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…

Reports preliminary results of a study that investigated the nature of feedback during 40 uses of user-intermediary-information retrieval system interaction through the use of microanalysis. Types of feedback based on human judgments include magnitude feedback, relevance feedback, term relevance feedback, tactical review feedback, and terminology…

Describes a study that explored aspects of successive Dialog searches conducted by intermediaries for information seekers. Results show most successive searches involve some change in search terms and databases, but precision did not necessarily increase and the percentage of relevant items decreased significantly after three searches. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of user-relevance judgments in information retrieval focuses on findings from four separate studies of relevance judgments by 55 users conducting their initial online search on a particular information problem. Highlights include a theoretical framework, models of relevance, and implications for information-retrieval system design and…

Reports results from a national study into the perceived variation reported by health information managers related to the relevance-efficiency trade-offs of information classification across regions and practice settings. Findings suggest that due to major regional variation, stringent national information standards may be counterproductive for…

Describes a study that analyzed transaction logs of users of Excite, an Internet search service. Highlights include data on sessions (changes in queries, number of pages viewed, and relevance feedback), queries (number of search terms and the use of logic and modifiers), and terms (rank/frequency distribution); user characteristics; and failure…

Examines the use of query reformulation and particularly the use of relevance feedback by users of the Excite Web search engine. Discusses results that show limited use of query reformulation and relevance feedback; identifies the most common pattern of searching; and discusses implications for Web search system design. (Contains 16 references.)…

Discusses results from recent relevance research with implications for information professionals. The studies show that beyond the usual concern with high relevance and non-relevance judgments, partially relevant judgments by users are important. Calls for the adoption of a more complex view of human relevance judgments in the education and…

Findings from three separate studies of relevance judgments by 44 initial online search users were examined. Results show that, for users conducting their initial search on a particular information problem, the number of items judged "partially" relevant, not item judged "highly" relevant, were positively correlated with important changes in…

Results from three studies examining 1295 relevance judgments by 36 information retrieval (IR) system end-users are reported. Both the region of the relevance judgments, from non-relevant to highly relevant, and motivations or levels for the relevance judgments are examined. Implications for relevance theory and IR systems evaluation are…

Outlines four overlapping dimensions of context, including information environment level, information seeking level, IR (information retrieval) interaction level, and query level (linguistics), and discusses how they are related to various issues in IR research. Suggests further areas of research that are needed to fully understand the…

This study uses the human approach to examine the sources and effectiveness of search terms selected during 40 mediated interactive database searches and focuses on determining the retrieval effectiveness of search terms identified by users and intermediaries from retrieved items during term relevance feedback. (Author/JKP)

Investigates the regions across a distribution of users' relevance judgments. A multidimensional instrument was designed using four scales for collecting, measuring, and describing end-user relevance judgments, and was administered to 21 end-users who conducted searches on their own information problems and made relevance judgments on a total of…

Reports results from a study exploring the information retrieval (IR) and types of interactive feedback during mediated IR. Five types of interactive feedback were identified, extending the interactive IR model to include relevance, magnitude, and strategy interactive feedback. Implications for further research investigating the nature and models…

Proposes a useful concept of relevance as a relationship and an effect on the movement of a user through the iterative stages of their information seeking process, and that users' relevance judgments can be plotted on a Three-Dimensional Spatial Model of Relevance Level, Degree and Time. Discusses implications for the development of information…