Compares empirical results from three experiments using Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) data and search topics that involved three different user interfaces. Results show that marking Boolean queries on text, which encourages browsing, and hypertext interfaces to text retrieval systems can benefit recall and can also benefit novice users.…

An online library catalog was used to evaluate an interactive query expansion facility based on relevance feedback for the Okapi, probabilistic, term weighting, retrieval system. A graphical user interface allowed searchers to select candidate terms extracted from relevant retrieved items to reformulate queries. Results suggested that the…

Reviews the development of research and evaluation in information retrieval. Highlights include the Cranfield projects concerning recall and precision, the Medlars experiment that focused on relevance, TREC (Text Retrieval Conference), evaluation versus understanding, interface versus functionality, document length, and terms and user interaction.…

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)

Presents a stratified model of information retrieval interaction that views interaction as a dialog between participants (user and computer) through an interface. Discusses traditional and interaction models, and extension to relevance, user modeling, search term selection, and types of feedback in information retrieval. (AEF)

Describes the methodology and results of the log analysis for the Alcohol Studies Database (ASDB), a domain-specific database supported by the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University Libraries. The objectives were to better understand user search behavior, to analyze failure rates, and to develop approaches for improving the user…