Observations of end-user online searching behavior over eleven years

Abstract

End-user searching of National Library of Medicine (NLM) online data bases during eleven years has been investigated through transaction logs, questionnaires, and follow-up interviews. From 1976 through 1984, pathologists and pharmacists performed 8,313 searches. Highlights of our studies are compared with a review of other end-user research. Volume of searching is directly related to the convenient placement of the terminal in the work place. Slightly fewer than half of all potential searchers actually search for themselves. Practices of pharmacists and pathologists do not differ in important ways. Nonmediated searchers feel they need answers more promptly than do those who obtain mediated searches. End-users perform very simple searches, mostly using only the AND operator. Problems with techniques are fewer and more easily solved than those with the vocabulary and content of the system. The major problems, with the most powerful capabilities of MEDLINE--subheadings and explosions--sometimes cause substantial loss of references, but in relatively few searches. One-on-one teaching is most popular, with trial-and-error the most frequent procedure used in actual learning.

Search Characteristics and the Effects of Experience on End Esers of PaperChase

“…Sewell and Teitelbaum noted that subheadings are extremely useful in MEDLINE searching but that end users have difficulty remembering and finding these subheadings when needed. 36 That such a large number of UM-MEDLINE searchers in this study used this feature indicates that PaperChase is probably helping searchers use this important MEDLINE search feature. No comparable figures for the use of subheadings by end users of other MEDLINE access systems could be found, although Sewell and Teitelbaum reported that failure to use subheadings by NLM database end users may have been among the most costly of the errors made.…”

“…For example, Sewell and Teitelbaum reported that 13.5% of the searches in their study of end-user searching ofNLM databases were performed for information about an author, while the remainder of the searches looked for information about a subject. 18 Similarly, Naomi C. Broering observed that less than 5% of the searches in miniMEDLINE were for articles by an author. 19 Likewise, Ann B. Hubble found that approximately 70% of the users of MELVYL-MEDLINE at UCLA were searching for information on a subject.…”

Effectiveness of information skills training and mediated searching: qualitative results from the EMPIRIC project

“…Factors which inhibited health professionals from using their skills post-training, which were found in other studies, included lack of time 14,18,20,22 and poor access to computers/ Internet or libraries. 20,25 Limitations of the study…”

Comparing Usage Patterns Recorded between an Electronic Reference and an Electronic Monograph Collection: The Differences in Searches and Full-Text Content Viewings

“…Then, in a later study, Slater (2009) demonstrated higher e-book usage for those titles offering quick reference information. The speed at which students and researchers alike are able to find relevant information has been cited as a principal reason for their repeated usage of e-resources (van Epps, 2005;Hughes & Buchanan, 2001;Sewell & Teitelbaum, 1986).…”