The diary method and analysis of student's mental representations of information spaces as the research approach in information behaviour research

Introduction. This paper focuses on a research strategy combining the concept of mental models, diary method, drawings technique and thematic analysis to study individual information spaces. The possibility of implementing such approach was tested on a case study of personal information spaces of undergraduate information management students. Method. Methods of critical literature review and case study were used. Empirical data were gathered by means of the diary technique in its verbal, written and open form and by participant-generated drawings, and analysed with thematic analysis. Analysis. The analysis allowed to: (1) elicit selected components of individual information spaces as represented in their mental models, such as information activities, sources, people, places, affective and socio-cultural factors, and (2) to capture the main features of mental models, i.e. themes (cross-data patterns). Results. The pursuit of positive emotions, comfort, peace and safety is the dominant force shaping information behaviour and personalized information spaces. Conclusions. Triangulation of concepts of mental models, diary method, drawings technique and thematic analysis proved to be a fruitful study approach, not only offering holistic insight into personal information spaces but also opening new research questions

Direct Answers or Brief Informative Suggestions? Performance of Different Types of Search Assistance Tools on Different Types on Search Tasks

While search assistance tools can help users with their search in various ways, would they always be effective for every type of search task? This study explored the different performance between two kinds of search assistance tools on exploratory tasks and comparative tasks. A user study was conducted on an experimental web search interface with the search assistance widget displaying on the right-hand side. Each participant was asked to do exploratory and comparative tasks on each search assistance tool. We collected and analyzed data from participants’ web logs, pre-test and post-task questionnaires, and the semi-structured interviews by the end of the study sessions. The findings suggest the effectiveness of each type of search task is different between the two search assistance tools; the dimension assistance is more helpful in comparative tasks whereas the link-suggesting assistance is more favored by exploratory tasks.Master of Science in Information Scienc

Los usuarios en la búsqueda y recuperación de información. Tendencias de investigación y áreas convergentes

15(3), 113-134Se revisa la evolución en la investigación en Recuperación de Información (RI) en estas dos últimas décadas y la representación y posicionamiento de esta temática dentro de la investigación en la Ciencia de la Documentación. Se abordan específicamente las tendencias y perspectivas en la investigación en RI centrada en el usuario, referidas a la interacción usuario-sistema y al comportamiento informacional en el proceso de búsqueda y recuperación. Se observan en la literatura analizada tendencias convergentes entre ambas áreas de investigación, con intereses compartidos, que sugieren explorar los terrenos comunes y avanzar hacia un campo de investigación integrado más robusto.S

Search tactics used in solving everyday how-to technical tasks: Repertoire, selection and tenacity

With greater access to computational resources, people use search to address many everyday challenges in their lives, including solving technology problems. Although there are now many useful ‘how-to’ resources online (especially videos on YouTube), it can still be difficult to identify, understand, and resolve certain kinds of technical problem. While research tasks have been studied for many years and we know the tactics people use, we know far less about searchers’ tactics for how-to technical tasks that involve actually being able to apply found information to resolve a problem. Crucial to our study was developing and studying a highly realistic, how-to technical task, for which there was no single guidance resource: making a phone safe for a child. After providing 39 participants with an actual phone to fix, and a search engine to perform the task, we analysed their search tactics using retrospective cued think aloud interviews. Our primary contribution is a set of 77 tactics used, in three categories, along with detail of how common they were. We conclude that people had a lot of tactics in their repertoire. Although it was not hard for participants to find relevant information, what was hard was for participants to find information they could use; indeed only 23% of participants successfully completed the entire task. Domain knowledge affected the choice of tactics used (although not necessarily towards better task success). We discuss these influences and make design recommendations for how future search systems can support those in resolving how-to technical tasks