Hundreds of folders or one ugly pile - Strategies for information search and re-access

Abstract

Previous research has identified information search and reaccess strategies used by experienced web users, but not the popularity of these strategies. To fill this gap, we collected data from 236 experienced web users via a questionnaire. A cluster analysis of the data revealed three distinct user groups, each having different search and re-access strategies. The group of "professional searchers" was the only one to use Boolean operators in searching and most of the advanced strategies for information re-access. In contrast, the strategies of the other two groups were much simpler. These results show that the previous findings on advanced search and re-access strategies may describe the strategies of information professionals, but not those of other web users, regardless of their extensive experience. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2005.