Eliciting better information need descriptions from users of information search systems

  • Authors:

  • Diane Kelly;Xin Fu

  • Affiliations:

  • School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC;School of Information and Library Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

  • Venue:
  • Information Processing and Management: an International Journal
  • Year:
  • 2007

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the effectiveness of a technique for eliciting more robust information need descriptions from users of information systems. We propose that such a technique can be used to elicit terms from users for use in query expansion and as a follow-up when ambiguous queries are initially posed. We design a feedback form to obtain additional information from users, administer the form to users after initial querying, and create a series of experimental runs based on the information that we obtained from the form. Results demonstrate that the form was successful at eliciting more information from users and that this additional information significantly improved retrieval performance. Our results further demonstrate a strong relationship between query length and performance.