Twenty-five years of end-user searching, Part 2: Future research directions

This is the second part of a two-part article that examines 25 years of published research findings on end-user searching of online information retrieval (IR) systems. In Part 1 (Markey, 2007 ), it was learned that people enter a few short search statements into online IR systems. Their searches do not resemble the systematic approach of expert searchers who use the full range of IR-system functionality. Part 2 picks up the discussion of research findings about end-user searching in the context of current information retrieval models. These models demonstrate that information retrieval is a complex event, involving changes in cognition, feelings, and/or events during the information seeking process. The author challenges IR researchers to design new studies of end-user searching, collecting data not only on system-feature use, but on multiple search sessions and controlling for variables such as domain knowledge expertise and expert system knowledge. Because future IR systems designers are likely to improve the functionality of online IR systems in response to answers to the new research questions posed here, the author concludes with advice to these designers about retaining the simplicity of online IR system interfaces.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56094/1/20601_ftp.pd

Secrets of Success: Identifying Success Factors in Institutional Repositories

4th International Conference on Open RepositoriesThis presentation was part of the session : Conference PresentationsDate: 2009-05-19 08:30 AM – 09:30 AMThere is little agreement on which factors lead to successful institutional repositories. Researchers primarily cite content recruitment and services as key factors; however, there has also been discussion of measuring IR success in terms of how well the IR furthers the overall goals of the library. This paper examines the topic of IRs and success. Our findings are based on a comparative case study of five IRs in colleges and universities. We argue that success should be measured by both internal (e.g., content or services) as well as external factors - how well the IR fulfills or brings the library closer to achieving its long-term goals in terms of service to the academic community.Institute of Museum and Library Service

Expectations and Realities of Engaged Scholarship: Evaluating a Social Economy Collaborative Research Partnership

This paper examines and evaluates the dynamics of engaged scholarship within a complex community-university research partnership. The British Columbia–Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) brings together academics and practitioners with the goal of advancing understanding of the social economy and contributing to the development of a social economy research network in western Canada. Engagement in BALTA refers to both internal (academic and practitioner research partnerships) and external (research process) project components. Our findings indicate that the structure of the project, dictated in large part by funder requirements and the professional cultures of research participants, greatly influenced the nature and quality of engagement. This paper examines the BALTA initiative and the reflexive and adaptive process it has undergone as it responds to various challenges and seeks to realize the ideals and potential of engaged scholarship

Analytical review of the library of the future

This is the report of a project supported by the Council on Library Resources. The four project objectives are: 1. To identify and retrieve published literature on the library of the future. 2. To formulate document surrogates for this literature and add them to a computerized database. 3. To generate an analytical bibliography of published library of the future literature. And 4. To synthesize literature in the bibliography with a thinkpiece on the library of the future.The Council on Library Resourceshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58006/1/Analytical_review_of_the_library_of_the_future.pd

Enhancing a new design for subject access to online catalogs

In this report, we describe the enhancement of a new design for subject access to online catalogs. The purpose of this reserch project was to enhance the search trees with new subject searching approaches to enable online catalogs to respond with useful information for the most difficult user queries.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57991/1/Enhancing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs.pd

Understanding subject headings in library catalogs

This is the report of the "Understanding Subject Headings in library Catalogs" study, which was the first large-scale study of user understanding of subject headings. Its objectives were: to determine the extent to which children, adults, reference, and technical services librarians understood subdivided subject headings; and to suggest improvements for improving understanding of subject headings.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57992/1/Understanding_subject_headings_in _library_catalogs.pd

Students’ behaviour playing an online information literacy game

This paper describes how college students played the web-based BiblioBouts Information Literacy (IL) game, which ushers players through the library research process while they complete a research-and-writing assignment. The game teaches students basic IL skills including creating citations, judging citation completeness, assessing author expertise, assessing source relevance and credibility, judging quality, and assessing accuracy. BiblioBouts’ collaborative and social mechanisms help students leverage their own research efforts in finding sources, evaluating their usefulness, and choosing the best sources, with their classmates’ efforts so that everyone benefits. Players benefit from  receiving hands-on practice and experience with the wide range of information literacy (IL) skills that confront them during the process from conducting library research to completing writing assignments. Both quantitative and qualitative game-play data were gathered from game-play logs, game diaries, focus group interviews with student game players, and personal interviews with instructors. These data were analyzed to determine typical game-play styles, how long students played the game, and the impact of scoring on the way the students played the game and engaged in IL activities. The results were used to improve game mechanics and player engagement. The R&D team’s experience building an online, interactive IL game demonstrates that game design must first focus on evaluations of player behavior followed by game-system improvements that are expected to affect the desired game-play behavior. The BiblioBouts game presents an innovative method for learning IL competencies and is unique in its social, collaborative, and interactive approach to educational gaming. It is hoped that this article will encourage IL librarians to explore games and other alternative forms of IL instruction

Testing a new design for subject access to online catalogs

This is the ASTUTE project report.In this report, we describe a test of a new design for subject access to online catalogs.The Department of Educationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream//5/Testing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs-part5.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream//4/Testing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs-part4.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream//3/Testing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs-part3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream//2/Testing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs-part2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream//1/Testing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs-part1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57990/5/Testing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs-part5.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57990/4/Testing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs-part4.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57990/3/Testing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs-part3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57990/2/Testing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs-part2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57990/1/Testing_a_new_design_for_subject_access_to_online_catalogs-part1.pd

Institutional repositories: What's the use?

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78316/1/1450460315_ftp.pd

Toward successful institutional repositories: Listening to IR staff's experiences

This poster presents a study of what is required to plan, implement, maintain, and sustain successful institutional repositories (IRs). This study is part of the MIRACLE (Making Institutional Repositories a Collaborative Learning Environment) Project, which aims to identify the factors contributing to the success of IRs and effective ways of accessing and using repositories. The data for this study were collected through telephone interviews with IR managers and staff members. Interviews focused on participants' motivations, experiences, and viewpoints in regard to IRs, among other IR deployment issues. The transcriptions of interviews were analyzed using content analysis. The findings indicate that IRs are more than the sum of their component parts (i.e., collections, systems, policies, staff, contributors, and end-users); rather, they are a knowledge sharing and content management tool that works together with other types of open access infrastructure in colleges and universities.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63089/1/14504503100_ftp.pd