Good Searchers Research Articles

Ordinary search engine users carrying out complex search tasks

Web search engines have become the dominant tools for finding information on the Internet. Owing to their popularity, users of all educational backgrounds and professions use them for a wide range of tasks, from simple look-up to rather complex information-seeking needs. This paper presents the results of a study that investigates the behavioural search characteristics of ordinary Web search engines users. The aim of the study was to investigate (1) what makes complex search tasks distinct from simple search tasks and whether it is possible to find simple measures for describing their complexity, and (2) whether successful searchers show different search behaviours than unsuccessful searchers and whether good searchers can be identified via simple measures. The study included 56 ordinary Web users who carried out a set of 12 search tasks using current commercial search engines. Their behaviour was logged with the Search-Logger tool. The results confirm that the behaviour in the case of complex search tasks has significantly different inherent characteristics than in the case of simple search tasks. This can be proven by using simple measures such as task time, number of queries, or number of browser tabs used. We also observed that it is difficult to distinguish successful from unsuccessful search behaviour simply by using these measures. The implications of our findings for search engine vendors are discussed. The results of this study with a sample of ordinary users are insofar unique as they are valid for a wider population while most studies in the field are usually done using convenience samples such as university students.

Patentability searching for biomaterial and related polymers

The understanding of the technical aspects of biomaterials as well as the understanding of the polymer structures and their characteristics are requirements for a searcher in the field of biomaterials and related polymers. Faced with an increasing number of sources of information, e.g. patents, non-patent literature, internet citations, internal databases, external databases, patent office examiners are challenged with the constant need to develop a search strategy in order to achieve the most efficient and complete search. Thoroughness and persistence are critical when it comes to search in this technical field. It is no exaggeration to say that a good searcher will have to use competitive intelligence tactics, checking new databases, new product announcements and technical literature for evidence or prior art. It is therefore crucial for patent office examiners to structure the way in which they develop their search strategy in the context of this broadening of available public information.

Phenological Dynamics of Dasineura mali (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) and Its Parasitoid Platygaster demades (Hymenoptera: Platygasteridae) in Apple Orchards

The midge Dasineura mali Kieffer (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) is an important pest of apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) and a potential fresh fruit contaminant, causing quarantine concerns. The phenological dynamics of D. mali and its egg parasitoid Platygaster demades Walker (Hymenoptera: Platygasteridae) were studied in the field in Palmerston North, New Zealand, for 2 yr. Both shoot infestation rate by D. mali and D. mali density per shoot sharply increased in the second generation, reaching approximately 65% and 100-200 eggs, respectively. However, although the infestation rate in the third generation remained as high as in the second generation, the pest density per shoot significantly decreased to 40-60 eggs in the third generation. In the fourth generation, both infestation rate and pest density per shoot decreased to approximately 30% and 10 eggs. Due to the simultaneous decline of the apple shoot number and D. mali density in the third and fourth D. mali generations, the absolute number of D. mali in the orchard also has declined proportionally during the same period. The parasitism and superparasitism rates significantly increased as the season progressed, from 45 to 55 and 37% in the first generation to 87 and 82% in the fourth generation, respectively. Our results suggest that P. demades contributes to the continuous decline of D. mali numbers in the field; it is a good searcher, particularly when its hosts become increasingly scarcer over the season, and it avoids overshooting the host population later in the season by increasing superparasitism. The frequency of P. demades aestivation increases from late spring to midsummer and then decreases during the late summer and early autumn. Although the emergence of P. demades was approximately 2 to 3 wk behind that of D. mali in each generation, the increasing parasitism rates from the first to the fourth generations indicate that P. demades is synchronized with D. mali in the field.

Dispersal and egg shortfall in Monarch butterflies: what happens when the matrix is cleaned up?

1. We use an individual‐based model describing the life of a monarch butterfly, which utilises milkweeds both aggregated in patches and scattered across the wider landscape as a substrate for laying eggs. The model simplifies the metapopulation of milkweed habitat patches by representing them as a proportion of the overall landscape, with the rest of the landscape considered matrix, which may contain some low density of milkweed plants.2. The model simulates the number of eggs laid daily by a butterfly as it searches for hosts. The likelihood of finding hosts is related to the density of plants and the search ability of the butterfly. For an empty matrix, remaining in a habitat patch results in more eggs laid. However individuals that are good searchers have almost equivalent success without remaining in a habitat patch. These individuals are most affected by the presence of hosts in the matrix.3. Given realistic values of habitat patch availability, our model shows that the presence of plants at a low density in the matrix has a substantial impact on the number of eggs laid; removing these plants can reduce lifetime potential fecundity by ca. 20%. These results have implications for monarch butterflies inhabiting agricultural landscapes, in which genetically modified soybean that is resistant to herbicides has resulted in the decimation of milkweeds over large areas.

