Search Intermediary Elicitations During Mediated Online Searching

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Spink ◽  
Abby Goodrum ◽  
David Robins
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
End Users ◽  
Online Search ◽  
Online Searching ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Relevance Judgments ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Database Selection ◽  
Information Requests

What elicitations or requests for information do human search intermediaries make to patrons search with information requests that require an online search? What intermediary elicitations occur before and during an online search? Why do human search intermediaries make elicitations? This study reported in this paper investigated search intermediary elicitations during mediated online searching. A study of 40 online reference interviews involving 1557 search intermediary elicitations, found 15 different types of search intermediary elicitations to patrons. The elicitation purposes included search terms and strategies, database selection, relevance of retrieved items, and patrons' knowledge and previous information-seeking. Analysis of the patterns in the types and sequencing of elicitations showed significant strings of multiple elicitations regarding search terms and strategies, and relevance judgments. This paper discusses the implications of the findings for training search intermediaries and the design of interfaces eliciting information from end-users.

Eyes on the frame

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabrina Heike Kessler ◽  
Lars Guenther
Keyword(s):  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Framing Effects ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Online Search ◽  
Online Searching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Media Frames ◽  
Online Information Seeking ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Using the internet parallel to or after television (TV) consumption changes the way people receive news. The way information is framed by the media has been found to influence the behavior of news recipients. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that the exposure to TV media frames would affect a lay audience’s online information-seeking behavior. Design/methodology/approach In an experiment combining eye tracking and content analysis, participants (n=72) were exposed to one of three TV clips with different media frames (based on a full-sample content analysis) that focused on Alzheimer’s disease. After exposure, participants informed themselves about the issue online. Eye tracking allows to investigate whether individuals mainly scan information, or whether they compute information on a higher level of attention (use more thorough deliberate comparison of information and really reading information). Findings Three different frames of online content were identified. Framing was found to influence the individual online searching and reading of information on a descriptive level (entering search words and viewing website content) to some degree, but not on a procedural level (such as selecting online search results). Research limitations/implications This study makes a significant contribution to the literature embedding an established theoretical process like framing effects into the internet literature. Regarding the broader theoretical context, this study shed some light on cross-media framing effects on online behavior. Applying the psychological perspective of framing theory to explain and predict online searching behavior is beneficial for specific types of online search behavior. Main limitations are the not representative student sample and the forced task that participants had to inform themselves about Alzheimer’s disease online. Practical implications The results have practical implications for the creation of TV-related websites. There can be a positive, profitable synergy of TV and online websites. The websites can complement the TV programs with the focus on information needs of the recipients depending on the TV activated audience frames. Therefore, media managers would do well to plan the contents of their websites as internet-based resources that meet the activated information needs. Originality/value This study is among the first to investigate the framing effects of TV on the online information searching behavior of individuals. A deeper understanding of how media frames, especially from TV, are affecting online information seeking will allow researchers to better explain and predict online user behavior and information needs. But still, more research is needed.

Information-Seeking on the Internet

Crisis ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod Singaravelu ◽  
Anne Stewart ◽  
Joanna Adams ◽  
Sue Simkin ◽  
Keith Hawton
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Young People ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Specific Advice ◽  
Restriction Sites ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Negative Tone

Abstract. Background: The Internet is used by young people at risk of self-harm to communicate, find information, and obtain support. Aims: We aimed to identify and analyze websites potentially accessed by these young people. Method: Six search terms, relating to self-harm/suicide and depression, were input into four search engines. Websites were analyzed for access, content/purpose, and tone. Results: In all, 314 websites were included in the analysis. Most could be accessed without restriction. Sites accessed by self-harm/suicide search terms were mostly positive or preventive in tone, whereas sites accessed by the term ways to kill yourself tended to have a negative tone. Information about self-harm methods was common with specific advice on how to self-harm in 15.8% of sites, encouragement of self-harm in 7.0%, and evocative images of self-harm/suicide in 20.7%. Advice on how to get help was given in 56.1% of sites. Conclusion: Websites relating to suicide or self-harm are easily accessed. Many sites are potentially helpful. However, a significant proportion of sites are potentially harmful through normalizing or encouraging self-harm. Enquiry regarding Internet use should be routinely included while assessing young people at risk.

