferences. Existing research does not seem to consider learning style and help-seeking together; therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the effects of learning styles on help-seeking interactions in the information seeking and searching environment. The study took place in an academic setting, and recruited 60 participants representing students from different education levels and disciplines. Data were collected by different methods, including pre-questionnaire, cognitive preference questionnaire, think-aloud protocol, transaction log, and interview. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed to analyze data in the study. Qualitative methods were first applied to explore novice users\u27 help-seeking approaches as well as to illustrate how learning styles lead to these approaches. Quantitative methods were followed to test whether or not learning style would affect help-seeking behaviors and approaches. Results of this study highlight two findings. First, this study identifies eight types of help features used by novice users with different learning styles. The quantitative evidence also verifies the effect of learning styles on help-seeking interactions with help features. Based on the foundation of the analysis of help features, the study further identified fifteen help-seeking approaches applied by users with different learning styles in digital libraries. The broad triangulation approach assumed in this study not only enables the illustration of novice users\u27 diversified help-seeking approaches but also explores and confirms the relationships between different dimensions of learning styles and help-seeking behaviors. The results also suggest that the designs and delivery of IR systems, including digital libraries, need to support different learning styles by offering more engaging processing layouts, diversified input formats, as well as easy-to-perceive and easy-to-understand modes of help features