This paper discusses some of the more recent major user studies and examines their methods, findings, and conclusions. The appendix includes a brief bibliography of bibliographies of user studies. (Author/MF)

Answers such central questions as what information is, what relevance is, how one tells what a document is about, and what an information need is. These discussions lead to a description of an ideal information retrieval system. (Author/JD)

This paper examines the elements of user studies and presents them as unified concepts within a model of information-seeking behavior. Definitions of information-seeking behavior, information needs, information gathering, information giving, and source preference are discussed. Thirty-two references are cited. (EJS)