The Searcher/Information Interface Project-final report

Abstract

The Searcher/ Information Interface Project (SIIP) explores the interface between an information searcher and the sources that the searcher uses in order to gather information. The methodology models most closely the interfaces experienced by an intermediary in searching for information on behalf of a user, and concerns itself with the search for, and the identifica tion of, information where it is necessary to consult secondary information sources, such as abstracting and indexing services, bibliographies and databases. A hypothesis is formulated: dif ferent search intermediaries with similar training and using the same search tools should obtam similar results when conduct ing an information search, and all searchers can be expected to trace and report core documents. The methodology involves making comparisons between the search output of a number of searchers working with the same topics, user profiles and searches. It is shown that there are significant differences between the bibliographies produced by the different searchers. The project proceeds by establishing models for identifying the extent of scatter of references retneved by different searchers.