Search results

Purpose — This chapter illustrates and explains the ambiguity and vagueness of the term social search and aims at describing and classifying the heterogeneous landscape of social search implementations on the WWW.

Methodology/approach — We have looked at different definitions as well as the context of social search by carrying out an extensive literature review, and tried to unify and enhance existing ideas and concepts. Our definition of social search is illustrated by a general review of existing social search engines, which are analyzed and described by their specific features and social aspects.

Findings — The chapter presents a discussion of social search as well as a comparison of existing social search engines.

Social implications — The definition of social search and the comparison of social search engines summarize the many ways people can search the web together and allow for an assessment of future developments in this area.

Originality/value of paper — Although different attempts to define social search have been made in the past, we present an argumentation that unifies some existing definitions and which is different from other interpretations of the social search concept. We present an overview and a comparison of the different genres of social search engines.

The purpose of this study is to reduce internet traffic when performing collaborative Web search. Mobile terminals are now in widespread use and people are increasingly using them for collaborative Web search to achieve a common goal. When performing such searches, the authors want to reduce internet traffic as much as possible, for example, to avoid bandwidth throttling that occurs when data usage exceeds a certain quota.

To reduce internet traffic, the authors use a proxy system based on the peer cache mechanism. The proxy shares Web content stored on mobile terminals participating in an ad hoc Bluetooth network, focusing on content that is accessed multiple times from different terminals. Evaluation of the proxy’s effectiveness was measured using experiments designed to replicate realistic usage scenarios.

Experimental results show that the proxy reduces internet traffic by approximately 20 per cent when four people collaboratively search the Web to find good restaurants for a social event.

Unlike previous work on co-operative Web proxies, the authors study a form of collaborative Web caching between mobile devices within an ad hoc Bluetooth network created specifically for the purpose of sharing cached content, acting orthogonally to (and independently of) traditional hierarchical Web caching.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the triggers, strategies and outcomes of collaborative information-seeking behaviours of researchers on the ResearchGate social networking site.

Data were collected from the population of researchers who use ResearchGate. The sample was limited to the Ph.D. students and assistant professors in the library and information science domain. Qualitative interviews were used for data collection.

Based on the findings of the study, informal communications and complex information needs lead to a decision to use collaborative information-seeking behaviour. Also, easy access to sources of information and finding relevant information were the major positive factors contributing to collaborative information-seeking behaviour of the ResearchGate users. Users moved from collaborative Q&A strategies to sharing information, synthesising information and networking strategies based on their needs. Analysis of information-seeking behaviour showed that ResearchGate users bridged the information gap by internalizing new knowledge, making collaborative decisions and increasing their work's visibility.

As one of the initial studies on the collaborative information-seeking behaviour of ResearchGate users, this study provides a holistic picture of different triggers that affect researchers' information-seeking on ResearchGate.

This paper aims to identify the opinions of undergraduate students on the importance of internet‐based information sources when they undertake academic tasks.

Based on a set of identified typical academic tasks for undergraduate students, three research questions were designed around the students' usage and views of information resources for completing these tasks. Web‐accessible questionnaires were used to collect data from participants in two universities in the USA and China, and the data were analyzed using quantitative methods, which included several statistic methods.

The results confirm that undergraduate students use different information resources for various academic tasks. In their tasks, online electronic resources including search engines are the most commonly used resources, particularly for complex academic tasks. Social networking sites are not used for the students' individual academic tasks, and traditional resources still play equal or more important roles in certain specific academic tasks. Students in collaborative tasks look for resources that make it easy to share documents. Participants from the two countries also exhibit interesting and important differences in their usage of information resources.

This study examines undergraduate students' usages and views of different information resources in their various academic tasks, and pays special attention to the impacts of being from their different countries. The study also considers both students' individual academic tasks and collaborative tasks. This study is an invaluable addition to the information seeking behaviour literature.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of utilising a holistic ergonomic approach, covering engineering, cognitive and social perspectives, to cultivate beneficial and productive collaborative information seeking (CIS) systems and environments, specifically with regard to three main CIS pillars (control, communication and awareness).

A qualitative research approach, based on a selective corpus of CIS literature, was utilised to perform a content analysis to note if terms and concepts normally associated with engineering, cognitive and social ergonomics can be used to eliminate terms reflecting issues related to three CIS pillars (control, communication and awareness) that can benefit from a holistic ergonomic approach.

The content analysis revealed that a fairly extensive amount of holistic ergonomic terminology is prominent within the CIS literature, therefore establishing a connection between the two disciplines: CIS and ergonomics. This suggests that CIS system issues could benefit from the insights of a holistic ergonomic approach.

Since this is an exploratory study the scope of CIS literature utilised in the content analysis was limited to a selection considered most important by the authors; this should be supplemented by further research.

Intended to instigate interest in further exploration of the beneficial and productive implications and practical application of holistic ergonomics in designing CIS systems and environments.

