A qualitative study of the citing motivations of 12 agricultural economists (faculty and doctoral students) identifies several factors they considered in making citing decisions: the contributions of the document to their research; the criteria they apply to the documents; and metalevel documentation concerns. (Author/AEF)

User's information needs and the tasks they face change over the stages of a research project. In previous research by Peiling Wang, a cognitive model of users' document selection behavior for their research projects was developed. This study looks at the general applicability of Wang's model to subsequent decision-making about items selected…

Proposes a model of document selection by real users of a bibliographic retrieval system. Reports on Part I of a longitudinal study of decision making on document use by academics (25 faculty and graduate students in Agricultural Economics). Examines what components are relevant to the users' decisions and what cognitive process may have occurred…

Examines Web users' behaviors and needs and tests a methodology for studying users' interaction with the Web. A process-tracing technique, together with tests of cognitive style, anxiety levels, and self-report computer experience, provided data on how users interact with the Web in the process of finding factual information. (Author/AEF)

Provides preliminary results of a longitudinal, qualitative research study of document use by academic agricultural economists in actual situations. Topics include users' changing information needs, use patterns, decision making regarding relevant items, and criteria and decision rules used to read or cite documents across stages of research.…

Examines users' cognitive, affective, and physical behaviors during user-Web interaction to understand better the nature of information retrieval on the Web, the needs of Web users, and the problem-solving strategies Web users employ. Describes and interprets searching behavior and problem-solving patterns within the relevant situational context…

Proposes principles for the design of effective document retrieval (DR) systems incorporating users' cognitive behaviors. Addresses three issues: (1) effective representations for documents to enable users' relevance judgments and decision making; (2) efficient presentations of documents to facilitate users' information processing and decision…

Reports on the follow-up study of a two-part project designed to study the decision-making process underlying how academic researchers select documents retrieved from online databases, consult or read, and cite documents during a research project. Findings indicated that all but one of the criteria reoccur in connection with reading and citing…