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)

Reports the analysis of search logs from a commercial image provider over a one-month period and discusses results in relation to previous findings. Analyzes image searches, image queries composing the search, user search modification strategies, results returned, and user browsing of results. (Author/AEF)

This paper studies the influence of question-related variables (closed/open and predictable/unpredictable) on a Web user's choice of search strategy in the initial stage of a search. Search strategies considered include direct address, subject directory, and search engine. Objectives were to determine the adaptiveness of Web users in choosing an…

This paper discusses personal resource discovery on the World Wide Web from the point of view of a reference librarian. Two key questions for finding information on the Internet are identified: (1) What are you actually looking for? and (2) Who is likely to have the information? Examples of this approach are provided, and some problems with using…

This paper reports on a transaction log analysis of 51,473 queries from 18,113 users of Excite, a major World Wide Web search engine. Approximately 2,500 of these queries were from the use of relevance feedback. Given the high level of research activity and historical success of relevance feedback in assisting users in locating relevant…

Searching for useful information on the World Wide Web has become increasingly difficult. While Internet search engines have been helping people to search on the Web, low recall rate and outdated indexes have become more and more problematic as the Web grows. In addition, search tools usually present to the user only a list of search results,…

Reports on patterns and sequences of query reformulation based on query logs from a Web search engine. Results show that while most query reformulation involves content changes, about 15% of reformulation is related to format modifications. Six patterns of query reformulation emerged as a result of sequence analysis: specified, parallel,…

This paper presents the most important concepts and techniques to use in successfully searching the major World Wide Web search engines and directories, explains the basics of how search engines work, and describes what is included in their indexes. Following an introduction that gives an overview of Web directories and search engines, the first…

Examines the differences between Web image and textual queries, and attempts to develop an analytic model to investigate their implications for Web image retrieval systems. Provides results that give insight into Web image searching behavior and suggests implications for improvement of current Web image search engines. (AEF)

Tests the use of questions as a technique in the query specification process. Using a within-subjects design, 48 people interacted with a modified Google interface to solve four information problems in four domains. Half the tasks were entered as typical keyword queries, and half as questions or statements. Results suggest the typical search box…

Findings from a study of users' multitasking searches on Web search engines include: multitasking searches are a noticeable user behavior; multitasking search sessions are longer than regular search sessions in terms of queries per session and duration; both Excite and AlltheWeb.com users search for about three topics per multitasking session and…

Reports the results of part one of a multi-faceted research project investigating children's information-seeking behavior in using World Wide Web search engines, with reference to Yahooligans. Examines search processes, patterns of exploration of returned results, success in finding/retrieving relevant information, persistence in finding…

End user searching on the Web has become the primary method of locating images for many people. This study investigates the nature of Web image queries by attempting to map them to known image classification schemes. In this study, approximately 100,000 image queries from a major Web search engine were collected in 1997, 1999, and 2001. A…

Studies show that the majority of Web searchers enter extremely simple queries, so a reasonable system design approach would be to build search engines to compensate for this user characteristic. One hundred representative queries were selected from the transaction log of a major Web search service. These 100 queries were then modified using the…

This paper discusses access to information about Southeast Asia on the Internet. The first section summarizes problems with the major Internet search engines and directories. Three broad categories of solutions to improve Internet searching and retrieval are suggested in the second section: (1) efforts to assist end users to use the search engines…