When should homeless families get subsidized apartments? A theoretical inquiry

How and when should operators of homeless shelters place families from these shelters into subsidized housing? I apply the tools of contract theory to this problem, especially some approaches that have been taken to optimal unemployment insurance. The problem combines moral hazard and adverse selection. When all families are drawn from the same distribution, placement should occur immediately. When families are heterogeneous, the optimal strategy creates a separating equilibrium. Good searchers self-select into a contract with high probability of immediate placement and no probability of later placement; poorer searchers self-select into a contract with a lower probability of immediate placement but a positive probability of later placement.

Teaching tip: using the “Who wants to be a millionaire?” game to teach searching skills

At a search skills workshop, it’s often difficult to obtain information about participants’ skill levels in advance. So to pitch your session at the right level, you need to find...

Teaching tip: using the “Who wants to be a millionaire?” game to teach searching skills

At a search skills workshop, it’s often difficult to obtain information about participants’ skill levels in advance. So to pitch your session at the right level, it is necessary to...

An Adverse Selection Model of Optimal Unemployment Insurance

We derive the shape of optimal unemployment insurance (UI) contracts when agents can exert search effort but face different search costs and have private information about their type. We derive a recursive solution of our dynamic adverse selection problem with repeated moral hazard. Conditions under which the UI agency should always offer separating contracts are identified. We show that the good searcher receives an information rent and that the bad searcher receives the minimal entitlement. From a methodological point of view, we achieve a precise characterization of the sets of jointly feasible entitlements. This allows us to map our analytical results one-to one to a numerical algorithm. According to our results the contract for the good searcher has a decreasing benefit profile, as the one he would be offered in a pure moral hazard environment. In contrast, the contract of the bad searcher is distorted by an adverse selection effect, so that it tends to have an upward-sloping benefit profile. We provide a comparative static analysis of changes in various parameters of our model.

Empirical studies of end-user information searching

An empirical investigation of information retrieval (IR) using the MEDLINE1 database was carried out to study user behaviour, performance and to investigate the reasons for suboptimal searches. The experimental subjects were drawn from two groups of final year medical students who differed in their knowledge of the search system (i.e., novice and expert users). The subjects carried out four search tasks and their recall and precision performance was recorded. Data was captured on the search strategies used, duration, and logs of submitted queries. Differences were found between the groups for the performance measure of recall in only one of the four experimental tasks. Overall performance was poor. Analysis of strategies, timing data, and query logs showed that there were many different causes for search failure or success. Poor searchers either gave up too quickly, employed few search terms, used only simple queries, or used the wrong search terms. Good searchers persisted longer, used a larger, richer set of terms, constructed more complex queries, and were more diligent in evaluating the retrieved results. However, individual performances were not correlated with all of these factors. Poor performers frequently exhibited several factors of good searcher behaviour and failed for just one reason. Overall end-user searching behaviour is complex and it seems that just one factor can cause poor performance, whereas good performance can result from suboptimal strategies that compensate for some difficulties. The implications of the results for the design of IR interfaces are discussed.

Certain Methods for Artificial Support of the Circulation During Open Intracardiac Surgery

The understanding of the technical aspects of biomaterials as well as the understanding of the polymer structures and their characteristics are requirements for a searcher in the field of biomaterials and related polymers. Faced with an increasing number of sources of information, e.g. patents, non-patent literature, internet citations, internal databases, external databases, patent office examiners are challenged with the constant need to develop a search strategy in order to achieve the most efficient and complete search. Thoroughness and persistence are critical when it comes to search in this technical field. It is no exaggeration to say that a good searcher will have to use competitive intelligence tactics, checking new databases, new product announcements and technical literature for evidence or prior art. It is therefore crucial for patent office examiners to structure the way in which they develop their search strategy in the context of this broadening of available public information.