This is the first research paper in the Library and Information Science literature that explores the potential of utilising holistic ergonomics to cultivate CIS systems and environments.

The principal aim of the present study was to identify and model the subject structure of the research area on collaborative information behaviour (CIB).

A qualitative, inductive and exploratory approach was adopted, and the method of thematic analysis was used. This study was based on the analysis of 79 publications selected from the Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts (LISTA) database in April 2019.

Collaborative and collective information behaviours were differentiated, and the subject structure of the CIB research area was identified to contain collaborative activities oriented to both information access and content, their various conditions, means of conducting, experiences of selected communities and metascientific research on the area itself.

The limitations result primarily from relying on the research material selected from the database (LISTA) focussed mainly on the issues of library and information science.

This study contributes by proposing an original model of the CIB research area representing its subject structure and providing a coherent list of subjects of interest to CIB researchers. Hopefully, it will also contribute to the harmonisation of terminology related to this research area and thus facilitate communication between CIB researchers and accelerate the cumulative development of scientific knowledge on CIB.

Information seeking is often performed in collaborative contexts. The research into such collaborative information seeking (CIS) has been proceeding since the 1990s but lacks methodological discussions. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss methodological issues in existing CIS studies.

The authors systematically review 69 empirical CIS studies.

The review shows that the most common methods of data collection are lab experiments (43 percent), observation (19 percent) and surveys (16 percent), that the most common methods of data analysis are description (33 percent), statistical testing (29 percent) and content analysis (19 percent) and that CIS studies involve a fairly even mix of novice, intermediate and specialist participants. However, the authors also find that CIS research is dominated by exploratory studies, leaves it largely unexplored in what ways the findings of a study may be specific to the particular study setting, appears to assign primacy to precision at the expense of generalizability, struggles with investigating how CIS activities extend over time and provides data about behavior to a larger extent than about reasons, experiences and especially outcomes.

The major implication of this review is its identification of the need for a shared model to which individual CIS studies can contribute in a cumulative manner. To support the development of such a model, the authors discuss a model of the core CIS process and a model of the factors that trigger CIS.

This study assesses the current state of CIS research, provides guidance for future CIS studies and aims to inspire further methodological discussion.

This paper aims to report findings from an exploratory study investigating the web interactions and technoliteracy of children in the early childhood years. Previous research has studied aspects of older children's technoliteracy and web searching; however, few studies have analyzed web search data from children younger than six years of age.

The study explored the Google web searching and technoliteracy of young children who are enrolled in a “preparatory classroom” or kindergarten (the year before young children begin compulsory schooling in Queensland, Australia). Young children were video‐ and audio‐taped while conducting Google web searches in the classroom. The data were qualitatively analysed to understand the young children's web search behaviour.

The findings show that young children engage in complex web searches, including keyword searching and browsing, query formulation and reformulation, relevance judgments, successive searches, information multitasking and collaborative behaviours. The study results provide significant initial insights into young children's web searching and technoliteracy.

The use of web search engines by young children is an important research area with implications for educators and web technologies developers.

This is the first study of young children's interaction with a web search engine.

Major objective of the instant study was to investigate the factors affecting the adoption of integrated semantic digital libraries (SDLs). It attempted to find out the challenges faced in implementing semantic technologies in digital libraries. This study also aimed to develop a framework to provide practical solutions to efficiently adopt semantic digital library systems to offer richer data and services.

To meet the formulated objectives of the study, a systematic literature review was conducted. The authors adhered to the “Preferred Reporting Items for the Systematic Review and Meta-analysis” (PRISMA) guidelines as a research method. The data were retrieved from different tools and databases. In total, 35 key studies were included for systematic review after having applied standard procedures.

The findings of the study indicated that SDLs are highly significant as they offered context-based information resources. Interoperability of the systems, advancement in bilateral transfer modules, machine-controlled indexing, and folksonomy were key factors in developing semantic digital libraries. The study identified five different types of challenges to build an integrated semantic digital library system. These challenges included ontologies and interoperability, development of a suitable model, diversity in language, lack of skilled human resources, and other technical issues.

This paper provided a framework that is based on practical solutions as a benchmark for policymakers to devise formal standards for the initiation to develop integrated semantic digital libraries.

Purpose — The purpose of this chapter is to give an overview of the context of Web search and search engine related research, as well as to introduce the reader to the sections and chapters of the book.

Methodology/approach — We review literature dealing with various aspects of search engines, with special emphasis on emerging areas of Web searching, search engine evaluation going beyond traditional methods and new perspectives on Web searching.

Findings — The approaches to studying Web search engines are manifold. Given the importance of Web search engines for knowledge acquisition, research from different perspectives needs to be integrated into a more cohesive perspective.

Research limitations/implications — The chapter suggests a basis for research in the field and also introduces further research directions.

Originality/value of paper — The chapter gives a concise overview of the topics dealt within the book and also shows directions for researchers interested in Web search engines.