The Impact of a Highly Publicized Celebrity Suicide on Suicide-Related Online Information Seeking

Crisis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Arendt ◽  
Sebastian Scherr
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Prevention ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Search Queries ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Celebrity Suicide ◽  
Online Information Seeking ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Background: Research has already acknowledged the importance of the Internet in suicide prevention as search engines such as Google are increasingly used in seeking both helpful and harmful suicide-related information. Aims: We aimed to assess the impact of a highly publicized suicide by a Hollywood actor on suicide-related online information seeking. Method: We tested the impact of the highly publicized suicide of Robin Williams on volumes of suicide-related search queries. Results: Both harmful and helpful search terms increased immediately after the actor's suicide, with a substantial jump of harmful queries. Limitations: The study has limitations (e.g., possible validity threats of the query share measure, use of ambiguous search terms). Conclusion: Online suicide prevention efforts should try to increase online users' awareness of and motivation to seek help, for which Google's own helpline box could play an even more crucial role in the future.

scholarly journals Smart Tools for Academic Information Seeking

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eeva Koponen ◽  
Tiia Puputti
Keyword(s):  
Academic Dishonesty ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Extensive Reading ◽  
Systematic Information ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Starting Point

Systematic information seeking is an essential part of academic work. Research and information seeking go hand in hand, and both need planning. In the academic world you can hardly avoid the research plan, but you probably won’t hear that much about the information seeking plan. The information seeking plan guides you through the research process from the first sparks of an idea to the last dot in the bibliography from the point of view of the often invisible process of systematic information seeking.Systematic Information Seeking Framework designed in the Jyväskylä University Library has its roots in Carol Kuhlthau's Guided Inquiry Design Process. Our model, designed for more contextual adjustability, is presented in our Library Tutorial (https://koppa.jyu.fi/avoimet/kirjasto/en/library-tutorial), an open self-study material.The process starts with “Defining the topic and finding search terms”. This stage requires extensive reading about the subject matter, understanding the basic differences between everyday knowledge and scientific knowledge and distinguishing information resources for different kinds of needs.Analysis of concepts and understanding of their contextuality are at the core of scientific knowledge. With the information seeking plan and a mind map one can work on the search terms, discover connections and construct search statements for different resources and the search strategies they require.The second section is about “Finding sources”, which students often understand as the starting point for systematic information seeking. Knowledge of the publication cultures in different disciplines guide the information seeker to the different types of sources needed.Finally, “Citing and managing references”. One of the most essential skills in all academic work is the appropriate use of scientific sources, citing and managing references correctly. As academic dishonesty hurts the whole community, academic fraud, e.g. plagiarism, is taken very seriously. Sufficient skills in seeking and managing information are the key to avoiding it.

Abstract T P273: Internet-Based Information Seeking Behavior for Transient Ischemic Attack

Stroke ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vida Abedi ◽  
Marieme Mbaye ◽  
Georgios Tsivgoulis ◽  
Shailesh Male ◽  
Nitin Goyal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Transient Ischemic Attack ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Information Seeking Behavior ◽  
Online Search ◽  
Seeking Behavior ◽  
Search Data ◽  
Ischemic Attack ◽  
Google Search

Background &Purpose: In recent years, Internet became an increasingly important tool for accessing health information and is being used more frequently to promote public health. In this study, we used Google search data to explore information seeking behavior for transient ischemic attack (TIA). Methods: We selected two groups of keywords related to TIA -“Transient Ischemic Attack” and “Mini Stroke” - after examining several related search keywords. We obtained all available online search data performed in the United States from the Google search engine for a ten year span - January 2004 to December 2013. The monthly and daily search data for the selected keywords were analyzed - using a moving window strategy - to explore the trends, peaks and declining effects. Results: There were three significant concurrent peaks in the Google search data for the selected keywords. Each peak was directly associated with media coverage and news headlines related to the incident of TIA in a public figure. (Figure 1) Following each event, it took an average of two weeks for the search trend to return to its respective average value. The trend was steady for “Transient Ischemic Attack”; however, the search interest for the keyword “mini stroke” shows a steady increase. The overall search interest for the selected keywords was significantly higher in the southeastern United States. Conclusions: Our study shows that changes in online search behavior can be associated with media coverage of key events (in our case TIA) in public figures. These findings suggest that online health promotion campaigns might be more effective if increased promptly after similar media coverage.

