Multitasking Web Search on Vivisimo.com

  • Authors:
  • Amanda Spink;Sherry Koshman;Minsoo Park;Chris Field;Bernard J. Jansen

  • Affiliations:
  • University of Pittsburgh;University of Pittsburgh;University of Pittsburgh;University of Pittsburgh;The Pennsylvania State University

  • Venue:
  • ITCC '05 Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Technology: Coding and Computing (ITCC'05) - Volume II - Volume 02
  • Year:
  • 2005

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Abstract

A user's single session with a Web search engine may consist of seeking information on either single or multiple topics. Most Web search sessions consist of two queries of two words. We present findings from a study of sessions on the Vivisimo Web search engine to examine the degree of multitasking search by typical web searchers. Findings show that 11.1% of search sessions were multitasking searches, and there are a broad variety of search topics in multitasking search sessions. The paper proposes that on various levels, Web search can be conceptualized at different levels as a multitasking activity. The implications of our findings for Web design and further research are discussed.