Information Retrieval Strategies File-Search Environment

Abstract

The investigation represents an exploration of search strategies in an information-retrieval task. The task environment consisted of five search procedures: scrolling, paging, string search, absolute line movement, and relative line movement. Independent variables included user, task, and editor characteristics. The user variable was previous interactive computing experience (novice or expert). The task variables were file type (data or text), file length (short or long), and target type (embedded, nonembedded, or repeated). The editor variable was window size (1, 7, 13, or 19 lines). The results of the 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 x 4 mixed-factor experiment indicated that subject experience, file length, target type, and window size, as well as an interaction between subject experience and file length, were the salient factors of file search. Large differences in novice and expert search strategies were also discovered. Most importantly, the investigation revealed the need for adaptive interfaces that can alter in response to a user's style.