Compares and contrasts results from two previous studies of Excite queries' data sets and examines how public Web searching changed during that period. Results show shorter queries; fewer queries per user; viewing fewer pages of results per query; an increase in Boolean operators; and more commercial searching topics. (LRW)

Reports results from a survey that explored users' information searching behavior on the EXCITE Web search engine over time on the same or evolving topic. Discusses search topics, intended query terms, search frequency, demographic data, and implications for the design of Web search services. A copy of the survey is appended. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study of four major Web search engines that tested for staleness, a condition when a significant number of the hits it returns point to Web pages or server-level domains (SLD) that are no longer viable. Results of tests of URLs with AltaVista, HotBot, InfoSeek, and Open Text are discussed. (Author/LRW)

This paper studies the influence of question-related variables on Web users' choices of search strategy in the initial stage of a search. Discusses the results of a questionnaire and suggests implications for training Web users as well as future research on Web searching behavior. (Author/LRW)

Examined research strategies and resources used by students to find scarce information. Found that students followed a general strategy that started with an exploratory Web search. (EV)

Discussion of information retrieval on the Web focuses on a study that is the result of ten replications of the 1996 Ding and Marchionini Web search tool research. Explores effects that replication can have on transforming unreliable results from one iteration into replicable and therefore reliable results following multiple iterations.…

Investigated the effects of link annotations on high school user search performance in Web hypertext environments having deep (layered) and shallow link structures. Results confirmed previous research that shallow link structures are better than deep (layered) link structures, and also showed that annotations had virtually no effect on search…

Describes a study that used qualitative and quantitative methodologies to analyze differences between Finnish and American Web searchers in their choice of initial search strategies (direct address, subject directory, and search engines) and their reasoning underlying their choices. Considers implications for considering cultural differences in…

Outlines results of a pilot study examining what constitutes a landmark in hypertext. Seven subjects began a search task from the same Indiana University School of Library and Information Science Homepage; searches had to be conducted without the use of search engines, and strictly following hypertext links. (Author/AEF)

Presents a prototype system for image retrieval from the Internet using Web mining. Discusses the architecture of the Web image retrieval prototype; document space modeling; user log mining; and image retrieval experiments to evaluate the proposed system. (AEF)

This article focuses on assessing the level of difficulty of search questions for Web searching, looking at variations in judgments by type of questions and the reasons underlying these judgments. Analyzes the decisions and reasoning of 54 experiences Web searchers on 16 search questions of four types, and includes the questionnaire used.…

Provides results from a study that examined queries in question format submitted to two Web search engines, Ask Jeeves and Excite. Identifies four types of user Web queries: keyword, Boolean, question, and request; discusses implications for Web search services; and suggests further research needs. (Author/LRW)

Examines searching patterns of students using the Web as science information resources. Attempts to provide detailed accounts of how students use the Web as a science resource and illuminate how the different levels of domain knowledge and expertise, and situational interest impact students' ability to find useful and relevant information on the…

Metasearching of online current news services is a potentially useful Web application of distributed information retrieval techniques. Reports experiences in building a metasearcher designed to provide up-to-date searching over a significant number of rapidly changing current news sites, focusing on how to merge results from the search engines at…

Investigates information retrieval from hypertext on the World Wide Web. Significant main and interaction effects were found for both link density (number of links per display) and display format (paragraphs or lists) on search performance. Low link densities displayed in list format produced the best overall results. Expert browsers performed…