Exploring the Relationships Among Gratifications-Sought, Social Media Usage, and Social Support Among Chinese Temporary Migrants

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Yuan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Uses And Gratifications ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Being There ◽  
Temporary Migrants

Based on a uses and gratifications 2.0 approach, this study identified three social and psychological gratifications (i.e., entertainment, information seeking, socializing) and four affordance-related gratifications (i.e., immediate contacts, controllability, bandwagon, and being there) that motivated Chinese temporary migrants to use social media. Both types of gratifications were positively linked to social media usage among temporary migrants. Social media usage positively predicted social support, while different patterns of social media usage were related to different types of social support.

Time-Life, World Reporter and the secretary: experiments with end-users

1986 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 167-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Nicholas ◽  
Kevin Harris ◽  
Gertrud Erbach
Keyword(s):  
Information Retrieval ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Source ◽  
End Users ◽  
End User ◽  
Training Time ◽  
Wide Scale ◽  
Time To Learn ◽  
Information Retrieval Methods ◽  
Near Future

After six months of training Time-Life book researchers to use online databases it is clear that they will not become end-users overnight—despite plentiful training, good facilities, user-friendly interfaces and the like. The reasons for this are less clear but high on the list come: a lack of time (to learn and maintain the necessary searching skills); a general reluctance to abandon the tried and tested—and often pleasurable—con ventional information retrieval methods (there is certainly nothing to suggest that the computer is going to replace the telephone as an information source); and the low priority given to the (formal) information-seeking component of the job (high priority being given to the more visible and pressing elements, like writing and commissioning pictures). There is little in Time-Life's online experience to lend support to the belief that there will be wide-scale end-user searching in the near future. Online will find its place in the array of information retrieval methods at the disposal of the user and will undoubtedly be used where manual methods have failed: it is unlikely, however, to supplant manual systems that work well and are well-liked. Secretaries do appear to be well-qualified, and in an excel lent position to become a major end-user group and might indeed pose a threat to the librarian intermediary in the near future.

scholarly journals Navigating Mental Models of Risk and Uncertainty within the Ocean Forecast System: An Oregon Case Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 431-447
Author(s):  
Jessica Kuonen ◽  
Flaxen Conway ◽  
Ted Strub
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
End Users ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
End User ◽  
Data Provider

Abstract This case study explores how to add value to regional ocean condition forecast information by bringing awareness to the processes that govern decision-making and outcomes within the system. A modified mental models research approach is applied to examine differences and similarities in perceptions of risk and comfort with uncertainty between two interdependent communities, the ocean “data provider” and “end user,” and how these perceptions impact accessibility and usefulness of data products. In this study, data providers are academic and agency scientists from institutions that provide ocean condition forecasts to public end users (n = 17). End users are members of the Oregon commercial-fishing community (n = 16). Comparisons reveal key differences and similarities related to the nature of each profession that impact perceptions of scale in time and space and reveal the ways that cumulative and intersecting risks and uncertainties act as key drivers in decision-making. Implications for expanding the current understanding of how ocean forecasts are produced and used include 1) highlighting the value of optimizing ocean forecast delivery tools based on end-user needs and information-seeking processes already in place, 2) identifying structural and cultural barriers within the data-provider network that prevent them from doing so, and 3) demonstrating the value of learning about both producers and users of scientific information and suggesting potential ways to structure cooperation and strengthen relationships between them by working toward a common desired outcome.

scholarly journals Product Lineups: The More You Search, The Less You Find

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-55
Author(s):  
Sang Kyu Park ◽  
Aner Sela
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Feeling ◽  
Target Product ◽  
Online Search ◽  
Inference Making ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
True Target ◽  
General Search ◽  
Similar Item ◽  
Correct Target ◽  
Practical Implications

Abstract Consumers often try to visually identify a previously encountered product among a sequence of similar items, guided only by their memory and a few general search terms. What determines their success at correctly identifying the target product in such “product lineups”? The current research finds that the longer consumers search sequentially, the more conservative and—ironically—inaccurate judges they become. Consequently, the more consumers search, the more likely they are to erroneously reject the correct target when it finally appears in the lineup. This happens because each time consumers evaluate a similar item in the lineup, and determine that it is not the option for which they have been looking, they draw an implicit inference that the correct target should feel more familiar than the similar items rejected up to that point. This causes the subjective feeling of familiarity consumers expect to experience with the true target to progressively escalate, making them more conservative but also less accurate judges. The findings have practical implications for consumers and marketers, and make theoretical contributions to research on inference-making, online search, and product recognition.

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