A telephone information bureau is a simple information retrieval system, and computer based systems are being considered. The design of the system will depend in part upon: [a) what the customer says in making the request, (b) the role of the customer and the operator in making the request more definite and (c) the time consuming activities found with the present system.
A method was developed for analyzing the verbal behavior of the participants in calls to information bureaus in order to assess these factors in present day bureaus. The method was applied to one sample of calls and the results were discussed as indicating design problems in terms of what the participants knew and said.
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