Qualitative Evaluation of Thesaurus-Based Retrieval

Blocks, Dorothee; Binding, Ceri; Cunliffe, Daniel; Tudhope, Douglas

doi:10.1007/3-540-45747-x_26

Cited by 13 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Research has been carried out into the usability of different types of thesaurus interfaces (Beaulieu, 1997;Sutcliffe et al, 2000a;Blocks et al, 2002). In this study most users found both the search and thesaurus interface usability to be at least easy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to the above empirical studies, a number of interfaces enhanced with thesauri have been developed over the last two decades (Bates, 1990;Agosti et al, 1992;Belkin et al, 1993;Pollard, 1993;Pollitt et al, 1994;Johnson and Cochrane, 1995;Beaulieu, 1997;Hearst and Karadi, 1997;Lin, 1999;Blocks et al, 2002). However, very few of these interfaces have been evaluated in terms of the ways in which they support query formulation and expansion.…”

Section: Thesaurusenhanced Search Interfacementioning

confidence: 99%

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Usability and user perceptions of a thesaurus‐enhanced search interface

Shiri

Revie

2005

Journal of Documentation

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Purpose -This paper seeks to report an investigation into the ways in which end-users perceive a thesaurus-enhanced search interface, in particular thesaurus and search interface usability. Design/methodology/approach -Thirty academic users, split between staff and postgraduate students, carrying out real search requests were observed during this study. Users were asked to comment on a range of thesaurus and interface characteristics including: ease of use, ease of learning, ease of browsing and navigation, problems and difficulties encountered while interacting with the system, and the effect of browsing on search term selection. Findings -The results suggest that interface usability is a factor affecting thesaurus browsing/navigation and other information-searching behaviours. Academic staff viewed the function of a thesaurus as being useful for narrowing down a search and providing alternative search terms, while postgraduates stressed the role of the thesaurus for broadening searches and providing new terms. Originality/value -The paper provides an insight into the ways in which end-users make use of and interact with a thesaurus-enhanced search interface. This area is new since previous research has particularly focused on how professional searchers and librarians make use of thesauri and thesaurus-enhanced search interfaces. The research reported here suggests that end-users with varying levels of domain knowledge are able to use thesauri that are integrated into search interfaces. It also provides design implications for search interface developers as well as information professionals who are involved in teaching online searching. IntroductionThe subject approach in general and the use of thesauri in particular has been recognised as a method of enhancing the search term selection process. Traditionally, thesauri were used by search specialists for selecting alternative search terms to improve results. Recent developments in end-user searching and the wider availability of online information retrieval systems together with advances in user-centred interface design have provided new opportunities for utilising thesauri as search aids for end-users. The significance of the interface in supporting information seeking in general and search term selection in particular has been emphasised in information

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Thesaurusenhanced Search Interfacementioning

confidence: 99%

Usability and user perceptions of a thesaurus‐enhanced search interface

Shiri

Revie

2005

Journal of Documentation

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“…That is, people can recognise expansion terms that are semantically related to the information for which they are seeking and expand the query using these terms. However, investigations such as the one presented in [2] indicate that searchers can find it difficult to use semantic information even when the system supports the recognition and use of semantic relationships.…”

Section: Use Semanticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-examining the potential effectiveness of interactive query expansion

Ruthven

2003

Proceedings of the 26th Annual International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Informaion Retrieval

135

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Much attention has been paid to the relative effectiveness of interactive query expansion versus automatic query expansion. Although interactive query expansion has the potential to be an effective means of improving a search, in this paper we show that, on average, human searchers are less likely than systems to make good expansion decisions. To enable good expansion decisions, searchers must have adequate instructions on how to use interactive query expansion functionalities. We show that simple instructions on using interactive query expansion do not necessarily help searchers make good expansion decisions and discuss difficulties found in making query expansion decisions

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“…The first prototype study found a lack of support for the sequence of the search process (Blocks et al, 2002). With the initial interface design, users were faced with various windows which could be opened in any sequence and moved anywhere on the screen.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Query expansion via conceptual distance in thesaurus indexed collections

Tudhope

Binding

Blocks

et al. 2006

Journal of Documentation

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore query expansion via conceptual distance in thesaurus indexed collectionsDesign/methodology/approachAn extract of the National Museum of Science and Industry's collections database, indexed with the Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), was the dataset for the research. The system architecture and algorithms for semantic closeness and the matching function are outlined. Standalone and web interfaces are described and formative qualitative user studies are discussed. One user session is discussed in detail, together with a scenario based on a related public inquiry. Findings are set in context of the literature on thesaurus‐based query expansion. This paper discusses the potential of query expansion techniques using the semantic relationships in a faceted thesaurus.FindingsThesaurus‐assisted retrieval systems have potential for multi‐concept descriptors, permitting very precise queries and indexing. However, indexer and searcher may differ in terminology judgments and there may not be any exactly matching results. The integration of semantic closeness in the matching function permits ranked results for multi‐concept queries in thesaurus‐indexed applications. An in‐memory representation of the thesaurus semantic network allows a combination of automatic and interactive control of expansion and control of expansion on individual query terms.Originality/valueThe application of semantic expansion to browsing may be useful in interface options where thesaurus structure is hidden.

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Qualitative Evaluation of Thesaurus-Based Retrieval

Cited by 13 publications

References 18 publications

Usability and user perceptions of a thesaurus‐enhanced search interface

Usability and user perceptions of a thesaurus‐enhanced search interface

Re-examining the potential effectiveness of interactive query expansion

Query expansion via conceptual distance in thesaurus indexed collections

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